11. Saint
“Okay, wait, explain it again. I zoned out.” Blessing said, with a pout. We were at the front door of my house, trying to add her thumbprint to my keyless doorknob.
I sighed, shaking my head. “Just press your thumb on the scanner for fifteen seconds, then take it off and do it again.” She nodded, then did as told. The knob beeped, alerting us that the thumbprint had been saved.
“That’s so cool! I think I need to change my knobs to these.”
“I’ll handle it. You should also consider installing security cameras.
I know you live in a gated community, but you can never be too sure.
Real security cameras, not a Ring camera.
They get hacked too often. You know what, I’ll handle it.
” I kissed her on the forehead and headed back inside the house with her following behind me.
The girls were in the living room doing whatever teenagers do while Sage watched cartoons.
My tattoo artist, Tarzan, was in the entertainment room setting up his equipment.
I had an open space on the outside of my left arm that I needed to fill.
Blessing took a seat on the couch while I sat in the chair that he had placed next to the equipment. “Aight, I’m ready, Zan. You got the stencil I sent you?” I chose to keep it simple with a bible verse. Philippians 4:13 to be exact.
“Yeah, that’s all you’re getting? Your girl ain’t getting anything?” He asked, cleaning the area on my arm.
“Bless, you sure you don’t want anything?” I asked, glancing over at her. She was curled up on the couch, scrolling on her phone.
“Mmm.. no, I’m okay, Moo. I don’t cheat on my tattoo artist. She’s the only one I ever let tattoo me.
“I respect it. Who’s your tattoo artist? I might know her.” Zan asked, placing the stencil on my arm.
“Jaycee. Kinda tall, brownskin, real thick. She owns Cove City Ink.” She responded.
Zan kissed his teeth. “Yeah, I know her. That’s my ex.”
Blessing giggled. “Oh, this city is entirely too small. I’m so hungry, Moo.” She whined.
“What do you want to eat? Use my card and order some food.” I responded, slightly wincing as the needle constantly poked my skin.
“Okay, I’m gonna see what the girls wanna eat.” I tapped her butt as she walked past me to leave the room.
“Nigga don’t even know what to do with all that. She must be with you for sympathy.” Zan chuckled, shaking his head.
“Nigga you tryna say I’m ugly or something?”
“Funny lookin’.”
“Never.” I said, pulling my buzzing phone from my pocket. Dru was calling.
“Wassup?” I answered.
“Shit. Blessing told Chanel she was over there. We was tryna pull up, kick it for a minute.”
“That’s cool. Bless is about to order some food, I’ll have her order enough for y’all too.”
“Aight, I’ll be there in about an hour.” He said before ending the call. Blessing walked back into the room immediately after.
“Dru and Chanel are about to come through. Order enough food for them too, bae.”
“The girls want wings, so I’ll order the party pan from WingCity. You know those two have been together every day since the game night.” She laughed, carefully sitting in my lap. I wrapped my free arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me. I watched as she went on the app to order the food.
“Yeah, she’s been holding my nigga hostage. Everywhere he goes, she’s right behind him.”
“It’s actually the other way around. I couldn’t even call my girl and gossip cause his ass was around.”
“Oh you was finna talk about me huh?”
“Yup, sure was.” She giggled, placing a kiss on my lips.
“You know you ain’t gotta settle for this funny lookin nigga. I’m single too.” Zan said, flashing her a smile.
“Nigga, you used to date her tattoo artist. That’s messy as hell.
Trust me, she’s good where she is. Right, bae?
” I looked at her, swiping my tongue across my lips.
Her brown skin is flawless. Her full, thick lips fit her face perfectly.
Everything about her is perfect, like God put extra love into making her.
Even though it’s only been a week since we decided to see where things go, it felt like I’d known her my whole life.
She made everything in life seem so much easier.
She had a nigga feeling different. Got me meditating in the morning and shit.
I was with Mariah for a little bit over a year, and I’d never felt like this.
I was just existing with her. With Blessing, it felt like I was finally living.
If you asked me a couple of weeks ago if I’d seen myself getting married, I would’ve told you it’d be a lifetime before I walked down the aisle.
They say when you meet the one, you know.
Since the first time I pressed my lips against Blessing’s, I knew she was the one.
She had a nigga feeling butterflies and shit.
“Exactly, Papa.” She responded, getting up from my lap. A smile spread across my lips at the new nickname she’d given me. It was always Moo or Saint with her. This was the first time she called me something new. “Do y’all want anything to drink?” She asked.
“I’m good, you can grab his thirsty ass a bottle of water,” I responded, tapping her on the ass as she turned to leave the room.
She returned a few moments later, passing Zan a bottle of water before taking her seat back in my lap with her own bottle.
We fell into casual conversation while Zan continued my tattoo.
“Girl, why are you in that man’s lap while he’s getting a tattoo?” Chanel said, walking into the entertainment room with Dru following behind her.
Blessing giggled, standing from my lap. “First of all, mind your business. Glad to see you’ve finally come up for air.” She said, pulling Chanel into a hug. “Hey, Dru.”
“You literally saw me Monday, Bless. If you miss me already, just say that. Anyway, hey Moo! Hi tattoo man!”
“His name is Zan. Zan, this is Chanel. You already know Dru.” I said, shifting in my seat as Zan turned his tattoo gun off. He greeted them before cleaning and taking a few pictures for his social media account. “Thanks again, man. I wired you the money for the session plus the tip.”
“You know I got you, hit me when you’re ready for that leg sleeve.
” I dapped him up then stood from my seat, stretching.
Once he was done cleaning his equipment and wrapping my tattoo, I helped him load his stuff into his truck.
The food arrived just as I was walking into the house.
I tipped the driver and placed the food on the island in the kitchen.
“Food’s here,” I announced to everyone seated in the entertainment room. I pulled the paper plates from the pantry and placed them next to the food on the island. Blessing stood next to me, making plates for the girls.
“I wanna go out. We haven’t been to a club in soooo long.” Chanel said, groaning. All the adults were seated on the back patio while the girls had retired to their rooms.
“It really has been so long. Too bad I don’t have a babysitter. I don’t wanna leave Sage with the girls all night.” Blessing sighed.
“How about this? I can have my mom watch the girls while we go out. It’s only nine, so that gives y’all at least two hours to get ready.
We can go to Rumors. They have a private entrance, so I can avoid paparazzi and keep us off the blogs.
I’ll get us a section too.” I responded, pulling my phone out.
The women squealed and clapped. I knew they hadn’t been out since the night Blessing’s fiancé was murdered from a previous conversation.
She wanted our situation to stay lowkey until I was no longer a patient, so using the private entrance would work perfectly.
Rumors is big on privacy. The owner was strict about who he let in the club.
You had to know the right people to get access to the club.
Me: Hey ma, can you come over and watch the girls so Bless and I can go kick it tonight?
Ma Dukes: Of course, Moo. I’ll head that way in a few.
Me: Thanks, Ma. I appreciate you
After texting my mother, I sent a text to my security team, the owner of Rumors, and Kam, so he can drive us for the night.
Dru, Chanel, and Blessing left to get ready.
I straightened up the kitchen and put all the leftover food away.
By the time I was done cleaning, my mother was walking through the front door.
“Wassup Ma. Thanks for coming.” I greeted, pulling her into a hug, placing a kiss on top of her head.
“I wasn’t doing anything anyway. The house gets lonely sometimes. Most of the time, your granny is sleeping or does not want to be bothered. You know how she is. Then your sister is barely home on the weekends. I miss your father so much.” She let out a sigh, shaking her head.
“When you gonna find you somebody else, ma? It’s been 17 years. You deserve to be happy, too. Ren graduates next year. Then she’ll be going off to college. I think it’s time for you to move on. I miss pops, too.”
“I know Moo. Your father is the only man I’ve ever been with.
Not knowing what happened to him really hurt me.
We don’t know if he’s alive or dead. I can’t move on until I have some closure.
Enough about this. Now what’s going on between you and Blessing?
I wasn’t going to see anything, but I did see you two kissing the other day during your session.
You don’t think it’s too soon for you to be moving on? ”
I sighed, taking a seat at the island. “I know it seems like I’m moving on too fast, but c’mon, ma.
You know Mariah and I haven’t been on the same page for a while now.
Even before my injury, we weren’t good. I was willing to work things out with her, but she’s the one who decided to end things.
I’m not going to chase her, and I’m also not going to miss out on a great woman.
Ma, Blessing makes me feel new things. I can’t even explain it.
She’s just special to me. We’re taking things slow right now, but she’s the one, Ma.
I can feel it.” I tapped my heart with two fingers.