Page 20 of The Love Dealer

“Aight, well, you can meet her later. I don’t want to ruin the high seeing Price has you on right now. Plus, I want to talk to her before you do.”

“Okay. I’m cool with that.”

Caprice came rushing out of the house with a to-go container in her hand, and I couldn’t do anything but laugh. I asked her if she wanted to ride with me to take Bre home so they could talk more, and she was getting in the back seat before I finished getting the words out of my mouth.

I went inside to speak to my other babies and see what type of time Reka was on.

“Where y’all at?” I asked, stepping into the house.

“Daddy!” Deja yelled, running from her room.

AJ followed behind with his headphones on, so he must have been on that damn game. That was all he needed to be occupied on the weekends. My mama hated when he brought it to her house.

“What’s goin’ on?” I asked, giving them both hugs.

“Mama made the best waffles!” Deja said, rubbing her stomach.

“I bet. She always makes the best waffles. Did you eat enough to get full?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied, nodding her head.

“Good. I’ma come pick you up in a few hours so we can go to Chuck E. Cheese, then I’ma take you to Grandma and Paw Paw’s house, aight?”

“Yay!”

“She ain’t goin’ nowhere unless she cleans up her room,” Reka said as she walked into the living room.

“You heard that?” I confirmed, but it was evident she did by her pout and crossing of her arms over her chest. “Gone clean your room so you can go.”

“Yes, sir,” she grumbled. She tried to stomp her feet as hard as she possibly could when she left.

We all tried not to laugh, but it was hard not to.

“You have any homework?” I asked AJ, to which he nodded.

“I did, but I did it last night. And my room is already clean.”

“Aight, bet. I’ll see you in a few hours, then.”

AJ nodded, then jogged back into his room. When we were alone, I asked Reka, “You good?”

“What you bring to eat?”

“Cracker Barrel.”

“Aight. Is it enough for me? You know what you been on lately.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, it’s enough for you. I really just got meat and sides since Price said you cooked waffles.”

“Where she at?”

“Outside. She finna ride with me real quick.” Reka nodded, but remained silent. “Listen… Bre is going to Chuck E. Cheese with us later. If you want to meet her and come, too, you’re more than welcome. I want you to be comfortable with her being around Deja, but I’m not going to let you talk crazy to her like you’ve done to other women in the past.”

Her eyes lifted toward the ceiling as she cracked her neck. “Why would I spend my night at boring ass Chuck E. Cheese with y’all? If you taking the kids, I’ma find something else to get into.”

I knew that was what she was going to say, which was why I offered in the first place.

“That’s cool, Reka.”

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