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He nodded and kissed my lips again, then left the room to head to his car. I took a deep breath and prayed for him. His mother meant a lot to him, and I knew he wanted her to be in his life. She’d always been the one there for him. She was being unreasonable, and I truly believed she couldn’t help it. It was in her innate nature to be territorial. In her mind, anyone coming into Nate’s life, claiming his undivided attention, posed a threat to her position.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. His heart was big enough to share. I wished she could see just how much this was hurting him so it wouldn’t have to go as far as it did about the issue of his father. She didn’t want to share Nate with David. I truly believed that she knew all along who Nate’s father was, but because he didn’t love her, she didn’t want him in the picture, even if that was beneficial for Nate.
I stood from the bed to begin getting dressed. Our car would arrive in two hours to pick us up. We would still arrive at the arena about two hours before the game started. That would give me time to go courtside before Nate disappeared to the locker room. I wanted his mind to be in a good place, even if I had to sell him a falsehood for the time being. I would be sure to enlighten him after the game.
Just because I understood his mom’s mental state didn’t mean I agreed with it, nor would I ignore it for long. Ignoring the toxic behavior was enabling it. Because she was older than me, she looked at my calling out her behavior as disrespectful. She probably viewed Nate’s response to it as disrespectful as well.
I slid on my black leather-like leggings, a black, white, and blue halter top, and blue heels. I thought I would show Nate that I was repping his team colors. Once I applied my makeup and twisted my dreads just how I liked them, there was ten minutes to spare. I surely didn’t want to go downstairs a minute too soon. It was bad enough we would have to travel there together.
I began cleaning up my mess and made Nate’s bed. By the time that was done, it was definitely time to get to the car. I grabbed my blue blinged-out clutch and blue sweater and headed down. I could see Ms. Green making her way to the door as I did so. The minute I walked out of the door, she went in. “I was wondering if you were going to make the game.”
I slightly rolled my eyes then got in the car. She got in next to me. “I suppose your lil stunt didn’t work.”
“Although he got irritated, he knew why I said those things. He assured me that my place in his life is secure. You may need to inquire about yours. However, I refused to go into detail about your words of venom before his game. His mind needs to be on playing to the best of his abilities tonight, especially since he’s missed a few games.”
She turned her head away from me, thankfully, so I did the same. I looked out the window at the passing scenery. I had only been to Dallas a couple of times before now. There was a lot of land, nothing like Chicago. Everything seemed so jam packed compared to here. I kind of liked this. It just seemed peaceful. While I knew there were urban areas in Dallas, it didn’t make up the entire city.
Ms. Green was way too quiet, and it somewhat made me nervous. She was sitting there in her head and there was no telling what was floating around in there. When I looked over at her, my heart softened somewhat. She looked sad and at the point of tears. Maybe she was reevaluating her place in Nate’s life as I suggested.
“Ms. Green, there is enough room in Nate’s life for the both of us. I understand your closeness. My mother and I are very close. Any man that can’t accept that couldn’t be in my life. I’m not trying to take your place. I’m trying to fill another position. You’re his mother.”
She turned to me, and I noticed her lip trembling. This was resolving a lot quicker than I anticipated. “Although my parents are alive, it has always been Nate and me. Wherever I went, Nate was with me. If he couldn’t tag along, it was rare that I went, except work, of course. I sacrificed everything to assure he had a good life.”
“I know he appreciates that,” I said as I reached for her hand.
She grabbed it, and I could feel the tremble coursing through her. “I’m sorry. I just… I don’t even know how to explain it. He’s my baby. It was hard when he left to play ball overseas. I wanted him to be successful. I’ve always wanted the best for him. But… I just want to always be a part of it. It’s like I’m scared to live without him.”
“You are extremely attached to him, but, Ms. Green, you have to live your life for you now. Nate is a grown man. I know you want grandbabies to spoil. Idowant kids one day. Yes, I’m getting older… I’m nearly forty, but it’s not too late. So let us move at our pace. We aren’t forcing it. It’s organically moving at this speed. I know it’s unbelievable for you, because it’s unbelievable for me.”
She nodded. “Please don’t hurt my baby. I can see that look of admiration in his eyes whenever he looks at you. He’s already falling.”
I smiled slightly. “I won’t hurt him. He’s a good man. I can feel his love every time he stares at me. My entire body heats up under his gaze. The last thing I want is to cause a riff between the two of you. Your mother-son relationship is important. Thank you for raising a man that knows how to treat and respect women. He’s everything I’ve ever desired.”
She smiled and squeezed my hand. “Thank you for this. Sometimes I feel like I’m losing him. I hate that feeling, and it causes me to behave in unbecoming ways. It makes me feel defensive. I know it will mean a lot to him to see us getting along. So instead of looking at it as I’m losing a son, I suppose I should see myself gaining a daughter.”
Her words touched my heart. My iciness was gone. I leaned over and lightly kissed her cheek then gently wiped the bit of lipstick from it as she smiled. “Thank you for being patient with me, Kenya. I owe Nate an apology.”
“Come to courtside with me when we get there.” Her eyebrows lifted. “It will do him some good to see that we’ve squashed the issue between us and that we are both here to root him on… together.”
She nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
I silently thanked God this shit was done. I was glad I didn’t get too out-of-pocket with her, or this moment probably wouldn’t have ever happened. While the devil tried to interfere in our progress, we couldn’t let him win. He had to flee. I was beyond grateful that he didn’t hang around too long. That only proved to me how this was meant to be. Nate and I would be together no matter what tried to come against us if we kept our eyes on what was the most important: our journey to love.
CHAPTER 17
NATE
Icouldn’t have been more pissed at my mama. She came to Dallas and did just what the fuck she wanted to do anyway. I was two seconds from putting her out of my house. When Kenya tried to appease her by offering to pay for shit, I knew they’d had words before I got there. When Kenya said that things were fine, I knew she was lying.
I wasn’t a stranger to how my mom could be. She was that way with all my girlfriends growing up. However, those relationships were never that serious for it to even matter. That was why I never introduced Jessica to her though. I started having feelings about things with Jessica moving even slower than I anticipated or not lasting at all. My mom had witnessed my heartbreak from that situation though, and, of course, she was wanting to get at her.
She knew that I was really serious about Kenya because of how fast we were moving. She met her at Noah’s house and was meeting her again as my woman two days later. That shit sent her into orbit. She was cool in Baltimore because Kenya and I were only flirting and shit. When Kenya had shown up in Houston, though, it blew her fucking mind.
However, when she joined Kenya courtside to give me kisses of good luck, I was shocked. I could see genuine happiness on both their faces. I supposedthey’dhad a come to Jesus meeting on the way to the arena. Seeing them getting along improved my mood tremendously. It was almost like I’d never missed a game.
Kenya informed me that I had twenty-one points, five rebounds, two blocks, and ten assists. Baby girl stayed on my shit. It helped that she loved basketball. I told her as soon as basketball season was over, we would have a game of one-on-one so I could see her skills. She said she’d played in school. I was pretty sure our one-on-one would lead to other things though.
We won that game by ten points, and when I joined her after the game, she informed me that my mom had left so she could get back on the road. I wasn’t upset about that. Although they’d made up, she was still in her feelings. Once I was showered and dressed, I called her on our way home. I let her know how proud of her I was for squashing her qualms with Kenya, and for being a great mother.
