Page 37 of Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming
She kisses him. “You know … there’s no way that’s happening. My family is nosy as hell. C’mon, money bags. Let’s hit it. Dinner will be ready soon.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Lyric wasn’t kidding,more people arrive in time for dinner. Her cousin Floyd arrives with his brood, which includes five kids all under the age of ten.
I hope that man treats his wife like a queen.
A little girl walks up to Ranson and smiles at him. He smiles back.
“Are you Cousin Lyric’s boyfriend?” the pint-sized cutie asks.
Ranson kneels so he’s at her level. “Yes, I am.”
The little munchkin leans in and whispers. “She yells at white people.”
Ranson has no idea how to respond to that.
“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll let my white friends know,” Ranson replies.
The little one seems satisfied with his answer and walks away.
Ranson stands up trying to make sense of his interaction with little cutie, when Floyd’s wife approaches him with a baby that looks to be at least one.
“Hi! You’re Ranson, right?”
“Yes, it’s nice to?—”
“Great, can you hold her please? I have to pee.” She hands him the baby and rushes off.
I guess I really am part of the family since they’re putting me to work.
The little one reaches up and touches Ranson’s face. “Hey, little bit. Are you about to tell me Lyric yells at white people, too?” he coos.
The baby pinches Ranson’s eyelid.
“Ow! What is with this family and pinching folks?”
She does it again.
“No, no. No pinching Uncle Ran Ran.” He gives her a tickle.
She giggles and stops pinching.
“Thank you, little bit.”
Now she plays with his beard. He smiles at her, and she smiles back with only a few teeth. Her mother returns and takes her.
“Woo! Thank you. I was holding that in for a minute. Once you get on the road with that many kids, you don’t want to make too many stops or else you’ll never get to where you’re going,” she says.
“It’s no problem.”
She smiles, then walks away with the baby.
Ranson looks around and sees love and laughter abound. He feels comfortable and at peace around Lyric’s people.
Lyric approaches him. “You doing okay?”
“I’ve been informed that you yell at white people, and a baby pinched my eyelids,” Ranson tells her.
