“This is… breathtaking.”
He laughed. “Is it?”
She was being dramatic but he was used to it.
“No, I mean...”
She searched for the words. “It’s amazing.”
He glanced at her and took her hand in his and kissed her fingers. “Just like you, boo.”
“I'm trying not to press my face against the window.”
He laughed and the sound filled the truck with warmth. Finally, it felt as if the heaviness around him was floating away, or maybe the weed he smoked had helped change his mood.
“Go ahead, babe. On the way home, we can stop and get something to eat. My homie has a soul food spot that has the best greens and cornbread you’ll ever have in your life.”
“Hmmm… that sounds so good. We haven’t had soul food in a minute.” She rubbed her stomach. Jio quickly looked away because she already knew what he was thinking.
Nina stared back out at The Bluff, trying to commit everything to memory in case they didn’t return. She loved it all, especially the big ole trees. It was so many businesses that she would’ve loved to peep her head in to support. Nina took in every minor and major detail about the town. There was a quiet confidence that The Bluff carried.
“Alright, we just rode through The Hills. Now we about to head into The Flats on the other side of town,” he let her know.
“But we’re still in The Bluff, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, The Flats used to be the hood back in the day but they gentrifying it, so it’s changing. The Hills is the suburbs. That’s where you’d live if you stayed here.”
“Whatever and you’ll be right with me.”
Jio smiled. “For sure.”
Her heart skipped a beat as she gazed at her handsome man. Nina fell in love with him a little more with every passing day and today was no different. She loved that he always expanded her palate. She learned something new from Jio all the time. For a woman like her, who was well-educated and traveled, being impressed or properly informed didn’t come easy. For instance, when she told Peaches that she and Jio were going to the Hamptons for the weekend, she was hype; meanwhile, Nina’s first thought was,“I’ve been there a hundred times.”
Yet here Jio was showing her something new. He understood the value of taking her through The Bluff. It was a town that had all the things she loved. History. Community. Land and legacy. He wasn’t one to brag, due to the fact that he wasn’t raised like that, but when the time was right he would tell her how he was directly tied to The Bluff.
The deeper they drove into the town, the more Nina understood that she wasn’t just looking at pretty houses.
She was looking at evidence that somebody had dreamed beyond survival. Evidence that somebody had sat at a kitchen table, church basement, law office, or back room with a cigar burning between their fingers and decided that Black families deserved more than access to places built without them in mind. Evidence that land could be more than property. Her grandfather would’ve understood her emotions.
The road was curvy and it took them around and around until they passed another stretch of homes that were tucked behind gates and flowering hedges. Some looked newly renovated, sleek with glass walls, marble accents, and landscaping that required an entire team of people to maintain.
There was something so normal about it that it became extraordinary to her.
Nina had grown up surrounded by successful Black people. Doctors, lawyers, executives, artists, politicians, judges,entrepreneurs, and everyone in between had moved in and out of her family’s orbit. She knew wealth when she saw it. She had seen achievement up close. Nina could give you a hundred examples of black excellence, but this right here was so different. It was what it looked like after the work was done and you took your rest.
A tear fell down her face but she wiped it away quickly before Jio could tease her. She would have to blame it on her hormones.
Jio slowed near a stop sign where an elderly man sat beneath a striped umbrella selling jars of honey, peach preserves, and homemade hot sauce from a folding table.
“That’s Mr. Bancroft,” Jio told her.
The older man lifted his hand after he saw Jio’s truck.
Jio lowered the window.
“Mr. B,” he acknowledged him with respect.
“Well, look at what the rattlesnake done dragged through here,” the man called out, pushing his sunglasses on the top of his head. “The prodigal son returns.”
