“Girl, please. You’ve been a crybaby since Pre-K. It’s the Sag in you. Y’all be overwhelmed with emotions.”
“This is true.”
“Come on so we can get your bags.” She looped her arm in mine, and we walked to the carousel.
“I only have one suitcase. I packed light. Not sure how long I’ll be here.”
“Well, depending on how much you packed, we may have to fit a shopping trip in. I’m sure you can’t fit nothing you left behind.”
She grabbed my Glamaholic tote, and we started the walk to the parking garage. Halfway there, I caught myself scanning the crowd to see if Pryce had shown up. Always on guard, my mother slowed her pace and started looking around too.
“Who we lookin’ for? You know I’m licensed to carry.” She tapped her purse and gave me a knowing nod.
I laughed and hooked my arm tighter through hers. “It’s not like that, Mommy.”
“Okay. Why your head on a swivel then?”
“I’m looking to see if Pryce showed up.”
“Oooohhh. Did you tell him you were coming?”
“He’s kinda the reason I’m here,” I told her honestly.
That got her attention. “Mmhmm. And?”
“Nothing. I’ll see him when I see him. I’m just checking to make sure he’s still respecting my space.”
“You know you can’t duck that boy forever. Especially now.”
“I’m not ducking him, Ma. You know that.”
“What do you call it then, Dai?”
We made it outside and into the garage where her car was parked on the first level.
“I call it attempting to regroup after a breakup. Healing, if you will.”
“Right, and then a baby entered the picture. You made no attempt to tell him about the pregnancy. You were ducking him.”
“He made no attempt to reach out,” I fired back, trying to figure out whose side she was on. “So, again, not ducking him.”
“Okay. So, you avoided him.”
“Ma.”
We reached the car, and she popped the trunk, placing my suitcase inside.
“I’ll drop the subject. We can agree to disagree, Dai. I’m just happy you’re here. You and Pryce can figure that out when the time comes. Right now, I just want to enjoy you and my grandbaby.”
We hopped inside her Jeep and drove out of the garage. On the way to my condo, I pulled out my phone to text Ebone but went to Pryce’s thread instead.
Me: Hey. I’m back in the city.
The three dots appeared on the screen, and his reply came faster than I expected.
My Forever: I know.
My heartrate quickened, and he texted again.
