Page 81 of Senior

“And you too damn serious.” He pushed me away from him. “Don’t be walking up on me like that, Stanley. I done told you, you ain’t finna lil’ boy me.”

“Y’all cut it the fuck out,” Smoke said, pushing both of us apart. “Shit ain’t even that serious.”

“You need a blunt, man?” Titan asked, pulling one from his pocket.

He lit it and handed it to me. I stared at him for a moment before snatching the blunt and taking a pull from it. They all watched me while he retrieved two additional blunts, lit them and passed them in rotation. A good five minutes went by before my nerves felt relaxed enough to take a deep breath.

“Senior is really fucking my mama, man,” I said.

They looked at me, then each other before breaking into laughter.

“That shit ain’t funny,” I snapped.

“Yes it is, cause that’s a grown ass woman,” Maceo said.

“Good and grown,” Steel added.

I took a long pull from the blunt. “I don’t care if she was old as Methuselah, I don’t like that shit.”

Titan kissed his teeth. “So, you mad because your mama’s getting some dick from your pops? Like, how you think you got here? The stork? They might be a little older, but niggas got needs, bruh.”

Steel shook his head. “You really are being a lil’ dramatic, Deuce. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time they got back together. Shit, the way you act, I see why they were sneaking around.”

“Right,” Titan said, pulling from the blunt. He snorted with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t be the first time they had an affair. Her and my mother in-law finally hashed that shit out. I thought for sure they were gonna be scrapping in Gram’s kitchen this past Sunday.”

“Hold the fuck up,” Smoke said, waving his hands. “Senior cheated on Ms. Maddie with Mama Steph?”

Titan reared his head back. “Y’all ain’t know that?”

“Hell nah,” Maceo said. “When this happen?”

“According to Mia, it ended right around the time she started dating Aaron. They kinda got into it in Paris and Mia finally asked him about it not long after we got back. He owned up to it.”

“Why you ain’t said shit?” Smoke asked

“Nigga, that wasn’t my business!”

“It wasn’t your business, but you just said it casually as fuck.”

“Look, it was years ago. I didn’t think it was a big deal. Shit, I assumed everybody knew and y’all just acted like it didn’t happen. You know Maddie don’t fuck with y’all’s mamas like that like that.”

I chuckled, but nothing was funny. I warned Senior to leave my mama alone, especially if he didn’t have good intentions for her.

“So how long was this going on?” Maceo asked.

Titan looked at me. “I don’t feel like I should say anything else. This nigga fucking eye is twitching.”

Maceo waved him off. “He’ll be okay. Ain’t shit he gon’ do ‘cause he bet not put his hands on my daddy, I know that much.”

I shot him the middle finger as I took another long pull of the blunt.

Titan shook his head. “Like a year, man. Look, Deuce. You gotta let this shit go, bruh. They looked happy as hell on Sunday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen your pops look more like a sucker than when it comes to your mama. They are getting older and I’m sure both of them are lonely in those big ass houses by themselves. Let them be.”

I outed the blunt and tucked the unfinished roach behind my ear.

“Respectfully, my nigga. Ain’t nobody asked y’all for advice or input. That’s my fucking mama and if I say a nigga don’t deserve her, then that nigga don’t deserve her. Point fucking blank. I don’t care who it is, especially y’all’s daddy and father-in-law.”

Maceo shook his head. “Look man, Senior and Mama Steph have something none of us understand. It’s not for us to accept ‘cause they are gonna do what they wanna do. As much as you love your mama, you don’t want her to be happy?”