Page 5 of Calculated Kisses with a Scorpio
The ride from Diamonds & Moore should have been a seven-minute drive, but traffic turned it into a twenty-minute one. Mommy always had to jump on the freeway instead of taking back roads. Granted, there were more lights the back way, but Lorriane White liked what she liked, and nobody could talk her out of it. When we pulled into our driveway, I was shocked to see my father was already home. His days off were Friday and Saturday, so he definitely shouldn’t have been home this early on a workday.
He must have been waiting by the front window because as soon as my mother cut off the car, he opened the front door.
“How’s my little felon doing?” He reached out for a hug.
I gasped and knocked his arms away. “Daddy, that is not funny! I’ll probably be all over theRushin Springs Chronicletomorrow.”
He laughed deep from his stomach, and my mama side-eyed him.
“I know it’s not funny, Munchkin, but you know I had to mess with you. We all know once Kemi finds out, he’s going to be ten times worse.”
I groaned, allowed him to pull me into his arms, and buried my face in his chest.
He patted my back then put his arm around my shoulder to walk me in the house. For the last year, I’d been living in my childhood home with my parents. My older brother had offered me his guest bedroom, but he was a newlywed, and I didn’t want to put strain on a marriage that had just begun.
My parents had opened their arms to me, and I was forever grateful.
“Go change and tend to your recharge. I’ll come get you when dinner is ready.”
“Yes, ma’am. And, Daddy, please do not tell your son. I’ll call him and let him know what happened if someone doesn’t get to him first.”
“We might be too late.” He held up his cell phone, and Kemi’s wedding picture and name showed on the screen. “Go get yourself together, and I’ll deal with him.”
I squinted at my father because he and his son played too much.
Instead of grilling him, I went into my bedroom and closed the door. With my back against the door, I slid to the floor. Seconds later, tears rolled down my cheeks, and I buried my face into my hands. Lately, it felt like one thing after the other, and I just wanted some relief.
There were so many things for me to be grateful for, but at the same time, I was drowning.
“This too shall pass.”
I’d taken a shower before leaving for the jewelry store, but I needed a minute to decompress, and as a water sign, the water was the perfect place to do it. I grabbed my shower caddy and went to the hall bath. Growing up, I used to hate sharing a bathroom with Kemi, but our parents worked hard for our three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch style home, so I never complained out loud. However, I prayed that he was a better bathroom mate to Alana than he was to me.
“Munchkin, I set out some snacks for you. Hurry up because you are not going to trick me into working in your garden!”
I cackled and cut on the shower.
“If you don’t love me, just say that.”
To decompress, I took an everything shower and felt like a new woman when I got out.
By the time I made it out of the bathroom, forty-five minutes had gone by. Although still irritated, I felt better. As I went through my skincare routine, thoughts of my day slowly slippedaway, and I actually had a smile on my face. I slipped into my dark green spaghetti strap maxi dress from Nae’s Threads. It was a cute boutique that got all my money when I could afford to splurge.
I left my bedroom for the kitchen and saw my parents cuddling together at the kitchen table.
“Y’all do know this is where we eat, right? We’ve had that table for years, and it would be a shame to have to burn it. No funny busy, children.”
I giggled and popped a grape into my mouth from the fruit tray Mommy had set out for me.
“I don’t know, Munchkin . . . This is where you were conceived, and we’ve been eating here pretty fine for?—”
My jaw literally hit the floor, and the half-chewed grape tumbled out of my mouth.
“Bo, I swear I will be on the next true crime documentary if you keep lying.” Mommy turned toward me with a flushed face. “Pick up the grape and ignore your father. That table is probably twenty years old. You and Kemi picked it out, remember?”
I did remember . . . now, but she was too flustered and currently over explaining.
That table may not have been where I was conceived, but something definitely happened on it. Frowning, I snatched the grape from the floor, trashed it, and washed my hands. Now I would never be able to eat at that table.
