Page 90 of Lily In The Valley
Pops
By the way, my lady’s tagging along. Hope that’s cool.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard. Your lady?
We’d talked here and there, checking in once a week. He never mentioned he was seeing someone. Not once. Especially not someone significant enough to want me to meet her.
Me
Yeah. That’s cool. I’ll pick y’all up from the airport.
Tasha was excited when I accidentally mentioned it during one of our morning-after conversations. She beamed, standing in my kitchen in a pair of biker shorts and hoodie, unpacking groceries. She pulled frozen chicken from a paper bag like it was a magic trick.
“Oh, we should all go to dinner,” she said, tossing a box of couscous into the pantry. “It’ll be a double date.”
“Dinner?” I tried to play it cool, pulling a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Yeah,” she said, not even looking at me. “It’ll be cute.”
“Cute?” I echoed, pouring myself a glass of water just to have something to hold. “I don’t know if we need to do all of that. It probably ain’t serious.”
“He’s bringing her to meet you. Of course it’s serious.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Maybe she’s just tagging along,” I muttered.
Tasha caught the look and laughed, leaning over the counter. She walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Don’t be weird about this. Maybe she’s dope. Besides, I’ll be there with you. I want to know where you come from.”
It hit me that Tasha was serious about tagging along. I was silent, trying to figure a way out of this. Even if my pops was ready to introduce significant others, I wasn’t sure if I was there just yet. Tasha took note of my silence.
“Do you not want me to come?” she asked, pulling back.
“Nah, it’s not that,” I lied. “This is all just new for me.”
“Aww, baby,” she cooed, kissing my cheek. “You’ll be fine.”
“Yeah.”
But I wasn’t.
Because part of me still remembered the smell of Mama’s perfume on his collar. And the way it stopped showing up altogether.
She introduced herself as Cheryl.Light brown skin. Hair pinned up in a twist. Gold hoops. A mauve-colored wrap dress and a laugh that moved too easily in places where mine caught like gravel. She hugged me when they arrived at the restaurant. Real close. Real familiar.
“You look just like your daddy,” she said. “It’s so good to finally meet you.”
I smiled with my teeth.
“You, too.”
Tasha was already inside, fussing over the table, straightening menus, ordering wine like it was a business lunch. When she saw Cheryl, she turned on that charm like a dimmer switch flipped all the way up.
“Oh, you’re stunning,” she said, and meant it.
“Girl, stop.” Cheryl laughed, waving her hand. “Look at you. That dress? The body? Please.”
They clicked instantly. Shared a joke before we even ordered. Talked skincare, astrology. And I just sat there. Stuck between past and present. Watching the man who raised me act like someone new. Someone lighter. My father reached for Cheryl’s hand across the table like he’d done it a hundred times. He even smiled with his eyes. I didn’t know he still knew how to do that.
“How long you two been… together?” I asked, careful with my tone.
