“Which is?”
“Getting out and experiencing Vegas.” She took a long sip.
I scratched my beard. “Something like that. So what do you do for fun?”
“Not the clubs.”
“I know you’re not acting uppity?”
“Clubs are great for special events. But every weekend is madness.”
“I agree with you there. Most people don’t know when to hang it up.”
“Exactly and that’s when you get the Uncs in the club doing the Cabbage Patch or some other ridiculous shit.”
“Watch out there now.” I tried to imitate one of my uncles.
“Don’t hurt yourself.” Danessa mimicked in a raspy voice. Fuck matching my freak, I needed a woman who could matchmy funny. A person who got your sense of humor made even the most mundane day memorable.
“So were you just up jonesing for waffles, or what?” I wanted to know if she was already out when she got the call.
“I’m used to Anika calling me in the middle of the night. I’m like her unofficial designated driver.”
“You could always hit her with the do not disturb.”
“Have you met me? I’m a pushover for that woman. She’s my big sister and I still idolize her even though I recognize she is deeply flawed.”
“Sounds like me and my dad.” I didn’t idolize him, that ship had long passed. But I did still seek his validation even if I wished he was dead every other business day.
“Have things not gotten better?”
“He sees me as a threat to his manhood. So no.”
“Well, it’s the father’s job to provide but your dad seemed content to defer to Duane and you for financial support.”
“He tried.”
“Did he?”
“I am too hungry and sleep-deprived to have this conversation. Let’s just call it a tie, we’re both simps for our family.”
Anika and Dante returned, and they looked disheveled like they got to groping one another in the restroom. When I pictured hanging with Danessa in the Waffle House, I didn’t include Dante and Anika who both just said the first things that popped into their brains. There was no assessing the table and deciding maybe you should save the story about the time you got an anal plug stuck in your ass and had to be taken to the hospital. Mind you, that was Dante sharing this story. I was all for sexual liberation and God knows I’d tried all manner of sex toys, but gotdamn that was an image I could do without.
By the time the food arrived I was starving. I got the lumberjack special with pancakes, bacon, sausage, ham, home potatoes and scrambled eggs with an added slice of cheddar cheese on top.
“So when are we going to get tickets to a game?”
“Baby the season hasn’t even started yet,” Dante said in between forkfuls.
“I believe in staying on ready.”
“I guess your seats will depend on you.”
“Really what do you want me to do for them?” I was convinced Danessa and I were invisible because Dante and Anika were acting as if we weren’t there.
“I could think of a few things. Do you want me to name them?”
“Do tell, daddy.”
