“He needs you to make some flyers so we can start passing them out and posting them online,” my mom told her.
“Oh, I got you. You know that’s my specialty! I’ll run an ad as well.”
“That’d be dope, sis. I’m glad to have everyone’s support. This makes me excited to make it happen.”
“Oh! And I have a few friends that’ll need your services, too, so I can’t wait to get started.” She smiled widely, geeked as hell. I laughed and pulled out another glass and poured us all a shot.
I lifted my glass, and they all did the same. “To a successful business venture and making single mothers’ and parents’ lives much easier.”
“Here, here!” We all tapped our glasses and saluted. It would be the start of something great.
Per usual,my nieces and nephews roped me into letting them stay another night at my house. Since it was Saturday, I planned to do an activity with them to keep their minds busy. We went to Michael’s, an arts-and-crafts store, and picked up a few canvases, beads, paint, glitter, stencils, paintbrushes, yarn, and colored pencils. My nephews were growing up on me, so their idea of doing arts and crafts wasn’t as appealing as it was for my nieces, so I took them to the Lego store and let them go crazy. As they picked out the ones they wanted, I heard a cute little giggle in the aisle, thenhervoice blessed my ears.
“You want the princess one, Chloe?”
“Yes!” I looked over, and we both locked eyes. Although she was smiling at her baby girl, I could see the sadness in her eyes. She had been on my mind, since seeing her that day at the deli, when she shouldn’t have been. She was a married woman whom I couldn’t pursue. It didn’t stop me from seeing her beautiful face in my dreams, though.
“Ms. Alicia, . . . we meet again.” I smiled.
She frowned in confusion. “How do you know my name? I never gave it to you.”
“You, uh, dropped your business card on the floor at the deli,” I admitted.
“Oh . . .”
She looked away as I continued to stare at her. She was so damn beautiful. Beautiful and sad. My hero syndrome pushed me to rescue her from whatever was the cause of her melancholy, but I knew I couldn’t cross that boundary with her. She was a married woman, and no matter how bad I wanted to hold her close, I knew I had to sit this one out.
“Uncle Baye. We’re ready,” Brendan said, tossing his LEGO set inside the basket, pulling my attention away from the beautiful, married vixen. “Hi, I’m Brendan,” he said, holding out his hand for Alicia to shake.
This boy.
She smiled down at him and took his hand. “Hi, cutie. I’m Alicia. How are you?”
He smiled widely at her calling him cute. “I’m good.”
“Hi, I’m Chloe!” The little girl waved.
“Hi, Chloe. I’m Siori, and this is my sister, Sahira, and my brothers, Brenton and Brendan.”
“Hi!” she exclaimed excitedly, a huge smile on her little cute face. She looked just like her moms.
“This is my uncle Basil, and he’s single,” Brendan shared, looking at Alicia.
I pulled him back and chuckled. “A’ight, that’s enough, snitch.” Brenton and the girls laughed while I shook my head. “Sorry about that. I’m in the process of training them on how to act in public.”
“But he isn’t wrong, Uncle Baye,” Sahira said.
“That may be true, but Ms. Alicia is married. That means she’s unavailable, so better luck next time, princess.” I pinched her cheek as she smiled.
“I have to go. Nice meeting you all.” She gave a small smile, then rushed down the aisle. I gently placed my hand on hers when she walked by me, to stop her from walking away. She looked up into my eyes as I watched the sadness ooze from her pores. She was hurting but putting up a brave front.
We stared at one another for a moment before I broke the silence. “Whatever it is, just know that God is preparing you for greater. Nothing He does is without purpose. You’re going to find your smile again.”
She didn’t reply, but she gave a small nod, then rushed off again. I watched until she turned the corner. Then I looked down at my nephew, who was cheesing like a Cheshire cat.
“She was pretty, Uncle Baye.”
“She is pretty, but I don’t need you to try to hook me up, champ. I got this.”
