“A gift from Tahari for the woman of the house,” she said quickly because she knew that I was going to ask.
I turned and looked at him quickly.
“Where my flowers at, little nigga?” I asked.
“That’s on me. I got you next time, Mr. Browne.”
“You’re confident that there’s going to be a next time?”
My brow rose as I waited for his response. We were staring into each other’s eyes.
“I mean, that’s up to you.”
I ran my tongue over my top teeth while nodding my head up and down.
“Her favorite flowers are tulips,” I let him know, just in case there was another time.
And with that, Eternity called out to the chef to start serving food. Plates were passed, silverware clinked, and the smell of roast and fresh vegetables filled the room. Maliah chattered easily beside me, her excitement for this moment spilled out in ways only she could pull off. Maylee bounced in her seat like she was on a sugar rush, and MJ sat stiff with his arms folded. We were damn near through the four-course meal, and he was still giving Tahari that classic big-brother glare every so often, but that was expected. He was literally little me in every shape and form. The room grew silent while we waited for dessert.
Tahari sat with his hands resting on the table and his posture straight. He was respectable for sure. He smiled politely at the jokes Maliah made, laughed at the right times, and even thanked the chef for serving the food. I watched him closely. His eyes flicked to me occasionally. I didn’t talk much because I was more observant, if anything. I noticed the way his fingers drummed lightly on the table. And I noticed the way his gaze darted to the clock on the wall every thirty minutes or so. When he wasn’t checking on that, he was checking his watch.
Something about that told me he had somewhere else he wanted to be. Some part of his life was waiting for him. I wondered if it was another little girl. I remember what it was like to be young. I made a mental note. The moment couldn’t have been anything, but it was just something that I took notice of. I’m sure that he had obligations, but right now he was here with my daughter, and that mattered more. In my eyes, whatever had his ass checking the time shouldn’t be of importance. I leaned back slightly as I just watched things play out before me.
Occasionally, when we made eye contact, my gaze didn’t falter, and neither did his. Whoever his daddy or male role models in his life were, they did a damn good job of showing him how to conduct himself in a room of men. I even noticed how, even though MJ was mean-mugging him, he didn’t pay that any mind. Dinner continued when the chef brought out dessert. Small talk continued to fill the air. Since I wasn’t doing any digging, Eternity got down to it. While listening, I learned that Tahari was twenty years old and that he met Maliah in their school. When he revealed that information, my eyes shot at MJ, and he just gave me this look.
“I never met him before,” MJ admitted as if he was reading my mind.
“Na, he never did. I had to disenroll when something with my dad came up.”
Tahari kept it short. And with his statement, a dark cloud started to creep into the room. Of course, Eternity did what she does best, which was to take control of the moment. She quickly changed the subject, and just like that, the lighter mood was brought back.
The room quickly filled with Maliah’s laughter, Maylee’s giggles, Eternity’s gentle smiles, and MJ’s occasional smirk, which broke through the stiffness he had been putting on for most of the night. After taking the final scoop of my cheesecake,I sat back in my chair and just looked at how everyone at the table was vibing. It felt close-knit, and that shit was scary because I was still the head of this family. I’m the man everyone looked to. And right now, I was quietly testing Tahari. He was already showing that he was the kind of person who could fit in. And I mean perfectly, when he and Maliah started finishing each other’s sentences, how Eternity and I do, I could have broken my plate over his damn head.
He was smooth, too damn smooth. Slick niggas played slick games. I had to make sure he didn’t hurt my baby girl. Every glance he made at the clock, I saw it. Time was on my mind too. I looked over at Mali and saw just how her eyes lit up as she was watching him talk about some bullshit. I had to have a one-on-one talk with him. I needed to lay out my expectations. I just might take Sha up on his offer and toss Tahari’s ass in the damn trunk. I picked up my glass and swished my drink around before taking a sip. I let the burn go down slowly as I watched how everyone at the table interacted with him. Tonight, I’d let it play out because he was impressing everyone else under this roof. But when he and I had time to sit down, the atmosphere would feel different.
Chapter 6
Trigga
The night was winding down, and I could feel the tension starting to fade just a little. Maliah kept laughing at the story I told about when we met. Eternity thought that it was the cutest thing, which I thought she would, and that’s exactly why I was geeked when she asked how we met. After I shared the moment, Maylee started chattering about school. She was saying that she had a bully, and that news seemed to be a shock to her parents.
“Hey, don’t let nobody play with you. You have to show her that you ain’t scared of her. You gotta put belt to ass, little mama, excuse my language,” I quickly cleaned up the end of my statement for the parents sitting at the table.
The Brownes had me so damn loosened in their presence that I was swearing and shit.
“Don’t let no one play in your face, you hear me?” MJ jumped in.
She nodded at both of our pieces of advice. Both her parents chimed in on how she should deal with this bully, and I was sitting back comfortably just listening. This shit felt normal. It felt like I had been attending these dinners frequently. I couldn’t even believe how relaxed I was. But I knew I needed to make myexit before I got too comfortable. The conversation started to die down, and that was the perfect opportunity. When I noticed that everyone had finished their dessert, it was time to jet.
“Thanks again for dinner,” I said, standing. “Everything was amazing.”
Eternity smiled and then started to stand from her seat, but Mr. Browne rushed to the other end of the table to pull her chair out. That was some real gentleman shit, and now I knew why Mali would stand in front of a door until I opened it. She had a front row seat to how a woman should be treated, so I shouldn’t have expected anything else from her.
Mrs. Browne gave Mr. Browne a nod to thank him before walking over to me. I wasn’t expecting the hug she had given me.
“You’re welcome, Tahari. You’re welcome in this house anytime.”
“Sometimes,” Mr. Browne added.
