Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Armond Davis
PREPARATIONS FOR THIS DINNER were completed by our mother, who was excited yet dreaded every moment of meeting the women taking her sons away from her. She made it known that she wasn’t looking forward to smiling in their faces like she didn’t resent them.
She was being a child over the matter but who was I to inform her of her behavior?
She’d only say it was justified since we were hardly around.
She believed anyone outside of the family was a distraction we didn’t need.
Our business dealings were enough and anything further was unnecessary and a set up for disaster.
I guess her failed relationships made her bitter and wicked.
I watched as she walked around Arlando’s estate with her hired assistant, Natalie.
She was trying her best to write down everything my mother said but I honestly couldn’t keep up so I didn’t know how she did.
You would think we were preparing a wedding with the way she was going on and on.
She pretty much wanted to change everything about his home and what made all this worthwhile was hearing Arlando deny everything she said.
“Ma, it’s a fucking dinner. Stop trying to make my home a damn movie set. The shit is fine. You’re supposed to be going over the menu and tablecloths. Not fucking drapery and chandeliers!” Arlando barked for the umpteenth time today.
Our mother shooed him away with her hand but didn’t respond because she knew he was right. The look he gave made her cower and apologize.
I smirked then looked at my phone. I was over this already and only wanted to be back in Brandy’s presence. Spending time with her mother and sister was better than this charade.
You would think we were meeting the royal family with the way she was carrying on. Every time Natalie wrote something down, Arlando would grab the page and read it, then ball it up and throw it over his shoulder like she didn’t just take her time to appease our mother.
“Would you leave me be? I want it to be perfect. If you insist on me meeting this woman after three years, Arlando, then it must be undeniably perfect.”
“So that’s what this is about? You’re upset I kept Chardonnay away from you? You out here loud and wrong, it’s been two years and it ain’t never been any of your damn business anyhow.”
“Absolutely!” she shrieked. “You take a girl seriously then I need to meet the child. You dare keep her away from the family?”
“I already told you why, Mother. Stop being a baby.”
Arlando was the only person who could speak to her in such a way and get away with it. He was a spoiled brat, and had I done so, things would be going a lot differently. Probably why she wasn’t up my ass so much since she’d be meeting Brandy early on in our relationship.
I was just happy the heat was off me for once. Usually, I had endless phone calls from family members wanting to participate. Calls from my father inquiring about things that didn’t matter but somehow tied us together for whatever reason.
Lately, it’d been quiet, a little too quiet. I didn’t know if it was because my father realized that he couldn’t get over on me, no matter what my brother told me, or the pure dread of coming back to The States to appease us with this dinner. If he actually came, then I was sure I’d find out.
For now, I kept all my business dealings among a select few. If anything were to happen, I would be able to narrow it down simply and handle it efficiently. Anyone even close to dealing with my father was shut down. We lost money but I didn’t care about that. His pockets would hurt the most.
I wasn’t looking forward to this dinner if he would be part. I didn’t want his people flocking around my brother’s estate.
“Armond… are you going to let him continue to speak to me like this?” my mother asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“Are you?” I replied.
Her face sank and she looked at me with an intense glare that once scared me when I was younger.
Now it was simple amusement, and if she continued, I would pull her eyes from their sockets and not even feel bad about it.
After a stare down of a couple seconds, she withdrew her eyes and fixed her posture, then walked off with Natalie.
“I need her to leave. Like seriously,” Arlando said the second she was out of earshot.
“Then make her. She doesn’t have to plan this thing. We could do it on our own. I don’t even know why you appeased her with the foolery to begin with.”
“I felt bad.”
“Well, unless you’re going to continue to feel so, then I suggest you shut up and move forward.”
He mumbled something under his breath then walked off before things escalated between us. I didn’t have the energy for bullshit anyway.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Brandy. She was still out with her sister, and even though I had a couple of my men watching over them, I needed to hear her voice. Manuel was watching her mother, so I wasn’t worried about her, but Brandy, I’d always worry.
The phone trilled longer than I anticipated, only growing my concern for her wellbeing.
I instantly made my way to my vehicle. I didn’t care about the stare of my brother when I walked off.
I needed to find her immediately. Thankfully, I was smart enough to get a tracker placed on her ring. We could never be too careful.
When her voice soothed my ears, I expelled the breath I was holding as I pulled out of the rounded driveway. I pulled up the GPS app on my dashboard with her location and made my way there as she said hello.
“Are you well, my love?” I asked.
She giggled lightly and smacked her lips like I shouldn’t be asking such a simple question. I only wanted her reassurance.
“You know I’m alright when I’m with my sister, Armond. Is everything okay? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, so you’re a liar now, Mon Mon? I never took you for being one before, so why are you doing so now? What happened?”
Her shift in tone let me know I needed to chill out. I was overreacting to nothing at all, and though I already knew that, things had changed in the flow of my daily life. With her being mine, she was an immediate target.
Rolling down the long driveway, I realized I was stressed the fuck out. Yet there was no immediate need to be so. I’d been around too many people and moods. I needed a real vacation soon. I couldn’t keep this up. Especially when Brandy noticed every single time.
“Nothing, honeybee.” I sighed. “I got into it with my brother and mother and truly needed to hear your voice. Are you still at the orphanage with your sister?”
“No, we’re at the restaurant not too far from it. Uh, what’s this place called?”
I wanted to tell her the name. I already knew where she was.
My line of questioning was to simply see if she’d be honest or if she would be another person I had to worry about in the future for their manipulative ways.
I was glad she wasn’t like the other women I’d dated, only saying what they thought I wanted to hear.
“Ruby’s Soul Food,” Chardonnay said. Brandy repeated her unnecessarily, but I smiled anyway.
“I’m going to need you to bring me some of that apple peach cobbler, honeybee. Nobody does it like Mrs. Ruby. She still in there? It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen her.”
“Oh yes, she’s here alright. Chardonnay introduced us and even let me know she was working with her when she first got here. I was quite surprised, honestly.”
“Why so?”
“Because Arlando brought her here. He spoils her endlessly. I didn’t think my sister had a working bone in her body anymore.” She laughed.
“Oh, fuck you,” Chardonnay chimed in.
I laughed at their banter as I cruised onto the highway. They were approximately fifteen minutes from me. I’d be putting in an order for some good eating while I was there too. At least I’d have a distraction from the current heat in my family.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, honeybee.”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Well, it initially started because your name starts with a B and the glare you hit DiMarco with stung me across the space. Then I tasted that sweet nectar between your legs and it was the sweetest honey I’d ever had,” I explained.
“Eww, I ain’t need to hear that.”
“I would’ve said it whether I knew I was on speaker or not, Chardonnay.”
“Mmhmm, just like your brother. Y’all nasty.”
“I’m sure you love it just as much as Brandy does.”
I smirked as I navigated the streets of Colton.
They were in the heart of the town, and though it wasn’t nearly as busy as Mesquite, there were always people running about.
You always had to be careful. I kept an eye on my surroundings, making sure to not be followed. I wasn’t too far from them now.
“Are you driving, Armond?”
“Yes.”
“Things really didn’t go well with your brother?”
“My mother and brother,” I sighed.
I didn’t understand why it was so easy to speak freely with Brandy.
She let out a rare part of me that I sheltered constantly.
I wasn’t around my family so much. I loved traveling without them if it weren’t for our dealings.
Being around them so much right now was a nagging pile of bullshit I wanted no part of any longer.
“What’d they do? Is this a bad idea, Armond? We don’t have to meet them. I truly don’t care if you don’t.”
“Brandy, it’s important to the family so it must be important to me. I would’ve done the same if it were solely for your introduction. I know if it were us though, my mother wouldn’t be acting so… catty.”
She laughed at my choice of words. She knew what I wanted to say. I just couldn’t say it. I still respected my mother to an extent.
“I’m sure if Arlando has anything to do with it, then he’s causing her horrors,” Chardonnay said.
“That he is but she is equally horrific. She’s doing a lot of scrutinizing and being a momzilla over the décor.”
“The house is fine. I made sure the place was laid,” Chardonnay huffed.
“I do love what you’ve done with the place. Maybe you and Brandy should team up on an interior design venture. I’m sure you’d kill it,” I complimented.
“You might be on to something, bro bro.”
“Okay, that’s enough. I swore he called me, not you, hoe,” Brandy said.
I chuckled as I pulled into the restaurant. They were sitting outdoors, and though it was a nice day, I would get on my men for allowing them to be so open. And with them not in sight, it only allowed trouble to reach the girls quicker.
I parked and hopped out of the car, eyes still on them when I noticed a man stalking their way. I disconnected our call and made my way over. This man wanted to die today.