I wasn’t looking forward to this dinner if he would be part. I didn’t want his people flocking around my brother’s estate.
“Armond… are you going to let him continue to speak to me like this?” my mother asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“Are you?” I replied.
Her face sank and she looked at me with an intense glare that once scared me when I was younger. Now it was simple amusement, and if she continued, I would pull her eyes from their sockets and not even feel bad about it. After a stare down of a couple seconds, she withdrew her eyes and fixed her posture, then walked off with Natalie.
“I need her to leave. Like seriously,” Arlando said the second she was out of earshot.
“Then make her. She doesn’t have to plan this thing. We could do it on our own. I don’t even know why you appeased her with the foolery to begin with.”
“I felt bad.”
“Well, unless you’re going to continue to feel so, then I suggest you shut up and move forward.”
He mumbled something under his breath then walked off before things escalated between us. I didn’t have the energy for bullshit anyway.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Brandy. She was still out with her sister, and even though I had a couple of my men watching over them, I needed to hear her voice. Manuel was watching her mother, so I wasn’t worried about her, but Brandy, I’d always worry.
The phone trilled longer than I anticipated, only growing my concern for her wellbeing. I instantly made my way to my vehicle. I didn’t care about the stare of my brother when I walked off. I needed to find her immediately. Thankfully, I was smart enough to get a tracker placed on her ring. We could never be too careful.
When her voice soothed my ears, I expelled the breath I was holding as I pulled out of the rounded driveway. I pulled up the GPS app on my dashboard with her location and made my way there as she said hello.
“Are you well, my love?” I asked.
She giggled lightly and smacked her lips like I shouldn’t be asking such a simple question. I only wanted her reassurance.
“You know I’m alright when I’m with my sister, Armond. Is everything okay? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, so you’re a liar now, Mon Mon? I never took you for being one before, so why are you doing so now? What happened?”
Her shift in tone let me know I needed to chill out. I was overreacting to nothing at all, and though I already knew that, things had changed in the flow of my daily life. With her being mine, she was an immediate target.
Rolling down the long driveway, I realized I was stressed the fuck out. Yet there was no immediate need to be so. I’d been around too many people and moods. I needed a real vacation soon. I couldn’t keep this up. Especially when Brandy noticed every single time.
“Nothing, honeybee.” I sighed. “I got into it with my brother and mother and truly needed to hear your voice. Are you still at the orphanage with your sister?”
“No, we’re at the restaurant not too far from it. Uh, what’s this place called?”
I wanted to tell her the name. I already knew where she was. My line of questioning was to simply see if she’d be honest or if she would be another person I had to worry about in the future for their manipulative ways. I was glad she wasn’t like the other women I’d dated, only saying what they thought I wanted to hear.
“Ruby’s Soul Food,” Chardonnay said. Brandy repeated her unnecessarily, but I smiled anyway.
“I’m going to need you to bring me some of that apple peach cobbler, honeybee. Nobody does it like Mrs. Ruby. She still in there? It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen her.”
“Oh yes, she’s here alright. Chardonnay introduced us and even let me know she was working with her when she first got here. I was quite surprised, honestly.”
“Why so?”
“Because Arlando brought her here. He spoils her endlessly. I didn’t think my sister had a working bone in her body anymore.” She laughed.
“Oh, fuck you,” Chardonnay chimed in.
I laughed at their banter as I cruised onto the highway. They were approximately fifteen minutes from me. I’d be putting in an order for some good eating while I was there too. At least I’d have a distraction from the current heat in my family.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, honeybee.”
