~Dalvin's P.O.V~

"Long time no see," I told Tia with a chuckle. I turned on the car and the music blasted, so I turned it down.

"You saw me some weeks ago when you popped up at my house out of nowhere." She shook her head and grabbed her seatbelt.

"I told you that I knew my brother would be there and I was correct," I told her pulling off and making her jerk forward in her seat.

"What the hell, Dalvin!?" Tia exasperated.

"Oops, my bad." I laughed.

She quickly strapped herself in. "Did that on purpose."

"To fuck with you? Yeah." I nodded. "De did that to me not too long ago, I guess I just got my payback from you because he don't like my driving. He ain't gon' get in." I laughed.

"I ain't have NOTHIN' to do with that, Dalvin." Tia laughed.

"Closest thing though." I shrugged with a chuckle.

"You ain't gon' put yours on?" Tia asked me.

"For what?" I frowned.

"Accidents happen." She told me. "Donald..." She hinted. "The seatbelt is what probably saved him from critical injuries."

"Alright." I strapped myself in, then drove down the street. "This is the first time that I been around you ALONE in years, except we cool now." I laughed.

"Those were the days. All you, K-Ci and JoJo did were piss me off. MOSTLY you and K-Ci though. Especially since I was staying in the house with you though even though I didn't have to stay." She rolled her eyes, smiled, then that turned into laughter.

I shook my head at her, laughing. "First day we all hung out, everything was all good. Then things went downhill from there. We were young and shit. That's my bad. I'm sorry." I told her. "All the other shit I did too. Couldn't stand yo ass though!" I spoke with laughter.

"The feeling was mutual though!" She laughed. "When I caught onto the vibes."

"You really got my brother all head over heels for yo big-headed ass." I chuckled.

"Mmmm, I know. What'd he tell you?" Tia asked me.

"Nope, I won't say a damn thing!" I laughed. "You thought! Besides, I'm sure he didn't tell me too much different than what he told you."

"Tell me so I can confirm it." Tia looked me in the eyes.

"Nope! That's kept in the brotherhood confidentiality files." I told her. "You love him and he loves you, right?" It's a rhetorical question, but she answered it anyway.

"He better!" She chuckled. "Nahh, I'm just joking. I know he does and I love him too."

"Cool." I nodded.

"Both sides of your family hang around each other, huh?" She asked me. "It must've been fun growing up."

"Pretty much." I chuckled. "Some people say it's weird but nahh... That's how ma and pops met. Their families knew each other."

"Nahh, that's dope to me. Not weird at all. Shoo, I can't even get my family to be around each other." She laughed.

"I feel you. Most folks like that now. It's rare seeing black families around each other that ain't gon' fight or argue all damn day." I told her.

"Mmhm. So when you chewed up feet behind gon' start dating again?" She asked me.

"I don't think that shit is for me to be truthful." I shook my head. "I get bored too quickly and they can't keep up with me." I shrugged.

"Well, dang. Different strokes for different folks." She chuckled.

"Exactly. I don't know the first thing when it comes to love or it's meaning. Of course, I love my parents and the rest of my family, but I mean in a romantic way." I told her.

"Dang, y'all came from the same people and were raised up together, but are completely different when it comes to romance," Tia told me.

"We were once the same," I told her.

"Once but no longer." She corrected me.

"You waited for him to change and everything. Women usually don't do that." I said to her.

"Wait? Negro, Tia doesn't wait for anybody. I didn't wait on Donald. Period. Nor did he wait for me. I did me and he did him. Things just happened the way they did and that's how we got to where we are now."

"De kinda did wait if you REALLY think about it." I glanced at her.

"No... He didn't and that's fine. Life goes on." She looked at me from the corner of her eyes as she spoke, but faced forward.

"Look at it this way.-"

"Dalvin, it doesn't matter which way I look, he didn't, and like I said it's fine. We're happy together now." She chuckled.

"Okay, true. I guess I was tryna force it." I replied.

"Definitely."

"But hear me out!" I told her.

"Alright, Dalvin."

"So he was with ol' girl that he ain't have shit in common with. He flirted with you in front of her and EVERYTHING. He ain't want her. Even in the damn hospital."

"Dalvin, that's called being disrespectful to the girl, not whatever it is that you're trying to call it. That's like someone cheating on you, but tell you that they were thinking of you the whole time." Tia told me. "Them word don't mean jack squat."

"Alright, when he was with that other girl. Uh... I forgot her name, but she died. They- damn, I don't know where I'm goin' with this. That's what I get. Over here trying to one-up you." I chuckled. "I got a question though?"

"Shoot."

"What the fuck took yo ass so long!?" I asked laughing. "Y'all could've been together a long time ago."

"If we were together years ago, he and I would no longer be speaking. Me not taking care of my mental health as I should and the way he was acting would've been a recipe for disaster." Tia replied.

"Well, what about last year? What was stopping y'all then? Huh? You was single and so was he. He was over there thinking he was never going to find love and shit and AGAIN, you were SINGLE and he was sober." I cackled. "How y'all give each other the advice to start dating people again then end up together. Cliché as hell."

"At the time, I just got out of a whole relationship that lasted for OVER a year at the time. The guy was my fiance. It wasn't that easy getting over that, especially when you know it was just as much as your fault as the other. Yes, my man was sober then, BUT within the first year of sobriety, people usually relapse." She revealed to me.

"So you ain't have faith in my brother?" I asked her.

"I didn't say that, but I do know some drug addicts personally and that's what usually happens. Not just from seeing it myself, but also from statistics."

"Wait, last year De was over a year sober. What then?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm tripping. He surely was! Well, the first part of my answer is a reason. Another reason is that I wasn't even in that mindset. I was still building up my trust for him again. That is HARD for me and was even harder a while back." She chuckled. "I just started talking to him a few months before then."

"What made you forgive him?" I asked her. "After all that occurred. I'm sure there are some things I don't know about too. Me and De ain't the best of friends. That's me and K-Ci. He tells JoJo more shit than me."

"You're correct." She agreed with the part about him not knowing everything about their past together. "My ex is the one who talked me into doing so. He heard Donald's apology in the parking lot one day when he came to pick me up. I guess Donald waited for me in there. I couldn't stand him and was honestly scared because what had happened before-"

"What happened?" I asked her very curiously.

"The last time before that when I was alone with him, he pushed a hole in the wall near my head. I did take his stuff pills though."

"Oh, yeah. He did tell me that." I nodded. "I definitely remember that story. He lied to me about it before that just like about the other part, but he later told me when he got everything straight. My bad." I apologized for cutting her off.

"Yeah, but I was scared. This was on the set of Dangerous Kinds. You know he had something to do with the soundtrack. That's just to give you some insight into the time period. Tai was eavesdropping on the whole conversation. He convinced me and I later was up to doing so. I called Don up one day and... Yeah." She shrugged one shoulder.

"Little did karate man know is that you would later be with him." I laughed. "A whole sucka! Dude basically made room for De to just come in."

"Aye, maybe he did know." Tia laughed.

"I been knew, but when we were on the boat for your graduation trip, I DEFINITELY knew," I told her.

"Really?" Tia raised her eyebrows. "Why is that?"

"Hell yeah!" I laughed. "Y'all was flirting hard as fuck then y'all got away from the rest of us to the other side. Spending time alone together rather than the whole group like the rest of us. A lot of the times, when y'all was around us, y'all kinda kept to each other. Who does that?"

"Us apparently. Y'all were giving me a headache. Us both, but yeah. That wasn't my mindset then. Unfortunately." She laughed.

"Things happen the way they do for a reason. I'm not blamin' you. Now I done heard both sides of the story. Even the part about you gettin' fucked up and all."

"He told you!?" Her facial expression changed.

"Oops! Cats out the bag. I do know though. I would never expect that from you Ms. Goody Two Shoes."

Tia side-eyed me. "Expect what?"

"You to be high and confront him," I responded. "What else?"

"Nothing... Nothing at all." She chuckled.

"Now I know he ain't tell me everything. What else happened? I'm curious than ever now. I blame that on you." I asked.

"That's between me and him." She paused. "And Elijah..." She chuckled.

I paused for a moment to think about what she just said. De, Tia, AND Elijah... "Hol' up, now... Y'all ain't invite Elijah in on somethin', did y'all?"

"We didn't invite him anywhere. He just kinda lingered." She replied then turned to me with a gasp. "You mean- Hell NO! Dalvin- NOW YOU KNOW it ain't NOTHIN' like that. Tia doesn't like to share food from her plate, yet along with her man or what would become her man." She replied very offendedly.

"Whew!" I wiped the imaginary sweat off my forehead.

"That's would be weird as hell. Plus, I wouldn't want no dude like other dudes, especially my damn friend." She told me. "That's some weird shit."

"Again, you do NOT sound right cussin'!" I told her while parking.

"I can't believe that popped into your head, Dalvin." Tia shook her head.

"From the way, you said it was between y'all, who wouldn't?" I said getting out of the car.

She got out. "Not me. That would not be the first thing to pop into my head. Weird."

"If you had said that to someone else, they would've thought the same thing," I repeated.

"Possibly." She agreed.

We entered the store and to my surprise, there are quite a few people here even though it was Thanksgiving. I grabbed a cart.

"Where the cheese?" I turned to Tia.

"How the heck am I supposed to know? I'm not from here and ain't ever been here. It's called look around. Not every Walmart is the same." Tia scoffed.

"No shit, Sherlock," I replied.

"Excuse me? You're the one who asked me." She frowned.

"Again, no shit Sherlock," I repeated.

She walked off and I caught up to her. "Was that pie really that nasty?" I asked her.

"Yes! I threw up things from earlier. Brush my teeth and still tasted it." She shook her head. "Maria is cool though and can cook other things. That pie just wasn't it though. I knew it wouldn't taste right, but I wasn't expecting it to taste that bad."

"Welp, I'm glad I ain't cut a big slice and that I have a little brother who eats anything." I chuckled. "He tore that mess up because it's sweet."

"I don't remember no sweetness or anything. I just knew it didn't taste right." She told me.

"How you know she couldn't cook stuff like that? We all have each other the same look."

"Donald and I are around each other a lot and I just so happen to hear him complaining over the phone one day with you and Donald laughing. He was complaining about her soul food and desserts. Y'all are mean." Tia chuckled.

"No, I ain't." I chuckled. "His ass shouldn't have been complaining like that!" I laughed out loud.

"He been with her for a while and expect her to know how to cook like black folks. He knew she couldn't and now he wanted to complain. Can't expect someone from another culture to cook food from your culture." Tia shrugged. "Shoo, I can't even cook Spanish or Mexican food like someone from that culture."

"You don't know how to make it like they do but that shit tastes good as hell. Better to me. More seasoned." I told her. "De only laughed because he ain't got that problem."

"Awww, thanks Dalvin," Tia said with her hand on her chest and the other on her forehead. Kind of like she was about to fall out.

My head jerked back. "Why you so damn dramatic?"

"Theatrics, Dalvin, theatrics."

"I remember you said that you ain't celebrate certain things back in the day. What happened? You're celebrating Thanksgiving again?" I asked her.

"There are plenty of attributes. Mostly due to falsified information from Hotep males that I hung out with in high school. Spewed a bunch of bullcrap that I ate up. It was weird." She shook her head. "Cheese is right here."

"I'm not understanding how the hell they gon' forget the MOST important dish of the holidays. They ain't got the cheese or enough pasta. Family all backwards, THEN the food ain't nowhere near done. Just the turkeys that pops is in charge of."

"Excuse me." Tia said to a guy. "Thanks." She grabbed some cheese.

"Tia?" The guy asked.

"What Dal-" She turned around. "Oh... Hi. Do I know you?" She blinked rapidly.

"Everyone does, but we went on a date together a year ago and you ghosted me." The guy said to her.

She squinted at him. I assume trying to remember this guy. "Oh, okay." She turned around with a shrug to grab some more cheese.

"That's it?" He asked her.

"What am I supposed to say?" She asked him, putting cheese in the cart.

"The reason you ghosted me would be nice." He replied.

"Oh." She said grabbing more cheese and I chuckled.

Tia doesn't even care about anything he's talking about. Shit, I don't either when people come up to me with that bullshit. It was a year ago! Let it go my nigga! She moved forward for some more cheese and I moved the cart up. Damn, how much cheese do they fucking need!?

"So..." The guy followed her.

"Man, leave her alone," I told him. "Apparently she doesn't care. Move on."

"Ain't nothing to move on from. It was a date. ONE date. You were rude as they come and a little off." She turned to him.

"Why couldn't you just tell me I was rude then?" He asked her.

"A little off means crazy and telling a crazy guy anything to his face could get you killed. Goodbye." Tia told him, walking off.

Why the fuck is she telling him now, then? I followed close behind.

"Wow! So I'm crazy now?" He asked her.

"You following us in a store, nigga. She dismissed you and explained her reason and you still talking." I told him. "Let it go, playa."

He gave me a look as if to ask who am I, but he did walk away.

"And you're telling him now if he is a little off?" I asked her. "I mean, I had you if something was to go down, but he still seems to be off. His tone and whatnot gave it away."

"Because at the time, my stupid behind only brought a stun gun. Now I have the heat tucked close." She laughed lifting her shirt up. "West Virginia doesn't care about guns as long as the person with one is eighteen or older." She cheesed.

"Why are we over here?" I asked her.

"I said I needed something too. You don't have to follow me for this." She fixed her shirt.

I eyed her. "Okay..." I trailed off. "I need some things too, so I'll be near."

She nodded and went to get whatever she needed, while I grabbed some deodorant and another toothbrush. DJ dropped mine in the toilet this morning. Little badass. He spent the night with me to give my parents a break. Plus I knew they'd be busy today. That little boy will keep you up, then when he does fall asleep he needs like ten toys and his sippy cup.

There's only one bed in my hotel room so he had to sleep with me. I woke up to all those different toys poking me and stepping on them when I got out of bed. Let's not even mention all those damn tantrums he threw when he's not getting his way. The crying and screaming was irritating. I'm saying this now, I DON'T want NO damn kids. It's too much!

I went to look for Tia to put my things in the cart. When I finally spotted her, I walked down the aisle she was in. I don't think she saw me, but what the hell is she doing in this aisle looking at this particular item. I could've sworn De said he was abstinent or some shit.

"Ooooh," I said apparently scaring her because she jumped.

"Huh?" She turned to me.

"What you doin' with a pregnancy test?" I asked her. "I'm telling my mama and yours."

"Tell them." She shrugged. "I don't even know yet."

I gasped with an amusing smile. I knew that nigga was probably lying. "De got you pregnant?"

"No." She shook her head still looking at the different tests.

"Okay... Let me get this straight. So you think you might be pregnant, but it ain't De's?" I asked her.

"Mmhm, so... You not gon' tell him are you?" She asked turning to me.

"Hell yeah! I'm his fuckin' brother. What do you expect? Me to keep it a secret or some shit? AND I'm leaving yo ass here. The fuck outta here." I said walking away. "She must be out her gotdamn mind."

"I'm just playing." She cackled. "It's a joke! Donald knows about it and everything. It was actually his idea to mess with you. I just agreed because that's what I like to do."

I looked at her. "So if I call him right now, he gon' confirm it?" I said taking my phone out to call him.

"Yes!" She said putting the test back.

I called him and he answered it. Before he could speak, I did. "De, is this woman lying or not? If so, I'm about to leave her ass here at the store."

"You ain't leaving shit nigga. What she do?" He laughed.

"You told her to get a pregnancy test to fuck with me?" I asked him.

"No, but I did ask her to fuck with you for me." He laughed. "Why? What she do?"

"Talking about she pregnant but it ain't yours. I just knew it couldn't be because y'all ain't did nothing to my knowledge." I told De.

"Donald, why would even you tell him that?" Tia said grabbing the phone.

"I- I- you know how Dalvin can get," De replied to her in a stutter, trying to come up with something.

"Yeah, you know how I can get. He didn't even have to tell me. I found out by how soft this mothafucka hand was. Feeling just like a newborn baby. Just like today..." I hinted.

"Dalvin shut the hell up!" De said laughing.

"I don't want no man with no rough, sandpaper ass hands either. I'm glad his hands are that soft. You should take notes, Dalvin, with those rough feet you got." Tia said as we walked away. "You probably done sliced a ton of women's sheets too many."

"Aye-" I pointed at Tia. "Imma see you in a lil bit," I told De hanging up. "My feet are fine."

"If you say so." Tia pursed her lips. "Them thanks we're scratching against your socks every time you moved when you were at my house. Could barely hear the movie."

"Now- See- See- See, my feet weren't even that bad," I told her. "That was just a bad day."

"That's every time I'm around, huh?" Tia asked me.

"Yeah..." I nodded in agreement. "You know what Tia? Fuck you." I said laughing.

Tia stopped. "If that's not the case with your brother, why in the hell would I choose you of all people?" She asked with her hands on her hip, then broke character by laughing.

"Let's just get in line," I told her to continuing to walk.

"Right, thee lines are pretty long."

While we stood in line, Tia grabbed a few bags of chips and candy, then we paid for our things. Once we made it outside the doors, I turned to the people who stand there to check receipts.

"She stole two chips, but since we not in the store no more, you can't do anything about it." I pointed at Tia.

"What? He's lying. I paid for everything in my bags." Tia told them.

"It's okay ma'am, the alarm didn't even ring." The lady chuckled.

"Yeah, you're fine." The guy shrugged and we walked away.

Tia playfully pushed me when we were far enough. "WHY would you do that?"

"Because-"

"Aye, man? I didn't wanna say nothing in line, but ain't you that dude with that one song?"

"Yeah, man. That me." I chuckled, then put the groceries in the back seat.

"Who?" Tia asked him.

"Carl Thomas?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah! Def- This is DEFINITELY Carl Thomas! Want a picture?" Tia asked them.

"Yeah, of course! We all want a picture." We all? I saw a few more people walk up.

"But I'm not Carl Thomas," I told him. I don't look like that nigga. I'm tired of people saying it.

"Why lie?" Tia asked me.

"I'm Mr. Dalvin, not Car-" I was cut off again.

"Come on y'all so we can take this picture with Carl Thomas and get back to the crib. The food should be done now." The guy waved the rest of his entourage over.

He was in a rush. So much in a rush that we took about twenty pictures with one of those one-time-use Walmart cameras. They did so many poses and wanted more.

"A'ight man, I'm done. I gotta get back home. It's Thanksgiving." I chuckled. "Food waiting on me just like y'all. Once again, I'm Mr. Dalvin, not Carl Thomas."

"I feel you." They nodded and took the camera away from Tia. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Mr. Dalvin?" Another guy questioned. "I'm tryna remember who that is. It sounds familiar though."

Someone else snapped their fingers. "Jodeci!"

"Oh, I remember now. I guess I'll still want the pictures" The man sighed.

Tia chuckled. "He guesses." Tia mumbled to me.

"You don't gotta take no picture with me. I didn't mind it, but it's a holiday- a family-oriented holiday. I took the time out of my day just for y'all. Don't be ungrateful, man." I told him.

"Right! Thanks, man!" The others said and shook my hand.

"No problem!" I said then we got in the car.

Tia turned to me. "They LOVE you, Carl."

"Carl Thomas? REALLY?" I questioned.

"They said it first, not me."

"You confirmed it and I could barely get a word out," I replied. "I don't look like him."

"You really do in certain angles." Tia laughed at me.

"A'ight." I shook my head at her. "I'm done with you for the day."

"That's fine with me, Mr. Thomas." Tia shrugged and we laughed about it.

When we finally made it home, I handed them the cheese. "Grandma, she didn't remember ANYTHING. Just dead weight. I kept happening to remind her what you said to get."

"He's not telling the truth. He just stood there while I did the dirty work." Tia told her.

"Dirty work? Do you mean the groceries? Act like we were selling illegal substances." I laughed.

"We know. Dalvin doesn't even remember when I send him to the store. That's why we didn't want him to go alone." My mama said to her with a smile. "Thanks."

"Thank you, sweetheart." My grandma smiled at her.

"You're welcome. I think I'm going o head back outside." Tia told them.

Tia opened the door just as pops and De came inside with I'm sure with turkeys in the tin foil pans.

"Hey, babe." De greeted Tia while sitting the turkey down with a big ass grin on his face. Once it was down, he went on to hug her.

"Back so soon?" Pops asked us.

I spoke up. "We were gone so long because we ran into-" I looked around the room. "Technical difficulties." I finished with a smile.

"The nagging kind." Tia chuckled.

"Definitely." I co-signed.

"Yeah," DeVanté said laughing at us and I'm sure it's because of what Tia pulled at the store.

"Dang, bro. She wasn't gone that long." Derek came in with the ham.

"Aye, mind ya business, Derek. Mind ya business, man." DeVanté chuckled.

"What you need to do is to be paying for Maria some baking lessons." I cracked at Derek.

Pops held a closed fist up to his mouth, trying to hide his laughter.

"Dalvin, you learn how to COOK ANYTHING before crackin' on someone else." Derek shot back at me with laughter.

"I CAN cook. I know how to make soup, spaghetti, and meatballs, ravioli, noodles. The list goes on, Derek." I defended myself.

"Yeah, Derek. You know this man slaves over the microwave ALL day." DeVanté said laughing. "He listed everything in a can. Imma go back outside." De pointed to the door.

I can tell Tia was holding back laughter as they walked out. It's cool because everybody else didn't hide their laughter. They did it in front of me.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work a microwave, genius," Derek replied to me.

"Alright, Derek." I nodded my head at him.

"Dalvin doesn't have anything to say?" Pops questioned. "What?" He said shocked.

I shrugged my shoulders, then then they began speaking amongst each other. Since they were all distracted, I decided to reach into the pot just for a little taste of whatever it is. Shit, I don't know what it is, but I know it's good. I opened it as quietly as possible.

"Leave the food alone, boy. Everybody has to eat that, Dalvin." My mother pointed at me without even looking.

This lady has the hearing of a bat. "I was just trying to see what was in the pot. Checking on the food. Don't want nothin' to burn, you know what I'm sayin'." I chuckled and closed the pot.

"Mmhm..." She side-eyed me. "Alright, JUNIOR."

"Sound just like him." Derek laughed. "Only difference it=s you be lying when you say it and he don't be knowing what he talkin' about."

"You know, I don't not like that girl," Pops said out of the blue.

"Who?" I asked.

"Maria?" Derek asked. "It's okay because I like her and so do our kids."

"No. The one Junior keeps bringing around." My dad said grabbing the aluminum foil.

"Oh..." I nodded. Could've fooled me. "His girlfriend... He ain't bringin' her around for nothin'." I chuckled at his statement.

"Really?" My grandmother asked pops. "I think she's a sweetheart."

"She's nice." My mother nodded.

Derek looked at him. "I think she's cool."

"She'll grow on you," I told him. "She cool. She grew on me and I ain't like her either for a while."

Pops turned to me. "Really? What was your reason?"

I shrugged. "Invalid reasons. We good now."

"She seem like she's trying too hard to impress us, but my son really likes her, so we'll see how this one ends." Pops stuck his hands into his pockets.

"I don't think that will happen. If so, it ain't NO time soon..." Derek hinted.

I spoke up. "Pops, he's pretty serious about her and it's been like that for a while. Even before he told y'all- his parents."

"Definitely serious as you just saw." Derek gestured. "Another example is when she came to visit North Carolina. Plenty of unwitnessed examples as well." Derek raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, just like the other ones he was serious about." Pops chuckled. "This is no different. I do like her better than Mary though in certain aspects. At least this one doesn't have a bunch of children with unknown fathers and is black."

"Don't forget rich," Derek added.

"That's another thing. She brought that up in an argument of defense. Who does that? There are plenty of people who ain't got what she does and she throws it in someone else's face." Pops explained.

"I agree with that part. That's not something we should do." My mother nodded.

"I mean..." I trailed off about to make another point and my parents snapped their heads in my direction. "Look, before y'all get mad at my point, please listen and try to understand?" I respectfully asked.

"Go ahead." My mother nodded.

"Mary was downplaying her and everything Tia does at every chance she got. She had to come back with something to prove her impact on her community and her work." I explained.

"That just so happen to be her earnings," Derek added his two cents.

"I mean, PERSONALLY," I put my hands on my chest. "I wouldn't have mentioned that simply because that can come back and bite you in the a-" My eyes widened because I almost slipped up. "Gluteus maximus. People get jealous and try to put you in jeopardy."

"Tia knows it was stupid of her to do that. She's voiced it." Derek told us. AGAIN. Those two are pretty close.

The two still kept in contact when she and De had NO contact with each other, but Derek didn't know of their issues.

"Why don't you like her though?" Derek asked pops. "Other than the fact she said that."

"Rich, you say?" Grandmother asked Derek still stuck on the earlier statement from Derek.

"Yes, grandma." Derek nodded.

"Is it because she doesn't go to church like we do? Donald, everybody can't be like us and I learned that. People have their own ways and grow up different." My mother asked my father.

Pops nodded. "Partly. Mary, his ex-girlfriend still attends every Sunday with ALL the kids she has. She makes time for the Lord. And again, the one he's with now trying TOO damn hard to impress us. She barely even speaks unless you speak first. Her family seems nice though."

My grandma shrugged. "You grew on me and my husband, Donald Senior. We loved you and your folks as church members, but when you started courting her, it was another story. We didn't like you for her at first."

"Ooooh." I said surprised because I have never heard this.

Pops eyed me. "Shut up, Dalvin. That's different due to the fact that-"

"You were flat broke and not to mention the rumors circulating the church of our families attended. All the women..." Grandma completed pops sentence. "I didn't want to send my daughter off with someone broke to marry or someone who got around. Women had to rely on the men at the time too, so if you left..." Grandma trailed off.

"One thing y'all ain't gotta worry about is money. Times have changed and they both got their own. Her more than him." I stuck my two senses in.

"Nobody asked you, Dalvin." Pops turned to me again.

"I'm just saying." I laughed.

"Pops was a hoe too?" Derek mumbled to me. "Who would've ever thought? That's who y'all got it from."

"You too. You used to be one too." I mumbled back to him.

My parents met me at church. They were raised in different parts of town but attended the same church. Not to brag and boast, but pops were quite the playa, much like myself. Both of their families moved to West Virginia in the early 60s.

"Pops, sometimes you gotta give people time. She just takes a while longer to warm up to people. It took Maria a while too. Everybody ain't talkative when they first meet people. Look at Junior... He just speaks when you speak to him most of the time or if something ain't sittin' right with him." Derek explained to him.

Tia and Derek are closer than I am to Tia. They hit it off when they first met each other.

"I'm going to go... Outside..." I pointed to the door and then walked out.

I didn't even want to hear the rest of what they said. Why? Simply because if DeVanté asks me something, I don't know shit. That's Derek. I went outside and saw that everyone else is out there. The football game is finished is the reason. That's why it isn't as hit as it was in that living room AND why food hit my nose rather than other scents. I think everybody got that one stank-ass family member that doesn't ever seem to wash their ass. The one who always SWEAR that it isn't them smelling like that. Maybe more than one person...

There are a bunch of my family members at one of the tables playing Monopoly. I'm not partaking in any of that because it seems to be getting heated.

"Nah, man, pay me my money! You supposed to had landed on my property. You miscounted!" Eden yelled at

"N- n- no- no, I'm telling you..." Ronald trailed off. "I was here and landed here where I was supposed to."

All the others at the table were laughing at his explanation. It sounds like a damn lie.

"Nahhh, mothafucka!" My uncle yelled. "I saw that shit. You pulled the same damn thing with me! See, I tell you this guy be cheating."

"I ain't cheat!" Ronald defended himself.

"BULLshit!" Leroy yelled.

I shook my head laughing at their bickering, then went to the table I was sitting before to see them washing the dishes and then grabbing their dominoes. Dishes as in mixing the dominoes and them as in Mrs. Toussaint, and Daryl.

"Where is your dad and brother?" Daryl asked me. "They supposed to be playing to. How do they start a game, then not come back? What's the hold-up?"

I scratched my head. "They had to take the food inside."

"Well, De out here and he did the same thing." Daryl replied to me.

"Want me to go get them?" De asked Daryl.

"Please." Daryl chuckled.

DeVanté stood up, but I stopped him. "Nahh, I got it, bro. I was already standing up. Be right back."

De eyed me before taking a seat. "Okay..." He gave me a look.

I walked back to the house. "Umm... Y'all DO have a game y'all started and ain't finished yet." I said halting their conversation.

"I forgot," Derek said making his way toward me.

"I'll be out there in a minute," Pops replied to me.

I raised then dropped my eyebrows. "I'll- I'll go and remind them," I said then walked back in the direction of the house.

I don't want De walking into that and getting all upset. After all, pops DID tell DeVanté that he likes Tia, so it's pretty weird how he's saying this now. Maybe he sees something I don't. Who knows? I haven't witnessed her doing any weird shit that makes me think of her as not the right one for my brother. BUT, I can't make the decision on who's right for him. That's DeVanté's decision to make and he seems to think she is THE ONE and so do I.

"Y'all know y'all got an open dominoes game with the parents?" I said peaking my head inside.

"I forgot. Thanks bro." Derek came and opened the door all the way and walked outside with me.

"Okay, I'll be out in a little bit. Dalvin, close the door." Pops told me.

I closed the door, then looked at Derek. Derek shrugged his shoulders at me as we walked a few steps and then stopped.

"Mm mmmm..." Derek shook his head at me.

"That's not even my business," I replied. "Don't even mention it to DeVanté either."

"I'm not. That's between them." Derek chuckled.

"Don't tell me what?" De said standing right beside the door which startled Derek and me both.

"Shit! Don't do that!" Derek yelled aloud.

"My bad y'all. Didn't mean to scare y'all. Don't tell me what though? What's up?" De asked us.

I patted his shoulder. "Don't tell you the food STILL ain't done!" I said laughing.

"That don't sound right. Why would you not wanna tell me that? I figured that already because y'all just got back from the store with the groceries needed to complete the meal." De gave me a look.

"We know you hungry. We all are." Derek chuckled.

"Now yo ass actin' weird just like Dalvin. What's up with y'all?" DeVanté chuckled. "Whatever. Y'all ain't gon' say whatever it is no way. Let's play football!" De ran away with the football and his hand in the sky like he was about to throw it.

"I hope you are better at this!" Derek shouted.

DeVanté threw the football, hitting me in the stomach. "OOF!" That shit left me winded. "Why you had to aim it at me!? I ain't even say nothin'!" I screamed at him.

"You was about to! I'm sure of it!" DeVanté laughed.

"That nigga can't aim. He meant to hit me." Derek laughed. "But better you than me!" He said running away. "I'm not on your team!" Derek cuffed his hands around his mouth to tell at DeVanté.

"Me either!" I shouted to DeVanté.

"That's cool! Somebody will want to!" DeVanté yelled back.

"I think the fuck not! Nigga, you suck!" One of my cousins yelled at DeVanté making us all laugh.

"How 'bout y'all teach me instead of making fun of me?" DeVanté asked.

"We tried!" I yelled to him standing near Derek again.

"If at first, you don't succeed, try try again." DeVanté nodded proudly. "I'm getting better at sports. Especially basketball!"

"Damn, this guy is a whole pathological liar," Derek said pointing at DeVanté. "Put your money where your mouth is!"

"Money!? This for fun! Why are y'all always tryna bet on something? If pops catch y'all doin' that..." De trailed off.

"Like his ass don't be gambling." I laughed. "Pshh, whatever!" I waved my hand at De and then threw it back at him as hard as I could.

"Who playin'!?" Derek shouted at everybody.

As you can tell, we haven't picked a team by the way we're just casually tossing the ball back and forth. Okay, it isn't so casual, but DeVanté shouldn't have thrown that ball at me the way he did. He's about to lose and have a sore body by the time the actual game ends. His ass can't play for shit. If someone were to put a gun to DeVanté's head and tell him to play ANY kind of sports involving a ball, he's just as good as dead! THAT is is how much he sucks.

Word Count: 6,800
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❤️Thanks for the support that you've been giving me. I'm very appreciative.❤️