Chapter 17
I shook my head as I read the text message thread on Senior’s phone.
He had me snap a few pictures once we got in the car to send to those nosy ass girls. Speaking of the girls, the name of the group chat was taking me out. They were in his messages doing the most.
Salima: Look at my mother-in law y’all! Grandma where?
Shar: Big Pressure and Big Fine. Your grandparents could never!
Mia: I can’t even be a hater because y’all look happy as hell.
Jaeda: I’m gonna cry because y’all look so good together.
Salima: Y’all gotta hurry up and tell Deuce because I need to see this cuteness in person.
Shar: A pop out would go crazy on the compound. Every group chat would be going off.
Mia: Ooo! Do it at Sunday dinner. I gotta tell my mama.
Jaeda: Bitch, don’t you be messy!
Mia: I mean, she’d gotta know at some point, right?
I shook my head.
I wasn’t the least bit worried about Maddie knowing.
She was a whole ass married woman living her best life.
What happened between Senior and I all those years ago was also over all those years ago.
She had happiness with a man she deserved so there would never be any beef with us for me to entertain.
I tucked his phone into the cupholder and refocused my attention on the scenery.
We rode through the city with sunroof open, music going, and a blunt passed between us.
It had been so long since I smoked weed.
I used to smoke like a chimney with this man all those years ago.
Every so often, I still indulged, but it wasn’t something I needed to do.
Tonight, however, I found myself pulling the blunt from his fingers and taking a pull from it.
I was feeling good and relaxed at this point.
I looked over at my man, looking all sexy in this five-piece suit, beard with a fresh line up. That bald ass head was extra shiny, and he smells amazing. I felt like that teenage girl again, riding along in his car after my mama forbid me from seeing him.
She couldn’t stand Stanley and told me I’d better cross the street when I saw him coming. I remembered the first time she caught him in my bedroom after forbidding me to see him. He’d walked me home from school. My mama was at work, so I invited him in for a snack and to do our homework.
Stanley was convinced he didn’t need to do well because he was taking over the family business with his brother as soon as they were of age.
I told him I didn’t date dumb niggas or high school dropouts.
The crazy thing was, he was smart as hell.
He knew every answer. Passed every test and quiz with flying colors when he decided to come to school.
He just chose not to do the work at times.
Once he heard I didn’t do dummies, he was at school every day and putting in work. That night, we were studying for a chemistry test. At least I was trying to. Stanley was being fresh and kissing on my neck while I tried to focus.
“Stanley! Come on. I’m trying to study.” I pushed him away, but he came right back.
“I’m trying to study too, love. I’m trying to see what happens when we add me and you minus these clothes.”
I rolled my eyes. “A baby. You want that?”
“With you, hell yeah. About three or four of them lil’ fuckers.”
“That’s a negative. I got one in me and that’s it.”
He laughed. “You don’t wanna be my ol’ lady and give me a shit load of babies?”
“Not while every girl in our class is trying to be the chosen one.”
He kissed his teeth. “Why are you worried about other girls when all I’m focused on it’s you?”
He cupped my chin and forced my eyes to his. “I’m trying to give you to world and you wanna play with me. You’re gonna be my wife one day, Stephanie.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure I am.”
“Nah, I mean that. You’re gonna have a big ass house with servants and shit. The flyest whips. Designer clothes, shoes, and bags. I’ma make sure you can stunt on these same hoes. I don’t care how long it takes, me and you are end game.”
He cupped my face and kissed me softly. My young hormones couldn’t stop themselves from raging.
One moment we were studying, the next he was on top of me with his hand under my shirt playing with my nipple.
I was so busy being fast that I didn’t even hear my mama walk in until she was yanking Stanley off of me.
“Ma!” I protested, scrambling to my feet. “We were just kissing.”
“And if I‘d been five minutes later, you would have just been fucking.” She shoved Stanley toward the door. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my daughter, little boy?”
“I can’t do that, Ms. Larkins. I love her.”
My mother scoffed. “That’s not enough. You’re trouble. Your whole damn family is trouble, and I don’t want my daughter caught up in that. Stephanie’s future doesn’t involve the likes of you.”
“No disrespect, Ms. Larkins, but you don’t know me, and you don’t have the final say on that. Steph is safe with me because of who I am. I’d never let any harm come to her. I love her, and even if you don’t like it, you’re gonna have to get used to it because I’m never leaving her alone.”
My mother frowned. “Get your shit and get out of my house, little boy. Don’t let me catch you back over here.”
Stanley nodded and did as she stated. Before he left my room, he came over and kissed my lips.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Once he was gone, my mama laid into my ass. Again, she forbade me from seeing Stanley outside of school settings. She even threatened to shoot him if he came back in her house without permission. That caused a whole screaming match between us because whose man were you gonna shoot?
Not mine.
My refusal to follow her rules about him had me kicked out of the house at seventeen.
She allowed met to leave with whatever I bought with my own money and that was it.
The first person I called was Stanley, and he came to get me and took me back to the compound.
Ms. Rebecca cursed us both out when we told her what happened, but she allowed me to stay and threatened to beat our asses if we found our way in each other’s rooms in the middle of the night.
“Baby?”
I blinked rapidly as I came out of my thoughts.
“Hmm?”
“You good? I’ve been calling your name.”
“I’m fine. Just went somewhere in my head. I thought about that time my mama put me out over you.”
He chuckled. “Woman never liked me. Even on her deathbed, she had to let me know I ruined you.”
“That was her,” I said, plucking with my nails. “Always had to tell you exactly what she thought of you. I guess I can see where Deuce gets it from.”
“You think I ruined you?”
I looked over at him. “No. I have always had free will when it comes to you. You would have supported whatever direction I wanted to take my life in.”
“Facts. You ever told her you still got your degrees or the fact that you have several businesses in your name?”
I chuckled. “Nope.”
It wouldn’t have made a difference if I’d told my mother any of that.
She would have found a way to diminish my accomplishments because I didn’t do it her way.
I had a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s in business administration.
No, I’d never had a traditional job in my adult years, but I didn’t have to because I was the boss.
I owned commercial spaces that I leased to other people for their business needs.
I also owned a laundromat, a carwash, an apartment building, and invested in several franchises along with stocks.
Guess who taught me all that?
My man and his mama. To look at Ms. Rebecca, you wouldn’t think that sweet, cookie baking, home-cooked meal making grandma was once a savage in these streets.
She was a smart woman and about her money.
She taught me all about credit, capital, and keeping a rainy day stash, not to be sneaky, but to be secure.
While she loved her sons and her husband, she always told me to never let what a man brings to the table be all you had to eat.
Stanley may have taken care of me financially, but if he’d decided to stop at any point, I would have been good.
One thing I’ve taken with me my entire adult life was managing my money.
Between myself, my baby daddy, and my son, I had more than enough.
“When we get married, I’m gonna have to go by her grave and let her know everything I said came to pass.”
I playfully smacked his arm. “Shut up, Stanley.”
He chuckled as he pulled up to the valet of a new rooftop restaurant that just opened a few weeks ago.
From what I knew, it was hard to get a reservation here because the guest list was exclusive.
I’d never been to a restaurant where the maximum seating capacity was fifty people.
I was even more surprised when we stepped off the elevator and the restaurant was completely empty aside from the staff and live band.
“Are we the only people here?” I asked, looking around.
“Yes. I wanted you to have an exclusive experience.” He pulled me into his chest. “Plus, I knew you were gonna look too damn good tonight. Nobody gets to lust after you but me.”
I playfully rolled my eyes. “We know you’re thirsty for me, Senior.”
He grinned. “Parched… dehydrated… cotton mouthed, baby.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as a young woman approached us with a smile.
“Mr. and Mrs. Dillinger. We have anxiously been awaiting your arrival. My name is Kasey and I’ll be your server for tonight. Might I say, you two look amazing. That dress is stunning.”
I blushed. “Thank you.”
“You are most certainly welcome. If you don’t mind, follow me so we can get you two seated.”
She motioned for us to follow. Senior kissed my hand before pulling me in front of him.
We followed Kasey to the only table that was set in the middle of the room.
It was decorated with a candle, rose petals, and an ice bucket housing my favorite wine.
Senior pulled out my chair. Once I was seated, he pushed me in and took his own seat.
Kasey clasped her hands together. “So, there are no menus tonight. Mr. Dillinger crafted a special menu specifically for you two.”
My head snapped in his direction. “Did you now?”
He nodded. “Go on and tell her what we’re having, Kasey.”
“For your appetizer, we have crab cakes with lemon aioli. Your entrée consists of a perfectly grilled garlic butter Porterhouse steak with a Parmesan cream sauce, our famous four cheese macaroni and cheese, rice pilaf, and collard greens with a slice of our sweet, honey cornbread. For dessert, we have a decadent chocolate cheesecake. If you give me a few minutes, I’ll bring the crab cakes right out. ”
Kasey left us with a smile. Senior grabbed the wine to pour us some. My stomach growled as I thought about the menu for tonight, but more than that, this meal felt familiar as hell.
“Why do I feel like I’ve had this exact combination of food before?” I asked.
“You don’t remember?”
“Not a clue.”
“I’ll give you a pass because it’s been over thirty years. This is exactly what you asked for your first meal after you give birth to our son. You were nursing him on the right breast and going ham on that damn food.”
I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh. “I was starving. That boy would not let me enjoy half the food he had me craving my entire pregnancy. Once he was out, I just wanted a good meal. I slept so good after that.”
“Oh, I know you did. You were in there snoring like a full-grown man.”
“Shut up, Stanley.”
He chuckled. “I’m just saying. You ate that same meal at least once a week for the first six months of that boy’s life.
” He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “You’d never been more beautiful to me in that moment, Steph.
Titty out, grease around your mouth, hair all over your damn hair, and I was insanely attracted to you all because you gave me my namesake. ”
I blushed. “You were so sickening about that boy when he first came home. Always holding him and buying him shit he couldn’t even use as a baby. You were obsessed.”
“I was a first-time father with my first son. I just knew I was gonna be that boy’s best friend.”
“You were. Still are. Just not when it comes to me.”
He sighed. “I get his dislike of the thought of us being together. We don’t have a good track record.
He doesn’t want me to hurt you or see you cry over me.
He’s explained that and I respect it. I’m just not allowing it to be the reason we don’t have the happy ending we deserve.
Now…” He kissed my fingers. “No more talk about Stanely Jr. Tonight is about me and you.” Turning my hand over, he kissed my palm.
“I need your attention, my love. All of it for as long as I have you. Can you give me that?”
I smiled and nodded. “I can do that.”
“Good.”
He stood to his feet as the live band began to serenade us with a beautiful rendition of “If This World Were Mine”.
“Dance with me,” he said, reaching for my hand.
I pushed my chair back and allowed him to help me to my feet. He led me over to the dance floor and pulled me flush against him. I closed my eyes as he swayed us from side to side. Every so often, he placed kisses to my temple and whispered how much he loved me. My head was gone over this man.
He wasn’t perfect, but he was and had always been a good man. I could see that he was a better man these days. Not everyone would agree with us giving things another try, but I didn’t give a damn. I loved him. My heart wanted him. My soul craved him.
Life was too damn short to be miserable anyway.