Chapter 8 #2
He rushed over to my bags and grabbed a pair of Birkenstocks from one of them.
“Aight, let’s go.”
With his hand held out like how a parent would reach for a small child, I grabbed it. Whoever had called him to shift his mood, I wasn’t going to let it ruin our night. He seemed to be trying to push it behind him, so I was going to as well.
The silver straps snuggled my feet perfectly.
With every step, my limp made me feel so out of place, but I wanted to own the moment anyway.
My dress flowed just right, hugging curves I usually tried to hide, but tonight…
I held my head higher. Orion’s hand was warm against my lower back as we stepped into the party hall.
The room was lit low, and there were tables scattered around the large space.
The bass of the music was so loud that I felt it in my chest. Dead smack in the middle of the room, there was a massive dance floor.
The sound of laughter, clinking glasses, music, and family voices bounced off the walls.
I felt the shift the second we walked in.
People’s eyes started darting, and conversations began to pause for a beat too long.
Some people looked me up and down while others whispered behind their hands.
My stomach tightened. I didn’t know if the shock of everyone was because of my weight or simply because Orion had brought a date to a family event.
Whatever the reason, it had me feeling uncomfortable as fuck.
Just when I was about to whisper to Orion that I wanted to go, OJ’s little voice cut through the air like a blessing.
“Caylaaa! Look at your shoes!”
He rushed over, sliding to a stop in front of me. He wore a wide grin as he pointed down.
“They sparkle like lights!”
The whole table closest to us chuckled, which caused the tension to ease just a little. I laughed too, placing one of his locs out of his face.
“Thank you, baby.”
That’s when a woman I recognized from some pictures in the house caught my attention. Orion’s mother stood, regal in her deep red dress, earrings catching the light. She gave me a slow once-over, her expression unreadable until it softened into a small smile.
“Did my grandson just say Cayla?” she asked. “You must be the one who is taking all my son’s time.”
My cheeks burned as Orion’s arm tightened around me, reminding me that I was supposed to be here. I was supposed to be right at his side.
“Yeah,” he said, pride lacing his voice. “This is her.”
I swallowed the knot in my throat and managed to smile.
My heels glimmered beneath me as I stepped forward.
Maybe I wasn’t what they expected, but tonight, I wasn’t going to worry about that.
I was here because Orion had invited me, and that spoke volumes.
For the past couple of weeks, I would randomly get this feeling that whatever we were starting was just a physical thing.
Once we crossed that line, he hadn’t kept his hands off me.
But tonight, we were crossing over another line.
Territory that felt a little more stable.
Being formally introduced to his family had to mean something, right?
Orion walked me around the room, introducing me to aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Once one of his uncles gave him the I see you, nephew saying with a dap, I knew I was valid with his family.
When we finished circling the room, we took a seat at a long rectangular table.
The smell of steak and shrimp was in the air.
It reminded me that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. After eating and having small talk, everyone branched out to either the dance floor or the bar.
Orion’s mother was stunning. Her hair was cropped into a short, sharp cut that reminded me of Halle Berry.
But instead of her hair being black, it was streaked silver in a way that only made her glow more.
Every move she made carried grace, like she’d been born knowing how to command a room without ever raising her voice.
She was a bad bitch right now in the moment, so I knew that back in the day, she was nothing to mess with.
The DJ in the corner switched tracks, and before long, the familiar rhythm of the Electric Slide spilled across the floor.
Laughter broke out, cousins pulled aunts by the hands, and uncles shouted out steps like the dance needed coaching.
Even Orion’s mom kicked off her heels and slid into the line, her red dress swaying behind her to the beat.
I sat at the edge of the room, sipping my strawberry margarita.
The glimmer of my shoes caught the light every time I shifted.
My calf still ached when I moved too fast, a sharp reminder of that bullet wound I was still healing from.
So, I stayed put, clapping along with the rhythm as I watched his family be a family.
This was something that I was unfamiliar with because it was always just me and my mother, but Orion came from a big tribe.
I looked over to my left and saw that some of his cousins were playing spades at one of the tables while some of his uncles were playing dominoes at another.
In my eyes, he had one of those old black families, which made me eager to fit in.
Badly, I wanted to be a part of them. The music surrounding the laughter in the room was loud, and the drinks were flowing heavily.
For a moment, it felt like I was peeking into a life I never thought I’d touch.
The people in this room had big family energy.
The kind of family that had inside jokes, people who knew each other down to their bones. A true village.
Orion caught my eye from the line. His shoulders rolled as he danced with OJ right beside him.
He winked with that crooked smile of his that was aimed just for me, and my chest tightened.
Butterflies swam around my stomach as I admired how good this man looked.
I sat on the sideline and watched him be a fun dad.
I couldn’t dance. I could barely walk right some mornings.
But the way he looked at me in that moment, I wanted to leap up and join the crowd.
I couldn’t, though. The music shifted again, the beat rolling into something slower, and the dance party broke apart with laughter.
People scattered back to their tables or directly to the bar.
I was busy watching Orion scoop OJ up and spin him like the boy was light as air when a shadow crossed my table.
“Mind if I sit with you for a minute?”
I looked up, and there was Orion’s mother.
Up close, she was even more striking. Her silver hair caught the light with every move.
I wasn’t sure if the color was natural or if she had gotten it dyed.
Either way, it was beautiful on her. Now, her eyes…
they held a sharpness that looked like they didn’t miss a thing.
She had this look to her that screamed she was not to be played with.
I could tell that growing up, her sons probably feared the five-foot-nothing beauty.
“Of course,” I said quickly, shifting to make space.
My palms felt clammy, so I wrapped them around my glass to hide it. She sat, crossing one elegant leg over the other. Her red dress flowed around her like it had been sewn just for her. For a moment, she didn’t say anything. She just studied me with a slight smile that was polite but probing.
“You’re beautiful,” she said finally, her voice smooth and confident. “And different from the kind of women I usually see my son with.”
Heat crept into my cheeks.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Cayla, right?” she asked.
“Yes.” My voice came out softer than I meant it to.
She nodded slowly as her eyes flickered to my calf for just a second. A sorrowfulness came to her eyes as if she already knew about the limp I tried to hide.
“Looks like you’ve been through a lot. It’s a feeling I got. I feel like you have a good heart. The way you’re sitting here, clapping and looking at my son and grandson, says something. I can see the kindness in your heart.”
Her words should have settled me, but my stomach stayed tight, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice so it wouldn’t carry.
“I’ll tell you what I told every woman before you. My son can be… a lot. He’s stubborn, hardheaded, and quick to anger, just like his daddy was. But when he chooses somebody, he chooses with his whole chest. He doesn’t bring just anyone around me, Cayla.”
My throat tightened, emotion pricking at the back of my eyes. I nodded while holding her gaze.
“I just… I care about him. That’s all,” I managed to get out.
It was the truth. This man had shown me more in a month than men who strung me along for years had. Her smile widened. It was softer this time and less guarded. She reached out and patted my hand once before standing again.
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
Then, she swept back toward the dance floor, leaving me sitting there with my heart racing, my drink untouched, and the quiet realization that this night meant more than I had prepared for.