“I’m just sayin’,” Miss Claudette continued, fanning herself dramatically. “If I was thirty years younger?—”
“You’d still be too old for him,” Mr. Jerome said, and everyone laughed.
Amai smiled—easy, relaxed, like he was exactly where he belonged.
But I could see it.
The way his eyes tracked every movement. The way his body stayed loose but ready. The way he wasperformingnormal while being anything but.
Mama saw it too.
I knew she did.
Because after a few more minutes of small talk and laughter, Mama set down her crawfish, wiped her hands on a napkin, and looked at Amai with that smile.
The one that wasn’t really a smile at all.
“You know, Amai,” she said slowly, “I been around a long time. Raised four kids in this house. Seen a lot of people come and go. And I got pretty good at readin’ folks.”
Amai met her eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”
“So I’mma tell you somethin’,” Mama continued, leaning back in her chair. “And I want you to hear me real clear.”
The table went quiet.
Even the music seemed to fade into the background.
“I know a hood nigga when I see one,” Mama said, her voice calm and matter-of-fact. “Don’t matter how nice the car is. Don’t matter how polite you talk or how good you crack crawfish. I can see it in your eyes, baby. You ain’t no jeweler.”
Amai didn’t flinch.
Didn’t deny it.
Just held her gaze, his expression unreadable.
“Or maybe youarea jeweler,” Mama amended. “But that ain’t all you are. Is it?”
Silence.
Then Amai smiled—small, genuine, and for the first time since we’d pulled up,real.
“No, ma’am,” he said quietly. “That’s not all I am.”
Mama nodded, like that was exactly the answer she’d expected.
“That’s what I thought,” she said. She picked up another crawfish, cracked it open, and pointed the tail at him. “Now, I don’t know what my daughter got herself into with you. And I ain’t gonna ask, ’cause Truth is grown, and she make her own choices.”
She paused.
Looked at me.
Then back at Amai.
“But I’mma tell you this,” Mama said, her voice dropping into something low and dangerous. “You hurt my baby—and I don’t carewhatyou are or who you know—I will make it my life’s mission to make you regret it. You understand me?”
Amai didn’t hesitate.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I understand.”
