Page 24 of A Cancer's Embrace
He shrugged. “You live and you learn. I was so wrapped up in my life that I had missed the signs of her being sick. One day, I popped in for a visit, and that’s when I found out she was going through her battle with cancer. She didn’t resemble the strong black woman VP I’d known my whole life. She looked helpless, and even though I still had some resentment toward her, when I laid eyes on her, all of that went away. I packed up my shit, stopped traveling, and made my way back over here to be closer to her. However, I jumped right into getting my restaurant off the ground, which is why I wasn’t around as often.”
“That’s beautiful of you.”
“Is it though? Shit, I busied myself with opening a restaurant, but after she told me she was having to go back through this again, I put my pride aside and began trying to learn how to balance both. In the process, I’ve realized that my mother did the best she could. She wanted the best life for me. She wouldn’t have known that all I wanted was for her to be there.”
In that moment, all I could do was see the little boy in Jabari who longed for his mama. Now that he had her and theopportunity to bond, it came along with her having to battle cancer for the second time.
I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He rubbed his hands along my arms, placing kisses on the inner part.
“I know for a fact that she’s happy you’re there. She talked about you so much, to the point I thought she was one of those crazy mamas about their sons. Still, I see why she brags so much. You’re an amazing person, Jabari.”
“Thank you.”
He placed a soft peck on my lips, then whispered against them, “I appreciate that.”
Before I could respond, he kissed me again, but this time with much more passion. He inserted his tongue inside and poured all of his feelings into the kiss. I felt myself floating. My thoughts became mush, and my heart felt a surge of happiness for the first time in a while.
Jabari moved his hands down my ass, squeezing it softly. I moaned in his grip. My honeypot heated, and I could feel the faucet turn on below. As soon as the kiss got sexier and stronger, I could hear little feet running toward us. We both pulled away from each other right before JaBria could see us.
“Daddy, is the food done? I’m starving.”
We both laughed.
“Yeah, baby girl. Go wash your hands and head to the table. I’ll fix your plate.”
Without having to be told twice, JaBria ran off to wash her hands.
“Jabari, how about you go wash up too? I’ll fix y’all’s plates.”
“Nah, you’re a guest in my house. I can do all this.”
“Let me know what you want, and I’ll get it all together for you.”
“Amina...”
I walked around him and headed to the stove where the food was. I knew what he said, but I wasn’t hearing what he said. It was in my nature to cater to a person, and that was what I planned to do.
“Go sit. I got this.”
I bumped him with my hip, and he laughed. “Alright. You got it.”
He fired off what he wanted and then JaBria. Once he walked out of the kitchen, I got to work and prepared their plates.
Forty minutes later, we sat at the table listening to JaBria tell us all the stories she could think of. Neither Jabari nor I could get more than five words in with each story that she shared. She was wrapping up telling us about how her doll’s head broke, when finally, Jabari spoke up.
“JaBria, I think it’s time for you to be heading to bed.”
She pouted.
“Don’t start. We can talk more tomorrow, but right now, you need to be in bed, okay?” he instructed.
“Can Miss Amina help me, please?”
“Baby—”
“If it’s okay with you, Jabari, I don’t mind helping her at all.”
He sighed. “Alright, but JaBria, don’t talk Miss Amina’s head off.”
