Chapter 4
Christian
“The funniest part was that Chris didn’t even realize it. He was just walking around with the bottom flapping in the wind,” Mama shared as my dad and younger brother, Joshua, roared with laughter. I wanted to tell that nigga that shit wasn’t that funny.
“All right. Y’all ease up on my brother some,” my older brother, Nicholas, demanded with a smirk as I dragged my hand down my face.
“I mean, come on, you gotta admit, Nick. It was funny seeing him walking around with his butt showing,” Joshua stated.
“And I thought I taught you better than that. Why weren’t you wearing any underwear?” my mother asked.
“I thought onesie pajamas were underwear. Gimme a break, I was only ten,” I pleaded. My family loved embarrassing me whenever I brought a female around who they thought I had the least bit of interest in. So it was no surprise that it happened when I brought Angel over.
“You didn’t feel the cold wind on your behind?” Angel asked.
“It wasn’t cold that December,” I disputed.
“It was one of Georgia’s milder winters.” Mama agreed.
“I would’ve felt the temperature change if it had been me,” Joshua stated as I rolled my eyes.
“All right, that’s enough on your brother,” my father declared and stood.
“Baby, I think that was the last gift that we had to wrap.” Mama looked around the living room.
Angel and I had been talking on the phone almost every day.
We had lunch on a couple of occasions when I had the day off.
This was a rare Saturday that I didn’t have to work, so I had invited Angel to my parents’ home for our annual gift wrapping day.
We all bought gifts to give to the less fortunate and spent the day at our parents’ house wrapping the gifts, eating cookies and other snacks that were reminiscent of our childhood Christmases.
My dad had made his specialty hot chocolate and served it with my mom’s homemade peppermint bark.
Based on the laughter and how relaxed Angel had become, I could tell that she had been enjoying herself. But now she looked like she was ready to leave and get home from how she was putting things in Belle’s diaper bag.
“You’re getting ready to leave?” Mama asked.
“Not at this exact moment, but I do need to leave soon. It’s close to Belle’s bedtime.
I need to give her a bath and a bottle of milk to settle in, or she will be fussy all night long.
I’ve worked hard to get her on a schedule so that she will sleep through the night, and I don’t want to disturb it. ”
“All right, boys. Let’s go load up my truck in the garage with these gifts. Your mama and I will take them down to the church and the hospital tomorrow. And then, Chris, you can see these ladies out,” my father announced.
“What are you doing with that girl, boy?” Daddy asked once we walked into the garage.
“What do you mean, Dad?”
“I mean, I heard she’d been to the station. Then I heard you met up with her at the mall, and the two of you have been talking on the phone since then,” Dad stated.
I glared at Joshua and rolled my eyes. He was the only one I shared that with.
“My bad. I was just talking to Dad in passing, and you know how he can be. He’s got this way of extracting information without really asking the questions,” Joshua pointed out.
“Or even without you realizing that you’re giving him the answers,” Nicholas chimed in.
“So, what’s your point, Dad?”
“I’m just wondering what your intentions are.”
“No intentions. We’re friends, and we’re going to this ball together that she goes to each year. Just friends.”
“You need to think about this, Son. That young woman has a baby. She comes with a full responsibility, and that selfish son-of-a-gun friend of yours took her on an emotional ride. Don’t play with her emotions, Son.”
“I’m not, Dad. We’re just friends. She’s not expecting anything of me other than taking her to the ball. We were friends before. Besides, she’s Jeremiah’s ex. I don’t do stuff like that.”
He eyeballed me and nodded as we finished carrying the gifts to his truck. Afterward, my brothers busied themselves with picking up the leftover wrapping paper and trash, while my dad headed upstairs.
I walked into the kitchen where Mama was stacking dishes in the dishwasher, and Angel was cleaning the countertops.
Angel had Belle situated against her body in the carrier she had strapped on. I watched as she stroked the back of her head. I leaned against the doorway, watching them for a few minutes. None of them saw me.
“Look at that little dumpling. She’s such a beauty and such a good baby,” Mama stated.
“Thank you. She’s my precious girl,” Angel replied.
“She’s gonna be too big for you to carry in the front soon.”
“I know. I’ve tried transitioning her to my back, but she gets fussy. She loves resting her head against my chest.”
“My boys were the same way, but they were all breastfed, which made them clingier.”
“I try to switch her to the back when we’re at home so she can become adjusted to it, but I don’t when we’re out in public so she’s not as fussy.”
“Can I ask you a question, baby?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Are you sure that you and Christian just reunited?”
“Yes, ma’am. Why?”
“Bryant and I were talking earlier, and Belle looks just like Chris as a baby.”
Angel laughed haughtily. “With all due respect, ma’am, I promise you that this isn’t his baby.”
“Well, okay,” Mama replied doubtfully.
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the broom to break up the inquisition. I kept feeling Angel’s gaze on me as I swept the floor. When I turned around and caught her staring at my tatted arms flexing while I swept, I winked at her.
She bit her bottom lip, and I watched as a red undertone crept underneath her brown skin, coloring her neck and face.
I finished sweeping while they worked on the dishes.
I headed back into the living room to talk to my brothers, but Nicholas was on his phone talking, and Joshua was in the bathroom.
I plopped on the couch and waited for Angel. I could hear the two of them talking, and I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I did.
“Mrs. Holly, thank you for inviting me.”
“I’m thankful you agreed to come. I didn’t expect to see you,” Mama declared.
“Why not?”
“Well, after everything went down between you and Jeremiah, you disappeared.”
“I’m sorry. It was nothing personal, but it was just hard and embarrassing.”
“Child, please. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“That was a rough time in my life.”
“I know. Baby, we all have rough patches. I’m glad to see that you got through it, and with that beautiful baby no less.”
“She’s the center of my world.”
“As she should be. Are you and Jeremiah still in contact?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Mm. You know, he and Chris still talk quite often. How do you think he might feel about you and Chris?”
“I don’t really care what he thinks about anything, honestly. Besides, Chris and I are friends.”
“Okay, baby.”
I walked into the kitchen because I knew Mama was about to put her on the hot seat.
“You ready?”
“I am.”
“All right. Mama, I’m gonna walk Angel to her car.”
I led Angel to the living room, where I grabbed Belle’s diaper bag and car seat that had been detached from the base. She said goodnight to everyone, and we headed outside.
I put Belle into her car seat after I had reattached it to the base.
“So, did you enjoy yourself today?” I asked, standing with my arm placed on the top of the car, facing Angel, whose back was to the car door.
“I did. It was a nice thing to do for the holidays.”
“Glad I could provide a new experience for you.” I slid my fist underneath her chin and tilted her head up slightly. Her smile dropped from her face, and she crossed her arms defensively over her chest. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Uh, I uhm . . . Chris, I’m not sure that going to this ball together is a good idea.”
“Why not?”
Shrugging, she answered, “Just being around your family and some of the questions that came up tonight made me realize that people might get the wrong impression about us. If your family thinks there’s something more to us, I can only imagine what other people will think.
I don’t need anyone dredging up the past or making assumptions about me.
I have an image to uphold on social media. ”
Angel was a popular social media influencer with her own MixTube channel.
People watched her videos and sought her opinions on everything from lifestyle and health to beauty and fashion.
It was her bread and butter, and while I wasn’t trying to screw that up, I also didn’t want to get uninvited to the event—an event that my ex, Erica, was on the committee of.
It wasn’t lost on me that attending the ball with Angel would send a message to Erica.
But more than sending a message, I wanted to be in Angel’s presence again.
No matter how you turned it, my motives weren’t all pure.
“It’s not about what other people think, Angel.
It’s not about our family or friends, but about you and me.
We’re good friends, and I’m just looking out for you.
Besides, let ’em talk. The more they talk, the more your relevancy scores increase.
Why don’t we hang out again before the ball? Just you and me?”
“I don’t know, Chris.”
“It’s just us getting accustomed to being around each other again and letting people get acclimated to seeing us hang out together. If they talk, it just drives up interest in you on social media and draws people to your channel. Trust me, Angel. I’ll never steer you wrong.”
The look in her eyes was hopeful, and I prayed to God that I didn’t screw that up.