My mother scoffed. “Girl, you can’t really be that blind. I raised you better than that.”
“Mama, Keyon isn’t having sex…is he?” Shock and confusion rested on my sister’s face.
I tried not to laugh, but I really couldn’t help it. “Okay, in my defense, I only know because I asked, and I wanted to make sure that he was being safe.”
“How long has it been? When did he first have sex?” she asked.
“I’m not going to say all of that, but I’m sure if you ask him, he’ll tell you.”
“I most certainly will,” she said, turning around. Before she could make her way over to Keyon, I snatched her back towards me. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m keeping you from making a fool out of yourself.”
“How am I going to make a fool out of myself?”
“Girl, don’t be silly,” my mother said. “That is not the kind of conversation you have at a function like this. Besides, he’s an adult. They both are.”
“Yeah, but his ass wasn’t an adult when he decided to stick his thing into one of these girls. I want to know when he first did it and why he didn’t tell me.”
“Now isn’t the time, Tokyo. Listen to Mama.”
Huffing, she said, “Fine. But we’re definitely having a conversation later. He has some explaining to do.”
“Yeah, well, have fun with that conversation,” my mother replied. “I’m sure my grandson will give you more than what you bargained for.”
I nodded.
Once the question was asked, Keyon definitely wasn’t going to hold back. Not even with his Mama.
“Hey, sis, since we’re on the subject of relationships. I know it’s been a few weeks since you ended things with Reggie. How are you feeling?”
“Better,” she replied, emphatically. “I didn’t realize how bad that situation really was. But now that I’m free again, I see everything that I was missing. Most importantly, I was missing myself.”
“I’m so glad you found yourself again.”
“Me too, little brother, me too.”
Just as I was about to hit her with another question, I saw Alauni open the gate and walk into the backyard. Surprisingly, she wasn’t alone.
“Is that her little girl?” Tokyo asked.
“Yeah, it is,” I whispered, still a little surprised.
“Wow, things must be pretty serious between you two if she’s showing up with her kid. Didn’t you say you hadn’t met her yet?”
“Yeah…excuse me,” I replied, making my way over to Alauni.
Our eyes met, and immediately she smiled. “Hey, you.”
“Hey.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to greet her.
Do I hug her? Do I kiss her?
Shit, I wanted to do both. But I had no idea how much her daughter knew about us. I didn’t want to jump the gun and think that she knew of me as anything other than her mother’s co-worker.
Leaning down to meet Layne, I said, “Hey, I'm Law, your mother's—”
