Nathaniel #5
I had to smirk because she had me there. “Nah, I’m gonna do that. Definitely gonna do that. But it’s gonna be mutual and with feelings and shit.”
“You’re something else, Nate.” That starry-eyed look was back and I would never get tired of impressing this woman.
“I’ve been told that a time or two.”
“I’m sure you have.” She smiled that rueful smile while still looking at me like I hung the moon.
“Are you gonna let him use your secret against you?”
She shook her head and sighed, which only furthered my desire to fuck this man up. “The last time he texted me was earlier this week. I called him back finally and told him to do his worst. Then I blocked his number. I get sick waiting on my parents to call me screaming because he told them.”
“How you gonna feel if he does?”
“It’s been a long time coming. I don’t think my business should be spread to anyone else but what I can do?”
“Ain’t that a HIPAA violation or something?”
“I believe that only counts with medical professionals, Nate.”
I mentally ignored what she was saying because I would get this nigga in trouble for something if he tried it with her. “I’ll look into it. The perks of having a lawyer as your sister-in-law’s sister.”
Charmy nodded that thoughtful look back on her face.
“I love how everyone around here works together. Yzzy said something about you guys doing rotations or something. And you do it for everyone’s land not just your own.
They always try to portray us as a bunch of crabs in a barrel and some people can be like that.
But they never highlight it when Black folks come together like this.
They swear that it’s a trait only in their communities.
I felt the same way about rich because of people like Trent but you’ve shown me that’s just how he is. ”
“That’s just a lie those people fed to the masses.
The sense of community they saw was from watching us in the quarters or encountering the natives with their tribes.
The way we banned together and still found joy from the deepest of sorrows.
They had no clue of how to truly be one with another.
That’s why they were so eager to strike it out here in America.
So they could find their own little fiefdom they could control, manipulate and subjugate.
The same way they did back in Europe. No one came here to make anything better but for themselves.
That’s why this place looks the way it does now.
Think about it. When you look at something simple like a Black cookout you can still see the tethers of our ancestors.
The way everyone has a job and no one questions who is allowed to do what.
We know Daddy and Uncle Earl make the best ribs so their asses got the grill.
Aunt Leda makes the best caramel cake so nobody else tries, at least not at an event.
We stick to one another’s strengths and highlight that.
Now you have some folks who try to buck the system.
Like my great auntie Ella Mae hated that my mama’s potato salad was the staple so she kept trying to copy her shit.
My mama just told her the secret to how she made it.
After that, Ella Mae never made another potato salad. ”
Charmy was locked in my story those big doe eyes wide and wondering. “And why was that?”
“Because it was the knowledge she wanted not necessarily the competition. Besides, my mama’s potato salad is good as fuck. Nobody actually wants to be slaving over fifteen pounds of boiled potatoes out of spite. You do it out of love or you don’t put your hands on the food.”
“That’s law.”
We went back to eating and the way Charmy felt like a homie, lover and friend wrapped into one was why I was so damn addicted to her.
I watched her eat as she began to talk vaguely about a gift she was working on for me.
I heard every word but while she spoke I kept seeing a big indigo colored rock on her hand and my baby in her belly.
My brother told me he was proud of me for not running from Charmy when I realized she was mine but I couldn’t accept praise for that.
I never shied away from anything I desired so when my mind, soul and body claimed she was ours we were all on one accord.
I didn’t need to grow up or figure things out because when you truly give a fuck, alignment happens.
The phone buzzed and it was Marcus letting me know he was coming in with our meals and I had to laugh at this nigga giving me a warning. Judging by what he must’ve walked in on with my brother and Yzzy or hell even my mama and daddy I couldn’t blame him.
I looked up at Charmy and drank her in. The way her hair was pulled off her face making her look youthful but sophisticated. The curve of her shoulders and her décolletage exposing the swells of her breasts. She was the epitome of heaven and home.
“They’re about to bring in dinner. Eat up because you’re for damn sure going to need your strength when we get back to the house.”