Page 69 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
After Dyani and I had beaten up Reena, we cleaned ourselves up and headed to work. I’d gone through with two appointments before I spoke to my dad to coordinate Blake’s pickup. I told him what happened and he immediately told me I needed to change my locks and to meet him at my apartment. I referred my third appointment to D-Ville. I knew Isley did hair on the fourth floor and was amazing at what she did so I wasn’t worried about setting my client up for failure. I also loved keeping money in the DP family if I could.
“I told you not to mess with that crazy ass lil girl,” my dad huffed as he popped my old lock off.
“I know,” I admitted. “And you were right.”
“I know I was.” He sighed. “What happened anyway?”
“The long story or the short?”
“Whichever.”
I shrugged and shifted on my feet.
“She cheated on me.”
“Damn.” My dad paused what he was doing and looked up at me. “You okay, baby?”
“Yeah. I’m good.” I gave him a small smile.
I loved my parents. I’d always been a daddy’s girl because I was the most boyish and the baby out of the three girls he and my mom had. I knew for certain my life wouldn’t have been what it was if I hadn’t been blessed with the amazing parents I’d been given who loved me, Arris, and Blake and supported us without hesitation or question whenever I needed. My mom was a retired teacher and my dad still worked at an oil field, spending two weeks offshore and two weeks back home. He liked to say he had another ten years in him but we were hoping he let it go before that.
“Well if you want to bring Blake and come over for a few days, I know your mom would love to have y’all.”
“I know but I’m okay. I promise.” I cleared my throat. “Arris will probably be over more often.”
My dad lifted an eyebrow.
“Arris?” he repeated.
“Yeah.”
“Well, shit. Congratulations.” He grinned then looked back at the door in front of him and got back to work.
“I’m about to cook dinner if you want to hang around,” I offered.
“I don’t think I’ll stay for dinner but I’ll hang around for a little bit after I finish.”
“Sounds good.”
I headed to the kitchen and immediately got to work prepping what I wanted to cook. I’d settled on smothered pork chops, green beans, mashed potatoes, and honey cornbread muffins. I played a little music while I worked in the kitchenand was halfway done when my dad walked over and sat at the kitchen island.
We existed in silence for a little bit before he drummed his fingers along the counter. I looked over at him.
“So, what’s up?” he said. “You and Arris are giving things a go again?”
“Yeah.” I went back to cooking.
“Because you care about each other or because of Blake?”
“Because we care about each other.” I adjusted my heat. “I never stopped caring about Arris and he never stopped caring about me… so, I don’t know. Things just aligned for us to try again and I feel good about it honestly. I’m excited for us to see where this thing goes.”
“So, what? Are y’all thinking about going all the way and moving back in together or are you starting all over from courting?”
“Well, Blake being here kind of changes things so I’m pretty sure we’re just going to jump into the deep end, Dad.”
“Good.” He nodded once. “I like that. Maybe you two can get married soon, give me and your mom another grandbaby or two.”
“Let’s not rush straight to marriage, alright?"
