Page 96 of Don Caselli

She paused, gagged by my honesty, and then shoved me. “Gross, Landon! You fucked your housekeeper.”

I started laughing as I took her hand in mine. “You didn’t tell me yours.”

“Songs?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, “Summer Friends” by Chance The Rapper.”

Her taste in music had me ready to get down on one knee and propose to her right now. “Coloring Bookalbum… shit, Bleu… I might could fuck with you.”

She laughed. “I know good music, and that album went diamond in my house. My mom used to tell me to turn it off.”

“Oldie.”

“‘Love Me In a Special Way’… and not the Tamia version.”

I chuckled. “Got you… I can fuck with it.”

“Why Janet Jackson?”

I looked away from her, back toward the view. Her stare was so intense because she wanted to know everything about me. Navy was an open book and didn’t mind sharing her life. The dark shit, either. I met her, and on the first date she was telling me relationship woes. She had always been open since we met, and even when it was about her desire to not have kids, she eventually opened up and let me in.

“I’m over here, Handsome.” She pulled a me, and grabbed my chin, pulling my face back into her direction.

Kissing the palm of her hand, I looked into her eyes. “Reminds me of my mother… my sister told me it was her favorite song. It always comes in my head randomly and I can’t rest until I hum it out or listen to it… recently found out it’s because it was her favorite song.”

“How old were you when you lost them?”

“Like four.”

“Oh man… I’m sorry.” She scooted closer to me and held onto my arm. “Do you miss them?”

“Don’t know them to miss them… can’t remember shit about them. My siblings don’t talk about them, so can’t miss people you never met.”

Navy looked up into my eyes with tears pouring down her face. “I’m sorry, Landon… I couldn’t imagine how hard that was.”

“Baby, why the fuck areyoucrying?”

“It’s sad… I feel for you. Being that young and losing your parents couldn’t have been easy. My parents are my entire world so I can’t even think about it because it makes me emotional… can I hug you?”

Before I could give her an answer, she roped her arms around my neck, kissing my temple. “Easier to pretend you don’t care, right?”

“Yeah, Bleu.”

She moved my hands and sat in my lap as she continued to look at me. Her phone interrupted whatever she was about to say. “Hey Mommy.”

I watched as she held her phone up to her face. “Hey baby.”

“Hey Mamas,” I heard Ro in the background.

“Daddy is with you?”

“Yeah, he got off before me and came to ride the train home with me. How is St. Lucia?” she asked, as she smiled at her daughter.

Navy’s parentswantedto be parents. The joy on their faces when she was around couldn’t be denied. “Beautiful, and I feel connected to you both even more.”

“Where’s my guy at?” I heard Ro ask.

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