Page 116 of Tangled Hearts
Rodeisha did her best to imitate Mae Lou making everyone laugh. She looked up at them trying to see what’s so funny.
“Your mama ‘round there raising you real bougie like,” she fussed.
“Excuse me?” Shakeshia laughed.
“My baby gon’ be a lil lady,” Rock beamed with pride at the perfect job Shakeisha was doing with their daughter.
Rock leaned back in his chair. His eyes lingered on the scene longer than he meant to. Watching his baby girl soak up Mae Lou’s lessons, listening to Shakeisha laugh like she hadn’t been carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders—it all hit him differently.
He’d spent so many years bracing for disappointment that he almost didn’t trust the warmth creeping into his chest. A part of him waited for the rug to be pulled from under him, but another part clung to the small joy of seeing three generations at one table. This was the shit he wanted for Rodeisha—the kind of love he had to fight tooth and nail to create.
His eyes shifted over to Shakeisha. His chest swelled knowing his baby girl looked so much like her mama with a gap like his.
Shakeisha looked good, but it wasn’t just that. It was the way she kept showing up. The way she mothered his daughter without bitterness, even when he gave her every reason to give up on him. He knew he didn’t deserve her patience, but he was starting to feel the pull to earn it anyway.
His hand landed on her thigh, under the table, making Shakeisha choke on the laugh she shared with Rocky who was now talking about her relationship drama with Daijon.
“So you claiming that nigga, now?” Rock sat up in his seat, face stoned glaring at his baby sister who was shaping out to be not so little anymore.
Mae Lou waved her hand in the air. “Hell nah now, Rock. My baby can date boys… don’t start that double standard shit.”
Rocky wagged her tongue out at her brother.
“Mae Mae,” Rodeisha wagged her finger, chastising her for cussing.
Everyone fell out.
“We needed you, baby girl.” Mae Lou wrapped her arms around Rock’s baby girl. “We needed you so much, Roddy.” She looked over to Rock with nothing but love in her eyes.
He loved the nickname she’d given his daughter.
Rock swallowed his tears. He always knew his granny loved him but she had been so hard on him. Their relationship grew when he got locked up. She came to see him and they talked on the phone often.
A heavy knock hit the front door before it was pushed all the way open. Hitting the wall behind it with a thud.
Lorraine walked in with two shopping bags dangling from her wrists. Her heels clicked against the linoleum, her body was wrapped in a tight dress that screamed she was still chasingattention. Bracelets clinked as she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head.
“Look at y’all,” she announced with a wide grin. She had the same gap. “Family dinner and nobody called me?”
Rock’s face hardened. He turned to Shakeisha without hesitation. “Get y’all shit. We’re leaving.”
Shakeisha glanced between him and Mae Lou, unsure. “Rock…”
“I said get your shit.” His voice came out sharp. His temples pulsing trying not to explode. Rodeisha looked up from the table, confused. Rocky shifted in her chair, biting her lip.
Lorraine dropped her bags on the floor and strutted further in. “Really? That’s how you gon’ treat your mama? I came to see my grandbaby.” She bent toward Rodeisha, but Rock moved quicker, pulling his daughter into his lap.
“Don’t touch her,” he warned.
“Boy, stop acting like I’m some stranger.”
“You are,” Rock snapped. “You made yourself one.”
Mae Lou shook her head, folding her arms. “Lorraine, this ain’t the time.”
She was a mother that would always love her one and only daughter. But she also loved her grandbabies and Rock didn’t need Lorraine blowing in like a summer storm, leaving everyone without power.
Mae Lou could see the transformation in Rock and wanted him to reach his full potential. Lorriane wouldn’t help with that.
