“Nah, y’all shouldn’t,” I interrupted. Lani had me fucked up if she thought she was going to have my girl out there on that ratchet shit.
“Boy bye. You ain’t nobody daddy.” Lani waved me off.
I leaned over and whispered in Tink’s ear. “You gone tell her, or you want me to?”
Instead of responding, she rolled her eyes and continued talking to Lani until my mama came and told us we could come eat. By the time we ate and Mama cleaned the kitchen, I was full and ready to work this shit off.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cadence
Graduation day...
Today was my graduation day, and I was both nervous and excited. I stayed with my mama so we could spend the time together, and at first Titan was all for it. Then later he tried coming over and wanted to stay the night, but my mama wasn’thaving it. He pouted like a spoiled kid, and it was cute and funny. I told him he’d be alright, and I’d see him at the ceremony.
The ceremony was at nine-thirty, but we had to be there at eight. It was almost seven-thirty, and I was headed outside with my mama in tow. She drove, and I didn’t have a problem with it because I was more than likely going to be with Titan after the ceremony.
“Are you ready?” Mama asked.
I looked at her and smiled. She encouraged me to go to school and stay on course. Even when I decided to take time off after I graduated high school, she didn’t talk down on me. She supported my decision every step of the way.
“I am. It was a time I didn’t think that this would happen, but here we are,” I responded.
“What you mean?” She looked at me like she knew there was something I wasn’t telling her. I never told her about the actual arrangement with me and Titan because I didn’t want to put her in a position to lie if the subject ever came up.
“I mean, I may not have been graduating if it wasn’t for Titan. I was in danger of losing everything I worked hard for because my financial aid was revoked. He knew about and offered to help me,” I explained.
“Wait... what? Your financial aid was revoked. How did that happen?” She asked.
I explained to her what the lady in the financial aid explained to me. I even went ahead and told her about the agreement in order to get my tuition paid. By the time I was done, we were at the school, and my mama was looking at me like she’d seen a ghost.
“Cadence, why didn’t tell me any of this?” She started. “You know I would’ve made sure you got what you needed,” she expressed sincerely.
“I know, Mama, but I wanted to do this on my own. I didn’t want you to start working overtime or going into debt for me,” I explained.
“Well, at least you finished and your situation is no longer fake,” she said as she got out the car. I met her at the front and stopped.
“What makes you think this isn’t fake anymore?” I asked.
She pointed behind me, and my eyes followed to see Titan standing in front of the auditorium, looking like he’d just come off a centerfold runway, holding an enormous bouquet of red roses and baby breath.
“That’s how I know.” She smirked as she walked off.
Titan met me halfway with Malik close by. When he got near, he pulled me into his broad frame and kissed my lips before handing me the flowers.
“What are you doing here so early?” I asked.
“I wanted to see you before everything got hectic,” he explained. “Plus, I wanted to get a good seat.” He smirked, causing me to laugh and shake my head.
“That’s sad. Now where is everybody else supposed to sit?”
“Shit, that’s on them. My people are already inside, and your mama and Nae have a seat with them.” He shrugged.
“Your people?” I knit my brows together.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “My mama and pops. Lani’s aggravating ass, Kobe, Tatum, Ava, Myla, Sasha, Dani and Graves,” he acknowledged.
Before I could respond, I heard a voice behind me that caused me to snap my head in that direction.
