Page 23 of Mahogany 2
“Rah said you were… different. Be careful mixing business with pleasure, Cres. You see how that worked out for Uncle Donny.”
Uncle Donny used to run a business. Fucked around and had sex with all of the women he had on payroll. It was drama—a ton of it. So much to the point where he lost everything because of it. Nigga had sexual harassment cases on him and everything. But see... I didn’t need a lecture on work ethics. I knew what I was doing. And what the fuck did Rah mean I was different? It’d been a minute since I’d shown interest in a woman, in front of them niggas. I wasn’t loud about what I did. Didn’t give a fuck to be. Niggas thought I had dry dick since my last relationship. Good. I didn’t like for people to be in my business. The less they knew, the better.
The same went for Luna’s meddling ass.
“I’m good,” I flatly replied, refusing to give her what I knew she wanted. Information.
“Mmmhmm. Just be careful. I was actually happy to hear you were showing inter?—
“I just got to the house. I’ll call you with details when it’s over,” I interrupted, killing the conversation she was inching toward.
She sucked her teeth. “Okay. Good luck with the zoo.”
Laughing, I told her I loved her and would hit her line in about two.
Pulling up in front of the house, I shook my head at my Uncle Larry’s beat up 1994 Grand Marquis. It was covered in rust stains and dents. Auntie Marjorie’s Neon was no better, sitting on two donuts, with plastic on the window. They lived that way by choice. Pops gave them bread and a chance at a better life years ago and they blew it, so he cut them off. Me and pops were a lot alike in that sense.
After sitting for a couple of minutes, I grabbed my phone and got out of the car. The weather was breaking. Which could be a good and bad thing. The family wouldn’t be happy about being out in the suburbs for two days, but I planned on making them as comfortable as possible. They were just as bad as Luna acted like they were. We had a family full of animals for real. Niggas who were more comfortable in the jungle than they were in the ‘burbs. You would think muthafuckas would love staying on an eight-bedroom compound for two days away from the hood but nah, not them. Any time we had a holiday party, they made it their business to be in and out the same night. I wasn’t tripping. I knew how it was to be used to a certain way of living. Luckily for me, I could survive both places.
Before I could unlock the door, I could hear the laughing. A smile instantly came over me. They might’ve been crazy as fuck, but I loved them. A little more for making my momma happy.
“Look at what the cat finallydrugin,” Aunt Shanny, my ma’s twin sister, said from the couch the minute I walked in the door,.
Because my momma grew up like them, used to her environment, she hated the suburbs too and didn’t want the biggest house on the block. In fact, it was the smallest, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Moms was the furthest thing from high maintenance and wanted to maintain her simple lifestyle despite how much money they had. She didn’t want a foyer. Didn’t care for high ceilings, chandeliers, or floor to ceiling windows. Mom’s just wanted a big backyard for us to play in and to throw barbecues since the house we came from didn’t have one big enough.
“How you doin’ auntie?” I spoke, giving her a hug. Chucking my chin, I spoke to Uncle Lew and Augustine, his wife.
We had a big ass family. Why Luna thought moms would be okay with a caterer was crazy to me. She didn’t want that shit at all. We had a family full of cooks. If they were capable of working together for real, I would have invested in a restaurant chain and put them to work but because they could barely hold a conversation without yelling and arguing, that would never happen.
“Crescent-Crescent,” said Uncle Larry, coming into the living room with his hand extended. “The fuck you got us in the boonies for, nephew?”
I laughed. The boonies. Niggas bro.
“A conversation. Chill,” I said as we slapped hands.
“A conversation we couldn’t have on three-way?” Uncle Moe asked, greeting me with a handshake too.
“You know me,” I reminded him as we embraced.
“Oh so well,” Auntie Marjorie said before hugging and kissing me on the cheek.
I had to move through about six auntie and uncles before I could get to my mother on the couch. Leaning down, I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the top of the head. “Wassup beautiful lady. You alright?”
She smiled and nodded. “Better than yesterday.” She gestured for me to come closer, and I leaned in. “Hurry up and get these niggas out my house. Lew big ass got here about an hour and a half ago and don’ been in my bathroom three times already. You know he don’t got no home training. Probably don’ got shit all over my toilet. Please go check for me, Cres’. Ya damn daddy been outside playing dominos with his raggedy ass brothers, so I couldn’t get him to,” she whispered.
I laughed.
Mom’s might’ve been sick, but she hadn’t lost her spark at all. I loved that about her. Regardless of what she had going on, Niecy was Niecy. Whenever she wasn’t, I knew something was up. She loved her family, but they drove each other crazy. Lew, her big brother, drove her the craziest.
“Aight ma, I got you,” I reassured her before standing to head to check on the bathroom before anything else.
If it wasn’t already obvious, I loved the fuck out of my momma. She was, of course, the matriarchy of our family. Although she wasn’t the oldest, she got the most respect and that came from what she did for them. For all of them. Not just her kids. Before she met pops and had the money. For as long as I could remember, Niecy had been the glue that held both sides of the family together. The Carter’s and Givens’. She was like that. A ray of sunshine but a spitfire too. A perfect balance.
“Cuz,” Spoke my little cousin, Marv, chucking his chin. “What up doe?”
He was sitting at the kitchen island with a big ass bowl of watermelon in front of him.
“What up cuz, you good?” I asked, reaching into the bowl for one of his watermelon.
