Page 51 of Standing In The Sun
“Shhh,” she whispered, laughing softly as she adjusted his little snapback Lunar got him. “You gon’ wake everybody up.”
Kamari only stared at her knowing he ran that house and no one would dare challenge him on it.
She loved all the new clothes Lunar got him in her absence. Lunar picked him out things that could match his style and Kamari looked so handsome in them. She even had to give Lunar credit on his attempt at taming her baby’s wild mane. If she was being honest, she had to give credit to Lunar for everything.
“Good morning,” Bu greeted from the island, where he leaned against the marble with a cup in one hand and his phone in the other. “I see you Mari with your hat on like Unc,” Bu smiled and if ever there was a warm yet dangerous smile, Ahvi knew she bared witness to it right then.
Ahvi blinked, caught offguard by his presence. “Good morning.”
Bu nodded and went back to scrolling his phone while she drifted toward the fridge, trying to look casual while mentally building out her grocery list. She was gonna go all out. Chicken and red velvet waffles, shrimp and grits, roasted potatoes, fruit salad, mimosas for the grown folks, and juice for the wannabe grown folks, but they were out of a lot. Truthfully, she didn’t expect them to have those specific items.
Rocking on her feet, she cleared her throat with those big eyes fluttering like she was innocent. Maybe once in her life she was—nah, Ahvi was never innocent. Innocence was a trait for daddy’s girls, when she was more of daddy’s little protégé minus the religion.
Ish taught her to be strong and to stand up for herself while always figuring shit out on her own so no one could ever throw what they did for her in her face.
Asking for stuff wasn’t always easy, especially being the new girl in a house full of deep-rooted relationships. She didn’t wanna make things weird. But her mama always said:closed mouths don’t get fed.
And when it came to situations like her current one, it was probably best to take a lesson from Sheena over Ish.
“Um…” she started, eyes flickering from Kamari back to Bu. She hated to admit it, but the man was fine as hell. Glasses on, beard looking moisturized, calm energy like he always knew what time it was. Everybody in this family had no business being this easy on the eyes.
Bu looked up. “What’s up, Ahvi?”
“I don’t wanna overstep or put you in a weird spot or anything?—”
He cut her off with a smirk. “Just say what you need to say. Ain’t nobody thinking the wrong thing.”
Ahvi bit into her lip. “Can you run me to the store?” Just as the words came, she remembered she was broke as hell. “You know what—never mind. I be way ahead of myself sometimes.”
“You ready now?” Bu asked like she didn’t just backpedal. He was a man’s man. The kind of man you could count on to look after your girl while you did a bid and didn’t have to worry about him poaching on your territory.
She blinked, adjusting Kamari. “Oh…yea, but I forgot I ain’t got no money.”
He kissed his teeth, pushing off the counter. “C’mon girl.”
On his way out, he snatched the keys, since the truck had a car seat.
“Are we in some kind of fairytale, Mari?” Ahvi whispered, hurriedly following behind Bu.
She never got to fully admire the Range that Lunar picked her up in since she was in her head so much. Now, she had time to admire it as she buckled Kamari into his seat.
The backseat was full of his little toys and he immediately went to reach for a toy car. She noticed he liked those and realized that was something else Lunar gave her baby.
“You know he got this truck when he got Kamari - right?” Bu commented, watching her through the rearview.
“Who?” Ahvi asked confused, slamming the back door before getting in the front.
“Lunar.”
Nothing else was said between them for a while. Just the low tone of Lunar rapping on a song. Bu was his biggest fan and played his music all day, every day.
They rode in silence for a while, but it wasn’t awkward, just… chill, like they’d done it before. She liked that.
“Where you tryna go?” he asked, turning down the music a little.
“Publix. I wanna make brunch for everybody.”
“Oh yea? What we eatin’ then?”
