Laila POV

"Alonzo wants me to meet his mom!"

Her sister threw a crazy look her way while they were hanging out in their room after a week-long of enjoying neo life, plus meetings, plus learning the other side of Mu Alpha Chi. It was a rough first week of sorority life. The high was wearing off.

And now that things were getting serious with Alonzo, he felt the next step was her having dinner at his mother's house. Was she ready for that?

"What's the big deal? She has to like you because you're squeaky clean and all that. You're exactly the type of girl that mothers want for their sons. You're smart, quiet, and sweet, in college to be somebody...not a loser or something."

She chuckled at her sister. Well, if those things mattered to Alonzo's mom then she had a great start. That did not stop her worrying. She even met Manny's parents briefly once and that went okay. This felt more serious than a campus visit.

What would she wear? What about her hair? She rubbed her hand over her short, dull black curls. She needed a haircut. Better yet, she needed a professional to get it styled and cut. She was broke as a joke and could not afford that so as always, she would do it herself. Maybe she needed some color to it as well. Buy a box of drugstore color and hope for the best.

And she needed a new outfit. Something casual but sophisticated. Nothing too daring or over the top to meet the mom.

She was meeting with Alonzo later Friday night, so after her last class she went shopping to find clothes and maybe new shoes. Yes, this was over the top to meet this one person, but it would put her mind at ease. What if Alonzo's mother took one look at her and hated what she looked like, hated her voice, or thought she was not good enough for her son?

Alonzo was quickly becoming more than just her boyfriend. They were talking about serious things like their life together.

She settled on black slacks and a black and white striped, button-down blouse. Even new shoes. Then she stopped at the CVS drugstore and got things to get her hair together. It was a shame there were no Black hair care stores in all of Bloomington-Normal. She usually had supplies from St. Louis, but it was a while since she went home.

Back in her room, she had a few hours before Alonzo would pick her up for dinner with his mother and that was plenty of time to do her hair. She applied the color, a burgundy-red rinse over her dark hair which only gave her highlights. Still, it was rather cute to her and it was different, so she hoped Alonzo liked it.

After getting dressed, she applied her make-up. She was finishing up when she got the text that Alonzo was outside. Her sister was hanging out at the MAX house and then there was a Kappa Alpha Psi party going on.

"Hey babe," she greeted Alonzo who stood in the lobby waiting for her.

He looked her over with a sexy grin, and she was pleased he approved of her new look.

"Love the hair." He pulled her in his arms and hugged her tight. "My girl the hottest girl around."

"Aaaw!" She kissed his cheek, smudging a bit of her lipstick on him. She rubbed it off with her thumb. "Have to switch things up. I need a cut when I get back to St. Louis...whenever that will be."

"Why wait till then?"

"No one down here I trust with my hair." She took his hand as they walked to his car. "I might have some curl to my hair, but trust this is Black girl hair and I need the right one touching this."

Alonzo nodded at that. "Wait till you meet my mom."

"Yes, I'm nervous enough."

They made it to his car and he held the door open for her, placing a kiss on her lips before she stepped into the car. That made her smile like a fool.

Alonzo got inside the car then started it before he looked over at her. "My mom does hair. She can hook you up."

Oh no! What? Why did he tell her that? Now she was going to go see this woman with her hair looking like she stuck her finger in the socket with her frizzy curly fro. She liked to wear her hair cut low because it was easier to maintain. Now she was nervous his mother would say something negative about her hair.

It was not a long drive at all, because Bloomington was a small city. If it was not for the Bloomington-Normal connection, it would be an even smaller area. The combined two cities were still smaller than the St. Louis region. Alonzo pulled up to a small white house. It was really small, it did not look like much.

When they walked up to the door, Alonzo had his keys out and opened the door.

"Ma, I'm home!"

"Boy! Why are you yelling?" A small, diminutive woman walked into the small but nicely furnished living room. His mother was short, shorter than her five feet nothing.

Alonzo was six feet tall. His father must have been huge.

"Hey ma." Alonzo wrapped his arms around his mother and kissed her cheek. "Something smells good in the kitchen."

"If it's not smelling good, I'm not cooking it." With that, his mother looked her over. "Oh, hello there."

"Ma, this is Laila Flynn, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you-" she started to say, but then his mother pulled her into a hug.

"Listen, you might as well be family now, no need to be all formal. Call me Kay."

In her embrace, she really was a frail woman. Not only short but thin and wiry. Her face was bare of makeup, and she wore her natural hair in a bun at the back of her head. Nothing fancy about Kay Phillips. She wore khaki pants and a blue polo. There was a black apron on her that stated "Kiss the Cook." She even wore simple flip-flop shoes.

She felt overdressed now, thinking this was going to be a formal and fancy dinner.

"Thanks, Ms. Kay, for inviting me over for a home-cooked meal," she said, hoping she would not refuse the "Ms." title, as she was trained by her mother to respect elders and not call them simply by their name. "I live in the residence hall and I don't get home often to my mother's cooking."

"Can you cook?" Kay asked.

"Uh-"

"Yes ma, she can cook."

Why did Alonzo have to lie? He did not know if she could cook or not. She was an average cook at best. She cooked for her younger brothers and sisters, but they always complained about her food. She was not the great chef in the kitchen. Alonzo had only tasted a few things she made, and they were not things from scratch.

"It ain't my business I suppose," his mother said, heading toward the kitchen. "But if you want to keep my lil boy happy, come on in this kitchen and learn how to make his favorite."

"You made oxtails?" Alonzo's voice perked up. "Yo! Is it done yet?"

Oxtails. Something she never had before but heard they were pretty good. This made her glad she did not have any dietary restrictions. If you put it on the table in front of her, she would eat it.

She followed Kay into the kitchen and the smells wafted into her nose and made her stomach rumble. The kitchen was not that small. It was an eat-in kitchen with a square table and four chairs, nicely decorated with a fake floral centerpiece. The kitchen was up-to-date, as if she remodeled it recently with light cabinets and stainless steel appliances. She could tell Kay spent a lot of time in the kitchen and that cooking was a passion.

Alonzo was in the kitchen as well and grabbed a plate.

"I'm just going to make my plate now, you two can talk or whatever."

"Now isn't this like a man to think he can't help in the kitchen?" Kay smacked Alonzo's arm. "Sir that rice. I'm getting this cornbread out of the oven."

She felt like she was in the way as Alonzo and Kay went to work. She stood and watched, all the while Kay went on about how she made Alonzo's favorite dish since he was a kid. It all sounded complicated to her. Yes, she wanted to cook things her man could eat, but why couldn't he learn and cook it for himself?

She needed to write down everything Kay told her, but that would seem like she didn't have the mental ability for a simple recipe. Maybe she would google the recipe and try it herself. How hard could it be?

But when she had that first bite of tender, juicy, well-seasoned meat, she knew she could never replicate that. The food was so good she ate everything on it and then seconds.

And there was plenty left for them both to get a container to go.

"Don't be a stranger, bring her back next time."

"You got it ma," Alonzo said as they left.

Maybe she was nervous about meeting his mother over nothing. She seemed nice. Barely said anything to her other than dictating her recipe. When they made it to his car and got in, Alonzo let out a sigh.

"What?" she asked him.

"Ma doesn't like you."

"What?" she screamed out. "She was so nice to me. She gave me her recipe. She gave me leftovers. Invited me over again. What do you mean?"

"I didn't say she was mean to you or anything...I just know how she is. When she's overly sweet like that, means she doesn't like you. Like with my ex."

"What?" she screamed out again. "But...but...I barely talked to her, just listened. Why would you think she doesn't like me?"

"If she liked you, she wouldn't have rattled off that recipe. She would have written it down for you. If she liked you, she would have asked more about you. If she liked you...she would have at least commented about your hair, she loves everything about doing hair, been doing it all her life."

Laila sat there confused. What did she do to make his mother not like her? Sure, she stayed pretty quiet, but that was how she was. That was why her prophytes named her Silent But Deadly.

Now that she had shown Ms. Kay her silent side...maybe she needed to show her the deadly.