Page 22 of All The Smoke

K aori.

It was a task doing all of these cleanings while as nauseous as I was.

Little Einstein’s contacted Treva and asked if we could come do free cleanings and talk about proper dental hygiene with the students and she agreed, asking me and a few other hygienists to come with her.

I accepted, of course. I loved working with the little ones and even got to see some of my patients while I was working, my favorite being little Solo who made sure to be in my line when he saw I was one of the hygienists.

“Daddy says I have to keep my teeth straight so I don’t have problems with the ladies, Ms. KK, so I brush my teeth when I get up in the mornings and when I get ready for bed at night.”

Chuckling, I tore some floss off and said, “Right, because the ladies don’t want funky mouthed boys.”

He shook his head. “Nope. I don’t have a funky mouth.”

“You sure don’t.” I smiled. “But you have to keep your head still so I can floss your teeth, baby.”

He nodded and opened wide, allowing me to finish up.

Once I did he jetted over to his little friends, bringing them back to my line and suggesting I do theirs as well, trying to get them in front of already waiting students .

I had really only intended to do the few students left in my line but I couldn’t turn him down.

I convinced them to go to the back of the line to be fair to the other students.

Because we were only doing partial, fifteen-minute cleanings it took me another hour and a half to clear my line and help the other girls clear their students.

I was good and tired, as well as hungry, when I got done.

Treva said they had the rest of it and gave me the greenlight to go get food and almost ran out of there.

As I checked out of the front office, I saw Solomon Sr. getting a visitor tag. The moment he laid eyes on me he told the receptionist to give him a second.

“You’re leaving?” he asked as he made his way toward me.

I nodded. “I need to get food.”

He lifted the bags in his hands. “That’s why I’m here. I grabbed you some shit.”

I gushed inwardly at the gesture. It had been a week since the incident at the hookah lounge and he had been texting and calling me to check on me. The conversations were very minimal, mostly about how I was feeling and asking about appointments, but I appreciated him.

I mentally struggled with the reality of making a baby with a man I knew nothing about outside of the bedroom. I kept telling myself I wasn’t the first or last woman this happened to.

“We have some tables outside if you guys want to go out,” the receptionist suggested. “They’re for faculty but I’m sure no one will mind you guys using them.”

I smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”

We followed her directions to the faculty patio area and I sat there silently as he took everything out of the bags. Once he had everything laid out, he pointed to the plates and told me to eat.

“You’re not going to eat too?”

“Naw, I got all this shit for you.”

Opening the Styrofoam container, my mouth watered and my heart warmed. There were twelve hot lemon pepper wings just how I liked them.

“How did you know I wanted all flats?”

“You had all flats on your plate when I was at ya crib.”

“And bang bang shrimp?” I gushed, opening the second container. “Both of these are my absolute favorites.”

“Then I did good.”

“You did.” I smiled then took a bite of a wing. “You’d have five stars across the board if you got me… you did,” I exclaimed, opening the small clear container and noticing it was blue cheese. I hated ranch. It tasted like sour milk with seasoning to me.

Smirking he replied, “Yeah, I noticed you had that thick, nasty ass blue cheese too.”

“You’re very observant.”

“I’ve been told,” he replied.

I didn’t know if this was a big deal for him or not but it was for me.

I had been with Jamal for six whole years and every time he brought me wings there were more drums on my plate than flats, so Solomon taking notice of that minor detail spoke volumes to me, In my eyes he was a step above my ex already even though our relationship, or lack thereof, was patchy.

“How are you feeling though? Still been sick as fuck?”

“Ugh, yes,” I groaned. “And I’m so sad that I’m probably going to throw all of this good food up later.”

His brows dipped. “You throw up every time you eat?”

I nodded and sighed. “Every single time.”

“You ain’t said shit to your doctor about it?”

“My appointment isn’t for another two weeks.”

“Then we can go to the ER or some shit,” he suggested, his handsome face twisted in a frown. “How the baby gon’ get what it needs if you fucked up and shit?”

“I can manage until my appointment.” I chuckled. “The wait time in the ER is ridiculous and I can’t have you up there with me for hours for something that minor.”

“That shit ain’t minor to me, Kaori,” he countered. “And I really don’t care how long the wait is, for real. If it’s about my seed, I’ll wait forever. Everything in my world stops when it comes to Solo. Shit ain’t gon’ be no different with this baby.”

“Okay.” I simpered.

“Look, I know I been an asshole, shit I’m always an asshole for real, and this ain’t how I pictured having my next kid, but I’m gon’ try to be the best I can for you, for both of y’all.

I be having a lot of shit going on daily, but my line is always open for you, aight?

Also, please keep me updated with appointments.

I was there for all of Solo’s shits, even before he got here, and I want the same with this baby too. ”

“I can do that.” I nodded as I continued to eat. I wanted to engage in the conversation a little more but the food was so good that I kept my responses short.

“Oh and I ain’t with all that clubbing, being around smoke and shit either.

” He continued laying down his ground rules like he was my father instead of the baby I was carrying.

“There is plenty of shit for you to do outside of a club, so do that. Like I said, I’m gon’ try to be the best nigga I can to you during and after this pregnancy but I ain’t gon’ play at all about my seed. Feel me?”

“I love the club food though,” I groaned. “The lamb chop lollipops are to die for.”

“Then you better order some curbside shit or ask me to grab them for you.”

“Fine, lieutenant,” I replied sarcastically. “I just hope you’re ready for me to blow your phone up even when you’re with your bitches to bring me food.”

Part of me meant that and the other part of me was fishing to see what his response would be. According to Bernard, he wasn’t involved with anyone. Just because I was pregnant didn’t mean he wanted to be with me, but I still wanted to know if he was dealing with anyone.

He smirked. “Why don’t you just ask me if I got a bitch?”

“Do you?” I asked, angling my head to the side as I popped one of the shrimp in my mouth.

“Naw, I don’t.”

I nodded and thought for a second. “How are things with you and Solo’s mom?”

I wanted to know what I had to look forward to dealing with Solomon.

Things with us were beyond good in the bedroom but I knew we needed to establish some sort of relationship outside of that.

Hell, I couldn’t even say we were ever going to sleep together again so we definitely needed to know the bare minimum about one another.

“It’s straight,” he replied, keeping it short.

Did that mean they were still messing around?

“Oh, okay.”

I didn’t really know what else to say so I allowed silence to linger around us until he finally broke it by asking about me.

He wanted to know minor things like my birthday, favorite foods, favorite things to do, claiming the need to know what to feed me and how to pick me up on days I might be down.

That could have been the case, but it made me feel good that he wanted to get to know me while also making me disappointed in myself.

Jamal and I had spent so many years in a relationship and I couldn’t even tell if he knew any of those things.

We constantly did things he wanted and I catered to all of his needs. It was never reciprocated.

I also told him about me and Solo conversation as well as him bringing his friends to my line, claiming to want to “support my business”. He was truly the sweetest and cutest kid. I hoped the sibling we were giving him shared his persona.

Solomon and I ended our lunch date with promises of linking up again in a few days. He wanted me to call my doctor to check for cancellations so I could get an earlier appointment because he was concerned about the nausea.

He had done a complete turnaround from the asshole that basically told me my baby wasn’t his when I initially told him and I was glad. My grandmother, and hell my mom too, wasn’t going to allow me to terminate the pregnancy. I couldn’t fathom going nine months dealing with that shit.

I was in pure bliss as the nail tech worked her magic on my legs and feet.

All week I had been looking forward to my mani and pedi appointment.

I pushed my original one back because my mother called and told me she was coming in town to spend the weekend with me.

I was so happy to get that call because I’d missed her.

She wasn’t the happiest with me the last time I’d gone to jail and hadn’t been to see me since.

I saw her when we spent the night with my daddy, but she normally made time to come stay with me or my granny every other week.

“Your normal scent?” the girl doing my pedi asked.

Normally I got mango because it smelled so good but after looking at the list, I settled on lavender. I needed something calming to release any pent-up stress I may have.

“Lavender please and can I do the hot stones and mud masque too?”

She winked. “I got you.”

“My mother too,” I whispered.