These two fools...
“Can I hold her?” Nicky’s voice was so soft coming from behind me, I barely recognized it.
“Nicky? Nicky Strickland?” Theo said, as if one, he’d just noticed her, and two, I didn’t inform him she’d be with me in my text.
She smiled as she eased by my body into the room and gave Theo a half hug. He handed her the baby, and said, “’Nika, this Damon’s girl. The one I told you about.”
She looked up from her phone again, and her eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh, yeah. Hey. You cute. Little. No kids?”
Nicky gave Onika a tight smile and shook her head. She glanced at me before sitting in the folding chair I usually occupied when I talked business with my cousin. I felt a little tear in my heart, because I knew she was thinking about our baby. I wished things had turned out differently. That was a burden I almost wished I could carry alone but knew it would be too much for me.
Nicky and Onika fell into an easy conversation as Theo showed me the finished artwork for the next month’s chapter of Foreign Son. My lazy-ass slacker cousin’s talent always amazed me, and I was thankful he was able to meet the deadline I’d set for us despite his daddy duties.
“Wow!” Nicky said, now standing behind where I was bent over the computer. “Theo, I’d forgotten how talented an artist you are. This looks so good!”
Glancing back to see that Onika now had the sleeping baby, I stood upright, moving back a little to give Nicky a better view of the computer screen.
As I wrapped an arm around her little waist, she said, “You do all of this digitally?”
Theo nodded, pointing to the Wacom tablet that was attached to his computer and its accompanying pen. “I use this and Manga Studio software. Both are pretty cheap, but they get the job done.”
“Man, this is terrific! And you do the story, baby?” Her eyes were on me now, filled with wonder.
I grinned. “Yeah. You act like I never showed you our site before.”
She shook her head. “You did months ago, when I was…I wasn’t in the right head space back then to fully appreciate it. But now? I’m so proud of you two!”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. “Thanks, Nick.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, as she reached up and kissed my lips. “Hey, is your site mobile friendly?”
“Yeah,” Theo answered before I could.
“Good! I’ma take some screenshots of the current chapter and tag everyone from Stan Lee to Oprah on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You say Fake for Bae is your top-earning business, but this is your meal ticket. This is incredible, and I’m about to make sure everyone knows about it.”
I couldn’t do anything but smile. It felt good to know my girl had my back. So good, that once I got her back home, I ate her like I was a death row inmate and she was my last meal.
*****
“You gonna get that?” Nicky asked, glancing up from her computer where she was scheduling posts for her clients, including me, with Hootsuite.
“Nope. It’s just my mom. Not in the mood today.”
She was quiet for a moment, then my mom called again, the third time in less than an hour. “She’s marathon calling you. Could be an emergency.”
“I’ll call her back later.”
“Why not now?”
I finally looked up from my computer to see her eyes on me. “Because I know she’s on some bullshit, probably tryna plan another fake-ass family dinner, and I’m not in the mood.”
“But how do you know that for sure?”
“Because I know my mother, Nick. When she’s on that shit, she always calls back to back like it’s urgent, but it never is.”
“But it could be this time.”
I refocused on my computer screen and blew out a breath. “It’s not.”
“But you don’t know that.”
“Nick, I’m done discussing this. I’ll call her back later.”
I thought she’d left it alone, but after a stretch of silence, she said, “You got some chick programmed as ‘Mama’ in your phone?”
My head snapped up. “What?”
She closed her laptop and squared her shoulders. “I said…is some bitch calling you and you got her name in your phone listed as ‘Mama’?”
I closed my own damn computer. “And why in THE FUCK would I do that?”
“To throw me off that ho’s scent.”
“Are you serious, Nick?”
“Do I look serious?!”
“Let me get this straight. You think I’m cheating on you with a motherfucker I got programmed into my phone as ‘Mama’?”
“Yes!”
“Nick, have you lost your damn mind? Then what do I have my mom in here as?” I asked, holding up my phone.
She shrugged. “Wanda? Mrs. Davis? I don’t know!”
“You think I’m cheating on you?”
“Is it Ivy?”
My eyes damn near popped out of my head as I stood from the sofa. “Ivy? I’m not messing with Ivy!”
Nicky hopped up from her seat beside me, raising her voice. Only inches separated us. “But you are messing with someone else, huh? What’s her name, Damon?!”
“Her name is Nicole Lisette Strickland! Shit! Crazy ass woman!”
“Did you screw Ivy before we got together?”
“Huh? Nick! No!” I could see tears filling her eyes, and it felt like the room was spinning. What the hell was going on? “Nicole, I have not touched any woman but you since I’ve been back in Romey, and that ain’t some chick calling me. It’s my mom.” I tried to go for the calm approach, because her ass was bugging completely the hell out.
“Prove it,” she challenged, her eyes narrowed at me.
“Prove—you don’t believe me? You know me better than this, Nick! Come on!”
“If that’s your mother, I don’t see why you can’t just call her back and show me it’s her.” Her ass was pouting now.
“Because I don’t like my mother, and you of all people know that! Damn!”
She just stood there and looked at me.
I scoffed and shook my head as I held the phone up to her face, dialed my mom’s number, and put it on speakerphone, mumbling, “You are crazy as hell,” under my breath.
After my mother answered, I said, “Hey, Ma, I just wanted you to know I got your calls. I’ll call you back later. Can’t talk now.”
“Oh, okay?” my mother’s confused voice said.
I ended the call and stared at Nicky’s insane ass with raised eyebrows. “Nick, I have waited my whole damn life to be able to call you mine. Do you actually think I’d do anything to mess this up?”
She dropped her eyes. “No. I…I’m sorry.”
I held the phone out to her. “Here, call all the damn numbers in there and see if I’m using your sister, Angie’s, name as code for some chick. And your mom’s name. And Aunt Monda. And the chick that works at Kroger’s that sells the bootleg DVDs on the side. I got her number from Zo. She’s in here as Ally, but I don’t even know if that’s her real name. She’s old and she’s black. I’ve never heard of an old black chick named—”
She heaved a sigh and with slumped shoulders said, “Okay, okay! I said I’m sorry! I believe you! I-I overreacted, overreached, acted a fool for nothing. But I can’t help it! I’ve never been in a relationship with someone I love before. I mean, I love you so much it’s driving me crazy.”
“You think? Look, I feel the same way about you, but damn! Can you at least try to trust me? We in here screwing twenty-five hours a day and you think I got time to cheat on you?”
“No…I’m sorry, Dame,” she whined.
I shook my head and moved to leave the room, but stopped when I heard her say, “I’ll do anything to make it up to you.” She stepped closer to me and dropped to her knees, grabbing the waistband of my jeans.
I dragged my bottom lip between my teeth and smiled down at her as she unbuttoned and unzipped my pants. Just that qu
ick, I forgot about being mad at her.
23
I was sitting in my parents’ formal living room with my eyes across the space focused on the three men huddled near the piano no one in the Strickland family knew how to play. Well actually, my eyes were fixed on Damon as he stood there in black jeans, a plain white tee—instead if his usual vintage comic book or cartoon t-shirt—a black sport coat and black and white Chucks, holding a lowball glass of brandy, because apparently, grown-up Damon liked brandy. He looked gorgeous, and as Angie filled me and Renee in on her and Ryan’s most recent trip to a beauty convention in New York City, I tried to calculate when during the course of the evening Damon and I could sneak into a bathroom for a quickie. I was on fire for him.
“Nicky? Did you hear me?” Angie’s voice sounded so far off…
I jerked my head around to give her my attention. “Huh?”
Angie grinned. “Girl, I thought I had it bad! You can’t keep your eyes off of Damon. How did I miss this before? All this time I thought he had a crush on you, but your ass been in love, too, huh?”
I shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Right. Whatever. Nicky, I can’t believe you kept this from us all these years!” Renee said.
“How you know it’s been years—oh, yeah…I forgot Damon spilled the beans to Angie’s loose-lipped ass.”
“Yep,” Angie confirmed.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’m crazy about him, always have been.” My eyes made their way back over to him in time to catch him smiling at me. “I just had to get out of my own way long enough to accept it.”
“I think it’s beautiful, two people who’ve known each other since they were kids together and in love. I mean, you two are at a huge advantage. You already know everything there is to know about each other,” Renee said.
“Yeah, it was definitely easy to slide into a relationship with Damon, but there’re still things we have to learn about each other. We were apart for years, nearly our entire adulthoods. We’ve changed a lot, but the basics, the core of who we are as people, are the same. I know him at the deepest level, but I’m enjoying the way he’s matured. The things that are different about him now—his confidence, the way he curses like a champ, his body, his openness about his feelings—all of that just makes me love him more.” I was so deep in thought, more or less speaking out loud to myself than to them, that it took me a second to notice the shocked expressions they wore. Feeling self-conscious, I said, “What?”
“Nicky, that was the most beautiful, heartfelt, mature—”
“And normal,” Renee said, interrupting Angie.
Angie nodded. “Yeah! And normal thing you have ever said. Ever.”
I smiled. “You didn’t let me finish.” I glanced around the room and lowered my voice. “And his dick? Sheeeeiiiiiiiiit! His skills are on POINT! He was good before. But now? I’m a straight-up fiend for him! The other night, he had me reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the damn preamble to the constitution. I was ‘We the People’ like a motherfucker! My man can batter the chicken and fry the shit out of it! In a skillet, not a deep fryer!”
“There she is,” Angie said, turning to Renee. “Our sister is back.”
Renee shook her head. “Yep, that’s her.”
I planted a smirk on my face and was about to double down on my debaucherous speech when a booming voice snatched our attention.
“Sorry for the delay, everyone! Me and Lisa must’ve uh…lost track of time,” Daddy announced, giving Mama, who clung to his side, a wink. Renee groaned softly. I giggled.
“Glad you all let yourselves in! Well, my baby did the honors of preparing us a delicious meal tonight, so let’s eat!”
A few minutes later, we were all seated at the dining room table enjoying my mom’s specialty, the only thing she made better than Angie did—lasagna.
“I can’t believe you didn’t bring my little buddy,” Daddy said, his eyes on Renee and Zo, who were sitting across the table from me and Damon. I had been disappointed about Little Zo’s absence, too, but had kept it to myself. I loved his little chunky butt.
“My mom wanted to keep him, and besides, me and Renee needed a real break, a night out, Pops,” Zo said, and I wondered when he started calling Daddy Pops. Here lately, Daddy and Zo were damn near inseparable. I threw a look at Renee. She gave me a little shrug in return.
“Hmm, I guess I’ll let y’all pass today, but I’ll be by tomorrow so me and the little guy can spend some quality time together.”
This time, Angie, who was sitting to my right, nudged me and muttered, “What the hell?”
I mumbled, “Girl…”
Then the table was filled with small talk about Angie’s and Ryan’s most recent trip, the book Zo was working on, my blossoming social media management business that I’d monikered NLS, and even Damon’s websites. It was a nice, normal dinner, and it felt like Mama and Daddy never separated, almost like Daddy was never an absent father or an unfaithful husband. They both seemed…happy, content, much like the rest of us sitting around the table. There was a peace in that room that I’d never felt in that house in my entire life. It wasn’t that my childhood was filled with strife; it was just always cloudy with a distinct sadness that hovered over the place because of my father’s actions. But on this particular evening, for the first time in years, I couldn’t feel that sadness.
As I lifted a forkful of key lime pie to my mouth, my father stood and cleared his throat. I set my fork down, and along with everyone else at the table, focused on Daddy.
“I first want to say how happy I am to be able to have this time with my family tonight. I love you, all of you. Of course, I love my baby girls, and I’m just—” He paused as his voice quivered a bit. “I’m glad to see they’ve chosen good men. Especially you, Nicole. I could’ve thrown a party when you canceled that wedding. I thought I was gonna have to put my foot in somebody’s a—”
“Angelo!” Mama scolded.
“Sorry, baby. Uh, Damon, I never knew you that well, because I…wasn’t around much, but my Lisa loves you, and that’s all I need to know. I’m glad Nicole has you,” Daddy said.
“Thank you, sir. I’m truly the lucky one. Nicky is the answer to my dreams.”
With my mouth gaped open and my eyes wet with tears, I fell into Damon and hugged him tightly.
“Well,” my father continued, “Lisa and I thought this would be a good time to tell you all that after more than three years of separation and a lot of begging and pleading on my part, she has agreed to give me another chance.”
Gasps and a chorus of “whats” rang throughout the room. I don’t think any of us were exactly shocked about this development. If my sisters were anything like me, they were just surprised at Daddy’s demeanor, the calm in his voice, and the way he kept shooting adoring glances at Mama. Daddy was just…different.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking, but I promise you this: I’m not the same man I was before me and your mother separated. I’ve learned a lot about myself, your mother, and even you girls since Lisa kicked me out. And these two new sons of mine?” He shook his head. “Seeing the way Ryan loves and respects Angie and the way Lorenzo loves and respects Renee? Well, you two young men showed my old ass how it’s supposed to be done, how to do it right.” He turned and faced Mama. “Lisa, baby, you are my everything. You stood by me when I was nothing, didn’t have nothing, and even after that when all I gave you was a comfortable, lonely life. You gave me three beautiful daughters and raised them into wonderful women. You are too good for me, but I’m blessed to have your love and your heart. I promise to take better care of it this time. I love you. Thank you for taking me back.”
Mama leaped from her seat into Daddy’s arms, and my heart swelled for them, for all of us.
24
I fought to regulate my breathing as I blinked back tears. Sitting in the passenger’s seat of Damon’s car, the loudest thought in my cluttered mind was: I knew this wouldn’t last.
It couldn’t. Things had been too good for too long. Two months had passed since we’d officially been together. Two months of peace, spent soaking in each other’s love. I’d been happy, too happy. And then…this.
But I wasn’t surprised, knew it was merely a matter of time before my past crept into my present, especially since that particular part of my past wasn’t so far in the distance.
I chanced a glance at Damon, at the man who made me swoon like a character in a romance novel. The man who made my heart race and my coochie liquify. I could see the tenseness in his jaw, and my eyes didn’t miss the way his big hand kept gripping and releasing the steering wheel. He was pissed and rightfully so. Hell, I’d be pissed if I was him. If the tables were turned, I’m not sure things would’ve turned out so well. Sure, he was probably going to get back to the duplex and throw me and all my shit out of his place, and I couldn’t even get mad about it, but if I had been him and not one, not two, but four different dudes, all my former fuck buddies, had come up to our table while we were out to dinner, my ass would’ve gone ballistic, but not Damon. He sat there and watched as I explained to West, Quincy, LeVontae, and another guy whose name eluded me that yes, my number had changed—a precaution I took shortly after moving in with Damon, because who had time to block that many niggas—and no, I wasn’t going to give them the new one, because I was in a relationship with the man sitting across the table from me. Three of them took that information, apologized to Damon, and left. But West, who was a dude I screwed for the novelty of the fact that he had a gold grill and no job, just stood there, glanced at Damon, and said, “The fuck he got to do with us? I’m tryna kick it wit’ you, not marry you. Shit.”
Damon frowned and quickly stood from his seat, fists clenched at his sides, ready to do battle. And while West was a fool and a certified thug, Damon was bigger, taller, and had anger issues due to his parents’ neglect and indifference. Plus, he loved me and was possessive of me before I was even really his, had marked me long ago. So I knew West was about to get his ass whooped. However, instinct told me to sit my ass down. I wasn’t about to jump up and get between them and give Damon the impression I was defending West. Screw that. West was just going to have to take that ass-whooping, and I’d have to figure out which of my abused credit cards to use to bail my man out. And then, once I got him home, I was going to have to do all kinds of freaky shit to make it up to him. I mean, regular head wasn’t going to cut it, despite the fact that I had the ability to make him speak in tongues.
Be with Me (Strickland Sisters Book 3) Page 14
