“Whatever,” Moonie replied with a pout.
She sat down at the kitchen table with her arms folded across her chest letting him know that she was in her feelings about their conversation. Mitch was about to finish going in on her until he heard the front door opening.
“We’ll finish this later,” Mitch said right as the kids walked into the kitchen.
“Please tell me that the food is done,” Mia said as she wobbled in and stood near the stove.
She’d just entered into her sixth month of pregnancy and food was never safe when she was around. Her appetite was ridiculous, and Tre was no better than she was. She was carrying the baby, but he ate each and every time that she did.
“Yeah, everything is done. Sit down and I’ll fix you a plate,” Moonie replied in a tone that Mia wasn’t used to hearing.
Mia could tell that something must have happened before they got there, but she didn’t want to ask. Mitch looked like he was mad about something too, and even Tre picked up on the tension that filled the room. He looked over at Mitch and motioned with a nod of his head for him to follow him into the living room.
“What’s up?” Mitch asked once they were alone.
“Shit, I was about to ask you the same thing. You and Moonie look like y’all are ready to go to war,” Tre replied.
“We’re good. She just has a problem every time I tell her ass something. She’ll be alright.”
“Are you sure? Cause if not I can’t wait to do what I have to do,” Tre replied nervously.
“Nah man, you’re good. That’s just your nerves talking,” Mitch replied with a light pat on his back.
Tre nodded and followed Mitch back into the kitchen. He sat down next to Mia and began to eat the food that Moonie had prepared for the day. Von could cook his ass off, but Moonie was giving him a run for his money. She had what looked like a Thanksgiving meal prepared including the ham and dressing. Once everyone was full she cleaned the kitchen and they all returned to the living room to watch TV. He and Mia sat on the love seat while Mitch and Moonie occupied the sofa that sat across from it. The kids all sat on the floor eating the cake that Tanya had prepared. When Tre looked over at Mitch he was already staring right back at him. Tre’s palms started sweating profusely when Mitch nodded his head giving him the green light to proceed. When Moonie saw Tre stand to his feet she smiled because she knew that it was show time.
“Where are you going?” Mia asked him.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Tre replied nervously.
Tre got up from the sofa, but he was just standing there looking down at her. Mia was about to ask him what he was doing, but she got her answer when she saw him drop down on one knee and pull a small black box from his pocket.
“Baby…,” Tre started before he was cut off.
“Yes,” Mia yelled causing him and everybody else to laugh.
“Damn Mia, let the man say what he was about to say,” Moonie laughed.
“I already know what he’s about to say, and my answer is yes,” Mia repeated.
“Well, alright then,” Tre laughed. “That was easier than I thought. I was nervous for nothing.”
Tre stood up and pulled the two carat, three stone platinum diamond engagement ring from the box. Mia gasped when he placed the huge flawless ring on her finger. Being pregnant already had her emotional, but she couldn’t help the tears as they made their grand exit down her cheeks.
“I hope those are tears of joy. If anything I should be the one crying. My damn baby is getting married before me,” Moonie said sarcastically while looking over at Mitch.
“Obviously your baby is doing something right. Follow her lead and you might be next,” Mitch winked making Moonie blush and smile.
“You like your ring baby?” Tre asked Mia.
“Hell yeah, I love it. I’m never taking this ring off,” she said as she planted a big kiss on his waiting lips.
“You better not take it off. I wanted to propose at you birthday dinner, but I had to change my plans,” Tre stated.
“Why, were you having doubts?” Mia asked.
“Never that, it was all on Von. He didn’t like the first ring that I picked out, so I had to return it and get another one. He said the first one wasn’t big enough, so he came with me when I got this one.”
“That’s why I love that man,” Mia said making Tre laugh.
“At least somebody loves his ass. He’s driving me crazy with this damn baby shower,” Moonie complained.
“He’s driving everybody crazy. He got the baby’s room painted and now he’s rushing us to pick a theme,” Tre said shaking his head.
As much as he loved his father, Von was starting to get on Tre’s nerves. He was acting like he had a baby on the way instead of Tre and Mia. He wanted to tell them what to do and how to do it when it came down to their child, and it was aggravating. Of course, none of them would say that to his face, but they often discussed it behind closed doors.
“I’m going to cut us some cake to take back to Von’s house with us,” Mia said as she and Tre got up from the sofa.
They sometimes spent nights at Moonie’s house, but she and Mitch looked like they needed some time alone. Mia still didn’t know what happened between the two them, but she hoped that it was something that they could work out.
“Let me see your ring Mia,” Anika said while grabbing her big sister’s hand.
“Move and let me look at it,” Tootie said pushing her baby sister out of the way.
Anika tried to snatch Mia’s hand back, but Tootie had a firm grip on it. Tre stepped in and told them to chill when they almost knocked Mia down.
“Tootie you make me sick with your stupid ass,” Anika yelled angrily.
“Anika come here!” Mia yelled as she made a move towards her foul mouth little sister.
“Nah Mia, let Moonie handle that,” Mitch said while gently grabbing Mia’s arm.
He gave Moonie a head nod right before he took off his belt and handed it to her. Moonie rushed over to her youngest daughter and started giving her the ass whipping of a lifetime. Anika was shocked, but the pain that she was experiencing quickly took control of her emotions. Moonie had never whipped her before, and she hoped that she never had to do it again. Her licks hurt ten times worse than Mia’s did. Anika was crying and squirming, but Moonie was determined to teach her a lesson. When she was confident that she’d had enough, she let go of her arm and pushed her down on the sofa.
“The next time I hear anybody use a curse word or say anything disrespectful the same thing is going to happen to you. Mitch and I are the only two adults in here. Do I make myself clear?” Moonie said looking around the room at her four youngest kids.
“Yes,” they all said in unison.
Anika was still crying softly, and the rest of the kids were in shock. Moonie had never been a disciplinarian, but it seemed as if things had changed.
“Good, now y’all get up and go get ready for bed,” Moonie said with authority.
All of the kids got up and almost tripped over their feet trying to get to their rooms. They didn’t know what had gotten into Moonie, but they didn’t want to be on the receiving end of the belt.
“That’s what the hell I’m talking about,” Mitch said as he and Moonie gave each other a high five.
Moonie handed Mitch his belt as Mia and Tre looked on in stunned silence.
“I don’t know what just happened here, but y’all seem to be happy about it,” Mia observed as she and Tre headed out the front door with Mitch and Moonie walking them out.
“Mia tell Von to call me. We have a meeting at a hall tomorrow, and I don’t want him to forget,” Moonie said before her daughter pulled away from the house.
Once they got back inside Moonie went to make sure the kids were taking their baths and doing what she told them to do. She hated to whip Anika the way she did earlier, but she had to admit that it was long overdue. Anika and the other kids had been getting by with too much for far to
o long. It was good to know that she could instill fear in them and make them do what she told them to do. Mia had been doing it for so long, but it was now time for her to make it happen. With Mitch by her side, Moonie knew that she would be alright in and outside of her home.
Chapter 10
“So, we can’t bring our own food in? What if I don’t want what’s on your menu?” Von asked the man at the hall that they went to check out.
Moonie was sitting there wishing that she could be anywhere else, but where she was. Over the course of the week, this had been the fourth hall that she and Von had been too, but it was also her favorite. Of course, Von had a problem with this one just like he did with all of the ones before. Mia’s baby shower was set to take place the second week in November, and they were no closer to finding a venue than they were the week before. Von wanted to have it at the same place where the graduation party was held, but the place was booked up for the rest of the year. The place that they were in now was absolutely beautiful, but it was just like Von to find an issue.
“We’re also a catering company, so we don’t allow outside food in our facility. Our cook is preparing some food right now if you want to taste some of our entrees,” the owner of the hall replied.
“Yeah, maybe that’ll help me make up my mind,” Von agreed.
The owner had some kind of device in his ear that he spoke into asking the cook to prepare some food for them to sample.
“Ok, now that the food is out of the way, what about music?” Moonie asked.
“We have an in-house DJ that’s available for all events, but he’s not included in the package price. If you don’t want a DJ we have a surround sound system that can play the music of your choice.”
“We don’t need no damn DJ. We can play some nice jazz music or something,” Von interrupted.
“Jazz!” Moonie yelled. “C’mon now Von. This ain’t poetry night. We need a DJ to get it poppin’ up in here.”
“Hell, no Moonie. This ain’t no damn nightclub either. I’m not trying to have your ghetto ass friends poppin’ their pussies all over my grandbaby’s shower. This is gon’ be a classy event. If you can’t make that happen then I’ll pay somebody else to do it for me,” Von argued.
“That’s my grandbaby too. You’re making all of the decisions like what I say don’t even matter.”
Von could see that the owner of the facility looked uncomfortable, but he would just have to get over it. There was no way in hell that he was letting Moonie have full control over Mia’s baby shower. He’d seen several parties that Moonie gave in the past, and he wanted no parts of it. When the man got up to go to the kitchen, Von used that as an opportunity to tell Moonie what was on his mind.
“Look, I know that we share a grandbaby, but that’s about all that we share. Your ideas and mine are totally different. I’ve already given you full control over the decorations, but I’ll be damned if I put you in charge of the entertainment too. There will be no card tables being set up in here. And if them broke down bitches want some liquor they better sneak that shit in here themselves. This ain’t that type of party,” Von said angrily.
“Okay, so here is some of the items that we offer. You can mix and match however you want to or we can serve everything on the menu at different times,” the owner said as he came out with different entrees and desserts on a cart.
Von passed Moonie some of the small plates while he sampled a few of his own. He looked over at Moonie and the look on her face was almost identical to his. Both of them closed their eyes and savored the flavor of the food that was placed before them. Moonie had a mouth full of food, but she gave Von the thumbs up letting him know that she approved of the meal. He nodded his head in agreement before speaking to the owner.
“You can prepare the contract. Price is not an issue, so I want everything on the menu,” Von said.
“Great, I’ll be right back with your paperwork,” the man said as he scurried away again.
“Alright Moonie, this is the place that you wanted, so make sure you do it and do it big,” Von instructed.
“You don’t have to tell me twice. With you and Tank’s money I’m about to shut this shit down,” Moonie said with a smile even though she was dead serious.
The owner told them that they could rearrange the tables and chairs any way they wanted in order to accommodate their guests. Moonie had lots of ideas in mind, but she decided to hold off on really doing anything until after Anika’s birthday weekend. She wanted to give Mia’s shower her undivided attention and she didn’t need any distractions. After parting ways with Von, Moonie headed home to prepare dinner for Mitch and her children.
***
“Mia are you even listening to me?” Brandis yelled to her best friend over the phone.
“Yes Brandis, I hear you. You’re talking and Tre is talking at the same time,” Mia replied.
“Tell Tank to shut up. He have all day to talk to you. I’m only asking for a few minutes. I’m really going crazy over here Mia,” Brandis whined.
“Tre be quiet for a minute and let me talk to my friend,” Mia said.
Brandis could hear him saying something smart in the background, but she ignored it. She wasn’t in the mood to go back and forth with him right now. She had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. One was her relationship with Duke. Things between them seemed strained lately and she just needed somebody to talk to.
“Okay friend, you have my undivided attention. So tell me what you did to my Godbrother,” Mia said.
“What makes you think I did something? He’s the one that’s been acting distant with me. He still comes over and calls like he’s been doing, but something is off with him. We don’t even have sex anymore. Maybe he’s getting it from somebody else.”
“Duke is not cheating on you Brandis. I told you once before that he’s one of the good ones. I don’t care what his ex-girlfriend said. I believe him,” Mia said taking Duke’s side.
“She was lying,” Brandis said lowly.
“I’m sure she was, but how did you find out that she was lying?”
“He called her one day when I was over there and put her on speakerphone. He lied and told her that I broke up with him because of her telling me that they slept together. That bird brain bitch apologized for lying on him and said that she was happy that we were no longer together.”
‘See, I told you,” Mia yelled. “Did you apologize to my brother?”
“Yeah, but it seemed like things went downhill from there.”
“She didn’t apologize to that man,” Tre yelled in the background.
“Tell Tank to shut the hell up. How does he know what I did?” Brandis said angrily.
Mia went back and forth passing messages between the two of them before she got tired and just handed Tre the phone to talk to Brandis himself.
“Just because my wife loves you so much, and you helped me out when I needed it, I’m going against the code this one time and let you know what’s up,” Tre said when he got on the phone.
“Fuck your code, just tell me what the deal is,” Brandis fussed.
“My boy really loves you, but you hurt his heart when you believed that chicken head over him. And you really didn’t give him a sincere apology like you should have. Saying “my fault” is not good enough when you’re wrong,” Tre informed her.
“I know I was wrong, and I’ll be the first to admit that. He told you that, but he could have easily told it to me instead,” Brandis replied.
“All of that is irrelevant right now Brandis. You wanted to know what the deal was, so now you know. Now how you fix the problem is up to you,” Tre said.
“Alright Tank, thanks for the info. Tell Mia that I’ll call her back later,” Brandis said before disconnecting the call.
She had to finish getting dressed before Duke came to get her. They were going to a seafood boil at her grandmother’s house, but she wanted to catch the Second Line first. They had a few of her favorite social
and pleasure clubs performing, and she didn’t want to miss it. The brass band that was playing had a name that rang bells in New Orleans, and she didn’t want to be late. Brandis’s grandmother lived right on the route that the parade passed on, so they had to leave early so they wouldn’t get stuck in traffic. Mia would usually be right there with her, but that was out of the question since she was almost in her seventh month of pregnancy. The ringing of her phone snapped Brandis back to the present as she grabbed it from her purse and answered for Duke.
“Are you outside?” She asked when she picked up.
“Yeah,” he replied dryly.
“Okay, I’m on my way out now.”
Brandis knew that she and Duke had to have a talk. The fifteen minute ride to her grandmother’s house was the perfect opportunity for her to say what she needed to say.
“Hey,” Brandis spoke when she got into the car.
“What’s up?” Duke asked right before he pulled off.
Duke would usually greet her with a kiss, but that hadn’t happened in a few weeks. Instead, he turned the music up loud and proceeded to their destination. When Brandis reached over and turned the radio off, he looked at her like she was crazy.
“We need to talk,” Brandis said as she grabbed his hand and turned to face him.
“I’m listening,” Duke mumbled.
“First, I want to apologize about how I came at you about your ex-girlfriend. I should have believed you when you said that nothing happened between the two of you. This whole relationship thing is new to me, and I’m just afraid of being hurt. I saw what Mia went through with Tank, and I guess I had my guard up to keep the same thing from happening to me. I never meant to push you away, and I’m truly sorry,” Brandis apologized.
“I accept your apology, but you need to understand a few things about me, Brandis. I grew up watching my mama cry damn near every night because of the way that my daddy used to do her. I witnessed how much it hurt her to have different women calling and coming to our house for her husband. I swore that when I got married or even in a serious relationship that I would never do anything to cause the woman I loved any pain. You took the word of somebody that you didn’t even know over the man that you’re supposed to love. You gave me your body, but I didn’t have your trust. That shit hurt worse than anything else. And just so you know, I’m not pressed behind no pussy. Before you and I got together, I hadn’t had sex in over six months. It’s wasn’t like I couldn’t get it, I just didn’t want it from the people who were offering it. I told you a long time ago that I would leave you alone before I did anything to hurt you or played games with you.”
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