Page 33 of All The Smoke
“Solomon,” I insisted as I took her outstretched hand. “Pleasure to finally officially meet you.”
Ms. Gladis smiled. “I like that so much more. And the pleasure is mine, baby.”
“Baby, this is my mama, Isis, but everyone calls her Ice.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Randall.”
“Please, don’t call me that,” she pleaded. “That’s my b—witch with a capital B of a mother in law.”
“Isis, you need to stop.” Ms. Gladis frowned. “What if Kadeem spoke about me like that?”
“That’s different, Mama. You practically raised Kadeem too.” She rolled her eyes on the low then looked back my way. “Just call me Ice, love. You and KK are making me feel old enough by making me a grandma.”
“I know, my fault.” I laughed.
“Both of your faults, but I promised KK I wouldn’t fuss,” she said and pointed to the table. “This is Kaori’s godmother Treva and her godfather Morton.”
Shaking both of their hands, I said, “Nice to meet you both.”
Morton nodded. “Likewise.”
“Nice to meet you too, honey,” her godmother followed up.
“Okay, now that he knows everyone, can we eat?” Morgan asked.
“Mo, take this to the dining room table and hush,” Ms. Gladis fussed, handing her a dish.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
Ms. Gladis looked at me and smiled. “No, baby. You can go on in there with KK’s greedy ass. I know she’s already in there eating the cornbread.”
Sure enough she was at the table stuffing her face when I entered the room. She looked up when she noticed me and smiled.
“I appreciate you not leaving me hanging, baby,” I jested as I took a seat next to her.
“I’m sorry, babe, my granny just makes the best bread,” she groaned. “I think our little peanut likes it just as much as I do.”
“Greedy ass.” I grinned and kissed her temple. “You didn’t tell me Big Mo was ya godfather.”
“I thought you’d put two and two together with Morgan and… oh, we were gone by the time you got to school with Bernard and Elijah.” She giggled. “But yes our parents are best friends so it was inevitable.”
“Word, so?—”
“Uh, uh, uh,” Kaori’s mother interrupted as she entered the room. “You two have been spending enough time together as is. This is my time to get to know the man that involuntarily aged me by twenty years.”
“Twenty years? Ma, stop being dramatic,” Kaori said.
“I’m not being dramatic. I’m being serious.”
“Isis, hush and bless the food,” Ms. Gladis chastised.
“Please, because a bitch is….”
Ms. Treva frowned. “I know you lying, Morgan Johnson.”
“Sorry, Ma, I forgot where I was,” Morgan mumbled.
Ms. Gladis narrowed her eyes at her. “Oh, I’ll make you remember.”
“Sorry, Granny.”
“Hm, bless the food, Isis.”
All of us around the table bowed our heads while she prayed over the food then began to dig in. Kaori piled food onto two plates and even added some shit to mine with her greedy ass.
Her grandmother asked a lot of questions about our future plans as parents and as a couple, and we were pretty much able to answer them all effortlessly. Kaori and I both knew we had a lot to learn, especially with her being a new mom, but we would figure it all together.
They also asked questions about my other son and Bri.
The questions weren’t really about me and Bri’s personal relationship, but more about how we coparented our son.
I had to keep it light and say that shit was smooth unless she was in her feelings and there were times she pissed me off, like the shit with Solo’s cavity, but my kid was always happy.
I at least had to thank her for that considering she had him most of the time.
“What about your parents?” Big Mo asked. “Bishop Tate and Jewel?”
“The first lady and Bishop?” Ms. Gladis asked incredulously. “Small world. We attend their church.”
Great.
“Wow, the world really is small,” Ice agreed. “Are you an only child? I don’t remember them ever even talking about kids.”
Shit like this was why I resented my parents.
I didn’t know K-Dot and Ice had a kid, but there was a legitimate reason for that.
There was absolutely no explanation for why mothafuckas didn’t know my fucking parents didn’t have kids.
They weren’t trying to protect us from no street shit or nothing like that.
They just truly didn’t give a fuck about anyone but themselves.
“Naw, I got an older brother,” I answered. “He down the road though.”
“Really, where?” Big Mo’s wife asked.
“Diamond Falls Corrections.”
“Oh, you know that’s where my husband is,” Ice responded.
“I told him that, Mama,” Kaori added with a mouth full of food. “I even told him to call daddy’s attorneys to see if they could help.”
Ice nodded then looked at me. “Did they say they could help you?”
“I don’t even know,” I answered honestly. “I spoke to the paralegal up there but never called back.”
She angled her head to the side and asked, “Why not?”
“Yes, why not, babe?” Kaori quizzed. “I figured they were working on it which is why I haven’t asked anything else about it.”
I released a heavy sigh as I shook my head.
“To be real, I can’t really afford the seventy five thousand dollar retainer,” I admitted.
“I mean, I got the bread, but I also got two kids and a girl to care for on top of making sure my brother keeps food and all the shit he needs. I can’t really afford to kick that out off top. ”
“Bryce and Miles will work with you though,” Kaori countered. “They’re practically family to us now and all of the money my parents pay them and the clients they’ve sent their way…”
“KK,” Ice interrupted.
“Sorry,” she sighed, clearly bothered, making me feel bad.
That was a reason I hadn’t said shit to her too.
She worried about every fucking thing, even the shit she couldn’t control or didn’t have shit to do with her.
I wanted her to stress free. If I said I couldn’t afford the attorneys right now, because I would be able to one day, she would worry herself to fucking death and blame herself for being pregnant. I couldn’t have all of that going on.
Tossing my arm around the back of her chair, I pulled her close to me and kissed her temple, whispering to her that shit was cool and to relax.
“I’ll take care of the lawyer fees,” Ice said, catching me completely off guard.
“We will,” Ms. Treva added, then looked to her husband. “Right, baby?”
He smiled at her and nodded. “If that’s what you want, babe.”
“Well, it’s settled then.” She beamed, looking my way. “We’ll handle it.”
“I can’t let y’all do that.” I chuckled.
“You can, and you will,” Ms. Gladis added. “Unexpected blessings are God’s way of demonstrating His love for you. He commands us to bear each other’s burdens. We’re told to encourage one another and build each other up.”
All I could hear in my head was my brother’s voice telling me to be obedient.
He often told me that I questioned myself and God too much.
I didn’t agree because in my mind I never questioned Big G but hearing Ms. Gladis’s words made what he always said make sense.
I needed to just allow things to happen and accept the help.
My brother deserved it because I knew he was innocent.
This was a blessing. They were a blessing. Kaori was a blessing.
“I appreciate it,” I finally said. “And I promise to get the bread back to you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Big Mo said. “We don’t want it back.”
“Right,” Ice agreed. “It’ll make my baby happy, so we’re going to make it happen.”
“What about what makes me happy?” Morgan spoke up. “Because I think I speak for both me and KK when I say it would make us beyond happy if we didn’t have to pay our bills again. I mean come on now, how ghetto is that?”
Everyone laughed as she ranted, and the two of us caught one another’s eye briefly.
I caught the subtle wink and nodded discreetly to thank her for lightening the mood and changing the topic.
My brother was always a sensitive subject and accepting help from others was always a task because not everyone was genuine.
They seemed to be solid and trustworthy enough though, and worst case scenario, if they couldn’t help, I’d just figure something else out.
Either way, I’d never give up on my brother.
“You okay, babe?” Kaori whispered when she leaned into me.
“Always, love.” I kissed the top of her head then tuned back into the conversation, enjoying getting to know the people I hoped to consider my own family one day.
Even if something kept that from coming to fruition, I took pride in knowing my baby would be surrounded by love from everyone at this table for his or her entire life.