Page 23 of Beautiful Harmonies

Deontray smiled slightly. “Thank you.”

Things got awkwardly quiet as Daddy turned his attention to the football game. I rubbed Deontray’s hand between mine as my leg bounced nervously. My dad glanced at me, and a smirk formed on his face. Finally, he said, “Relax, baby girl. I’m cool.”

I took a deep breath as he chuckled. “Mister Deontray, I’m extremely protective of my baby. I usually give her boyfriends the third degree. I realized earlier, thanks to my wife, that my baby girl is grown. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she knows how to spot bullshit. So, my job is to trust her and be supportive of her decisions. Again, though, I’m her dad, and she’s my baby. I won’t stop at nothing to protect or defend her.”

Deontray nodded. “I wouldn’t expect anything less, sir. I’m the same way when it comes to my sister. She’s my baby too.”

Mi’Junae smiled tightly as my dad nodded. “You like football? You look like you could be a wide receiver… tall, toned, and lean.”

“Yes, sir. I played in school. I just loved music ten times more.”

Daddy nodded then went back to the game. I leaned against Deontray, thanking God that this went way smoother than what I expected. Jay’s demeanor was about normal though and what I expected from Daddy. When he came and sat on the other side of the room, I watched Mi’Junae look him over. My brother was a nice-looking guy, regardless of how much he could get on my nerves.

“Deontray, how long have you been singing?” Jayden asked.

“All my life, man. Music has always played a big role in my life. I didn’t become serious about it until I was around twelve or so.”

“That’s young to already know what you wanna do and pursue it.”

“Yeah. My mama was very influential in my life. She made sure I got as much exposure as possible.”

I was grateful Jayden was following Dad’s lead. While they made small talk, I kissed Tray’s cheek and went to the kitchen to help my mama. When I saw her in there fixing bowls of gumbo, étouffée, and piling fried seafood and alligator on another plate, I knew she’d outdone herself. “Mama, my goodness.”

“I know. We about to eat good, sha!” she said, mimicking my grandmother.

I chuckled. “Thank you for talking to Daddy.”

“Of course, baby. I needed to remind him of just how much of a grown-up you are. You’ve basically been grown since you were a teenager.”

I gave her a soft smile and kissed her cheek as the back door opened. When I saw Tiana, I slowly shook my head because I knew she was headed straight to the stove to see what she could get a sample of. She snatched a piece of alligator then came to hug me.

“Where yo’ new family and shit?”

I frowned as she laughed. “Yo’ ass may as well say that shit. You been M.I. fucking A! Sorry, Mama Trina. She ain’t been texting or returning calls. She all wrapped up with her new man. Can’t find the heifer in the daytime with a flashlight.”

I slowly shook my head as Mulan walked in. “Hey, ladies! Sounds like I’m right on time.”

She giggled then kissed my mama and took a piece of alligator as well. It was that way every time my mama cooked. I had to give it to her. The woman could throw down in the kitchen.

“It smells so good in here. I had to come and see if you needed help with anything.”

I turned around to see Mi standing there. She looked somewhat nervous, and I could imagine why. Including me, there were four women in here, three of which she didn’t know. She was the minority. We were on my turf, and she didn’t know if any of them had seen what had happened to her. I smiled at her and walked over to her and grabbed her hand, reintroducing her to everyone. She’d met Tiana and Mulan in LA, but I wasn’t sure how much she remembered.

She smiled politely and shook their hands as Jayden made his way inside. “Jay, how’s school going?”

“It’s going good. I’m already ready to be done with it though.”

“Why?” I asked. “College is supposed to be fun.”

“It is, but I don’t have great study habits. I never really had to study in high school. But out there? If I don’t study, I’ll fail. I can’t have that.”

“I hear you, bruh. I suppose that can be tiring.”

I glanced over at Mi to see her soaking up everything Jayden said like a sponge. She was gon’ have to chill her fast-tail ass down. As if thinking about what had just recently happened to her, she left the kitchen. I excused myself and followed her to the front room where she had sat on the floor in front of the sofa.

“Mi, what’s wrong?”

“I need to chill out. I need to get over what happened to me and discover who I am before I go pursuing anything else.”

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