“The glow looks good on you, Mama Marissa. She even changed out of her joggers for the day and threw on a cute romper. You going to see a man about a horse later today?”
“Jameera! Please,” I giggled. “You can just send me a picture of the dress so I can get this boy right. I want to have this situated in the next few days. I’m not trying to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off on Saturday. I have Quincy’s Fall Ball game in the morning and y’all homecoming in the evening.”
“I’m sending it now,” she assured me.
I connected my phone to the car to play some music and avoid any further awkward conversations. The car notified me that Jameera sent me an image, and right after that, a text from Yaseer came through.
Yaseer: What size lingerie do you wear? I’m trying to see that shit in something purple.
Lil Q’s head snapped in my direction, and he snatched the phone off the cord. I reached over and yanked the phone out of his hand while Jameera cackled in the backseat.
“Hurry up and get me out of this car,” Lil Q demanded as we pulled onto Jameera’s street.
“Bae, take me back home. I can’t even look at her,” he complained.
“I got you,” Jameera confirmed as we pulled into her driveway.
Lil Q hopped out of the car before I could put it in park.
“Thank you for the ride home, Mama Marissa. I hope your trip to Miami was as much fun as I think it was.”
“Get away from my car, Jameera.”
She laughed, closing the door. Lil Q leaned back in the car, glaring at me. “Are you on birth control and using condoms? It’s better to be safe than pregnant.” He mocked me in his best girly voice.
“I’m going through perimenopause!” I opened my mouth to reply, but he slammed the door in my face. While sitting in the driveway watching them enter the house, I opened Yaseer’s text to reply.
Me: A medium will fit.
Yaseer: When are you going to carve time in your busy schedule for me? I’ll move my shit around for you. Just give me the time and I’ll pick you up.
Me: I have so much going on this week. I don’t want you to think I’m giving you the cold shoulder. I just have to free some time up.
Yaseer: I’m going to hold you to that.
Me: I hope you have a great rest of your day.
Yaseer: You too.
I dropped the phone in the cupholder and backed out of the parking lot. Life was definitely coming at me fast.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Marissa Bentley
Outside of a few texts and our nightly phone calls, I hadn’t made much of an effort to see Yaseer. I couldn’t tell you whether it was accidental or intentional. What I did know is I missed his handsome face. He kept offering to take me out daily, but between getting everything planned for Lil Q’s homecoming, then I was in the hair salon all day yesterday getting my hair braided, and everything in between, I was exhausted at the end of the day. Today was the big day, and I woke up in a good mood, ready to get all of this shit over with.
I did a quick once over in the mirror, admiring the green and gold baseball jersey with Quincy’s name and number on the back, the gold biker shorts that hugged my thighs, and the pair of green and white Nike Dunks on my feet. My braids were pulled back in a ponytail to keep them off my shoulders in the heat. I looked good and was ready to head out, my metallic gold Chanel bag swinging from my shoulder and a pair of Chanel cat eye glasses on my face to complete the look.
Jury and Tech were already outside before I made it downstairs. Lil Q went to get a haircut before the game and wasmeeting us there. My car was getting detailed for Lil Q to drive tonight, so I was riding with them since they were the closest to me.
“Ow! Ow! Mama Marissa coming to the baseball field to steal all of the attention,” Jury chortled, then rolled her window back up.
I slipped into the backseat of Tech’s truck feeling lovely. When we made it to the game, Girl Quori, and Boy Corey were already in the stands. We used to try to call them Q and C when they were in the same room, or else it was a struggle for them to differentiate who you were talking to. That only lasted for so long because Lil Q was sometimes called Q by my side of the family so he would think we were talking to him. Now it was just Girl Quori and Boy Corey to keep the confusion down when everyone was around. Vez, Girl Quori’s husband, was sitting next to her with his mom and her best friend beside them.
The sun was on my ass the second I stepped out of the truck, so I already had my purple handheld fan on full blast.
“Y’all just missed Quincy. He said that the coach told him that he already had two scouts here to speak with him. They been asking about his swing mechanics,” Vez informed us.
