Chapter 7 #2
“Ol’ sucka ass nigga. Wait a minute, wasn’t she talking to Ma? Where you come from?”
Stephanie poked her head into view. “He rolled up on me in the spot like he had the right,” she said. “Asking me who’s making me grin.”
Deuce frowned. “Where’s the rest of your dress, Stephanie?”
“Stanley, please don’t start your shit. I’m fully covered.”
“Nah. You think you’re a hot girl when you’re a grandma. Where you at in that skimpy dress? You think you grown. Then you got this nigga with you? Aye, Pops. Don’t be looking at my mama. And keep your hands to yourself.”
“Nigga, if I kept my hands to myself, you wouldn’t be here, now would you?”
“That’s neither here nor there. You heard what I said.”
“Hear this.”
I ended the call, causing Stephanie to laugh.
“I can’t stand your son,” she said, placing the phone down. She tucked a curl behind her ear as she peered over at me. “What are you doing here?”
“Blake is looking for Jeanie.”
“Still not giving up, I see.”
“Nope. I’m sure this will be like any other time he’s tracked her down. He needs to go on and sign those papers ‘cause I don’t think she’s coming back.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “I don’t blame her. Blake has been fucking around on her for as long as I can remember. It’s about time she got fed up and move on. He needs to do the same. He should be ashamed of the way he’s holding her hostage in this divorce.”
“You know as well as I do that he’s not gonna do that.”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess it runs in the family.”
I placed my hand over my heart. “That’s cold. You cut me deep.”
“Oh, please, Stanley.” Picking up her drink, she took a sip. “People would say the same about you. The random flowers every week. Showing up at my house to check on me. You sit up and watch Lifetime movies with me and you hate that type of shit.”
“Are you people?” I asked.
“I know you better than you know yourself, so no, I don’t think that.
Now I will admit at first, I thought you were just being nice because I lost my husband, but I sat with myself on it.
You’ve always gone out of your way to make sure I was good.
Circumstances didn’t change that. It’s one of the qualities I’ve always loved about you…
one of the things that always brought me back to you. You’ve always had a good heart.”
I shook my head. “Not always.”
“No. Always, Stanley. Maybe you didn’t always do the right thing all the time, but you are good at your core. It’s attractive.” She snickered. “You see how you had me in that maze—”
“Let me stop you right there. Don’t turn this shit around on me because you kissed me back. I can admit I’ve been avoiding you since then because I don’t want to cause any problems. I guess you’ve felt the same because you’ve been avoiding me this week too.”
She looked down at her drink and circled the rim with her finger.
“Kinda. We know what happens when we take things further. That kiss could have gotten us in a world of familiar trouble.”
I pulled the drink from her hand and place it on the table. Cupping her chin, I forced her gaze to mine.
“What’s wrong with familiar?”
“We’re too old for that shit, Stanley. I’m too old to be running back to a nigga and you’re too old to be trying to run game on me.”
I leaned in closer to her.
“Just so it’s abundantly clear, I’ve never run game on you.
Never had to. Second, I do what I do for you because I care about you.
That’s not me trying to fuck you, even though I miss sliding in your tight ass walls.
I love you, Steph. As the love of my life, my son’s mother, and as a person.
The person is who I’ve been concerned with.
I respect you, your feelings and your grieving process.
You’re my best friend before anything else. It’s my job to make sure you’re good.”
She grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles.
“I’m fine, Stanley. Yes, losing Aaron hurt, but I shared a beautiful life and love with that man.
I don’t mourn him. I celebrate this life in all the ways he would have wanted.
I promise, I’m good. I’ve got breath in my body.
I’ve got my health, my son, my grandbabies, and your fifty eleven other kids and their kids. That’s enough to keep me going.”
I chuckled. “You know my kids love you.”
“I know. They all congregated at my house earlier this week with all those damn kids. I fed them and let their aggravating asses love on me without complaint.”
“Can you imagine if we’d had all six of them?”
“Who was pushing out six kids for you? They are literally almost back to back. Hell, Maceo and Smoke were born in the same year. You always liked doing ghetto shit.”
I laughed. “Not too much on me.”
“No, it’s never been enough on your ass.” She smirked as she fingered my beard. “You have your flaws, but you’re a good man, Stanley. More than that, you are a great father.”
“Thank you, love. I’ve been feeling even more like a father since I fully handed the operation over to the kids. Since they haven’t had me in no bullshit, I’ve been playing roulette with their houses. Just over there doing shit.”
“Like what?”
“Any and everything. Idle hands are a muthafucka. I like to keep busy. That’s why I get the kids so much. I had to send all them lil’ muthafuckas home early today, though. They were running me ragged.”
Stephanie laughed. “I mean you only have fourteen grandkids.”
“It feels like fifty. I don’t know who told me to get all their asses at one time. I called the boys to come get them and you know they were talking shit like I won’t drop them kids off at the door.”
“I don’t have a problem when they come to my house. They know I don’t play that shit. You are a sucker. You are so much softer on them than you were your kids.”
“I’m a grandpa. I get to be soft.”
She rolled her eyes. The smooth sounds of Luther Vandross’ “If Only For One Night” drifted through the speakers. Couples began to fill the dance floor. My eyes drifted over to Stephanie as she smiled while watching them.
“Dance with me,” I said standing to my feet and reached for her hand.
“Stanley.”
“You know this is our song. Dance with me, woman.”
“To let you tell it, every song is our song.”
“You gonna dance with me or not, lady?”
She smirked and pursed her lips and slipped her hand in my palm. I helped her to her feet and lead her out to the dance floor where I pulled her flush against me. My arm slipped around her waist, resting on the small of her back. She rested her cheek against mine, causing me to inhale her scent.
Lavender. Chamomile. Vanilla.
I could never forget that.
Her hand gently caressed the back of my head as she hummed along to the melody.
It had been so long since I held her like this…
felt her like this. My heart was doing backflips inside my chest. Subconsciously, I kissed her cheek.
She pulled back and peered up at me. Those beautiful brown eyes still captivated me to this day.
Our movements stilled as we stared at each other.
Fuck it.
I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers.
Much to my surprise, she didn’t pull away.
Instead, she leaned into the kiss and kissed me back.
Her tongue slipped into my mouth, and I could taste the sweetness of the drink she’d consumed.
I couldn’t help myself when my hands traveled down her back to grip her plump ass.
Shit!
Steph had always been a little thick. Even in her fifties, she carried that shit will skilled perfection. Her breasts were still perky, her stomach was flat, and that ass…. damn! That ass sat up just right and in this dress, she had me wanting to bark at her like damn dog.
She pulled away and looked up at me.
“I need to go home,” she whispered.
“Steph—”
“Are you coming?”
Well shit! This might be my lucky night.