Page 8 of Vaughn & Cori (D-Ville Projects #7)
Vaughn
On our first date, I pulled the best of Diamond Falls idea outta nowhere once I became invested in making sure Cori had a good time.
Now that there’s a second one, I gotta keep the shit up but I’m fresh out of ideas.
The only thing I can think of is all the sexual shit I talked, alluding that I would make it happen our second time around.
She seemed cool with it too and even questioned why it wasn’t happening then.
That’s how I landed on running back the same experience from a different perspective.
We hit up the Fire Peaux Boyz food truck set up in Highland Park today and surprisingly she’s familiar with both. So I let her order the food this time around and we experience all of her favorites together as we watch Jay Roc run through conditioning drills with some of the DP Ballerz.
When we leave the park and she shows no interest in ending our date, I head in the direction of my complex, parking in my normal spot, and debate whether I should leave her in the truck or bring her in while I grab a few things.
It’s a decision that has me in such a weird headspace that I don’t realize we’re just sitting with my truck idling until Cori gets my attention.
“Are we getting out?” she asks as she looks out the window, taking everything in.
I wouldn’t expect anything else from someone like her.
A woman who was probably raised in a solid middle-class lifestyle with enough curiosity to have her going from the gutter to golden gated neighborhoods if that’s where the story took her.
“I’m thinking about it,” I say truthfully because this is only our second date. Sure, she’s met my son and mother unofficially, but officially, inviting her in seems real premature. “My mom’s in there and I don’t want you tripping off the fact that you’re meeting her on the second date.”
I laugh off the statement and she rolls her eyes in response.
“Why are we here then?”
Good question. I don’t know the answer, but I do know now’s as good of time as any to broach the subject that’s a major sticking point for most women.
Hell, gauging her reaction to what I have to say will save me a lot of time.
If this part of my life bothers her, I can take her to The Drexel to fuck her like we both want and send her on her way…
If it doesn’t, I’ll continue as planned for tonight and keep things open for more.
“Honestly, I don’t know why I brought you here.
Even though you’ve already met Jay and seen my moms,” I say, easing my way into it before continuing.
“This is the spot I share with my mom and Jay and I usually keep them separate from shit like this.” I study her face for a moment, waiting for that twinge of judgement I get when people find out I’ve moved back in with my mom, but it doesn’t come.
What does come is a chuckle from her that may be even worse.
“A life so separate that you wanted to use said son as incentive for a date,” she says, calling me on my shit. I don’t even have a fucking good response as to why I just outed myself as playing both ways.
“Look, Jay is almost a grown ass man, and you were going to get an interview with him whether I had anything to do with it or not. My mom on the other hand…”
“Is a grown ass woman, but I get it,” Cori says, finishing my statement when I hesitate.
“Nah, you don’t. I was about to say, my mom doesn’t play that shit.
So if I take you in there, you better be on your Ps and Qs.
Even if she seems nice and doesn’t say shit tonight, she’s going to be filing everything you say away for later.
The only reason I get a pass from her mouth half the time is because I pay for everything in that motherfucker, and even that doesn’t keep me safe most times. ”
“So you’re a mama’s boy?” she asks out loud and I try my best not to respond negatively to an assumption people make all the time.
“Nah, I’m a provider. With Toya gone, living with my moms was the best option for Jay.
She’s been here all her adult life, all her friends are here.
Once they fixed the place up, she had no interest in leaving, so Jay and I moved back in.
I don’t give a fuck about the optics,” I say, but it’s a lie.
I couldn’t stand when a motherfucker tried to paint me as a bum ass nigga or a mama’s boy because I was grown as hell with an almost grown ass son still staying with my mama.
So much so that I said too much trying to defend my actions and Cori picked it up immediately.
“Who’s Toya?”
From the way Cori looks at me and down at my tattoo, she already knows who Toya is, but the reporter in her wants to clarify it with this basic ass question that is sure to lead to another.
I look out the window as raindrops sprinkle over my windshield, sliding down the glass only to be replaced by another.
It’s no more than a drizzle but has some residents heading inside while others endure the temporary inconvenience and thug it out by the common areas, not wanting to miss the next sell or come up.
For me, it sets the stage for a conversation I’m not ready to have.
“Toya is Jay’s mom and my wife,” I say, noticing her flinch at my side.
“Is?”
I don’t realize how it sounds until she checks me about my word choice, looking halfway pissed and ready to jump out of the truck regardless of the fact that it would leave her stranded in an unfamiliar area in the rain. So I hurry to explain.
“She passed away five years ago. That’s when Jay and I moved back here,” I say and Cori nods in understanding as she lets my words sink in.
The explanation seems to settle her down and I can virtually see a light go on in her head.
Like the statement clears up a lot of unanswered questions she had in her head about me, which is cool.
I just hope she doesn’t need more explanation than that for tonight.
When she reaches over to caress my thigh, I don’t know what to expect until she breaks the silence between us.
“So are we going in? I promise I won’t trip off meeting your mom,” she says, repeating my words with air quotes and a smile on her face.
Unconsciously, I feel myself nodding and smiling back before I give her a look, get out, and go to open the passenger door.
Then we take the short walk to the first-floor apartment my mom insisted on keeping.
Unlike most of the tenants on the lower floors, she pays a mortgage and not a lease…
Well, I do rather, because she refused to live on the upper floors where most of the permanent residents are, stating that she wasn’t getting any younger and neither were her knees.
So she got that concession when opting to purchase one of the units.
We don’t make it halfway before I see Kassir headed out of the building and give him an upward nod of acknowledgement without slowing my steps or saying a word as Cori looks on, scrutinizing our exchange.
She’s not from the DP, but given her occupation, I assume she knows who he is…
so I keep it moving for everyone’s sake until we get to the door.
I fumble with the keys a bit before it opens abruptly.
“It took you long enough,” my mom says, standing on the other side of the threshold. “You know folks can’t mind their business, calling my phone to ask why you were making out with a woman in your truck like a damn teenager.”
Her eyes go back and forth between me and Cori a few times before focusing on the latter. And all I can do is shake my head because Cori can’t say I didn’t warn her.
“The amount of selective surveillance y’all do needs to be studied,” I say, addressing how fast and wrong word got to my mom.
“Ain’t nobody making out in the parking lot, and before you get ahead of yourself, I just stopped through to pick up a few things.
Ma, this is Cori Brooks. Cori, this is my mom, Barbara Winston. ”
To my surprise, my mom’s eyes light up as she puts a name to a face.
“You here to see my grandbaby?” she asks, extending her hand and confusing Cori for a moment when she refers to Jay as a baby.
The part that’s blowing me is the act she’s now putting on because she knows damn well that’s not what this is about.
But I already warned Cori, so I let it play out and watch Cori put on for my mom a little too when her demeanor mirrors my mom’s.
“No.” She looks up at me with a playful smile before looking back at my mom.
“Your son did extend the offer though,” she says with so much humor in her voice it piques my mother’s interest as she opens the door wider to let us in then eyes me with a masked expression I ignore.
By the time we’re fully inside, Cori is still standing, looking around at the space I upgraded specifically for my mom.
Since she insisted on staying, I used some connects to lay out the small space exactly how she wanted, making it as efficient as possible with upgraded finishes which don’t break the bank in small spaces like this.
From adding a feature wall in the living area to the eat-in island kitchen with granite countertops so I could convert the space from the small dining area to add an extra bathroom and closet just for her.
“This is so nice. I love this feature wall,” Cori says, looking at my mom.
“Thank you. I don’t like to brag, but…” Her words trail off as she gives me a genuine look of pride at the work I’d done, not bothering to finish her sentence before changing the subject. “Have a seat. Do you want something to drink?” she asks, finding her manners.
“Nah, we’re good,” I say, answering my mom before Cori can politely decline.
Then I go pack everything I came for, taking longer than expected when I stop to place a pickup order at Shay Belle’s.
I check Jay’s room and notice he’s gone as usual, then walk back to the front to find my mom and Cori laughing in the kitchen.
When they notice me standing there, they abruptly stop then immediately burst into laughter again.
“What the hell is going on in here?” I ask with narrowed eyes, noticing Cori with a whole glass of wine in her hand.
“Oh nothing. Your mom was just telling me about somebody next door.” Cori answers way too fast as I try to think of which next-door neighbor she’s referring to and what could be so damn funny.
It’s like her answer came way too quick so I look at my mom to gauge her reaction while stating the obvious.
“You do remember Cori’s a reporter, right?” I ask her while noticing Cori’s head jerk back at my words.
“Oh I remember, but that reporting ain’t no different from the folks calling me to report shit like they did tonight. And none of them can take a picture as good as she can,” my mom says, riding for Cori already.
I don’t know what happened in the short time I was gone, but somehow the two of them have bonded over a kitchen renovation of all things. So I’mma let them have it.