Chapter 9 – Logan #2
“We don’t have that much homework,” Zuri tells him, taking one of the shopping bags without me handing it over to her.
“Yeah, but we have to read for fifteen minutes.”
“Fifteen minutes isn’t even that long.” Zuri takes her bag from me and rolls her eyes, making me laugh. It’s something Billie has done often when her brother is being annoying.
With no comeback, he leads the way into the house, and the moment he opens the door, Dozer greets him and Zuri, then zeroes in on Nalia with his entire body shaking in happiness.
With her hands free of bags since the kids and I got them all, she squats down to give him some attention, and he takes full advantage and lies down rolling to his side so that she can rub his stomach.
Stepping around them, I close the door and head towards the kitchen, where the kids have dropped the shopping bags on the island and are unpacking their backpacks at the table just off the kitchen.
A moment later, Nalia comes into the kitchen with Dozer right at her side and looks around.
I try to see what she does and wonder if she likes the white cabinets, quartz counters, and the brushed gold fixtures that Billie choose with my mom, since the two of them have a better eye for design than I do.
“You have a beautiful home,” she tells me, stopping at the edge of the island.
“I’ll tell Billie and Mom you said so,” I smile at her. “When I bought it a few years ago Billie came up with the color concept of the kitchen and her and Ma picked everything out.”
“They did a great job.” She shifts on her feet. “Is Billie at school still?”
“Yeah.” I carry a gallon of milk and the eggs I picked up to the fridge. “She is in the school play, so she stays after every day until five.”
“That’s cool, what play are they putting on?”
“Clue.”
“Like the board game?”
“It’s something like that, but I think it’s based on the movie.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen it.”
“We can watch it sometime.” I grin when she presses her lips together.
“Namalama, can you help me study my spelling words?”
“Me too,” Coop says.
“Sure.” She makes her way over to the table and takes a seat between the kids. Despite her reluctance to spend time with me, it feels natural to have her here, as if she and Zuri have spent years sitting at the dining table with Coop, doing homework after school.
As I listen to her read off this week’s spelling words to the two of them, I put away the groceries and clean up the dishes left over from breakfast this morning.
While I’m starting the process of chopping up the stuff for my homemade salsa that gets better the longer it has to sit in the fridge, my cell rings, and when I check the caller ID, I see that it’s Hector.
“Yo.” I put the call on speaker and place it face up on the counter.
“You home?”
“Yep, everything okay?”
“I have the deposit bag for the bank, but I got an appointment in the morning with my lawyer, so I’m going to drop it off so you can take it to the bank.”
“Sure, thanks, man.”
“No problem. See you in five.”
“The door’s unlocked,” I tell him before he hangs up and go back to chopping while I listen to Nalia read off the word communicative.
I don’t remember ever having to learn that word in fourth grade; then again, I stopped being able to help Coop with his math homework at the end of last year.
Not because I don’t understand division and multiplication, but because the way they have the kids do each problem nowadays makes no fucking sense to me.
A few minutes later, when the front door opens, Hector calls out “Hello,” and Dozer heads to greet him while I tell him that we’re in the kitchen.
The moment he steps through the doorway and sees Nalia at the table, he stops, and his eyes fly over to me.
“What’s up, brother?” I hide my smile then mutter. “You remember Nalia.”
“Yeah.” He shakes off his surprise, focusing back on her. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” Nalia says, adding. “This is Zuri.”
“Nice to meet you, Zuri,” he says while Coop asks,
“Are you staying for dinner? Dad’s making tacos.”
“Damn, you pulled out the big guns.” he smiles at me, then asks, “You got enough for one more?”
“You know there is always enough,” I tell him, and he brings over the bank bag, dropping it on the counter. “You got a beer?”
“In the fridge.” I motion towards it, and he walks across the kitchen.
“You want one?”
“Yeah.”
“Nalia, you want a beer?” he asks her, and she looks back at him.
“I’m not really a fan of beer.”
“You want a glass of wine?” I ask, and her eyes come to me.
“Maybe with dinner.”
“Where’s Billie?” he asks, walking over to the fridge.
“School.” I glance over at the clock. “She should be home soon.”
Placing my open beer on the counter next to me, Hector starts to take his to the table but his cell rings and when he pulls it out to look at it he lets out a curse and walks to the back door.
“I’ll be back,” he mutters before stepping outside.
“Is Uncle Hector okay?” Coop asks, staring at the back door.
“Yeah, bud,” I tell him as I hear the front door open. Knowing it’s Billie, I brace, unsure what her reaction to Nalia and Zuri being here might be.
“Dad, Cat is here…” Her words taper off as she steps into the kitchen with her friend right behind her. “Oh, hi,” she says to Nalia, then her eyes go to Zuri, and she smiles a real smile before she looks at me.
“How was school?” I ask her as she walks my way.
“Okay.” She looks at the counter. “Are we having tacos for dinner?”
“Yep,” I mutter with a smile, and she looks back at Cat.
“Do you want to stay?”
“Sure.” Cat shrugs then smiles at me. “Hey, Mr. Rafe.”
“What’s up, Cat?” I dip my chin towards her, then tell Billie, “Uncle Hector is here for dinner too.”
“Cool, I saw his truck out front,” She walks to the fridge and gets out a soda for her and her friend. “We’re going to go up and do our homework.”
“Sounds good.” I watch her walk away and wonder if she got body snatched on the way home. I expected at least a little bit of an attitude or her to give Nalia the cold shoulder and neither of those things happened.
“Can we do our reading upstairs in the game room?” Coop asks a minute later as he’s putting his school stuff back in his bag and Zuri is tucking hers away.
“If Nalia is cool with that,” I tell him, and he looks at her with his eyes pleading and she laughs softly.
“Do you promise to actually read before you start to play?”
“Yes!” the two of them say at the same time, then start to laugh when they look at each other.
“Then I’m okay with it,” she says, and they take off out of the kitchen. A second later, I hear their heavy footsteps on the wood stairs.
“How much do you want to bet that they aren’t going to read?” she asks, getting up from the table, then pushing in her chair.
“I’m not a man who bets when I know I’m gonna lose.”
“Are you sure about that?” She lifts a brow, and I grin. “Do you want some help?” She stops at the edge of the counter.
“Can I trust you with a cheese grater?”
“Sure.” She walks over and washes her hands.
I get the cheese out of the fridge along with the grater from the cupboard and set it up for her.
While she starts on the cheese, I finish up the salsa, and once I have everything mixed up, I open the bag of chips I bought and scoop some up and take a bite.
It’s good, heavy on the fresh cilantro, lime, and jalapeno.
I make one more chip with salsa and hold it out in front of her mouth.
Her eyes lock with mine as she takes the bite I offer, and my dick twitches when her lips close around the chip and her eyes slide closed.
“Good?” I ask, and she opens her eyes.
“So good,” she whispers after she swallows, and my eyes drop to her mouth.
It’s difficult not to lean in and kiss her like I want to.
“Don’t even think about it,” she says, and I lift my eyes to hers, finding her pupils dilated.
“Too late, I’ve already thought about it a hundred times.”
“I’m serious, Logan,” she says quietly, pulling her gaze from mine as the back door opens and Hector comes back into the house.
“Sorry about that,” he says, closing the door behind himself.
“Everything alright?”
“Same shit, different day.” He walks to the table, leans against it, then looks between Nalia and me, tipping his head to the side.
“You two good?”
“Just dodging landmines,” I mutter, walking the salsa bowl to the fridge so that it can sit there until dinner.
“How’s that working out?”
“It’s treacherous out here, brother, but nothing I can’t outmaneuver.”
“You do know that I’m right here,” Nalia says, and I move my eyes to hers.
“Believe me, baby, I know.”