Page 60 of Solomon’s Temple

“Um, my mom passed away after giving birth to me, and I never knew my father. I grew up in the foster care system until I was thirteen. That’s when my mother’s mother found me, and I’d been with her ever since.”

Mrs. Urina’s hand went over her heart. “Oh, how awful. I’m sorry to hear that, but it’s a good redemption story. At least your grandmother came for you.”

I nodded and smiled.

This woman is fake as press-on nails.

If there was one thing Ma Lula taught me, it was to have good discernment. Now I could see why Solomon didn’t like being around his parents, specifically his mother. She was—a lot. She wasn’t rude or anything, but her delivery and how fake she was told me that she didn’t really care for me.

If she knew that her son and I were already married, she’d probably pop a blood vessel in her brain.

I knew we should have just gone to the party.

Mr. Dorian cleared his throat. “It seems that she raised you right. Do you have any siblings?”

“I have two cousins that I call my sisters, but biologically, I’m an only child as far as I know.”

“Hey, we’re all family in God’s eyes,” Mr. Dorian said.

“That is true.” Mrs. Urina agreed. I noticed Solomon had been quiet. I didn’t like it, and just when I was about to call him away, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” Mr. Dorian stood and headed out of the room.

“Sol, I’m sorry if I did anything to offend you. You too, Temple. I just want the best for my son.”

“I’m not offended, and I get it. I’d probably be the same way once we start having children.”

“Oh, you all plan to get married then?”

I was about to answer until Mr. Dorian returned with Shatina trailing behind him. When her eyes landed on me, they turned to slits, and I gave her the same fucking energy.

What the fuck is this bitch doing here?

Solomon frowned. “Ma, Pop. What is Shareece doing here?” Solomon asked the question I wanted to know.

“I was only stopping by to bring the cake your mom asked me to bring by,” Shakina said, still eyeing me.

“Oh, that’s nice. You can leave now.”

“Sol, don’t be rude,” Mrs. Urina said. “Shareece is like family.”

I frowned. Clearly this woman was a messy bird, but I wasn’t standing for it.

A low chuckle left Solomon as he wiped his mouth with the fancy cloth napkin and tossed it on his plate.

“You know what? I’m over this. I tried to make this work, but you refuse to change.”

“What are you talking about? You have been rude to me since you sat down at this table, and I have done nothing to you.”

“It’s crazy you think you haven’t. You talked to Temple no less than ten minutes before we arrived, yet you forget her name. Not only that, you inquire about her finances because you are fishing for a reason not to like her. Then you invite her here to bring you a cake I could have easily stopped by to get before we got here.

“Let’s just call a spade a spade, Urina. You only love Shareece because she was the first girl I brought home that you actually liked because you couldn’t find a flaw. What you don’t know is that she’s flaw as hell. Broke my heart when I found her giving head in the back seat of Kevin Truman’s whip. That is why we broke up.”

“Wow. You want to air out my dirty laundry, but you are nothing but a hypocrite, Solomon,” Shakana said. I didn’t care what the fuck her name was because this was where she had me fucked up.

“Watch it, homegirl. That ain’t the road you want to go down.”

“Oh, be quiet, you dirty stripper!” she exclaimed, glaring at me. “Yeah, I looked you up and saw all your little dirty pics online. You’re the reason he’s being a hypocrite. Talking about he’s finding Jesus but was actually in the strip club finding you!”