Page 37 of Read the Room

Reya was nervous as she asked the question. Last night, she fell asleep with a small notebook under her. When I pulled it from under her, it had questions that she wanted to ask her mother.

The waitress interrupted when she set the drink and our refills on the table. Lakeisha took a sip from her glass of liquor that she ordered.

“Well, life has been alright since you had me thrown in jail.”

Reya gasped softly.See? This is that bullshit!

“Nah, that’s not what we’re going to do today. This meeting can stay cool, or it can go left real fast. What you won’t do isdisrespect my wife because you don’t want to take accountability for your grown ass actions in not being a protective mother. Your ass was thrown in jail because your boyfriend, wait baby daddy now, was proven guilty for trying to rape your teenage daughter.” I leaned on the table with my forearms, then said, “Talk nice, or this shit is going to get real uncomfortable.”

I sat back in my seat. Reya grabbed my hand under the table and squeezed it. When I turned slightly to face her, she gave me a smile, and her eyes filled with teary emotions. It wasn’t like after her grandmother died and there was no one there to protect her. Those days were over.

“How about we not talk about the past?” Lakeisha said with a turned up nose. “How are you doing? I see you’re married.”

Reya peeked at me for a second.

“Um, yes. We have a son, and I’m in school pursuing my degree.”

“Oh, you don’t work? That must be nice,” she retorted. “I saw you had a son on your Facebook page. I think our kids are around the same age. Maybe your son’s uncle can play with him sometime.”

She giggled at her own lame ass joke. Her giggles stopped when she realized her joke fell flat.

“Yeah. I saw you had a son by Logan. I found that interesting to say the least,” Reya snapped with a side eye. Her eyes shifted to the waitress that came to the table with our food.

We waited until she set our food down and walked away to continue whatever this was.

“Well, there is no need to say less. You can definitely say more. I forgave Logan for hollerin’ at you. I think you should too.” Lakeisha’s tone was flat and uncaring.

Reya choked a little on the bite of food that she had put into her mouth. I patted her back before I picked her water cup up for her to drink. Once she had herself together, her eyes tightened.They held a fire that I’d never witnessed before. When she pushed her plate to the side and leaned onto the table, I signaled for the waitress to bring our check. This lunch was about to be over.

“Did you say that Logan hollered at me? Are you fuckin’ serious right now?” Her teeth were clenched as she spoke. “Why did you invite me here? It seems like you’re still on the same bullshit that you were on when I was a teenager.”

Lakeisha hadn’t stopped eating her steak. She took two more bites of her steak and a sip of her drink before she decided to respond.Now, if that shit isn’t disrespectful as hell.

“One could say that you are also on your same bullshit that you were on when you were a teenager. I came because I wanted to see what you were up to these days. Like I said, I forgave Logan, and that’s all that matters to me. You’re grown now, so you can go to therapy or somethin’ if you still have bad feelings toward either of us.”

“Yeah, we out,” I said just as the waitress set the bill on the table. I picked the bill up, handed her a hundred dollar bill, and told her to keep the change. I slid out of the booth and helped Tsireya out. This bitch Lakeisha continued to eat her free steak.

“To me, it looks like you came here for a free meal because your bitch ass nigga ain’t feeding you. If you wanted a meal, you could have told her that, and she would have sent your broke ass a Cash App.”

I was already a black nigga, and the heat I felt inside made me feel like I would turn a shade darker.

She laughed. “Nigga, there is nothing broke about me.” She reached beside her into her purse and pulled out a wad of cash. “See, bitch! My nigga keeps me laced.”

Oh, she thinks she hot shit.I reached out and snatched the wad from her hand then placed it in my pocket.

“Thank you for your child support payment to my woman since your piss poor ass never did shit for her as a mother.”

She jumped up from her seat.

“Muthafucka, you better give me that fuckin’ money back. My nigga will fuck you up.” The pitch of her voice was high.

When she stepped closer to me, Reya stepped in front of me. “Bitch, I wish you would. I’m not that same sixteen-year-old girl.”

When Joey and Ethan stood, I knew I had to deescalate this shit before this bitch accidentally hit her head with a bullet. My arm wrapped around Reya’s waist before I kissed her neck.

“Let’s get out of here. Fuck her.” I peered at Lakeisha. “If ya nigga wants his money back, tell him to come see me about his money.”

Before we walked off, Reya flipped Lakeisha’s plate of food off the table onto the floor.

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