Page 84 of Low love Low fidelity

Raj turned to his pastor. “You know what this cat’s talking about?”

“Baby,” Wynter, on his other side, reached for him. “Leave Bishop alone. I’ll explain later.” Her tone nurturing and authoritative.

“Nah, man,’ Ragee protested. “LeRoy, I know your twisted mind know all the lingo. What’s he talking about?”

The epicene man slowly brought his wine glass to his mouth. His face spread into a controlled smile. “Raj, please. There are children at this table. Plus, your pastor’s here. He doesn’t need to know just how badly I need to repent of my sins and be baptized.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll pass.”

Even the kids at the table laughed at that one.

“How are those greens?” Tobias asked me almost in a hushed tone before kissing the side of my face.

I’d never seen him so touchy feely. So possessive.

“Good. Really.” I spoke up. “In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had a Thanksgiving meal where everything was so good. Thanks for having me.”

“You’re welcome,” Wynter returned. “We’re grateful to finally meet you.”

Raj nodded.

“That’s because you’ve been spending your holidays eating white people’s cooking.” Tobias reminded me.

Unable to look at him, I shook my head while I giggled.

Touché.

“I see the type of energy you’re on,” Raj somewhat warned Tobias about his mysterious words earlier.

Tobias chuckled, hand still clutched to mine as he ate.

“You’ve been determined to get him here, successfully got him here, then you rib him every chance you get tonight,” Wynter reminded her husband. “You even tell his crush how you’re so happy she’s finally giving him a chance, so he can now stay out of bathhouses—” Nearly every adult at the table went up in laughter. “You think he’s not going to play the game with you?” Wynter asked Raj.

A cute smirk formed around Ragee’s beard. It appeared as if he finally understood Tobias’ confounding term earlier. I still hadn’t caught on. I’d have to ask later.

Ragee began to glare down the table at Tobias, fork in one hand, knife in the other. It was hilariously predatory. “Tobe know what time it is. I don’t mind sharing producers, but family is family. Blood in, blood out. They say keep your producers close. I say keep your family, who understands without judgement, even closer—”

“Oh, Ragee, please!” LeRoy cried, eyes rolling in the air. “We all know your panties are in a bunch because you don’t want Tobias to get as close to Dale as he is with you. Could you please grow up and understand, even if they do develop a relationship while working together, there is only one Ragee McKinnon? Let’s man up here. It’s business until Tobe says otherwise. Grow some”—his mouth balled tightly as his cadence changed, trying to control his next word, and the volume of it—“fucking confidence, and drop it!”

Oh, my god…

Trent snickered across from me. Jade shook her head, smirking over her plate. Tori McNabb held her chest as her head tossed back and she howled into the air. Wynter, snickering, reached for Raj’s back for another rub. This crew was brutal.

There was a passion in Ragee’s eyes for Tobias, who pretended to ignore him. “Call me petty all you want. I’ll be that squeaky wheel.”

“Awwwwww!” The pastor’s wife cooed. “That’s why I love me some Ragee. T.B., too. Y’all don’t mind being vulnerable.”

Raj pointed with his fork. “And that’s the guy who helped me understand how to be that way on my records.”

LeRoy shook his head as he mumbled to himself. The kids down that way laughed at him. I smiled, peering up to Tobias. His jaw worked beneath his neatly groomed beard. Just about every man at this table had a full beard. It made me realize something else my culture lacked. I hadn’t been accustomed to being around Black men, especially ones that respected one another so. At best, I was used to working with a gang of white men, with a few Black and brown sprinkled in between. That revelation made me feel good about my decision to leave Raleigh.

“Bishop, you’ve been quiet all dinner until Tobias had you choking on your food,” Jade noted to the table. “Everything okay?”

The pastor nodded, eyes closed. He finished the little food on his plate a while ago, I noticed. “I’m fine, Mrs. B. Thanks.”

“He’s just being E,” Trent chuckled. “Ain’t that right, Lex?”

Lex was the pastor’s Nubian goddess of a wife. Bronzed, thick, and gorgeous. She was far from a BBW, but her length, mixed with controlled curves and toned muscles, made her beauty hard to go unnoticed. She rolled her eyes. “He’s perfectly content. Probably a little tired after the fundraiser this morning, but he’s content.” She studied him as she spoke. “Y’all know he loves spending time with y’all. You guys keep him balanced. Hanging out with you keeps him from leaning too much into his nerdy tendencies, and becoming a holy-roller.”

The table laughed. “Not a holy-roller.” Trent cracked up.

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