19. Warren ‘Wolf’ Bennett #2
“I cannot remember the last time I’ve seen a couple look this beautiful.
Oh my God. I called this not too long ago.
I told my son that he had a glow about him, but he left me hanging, saying that I was talking crazy.
You are so beautiful. Can I give you a hug?
” my mom cooed, greeting Deja the exact way that I knew she would.
That’s why I told Deja in the elevator that she didn’t have shit to be nervous about. If anyone made her feel welcomed, and special tonight, I knew my mom would cover that.
Deja let out a nervous giggle, acting like her ass was shy, as she reached in to hug my mom. They hugged for a few seconds, and then both pulled away.
“You’re so beautiful, Mrs. Bennett,” Deja finally found the words to say something.
“Thank you. You don’t have to call me Mrs. Bennett. Call me Liya. What is your name?” my mom asked.
“I’m Deja,” she said.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Deja. Come with me. Let me walk you around the room, introduce you to some faces. Son, I’m sure you have plenty of people you can walk around and talk to. I have Deja,” she said it in a way like Deja was her girl that she went way back with.
My mom was too busy with her eyes on me, so she didn’t see the look that Deja gave me. She was pleading with her eyes, wanting me to come to her aid, so she could stay stuck up under me for the rest of the night.
“Go, baby. You’re in good hands,” I said, giving her a tap on her ass, letting her know that she was cool with my mom.
The two of them walked off, and before I could even walk away, my little brother Demarco made his way over to me, all hyped, hands on my shoulders, with a goofy smile on his face.
“Nigga, so that shit is true? You really fuckin Poison?” he asked me.
“Ay man, watch that shit. She not at work. It’s no poles in this motha fucka. Call her Deja right now,” I had to check that shit, and check it fast.
As soon as I said it, Demarco laughed, while throwing his hands up, letting me know that he didn’t want any smoke with me.
“I’m fuckin with you, man. You know I didn’t mean nothing by it. That’s you though? Rumors been going around. They say you be in the club every night watching her dance,” he blurted, and I shook my head.
“I saw her dance three times. One of those times is when I went with you for your birthday. It’s no title on what we doing right now. We just vibin. Getting to know each other, and shit,” I told him, and he nodded his head.
“You going to tell Emaye, and pops that she dances? You know Emaye got a good heart, so I doubt she’ll judge her for it. Pops though? That nigga tough. You know how he is. He going to think that she’s after you for your money. If he finds out that she strips, he going to clown you for it,” he shot.
I guzzled the rest of the champagne that was in the glass, placed my hand on his shoulder, prepared to say one last thing to him before I walked away.
“Deja ain’t gotta be after me for my money.
She makes her own money. She comes home from the club, and I watch her count the kind of money from on nights earnings that people make at a job in a couple of months’ worth.
Oh, and lastly, a nigga that’ still cheating on his wife after thirty plus years ain’t the kind of nigga I want to be giving me relationship advice anyways,” I ended it, and walked away.
I was going to mingle a little bit, talk to a few familiar faces in the room.
As I was headed to do that, I noticed Mya.
Mya was Kingston’s wife. She was sitting down at one of the tables by herself.
I stopped, so that I could walk over to her.
The second she saw me, she perked up, allowing a smile to appear on her beautiful face.
She even stood, so that she could hug me.
“Sis, what’s up? Why you sitting over her by yourself?” I asked her, once we pulled away from the hug.
“I wore the wrong kind of shoes, and my feet are killing me. I’m fine though. I just sat down like two minutes ago,” she said, and I nodded my head.
“Aight, cool. Where my brother at?” I asked, and she knew that I was referring to her husband.
“I’m not sure. He disappeared like twenty minutes ago,” she told me.
Knowing that nigga, he was somewhere fuckin around, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. I didn’t have to. Knowing her, she knew that shit already.
I talked with Mya for a couple of minutes, and then I went around, working the room.
For well over thirty minutes, I shook hands with different investors, talked with people that I hadn’t seen in a little minute, and things like that.
I was getting asked the same questions from mostly everyone.
Everyone wanted to know if I missed working for the company, and if I planned on coming back.
If they weren’t asking me that, they were inquiring about my business, wanting to know how that was going.
The most important part of the Gala was getting ready to start.
You know, the part where my pops got on stage, and he talked about the creation of the company, and then my brothers would follow behind him, speaking on the performance, the new aircrafts they got this year, and shit like that.
Anything new coming to the company, they would speak on that as well.
That would take up a good amount of time, and then awards were going to be distributed.
Because I knew that was going to take a long time, I dipped out for a second, so I could piss.
I found the closest restroom. When I walked in, it was empty. I handled my business at the urinal, and as I was walking over to the sink to wash my hands, the restroom door opened. My brother walked in. Kendrix came in with a mug on his face. It’s as if he already knew I was in here.
“You a green ass nigga. They like to brag on you because you’re the brother that’s supposedly so different from us, but you just like the rest of these grimy ass Miami niggas.
It’s always Wolf so different. Wolf so mature, that he must be the oldest. Man, Wolf ain’t shit!
You knew I wanted my shot at Deja. I told you in the club when you asked about her that I would fall out with you if you tried to get at her! ” this goofy ass nigga said to me.
“Kendrix, what the fuck were you going to do with Deja, man? You got a million hoes saved in your phone. You a dog, nigga. You gotta save girls number in your phone by whatever the fuck they have that’ll make you remember who they are.
You wasn’t going to get with Deja and treat her any different.
You was going to dog her the fuck out, just like you do the rest of the women that you deal with.
Watch out, man!” I said, turning the water on, getting my hands wet before I added soap.
“I stand on what I said. You still a green ass nigga. You knew I wanted a shot,” he kept going.
“You wanted a shot to fuck her! Not a shot to get her and treat her right. I’m done talking about this shit with you, man. You don’t like that I took her? Beat me then nigga!” I snapped, walking over to him, and getting in his face.
We were standing close as hell. I could feel his deep breathing, just as he could feel mine. When he didn’t say or do anything else, that’s when I bumped his ass, went over to the paper towels, so I could dry my hands. I walked away afterwards.
I left out of the restroom and made my way back to the ballroom. I made it back in just in time. My pops was making his way towards the stage now.
I scanned the room, finding the rectangular table, where my family and my pops close friends were seated.
The lights in here were dimmed, but I was able to scan the room and find Deja who was sitting next to my mom.
There was an empty chair on the right of Deja, so that’s where I walked.
Her eyes had been on my father, just like everyone else in the room, but when she felt my presence, she turned to look down at me.
“You good?” I asked her. All she did was nod her head, and focused her attention back on the stage, listening to my father’s speech.
Listening to him speak, it made all the sense why he was always able to get out of the doghouse with my mom.
That nigga had a way with words. Performative as fuck.
Dedicated a whole segment in his speech to my mom, and how she played a big part in his success.
He said how she kept him motivated and did well with supporting all his dreams. After he finished, each of my brothers came on stage to talk about the company, and the success that it’s had this past year.
So many people came up to speak. Awards were given, and when all of that was over, and it was finally time to eat food, I was glad.
We were served our food and drinks. Deja typically had a large appetite, and could eat a lot of food, but she didn’t do that tonight. I felt like her vibe was a little off, but when I questioned her a couple of times about it, she assured me that she was fine.
After dinner, people were back to mingling and working the room.
My mom took Mya, and Deja back around the room, as if she was flaunting off her two daughters-in-laws that she loved so much.
That was about fifteen minutes ago when she took them with her.
In those fifteen minutes, I had two more drinks and talked to a few people.
From across the room, I noticed that Deja was no longer with my mom, and Mya, so I walked over to my mom to see where Deja had gone.
“Emaye, where Deja went?” I asked, walking up behind her.
“She said she had to use the restroom. Did something happen? I noticed that she lost her spark during the night. I think she might just be a little overwhelmed with this. It’s a lot going on,” she said, noticing that Deja’s mood had changed too. I knew I wasn’t tripping.
“Let me go talk to her,” I said right before I leaned in, and kissed my mom on her cheek.
I left out of the ballroom and headed for the women’s restroom. As I was approaching it, two women were walking out.