Her face lit up when she saw me.
“Tahari,” she said warmly as she took a step forward in my direction.
I offered a small nod, and before I could respond, Maliah had handed her the flowers.
“He got these for you, Ma,” she said before rushing over to the seat beside MJ.
Eternity dipped her nose into the assorted floral bouquet and then took a sniff. I didn’t know what her favorite flower was, so I just got what I thought was the prettiest.
“These are beautiful,” she complimented.
Maylee giggled and leaned up in her chair before jumping into the conversation.
“Hi! You’re Tahari?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” I said, smiling while trying to keep calm.
Her excitement was infectious. I took the seat beside her since that was the only free one left besides the chairs at each head of the long glass table.
I looked across the table and then locked eyes with Maliah before letting my sight roll over to MJ. He didn’t move. He just shifted his weight slightly and narrowed his eyes. He had the classic big-brother vibe radiating off him. I offered a small nod in his direction.
“Good to meet you, MJ.”
He didn’t even offer me a response. Instead, the muthafucka grunted. I had to smirk the disrespect off because I had to remember again that he was just a big brother. Although we did not know each other when I attended their school, I’m sure that he had heard about me. I was kind of a big deal when I attended there. It was an awkward silence after our encounter that I just had to let go. This wasn’t the time or the place to want to stand on being a man and being respected. I just knew that eventually he and I would share words, and I promise I was secretly looking forward to the day.
Eternity gave me another small smile and squeezed my shoulder as she walked past to take her seat at one end of the table. She placed the flowers I had gotten for her on the surface before gently taking her seat. She opened a napkin and then laidit across her lap. She was such a damn lady, and I swear I saw where Mali had gotten it from. She looked over at me before opening her mouth.
“You’re in the right place, Tahari. We’re glad to have you here. Welcome to the family.”
That one sentence hit me harder than I expected. Family. That word carried weight, responsibility, and something… sacred. It was something that I no longer had. I loved Maliah so deeply that I didn’t have intentions of going anywhere. If they would have me, I wouldn’t mind joining. I nodded while keeping my voice steady.
“Thank you, ma’am. I really appreciate it.”
I felt my chest tighten with a mix of nerves and excitement. When Maliah gave me a reassuring look from across the table, I thought maybe I could survive this.
That was until I heard footsteps. His presence hit like a damn brick wall. The room went quiet the second he stepped in, and his eyes locked on me immediately. He didn’t smile. He didn’t say hello. Maliah shared pictures of everyone in her family but her dad, so this was my first time even seeing what he looked like. This man was tatted the fuck up. He wore a white T-shirt with a diamond Cuban chain resting on his chest. I could tell that he was comfortable in his home because of the Nike sweatpants, matching socks, and slides he wore. Here I was dressed like Carlton Banks, and her dad came dressed down like he was ready to play the block. They always say that spoiled girls have a bald daddy, but the man standing in front of me had a low cut with waves just like me, with a beard that was full and fell about two inches off his face. I thought her dad would be some short, bald, round belly, square ass nigga, but boy was I wrong. He looked like a street nigga for sure. Probably a reformed one, but a street nigga, nonetheless.
“Whose family?” he said, low and commanding.
He was laced in authority, and as I stared at the man of the house, I remembered this was why I didn’t do the family shit.
BLEEK
I stepped into the dining room and scanned the space around me. Instantly, my eyes locked on the kid sitting at my table with this damn Freddy Krueger-colored cardigan on. It didn’t even look like something that he would wear. This is the one Maliah had been smiling about all damn day since I extended the invitation for dinner. The first thing I noticed was the way he carried himself. He seemed calm, collected, and confident. He was throwing me with the damn cardigan, but I knew that had to be him wanting to make a good impression. My statement was rhetorical and didn’t require a response because whose fucking family was he joining? Not this one. Eternity gave me a look, and I already knew what it meant. She wanted me to behave.
As I sat in my seat at the other end of the table, I looked over at him. He was sitting directly to the left of me. I took notice of everything. It was the tattoo creeping up his neck that caught my attention. That ugly ass sweater couldn’t hide that. The ink told me that he was indeed one of these little YNs for sure. I knew that, like her mother, Maliah would undoubtedly follow in her footsteps when it came to having a thing for the bad boys. I could tell that he had a fresh haircut by how sharp the edges of his hairline were. He had strong bone structure and bushy brows that didn’t have any shape to them. They hovered over his eyes, and that gave him a sneaky appearance. It didn’t make it any better that his eyes were small. Muthafuckas with beady slit eyes like that always looked shady.
“Hello, sir. My name is Tahari,” he said, extending a hand toward me.
I watched it for a long moment. His eyes were steady, and they didn’t flinch as he stared at me directly in the eyes. He was showing that he was respectful, but still, I didn’t move right away. I let the silence stretch and let him sweat it for a second. Finally, I leaned forward and grabbed his hand. A man’s handshake told a lot about him, and his was solid. It was firm, and I squeezed his hand a bit just to show that I didn’t fuck around.
“Mr. Browne,” I said, returning the greeting.
Even with my squeeze, his grip didn’t falter.Good, I thought inwardly. That mattered more than the cardigan and more than any smile Maliah could throw my way when talking about him. I didn’t have time for any of my daughters to be with a bitch ass nigga. So far, so good.
I let go and studied him a little longer. The kid had confidence. Maybe even some smarts. But if he wanted to date my daughter, I needed to know so much more. I wanted my baby girl to be with someone who not only had her best interest at heart but also someone who would always put her first. Someone who would always protect her. The same way I do with Eternity. I looked across the table and locked eyes with my wife. She looked so damn breathtaking without even trying at that. She didn’t even bother to put on makeup for tonight. Some light, clear lip gloss did the job. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a maxi dress was what had her looking so stunning. It was that natural shit that I loved about her. That natural shit was what had gotten her the two girls sitting at this table.
When she spotted me staring at her, she smiled. I looked down at the table and noticed the bouquet of flowers, and instantly my eyebrow rose.
