Ross stared at me for a moment, and I couldn’t stop the smirk that fell on my lips. He stood and angrily left the meeting. He couldn’t stand me because I was extremely confident, borderline cocky. Well, maybe not so borderline.
I carried myself like royalty . . . like his ass was beneath me. As long as he had that racist, white supremacist, MAGA mindset, hewouldbe beneath me. That shit pissed him off, especially when I had to correct him in a meeting about the rules of thecompany. My mama knew about all that shit, too, because I told her.
Once apologies were offered and I was reinstated, we left. The moment we stepped out of the office, my mind went right back to Arlie. That woman had been on my mind constantly for the past week. She’d gone radio silent, and I was two minutes from hopping a flight to Baltimore.
“His bitch ass deserved exactly what he got,” Aunt Sonya said, breaking me away from my thoughts. “He didn’t know who he was fucking with. I wish all Black people had this much leverage. This country wouldn’t be in the turmoil it’s in. We got a fucking ‘DEI’ hire for a fucking president.”
I couldn’t restrain my chuckle. That woman was a mess. She could bring anybody out of the dumps.
“Yeah, he fucked around and found out. That’s my fucking son. Eldridge Owens is next. He better count his muthafucking days. He’s also the one that’s been sending the media to fuck with Arlie. All these years, she was wondering how they were all in her business. That muthafucka was the culprit,” my mama added.
My mouth opened slowly. Yeah, he deserved to get whatever he fucking got. My mama would definitely make sure he got as much shit as she could legally get him. That took some serious hate for him to try to derail her success that way.
“That muthafucka!” Aunt Sonya said a little too loudly, then covered her mouth.
“I told Arlie that it was probably someone she knew that was feeding the media or sending them her way. I knew that shit without a doubt. That fucker can’t stand to see her happy and making something of herself.”
“I don’t even know him, and I wanna fuck him up for Arlie,” Aunt Sonya said.
I slowly shook my head. My mama was aggressive naturally, but it was even worse when she was around Aunt Sonya, and they were both angry. My dad and Uncle Shawn were shaking their heads as well. Uncle Corey had laughed audibly, causing me to laugh.
“What’s so funny, Corey?” Aunt Sonya asked him with a frown on her face.
My mama’s face held the same frown. They didn’t look alike, but they surely had the same frown lines.
“Because you talk all that noise. All bark and no bite.”
Aunt Sonya shoved him. “Don’t play with me. I bite like a fucking pitbull. I don’t stop until I get tired.”
“Yeah. Yo’ ass old now. You can’t do shit.”
“Corey! You’re older than me! Jackass! I still fuck shit up. Sidney may fuck it up in the courtroom, but I fuck it up with these hands. Don’tyoufuck around and find out. I would hate to have to tell Erica that I fucked you up.”
Uncle Corey laughed louder as Uncle Shawn slid his arm around Aunt Sonya’s waist. “Come back, killa. I don’t want to have to speak highly of him at his funeral.”
I couldn’t escape the chuckle that left me as we all got on the elevator. My dad said, “Can’t take y’all asses nowhere!”
When we got to the first floor, Ross was still standing there, I supposed waiting for an Uber. As we walked past Aunt Sonya said, “Bitch ass.”
I was hoping like hell his ass didn’t say anything back, and he didn’t. He wasn’t as slow as he looked. Aunt Sonya and Uncle Shawn would have cleared this shit out. As we loaded up, I said, “Thank y’all for your support.”
“We family,” Sharee said, then kissed my cheek.
She and Exodus walked away to their vehicle with Shane in tow. I had to ride with the old people. They were moreentertaining anyway. By the time we got to my place, my dad asked, “You heard from Arlie?”
“Naw. That’s okay though. As soon as I can, I’m gon’ be on her ass like white on rice. She ain’t finna treat me like I ain’t fucked her soul.”
“You love her?” he asked, eyebrows lifted.
“I don’t think so, but I ain’t far from that shit. I just . . . I wonder if this the shit women I sold future families to were feeling. I feel like I’m bleeding internally.” I huffed and slid my hand down the front of my head. “I wish she would just talk to me.”
“You have an idea of what’s going on?”
“I feel like she feel guilty about me getting fired, thinking it was her fault for fucking with me on that flight. Then, what that nigga said about her. She got some shit to her, but so do I. If she only knew my ass ten years ago, she would realize wasn’t shit beneath me. I don’t care about her past. Who she is now is who I wanna be with. She just have to give me a chance to tell her that.”
“Well, at least she’s thinking about you in a way.”
“Naw. She ain’t thinking about me. She embarrassed and running from herself. She thinks I won’t want to be with her if I knew the truth. She scared. So instead of facing me, she running. I sent her a gang of flowers. She’ll probably get them tomorrow or the day after. Had she not left, I woulda broke in her fucking house and made her talk to me.”
