~~~Chapter 22~~~ #2
“Yeah. Because I have a big ass family, and they can be a lot. That’s why I didn’t bring you around, until I was sure.
My sisters are gonna be cool, as long as they see that you’re making me happy, and there’s no bitches claiming to have recent dealings.
My mama will give you the benefit of the doubt.
My brothers…they’re definitely gonna study you.
Move with precaution. Then the final boss is my daddy.
For the most part, he’s cool. He has the type of personality that people just naturally gravitate to.
So, meeting him should go smoothly, but it doesn’t mean that he really likes you.
He plays people close, and if he ever approves of you… you’ll become family. No in between.”
I nodded, while taking everything in. “I got chu.”
She lightly smiled, before leaning to kiss my lips. “Good. Now, grab your daughter. I got her bag.”
I smirked. “Bet.”
Like second nature, I hopped out of the Bentley, before removing Khari and her carrier.
We then joined Jaylah, as we traveled up the driveway.
Stepping slightly behind her, I took a second to study that sexy walk of hers, as she strutted in her Seven jeans that hugged those curves, stunningly.
With a basic cropped white muscle shirt, Hermes slides, and her long, curly hair hanging freely, I felt like she’d never looked better.
Because with her, the less she did, the more her natural beauty took center stage.
I loved the way her brown skin glistened with body butter underneath the sun’s glare.
I could still smell the sweet aromas from her hair, after I’d just washed it again.
When we reached the double doors, she didn’t bother knocking, but instead keyed in a code on the door. She then pushed the doors open, and sauntered into the house, with me and Khari right behind her.
Feeling like a tourist, I gazed around in complete awe.
The ceilings were high like we were in a fucking museum.
There was so much chatter bouncing off the walls, that I could’ve sworn that we were stepping into a full-fledge party.
Rounding the corner, we ambled into a enormous dining area.
The table in the center of the room had to be specially made, as at least fifty folks were seated, feeding their faces.
“Hey, y’all,” Jaylah spoke, announcing our presence.
Naturally, everybody spoke at once.
“Oh, and everybody, this is Khari’s daddy, Khamere. Khamere, this is everybody,” she introduced.
“Hey, Khamere,” they damn near spoke in unison.
Immediately after, Jaylah’s mama approached us, with her arms outstretched. “Give me my baby. Please and thank you.”
Lightly chuckling, I removed Khari from the car seat, before allowing her grandma to grab her. Wasting no time, she rained kisses all over my baby’s face.
“Daddy!” Jaylah’s oldest brother shouted. That was Jahrein Junior, and anybody in the city knew that, especially if you were into basketball. “Jaylah done finally brought him!”
Everybody laughed, before Jaylah’s pops rounded the corner, and waltzed into the area, looking like he was my fucking age. “Aye, what’s up?” He spoke, as he stepped right up to me.
After placing Khari’s car seat on the floor, I reached out to firmly shake his hand. “Hey, how you doing?”
He smirked, before I released his hand. “Better, since you finally came out of hiding.”
I hooded my eyes. “Hiding? Nah, I was never doing that.”
He lifted his chin. “Then why am I just now meeting you?”
I cut my eyes at Jaylah. “Your daughter. That was all her.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “I can buy that.”
I licked my lips. “Right.”
“Well, I’ma let you get settled in and mingle, but before y’all leave, be sure to let me know. We gotta chop it up first.”
I nodded. “I got chu.”
“Bet,” he agreed, before turning around and focusing on my baby. “Hey, ma-ma.”
I watched Jaylah move Khari’s car seat aside, and place her diaper’s bag on a random bench, before grabbing my hand. “Come on. Let’s go fix ourselves some plates.”
Going with the flow, I allowed her to lead the way. Upon entering the kitchen, I realized that there were professionals there, serving the buffet style food. Being that I was a foodie, I recognized a couple of faces from known restaurants around the city.
“Ooh.” Jaylah excitedly rubbed her hands together. “Let us get the shrimp and grits. Fried lobster tails. And a bit of the shrimp fondue.”
No cap, my mouth was salivating at the sight of all the appetizing food. The greedy nigga deep within me wanted to try it all, but I also wasn’t mad at Jaylah’s selections.
Then as if she could read my mind, to turned towards me. “Bae, we’re just sampling. I know that you probably wanna try more things. So, we’ll get this, and you can come back for another round of different foods. Then we’ll take everything else to go.”
I nodded with a smile. “Now you speaking my language.”
By the time we found ourselves seated at the long ass dining table, we both had plates in front of us, along with the best mimosas I’d ever had.
“Got damn,” I moaned, after tasting the shrimp and crawfish fondue. “This shit is fucking amazing.”
Jaylah nodded with a goofy grin. “I know. My mama is the original foodie, and she does not play. Trust me. We all have to be rolled out of here on Sundays. I’m telling you.”
“Shit, I see why.” I took another sip of my mimosa that was garnished with real fruit.
“What’s up, Jaylah?” Some nigga spoke, as he strolled past us.
Lifting my head, I realized that he was a running back in the league. Tito.
Cutting her eyes at him, Jaylah merely rolled her eyes.
Without thinking twice, I leaned in and spoke in her ear. “You used to fuck with that nigga, or some shit?”
She shook her head. “No. He’s just irksome. It’s been years, and he still damn near inboxes me daily.”
“Yeah? You shouldn’t have told me that.”
She locked eyes with me. “Please don’t waste your time with that.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll leave it alone, for now. But if he says something that I don’t like…”
“Boy, you bet not fight at this house,” she fussed, before kissing my lips. “Cause it’s not that deep.”
“I hear you,” I told her, while dropping my hand into her lap, and squeezing her thigh.
Look, I never considered myself a insecure nigga, by nobody’s definition.
But the longer I kicked it at Jaylah’s parents’ crib, I realized how many niggas were on her.
Vying for her attention. Sending lustful glares.
Between professional basketball players, football, and boxing…
it felt like a fucking sports convention.
And it was unsettling to know that this was the type of temptation my gal regularly faced.
I also couldn’t help but compare myself to them, especially in the occupational department.
These were young, black millionaires, legally.
Meanwhile, we were just arguing about me hustling in the streets.
One could probably say that she was dating down by entertaining me, but I had enough confidence not to accept that.
Still, it had me thinking about shit that had never crossed my mind before.
Being that I didn’t spend as much time on the internet, like most people, I wasn’t extremely familiar with the public figures in Jaylah’s family.
I wouldn’t’ve been able to point out the influencers and athletes’ girls to save my life.
However, it didn’t take long for me to see what my niggas had been talking about.
There was nothing but baddies in Jaylah’s family, down to her sisters to her fucking cousins.
Straight tens across the board. Rich tens, at that.
“Aye, you smoke?” Jaylah’s brother Jahrae approached me, as I was reclining back in a sitting room, watching Jaylah mingle with her people.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“Okay, well, we’re back in the smoking room. So, come puff with us,” he offered.
I nodded, before easing off the couch, and following him through the house.
When we treaded into the smoke room, I realized that all of Jaylah’s brothers were there, except for the smallest one, along with a few of their brother-in-laws, like Jeremy Wiltz, the professional football player, and Sincere Junior, the professional boxer. Plus, their cousin-in-law, Wale.
Out of everybody, the only person I was personally acquainted with was Wale. We were both from the same hood, and had done business together on several occasions. So, we had each other’s direct lines, but I hadn’t seen him since I’d been dealing with Jaylah.
With thick smoke in the air, it was clear that they were already blazing. “Here you go.” Jahrein Junior handed me a blunt.
“’Preciate it,” I offered, before hitting the weed.
“So.” Jahrein Junior stroked his goatee. “Wale told us that y’all are from the same hood.”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“He said that you was a cool nigga, too,” Jahrae added.
I smirked. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” JJ, Jaylah’s other brother from another mother spoke up. “We really don’t be in Jaylah’s business like that. Mostly because all our sisters are headstrong and can handle their own. So, we’ll get along, as long as you respect our little sister.”
Listening intently, I nodded. “I feel that.”
And just like that, they changed the subject, and fully embraced me. We smoked and joked, giving me the realization that Jaylah’s bros were cooler than a fan.
By the end of the evening, everybody was feeling good, and I’d nearly forgotten that I was supposed to be hollering at Jaylah’s daddy, but that nigga clearly hadn’t. I was in the kitchen, grabbing a to-go plate, when he approached me.
“Aye, let’s go back by the pool,” he suggested.
Nodding my head, I left my food on the counter, before following him. We ended up copping some seats in front of the pool house, overlooking the illuminated infinity pool.
“You, uh, you from Acres Homes, right?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Ya daddy is from 3 rd Ward, though, right?” He probed.
Hearing that, I knew immediately that he’d done his homework, because that was a piece of information that I hadn’t bothered sharing with Jaylah. “Yeah, he is.”
“And you still got a strong foot in the streets,” he told me, versus asking.
I opened my arms, not bothering with a verbal response.
He smirked. “You aint green, neither.”
“Not by a longshot.”
“Yeah. So, you got plans of doing some shit different? Or you trying to be Jordan in this shit?”
“Nah, Ion care about the recognition.” I stroked my goatee. “I just wanna be comfortable. For the rest of my life.”
“Okay. You doing what’s necessary to turn water into wine?”
I slid my tongue across my teeth. “I got some things in place, but I could be doing more.”
He turned to look at me. “Then you aint fully taking advantage of being with my daughter, because she unquestionably knows a whole lot of something. She’s the only child of mine who doesn’t have a exact career, but she really don’t need one.
She studies the stock market. Knows about IRAs, bonds, investment properties.
Crypto. There’s literally nothing she don’t know about, money wise.
So, she quietly brings in more than damn near everybody.
But I know that aint appealing to men who already have money too.
In fact, it’s probably a turn-off, because she’s not easily impressed, and you gotta work harder to win her over. ”
“I can see that,” I admitted. “But I’m definitely not intimidated by her wealth. I like the fact that she got her own.”
He nodded. “I hear you, but that’s to be seen. Because if time passes, and you still doing what you doing, then I’ll know that you don’t mean that shit.”
“And why is that?” I wanted to know.
“Because.” He stroked his goatee. “If somehow, someway, my wife would’ve gotten to the money first. I mean, like life-changing money.
Like millions. Then I would’ve walked away from the game, without looking back.
Because I know that if she got it, then I got it.
She showed me that early on in life. And if her bringing money to the table wasn’t enough for me, then we know that would’ve been purely about my ego.
Cause going outside, and putting your life on the line, when you got somebody willing and ready to change your life is crazy. ”
“I mean, when you put it like that…I get it,” I admitted.
“Right, right. Not saying that my baby girl is gonna take care of you, nigga. You unquestionably need your own. Just don’t be blinded by pride, and allow her to help, especially if it can help you fast-track to your end-goal.”
Listening intently, I stroked my goatee.
“And outside of that,” he continued. “Me and you will get along just fine, as long as you don’t put your hands on her.
And keep her out of bullshit. Then if something happens that is beyond your control, then defend her with your life.
And if it aint that deep for you, then I advise you to move around now. ”
I licked my lips, while nodding. “That’s fair.”
“Okay, cool.” He extended his hand. “Now, let’s shake on it.”
I shook his hand, knowing that standing on business was the only way I rocked.