Chapter 13
Andrès
“Ithought I told you the last time I stepped out of your house, don’t speak on my daddy. You don’t know shit about him, so I suggest you keep his name outcha muthafuckin’ mouth.”
“Listen, son, you’re not about to walk in my house checking and disrespecting me.”
Leon Porter was an ignorant muthafucka who wasn’t worth my time. I hadn’t begun to check him, and he needed to pray that was the only thing I would do.
I had wilded out a few years, smoking weed, drinking, and fighting.
I knew that I was rebelling because I missed my dad, and I hated the way that Leon always spoke down on him.
Shit wasn’t the same, and as much as I could have him kissing my ass and eating out of my hands if he only knew a fraction of who I was now, it wasn’t worth it.
“You made it very clear a few minutes ago that I wasn’t your son. Don’t let that word fall from your lips in relation to me again. A’ight?”
“Is everything okay?” Mama asked, returning with our drinks. I would always take the high road for her because she was worth it. She set the drinks down, and Kalliope tugged on my hand. I stepped away and accepted the soda Mama gave me.
“Everything is fine. Come on, babe. Let’s sit down over here,” Kalliope suggested, pointing at the couch a little distance from where Leon had been seated.
“So, when is the wedding?” Mrs. Staten asked, eager to change the subject.
“It’s a surprise,” I remarked, wishing a muthafucka would open their mouth and say some smart shit.
“A surprise?” Mama and Leon asked.
“Yeah. She wants to be surprised by not knowing the date. So, yeah, I’ve been working on that, and you guys will know, too, but no one can let her know.”
“The only thing that we do know is that it will be soon. It won’t be a year from now or even six or three months from now. It will just happen one day in the very near future, and I have no idea when,” Kalliope stated happily.
“Wow, that’s exciting,” Mrs. Staten replied as Mama asked, “What? Why so soon? I mean, I love the idea of having you in the family, Kalliope, but will that give you enough time to plan a proper wedding?”
“Did you knock her up?” Leon asked me.
I rolled my eyes, but I didn’t respond.
“That’s enough, Leon,” Mama warned him with a hard side-eye. “Baby, are you two sure about this so soon? You haven’t seen each other in ten years.”
Kalli took my hand and smiled at me before she looked at my mama again.
“We have waited ten years to be a couple. We made a vow ten years ago that if neither of us were married yet that we would marry one another and live the rest of our lives together. I know some people may not approve or think we’re crazy, but I have always loved Andrès, and that hasn’t changed even in his absence. ”
“I think it’s so sweet and romantic,” Mrs. Staten stated.
“People change,” Mr. Staten warned.
“I know in my heart that this is the right decision. That’s why I asked for two months before I accepted his proposal.
I’ve always been a great discerner of the spirit, and I trust the Lord to lead me.
He has never steered me wrong, and I’ve prayed about this hard.
He’s given me nothing but green lights to move forward,” Kalli declared confidently.
When eyes turned my way, I spoke up. “Listen, I was a fool ten years ago to leave her behind, but I also knew that I needed to get myself in order before I could even approach her. I had too much going on in my life to dump that shi—stuff on her. So, I stepped away, took the time I needed to become the man I wanted to become—the one she deserves. I can confidently say that I’m ready to be what and who she needs,” I explained.
“And that’s going to give you all enough time to plan the wedding?” Mama asked.
“Yes, ma’am. My brother, KJ, has a girlfriend who works for Wedded Bliss,” Kalliope explained.
“Thee Wedded Bliss? The premier wedding planning company?” Mrs. Staten asked in disbelief.
“Yes, ma’am. Andrès proposed a few weeks ago at a ballgame, and of course, someone captured it on social media, and my brother knew before I told him. Anyway, Serena, my brother’s girlfriend, had already approached Alex Sheridan, owner of Wedded Bliss, about them doing our wedding.”
“She’s usually booked for a year in advance,” Mama noted.
“She is, but she was able to squeeze mine in. I don’t want a destination wedding, just a small ceremony with our families at some place intimate and warm and receptive,” Kalliope explained.
“That’s going to be beautiful,” Mrs. Staten stated.
“I’m so excited. There’s so much to do and so little time, but my baby’s going to be someone’s husband,” Mama remarked with teary eyes. Her emotions and happiness eased the tension.
“Ma, stop with the tears, man,” I replied, leaning over and wrapping my arms around her where she sat on the other side of me.
I kissed the top of her head as everyone laughed except for Leon.
I noticed that he seemed to have a look of disgust on his face with his downturned lips and irritation in his narrowed eyes, but I didn’t give a shit.
“You’re her only child. She’s bound to feel a way about all this,” Mrs. Staten remarked.
“You’re doing well, young man. I’m so glad to see how far you’ve come from those days. You’ve grown up quite a bit and proved your stepdad here wrong,” Arnold Staten declared.
I frowned, wondering what that statement meant.
Leon had introduced me to Arnold years ago, when I first started looking for a job at sixteen.
I had worked for Arnold for six years until the day he issued out random on-site drug tests, and I failed because of the amount of THC in my system.
The thought of that time still bothered me for some reason.
Something about it had never set right with me.
“I’m not here to prove anyone wrong or right because I regret nothing about my life, including leaving here. The only reason I’m here today is to see my mama, not to explain anything to anybody,” I replied.
“Maybe you’re not, son, but your stepdad must be proud.
He just knew that you were going to turn into a junkie back in those days.
When he first called and told me that I needed to give random drug tests because he knew you and a couple of your coworkers were on drugs, he was certain that not only were you going down the wrong path, but that you weren’t going to come back,” Arnold declared with a chuckle.
The entire crew had been tested, but I wasn’t the only one who failed. Tommy, Brandon, and Aydan, my coworkers and boys, had all failed and been fired with me. At the time, I suspected that the drug test came because of an accident that happened on a job we’d performed.
Brandon had been driving the forklift, and he’d backed into and tore down the structure that we had just erected. A couple of days before that, another worker had messed up something else, and it cost Mr. Staten a lot of money and time, as we were on a tight deadline before the inspectors arrived.
“Leon, you told Arnold to give Drè that drug test that got him fired?” Mama asked in outrage.
“Listen, Nic, I was doing what was best for the boy. He didn’t need to be on anybody’s construction site as high as a kite.
He would’ve created problems for himself, his coworkers, the company, and Arnold.
I knew what I was doing. Look at him now.
If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t have turned his life around. ”
“Leon, you had no right to—”
Mama was angry as she stood, but I jumped up so quickly and pressed her back into her seat. I was still holding Kalli’s hand with my right one. “It’s all good, Ma. I’m about to bounce,” I announced.
“Leon, you were wrong for that,” Mama scolded.
“Ma, chill. You ain’t ever got to get out of pocket on my behalf. I’m good. I can handle this. We’re gonna ease out and let y’all be at peace—and you be at peace, beautiful lady. You understand me?” I asked, staring my mother in her gorgeous brown eyes.
This woman was my world, my life, my reason for being, and I was not about to let her spend any more years pressed about me. She’d done that enough.
“That’s what you do. Always run when things get too much for you to take,” Leon declared.
It was the first time that I had released Kalliope’s hand in a minute. I snatched Leon out of the chair and slammed him against the wall.
Stress and tension coursed its way through my body, pleading for me to fuck a nigga up. It wasn’t what my ladies needed to see, or Mrs. Staten, but I was ready to give a nigga the issues he was searching for.
“Nigga, I don’t run from shit! You know why the fuck I walk away every time ya ass starts in on me?
It’s because I’ve got too much to lose, and fucking around with a simp-ass nigga like you gon’ have me catching a case.
I’m tired of you letting me and my old man’s name come out ya mouth, especially when you don’t know what the fuck we’ve got going on in our lives. Worry about ya own damn self.”
“Andrès, please calm down,” Mama cried out, squeezing my shoulder.
I ignored her as I stared into Leon’s eyes. “I don’t know why the fuck you hate me so much, but it’s all good, nigga. ’Cause you getting that same energy back.”
“Drè, baby. Let’s go. I think he’s got the message, and it really isn’t worth it to keep hammering it in. You’re so much better than this.” Kalliope whispered from my other side. She was my angel, my light, and my voice of reason.
Reluctantly, I tore my eyes away from Leon and looked at Kalli before I glanced at Leon again. I relaxed, released Leon, and took several steps back.
My mother stood by my side, and I turned and hugged her. “I’m sorry,” I murmured as she cried in my arms. I hated that I had caused her any more grief and sorrow. I hated that she shed tears because of me.
I wiped them from her eyes, kissed her forehead, and ordered, “Don’t you ever let those pretty eyes shed another tear for no man, not for me, him, or anyone else. You hear me?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Let me see that beautiful smile. I promise you that this won’t happen again, Ma. I love you too much.”
She smiled wistfully at me, but I couldn’t erase the sadness in her eyes.
I turned to the Statens. “I’m sorry, y’all. I didn’t mean to ruin your evening, but I’ll never sit back and let a nigga play in my face.” I grabbed Kalli’s hand, grumbled, “Come on, babe,” and we left.
The thing that I loved about Kalliope was that her energy was the same toward me as it was all those years ago.
She knew that she was my peace, and she gave me that.
From the moment that I pulled out of the driveway to the minute that we stepped in her place and closed the door, she remained silent.
She held my hand on the drive and allowed me to be in my head because she knew that I needed a minute to calm down.
She walked into her bedroom, leading me as she held my hand. She undressed me and then undressed herself. I watched as she pulled back the covers and then ordered, “Climb in.”
I obeyed her command and waited while she walked to the refrigerator, grabbed a cold water bottle, and returned.
“Drink this,” she ordered.
Again, I did as I was told. When I finished, she threw it away and finally climbed in bed with me. I reached over, grabbed her, and pulled her to me. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry that I lost my shit in front of you.”
She hugged me and rubbed my back. “You owe me no apologies. You tried so hard to keep it together, and he wasn’t satisfied. He kept poking the bear, so it was no surprise when the bear rose up and attacked.”
“I love you, Kalli.”
“I love you more, Andrès,” she muttered against my shoulder. “Close your eyes and get some rest, baby.”
I did, and I felt safer and more affirmed than ever before lying in my woman’s arms.