Page 35 of Don Caselli

He nodded. “Yeah, just like that.”

“When?”

The knock on the door interrupted our moment. I hopped down from the counter and peered through the peephole and saw my father. Opening the door, I stared at him, confused because he usually told me when he was coming over.

“Hey Daddy, everything alright?”

He stared at me, confused. “Sodas, Mamas.”

My father had called meMamassince I was a baby. It was a nickname that was reserved for only him. “Oh crap! I’m sorry, Daddy. I literally forgot to do that.”

No matter how frustrated he may have been, he never showed it when it came to me. “It’s alright… I’ll run home to shower and then take the bus down to C-town and grab some.”

“Sir?” Landon spoke, which made my eyes wide.

Where he stood in the kitchen, you couldn’t see him. My father looked at him, and then at me. “Daddy, this is my friend, Landon,” I quickly introduced them.

“Nice to meet you, Sir. Landon Caselli.” Landon once again was the most well-mannered asshole I knew. “I have my car around the corner; you can use it to grab the sodas.”

My father looked at me and then back at Landon. “You sure?”

“Yeah, you raised her… I can tell you’re trustworthy,” Landon joked, and my father chuckled.

He handed him the key fob, and my father’s head shot up. “A fucking Bentley… the fuck do you do?”

“Daddy!” I nudged him. “His family is very blessed… now go and get your sodas.” I tried to shove him out the door, but now he was fully invested inwhomy friend was.

“That’s some shit that rich people say. You not in the streets, are you?”

“Negative. My brother has made some smart investments for our family. I wouldn’t even be around her if I was caught up in the streets.”

My father felt more at ease. “Alright. I’ll drive and grab the sodas and bring it back. Actually, I need to pick your uncle up from work.”

I propped my hand on my hip. “How the hell were you gonna do that on the bus, Daddy?”

He looked down at me like I was in his business. “Your mother always did say you were nosey, Mamas.”

Landon laughed. “You good, Mr. Perkins. I’ll be around for a while with Navy.”

He held his fist out and they bumped fist. “If you gonna be around, bring him by your grandparents’ block tonight. We playing dominos and having drinks. Her grandfather throwing some stuff on the grill, too.”

Landon’s greedy ass rubbed his stomach like he hadn’t eaten all day. “Oh word. I’m there. Navy owes me a meal, anyway.”

“I was gonna walk over there later, anyway. You and Mommy stay inviting his annoying self.”

Landon pinched my shoulder, knowing he wanted to pinch something else. “He ain’t that annoying.”

“Daddy!” I busted out laughing because my father was always the life and comedian of the family.

Whenever the weather became nice, my uncles, father and grandfather posted up in front of my grandparents’ building and played dominos. Everybody knew to pull up because they had drinks and were cooking on the grill. Once they pulled that speaker out, you could hear the music from my block.

Summertime in Brooklyn couldn’t be compared to anything else in the world. I loved walking down every single block and hearing music or smelling food on the grill. I almost always turned onto a block and heard my name being called because I had family over that way, or friends of my parents spotted me.

Every year for my birthday, my family threw a big block party for me, and we cut up the entire day into night. My daddy opened the fire hydrant for my little cousins while the Spanish lady pulled her Italian ice cart onto the block. Last year, me and Greene bought one of her gallons of Italian ice and poured liquor into it. Everyone, including my aunt and mother, were drunk into the early hours of the morning.

“I’ll have your car parked right over there. Play dominos?”

“Nah never.”

---