Page 18 of Read the Room

I smiled at him. “Yes, baby, I see it! Go sit on the couch.”

There was a full living room in the damn bedroom. The room was huge!

I took notice of the bars on the windows.So, I am a real hostage.Once Lucas was squared away, Joey, his friend, and I headed back to my truck. I turned to his friend.

“Um, are you allowed to tell me your name?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, my name is Ethan. My bad. I’m a quiet person.”

Well, I guess that explains things.They helped me get out everything that I thought I would need from clothes and toys to my hygiene items. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be here, but I still unpacked some things and organized them. By the time I finished, Joey had ordered breakfast. Lucas and I went into the kitchen to eat. I appreciated that they didn’t make me or Lucas feel too restricted. Lucas talked our ears off and was asleep by the end of the meal. I laid Lucas down, then came back out to the kitchen.

“Um, can I ask if this has anything to do with the thing that I don’t know about that happened at the place that I wasn’t at? I’m just curious.”

Joey and Ethan glanced at each other, then glared at me before they both erupted in laughter.

“What, Reya? The thing you don’t know about at the place you weren’t at,” Joey said with laughter. “Yeah, Reya, that’s what it’s about.”

“Okay, well I won’t know what to tell him.” I shrugged my shoulder. “Did you guys want me to clean up?”

“Nah. You can go into the room,” Joey said. “You don’t have to do shit but chill. Either me, Ethan, or both of us will be here with you at all times. If you need anything, let us know. Don’t feel like you gotta stay in the room.”

My mind was all over the place because they made me feel so comfortable, but the fact remained that I had no choice inwhether I wanted to be here or not. They kidnapped me in a nice way. All I could do was hope that AK was just as nice.

Back to the Present…

It had been almost a week since I had been here. Joey took my phone after I called Louie to tell him that I had a family emergency and needed the week off. I never took time off, so he told me that it was about time that I took some time off. That was not the response that I expected. It wasn’t a bad week surprisingly. The backyard had a very nice playground that Lucas adored. Joey and Ethan threw a football around with him, so he loved that.

A knock on the door startled me because Lucas and I were locked into the movieMufasa. We’d never seen it. I told whoever it was to come in. In walked this dark chocolate, tall drink of a milkshake.You cannot be attracted to the man that had you nice-napped, Reya!I didn’t recall ever seeing him around. I imagined that we didn’t hang in the same circles. I knew what Sully looked like because I’d met him at the club before. Plus, his wife was the manager.

Who I assumed was AK wore a perplexed expression. “Jedi?”

My expression switched to befuddled. Jedi was what Mama Bee called Lucas’s alter ego. How did he know that name? Lucas’s eyes lit up when his head snapped in the direction of the man.

“Lo!”

I stopped him when he tried to climb down from the bed to go to him. Lucas looked at me like I’d just cussed him out before his eyes went back to the man.

My son pointed at me, then said, “Lo! Tell her read the room.”

It clicked in my mind when he said, “read the room.”

“Y-you’re Mama Bee’s grandson?”

I never met him, but I knew that the whole “read the room” thing came from her grandson Lo. She told me that her grandson talked to my baby when he was acting up one day, and that was the theme of how he got him to behave. I didn’t really understand the concept, but whatever.

“Yeah, I am. You can let him come to me,” he said with a voice like velvet. “What’s up, Jedi!”

I let Lucas go. He climbed from the bed and ran to Lo or AK or who the hell knew. I watched them interact like they were best friends. My smile surfaced without my consent at the sight of this man’s dimples. Was this the man that I heard in passing was a savage?

“Lo! Look at the big TV!”

Lucas pulled his hand to show him the television. It was on the wall in the living room area of the bedroom, but it was on a swivel mount that allowed us to turn it toward the bed.

Lo smiled at my baby. “I see it, man. How about you watch the movie, and I talk to your mama. Is that cool with you, Jedi?”

My baby was so comfortable with him. Lo called out to Joey, who came into the room moments later.

“Aye, y’all got popcorn in there?” When Joey confirmed that there was some, Lo instructed, “Take Jedi, and let him help you make some like a big boy.”

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