Page 9 of Smoke

“The real question is how she didn’t get pregnant sooner,” Steel said. “She must have been swall?—”

“Kerrion Jamel,” my mother warned.

He grinned. “My bad, Mama A. I got beside myself.”

My mother rolled her eyes. “I swear, y’all get grown and forget that your parents aren’t one of your little friends. I know I only gave birth to two of you, but all of you are my babies. You aren’t too old for me to whup your foul-mouthed ass.”

I placed my hands on her shoulders. “Calm down, Ma. It’s all love. Why don’t you take a shot with us?”

Maceo agreed. “Yeah, Ma. Get a little lit with us.”

She sighed. “Fine.”

Deuce smirked. “I thought you weren’t one of our little friends?”

My mother playfully smacked him. “Pour the damn shot, Stanley!”

We broke into laughter as he poured her a shot. After taking it, she left us to our own vices. I cranked up the music and rolled up a blunt. It didn’t matter the occasion; we were gonna put onein the air. Pops, Alec, and Mr. Paul came in shortly after, all of them taking a shot with us.

“How are you feeling, son?” Pops asked, slapping Maceo’s shoulder.

“I mean, I’m not nervous. We’ve already been married for six months, so ain’t shit changing. This is just a formality. I’m excited to see her in that dress.”

“She looks beautiful,” Alec said. “She’s in there turning up with the girls right now.”

I chuckled. “Ratchet shit.”

Mr. Paul chuckled. “You can take the girl out of the hood, but you can’t take the hood out of the girl. Just wait until the reception.”

Deuce spoke up. “Now you know those two aren’t gonna make it to the reception. We’re gonna be waiting on them while they go consummate.”

“Mind your business,” Maceo shot at him. “You worried about the wrong thing, nigga.”

“Which one of y’all are next?” Pops asked, looking between me and Steel.

We looked at each other and laughed.

“You funny,” I said, taking a sip of my drink. “You see I didn’t bring a date. I don’t need any of my lil’ situations getting the wrong idea.”

Pops shook his head. “So you’re just gonna be a ho all your life?”

“I got it honest.”

He playfully punched me in the arm. “I’m a single man?—”

“Maddie know that?”

The room erupted with laughter. Since she helped with Maceo and Shar’s drama a few months back, the two of them had been not so secretly sneaking around. Hell, they didn’t have to sneak at all, in my opinion. Stanley was doing what I’d seen himdo my whole life which was go back and forth between his single baby mamas. Maddie was no different than the rest. I take that back. Maddie could kill his ass and get away with it.

We hung around in the dressing room until it was time for us to get ready to line up for the processional. As we were walking down the hall, a side door opened and out stepped a familiar face.

Ms. Romi Mitchell.

She looked beautiful dressed in a peach colored, one-shoulder dress that had a split going up her thigh. The midsection had this scrunched effect that perfectly concealed her baby bump. Her locs were pinned in a neat bun with a flower to accessorize. That beautiful face was free of makeup aside from a little lip oil.

She was gorgeous. I couldn’t lie and say she hadn’t crossed my mind since our meeting. Something about her left a lasting impression. I wasn’t sure what it was. Our eyes met, and she offered a light smile, which I returned. My feet had a mind of their own as I found myself breaking off from my brothers. I walked over to speak to her.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

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