“So you’re really leaving, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Have a drink with me.”
I gotta admit, I was shocked she didn’t try to talk me out of it like she did last time. She almost seemed like she knew it was coming.
But that was my mother. Always knowing shit. Always a step ahead.
That’s where I got it from, I guess.
She poured me some Hennessey and handed it to me, then poured one for herself before sitting in the lawn chair next to mine.
“It’s so peaceful out here.” She sounded like she was in a trance. Judging by the bottle, she’d already started before she came out here.
“Your daddy never wanted that pool,” she said as she gazed at the water sparkling in the setting sun. “But I wanted it, so there it is.” She turned back to me. “Here’s to new beginnings,” she said with a grin. It almost looked hollow, though. Kinda creepy. There was something in her eyes that was making me uneasy.
“What’s on your mind, Mama?”
“I heard Prez is to blame for all this foolishness.”
“Who told you?”
“You didn’t want me to know? I’m out the loop, now?”
“Of course not.”
Her eyebrow went up. “Does your wife know?”
“Yeah. She does.”
She took a sip. “That’s interesting. You didn’t used to talk shop with her.”
“So you don’t know how I found out, do you?”
She shook her head.
“Jaz. She told Malika.”
“I see. So sheisan evil genius.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
We shared a laugh at that.
“She didn’t know what kinda info she had when she gave it," I explained. "But regardless, she came through.”
“Well. Good for her.”
She didn’t mean that, but it was whatever.
“So you had to know I was gonna beg you to stay, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you, Jakari. So much. I just…I worry about you.”
“More than Nay and E?”