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Moving past me to approach my guest, my father made a little pointing gesture while asking, “Dogwood, right? Quarterback for the Skyhawks?”
“That’d be me,” Kendall answered as he extended his hand for a shake. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Nigga talkin’ about some,“Pleasure to meet you, sir”like I’ma oldhead or somethin’,” my dad chuckled, slapping Kendall’s hand hard as hell when he gripped it and said, “It’s cool, man. You can call me Stew.”
“Cool,” Kendall replied shortly. And from that response, I could tell this whole thing had him uncomfortable, making it less of a surprise when he announced, “I actuallyuh… need to get going.”
“Already?”
“Yeah, I got an early morning,” he explained, pressing a gentle hand against my arm as he said, “Thanks again for having me over though, Shakira. Y’all have a good night, aight?”
“Yeah, you too, nigga,” my dad grumbled, the both of us watching Kendall’s every step as he left the kitchen. But it wasn’t until I heard the front door open and shut that Kendall’s abrupt exit really hit me, my father being the one to ask, “What’s his deal?”
With the timing considered, the only real explanation I had was, “You probably just made him nervous or somethin’.”
I mean, meeting my friends and acquaintances was one thing. But meeting a parent,especially unexpectedly, was a whole different ball game, my dad laughing like the concept was ridiculous when he questioned, “Why would he be nervous? That’s your lil’ boyfriend now or somethin’?”
“No,” I answered a little too quickly, the amused expression on my dad’s face letting me know he wasn’t anywhere near convinced even when I told him, “We’re just friends.”
“I hear what you’re sayin’, but Iseehow you’re actin’.”
“Anyway,” I groaned with a subtle eye roll. And I was grateful that my dad actually let it go for now, busying himself with making a plate as he commented, “I saw a bunch of cars out in the driveway. Who’s all here?”
“The usual suspects,” I told him, not even needing to give specifics for my dad to know who I was talking about since I’d pretty much been kicking it with the same crew since college.
My ride or die babes who my dad lowkey clowned when he responded, “Well I’ma need Gi, Z, and P to step their game up, cause whatever they’re out there smoking smells cheap as hell.”
“Daddy, be nice,” I chuckled. “And I’m pretty sure Gianna’s little brother is the one who supplied it.”
After giving a look to say,“That explains everything,”my dad nodded towards the gift on the counter and asked, “So you gonna open your surprise or what?”
The reminder brought an instant grin to my lips as I retrieved the box and made quick work of getting it open, the glow from the yellow gold Tiffany T ring I’d casually mentioned to him weeks ago making my grin widen as my dad asked, “That’s the one you wanted, right? To match the bracelet?”
“It’sexactlythe one I wanted,” I told him, dropping it onto the counter so that I could pull him into the tightest hug when I sang, “Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, baby girl,” he responded with a peck to my forehead as my crew walked back in. And even though whatever they’d smoked smelled cheap to my dad’s standards, it had apparently still done the trick, the goofy looks on all of their faces making me and my dad both shake our heads as he said, “Damn. They arewayup there.”
Giving instant proof of just how high they were, Donatello approached my dad rapping, “Big Stew. What it do? How the hell are you?Ay.” Then he extended his hand for a dap that had my dad quick to put him in his place when he knocked his hand away with a grunted,“Boy, get the fuck outta my face”,making everybody laughing until Penelope realized the room was short a person.
“Wait. What happened to Snoop?”
While the rest of the group started looking around like they hadn’t even noticed he was missing until she said something,or like they expected him to pop back up, I quietly shared, “He had to go. Said he has an early morning.” But of course, that was just another red flag to Zara who moved close enough for my dad and the boys to be out of earshot when she asked, “An early morning, or a later night that involves his ding-a-ling in someone else?”
“An early morning,” I double downed. “But I really think he just skated because my dad showed up.”
Even though I was a little sad about him being gone, I could understand why he would leave under those circumstances, Zara also throwing her support behind Kendall’s exit when she responded, “I feel him. Cause I mean, can you imagine having to meet somebody’s mama on the first link? Like ma’am, can I see what your son’s dick is like first?”
While Penelope laughed at the question, Gianna agreed, “Nah, that’s facts. Cause if it ain’t good, then why are we even meeting?”
“If what ain’t good?” Amari asked as he joined the group, clearly taking the whole bake and cake concept to heart according to the big ass slice of dessert he was carrying.
But when,instead of using a fork, he used his fingers to eat it, I better understood why Gianna was so into him as she leaned his way and purred, “You havenothingto worry about.”
“Nigga got that meet his mama meat,” Zara joked, making me and Penelope bust out laughing.
Gianna, on the other hand, gave a little shrug when she said, “And do,” opening her mouth for a bite of cake served from Amari’s fingers that gave me an instant flashback of Kendall doing the same with his fork.
It was so intimate, and sexy, and…intriguing, a step beyond the innocent flirting I was used to from him. And now all I could think about was what might’ve happened had my dad not shown up, left to wonder about the seemingly perfect man who’d somehow managed to make himself a little more interesting.
