Page 5 of Kassir and Rebel
“You need more?”
“Yes, sir.”
“For what?”
“We going to the beach for PJ birthday,” he says, referring to one of his many little cousins.
Linnea’s family is big as shit and they all mostly live in South Carolina and Crescent Falls. It’s just her and her older sister here in Diamond Falls. My family is much smaller. Aside from my DP family, it’s just me and my moms. My pops died inside when I was ten. Fuck cancer. He was doing a twenty-year bid for putting a nigga down who tried robbing and disrespecting him. My moms is originally from Panama, and if it wasn’t for my pops being buried here, she would have moved back there. So, it’s just us.
“How much more do you need?” I ask Kassan as I turn onto Cambridge Road.
“I want my fifty dollars back,” he says and I just shake my head.
“I can do that, when we get to the crib though.”
At my words, he sits up, smiling. Then he pulls his iPad out of my middle console and starts to play one of his approved games. Linnea and I monitor his iPad closely and he isn’t allowed to have it all the damn time either. A few minutes into his game, he gets interrupted by a FaceTime and I see it’s my moms.
“Hey, Grandma,” he says when her beautiful chocolate face fills the screen.
“No, no. Hola, Abuelita,” she corrects him, speaking slowly. Although she grew up here, looks like a Black American herself, and married a Black American, she’s a proud Panamanian and she’s adamant that me and Kassan know and speak her native language. I’m actually fluent in Spanish but only a few people know that. “Say it with me,” she coaxes and he does.
“Lo siento,” he says, apologizing for answering in English. He’s picking up on it really good. Whenever he’s with her, she only speaks Spanish. I’m not as dedicated as she is with it though.
She quickly lets him know that it’s okay. “Está bien, nieto.”
This phone call is all about Kassan and she doesn’t even acknowledge me as she compliments his haircut, asks him if I fed him, then asks when he’s coming to see her. She’s crazy about my son and I love their relationship. I always thought I had the greatest mom but she’s an even better grandmother. “Cuida de mi nieto,” she finally says to me.
“I always take care of my son,” I counter and she smirks before ending the call.
I pull up to Pancake House and keep the engine running with the doors locked as I run in and grab our food. Kassan is so focused on the game I don’t think he realized I got out of thedamn truck or even got back in. He notices when he smells the food though.
“We eating here, Daddy?” he asks.
“No, back at the crib. We’ll be there soon.”
Although I have a bag full of food, Kassan has to stop by Miss Chandra’s on the first floor for a snack. She’s been the candy lady since I was a jit. Store hours are nine to seven every day and her entire front room looks like a damn store with rolls of candy, chips, and snacks. There’s even a glass door refrigerator filled with cold drinks for sale by the door. When we approach her unit, two little girls are walking in, so we just walk in behind them.
The old head Mr. Price is sitting on the sofa watching TV and Miss Chandra is in the kitchen looking over the counter at her customers. She smiles when she sees me and her smile gets big as fuck when she sees Kassan.
“You brought my baby today?” she gushes before walking out of the kitchen. “You want your favorite?” she asks him.
“Yes, ma’am,” he says as she pulls him in for a hug.
“Go get you two bags,” she says and he practically runs to get those sour gummy worms. She turns to the girls who are by the chips. “They are two for a dollar,” she says as if we all don’t have her prices committed to memory. Then she steps to me. “She’s finally coming back home today,” she says.
“Who?” I question and she grins.
“Rebel,” she says and my damn heart skips a beat. “She just couldn’t miss my wedding. She surprised me and just called. She should be here soon,” she says, smiling even bigger.
Rebel, the only woman I’ve ever loved, is coming back and I’m speechless, standing here like a fucking simp. When she left me, she left every fucking body. None of us ain’t seen her in years.
“Do you have any blue Takis?” one of the girls asks, thankfully taking Miss Chandra’s focus from my stuck ass.
My Rebel. Damn.It’s been six years since I’ve seen her,and broke her heart.
“I got my candy,” Kassan says.
The two girls are at the small table behind the sofa checking out with Miss Chandra. I walk over, glance over their items, then hand Miss Chandra a twenty.
