7. Noree Marcell
We pulled up to my mom’s house and sat in the back seat of the black truck for a moment.
“Give us a second,” Ozy told his driver before turning toward me.
I shifted in my seat, feeling uneasy, but not in a bad way. I was just nervous. He was finally about to meet his daughter, and even though I knew why we were here, actually sitting outside my mom’s house made it feel different.
Before either of us could really say anything, the front door opened.
My mom stood in the doorway with a big smile on her face. She cupped her hands around her mouth like we were all the way down the street.
“Come on out that car and come on up in here!”
I laughed, looking over at Ozy. “By the way, my mom is a trip.”
“I’m not trippin’ ’bout it.” He let out a laugh.
His driver got out and opened my door, then jogged around the truck to open Ozy’s. Once we were both out, we walked up the driveway together.
My heart was doing that same little thing it always did whenever I was nervous, beating entirely too damn fast. I tried to get myself together before we reached the door, but it wasn’t working.
I walked up to my mama and gave her a hug, and she squeezed me a little too tight, the way she did when she had something to say. She kissed me on my cheek and then looked over my shoulder.
“So, this must be your baby daddy.”
I pulled back and gave her a look.
“What?” she said, all innocent. “He’s your baby daddy, isn’t he?”
Ozy laughed behind me. He came up the last step and extended his hand to her. “Hi. I’m Ozyris.”
“I know who you are…you’re that singer. Uh, Ozy Loverboy, right?”
I placed my hand over my face.
“It’s actually Ozy Love, ma’am,” he corrected her with a laugh.
“Oh, sorry. Close enough.” She chuckled. “And don’t call me ma’am. You can call me Miss Carolyn, or you know what? You can even call me Ma.”
Instead of shaking his hand, she reached for a hug. He leaned down and hugged her, and I stood there waiting for her to finish embarrassing me.
“Okay. Come in, come in.”
We followed her inside, and the smell of food hit me as soon as I walked through the door.
“What did you cook ma?”
“Oh, suga… some smothered turkey wings, white rice and gravy with some butter beans and cornbread.”
“That sounds amazing,” Ozy said.
“You want a plate?” Ma asked, but I had to stop her right there because I knew how she was. She could get off track pretty quick.
“Yeah, I want one, and I’m sure he wants one too,” I answered. “But you know why we came, Ma. So, he can… you know, meet his daughter.”
“Oh, yes. Of course. She’s sleeping but come on.”
Ozy looked over at me, and I let him go ahead of me, following behind my mom.
By the time we reached the bedroom, my heart had picked up all over again. My mom turned on the light, and we slowly walked over to the bed.
I really loved this little bed. It was super cute with its pink canopy and little guardrails, and it sat low to the ground.
When Mama first bought it, I had so much on my plate with having to move into Ozy’s house and leave my baby behind that I didn’t even think twice about it.
It wasn’t until afterward that I started worrying Oaklynn might be too little for it.
Mama mostly used it for naps, keeping an eye on her through the monitor. At night, she was right beside her grandma.
I looked from Oaklynn to Ozy, and before I could even think about saying anything, he got down on his knees next to the bed.
That caught me off guard.
He didn’t say a word. He just looked at her.
My mom stopped beside me, watching him too.
“Aw, you’re looking at her the same way Noree did at the hospital.”
She placed a hand against her chest before turning toward me.
“I’ll give you two a moment.”
She patted my shoulder and left us alone in the room.
I moved back toward the doorway and leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms as I watched him admire our child. I immediately winced in pain.
“Ouch,” I whispered, readjusting my arms so they weren’t pressing against my fingers.
His eyes stayed on her face. Even from where I stood, I could see how caught up he was, just looking at her. I had been nervous about this moment the whole ride over but seeing him down on his knees beside that bed made me smile.
He reached through the guardrail and rested his hand on the bed. Oaklynn stirred in her sleep, and her little hand fell right on top of his.
Ozy looked down at their hands, then back at her face. His eyes softened.
“I’ll be in the kitchen with my mom,” I said softly. “I don’t wanna just be hovering over your shoulder while you’re with her.”
He looked back at me. “You’re good.”
“I know, but… I wanna give you that time.”
I glanced at my phone, checking the time before looking back up.
“Honestly, she should be waking up soon. So, get ready, Daddy.”
I smiled, then stepped into the hallway and walked past the living room into the kitchen.
My mom was at the stove when I pulled out a chair at the island and sat down. She turned around, placed a hand on her hip, and looked at my hands.
“You wanna tell me why your fingers have a bunch of Band-Aids on them?”
I glanced down before looking back at her.
“It’s a long story.” I sighed. “But I got into a fight with his girlfriend… well, his ex. And let’s just say his girlfriend lost. She was the reason I couldn’t get in contact with him, because that bitch blocked me from reaching out to him.” I shook my head.
“Well, that serves her right! And I’m sure she lost, because the only scratch I see is on your cheek. I don’t see any black eyes or bruises, so I already know how you get down, baby.”
I started laughing.
“Remember when I had to come down to that school because they said you beat up that other little girl? What was her name?” She paused. “Mindy?”
“No, Mindy had it coming, because remember, she put gum in my hair and then told everybody I still wet the bed. Then she had the audacity to try to move in on my crush, and he went for it. So, I had to get her back.”
The two of us started laughing, and my mom shook her head before turning back toward the stove.
Once our laughter died down, she glanced over her shoulder.
“He’s a cutie.”
I smiled a little. “Yeah, he is.”
“I can see why you were spreading your legs for him during that little weekend contest.”
“Ma, please be quiet!”
She started laughing, and I couldn’t even help laughing with her.
Ozy walked into the kitchen right then, and we both got quiet.
I looked at my mom. She looked at me. Then we looked at him and started laughing all over again.
“She’s still sleeping?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Yeah, and I know y’all in here talking ’bout me.”
“Oh, child, hush up. Have a seat. I hope you brought your appetite.”
“I sure did.” He patted his stomach.
He took the seat beside me and rubbed his hands together.
“My driver’s still outside. You mind hooking my boy up with a plate too?”
“Of course. Anybody associated with you, anybody you trust and love, can always have a plate.”
“All right, slow down,” I told her.
Ozy laughed. “Don’t be cockblocking. They prolly ’round the same age. I’m sure they would like each other.”
I shot daggers at him. “Boy. She doesn’t need to like anybody.”
My mom looked over her shoulder from the pot.
“Girl, I’m grown. I can do what I please.”
Then she stuck her tongue out at me.
All three of us laughed, and I shook my head. Between her and him, I could already see how this was about to go.
“No, but seriously,” she said, looking at Ozy. “I’m really glad you’re here, because my baby really was trying to get ahold of you.”
My smile softened, and I looked down at my hands.
“So now that the two of you have reconnected, do you feel like there are any sparks or anything?”
“Ma!”
“What? We need to get you down the aisle. You’re not getting any younger,” she said.
“Oh my God.” I turned toward Ozy. “Excuse her.”
My mom went right on fixing his plate like she hadn’t said anything out of the way, then placed it in front of him with a fork.
She fixed mine next, and I watched her pour us each a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade.
The food smelled so good, and now that it was sitting right in front of me, I was ready to eat.
My mom made another plate, covered it with foil, and picked it up.
“I’ll be back. I’ll go give this to your driver.” She winked at me. “Y’all go wash up!”
I shook my head, embarrassed, but I couldn’t help laughing too.
Once the front door closed behind her, Ozy looked over at me.
“Your mom definitely is a trip.”
“Yeah, I told you.”
He stood up first and then pulled out my chair, surprising me. I smiled a little as I stood and directed him to the bathroom, where we silently washed our hands one by one, stealing glances at each other before drying them on my mom’s fancy hand towels and heading back into the kitchen.
He pulled my chair out once again. I took a seat and was ready to dive in, but he said, “You wanna pray first?”
I paused for a moment, but given the circumstances, I felt a prayer would be nice.
“Absolutely.”
He reached for my hand, and I looked down at his before carefully placing mine in it.
“Don’t be squeezing my fingers, because I don’t wanna have to beat you up next.”
“After what I saw today, I need to put you on the payroll, so you don’t have to worry about me squeezing ’em, love.”
I laughed with him before we both closed our eyes.
“Lord, thank you for this food and for Ms. Carolyn taking the time to cook it. Thank you for bringing Noree back into my life and giving me the chance to finally meet my baby girl. You know I got a lot running through my mind right now, and we got plenty to work through, but I’m grateful.
Just keep your hands on all of us, guide me, and help me do right by Noree and my daughter. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
“Amen,” I said softly. His prayer was sweet as hell, especially the part about wanting to do right by me and Oaklynn.
We opened our eyes, and I looked over at him with a little smile before we let go of each other’s hands and dug in.
I was glad we were talking, laughing, and getting over all of the awkwardness, but I knew we still had a long road ahead of us.