“Have a good day, ladies,” he smiled, knowing he won that round as he backed up and left our aisle. I bit my lip and looked over at June.
“Weird kind of foreplay, but if you like it, I love it,” I said with a shrug.
“Foreplay?” she shrieked louder than she intended to. “Amaya, don’t play with me like that. I can’t stand his disgusting ass.”
“That man is a lot of things, but disgusting?” I asked, face balled up into a skeptical expression.
“It’s not about his looks. He’s an asshole! The first time I met him, he was just so fuckin’ arrogant, and it’s been downhill from there.”
I chuckled to myself as once again, my mind wandered to Chase and the way I went from wanting to punch his face to wanting to sit on it. I hadn’t seen him since the draft party and was doing everything in my power not to think of him. Obviously, I was failing miserably.
“I’m just saying, June. If y’all’s interactions are anything like what I just saw, give the man a break. You started with him, knowing he was gon’ bust back, thenyouended up upset. Even if you can’t stand him, just play nice for a little while and see where that gets you.”
“Fuck him,” she spat, throwing a pack of nails into the cart. I just shook my head, knowing Mona was spot on about that situation. We finished our shopping spree and parted ways with June so I could take Kadence home.
When we got to the house, I made sure to announce us with adoorbell ring before using my key, just in case AJ was in there being nasty. When we stepped into the house, instead of a greeting, we were met with an attitude.
“Kadence!” He started in the moment he laid eyes on her. “Did I, or did I not tell you to finish your choresbeforeyou left with your aunt?”
“W-What?” Her face fell and mine did too. Ihatedwhen she got in trouble and sometimes cried harder than she did when she was punished. “I did, Daddy.”
“Did you though? Because starting the dishwasher without emptying it don’t sound like finishing to me!” he snapped.
“I-I promise that I planned to do it as soon as I got back. I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“Sorry don’t fix everything, Kadence. You think if I mess up at work, I can just pay our bills with a sorry?”
My heart broke at the way all the happiness seemed to seep out of her body at his words. She was a Daddy’s Girl through and through, so the thought of disappointing him hurt her worse than any punishment.
“I-I-I’m…” her words fell flat.
“It’s my fault,” I said, stepping in. “June had something to do later, so I came earlier than we originally planned. Then we wanted food, so I kept her out later.” His eyes snapped to me and I stood toe to toe with his grumpy ass. Once he realized that I was more than willing to take it there with him, he stopped, turned to Kadence, and told her to go upstairs and get ready for bed. She sadly wished me a goodnight and trudged upstairs. Once she was gone, I turned back to him.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked him.
“Nothing,” he grumbled, looking away. I could already see the shame creeping up on his face. As crazy as Kadence was about him, he was ten times worse over her and the idea that he treated her bad for no reason was already eating him up.
“Andre,” I whispered gently, knowing that he needed a soft touch in order to open up to me.
“May, I really can’t do this with you right now,” he said gloomily before plopping down on the couch.
“Nah, talk to me,” I coaxed, sitting across from him. He looked away then hung his head before speaking in a low tone
“I just got the quarterly numbers back from my accountant… it’s not looking good. I may have to close the restaurant.” When one lone tear fell down his cheek, I knew he was serious.
“What?” My mouth fell open in shock. “Why?” Two years ago, AJ finally bet on himself, quitting his job and opening a restaurant downtown. Naming it Willow’s, after our granny, he perfected our grandpa’s old recipes and turned it into the perfect barbecue and soul food spot. He had a rough start, but things had really picked up in the last year, or so I thought.
“I’m in the red, May,” he huffed out, more silent tears falling with each word. “Numbers aren’t great, and business has been slow. If something drastic doesn’t happen this next quarter, I won’t make it to the end of the year. I’ve already tapped into my personal savings to make sure we stay afloat.” I let him get it out, because knowing my brother, he had been holding this in for months.
“Have you talked to Mom and Dad about this?”
“Nah, you know them. They’ll move heaven and earth to make it work, start tapping into their retirement. I just wanted to do this on my own, and I’m failing,” he said, letting out a broken sob. “I let everyone down.” The defeated look on his face nearly broke my heart.
“Andre,” I scolded lovingly while wiping tears away from his face. “You are anything but a failure! Do you know how proud they are of you?Almostas proud as they are of me… We all know that Amari is therealfailure of the family,” I teased, earning a small chuckle out of him. “Is that why you want K-K to slow down on basketball?” I asked softly.
“That summer league costs $2,000, and that’s not including uniforms, equipment, and travel fees,” he said with his head hung low. “If Kari hears about this, I’llneverhear the end of it. Shemight even try to take my baby back from me,” he said with a sniffle.
“She’s not getting Kadence,” I promised, knowing I would hire somebody to fuck her up before I let her uproot my niece. I didn’t think she even really wanted her, and I would stop at nothing to keep that from happening. “I’ll pay for the camp.”
