Kennedi picked up her fork and stared at her plate. The shrimp and grits were cold, but she was anything but.
Her phone buzzed.
Ro: Tick Tock, baby.
Chapter Eleven
Her phone had been buzzingsince Luther’s. Friday, he’d cornered her in a hallway, told her not to play with him, and promised he’d show up if she didn’t respond. Saturday, he’d started texting. She’d ignored every single one.
Ro: You good?
Ro: Ken, don’t do this.
Ro: You gon make a nigga act up!
Ro: Aight. Bet.
That last text came through twenty minutes ago. Its finality made her stomach drop. She tossed the phone on the bed and finished getting ready for dinner at her parents’. She’d deal with Rolani later. Or maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with him until work. Maybe that “Aight. Bet.” was him finally giving up. She needed him to give it up so she could catch her bearings.
When she arrived at her parents’, the comforting aroma of Sunday dinner was just what she needed to clear her mind. The scent of her mother’s turnip greens and cornbread greeted her as she entered, instantly taking her back to childhood. Some thingsremain constant, and during times of change and uncertainty, that steadiness was essential.
“There’s my baby girl,” her father said, pulling her into one of his bear hugs that still made her feel like she was ten years old.
“Hey, Daddy. I missed you.”
Her mother emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, flour dusting the front of her Sunday dress. Kennedi smiled, seeing her, still the same woman who’d packed her lunches with little notes and stayed up late helping with school projects, now with more gray threading through her beautiful tresses and laugh lines deeper around her eyes.
“You better had missed me more.” Her mother joked, pulling her in for a hug as well.
“Of course I did, mommy. It smells so good in here.” Kennedi said, settling into her usual spot at the kitchen table while her mother bustled around, adding final touches to dinner.
“Sooo what’s new?” her mother said, her voice taking on that wistful tone Kennedi knew all too well.
“Nothing really. Trying to get settled in.”
“Did you find a man in Colorado?”
“Really?”
“Mhmm.” Her mother set a glass of sweet tea in front of her, made exactly how she liked it, with extra lemon, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “You know, all your girls are married now. Blake, Paige, Taylor, and even Carmen said yes to Maurice.” She paused, giving Kennedi that look. “Meanwhile, my beautiful, successful, accomplished daughter is still out here acting like marriage is a disease she might catch.”
“I do not.”
“Sure. All I’m asking for is a God-fearing man with a good heart, who works hard, loves his family, and treats my baby like she’s the only woman in the room. That’s it. That ain’t a lot.”
Kennedi groaned, resting her chin in her palm. The irony was suffocating. Her mother had described Rolani Pracher down to the bone, and she had no idea he existed. The problem wasn’t finding that man. The problem was she’d already found him and run out on him.
Was she the deadbeat?
“Oh, here we go. Ma, please.”
“Don’t ‘here we go’ me, Kennedi Loreal Marie Walters. You’re thirty-one years old. When are you going to find someone to settle down with? I want grandchildren before I’m too old to chase them around this house.”
“You want to be old and decrepit so bad. You’re not exactly withering away, Mommy.” She looked at her mother, who was still beautiful, still vibrant, still turning heads at the grocery store no matter what she had on.
“Don’t get smart with me.” She pointed her wooden spoon at Kennedi like a weapon, but there was love in her eyes. “I’m saying, success is wonderful, baby, but it doesn’t keep you warm at night. It doesn’t give you someone to share your victories with. And it definitely doesn’t give me the grandbabies I’ve been praying for.”
Her father laughed from his spot at the table, where he was sneaking pieces of cornbread. “Heidi, leave that girl alone. She was building her career. There’s time for all that other stuff.”
