#samplesunday: talk to God

I was drawn out of my musings by the sound of my phone going off with a video call, so I reached over to where it was charging at my bedside to see who it was. I should have known it could only be one person considering that she was the only one who ever called me this soon after the sun had made its ascent into the sky. With a grin settled onto my face just from seeing her picture on my phone, I swiped eagerly, greeting her with an enthusiastic, “Hey, Lovey!”

“Good morning, my sweets,” my grandmother trilled. “Ok, spill it! How was everything? I want all the dirty details.”

My grandmother Lovey was everything to me. My biggest champion, my greatest comforter. She’d had to step into the role of rearing me right after she’d lost her only child and she had done so seamlessly. I had been a mess then, a fresh eleven years old and unable to conceive a world wherein the person who had been the center of mine previously no longer being with us. Since we’d lived clear across the country, my relationship with Lovey before my mom’s death had been decent enough, but we’d definitely grown way closer the older I got. She was the first person I called whenever I got news—good, bad, or indifferent.

A scheduling conflict had precluded her from being able to make the party last night, so I knew she’d be on my line bright and early this morning asking me about it. Lovey was in her seventies but was still as mobile and agile physically and mentally as she’d been decades earlier. She couldn’t make the festivities last night because she was the keynote speaker at a professional conference for writers. In addition to being my loving and caring grandmother, she was also a well-respected author of ten novels as well as a professor of English language and literature at a prestigious HBCU.

“It was amazing, Lovey. I wish you could have been there because your girl Kysre was in the building.”

“From Pretty Baked?” Lovey squealed. “Oh I just love that show! You didn’t say that there were going to be people from Sizzle Network there, too!”

“You knew there would be the possibility though since they’re sister networks with CanDo. I told her how you were a massive fan and she insisted that we keep in touch because she’s a major fan of your work and would love for you to come on an episode of the show in the future.”

“Ciji, I know you are lying to me!”

“Swear it, Lovey! Girl, don’t act like your name doesn’t ring bells in these streets still.”

“I suppose,” she answered with a smug little grin on her face. “All right we can circle back to all of this because you know what I am really calling for. How was it? Finally meeting your little boyfriend in the flesh. Give me all the dirty details.”

I grimaced, thinking about how that meeting was the exact opposite of what Lovey had been hoping for me.

“Oooh, what’s that face, sweets?” she said with a concerned frown.

“Forget anything I ever said about William Preston before because he is now at the top of my hit list!”

Lovey gasped. “No way!”

I shook my head vehemently. “Yes, way,” I replied before launching into the whole story about how he’d behaved toward me all evening when I’d done nothing to him.

When I finished, Lovey had a funny look on her face.

“Uh oh. What’s that look about?”

“You said he had been looking at you from across the room all night?” Lovey asked.

I nodded.

“And he didn’t have a word to say when you were finally within striking distance?”

“Yeah.”

“And he hustled his narrow behind away the moment it became apparent that he could no longer avoid having an interaction with you?”

“Sure. I am not quite sure what this line of questioning is supposed to help me conclude beyond doubling down on him being a rude, and potentially jealous, butthead.”

“Or, a man enamored with a woman and taken aback by how strongly he’s attracted, so he was trying to appear aloof and play it cool.”

“Oh please, Lovey! Weren’t you the one who adamantly lectured me on not giving into the ‘if he messes with you that means he likes you’ train of thought when it came to boys in my youth?” I screeched incredulously.

“I did. And I stand on that one hundred percent, but… I don’t know, sweets. That’s not the read I’m getting here based on what you’ve said to me.”

“Well it’s the read I got being in the midst of it all, so… trust me on this one. That man is not checking for me like that.”

“Famous last words, my sweets,” Lovey replied with a chuckle.

“Yeah yeah,” I grumbled as we chatted a bit further and then rang off the call altogether.

Despite me putting my grandmother off, I was secretly amused and somewhat thrilled at the prospect she’d offered me. Had I just been reading his energy wrong the entire time? Were those looks of disdain just artfully concealed desire? Had I misread the snort of derision I’d heard when Wayland had called me a sibling of theirs? I shook my head to snap myself out of it. Even if what Lovey was thinking had some merit, I really wasn’t in the business of entertaining men who weren’t mature enough to just express their feelings directly instead of doing all of the subliminal shit.

Thankfully, the odds of me sharing space with him again any time soon would be slim to none, so I just needed to not even give any of these thoughts the space to roam around my brain. As far as I was concerned, whatever problem William Preston had with me was something he needed to work out between himself and God.

#samplesunday: an awkward double date

You know the deal, this work is in progress so it’s unedited and subject to change.

My boy Langston and his new girl Nyema were in town for this game tonight. They were supposed to be meeting for dinner at my loft tonight—with one of his girl’s friends. I wasn’t really in the mood for entertaining tonight, but I knew that if I cancelled on them, I would just be sitting around watching all of the coverage of our loss on ESPN and obsessing. I had plenty of time to do that shit, but not as much time to hang out with one of my best friends from childhood since I didn’t get back home that often.

Plus, I’d gotten to meet Nyema’s homegirl briefly before the game and shorty was bad. Couldnta been no more than about five one, five two—brown skinned, thick as hell, hair in long silky waves down to her ass. And that ass…I hadn’t gotten to properly check it out in its entirety, but from the glimpse I’d been given pre-game. Shit, I could definitely use the distraction of a pretty ass woman and catching up with my guy after this shitshow of a game. I showered and made my way to the press room, catching up with Kage as he was walking in as well. We were both pretty shocked to walk into a room that greeted us with an ovation, thunderous applause that we gladly welcomed—voicing our thanks before we both sat at the podium. That was exactly the energy we needed, our hometown press embracing us and the ones there for national coverage were asked questions that were thoughtful, respectful, and more importantly didn’t seek to goad us into any negative reactions. Kage kept them in stitches with his signature quips and I filled in the gaps when questions were asked of me directly, but I didn’t have too much energy for the shit overall and was extra excited when Mark indicated to a reporter to ask the last question of the night.

“Niko, we know that you’re a free agent this summer. Any plans of moving beyond the Trojans and ring chasing next year?” the last reporter, Brian Jacobs, asked.

I took a deep breath before responding. I hated this dude. He always came out of nowhere with some left field shit and tried to play the innocent when someone called him on it.

Before I could get a word out, Kage piped up, “That’s really how you choosing to serve the Lord right now, bruh?”

The entire room, including me, burst out into laughter. Brian’s idiotic attempt at baiting me into giving a stupid soundbite completely forgotten as Kage went on and on about how he needed to be a better person and looking within for whatever made him such a lame ass. I was too damned weak to even think about formulating a reply, thankful for Kage’s humor and quick wit deflecting from what could have been a terrible moment. Mark thanked everyone for their time, dismissed us and we headed out of the room.

“Kage!” I called out.

He was a bit ahead of me and turned around with his signature smirk, “It was nothin’, fam. But uh…I got somewhere I’m tryna be right now, so we’ll have to save this Sister Sister bonding moment you tryna have for another time.”

I just laughed and waved him off, letting him get to whatever was so important. I needed to be getting home anyway to make sure everything was in order for tonight’s festivities. When I invited Langston and his girl down, I definitely thought we’d be getting together under very different circumstances, not a season ending loss. I thought about calling my assistant and having him nix the champagne that was set to be served with dinner but forget it. This season was still one worth celebrating, even if the outcome wasn’t what I’d hoped or expected.

By the time I got home, my assistant Pharris was on his way out of my place.

“Sup Nik,” he greeted as we passed each other in the hall.

“You got it, bruh,” I said in reply, “You sure you don’t wanna stick around?”

Pharris was more than my assistant after working together all of these years. After Langston, I’d probably consider him to be one of my closest friends. He was the nephew of my undergrad coach, a sort of fuck up that Coach was helping guide through life. Luckily, he ended up being the perfect fit as assistant. The flexibility of the job worked well with his temperament and his organizational skills were out of this world. He kept my life running smoothly as hell; a well-oiled machine.

Even though I was cool with Langston inviting his girl’s friend, I didn’t want this shit to seem like an awkward double date. I’d been in one of these setups too many times before and the mess always ended up awkward as hell. Pharris sticking around would kill that vibe, in a good way though.

Pharris shook his head, “Nope, got a hot date tonight, boss man. Ain’t no fifth wheeling and playing interference for you tonight.”

As usual, Pharris saw right through me.

“Besides, I saw ol’ girl earlier, she looks like a perfect distraction, g.”

“She was bad as hell, wasn’t she?” I mused.

“Yessir. Enjoy that,” Pharris laughed, touching his hand to his forehead in a two fingered salute before turning and walking toward the elevator.

I stepped into my condo and it smelled damn amazing in here. I gave no instruction for tonight’s meal, so I headed straight into the kitchen to see what we’d be dining on tonight. The chef grilled some steaks, shrimp, scallops, and lobster tails. To accompany that was grilled asparagus, mushrooms with garlic in a butter sauce, baked sweet potatoes, and a spring mix salad with a raspberry vinaigrette.

Against my better judgement I sat down and turned on the tv while I waited for my guests to arrive. Of course, I ended up on ESPN where they were rehashing the game I’d played in, the commentators examining all of my team’s mistakes and insisting that our first-round win was just a streak of luck. I quickly changed the channel, landing on BET showing Baby Boy once again. I fell into that, trying to get my mind off of the bullshit of the ESPN commentary so I wouldn’t be in a messed up mood when everyone pulled up. I laughed at Jody and Yvette’s antics…and thanked my lucky stars that I’d dodged my own version of a Yvette way back in the day. The concierge called up to let me know that my guests had arrived, and I went to open the door to let them in since he’d already directed them onto the elevator.

When I opened the door, however, there was only one guest there, Nyema’s fine ass homegirl.

“Jayde, right?” I said in greeting.

“That’s me. Nikolas, right?” she parroted back, stepping past me into my place, “Your boy and my girl are running behind. I got a text from Ny while I was in my Lyft. I’m almost certain that when they show up, DJ Nyla will have that freshly fucked glow that she greeted me with earlier at lunch.”

I laughed at her candor, following her deeper into my place where she settled onto the couch.

“I hope you don’t mind me making myself at home, immediately,” she said, her eyes darting around the space, appraising everything she saw, “I tend to do that.”

“You’re good, sweetheart,” I replied.

“This is a nice place. I love this building so much. My friend stays down on the third floor and every time I come over to his place I want to stay forever. Your floor plan looks a bit different than his though. Definitely bigger.”

“What’s your friend’s name? I might know him,” I said.

“You probably don’t. He’s a weird ass reclusive songwriter dude. Doesn’t even make eye contact with strangers…even ones as well-known as you,” Jayde smiled, “But his name is Edward Kane.”

“Can’t nobody sang like Eddie Kang,” I said, without thinking. Her friend’s name was too close to a character in one of my favorite films, The Five Heartbeats.

Jayde erupted into giggles, shaking her head, “The first time he introduced himself to me, I quoted that line and he looked at me like I had two heads.”

“How did he not know that classic? Nights like this, I wish…” I sang, trailing off when she joined in, “that raindrops would fall.”

“You sound good,” I complimented.

“Well I should hope so. Singing for my supper pays the bills,” Jayde quipped, “You got a lil tone on you too, though. I heard you, Nikolas.”

“I can do a lil somethin. So, you’re a singer, huh?”

“And songwriter.”

“That’s what’s up. I love music,” I replied, sounding stupid as hell to my own ears.

Before I could say anything else, my phone rang again with the concierge letting me know that the rest of the group was here. A quick exchange of greetings and then we were all sitting around the table as I moved everything from where chef had it waiting onto the table in my dining area.

“Y’all drinkin’?” I asked Langston.

“Hell yes, we are drinking. You are too,” Jayde piped up before he could respond and I laughed, “What you got for us in here mister fancy basketball player man?”

“Water, juice, pop, wine, beer, champagne…whatever you want, basically?” I said.

“Whatever I want, huh?” Jayde queried, biting her lower lip.

“Jay!” Nyema giggled.

“The man said whatever, friend. I’m just asking for clarity,” Jayde replied laughing, turning to grin at Nyema.

I smiled to myself, shaking my head as I headed back into the kitchen to grab red and white wine, along with glasses. This girl was a lot…but I liked that. A lot.

#samplesunday: double date?

it’s been a minute since we’ve had one of these here, huh? this is a snip of my WIP. release date: tbd. name of project: tbd. unedited and subject to change. i think that covers all the bases, yeah? ok, enjoy!

Langston

I’d been in some pretty awkward situations, but the one I found myself in currently was quite possibly the most awkward one that I’d been in in quite some time. I glared across the table as the current source of this awkward shit held court with our group that was gathered around the small table in the dimly lit lounge. Nyema had reserved us a table near her set up and of course Sharice was the first to arrive, which I’m sure caused some confusion on Nyema’s part when she saw a stranger sitting at the table she’d reserved for her folks. And Sharice making a big ordeal of giving me a hug once we’d finally arrived really didn’t help my case here.

Nyema had yet to come to the table, but the daggers in her gaze as she looked over to us several times in the fifteen or so minutes we’d been here let me know that she was not pleased. And Lena, bless her heart, was trying to make Sharice feel welcomed as I tried to, discreetly move further and further away from her. When she first started working for our firm, Sharice made it very clear that she was interested in getting to know me outside of work and I’d halfway entertained the idea because she was definitely a baddie--smooth deep brown skin, coke bottle shape, and an ass that wouldn’t quit. But after I overheard her in the break room arguing with her baby daddy, I knew that was a bullet that I needed to stay clear of. That didn’t stop her from continuously trying to come on to me.

Neill’s ass knew this...and how I felt about her, so I was not sure what the hell he was thinking with this set up. When I questioned him about it, he feigned ignorance. Saying he just wanted me to not feel like a third wheel and that Sharice wouldn’t read too much into it. He absolutely couldn’t have been more wrong as Sharice had already made mention of this being our first date at least three times, allegedly joking. Our waitress was a little slow, so when I saw Nyema headed toward the bar I took it as my chance to try and grab her ear briefly. I took the table’s drink order, shook of Sharice’s insistence of accompanying me and made my way to the bar quickly. I strolled up to the bar, and rested against the bar top facing Nyema who acted like she didn’t see me at all.

“Nyema,” I said, gently tapping her wrist.

She took her time acknowledging me, turning her head and giving me a wan smile, “Langston.”

“You got a minute?” I asked.

She shook her head, “Not really. It’s almost time for me to get going.”

The bartender came back with a tall glass of sparkling water, garnished with limes and a cherry, and passed it to Nyema.

“Thanks, Jimi, keep these coming,” she said warmly, grabbing the glass and flashing him a brilliant smile.

Aight, so the cold shoulder was just for me as I expected. I flipped my wrist up noting that we still had a couple of minutes before her set was really slated to begin. Instead of asking again for permission, I grabbed Nyema’s unoccupied hand and led her around the corner from where we currently stood so that I could speak with her in semi-privacy.

“Langston, what the fuck? I told you I didn’t have time right now.”

I held a hand up, “All I need is one minute to tell you that what you see right now isn’t what it looks like. I didn’t invite Sharice here tonight.”

“Langston, you’re a grown man. A single grown man. You do not have to explain anything to me.”

“I just thought that after the other day…” I trailed off.

Nyema laughed, sort of mockingly which took me off guard, “Again...you don’t have to explain yourself to me at all. It’s all good and I’ve gotta go.”

#SampleSunday: Girl Talk

 Unedited and subject to change...y'all know what this is...enjoy!

“Thank you, mama,” PJ said, smothering me with hugs and kisses.

I soaked it up knowing that my time before he became a too cool teen boy would come too quickly and I should relish the affection while he gave it freely. PJ ran off, to call Danny and confirm that their plan had worked, no doubt and I grabbed my tablet to make a FaceTime call. As I waited for it to connect, I examined my face in the screen—taking note of the formerly fine lines around my eyes that seemed to have deepened overnight. Thirty-fine was quickly giving way to the rapidly approaching forty and I was feeling…a bit put out by it all. Not that I minded aging because I’m definitely like a fine wine, but as the years progressed, I found myself deeply reevaluating some of my life’s choices and wondering if I made the right ones. Before I could get too far down the rabbit hole of those thoughts, the FaceTime call connected.

“So did you join?”

“Hey Raq. How are you?”

“Yeah yeah hoe, pleasantries and all that. Did. You. Join?”

I nodded once and Raquel squealed in delight.

“I didn’t think you had it in you! My girl,” she said, jigging a little in her seat.

“You didn’t think I had what in me? Did you forget Tim?”

“Oh girl please, Tim was happenstance. Before him, your girl had cobwebs on her. You didn’t even bring my godson into the world via the old fashioned way and the last time you steadily talked about getting dicked down LBJ was in office, so…”

I tried, but failed to hold back a shriek of laughter at her ridiculousness. Raquel and I went back like four flats on a Cadillac. She had been my very best friend since we met in Kindergarten in Mrs. Papadopoulos’ class. She had a Care Bears backpack and Rainbow Brite lunchbox; I had a Rainbow Brite backpack and a Care Bears lunchbox so in a stroke of brilliance she convinced me to exchange lunchboxes so that we wouldn’t be mismatched. My mama tanned my hide when I got home, but it was worth it. Raq and I had been thick as thieves ever since. She knew almost all of my secrets and where most of the bodies were hidden. Outside of my sister, she was the one constant in my life that I could always count on.

“You know I can’t stand your ass, right?”

“But you love me,” she replied without missing a beat.

That was for sure. She was on a short list of few for whom I’d take a bullet.

“So you ever gonna tell me how you really found out about JON.com or are we making up a new lie on today?”

Raquel laughed and quickly averted her eyes asking, “Where’s my godson?”

Patrick happened to be walking into the kitchen when she inquired so he yelled out, “Hey Auntie Rocky” as he made his way, undoubtedly, to eat up all the snacks. I swear it felt like I was going grocery shopping every three days messing around with his hungry behind.

“Hey, my love. Come over here so I can see how much you’ve grown since I saw you last.”

“You aint slick,” I said lowly, “And you haven’t sidestepped my questions so as soon as you’re done with your fake fawning…”

“Sweet Sister Patty Cake, why don’t you know how to let things go?”

“Raquel Rachelle, why do you keep trying to hold onto secrets from me? You know it’ll all come out eventually.”

“Exactly, so exercise some patience, my good sis. You’ll find out sooner or later.”

I rolled my eyes and kept the conversation moving in another direction. She was being purposefully cagey, which let me know that when the bomb was eventually dropped it’d likely be extinction level event. That was just Raq’s way. She loved to keep things bottled, then over process, and finally talk things through with me way after the fact. She always needed that space to work things out and I normally granted it, but with this site, I knew whatever it was had to be juicy. Our conversation quickly came to a close, with Raq making me promise to hit her up the minute my profile was approved so we could go through my matches together.

#SampleSunday: Treets

This sample is copyrighted, unedited, and subject to my fickle mind making changes prior to publication...

xoxo, 

Nicole

&&&

Karim and I were cuddled up on the couch watching Law and Order like every other Sunday. At the commercial break, he wandered into the kitchen in search of something sweet. I had baked cookies for PJ’s teammates, but was so distracted by the whole “meeting each others families” thing that I’d forgotten to grab them to take to the game earlier. I had also baked some special cookies for myself since I was trying to cut back on smoking. I told Karim to grab the red container from the counter near the stove, which held the cookies I’d made for the kids. The others were in a custom cookie jar that Devorah had made for me. It was in the shape of a tree house, with the words Celena’s Treets etched on the trunk of the tree.

Karim walked back into the room, wolfing down a cookie with two more in his hand. He had a worried expression on his face as he chewed.

“What’s with the face?”

“You said you have your Master’s right?”

“Uhhhh…yeah,” I replied, puzzled at where this line of questioning was going.

“You know treats is spelled wrong on your cookie jar?” he asked.

“Are those cookies from the cookie jar?”

“Yeah…”

“How many did you have?” I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

“Just this one…”

I jumped up grabbing the other two out of his hand and walking back toward the kitchen to put them back.

“Hey! I was gonna eat those!” he exclaimed, right on my heels as I walked back into the kitchen.

I placed the cookies I’d swiped from him back in my jar, and then walked over to the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen, where the red container sat clear as day.

“Where did I tell you the cookies were, Karim?”

“In the cookie jar.”

“No I didn’t. You weren’t listening, were you?” I asked, grabbing the container I’d initially told him to get the cookies from. “This,” I said, holding it up, “has the cookies I told you to get.”

“What’s the difference? A cookie is a cookie is a cookie.”

“You really think I don’t know how to spell the word treats?”

“Well obviously you don’t if…oh my God. These are weed cookies, aren’t they?”

I nodded once, biting back a smile as Karim groaned loudly.

“Seriously?”

“I told you to look in this container, Karim. It’s not my fault you went full on Cookie Monster on me and tuned out everything I said after cookies in the kitchen.”

“You can’t just have weed cookies out on the counter, babe. What if PJ had opened the cookie jar?”

“PJ wouldn’t have opened the cookie jar because he knows that those cookies are only for Te-te Cel. Te-te’s hardheaded boyfriend would know that too if he listened to her when she spoke.”

“I do listen when you…wait…boyfriend?” Karim smirked.

“I mean you finally gave up the dick or whatever, so I guess you earned a title,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

I hadn’t planned on it, but Karim had wormed his way inside. I honestly thought that he could be someone that I would be cool with, the occasional fuck buddy. But somewhere along the way, I grew to enjoy his company and how I felt when he was around. It probably had to do with the fact that he withheld sex from me for so long, so I had no choice but to get used to his presence. But my gut was telling me that Karim was a good guy, so I rolled with it. I certainly didn’t think I’d be calling anyone else my boyfriend this soon after a breakup, but stranger things have happened.

Karim strolled across the kitchen, pulled me into his arms and drew me into a slow, sweet kiss. My eyes closed as soon as our lips met and I savored the faint hint of chocolate still left on his lips. He pulled back from the kiss after a few minutes and asked, “Exactly how high will this damn cookie get me?”

“Does the name Neil Armstrong mean anything to you?” I asked, giggling.

#SampleSunday: You don't say no to Brenda Holt.

“I told my sister about you today,” I said to Karim as we sat in his living room, relaxing on his sofa.

On my way leaving Pat’s, he had called and asked me to stop by for dessert. I eagerly accepted the invitation, not thinking that he meant literal dessert. Despite repeated dropped hints and pretty heavy make out sessions that I was sure left him in need of a cold shower, we hadn’t moved onto the real deal physical. He’d brought home another of his mom’s famous icebox pies, so we ate a couple slices and now sat cuddled up watching a SVU marathon.

“Oh yeah?” Karim replied.

“Yeah…she wants to meet you. Asked me to invite you to PJ’s soccer game next Sunday.”

“Well what a coinkydink, I was going to extend an invitation to you for friends and family day at church in two Sundays. Mama and Granny hemmed me up today. Which, I told you that as soon as old nosy ass Mrs. Barker saw us out it would get back to my folks.”

Recently, we’d stepped out to pick up some takeout from a local barbeque joint and literally ran into Karim’s childhood neighbor on our way out. As usual our fingers were intertwined, which the older woman commented on. Karim stammered through an explanation that left me quite amused as he used every manner of word except girlfriend to define our relationship. I wasn’t pressed, honestly. We were just coolin’ and had no need for labels quite yet. I didn’t think we were quite at the place of meeting each other’s families yet either. I mean, okay, yeah Karim had met PJ already, but that was a circumstance that couldn’t be helped, honestly.

“Are we…um…at the meeting the family stage?” I asked, trying to play nonchalant.

Despite my cool tone, something alerted Karim to the fact that I was a little on edge because he muted the TV and turned his entire body toward me. He raised a hand to rest at the back of my neck, tangling his fingers in my curls as he stared. As his fingers gently massaged my scalp, I began speaking again.

“I mean…not that we’re not there, but like…are we though? It’s just been a few weeks and we’re taking it slow, right? You’re giving me time to adjust and not giving me any dick, so like I don’t even know how long you’ll truly be around once you actually do; so it’s crazy for us to even be thinking about bringing families into this and bonding and–”

“Celena,” Karim interrupted me, laughing.

I kept right on talking, “Let’s say I introduce you to Patty and PJ and he takes a liking to you because he’s in desperate need for a male influence in his life and then you finally give me the dick and it’s barely adequate and I have to find a way to let you down gently and explain to my nephew that his new friend won’t ever be around again because auntie needs somebody who’s compatible with her in every way and then he hates me for banishing you from our lives and–”

Karim interrupted my stream of crazy babbling by pulling me in closer and drawing me into a slow, lingering kiss. Instantly I melted into him, sliding closer until he pulled me into his lap, straddling him. Despite my frantic, insistent grinding into his ever-hardening dick, Karim continued to ply my mouth with slow, sweeping passes of his tongue against mine. When we finally parted to catch a breath, I groaned in frustration and lowered my head to his shoulder.

After a few minutes of silence, Karim finally spoke.

“You’re something else you know that, right?”

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

“Neither…just an observation. Not sure where I stand with it, yet.”

“Damn.”

“What?”

“That doesn’t sound good. It sounds like you’re trying to decide if I’m worth the trouble of dealing with.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. That wasn’t what I was getting at. You just…it’s never a dull moment with you, girl,” he said, biting his lip and shaking his head, “But to answer your question…from before the rant…we don’t have a choice but to be at the meeting the family stage. My mother’s invitation was less a request and more a demand. And you don’t just say no to Brenda Holt.”

“So we’re going to church?”

“We’re going to church.”

“You know I don’t really do church…”

“I understand and respect that, but…”

“You don’t say no to Brenda Holt.”