Chapter 6
I saw the black Mustang park in front of Naryah’s house and watched a man get out. He walked to the front of the car and leaned against it while looking at his phone. I had a feeling it was her ex-husband, but I wasn’t sure, so I kept watching.
In the distance, I heard a dog barking, and seconds later, I saw Naryah, Keelan, and Que approaching Naryah’s house. She struggled with Que as he pulled her toward the man leaning on the Mustang. He was an obedient dog, but it was obvious he had beef with the man.
Keelan remained outside while Naryah took Que into the house. He and the man exchanged a few words, and Keelan’s body language told me all I needed to know . . . He wasn’t fond of him. Naryah reappeared, and that was when I decided to insert myself.
As I left my house, I saw Keelan go inside. Naryah continued to speak to the man, and when she turned to walk away, he grabbed her arm. That was when I stepped in. As I suspected, the man was Keelan’s father, and he gave off nothing but bad energy and vibes.
I wasn’t sure Naryah would play along with me, and I was pleasantly surprised when she did. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear I saw steam coming from Victor’s ears as Naryah and I interacted.
The more dismissive she was toward him, the more agitated Victor became, and when she brushed past him to get Keelan, my instincts told me to grab him.
“Slow down, nigga!” I shouted, slamming him against the hood of his car and holding him down with my fist in his chest.
“Get the fuck off me, nigga!”
“I’ll let you go, but if you try some slick shit, you’ll regret it.”
I released him, and he got up in a huff, dusting his clothes off as if he’d been rolling on the ground.
“I don’t know who the fuck you are, but Keelan is my son. He doesn’t need another father.”
“Fathers are a dime a dozen, but it seems the role of dad needs to be filled.”
“Nigga—”
Que’s barking cut off Victor’s words. Naryah pulled on his leash, shouted commands, and eventually Que obeyed, but I could hear him growling from where I stood. Keelan stood next to his mother with his hands in the pockets of his shorts.
“Victor, if you don’t want to be torn to shreds, you should leave,” Naryah told him from the porch.
“Come on, Keelan,” Victor said.
“He’s not going with you.”
“You can’t keep my son away from me, Naryah.”
“I’m not, but this is not a schedule—”
“I shouldn’t have to see my son on a fucking schedule.”
“I’m not gonna argue with you. Either leave, or I’m letting Que loose.”
“Keelan, tell your mother you’re coming with me.”
I found it interesting how persistent Victor was today, but Naryah said he hadn’t seen his son in two months. Before Keelan could speak, Naryah held her hand up, and he didn’t open his mouth. She kneeled and whispered something to Que as she appeared to be removing his leash.
“From what I’ve seen, Que has a beef with you. You might want to head out,” I told him.
“She’s not gonna—oh shit!”
Naryah released Que, and he took off toward Victor.
It had been a minute since I’d seen a grown man move as fast as Victor did, but he still wasn’t fast enough to get to his front door.
Instead, he hopped on the hood of his car and crawled onto the roof.
Que was on his tail, but I felt gracious, so I caught Que by his collar before he could get to Victor.
“Heel, boy!” I commanded.
Luckily for Victor, Que followed my command.
“That fucking dog needs to be put down. I’m calling my lawyer,” Victor fumed as his chest heaved up and down.
I couldn’t hide the smug grin on my face as he slid from the roof of his car like a scared child. Que’s growling got louder, causing Victor to quickly get into his car and speed away.
“Why didn’t you let Que tear his ass up?” Naryah question, clearly annoyed.
“I don’t know him well, but I have a feeling he’d do all he could to have Que put down. None of us wants that, right?”
She rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement. “So, what did you cook?”
Shit!
“Honestly, I didn’t cook anything. I just said that to get under his skin.”
She shook her head in disappointment. “Keelan, we’ve been played. Now I have to figure out something for dinner.”
“He kinda helped us out, Mom. Be nice.”
She put all her weight on one leg and folded her arms across her chest as she looked at me.
“It seems you’ve won over both my boys, and that says a lot because they both can be a bit standoffish. Unfortunately, that doesn’t solve our dinner problem.”
“How about you all come over to my house, and we order in? I’ll use my good dishes to plate the food, and it’ll be just like I cooked.”
“Can we, Mom?”
“Keelan, we barely know this man.”
He shrugged. “But Que likes him, so that means he’s safe.”
We both waited patiently as Naryah held our evening plans in the palm of her hands. At least a minute passed before she finally agreed to have dinner at my house.
“Fine, but I get to pick what we’re eating, and I have a taste for Italian.”
“Whatever you want, beautiful.”
“Black Elm has grown a lot since I moved away. So far, the restaurant scene is my favorite, and that’s saying a lot since I was in Chicago for over twenty years. The food there is unmatched,” I said before eating a forkful of lasagna.
“How often did you come home to visit?” Naryah asked.
“Not often enough for my parents, but a few times a year. My visits were never more than three days, and I spent most of them letting my mother fatten me up with her home-cooked meals.”
“I don’t blame you. Whenever my mother is in the mood to cook a big meal and invites me and my sister over, I can’t get there fast enough.”
“Yeah. My Nana’s food is good,” Keelan commented before stuffing his face.
Naryah gasped and playfully pushed him on the shoulder.
“Are you trying to say Mommy can’t cook?”
“No, your food is good too, Mom. Nana’s is just better.”
He shrugged as if what he said wasn’t at all offensive and continued eating his spaghetti and meatballs.
“Whatever, Son. You’d better hope I don’t change my mind about Trey’s party.”
He looked up from his plate with wide eyes. “But you already said I could go.”
She didn’t respond immediately, making him suffer for a moment before telling him she was kidding. Relief washed over his face before he returned his attention to his food.
“Keelan, did your mother tell you that Trey is my nephew?”
He gave me the wide eyes that he’d given his mother, but this time, it was out of surprise instead of worry or fear.
“Really? That’s so cool. Will you be at his party?”
“Of course.”
“Trey said he beat his uncle a bunch of times on the game. I didn’t know it was you, but I bet you I can beat you too.”
“Are you challenging me?”
“Yeah, if you think you can beat me.”
“Okay. I’ll find you at the party and show you how it’s done. Do I get to pick the game?”
“We can both pick one,” he suggested.
“Cool. I’ll try not to embarrass you.”
We went back and forth, all in good fun, for a few minutes before Keelan asked to be excused to play in my backyard with Que. Naryah excused him, leaving us alone.
“You’ve been quiet,” I said.
“I had nothing to add to the conversation. Aside from making sure he’s not doing anything inappropriate or putting himself in danger, I’m not into video games.”
“I’m glad you do that much. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen as a police officer regarding what kids do online and the kind of trouble and danger they get into. It’s wild and pretty damn scary.”
“I’m well aware, which is why I’m so vigilant when it comes to Keelan’s online access and usage.”
“Good. Stay on him.”
She stood and began to gather our dishes, but I stopped her when she reached for my plate.
“Let me clean up since you paid for the food,” she offered.
“Nah. That’s not how this works. Have a seat.”
She smacked her lips. “At least let me help.”
“It’ll take me five minutes to clean this shit up, Naryah. Have a seat.”
She sat down in a huff, and I gathered our plates. After rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher, I transferred the leftovers to food storage containers for the fridge, leaving one out for her to take home.
“I think that may have been less than five minutes. You want more wine?”
“I’m good for now. Thank you.”
“You want to chill in here or go out back with the boys.”
“Out back.”
I let her lead the way, and as soon as we stepped onto the patio, Que came racing our way. He tried to get Naryah to play with him, but she sent him on his way. We sat on the patio swing for two that was facing the backyard and watched Keelan and Que in silence for a few minutes.
“I have a question for you,” I said.
“I’m listening.”
“Who braids Keelan’s hair?”
“I do.”
“Really? I’m looking for someone to braid mine, and it hasn’t been easy. The woman I went to most recently got my shit fucked up.”
I bowed my head and leaned forward so she could get a good view of my head. From afar, it didn’t look too bad, but up close, the parts were crooked, and the braids were loose and lumpy.”
“Oh, wow. I couldn’t see all that. She messed you up. Are you asking me to braid your hair?”
“Honestly, I need it all.”
“Hmm. I guess I can help you out since you helped us out. Thank you for dinner, by the way.”
“No thanks needed, but I appreciate you joining me after I lied.”
“Honestly, if it weren’t for Keelan, I probably would’ve declined.”
“Why?”
“I’m no fool, Graham. I know you’re attracted to me, and—”
“Are you saying the attraction isn’t mutual?”
“That’s not the point. I don’t want you to think anything can happen between us.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not interested.”
“You’re attracted to me but not interested in me.”
“I didn’t say I was attracted to you, but that doesn’t matter. Romantic relationships for me are a thing of the past.”
“Wow. That’s quite a statement.”
“It is what it is. My last relationship was hell, and I’m not going through that again.”
“I hate that your ex ruined your desire to find love with someone else.”
“I hate it too, but it’s my reality. I’m not willing to risk the peace of mind I’ve gained since leaving him.”
“I don’t know your whole story, but based on the behavior I observed from your ex, I’m sure it was hell. It’s unfortunate that you’re still allowing him to dictate your happiness and your future. Every man ain’t him, baby.”
She didn’t respond, and we sat quietly, watching Keelan and Que exert energy we could only wish to have. After the experience with his father a few hours ago, I was glad Keelan was able to relax, enjoy a good meal, converse with his mother and me, and have fun with his dog.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped,” I finally said after I couldn’t take the silence anymore.
“It’s fine. We should probably head home.”
She leaned forward, preparing to stand, but she paused when she felt my hand around her wrist. Her questioning eyes met mine, and I had to quickly decide how honest I wanted to be in that moment.
“I respect everything you said and where you stand on relationships, but let me be clear, and I mean this in the most respectful way. The first time I saw you, I was drawn to you, and after a short conversation, I wanted to know everything about you. In all honesty, I don’t give a fuck about none of that shit you said.
I’m a different breed, baby. Give me a chance to show you. ”
Although her eyes stayed locked on mine, and she didn’t look away like many women would, I could tell my words affected her. The way her breath hitched, her pulse quickened, and her nipples hardened under the thin shirt she wore were all signs.
Suddenly, she snatched her arm away as she stood and shouted to Keelan, “Let’s go.”
Her desire to get away from me was strong because she didn’t even wait for Keelan and Que. By the time they realized what was going on, Naryah had walked around to the front of the house.
“What’s wrong with Mom?” Keelan asked.
“She’s good. I’ll see you later.”
He nodded and took a few steps before turning around to face me.
“Thanks for being so nice, Mr. Graham.”
A few beats passed before I responded because I was a bit surprised by his words. I hadn’t done anything special, and if I were completely honest, my reasons were more selfish than anything else. I’d do damn near anything to spend time with his mother.
“You’re welcome.”
By the time I made it to my front yard, Naryah was on her porch waiting for Keelan and Que. Once they went inside, I did the same, and for the rest of the evening, Naryah’s abrupt departure was on my mind.
Before I went to bed, I decided to call my brother to get his take on the situation. It had been years since I’d asked him for relationship advice because I’d given up trying to balance one with my job after a few failed attempts.
“What, nigga?”
“Damn. That’s no way to greet your favorite brother.”
“You’re my only brother. What the fuck do you want? I was about to get some pussy.”
“Oh, my bad. I’ll make this quick. Naryah—”
“Who?”
“My future wife.”
“Oh, yeah. What about her?”
I gave him the condensed version of the evening’s events without interruption.
“She’s been hurt, so she’s running.”
“I know, but how do I get her to let her guard down?”
“Be you, Bro, and keep showing up for her. Kindra’s calling me. I gotta go.”
“Wait—hello?”