Page 17 of A Kingpin's Weakness
Seth was fine. No denying that. But I stayed away from his type. I’d watched Jo date dope boys my whole life. And I knew early on I wanted nopartof that life. Still I don’t think Jo everdealt with dope boys on Seth’s level. Her men? They always ended up crashing on our couch, behind on child support, foreveron the come up. Seth? He was already up.
His house looked like a damn resort. And it was clear he was an active father. S3 didn’t just know him, he loved him. And from what I could tell, Seth loved that boy right back. Walking into the dining room felt like stepping into something off TV. Twelve seats, five on each side, two at the heads. A long glass marble table sat in the center, showing off everything Serena said she cooked. On one half, the food: fried pork chops, mac and cheese, cabbage, rice and peas, cornbread, and pound cake. On the other side, drinks and pitchers of sweet tea and lemonade.
“Sit wherever you like,” Ms. Serena said with a smile.
I took the seat to the right of the head of the table. Serena and S3 sat across from me, already settled and comfortable like this was just another Sunday.
“Everything looks amazing,” I said, eyeing the spread again.
“Yeah, Moms know how to keep a nigga fat,” Seth said, walking in and pulling out the seat at the head of the table.
He sat down like he owned the whole room. Which, technically he did.
Serena rolled her eyes but smiled. “Ain’t nothing wrong with feeding my boys. You don’t hear S3 complaining.”
“I love your mac and cheese, Grandma,” S3 chimed in, already digging into his plate.
“Well, I made extra just for you, baby,” she said, reaching over to fix his juice.
Seth leaned back slightly, his plate still untouched as he looked over at me. “You straight? You good with everything?”
I nodded. “I’m good. Honestly, I haven’t had a home-cooked meal like this in forever.”
“You’re welcome here anytime,” Serena said gently, catching my eyes for a beat longer than expected.
“Appreciate that,” I replied, keeping my tone even. But I felt it, her kindness, and Seth’s eyes still on me.
And for the first time since I met this man, his eyes weren’t hidden behind shades. You could actuallyseethem low, half-lidded, like he just woke up or had no plans to. Made me wonder was he high? Or like, 20 percent Asian like Future claimed to be.
My guess? He was high. His smile brought out his features in a way that could really mess with a woman if she wasn’t careful. Too bad you only saw it when he was with his mom or his son.
Seth grabbed both my hand and his mother’s.
I wasn’t religious; nothing against it, just wasn’t raised with it. Growing up with Jo, there wasn’t much praying, church-going, or anything close to spiritual guidance.
“Seth, please lead us in prayer,” Ms. Serena said. He nodded without hesitation.
“Father God, we want to thank you for the food before us. Bless the beautiful hands that prepared it. We ask that you bless those less fortunate than us. And we ask you to put your hands on Noah and the Knight family during this heartbreaking time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
“Amen,” I echoed softly, glancing at Seth and locking eyes with him.
I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect him to be the one leading prayer. And I damn sure didn’t expect him to mention Noah. People love to say, “I’m praying for you” just to be polite but never actually meaning it. But hearing a real prayer for my brother… That felt different, and it felt nice.
“Let’s dig in,” Serena said, breaking the trance Seth and I had somehow fallen into.
We all reached for different dishes, filling our plates with a little bit of everything. Family dinners like this? Yeah, we didn’thave those growing up. I don’t think we ever had a big meal unless it was a holiday. Most nights, it was noodles, sandwiches, or hot dogs. Jo’s favorite excuse for not cooking? “No mother wants no fat-ass kids.” Right.
“Stormi, it’s so nice seeing you,” Serena warmly mentioned. “I always worried about you after I left the daycare.”
“Yeah, that feels like a lifetime ago.”
“How’s life been? You know, aside from everything with Noah?”
“Great, actually. I graduated, went on to FAU, got my master’s in education. Now I’m teaching Career and Technical Education at a middle school.”
“Wow. I knew you’d grow up and be something special.”
“Thank you.”
