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“Well I still say it’s too much,” she maintained, propping her hands on her hips. “We should stop and reconsider.”
I pushed out a sigh as I stood, mirroring her stance. “AndIsay,the paint is already purchased, and it’s whatIwant, formybathroom… so gone and grab a brush, miss mamas.”
“Fine,” she grumbled, making me laugh.
If there wasanything Carmen Tate was going to do, it was speak her mind, even if you hadn’t actually asked her to. After growing up with her, and surviving my teenage years in her house, I’d learned that I just had to stick to my guns. It was usually enough to overcome her objections—about the small stuff at least.
We were able to get the rest of the trim up and “finished”, leaving it ready to be painted before we moved on to the dining room. In there, it was just a simple chair rail molding and the walls would be a super-pale gray; Mama approved.
We were blazing through our to-do list until I realized I hadnotpurchased nearly enough of the caulk I’d needed for all the seams and nail holes to make it look professionally finished.
“Let’s just run to the store,” Mama suggested and I rolled my eyes, because Ialready knew.
“If we leave this house, we are going to end up somewhere having tapas and mimosas.” I laughed, shaking my head. “And I really want to get this done today. I’m going back to work next week—like for real, not just stuff here and there like I have been. I want to be able to come home to a space that looks like I want it to.”
Not to mention, the level of protection we were under now meant a trip to the store would honestly turn into a whole production.
“Okay so how are you going to get it then?” Mama asked. “You want me to go by myself?”
I sucked my teeth. “Ifyouleave, you’lljust end up going to have the tapas and mimosasby yourself, so no, I don’t want you to go either. I’ll… just call someone.”
“Someone” ended up being a whole list of folks, none of whom were truly available.
Not Maite, not Brandon, not Keira.
After that I landed on the person I feltnextmost comfortable asking to come to my home.
Onyx.
Maybe I can just ask one of the security guys to do it?
No.
No.
I couldn’t pull them off their posts for something like this.
“What about that young man that was at the house that day, that big handsome one with the hair?” Mama asked, breaking into my thoughts to suggest the exact person I was tryingnotto call.
But…fuck it.
We needed the supplies to finish, and I wanted this done, so… I blew out a sigh and dialed his number. He answered after the second ring and I had to catch my breath a little when I heard his voice.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, no hello or anything, just bass and concern, and…shit.
“Uh, nothing,” I stammered, like the awkward teenager I’dneverbeen, so what even was this? “Um…I need you to bring me some caulk.”
“Somewhat?”
My nose wrinkled in confusion for a second before I realized. “Caulk. C-A-U-L-K. Like the home improvement product. Why would I even usethatword?”
He chuckled. “You gotta make it plain, after our last real conversation. What do you need that for?” he asked. “You got some plumbing issues?Need your pipes checked out? Got a leak? Something too wet?”
“Funny,” I said, even though I really needed him to stop, because the innuendo wasn’t helping my flustered state. “I need it for some feature wall stuff I’m doing with my mom. I’m not trying to turn the trip into a big deal for security, so… if you’re not busy…”
“I’ve got you. Text me a picture of what you need.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
