Talk a Good Game (33 page)

“
Mom, I’ve been married
before.”

She gave a rude snort. “Oh please!
You went to the courthouse. I knew it was doomed from the
beginning.”

I saw Janelle was trying not to laugh. Neither one
of them had cared much for Shane.

“
Mrs. Dawson, what do you think of
Jeremy?” she asked.

I rolled my eyes and noticed Janelle was trying not
to laugh again. She was such a shit starter.

Mommy had a dreamy smile on her
face. “He seems like a really nice guy. Mannerable, so sweet, and
God-fearing. I think Ree
’s
really done good this
time.”

I stuck my tongue out at Janelle. It meant a lot
that my mother approved of the man I was getting ready to spend the
rest of my life with.

“
I agree. Jeremy
does seem nice…” Janelle began slowly. “But I just feel like
he
’s
hiding something.” I wanted to smack the black
off her, but I forced a smile instead.

“
No,
you
’
re just too nosy. He doesn’t have
to tell you all his business.” I said struggling to keep the
sarcasm from my voice.

“
I didn’t say he
did but even when I asked him simple stuff he didn’t want to tell
the truth. What
’s
up with
that?”

My mom
’s
brow rose
with curiosity.

“
Mama, that’s
because he was tired of Janelle giving him the third degree.” Leave
it to Janelle to try and stir up some trouble. “All that matters is
that I know he
’s
the man for me. What he shares
or doesn’t want to share with others doesn’t matter just as long as
I know the truth.”

Crossing her arms, Janelle leaned
forward and said, “And? Do you know the truth?”

The sales assistant came over,
saving me from having to answer. “This dress was made for your
body! You barely need
any
alterations.” She knew exactly what to say to
guarantee a sale.

I nodded in agreement.
“
I
don’t
need to try on the other gowns. I
want this one.”

She
clapped her hands gleefully.
“Wonderful!
Let me go and get some pins for the hem.” While she scurried off, I
looked in the mirror again and could already see myself walking
down the aisle in this gown. I was going to be the talk of the town
for sure.

Mama moved over and took a seat beside Janelle.

“
Mrs. Dawson I
hear you
’
re finally going to have plenty
of grandchildren to spoil.”

My heart nearly stopped. Oh no she
didn’t.

Mama had a proud smile on her
lips. “Yes, I
’
m looking forward to meeting his
three. They’ll be down for a week, right Ree?”

Janelle
’s
brow rose. “Three
chil—?”

“
Yes, Mama.
They’ll be down for a whole week.” I said cutting Janelle off and
then gave her the stink eye. I hadn’t had a chance to tell my
mother there were five kids, instead of three. And I was planning
on doing that on my terms not Janelle
’s
.

“
I
’
m looking forward to it.” Mama
then pursed her lips and said, “I’ll have one foot in the grave by
the time Nyree has a baby.”

Janelle snickered and went back to texting on her
phone, while I ignored the comment and focused on how good I looked
in the dress.

“
And what about you Jae?” I heard
Mama say. “I hear congratulations are in order for your engagement.
When are you planning on making it official?”

“
Yeah Jae,
when
’s
your big day?” I instigated,
with a smirk.

Janelle stopped texting and looked
from me to my mom, then back to her cell and blew out a long
breath. “That
’s
a good question, Mrs. Dawson.
I
’
m in no rush. I figure we’ll
focus on Ree
’s
wedding first then I’ll start
planning mine. I definitely don’t want to steal the spotlight from
her,” she added with a saucy grin.

The sales assistant signaled for
me to follow her in back. “
Whateva,
” I mumbled under
my breath and stepped off the platform.

“
You know you love me!” Janelle
yelled after me.

Yep, and that
’s
the
only reason why I tolerated her crazy ass.

JANELLE

I could tell as soon as I padded
into the kitchen for breakfast that something was on
Kaleb
’s
mind. In the months
we
’
d been together I’d started to
read him like a book. “What
’s
wrong, baby?” I
asked.

He looked over at me, then
shrugged and said. “Nothing.”

“
Yeah,
it
’s
something
.
You
’ve
been quiet all morning.
Something is bothering you.” I took a moment to see if I had
remembered to wipe down the bathroom after getting out of the
shower, or if I had left my clothes on the floor. I was certain
that I had done neither. Kaleb might have been tripping because he
had caught me texting or surfing the web this morning. Either of
those things was subject to tick him off.

“
Nothing. Just got a lot on my
plate today.”

“
Anything you want to talk about?”
I asked between chews because I was taught that a good woman is
always there to listen to her man even if she didn’t fucking feel
like it.

He sighed then shook his head as
if he was annoyed. By this point I rolled my eyes and mumbled,
“Whateva,” under my breath. I wasn’t about to beg this man to tell
me what was bothering him. I tell you. Sometimes he acted like a
woman on her damn period.

After another long moment of
silence, I decided to try a different approach. “What
time
’s
your first game
tonight?”

Kaleb looked surprised by my
question. I don’t know why. Unlike him I listen to what he tells
me. A few weeks ago, he had joined a softball team with some of his
colleagues. I put the first game on my calendar and received an
alert this morning.

“
Uh…
it
’s
tonight at six or seven.”

And when were you planning to tell
me
? I was more than a little annoyed. “Oh,
okay. What position are you playing?”

I noticed he was glancing down at
his plate as he spoke. “Second base. You know I wasn’t planning on
playing but since they
’
re short one player, I
guess I will.”

Yeah, I just bet.

CJ came racing down the wooden
stairs as if he was falling and once again it took everything I had
not to scream at him. Why can’t he walk like normal
people?

Kaleb looked at him over the rim
of his coffee cup and said, “Son, you ready for camp?”

“
Yes, sir.” He walked over,
wrapped his arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “Love
you,” he said then walked around the table and leaned in so I could
kiss him.

“
Love you,” I said and gave him a
loud smack on the cheek. He really was a good kid.

I watched him grab his backpack and head out the
door to catch the bus that stopped at the corner, to summer
camp.

Camp had been my idea. I had gotten sick of watching
that kid spending the summer doing nothing but playing video games
so I had signed him up for three weeks of camp. Something was
better than wasting his whole summer doing nothing constructive. As
promised, I tried to get him in a summer minority program but those
programs started receiving applicants way back in January, so I
insisted on summer camp instead. CJ was resistant at first but once
I had gotten his father in agreement it was a wrap.

I carried my dishes over to the sink and went
upstairs to get ready for work. I was slipping into my new Vera
Wang dress when Kaleb stepped into the room. He gave me a look then
moved over to his dresser.

“
What?” I said with
attitude.

“
Nothing.”

“
Then why did you just look at me
that way?” I said without skipping a beat.

He frowned as if I was the one who
was being ridiculous. “What you talking about? I didn’t look at you
any kinda way.”

I was starting to get frustrated.
“Whatever. You’re fucking retarded.” Ain’t no way in the world
I
’
m gonna let this dude start
making me think I
’
m crazy. I zipped my dress then
slipped into my green pumps. The sooner I got up outta his house
the better. I didn’t have to put up with this shit. I had a
restaurant to run and a million things to do.

I guess Kaleb sensed I was pissed because he walked
over to me and took my hand.

“
Babe,
c
’
mere.
” He had that sexy grin on
his face I loved so much. “Babe…
Look, I
’
m sorry if
I
’
m taking my frustrations out on
you. I don’t mean to,” he added, with so much sincerity I suddenly
felt guilty for planning an evening that didn’t include
him.

“
It
’s
okay,” I said, then I tilted my
head as his mouth met mine. Just the feel of his warm mouth made my
nipples tingle for a quick romp in the sack.

“
I just wanna marry you and share
our lives,” he said with a pout.

So that
’s
what this
was all about. Last night after we’d made love, Kaleb had suggested
we
run off
to Las Vegas next weekend and get married. I didn’t
mean to laugh at him but I did, which obviously
had pissed him off. Then we argued for the next hour, as to why I
wasn’t in a rush to get married.

I needed to see how I could
benefit from this relationship before I decided to get married.
After he received his inheritance, if I stilled loved him as much
as I did now, then we could set a date. But even then, I needed at
least a year to plan the event of the city. Of course, I didn’t
tell him that. Instead, I made up an excuse, and told him even
though I loved him, I was scared and needed more time before we set
a date. Kaleb said he understood.

Now I knew he had been lying.

“
Boo, I want nothing more than to
marry you when the time is right.” I suggestively stroked his
crotch, then gave him a long, deep kiss until I had him moaning and
unbuckling his pants. I smiled triumphantly. One thing I knew how
to do was turn him on, and I made sure Kaleb left the house
completely satisfied.

By the time I finally made it to
the restaurant, April was waiting in my office for me.
“You
’
re late,” she said and swiveled
away from the financial report she was working on.

“
Yeah, yeah. It was one of those
mornings,” I replied with a playful eye-roll. “Men.”

She grinned knowingly.
She
’d
been happily married for twelve years.
“
Well,
I’ve
got some news that will cheer you
up.”

“
What?”

April came around the desk and
held up the morning paper. “
You won!
”

It took a moment for her words to
register. “I won? Oh shit!” I snatched the paper and read the
announcement and sure enough FoxTrot had been voted as
Columbia
’s
Restaurant of the
Year
. I started squealing with delight.
“
I
won!
” April draped an arm around
me.

“
Congratulations Jae!”

“
Ohmygod,
ohmygod
!” I had tears running down my
face. All those years I had poured into making my dream a reality
had finally paid off. “I should be thanking you, April. You’ve had
my back since the beginning.” It
’s
rare to have
family who believed in your dream, but my cousin gave up her job as
a shift supervisor at Hardee
’s
to come and help me
run FoxTrot and I’ve never regretted my decision.

“
I’ve spoken to
the mayor
’s
office and
he
’s
schedule to be here on Friday at ten to
personally present you with the award. I’ve already confirmed
Channel 8 News and the
Columbia Daily
Tribune
. Everyone is coming!” she
exclaimed.

I was so overwhelmed with emotion
I had to take a seat before I collapsed to the floor.
“
Ohmygod!
I can’t
believe this!”