Like She Never Left
PRYCE
“When he’s ready to talk about it, he will. You need to give him some space, Princeton.”
“How this lil nigga gon’ have space in my house, Jess? He could’ve went to his own place for that. Now you in here tellin’ me where I can and can’t go in my shit.”
The corners of my mouth lifted into a smirk as I listened to my parents go back-and-forth as they stood at the door to their patio. I sat outside in the backyard, staring at the pool, listening to the sounds of the rainforest lowly in my AirPods. My father complaining about giving me spacewhilegiving me space wasn’t surprising to me. It was comical.
“If you open that door to bother him, you gonna piss me off, Prince. I’m serious.”
“Ain’t nobody bothering him. And who you talkin’ to, woman?”
“The man standing by the door breathing. When you wanna be left alone, I don’t let nobody bother you.”
“This my shit, Jess. I’ll put his ass and you out if I need space. That’s the difference.”
“Nigga, please. You put me out and you know what’s going with me.”
My father shut up then, and I chuckled silently. I heard footsteps walking away seconds later. My parents had to be one of the funniest couples I knew. After being together for thirty plus years, they still found things to debate on, yet I’d never heard them argue a day in my life, always a healthy back and forth that was never disrespectful, never hidden, and never quiet. Still, it was the only place I could come when things in my life didn’t make sense.
I’d been sitting in my spot in their backyard for an hour now. I hadn’t planned on stopping by, but after driving around idly for a little bit once I left Dai’s place, I eventually called my mother and told her I needed to come by to talk but not right away. She didn’t bombard me with questions. “Whenever you’re ready” was her response. It was her way of communicating that there was no rush. It had always been her way with me since I was a child. She’d give me space when I needed it, her shoulder when I didn’t request it, and the truth when I didn’t want it. Standing up slowly, I paused the sounds on my phone and headed inside.
“Y’all know I could hear y’all talking from out there, right?” I said as I entered the kitchen that was right off the patio.
“Good,” my father said, making my mother shake her head and giggle.
“I know you heard me telling him to leave you alone.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Then he threatened to put you out.”
She smirked, washing off fruit at the sink and bringing them over to the island to chop and pack away. “You see how that worked out, right?”
My father came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist with his chin rested on her shoulder. “You threatened to take that good stuff, and you know I couldn’t have that.”
“Aight, man. That’s too much PDA.” I waved them off.
He kissed her neck, and she blushed hard. “You in our shit. You lucky we ain’t fuckin’.”
“Princeton.” She elbowed him.
“Aight. Aight.” He stepped from behind her and leaned back on the counter. “Wassup witchu?”
“Adai back in town.”
My mother’s eyes lit up, and he smiled.
“Awww, really?” she let out. “I missed my girl. Have you seen her?”
“Yeah. I seen her and my baby,” I replied.
“I’m sorry, what?” She paused mid chop, setting her knife down. “What baby? Adai pregnant? When you find out?”
“How bout you let him answer at least one question before you fire off another one, beautiful?” my father suggested.
“I’m sorry. Go head, Pryce.”
“Yeah. She’s pregnant. Six months along.”
