CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
NOLA
Mani moved into Nola’s guest room on Tuesday.
She did not call it moving.
She called it “bringing enough shit to avoid making a decision while mad.”
That shit included two suitcases, four wigs, a tote full of skin care, an air fryer because she said Nola’s was too small, and twelve pairs of shoes.
Nola stood in the hallway watching her drag in another bag.
“This is temporary?”
“Mind your business.”
“You brought an air fryer.”
“Yours don’t crisp right.”
“That’s not a thing.”
“That’s why your fries be sad.”
Nola laughed.
Mani had not laughed much since Sunday.
When she did, the hand still went up.
Today she caught it halfway and rubbed her cheek instead.
Nola did not celebrate like a teacher watching a child learn to read. She just kept talking.
“Terrence know you’re here?”
“Yeah.”
“How’d that go?”
“He cried.”
Nola’s smile disappeared.
Mani sat on the edge of the guest bed.
“That fucked me up more than if he was angry.”
“You don’t have to decide today.”
“I know.”
“You love him.”
“I know.”
“And he hurt you.”
“I know.”
Nola stopped.
Mani looked at her.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not telling me what to do.”
Nola leaned against the doorframe.
“I’m growing.”
“Barely.”
“Fuck you.”
“Love you too.”
Kai texted that he was outside.
Nola looked at the time.
“Shit.”
“Where you going?”
“His mom’s birthday dinner.”
Mani looked at her clothes.
Nola wore old leggings and a shirt with a bleach spot.
“You leaving in that?”
“Obviously not.”
“What time y’all gotta be there?”
“Seven-thirty.”
Mani looked at the clock.
6:46.
They stared at each other.
Then Mani started laughing.
“You not making it.”
“Shut up and help me.”
Forty minutes later, Kai was sitting downstairs with his arms folded while Nola stood in the bedroom wearing shapewear to the waist, one earring, and no dress.
Mani held up two options.
“Green or red?”
“Green.”
“You said red ten minutes ago.”
“That was before the shapewear changed my spirit.”
“Nola, pick a fucking dress.”
“Green.”
She pulled it on.
It fit beautifully from the front.
She turned.
Mani winced.
“No.”
“Damn it.”
“The back is fighting.”
Nola twisted toward the mirror. “How bad?”
“Not bad. Just... busy.”
“Busy?”
“It’s giving traffic.”
Nola started laughing.
“Why would you say that?”
“You told me to be honest.”
“Red.”
They changed again.
Downstairs, Kai called, “We leaving tonight?”
Nola shouted back, “You want me pretty or punctual? Pick one!”
He yelled, “I want both!”
Mani leaned toward the door. “Then date a magician!”
Kai laughed from downstairs.
Nola looked at Mani.
“See? This is why I love you.”
“Put the red dress on.”
They made it downstairs at 7:29.
Kai stood when Nola entered the living room.
His irritation disappeared so fast Mani covered her mouth to hide a laugh.
The red dress was short, long-sleeved, low at the neckline, and simple enough to let Nola’s body do the rest. She had her hair in a high curly ponytail, gold hoops, and shimmer across her chest.
Kai stared.
Nola pointed at him. “Don’t start.”
“We forty minutes late.”
“That’s starting.”
He walked over.
His hand went to her bare lower back where the dress dipped.
“Worth it,” he said quietly.
Mani made a disgusted sound.
“Please leave.”
Kai looked at her. “You good here?”
The question was casual, but Nola saw Mani notice the respect in it.
“Yeah.”
“Ray outside if anything weird happens.”
“The trash-can man?”
Nola laughed.
Kai looked offended. “He got a name.”
“Nola calls him Trash Ray.”
“I do not.”
“You did yesterday.”
“Once.”
Kai shook his head and opened the door.
They were fifty-two minutes late to Vanessa’s dinner.
Vanessa looked at Nola, then at Kai.
“I see why.”
“Ma.”
“What?”
Andre was there.
Of course Andre was there.
So were three of Vanessa’s sisters, two cousins, Kai’s godmother, and enough food for thirty people even though there were twelve.
Vanessa wore a fitted blue jumpsuit and silver heels. At fifty-four, she was loud only when she had something to say, funny without trying to run every room, and completely uninterested in pretending age had ended her life.
She kissed Nola’s cheek.
“Baby, you look good.”
“Thank you. You do too.”
Vanessa spun once. “I know.”
Andre whistled from the dining room.
Kai muttered, “I hate this house.”
Nola laughed.
Dinner gave her a version of Kai she had not seen yet.
He cleared plates without being asked. Refilled his aunt’s drink. Fixed a wobbly chair before his mother could complain. Knew which cousin was sober and moved a wine bottle away without announcing why. Let his godmother kiss both cheeks while he pretended to hate it.
No one acted afraid of him.
They respected him, yes.
But family did not perform his reputation.
They knew the boy under the man.
Nola liked seeing that.
Later, Vanessa opened gifts in the living room.
Andre gave her a bracelet.
Kai stared at it.
“How much that cost?”
Vanessa looked at him. “None of your damn business.”
“Andre.”
Andre laughed. “I’m grown, man.”
“And she my mother.”
“Exactly. Not your wife.”
The room exploded.
Nola covered her face.
Vanessa slapped Kai’s arm.
“You better leave that man alone before I put you out.”
Kai sat back, offended.
Nola leaned close. “You are so embarrassed.”
“I want to go home.”
“No you don’t.”
“Yes I do.”
“Your mama happy.”
His face softened despite himself.
“Yeah.”
Nola kissed his cheek.
He looked at her.
Another small thing changed.
No announcement.
No internal fireworks.
He just looked at her like the room had gone quiet around them.
On the drive back, Nola rested her feet on the dashboard until Kai told her to put them down.
“Why?”
“Airbag.”
“Here you go.”
“I’m serious. If it deploys, your knees go into your face.”
Nola put them down immediately.
“See? You could’ve led with that instead of ‘put your feet down.’”
“You listen better when the reason is horrifying.”
“Probably.”
At his house, she kicked off her heels before the front door fully closed.
“My feet hurt.”
“You brought flats.”
“They ruined the outfit.”
“So pain was a fashion decision.”
“Correct.”
She walked toward the kitchen.
Kai caught her hand.
Nola looked back.
“What?”
“Come here.”
“Why?”
“Because I asked.”
“Weak reason.”
He pulled gently.
She went anyway.
Kai sat on the couch and drew her between his knees.
His hands settled on her hips.
“You fit with my family too easy.”
Nola smiled. “Scared?”
“Little bit.”
That answer surprised her.
She touched his beard.
Not the patch.
The full part near his cheek.
“You don’t gotta be.”
“That’s reassurance?”
“Don’t make it weird.”
He smiled.
Nola sat on his lap sideways.
Kai’s hand moved up her back.
There it was again.
“I swear you got a back fetish.”
“Maybe.”
“You want me to start wearing turtlenecks?”
“Don’t play with me.”
She laughed.
Then the mood changed because his mouth found her neck and she stopped thinking about turtlenecks.
Their fifth time together did not start with anger, danger, or a need to prove anything.
That made it more intimate than Nola expected.
Kai carried her upstairs after she complained about her feet. She called him dramatic. He told her she weighed less than an engine block and he moved those for work.
“That is the least romantic comparison anybody has ever made.”
“You want me to drop you?”
“No. Continue, forklift.”
He laughed into her shoulder.
In the bedroom, Nola took off her earrings first because she had learned dangling hoops and aggressive kissing were enemies.
Kai reached for her hair.
“Don’t pull it.”
“Why?”
“Because this ponytail took an hour and I will kill you.”
“Noted.”
“We need rules.”
“We got too many already.”
“Hair is infrastructure. Respect it.”
He kissed her forehead. “Yes, ma’am.”
The sex stayed warm even when it got rougher.
He knew her better now. She knew him too.
Nola knew he liked when she touched the back of his neck. Knew he went quiet when something felt too good instead of getting louder. Knew he hated being teased and loved it at the same time.
Kai knew where she was ticklish and avoided it when she needed intensity.
Knew she sometimes needed a second before being moved because a hip cramp would take her completely out of the moment.
Knew not to grab her hair without checking.
Knew she liked his hand flat against her stomach when she was on top because the pressure grounded her.
None of it felt like choreography.
It felt like learning.
After, Nola lay across his chest, one knee hooked over his leg.
“I trust you more than I thought I would,” she said.
Kai went still under her.
She lifted her head.
“Don’t make a face.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Nothing. I’m just telling you.”
He looked at her for a long second.
“I trust you too.”
Nola smiled.
“Even though I’m a BBW?”
Kai groaned.
“Please let that shit die.”
“Never.”
“I’m serious.”
“This is your legacy.”
He rolled her onto her back.
“You talk too much.”
“And yet you keep coming back.”
Kai kissed her.
For a moment, he almost told her something.
Nola saw it.
“What?”
He looked away.
“Nothing.”
“Kai.”
“It’s late.”
She studied him.
Then let it go.
Trust did not mean interrogation.
Not every pause was a secret.
At least that was what she believed that night.