Page 16 of Wasn't Supposed To Be Yours
“This Dionne. Dionne, this is my auntie Shawn. She’s Seren’s mother,” Tank did the introductions, and I smiled, as I tried to stick my hand out for her to shake it, but she looked at my handlike I was crazy, and she pulled me into her, so that she could give me a hug.
I was weird when it came to personal touch. I would tense up, but in this moment, I was in the arms of someone where I felt somewhat safe. The hug had gentleness, and a genuineness about it, so I was able to wrap my arms around her as well, hugging her back.
“Girl, you are so beautiful. Are you and my nephew dating?” she asked me. I wanted to scoff, and blurt out ‘hell no’ to her, but I just laughed her question off, while shaking my head, letting her know that we weren’t dating.
Before she even had the chance to respond, we could hear applause happening around us, and that’s when I turned around, and I saw that Seren had made her way from the back, and here her family was, showering her with love.
Seeing her go for her father first, who hugged her, kissed her on her forehead, and then handed her the beautiful flower arrangements, it made my heart smile, and that was that little girl that still lived in me, that prayed to have a father on the outside. I didn’t know what moments of affection like that felt like coming from my father. Any time that I would visit my dad in prison, our hugs always had to be rushed because there would be a guard there, threatening him that he couldn’t touch his visitors for too long. It just always amazed me that people had different stories to tell, you know? Some people, these kind of father/ daughter moments were normal.
I stood back, watching as Seren went around the room, and all her family gave her hugs. She eventually made her way to Tank, who was standing right on the side of me, and she reached her arms out to hug her big cousin, who was looking down at her, with a smile on his face. When she pulled away from him, her eyes locked with mine, and even though she was looking at me with a smile, I could see the confusion in her eyes, more thanlikely wondering who the hell I was. That’s when I walked a little closer to her, and cleared my throat, so that I could introduce myself.
“I’m Dionne. I just happened to be sitting at the same table as your family. I really did enjoy your poem. The things that you spoke about, it really did resonate with my life. You did a really good job,” I shared with her, and she beamed, as she moved away from Tank, so that she could stand in front of me.
Looking at her, I couldn’t help but to take in just how beautiful she was. The genes in this family were so strong because everyone here looked alike in some kind of way. What I loved most about all of them was their milk chocolate skin.
“Aww. Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Your into poetry like that?” she asked me.
“I am, actually. I used to write poems of my own when I was younger, but I never did anything with them. Just something that I would keep stored in a journal. I like to go out though, and witness other people share their gift with the world, which is why I came out tonight,” I let her know, and she nodded.
“Cool. I have something in West Palm beach next month. You should come, and check me out,” she let me know, and I assured her that I would come, and support.
Tank went around, doing final hugs with his family, and everyone was asking him the same question, wanting to know if I was his girl, and he was telling them that we were just friends. His ass wasn’t even telling the truth about that because we weren’t even friends.
He did introduce me to everyone, and it wasn’t long before we were all spilling out of the spot together. They all went their own separate ways, leaving just Tank, and I standing outside, and I stood in front of him, looking him in his eyes, trying to see what lie I could come up with on why I should go home.
“The lounge that I’m talking about is down this way. Come on,” he suggested, but I didn’t move my feet. That’s when he looked down at me.
“You lost the bet, love. You owe me,” he said.
“I have very bad PTSD when it comes to going out with men. You know that I was shot on my birthday, and since then, I haven’t been out with another man. You’re saying that the woman that I saw you with isn’t your girl, but I don’t know you to trust you when it comes to that. How I know that bitch don’t have your location, and she won’t pull up to where we’re going, and try to kill me?” I asked him.
To some, I might be coming off as a little dramatic, but until you’ve been through something as traumatic as I did when I got shot, then you wouldn’t possibly understand.
“Ain’t shit going to happen to you, especially not when you with me. Come on. I want to finish having a good night,” he brushed off what I said, and you could very well tell that he wasn’t worried about anything that I was saying in the least bit.
I felt like if it was any other man, I would have continued to turn him down, but I even shocked myself when I turned around, and I started walking, leading the way, heading for the lounge that Tank was talking about.
He came to my right, walking on the side of me, and we walked in silence for the five minutes that it took for us to get to the lounge.
I’ve been to this spot before. I’ve come with my sisters a few times. It was always a vibe. They played good music, and the food and drinks were good as well.
We made it out front, and Tank let them know that he wanted to get a booth for us. They instantly walked us in, telling us to follow behind the hostesses. Tank allowed me to go first, and the hostess took us to the back, setting us up in a nice booth, where I slid in first, and Tank came over, sliding in after me. I got awhiff of his cologne again, and he smelled so damn good. I had nothing bad to say about him when it came to his hygiene. His fingernails were clean, breath smelled amazing, his skin looked like it was nice and moisturized, his face damn near looked like glass because it was so clear, and even the twist that was in his hair looked so healthy.
The hostess walked away, letting us know that our waitress would be over shortly. Now that she was gone, it just left the two of us. I was a little uncomfortable, felt a little nervous, and was just questioning myself on why I was even here, so I was ready for the waitress to come, so that I could get me a drink in my system. That little glass of wine that I had back at the open mic wasn’t strong enough for me.
“You been here before?” Tank asked me, after we sat here for like two minutes in silence.
“Yeah. I came with my sisters,” I let him know.
“Why you act so different from them? A couple of months ago, me, June, and a few of our homeboys were at the club. Free pulled up with your other sister Tommie. You don’t act shit like them. Why not?” he wanted to know, leaning back in the booth a little bit, and he stretched both of his arms out, so it’s almost like he had his arm draped around me. You could tell that Tank wasn’t shy at all. He also wasn’t fazed by the fact that I was sitting here, acting like I didn’t want to be here.
“I’ve always been different from my sisters,” I let him know.
“Ya’ll got the same daddy?” he asked.
“Do you and your siblings have the same daddy?” I asked him right back, and he laughed.
“I’m an only child, love. I offended you by asking you that?” he asked.
