“Hello?”
“Hey, Graham. I called Arlie, but she didn’t answer. Are you with her?”
“Of course. What’s up?”
“I was just wanting to check on y’all to see if either of you needed anything. I’m still with JR. I’ll probably just see y’all tomorrow.”
“A’ight. We don’t need anything. She’s sleeping.”
“Okay. Well, I’m going to share my location with you too. I think I’m in good hands, though.”
“Okay. I’m pretty sure you are. See you tomorrow.”
“Okay, bro.”
She ended the call, and I went back to the text thread to see them still cracking jokes. They were an entire mess. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though, especially since I’d alienated myself by being a fucked-up individual for so many years. They had also made plans to meet for breakfast in the morning.
See y’all fuckers for breakfast.
I chuckled as I sent it, getting them cranked up all over again. I put my feet up on the coffee table and let them entertain me until I got sleepy. Once I did, I slid behind Arlie in bed, only for her to wake up and straddle me. Big mama slid that hot pussy on me, and there was nothing I could do to resist her. This was dangerous as fuck without a condom, especially with her being on top. I would have to always double check my bag to make sure I had a box of those muthafuckas in there.
“Mama, you sure you good?”
“Of course. This may be what I need to finally put all this shit behind me.”
I smiled at her as we headed to my biological mother’s house for my birthday dinner. I hadn’t seen Arlie yet today. We’d gotten back from Baltimore yesterday, and we’d each gone to our perspective homes straight from the airport. We had breakfast with my cousins Wednesday morning, and Arlie thought they were so cool to be around. Kimaji, JR, his sister Raegan, and Noah’s son and daughter Jax and Noelle, had joined us.
Those niggas cut the fuck up the entire time. Had Cooper joined us, he could’ve met Noelle. I honestly thought they would probably be good together. She was spiritually inclined, and Cooper was a really good dude. He only clowned around with me. He was never about fucking around like I was. He and Aunt Sonya’s son Christopher were the only ones out of older cousins who were missing.
Christopher was much older than us though. He was like ten years older than the twins. Shane and Sharee were knocking on the door to forty.Whew!Those niggas were getting old. Shane was retiring after next season, and he was content with that for now. He’d played longer than I had expected him to. He was still in good shape. He said he didn’t want to wait until hecouldn’tplay to retire. He wanted to go out on a high note.
After we left them, Arlie had to go to another financial literacy class and a meeting with Noah and other execs. She said that nigga had already gotten the track they would write to forthe announcement. She would be going back in a week to talk about the direction she wanted the album to go. She said Noah said he would be producing tracks and getting other producers involved as well.
She was so excited she started writing rhymes on the flight home. She didn’t even have a track for the cadence yet, but she said whatever she wrote could be tweaked. Once she was done with everything on Wednesday, we had dinner at Noah’s place. RJ and their parents were there. JR and Maj promised to keep in touch. She was tight-lipped around me, so I didn’t know if they had a connection or if they were just having fun.
I parked in the driveway and glanced over at my dad, getting out to help my mama from the back seat. Arlie and Maj were already here. Before we could go inside, I got an eerie feeling again, like somebody was watching me. I checked our surroundings as I noticed my dad doing the same.
“Graham, you good?”
“I don’t know. I just feel like somebody watching me. This the second time I got that feeling in the past few days.”
He looked around again, then tucked his gun in his waistband. My dad believed in carrying at all times. He never left home without his heat. After one last look, we headed to the porch and rang the doorbell. Kimaji opened the door and when she saw my parents, her smile widened. I didn’t tell anyone that they would be coming, not even Arlie.
She hugged me, then each of my parents after inviting us inside. She led us to the family room just as her mom came out of the kitchen. I went straight to Arlie and pulled her in my arms as my bio mom yelled, “Sidney!”
She burst into tears as my mama went to her, crying right along with her. My dad stood off to the side, smiling at their interaction. I looked down at Arlie to see she was crying too. Ididn’t know where Kimaji had gone, but I could imagine she had the same reaction to their reunion as well.
When they finally separated, I went to them and hugged my bio mom. I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “She told me everything. You’re an amazing woman.”
She hugged me tighter as she cried more. I could feel my face heating up and the lump forming in my throat. I wanted to pull away before the tears surfaced, but she was clinging to me, making it impossible for me to do so. Despite my clinched jaws and constant swallowing, a couple of tears escaped. I only held her closer.
After a moment or two, I extended one arm to my mama, beckoning for her to join us. She practically ran to me and circled her arms around me as well. I kissed her forehead. She was only a couple of inches shorter than me. My bio mom was probably close to eight inches shorter than me.
When they finally released me, I wiped my cheeks. Arlie came close to me and hugged me. “That was so beautiful, baby.”
I gave her a tight smile then went to the couch with her to have a seat. My bio mom giggled, and yelled, “Maj, get out of my kitchen! Come sit with our family while I put the finishing touches on dinner.”
She looked around at all of us again and smiled before walking off. My mama stood and said, “I’m gonna come help you, K.”
