Page 9 of The Love Bully
Grant chortled. “Now why do y’all want to bother this man’s spirit. Let me sit back to listen to Orion cuss y’all the hell out.”
“You fucking right I am. Who is single, Aaron?” I waited for a response that I knew I wouldn’t get. My sons knew how to ruffle my feathers and loved to do it. “You two niggas are single. My ass is very much off these single streets.”
Snickers could be heard between my sons. They were three grown ass men, but when they got together, all I saw was my three little boys. Euri cleared his throat. “My wife did tell me that you were over there early morning status the other day looking like you lived there.”
“Shit, if God willing, I will soon.” I shrugged. “She might want to move into my house. We might buy a new house together and sell our homes or rent them.”
Yeah, I’d thought about how Marsha and I would consolidate our lives over the years. Our homes were six doors down from each other, so it would be whatever she wanted to do. I didn’t care where we lived, as long as we were together.
“I could see Mama wanting a new spot and renting y’all’s. You know she loves disposable income. Both houses are paid off too,” Derrick pointed out.
That was true. Every business decision that I made, I ran by Marsha. Over the years, I’d pushed my baby to go to college, but she just didn’t want to. She was so intelligent, and I knew a business or marketing degree would be an amazing add-on for her.
When it came to her business, she did all the marketing and branding herself. She helped me with my smoke shop and arcade businesses when it came to marketing and branding. I also had rental properties that she suggested.
Grant’s phone dinged, and he picked it up to look at the screen. When he grunted, all the attention went toward him. “I told this wife of mine to mind her business and stop.” There was an unreadable expression on his face when he looked at me. “Norma set Marsha up on a blind date. They’re supposed to go out tomorrow for dinner. I told her ass to leave that shit alone.”
My heartbeat sped up.Blind date!I saw my sons’ reactions. Euri, who sat closest to me, gripped my shoulder. “Pops, you cannot come at this man like he doing you wrong. That man probably don’t even know who you are and that you counsel Satan from time to time.”
I heard my boy, I really did. “You’re right, Son. That man doesn’t know me from a bullet casing. You know who does know me though? Ya damn mama.”
Grant leaned forward with his forearms on his thigh. “Look, man, I been here, so I get it. There was a time when I fucked up, and Norma’s mean ass put me through hell. A nigga was about to have my auntie put roots on her ass. I just slick popped Majesty in her instead.”
Derrick laughed. “So, you trapped her ass, man? That’s cold-blooded.”
“I put her ass in an unescapable escape room called this marriage and motherhood. I wasn’t sure what she thought. See, Norma and her people are Louisiana Creole that practice voodoo. Me and my people are Haitian Creole that also practice Vodou. She threatened a root, I threatened a root. I figured that at the end of it all, we’d be some rooted muthafuckas.” Grant was serious as fuck.
But I’m crazy.All I would do was shoot a nigga. This man was willing to put roots on fuckas. “All I’m trying to do is get my baby back, man. I’m not trying to send niggas to the decision table in the process, but I will.”
Grant huffed. “Promise not to send this nigga to the decision table, and I’ll give you the date details. Remember that this dude is innocent.”
“Bet”
Date Night . . .
Oh, I was dapper tonight. I put on my best suit and made sure my line up and beard were salivating worthy. I even pulled out my G-Class. This vehicle was sentimental because I had busted Marsha’s ass in this shit more times than I could count. It was like when she climbed in, her pussy got wet. Keep in mind, I bought her one for Mother’s Day in her favorite color, purple.
When I pulled up to the five-star restaurant, I watched the three valet boys have a quick back-and-forth about who would park my vehicle. It ended in a rock, paper, scissors decision. When I stepped out of my car, the teenage boy paused for a moment to look up at me. “Good evening, sir. Here is your ticket for tonight.”
“Thank you, son.” I reached into my pocket, pulled out a wad, and flaked off a hundred-dollar bill to hand to him. “Keep my shit as close to the front as you can.”
He took the hundred and nodded. “Yes, sir. I will park it right over there,” he said before he pointed to a spot that was to the right of us.
The date was scheduled for seven thirty, and it was now seven fifteen. I was here early because I wanted to see if this man would show up early, as he should. Marsha planned to meet him here, which relieved me. Marsha was a fashionably late kind of woman, so it was guaranteed that she arrived at least ten minutes late. Time revolved around her, not the other way around.
When Mr. Charles Jared arrived, I wanted to have a quick conversation with him. When I entered the restaurant, the hostess asked my name. I told her the name of the party and that I would wait. Lil mama couldn’t care less with the amount of people that were waiting. Ten minutes later, Mr. Jared came bopping in.
I would give it to the young man because he was doing his suit thing. I wasn’t sure why Norma hooked my woman up with a forty-nine-year-old, but I wasn’t tripping. He went over to the hostess stand and gave his name. Like I knew she would, the hostess told him that his party was here and pointed in my direction.
Confusion played on his face when I came into his view. I stood with a warm smile. This was not about beef at all, so I wanted to appear approachable. Ninety-five percent of serial killers were approachable. My boy Ted Bundy was the best example of that.
When he was close, I extended my hand. “Mr. Jared, it is nice to meet you.” I didn’t continue until he hesitantly placed hishand in mine.Weak ass handshake.“My name is Orion Westin. I’m here to talk to you about the love of my life, Marsha Turner.”
His eyes tightened, and his head bucked back. “Wait, the love of your life.” He tittered. “I’m sorry, I’m a little confused. That’s who I am meeting here tonight.”
“Yes, it is. I wanted to actually meet you first to give you another option. That option is to not meet her.” My smile was bright. “See, that is the woman that I will marry. She’s the mother of my four children, the owner of my heart, and the only woman that makes my dick hard. Do you understand where I’m going with this?”
Charles’s eyelids blinked rapidly. He chuckled, then said, “I completely understand. This might be a sign because I feel the same way about my ex-wife. I thought if I went on a date with a beautiful woman, it would somehow make me forget about her.”
