“You too,” she said before pivoting to walk down the stairs.
She spoke to Orion and Rahmir on her way down them. As soon as she was out of earshot, them niggas were on me.
“Shorty making house calls now,” Rahmir joked.
“Man, shut the fuck up.” I lifted the roses and the card. “She dropped this off.”
“You give your address to business associates, bro?” Orion asked with a smirk.
I sucked my teeth and shook my head. “Mind your business nigga.”
We walked into the house, and I shut and locked the door behind them. When I pivoted to go back into the living room, I was greeted by Luna’s squinting eyes.
“That’s the interior decorator, isn’t it?”
“Interior designer,” I corrected as I brushed by her. “Yeah.”
“Decorator, designer, same thing,” She said, following behind me. “She’s pretty. What’s going on between the two of you? This won’t be another Uncle Donny situation, will it? You know what you’re doing, right, Crescent? You have a lot to lose and if?—
“Luna chill. It’s not that deep.”
“She came over unannounced. I know she did because you weren’t expecting her. And she brought flowers and a card. It’s not that deep? The look on your face when you saw her tells another story. You like her. You like her a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever saw your eyes light up like that. Not even with Reign. Itisthat deep.” She paused. “Tell me… Tell me Crescent. Have you finally moved on?”
I looked over my shoulder at her. “What?”
She shrugged. “It’s been years. I haven’t heard you talk about another woman. Haven’t?—”
“Did I talk to you about Reign before you met her?” I interrupted.
“No, but?—
“Exactly. I don’t be runnin’ my mouth about shit. You know that. Just because you haven’t heard about a chick don’t mean I ain’t had none. You just know about this one because Rah opened his big ass mouth and because she popped up. Chill. Don’t think too deep into it. Ain’t your business to do that anyway.”
She pulled her lips into her mouth, nodded and left me alone about it for the rest of the day.
“You ready, bro?”Asked Orion, peeking his head through the bedroom’s door.
I looked over my shoulder at him as I adjusted my tie. “Yeah, give me about five minutes.”
“Aight,” he said before walking away.
I put my attention back on the mirror in front of me. Today was moms’ funeral and I’d been slow poking all fuckin’ morning. On purpose, too. I was in no rush to see my mom’s in a casket. I’d been dreading this day all week. Nah, not all week… my whole got damn life for real.
With a deep breath, I finished tying my tie and stepped away from the mirror to put my shoes on. I slipped them on and thought about what today would bring. More sorrow, more heartache, a little bit of confusion. But more than anything, finality. That was the main thing I hated about death—how final it was.
After sliding my shoes on, I headed out of the room and downstairs. We were at the compound. Had been for about two days. The family wanted to stay together and we for sure couldn’t do that shit at my crib so, I arranged for them to come out just to keep close. They wanted to be together for pops more than anything. The majority of the family at the compound was from his side of the family. Uncle Lew and them stayed too, which was pretty surprising. Them muthafuckas loved to complain about being across eight mile but for Niecy they would do just about anything.
“The cars should be pulling up any minute now,” Luna said when I walked into the kitchen.
I nodded and sat at the island.
A second later, Auntie Majorie sat a mug and a plate of food in front of me. “Here, put something on your belly, nephew.”
I looked down at the eggs and bacon with a deep breath. Picking the fork up, I grabbed some eggs and pulled the mug in front of me. I appreciated the fuck out of my family. They might’ve fought a lot and talked a lot of shit, but when it was necessary, we came together like none of that even mattered. They’d especially been pulling it together for us. Not one of them complained about being across eight mile, far as hell at the compound. And since they’d been here, they’ve made sure we ate and were good. Every now and then, I thought back to the way I handled them when moms passed away and felt a little bad. I wanted them out of the house when all they were doing was trying to pour into us. These days, though, I let them do what they wanted to do. None of them had been an issue. We’d been leaning on each other like crazy during this time.
“Pops ate?” I asked, after taking a sip of my coffee. With dipped brows, I took another sip and looked at the mug. “Damn auntie, what you put in this?”
She winked at me. “A whole lot of love. Yes, your daddy’s stubborn self ate.”
