by Love Belvin
As his people filed out onto the patio behind him, he went over to an anxious Earl to do the same. That crazy Earl crushed on the guy so pitifully. After all these years, he refused to get the memo LeRoy wasn’t interested. My cook wasn’t rich enough to capture LeRoy’s attention. They made small talk as they always did when LeRoy had been away for a while.
My attention went back to Leech, who was crawling down the post. Compared to his short stature, the gas lamp was as tall as the Statue of Liberty. I listened while he and Harry spoke about replacement parts when I felt a slap on my shoulder.
“So we’re eating puss now?” LeRoy delivered more like an announcement.
Leech busted out laughing, in spite of his natural inclination to disappear into the wallpaper. Harry’s face turned red. When I turned to LeRoy, I peeped Earl’s bottom lip on the concrete floor. Wynter covered her mouth, frozen in place.
LeRoy stood with his hands cupped at his waist. “I’ll wait.”
I leaned my head to the side. “For your chin to get cracked? ‘Cause that’s all you ‘bout to get.”
He rolled his eyes and found a lounge chair to sprawl into. “All I’m saying is things are changing, and too quickly for my taste.”
“What would make it slow to your pace?”
LeRoy shrugged like a kid, pretending to shift his attention to his cuticles. He did this when he was jealous of me making friends outside of him.
“Well, I’ll wait till you answer that.” I stepped off. “Oh.” I turned back. “This lil gathering is for invited guests only. Tresse and Tab are gonna have to sit it out.” I didn’t wait for an answer about his assistants before walking away.
As I walked toward one of the food tables for a drink, Van, Ivie, and Mya stepped onto the patio. Mya’s eyes were wide with wonder. Ivie hid her reaction well, but couldn’t control her eyes bouncing all around, including out into the gardens. Van looked cool and controlled. I was glad they were prompt. I had to be in the City in less than three hours and didn’t have much time to spare.
I spoke to the three of them right after Wynter did.
“I’m so glad everyone’s on time!” Wynter’s smile was infectious.
She seemed excited about this. Had been talking about it for about a week now. We watched the ladies grab food and Wynter got Van a drink. He eyeballed LeRoy like crazy, probably until it was settled in his mind he wasn’t a threat. Leech and Harry left like LeRoy’s assistants. At some point, Wynter nudged me. That was my cue and I put my empty cup on one of the coffee tables.
“Aye, blessed people!” I slapped my hands together to get their attention. “So glad you were able to make it today.” Wynter was at my side and I pulled her closer by the arm. “The lady here wanted a private moment with our closest friends and family. There’re a few things we need to clarify and catch you up on—”
Mya gasped and smiled so big I thought she was going to pop something in her face. “Are we expecting a baby?” Her shoulders lifted dreamily.
Van’s eyes narrowed.
“No!”
“Nah.” Wynter and I answered at the same time: me with a smile, her with her eyes closed.
“You joining the illuminati?” Ivie asked with a suspicious tone.
My face went tight. I hated that accusation. It was a growing allegation for when success happened for celebrities. I was a man of God: illuminati where?
Wynter laughed, waving her friend off. “Would you quit with that shit! No, girl! I’m trying to become a follower of Jesus, and you wanna bring that craziness up!”
Her joking aside, I was happy to hear her share that out loud. Wynter had been asking me mad questions about Christianity lately. She said it was something she wanted to know more about, but I never pressed her for why.
“Man,” Van mumbled. “Then get to the damn point.”
“Ookay!” Wynter sassed him back. Then she looked up at me before diving in. I tossed her a wink. She was smart, articulate beyond my wildest dreams. Wynter was the perfect one to represent us. The McKinnons. “So, we’d like to first start off by apologizing. We kicked this thing off way wrong, and for every reason but the right one.”
I gave a neck bow to emphasize my apology. LeRoy’s eyes went narrow.
Wynter continued. “You are all aware of the story about how Raj and I were arranged and did not choose each other, some of you are more conversant with the deets than others. It’s been a fucking rough eight months.” I squeezed her shoulder to shun that mouth of hers. We had work to do on it. The only time I didn’t mind the filth flowing from those lips was when she sucked me off, spewing every nasty word in the dictionary about how she enjoyed it and knew I did, too. “But we’ve made it through…stronger. Each day has come with a task, it seems. And each day we’ve chosen to fight.”
She looked up at me again, unable to hide her smile. “Raj and I are together now. It’s still weird to acknowledge we’re married, but we are. Yeah, we know that title is leaps and bounds from where we are, but we’re keeping it until we grow into it.” Her voice cracked.
God…
Wynter was crying again. I pulled her into me more, using both arms to try to comfort her.
“When the fuck did you start crying?” Ivie demanded.
Mya nudged her. “Stop it!”
“Nah. For real, though.” Van sat up in his seat. “This still hard to get used to. You going soft on me now, Wynnie? I ‘on’t like this shit a lil bit.”
Wynter sniffled and wiped her face. “I swear I told myself not to cry during this, but…” Her wet eyes climbed up to me. “As corny as it sounds… I just love the shit out of this human.”
My belly fluttered.
Mya started to stomp her feet into the concrete. My eyes blinked to clear when I noticed she was crying, too. Her fist went to her mouth. “That’s right, Wynter! Claim your love!”
“No!” Ivie argued. “Tears like that is what you do when you’re claiming the D!”
Van and Mya’s heads whipped over to Ivie. I laughed, and LeRoy sat up in his seat. I knew that look. Ivie had awakened the sleeping predator.
“Anyway. We want you guys to know, as our true circle of friends, this is very real. There are no more secrets, no more gray areas.” Her eyes were on me again. “Just pure love.”
“Damn,” I heard Van whisper. “This nigga went poetic on me, too.”
“One question.” Ivie raised her hand. “You still living in Jersey City?”
“Both,” I answered. “but she moved back here for the time being.”
“Oh!” Wynter chirped. “And Raj’s tour kicks off in three days in England…Sunderland. I’ll be going.”
“To just that concert?” Van asked.
“Nah. The whole tour.” When Wynter looked up to me again, I realized I was squeezing her again.
I wanted it clear she would be with me, not behind.
“Damn, Wynter.” Van’s face scrunched. “For how long?”
“Six weeks,” LeRoy answered with his eyes on Ivie. “You can come with if you’d like. I’d love to show you around Dublin—or perhaps Navigli for a retro and romantic excursion.” His voice shifted to baritone and cleverly.
I shook my head. Ivie didn’t know what had hit her. As I glanced down at Wynter, who was biting her bottom lip with wide eyes, I knew she agreed.
I was down to my last domino, my hand covered it as I watched with twitching anticipation for my opponents to finish their go’s. Ragee was able to play on his own hand, an eight.
Cool. Next…
Benjamin—what he asked me to call him when we were introduced an hour ago—pushed his meaty olive hand up and played on the Mexican. A double five.
Damn!
There went my chance of winning in the next round if no one could satisfy it.
“But because I’m a master Domino player. You know I can handle it. Right?” His one brow peaked and lips pouted haughtily. I covered my mouth when I snickered. “Watch closely, folks.”
; He slid a five to satisfy it. Whew! And he still had four dominoes left.
Next was Mathew. His top lip pressed into his crooked teeth that pushed from his little mouth as he concentrated hard on reviewing his dominoes. After a few seconds, I knew he’d have to pluck. His shy little eyes darted at me before he leaped up and reached to the side of the table for another domino to hopefully help him out. His head shook, silky chestnut hairs shifting about, telling of his defeat.
Yes!
I rejoiced as the board progressed, but deep inside, I wouldn’t have been mad if he’d won. That Mathew was adorably shy. He even flexed the muscles around his mouth repetitively and I was sure subconsciously, a telling symptom of a disorder. But he was adorable, and his aura was peaceful. Those long eyes warmed my chest every time they rose to me.
The last opponent before my winning play was soul brother Devon.
He took a deep breath, blowing it out with wide eyes as he peered down at his hand.
One domino? What the hell?
Did he tap? I couldn’t recall. Had I been that lost in fighting to my victory that I missed he was down to one before me?
“Y’all know there comes a time in every man’s life when he has to separate hisself from the boys”—He gestured toward me with his forehead—“and ladies. I’m a man!” he spoke up. “And if y’all mans, too, you can take this beating like men!” He slammed the domino down on his thread. “You know! Domino!”
Devon had all the head movements to match his excitement. Raj and Benjamin sighed at their loss. Benjamin knocked his standing dominoes over. I laughed at Devon’s victory dance, his facial expressions with his tongue pushing from his mouth resembled a grown man. Clearly, he had lived a long life, longer than his natural age. I wanted to dance with him but thought it to be inappropriate. It was easy to forget these were broken souls at the table with me when their souls were so bright and pure.
Molly, the woman Raj introduced me to today, stepped inside the living room.
“Okay, guys.” She smiled at the varied moods in the room. “It’s time to say goodbye. Mr. Ragee and his wife have to go.”
“Ah, man!” Benjamin cried. “Only one game? I can’t let this guy sleep with that W!”
“I would show you how it’s done, but you gone have to sleep with two Ls tonight if I did,” Devon continued to gloat.
I couldn’t help my giggle at that. Raj’s laughter was louder.
“Wait,” Mathew muttered, standing to his feet. His big eyes on me. “I gotta go grab something. Stay right here!”
He scrambled out of the living room of their home and jetted up the stairs. Molly’s confused expression matched mine.
“Benji. My dude!” The happiness on Raj’s face couldn’t be any more conspicuous. It melted my heart. “You saw how many dominoes we all had left. You shouldn’t’ve satisfied that double five. Shoulda made us sweat it out.”
“Yup. ‘Cause look.” Devon lifted his winning domino. “This ain’t no five. Ha!” That little tongue pushed out again.
This kid!
And he was so cute! Just adorable. They all were. And they all had their unique and charming features, making them stand apart. Devon reminded me so much of a young Van. The things that would come out of his mouth made you believe he had wisdom beyond his years. It was just that, in the case of Devon from what Raj shared with me before we got here today, it was likely true. His eyes had seen and mind had been exposed to so much.
Raj shared all of their stories with me to prepare for this visit. It was an inconvenient time, but I pushed to meet them before we left for Europe tonight. Since deciding to give Raj a try, I’d been dying to see what captured a special chamber of his heart. I’d only been here just over an hour and I could see.
They were his mirror. People he could identify with.
She had not stopped smiling since she shook hands with all three of them. There was a twinkle in her eye as she spoke with them, engaging them in conversation I found challenging my first time with them. Wynter even suggested the game when she got Benji talking enough to learn they just played last night and some other kid had won.
I was nervous about Mathew. He was the least trusting one. He didn’t speak a lot again this time, but I could have sworn I saw him smile at her. Benji had a birthday last week and we brought up a few things to celebrate it. And Devon and Mathew both had collected a crazy number of points earned by good behavior measure, according to Molly. So we brought them a few things, too.
But deep down inside, I was nervous. I still found it crazy I told her about this. It was something only Ezra and LeRoy knew. Having her here with me as I got to know them better meant a lot. I didn’t know if it would help with my obsession issues with her or hurt. But we were giving it a try.
While I followed the back and forth between Devon and Benji, clinking from the stairs caught my attention. Mathew was carrying something too big for his little frame down the stairs. Automatically, I stood, passing Molly to help him.
A keyboard…
It was a small one attached to a stand, way too much for him to carry down a flight of steps, but the kid seemed determined. When he made it off the last step, he shot in front of me, pointing to a seat on the sofa where he wanted me to park it. I hooked him up, placing it where he asked. When he sat behind it, I knew he didn’t bring it for me to play and was even more curious.
His little fingers tapped the keys, creating a loose melody to warm up. I remembered those days. Then his head came up and he looked straight across the coffee table to Wynter, who had just finished packing the dominoes back in the box.
“This is for Ms. Wynter.” His little mouth tightened around his teeth as he swallowed.
He had to be nervous because I saw his hands trembling. Then after a few rusty chords, I recognized a melody. It took a minute to recall the exact one. It actually happened at the same time as he began to sing.
“I see us in the park….
Strolling the summer days of imaginings in my head.
And words of my heart…”
I smiled with a pride I didn’t know.
Stevie Wonder…
He was romancing my lady with one of the masters. Mathew’s face stayed down, eyes on the keys, and his harmony was off. He still needed to work on that, but his cadence was more confident than last fall. It was clear he wasn’t a singer, but he definitely was a better key player. He was out of tune most of the time, but something inside wanted to make this a moment for him. So when he got to the chorus, I joined to help him with the key. Devon clapped according to the pace I set with my foot tapping, but little Mathew couldn’t follow, so I constantly made adjustments. That didn’t bother me one bit.
Squatting in front of the coffee table, Wynter’s arms were crossed as her clasped hands rested against her shoulder and she swayed back and forth. The gleam in her eyes told me little Mat had scored. I wondered if he knew. Beyond her, Molly wore basically the same expression.
Mathew may not have been a vocalist yet, but the kid had soul. The song he picked alone spoke to that. By the second chorus, I was lost to days before the pain. I was back to when my heart, desire for romantic love, and passion for music had just begun. Back when I realized I could use this “heavy interest” in instruments to impress the ladies. I’d already known God was pleased when I played—horribly back then. My grandmother made it clear when I picked up an instrument or sang a chord, it was an act of worship. It was a time when I was poor but had no concerns about getting rich. I just wanted to play, to love. To worship.
My eyes lifted to a smitten Wynter Haile McKinnon.
Long before I understood the rhythm of blues…
As we gaited to the truck with me under his arm, Raj hummed “Knocks Me Off My Feet.”
My gaze crawled up to his handsome face hidden beneath a hat and beard. “That was so sweet of Mathew.” I couldn’t help my gushing. “Did you notice how you threw him off for a minute when you started to help him out? It was so cut
e. His face turned red and it looked like he got an extra boost of confidence.”
“Nah. But I noticed he called you Ms. Wynter instead of Mrs.”
“Raj!” He was incredulous. “He’s an eight year old.”
“Why do you think age and mental capacity kill a male’s libido? You think Arnie’s understanding of you is the same as what it would have been if you were born from the same womb?”
“You’re being ridiculous, and you know it!”
He shrugged as we made it to the truck. We needed to head straight to the airport. Today had been another long day of packing and prep for him. I’d have to make sure he slept for a while on the plane.
He opened the door, but I didn’t get in.
“Aren’t you going to ask me my thoughts about adoption?”
He shook his head. “Nah. Plus, it wouldn’t be fair. I know you got your work cut out for you with me and this tour. Shoot, when we get back in July, we’ll be in L.A. for half a year.” Raj was shooting the movie he was promised all these years. The role that brought him to this crazy arrangement with me. He’d gotten a call from the studio with the green light. I couldn’t be prouder of him. “I’m not one-hundred-percent sold on adoption either. That’s a big step for me. I’m just riding it out, making sure these kids have a little bit of godly favor after their storms.”
I stepped up to him, leaned on the tips of my toes and grabbed him at the sides of his beard. My lips brushed against his soft, moist ones then pressed tenderly into them.
I pulled back with weakened eyelids. “You’re teaching me,” I muttered.
The muscles in his forehead tightened and his eyes contracted with curiosity. “What?”
“The rhyme of love.” Slowly, a smile spread in his eyes, reaching his cheeks. He was thinking of the racy lyrics in the single he, Ezra, and their friend, Dwayne, wrote and released last month. “The rhyme of love is learning relationships aren’t packaged perfectly. Unconditional love can’t be pledged; it has to be acted out obstacle after obstacle. Sex—good sex—is paramount but isn’t a factor. It’s working every day to protect what you value, even in those moments when it’s ugly.” My hands flew into the air defeated—or sure of this theory. “It’s a rhyme because the bad is a part of the composition of love.”
