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“Man,Irma! It’s not Cassie! It’sMelvin!”
Jamal walked to the door and had to hide his smile behind his hand. Irma had talked the old man into dressing up like Ricky Ricardo. He even had a black-haired toupee covering his balding head.
“Luuuuuucy,you have some ‘splainin’ to do,” Melvin said in the worst accent Jamal had ever heard.
“Aren’t you thecutest?”Irma said, pecking Melvin on the cheek, leaving a red lip stain on his splotched skin. “Are you ready?”
“Where are you going?” Jamal asked.
“Well, since you had the carnival covered, Melvin asked me if I wanted to go with him to the costume party at the country club. Then I found theseamazingcostumes online and just couldn’t say no!”
“I think you look amazing, Irma!” JJ exclaimed. “You, too, Melvin. Even though I have no clue who you guys are.”
Jamal burst out laughing at the appalled look on Irma’s face.
“My heavens, child. I can’t believe you’ve been under my roof all these years and not seen an episode of I Love Lucy. We shall watch a marathon next weekend. I have them all on DVD.”
JJ grinned from ear to ear. “Sounds good to me, nanny.”
Jamal heard a timid knock on the door. “Hey guys. I’m here.”
He turned to the sound of Cassie’s voice and was stunned speechless. Standing before him was nothisBambi, the fresh-faced beauty who was the picture of innocence. Instead, a stunning version of Cleopatra stood before him. Her eyes were lined in thick, black lines over gold-colored eyeshadow, making her chocolate brown eyes pop. Her long black hair shined like glass under the lighting of the chandelier and was pulled back in in a fancy beaded headband. Her dress was white and tight, clinging to every curve on her delicious body. A beaded collar ran from shoulder to shoulder at the top of the dress, matching a beaded belt that accentuated Cassie’s tiny waist. Best of all, though, was the slit in the ankle-length dress that went to mid-thigh.
“Oh em geeeeeee! Cassie, you lookhot!” his daughter exclaimed, running up to her and stopping a few inches away. “I’m afraid to touch you!”
Jamal couldn’t think of anythingbuttouching her. He wanted to peel the tight dress off inch by inch until he could see was what Cassie had on underneath. Ordidn’thave on, by the looks of it. A dress that tight would show any panty line at all. Which only meant one thing. Aria had convince Cassie to wear 1). A very slinky thong or 2). Nothing at all. And dear lord, was he hoping for number two.
“You look beautiful, Bambi,” he said softly, walking up to her with the intent of wrapping her in a hug, but instead couldn’t stop staring. “I’m almost afraid of touching you, too. Don’t want to mess anything up.”
“Aria went way overboard,” Cassie said shyly. “But I didn’t have anything else to wear, so I had to go with this.”
God bless Aria and her creative costuming, he thought. He owed that girl a steak dinner. Or ice cream. Or pizza. Basically, whatever she wanted.
“I sure am glad you had to wear that,” he replied. “You. Are. Stunning. All the other moms will be jealous.”
“You do look beautiful,” Irma said to Cassie. “Very much like an Egyptian princess.”
“Don’t you know who she is, Irma? She’s Cleopatra,theEgyptian princess,” Jamal said.
“I know this, you daft man,” Irma replied with a swat to his back. “I just wanted to compliment her in the best way. To me, she looks even more beautiful that Cleopatra.”
Irma gave Cassie a wink. “Gotta go now, honeys. We have a date at the country club.”
Melvin took Irma’s arm and began escorting her out the door.
“You kids don’t stay out too late, you hear?” Jamal called to their retreating backs.
Irma turned and looked at him. “Oh, don’t you worry, sonny. And don’t wait up. I have no plans to come back here tonight.” With a finger-wave his way, she took her date and sashayed out the door.
“What did she mean, daddy-o? Why isn’t she coming back tonight?” JJ asked with a confused look on her face.
Notevengetting into the facts of the birds and bees with his eight year old daughter, he shook his head and pulled on her pigtails. “She was joking, kid. She just meant you’ll be asleep in bed before she gets back.”
“Why do I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me?” she asked, hand in softball glove on her hip.
“I’ll tell you in eight years, kid. How about that? Even better, I’ll haveIrmatell you.”
“There’s no getting it out of you today?”
