Page 185 of Restless
Glancing at his watch, CJ scowled. 5:53. Seven minutes until the Davises scheduled arrival.
He turned to his father. Outlaw sat at the table with Diesel, Rory, Grant, Pop, Uncle Cam, Uncle Johnnie, Uncle Digger, and Uncle Mort.
Mom had invited the entire family, but not everyone could attend. Uncle Val and Aunt Zoann had a previously scheduled date night. Ryan was a dickhead. Devon was shy. Uncle Cash and Uncle Stretch were beefing, and Aunt Ophelia decided to babysit the younger kids with Ella’s help.
CJ had begged Aunt Fee to invite Rule and the Terrible Triplets over for some of her famous sloppy joes. However, by the time CJ headed to the club, he hadn’t gotten an answer from her, which he took as a ‘no’.
“Son, you wearin’ a fuckin’ hole in the floor,” Dad said, taking a turn on the blunt the men were passing around. “The motherfucker gettin’ too crowded. I ain’t gonna be able to clear more fuckin’ tables to give you room to fuckin’ pace.”
Uncle Johnnie grabbed the roll and inhaled. “Christopher,” he started, handing Herb to Diesel, “if my nephew is going through all the trouble of impressing this young lady—he’s wearing a button-down and a cable sweater—perhaps you should take care to speak better.”
“Bruh,” Uncle Digger said on an exhale of happy smoke, shaking his head. “The shadacity of that comment.”
“Sit, little dude,” Uncle Mort advised, his glare at Uncle Johnnie matching Dad’s. His willingness to meet a girl CJ was interested in revealed the state of his household. “Take a few deep breaths.”
“Is she that important to you?” Diesel asked, opting for Dweller chic by wearing his cut with a button-down, cashmere sweater, jeans, and loafers.
Grant grinned. “Do we need to have the talk with you?” Like his father, he was dressed in trousers and a button-down. “Safe sex is the best sex.”
CJ flipped him off, though he wasn’t offended, and the snickers eased him.
“Jordan can always explain what you need to know,” Uncle Cam said with a straight face. Hehadto be joking. “She specializes in babies.”
“The result of fuckin’, Cam,” Dad said, “not the fuckin’ itself.”
“She’s an obstetrician and gynecologist, Outlaw,” Cam said. “She knows about the reproductive system.”
“For pussies, Uncle Cam,” Rory said with disapproval. “CJ has a cock, so what would she know about that?”
“Besides the obvious, little bruh?” Uncle Digger said, sniggering. He nodded to Uncle Cam. “Her man got a cock, so I’d say she knows about the motherfuckers.” Eyebrows lifting, he looked at Aunt Jordan’s husband. “Wait, bruh, you do got a cock, don’t you?”
“A very big one,” Uncle Cam said with a smirk.
Uncle Digger frowned. “I didn’t need to know all that.”
“You brought up the motherfucker cock, assfuck,” Dad grumped. He’d replaced Herb with a regular cigarette. He took it between his fingers and looked at CJ. “If you need cock covers—”
“Dad!” CJ said, overwhelmed for the first time in memory by the sex talk.
“How important is this young lady to you?” Pop asked. “I’ve never seen you so nervous.”
CJ had neverfeltas anxious. His jumbled emotions left him unsure about the reasons. Either he liked Jaleena more than he wanted to admit; he wanted everything to be perfect so she’d see that he was more than just a low-classed, underprivileged criminal; or both.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure, Pop,” he admitted. “I…she thinks I’m poor. She offered me half her allowance if I went steady with her.”
Rory’s eyes widened and he straightened. “She wanted topayyou to be her boyfriend?”
“She isn’t desperate!” CJ said, ignoring the snickers. His family found jokes in the most serious situations.
“I never said she was,” Rory said. “I know how she looks. I think she’s gorgeous. If she wanted to pay me for dick, I wouldn’t turn her down.”
“A hundred bucks, Ro?” CJ demanded.
“A hundred…That’s…wow…that’s pitiful.” Rory frowned. “She gets two hundred dollars a month?”
“Now, son,” Uncle Johnnie said, following Dad’s lead by lighting a regular cigarette, “don’t disparage the less fortunate.”
“They aren’t poor, Uncle Johnnie,” CJ said.
