Page 19 of After Him, There Was You
“Girl, no. Someone was getting ready to deliver them when we were pulling up, so I took them. Who are you dating?” My mama curiously inquired, smelling the full bouquet of red roses in her hand while Alexa gawked at the sunflowers she was holding as if they were gifted to her.
“Mama, you know I don’t have time to date,” I noted, thinking the delivery man must have made the delivery to the wrong house.
Following them into the front room of my house, they sat the vases down and my mama quickly pulled the card from the bouquet she was holding.
“I didn’t know your favorite flower, so I had to take a wild guess. I hope they put a smile on your face. Always, Zeke,” she read aloud, glancing up from the card with a patronizing look on her face. “Alexa, didn’t she say she wasn’t dating anyone? This card is saying something else, so I need you to come into this kitchen, cook us dinner, and tell us all about his man who you’re supposedly not dating,” she requested in her naturally raspy voice while holding up the card.
“What makes y’all think I was about to cook?” I asked, following her into the kitchen.
“Because you have my grandsons on a schedule just like I had you and your sisters on when y’all were kids.”
I hated how well she knew me, and I was glad I had more than enough food to feed my unexpected guest.
“What are you about to make?”
“Fried salmon, seafood macaroni and cheese, baked potatoes, and a side salad.”
“The only thing missing is garlic bread,” my mama hinted.
“Is that your way of saying you want garlic bread?”
“Well, I don’t want to put you out of your way,” she animatedly added, making Alexa and I laugh because her statement was far from the truth.
After confirming that I had some frozen garlic bread, Alexa excused herself to go let Egypt and Tyger know she was there, and I knew they would be happy to see their favorite aunt. It wasn’t like they didn’t love my oldest sister, Janet, any less than they liked Alexa. However, because Alexa was a student at North Brooke Port University, she came around more than Janet who lived on the outskirts of town.
“So, tell me about this man? And before you try to belittle his interest in you, don’t because men don’t send flowers this beautiful just because.”
“Mama, it’s Zeke Simmons. We went to high school together. He was a class under me, and we ran into each other when I went out a few nights ago. No big deal.”
“No big deal, huh? Well, it’s a big enough deal for him to know where you stay,” she stated making a damn good point, because I didn’t have an idea how he knew where I stayed.
“Mama, he hasn’t been to my house.”
“He probably used that internet to figure out where you lived. You know you can ask Google anything these days and it will tell you,” she reasoned. “These flowers are beautiful though. When you call him to tell him thank you, tell him your mama likes yellow begonias.”
“Mama, why would Zeke need to know your favorite flower?” I asked, already amused at the answer she was quipped to provide me.
“Because apparently he needs to thank me for having you,” she sassed. “Don’t forget without me, there wouldn’t be a you, and you look the most like me, so that’s even more of a reason for him to send me a bouquet as pretty as these.”
My mama was animated with her truth, but she was right. Out of her three daughters, I looked the most like her, inheriting everything from her slight widow’s peak, dimples, skin tone, and body shape. Looking at my mama who had aged like fine wine, I knew I had something to look forward to.
“How about you try to get a man instead of trying to bum flowers off of someone who is interested in me?”
“Girl, the last thing I want is a man. I’ll buy my own flowers before I sit back and deal with the mess of a man again. No, thank you.”
As she went on a long rant about a fraction of the things my father had put her through, I half-heartedly responded every few minutes while I prepared dinner. The only thing to stop her reliving her past was me calling out to Egypt, Tyger, and Alexa to wash their hands because dinner was ready.
Taking time to set the table for my extra guests, I took advantage of a free moment to text Zeke and thank him for the flowers, letting him know he did good. I smiled thinking about how he had to have paid attention to the sunflower and rose tattoo on my shoulder which was slightly exposed the night I stepped out at Club Déjà vu.
Zeke had to have had his phone in his hand because before I had the chance to put my phone back in my pocket, his response was coming through, requesting a date with me. As much as I wanted to make time for him, I left him on read and returned my attention to the table setting.
It was like while I wanted to give him time, I felt as if I didn’t have the time to give. I was a single mother with analready full plate. I didn’t want to waste his time, and I didn’t want to waste mine either.
***
A Few Days Later
Walking out of the office, before my day had even started, I had my mind set on grabbing something quick like a sub sandwich or a salad for lunch and hurriedly returning so I could eat it in the parking lot before racing back to my desk. However, when Trevor asked me to meet him for coffee on my lunch instead, I had to rewrite working through lunch so I could get ahead.
