Page 35 of Smoke

“Thanks, man. I gotta be able to afford to take my lady out?—”

“Give me my phone, Devin!” Deja demanded, snatching it from me. “You stay in my business.”

“You are my business. Remember that shit.”

I mushed her head again and walked off. My mother shook her head as I stepped into the kitchen.

“Why are you always harassing my child?”

“Because she thinks she’s grown, and I have to humble her.”

She rolled her eyes. “Go on and have your lil’ conversation with Alec.”

“Don’t be listening at the door, either.”

“Boy, this is my house. If I want to stand on the porch and listen, I can do that because it’s my house.”

I waved her off as I opened the door. I made my way down the back steps to the grilling area where Alec stood, manning the grill and two-stepping to some old school R&B. When he heardme approaching, he turned around, and a grin spread across his face.

“How you doing, son?” he asked, slapping my hand before pulling me into a hug.

One thing I could never escape was a hugging ass family. We were a bunch of gangstas in tune with our emotions… well, most emotions.

“I’m good. Wassup with you?”

“Same shit, different day. It’s always good to see you. What brought you by?”

“I’m hungry. I know one of those steaks has my name on it.”

He smirked. “Always. Now what’s the real reason?”

He grabbed two beers from the mini fridge and passed one to me before motioning me to have a seat.

“I uh… I wanted to talk to you about something, man.”

“What’s that?”

“I know you came into this family when it was kinda already made. You ever had any apprehensions about that shit?”

“Nah. I knew the moment I saw your mama that she was gonna be my wife. I accepted right then that whatever she came with, I was down for.”

“Now what if she was ratchet as hell?”

“I would have loved her ratchet ass.” We started laughing. “Seriously, though, a man that knows a woman is worth it will do what he has to do to make sure she knows it too. Your mama was worth it then, and she’s worth it now. It didn’t matter that she had you and Maceo. I was ready to love y’all like my own.”

“I appreciate that, man. I know we were some hellraisers, but you’ve really been good to us.”

“Y’all were something else, but I’d do it all over again. You don’t come from me, but you’re my son no less.” He took a sip of his beer as he eyed me. “Where is this coming from?”

“I uh… I met someone.”

“The beauty from Maceo’s wedding? I saw y’all looking real cozy.”

“Yeah, it’s her. The problem… well, it ain’t really a problem… She has an eight-year-old, and she’s about seven months pregnant now.”

His eyes widened. “Really? I couldn’t tell. She’s small. Then again, some women don’t show much. I assume the baby isn’t yours.”

“Nah. It’s not. I think I like her, though. She’s got this whole homie vibe?—”

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