Page 23 of All The Smoke

My mother was a true creature of habit. She got the same pedicure no matter where she went, the absolute basic one. She always said they didn’t have all the extras when she was younger and she didn’t need them then and she doesn’t now.

She gave me a slight nod before walking to the back, tapping the tech working on my mother on her way, having her follow her to the back. While I waited, I checked in with Solomon, letting him know I had eaten and was fine. He asked me a million times a day. It was cute yet overbearing.

When the girls resurfaced from the back with the towels, hot stones, and the contents for the mud masque, my mother’s eyes darted in my direction. I gave her a smile and wink before focusing on my own pedicure.

After we were done, we drove up to the mountains so I could go to The Deli. I had been craving their broccoli and cheddar soup badly. The bowls they sold in the store were cool, but I wanted it fresh and hot.

“Have you been enjoying your day of pampering, Mama?” I asked once we were settled at our table waiting for our food. They had a good strawberry lemonade, made in house, so I had two cups sitting in front of me, one with no ice.

“Very relaxing.” She smiled. “I needed today.”

“Well, I’m glad I contributed to that. You work too much, Mama. Especially since Daddy’s been gone.”

“I have to, apparently I’m going to a grandma soon.”

She’d completely caught me off guard with that. My intention was to tell her today since I was keeping the baby and clearly would need all of the support I could get. I didn’t think my granny would rat me out that quickly.

“Mama, I?—”

She cut me off. “It’s not Jamal’s, is it?”

“No.”

“Then I’m happy.” She smiled. “I mean I’m kind of young to be a grandma, but happy nonetheless.”

“You’re forty-five.” I chuckled.

“In my prime.”

“Girl.”

“You need to tell your father.”

“I know.” I sighed.

“When you visit him, Sunday, Kaori.”

“But…”

“Or I will,” she asserted. “I’ve been with your father for thirty years; I’ve never kept a secret from him. That’s not going to change today.”

“Okay,” I mumbled.

“And I want to meet the father.”

“Mama…”

“I’m going to give you a chance to introduce him to me, to us, the right way, but you only have a small window to make that happen.”

“Fine. Let me talk to him first then I’ll figure something out.”

She nodded then proceeded to ask me the dreaded question: how did we meet. I was a little nervous and ashamed to admit it because although I was grown, I hated disappointing my parents. They’d done and sacrificed so much for me that all I ever wanted to do was make them proud.

Surprisingly she was tickled by it and even told me she and my father had a similar meeting, besides her getting pregnant so quickly.

They met and it was instant chemistry. I’d already known because my father told me before, only he left out the part about the one night stand.

I was thankful because who wanted to hear about their parents having sex.

After we ate lunch, my mother wanted to go to The Shops at The Falls.

Neither of us needed anything, because we had more shit than we had space to put it, especially me since her house was way bigger than my condo.

Hell, one of her closets was probably the size of my entire place, but that didn’t stop her from getting us both, and the baby, new stuff.

I was way too early in the pregnancy to know what I was having, so she bought unisex stuff, but I was happy she was excited about it.

I wasn’t completely in the clear because I had to have a conversation with my father, but it eased my mind that my mother wasn’t completely tweaking out.

Wya?

I couldn’t stop the smile that trespassed on my face seeing Solomon’s text. I kept reminding myself that he was mean to me before and after telling him about the baby, but since finding out I was keeping it, he had been trying.

The mall with my mom right now.

What’s up?

I was trying to come and lay eyes on you. How long y’all gon’ be there?

We’re about to leave.

Bet. I’m gon meet you at your crib.

Okay.

“Come on, Kaori, Neal pulled the car up,” my mother said, tearing my attention from the phone. She’d sent him ahead with our bags to get the car.

Once we were safely inside and on the road, she made plans to cook dinner for us tonight at my place, reminding me that she and my grandmother were staying the night.

Anytime she was in town the three of us were always together.

I wasn’t quite ready for them to meet Solomon, not without me and him talking about it first, so I pulled my phone out and planned to meet at his place instead of mine.

He was cool with that and sent the address to me after going back and forth about him coming to pick me up.

He insisted, but I knew how my mom and grandma were, they would be annoying and overbearing so I declined.

I got my mom settled in my house before taking the drive across town to his place. He was already standing outside waiting on me when I pulled up, so he approached my car and opened the door after I parked and turned it off.

“You good?” he asked, pulling me into a hug once I was out of the car.

“Yes.” I simpered and blushed. I always felt so secure in his presence and he always looked at me with adoration. It was weird because I wasn’t used to it.

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand and leading me inside of his house, which was surprisingly clean for a man’s place.

Not that I thought he’d be nasty or anything like that, I just hadn’t expected his place to be spotless and smell as good as it did. His cologne lingered in the air mixed with the smell of the Varsity candle from Light My Flame burning on his kitchen counter.

It was a typical man’s space though: a lone black sectional with a coffee table in the middle of the floor and a large TV mounted on the wall with a game system connected to it. The game system sat on a small black table underneath the TV with a picture of Solo on it.

“You want something to drink?” he asked and I nodded.

“Water, please.”

He nodded and walked away with me watching and admiring him the entire way. Everything about Solomon was sexy—his walk, the way he talked, his mannerisms. He was so rugged yet was gentle with me in every interaction we had.

Well, almost every interaction.

“Here you go,” he said, handing me the cold bottle of water then taking a seat next to me on the couch.

“Thank you.”

“Ain’t shit.” He nodded. “So ya moms is here?”

I nodded. “Sorry to change plans at the last minute, but if I would have brought you over there they would have hounded you.”

He chuckled, sitting back and stretching his arms across the back of the couch.

“Sure I can handle it.”

“Ugh, you think that until it’s really happening.” I laughed. “How’d you know she doesn’t stay here though?”

Besides talking when he brought me lunch, Solomon and I hadn’t exchanged very much about each other. Even then, I kept it minimal, mainly telling him things about me. So it caught me off guard when he said she was in town.

“Saw a picture of you and your people when I was at ya crib.”

My brows furrowed as I tried to recall where a photo of my parents was in my house. I had them no doubt, but not in the common spaces of my home people would actually be in, such as my living and dining room.

My bedroom!

There was definitely a picture of me and them on my graduation day on my dresser in my room and he was definitely in my bedroom.

“Shit crazy.” He shook his head and chuckled. “I had no idea K-Dot and Ice had a kid.”

“That’s how they preferred it.” I shrugged. “With them being so heavily involved in the streets, they thought it was best for them to keep their daughter under wraps,” I admitted. “It’s also why they moved their empire to Georgia.”

“I can dig it.” He nodded. “If I was big time like that, I’d probably move the same way with Solo.”

I nodded and smiled, thinking about the little cutie whose face matched the one sitting with me. Every time he came to mind I hoped my little nugget would have the same features if he was a boy or at least some similarities if she was a girl, especially the rich chocolate skin.

“They want to meet you,” I said after a few minutes of silence, then grimaced at the thought. “Both of my parents.”

“K-Dot jammed up, right?”

“Yes, but we have our ways,” I answered, then dropped my head. “Ugh, they are going to be so extra.”

Smoke cuffed my chin and lifted my head so I was looking into his eyes. “I got it, mama.” He smirked. “You think I’m scared to meet ya people?”

“If you know the names Ice and K-Dot you know why I’m worried.”

My parents were very protective, my mom more than my father because she was always on edge, but neither were anything to play with.

“When the time comes, I can handle myself, baby. I promise.”

“Anyways, what about your people? How will they take the news?” I asked, not wanting to think about introducing him to my family any longer. I would be uneasy meeting his folks too but not nearly as bad as sitting with my family.

“Shit, my brother already know.” He smiled. “And he happy about the shit.”

“Does he live here?” I asked and the smile he wore slowly began to fade.

“N-naw.” He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat a little. “He been locked up for like six years.”

I gasped. “I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool, you ain’t know.”

“Can I ask why?” I asked. “What did he do?”

“He didn’t do shit.” He frowned and I felt even worse for asking.

“I’m sorry. W-we can change the subject.” I stammered a little but he shook his head.

“Naw, it’s cool. My fault, I just…” He paused and took a deep breath.

“The shit he in for is bogus, feel me? He got jammed up with some little niggas that hit a bad lick and hopped in my brother’s whip while he was waiting on his homeboy and shit, forcing him to be their getaway driver.

They got knocked a few blocks down and yeah. He been fucked up ever since.”