by Tiece
As soon as she walked up, she looked at Nina then Scarlett then her daughter. “Why haven’t you been answering your phone?”
“Maybe, because I was busy, Ma,” Sheila said, not really in the mood for Mrs. Grand’s foolishness. “Ma, you can speak.” She reminded her.
“Oh, hey girls,” She said, still watching Stephen’s truck then looking back at Scarlett and Nina with suspicious eyes.
“Ma,” Sheila called out. “What’s wrong with you?” She asked.
“Whose truck is this?” Mrs. Grand asked.
“That’s Stephen’s truck,” Nina told her.
“Who is Stephen?” She curiously asked as if she cared what they thought about her questioning them.
“Dang, Ma… Are you really doing this right now?” Sheila asked with a sour look on her face.
Mrs. Grand stepped to the back of the truck to take a look at the license plate since she’d scoped out every vehicle in that parking lot the day she caught Greg being unfaithful.
Scarlett nervously stood up. “You okay, Mrs. Grand?” She quickly asked, already knowing what was up. She and Nina were already nervous seeing that things were about to go down, so when Stephan opened up the screen door to leave, it startled both of them as they jumped.
“Babe, you got a yard full of company so I’m about to leave, but I’ll call you later.” He said then kissed Nina on the lips.
“Uh, okay,” Nina said as Mrs. Grand stepped up to the porch as if to stop Stephen in his tracks.
“Excuse me, but is this your truck?” She asked.
“Come on, Ma.” Sheila said, feeling embarrassed. “What’s this about?”
“Is it?” She asked Stephen again, totally ignoring her daughter.
“Yes ma’am it is.”
“How long have you had it?” She asked.
“About a year,” he lied. Scarlett and Nina looked at each other sideways, because Stephen had just gotten that truck not too long ago.
“Oh okay.” Mrs. Grand said feeling some kind of relief.
“Mom, why are you doing this?” Sheila asked as she stood up just ready to go.
“Because it was a truck there that day that looked exactly like this one. The only difference is that the one at the hotel had a dealership tag on it and this one has the licensed tag on it.” She explained.
Stephen smiled, because he’d just went and gotten his tag the day before. Since he’d already known what had happened from his talking baby mama, he walked outside in the nick of time and saved the day.
“My gosh,” Sheila sighed with embarrassing thoughts. “I’m leaving ladies. I’ll call you later, Scarlett.” She walked off as she looked in Mrs. Grand face and disappointedly shook her head.
“Okay,” Scarlett said, anxiously waiting for Mrs. Grand to leave, too.
“Sorry girls,” Mrs. Grand said and without saying another word, she walked off behind her daughter.
“Maaaan, that woman is craaaazy,” Nina whispered.
Scarlett nodded her head in total agreement. “I told you that her screws were loose.”
“No wonder Sheila is so off key. I mean, damn… Look at her mama.” Scarlett grinned a little at Nina’s comment, but inside she was still nervous. It didn’t seem like Mrs. Grand was ever going to let up and because of that, she really had to figure out what she’d do if the truth came to light.
____________________
Later that evening, Scarlett found herself on the phone with Luke, trying to see what he had going on for the night.
“I’m not doing anything, baby.” He told her as he yawned in the phone.
“It’s only seven and you’re already yawning?”
Luke thought about their sex session that lasted all day and most of the night. “I wonder why I’m so tired.” Scarlett grinned, because she already knew why. “Then you know I’ve been out and about all day handling business for my mom and making deposit drops.”
“I know, babe.” She said. “I was only messing with you.”
“Well, what are you doing this evening since you’re not over here with me?” He pondered.
“Nothing much,” she responded. “I’m just gonna relax and get in some me time. Lord knows that I need it.”
Luke was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, you probably do need time to your thoughts. You’ve been so all over the place lately.”
“I have.”
“Before we hang up don’t forget we need to talk about this other lil situation you got going on.”
“I won’t.”
“It’s nothing dealing with another man, is it?” he teased.
She playfully rolled her eyes up in her head with a smile. “No.”
“You ain’t robbed the bank, have you?”
She giggled. “Nope.”
“Okay, well I think I’ve covered most of the bases then. The more important ones, anyway,” he grinned, causing Scarlett to smile. “Good Night, Love.”
“Good Night, babe,” she responded. “If you wake up in the middle of the night and feel lonely then call me.”
“You know I will,” Luke said, and then they ended their call.
Scarlett pulled the driver visor down and checked her lip gloss in the mirror. She then got out of her car. She felt confident with her hair pulled up in a ball on the top of her head, her gum popping like a school girl and her big sterling silver bangle earrings bouncing with every step she made. She was on a mission and six shots of Patron later; she was knocking lightly on Troy’s front door.
The door swung open and Scarlett smiled. “Hey you,” she spoke, admiring Troy as he stood there in a pair of navy plaid, Ralph Lauren pajama pants and a fresh white Hanes T-shirt. The curly hair on his head was to die for as it fit perfectly with his handsome looks.
Just to be in her presence made him feel good inside. He smiled back admiring her laid back school girl look of a simple pair of Old Navy skinny leg, white Capri’s, a fitted hot pink shirt with the words QT-Pie on the front of it in white letters, and a pair of hot pink and white Nike flip flops.
“Well, hey my dream girl,” Troy spoke with a smile that made her fuzzy inside. He immediately stepped out on the porch and hugged her. Before Scarlett knew it, she was putting her arms around his waist as she rested her head on his chest like she’d known him forever. She didn’t know what kind of cologne he was wearing, but he was damn sure wearing it, because she was hooked. Not only did he smell good, but he felt good being that up-close and personal with her.
“How was your day?” He asked in a low tone, close to her ear.
“It was okay,” she softly responded. “But for some reason, it’s just gotten better.” He kissed her softly in the top of her head like he could sense that she needed him just as much as she needed him.
“Come on in,” he said, pulling her by the hand as she followed him inside his house.
Chapter 11
Scarlett sat next to Troy on a suede black sofa that sat directly across from the 60inch 3D TV. She looked around his place with an approving smile.
“You have a really nice place and it smells so good in here.” She said loving the strawberry and cream candles that were lit around his house. “Do you live here alone? I mean, is all this house yours?”
Troy grinned. “Yes, all this house is mine.” He mocked her.
“You live here by yourself?”
“I don’t, right this moment. My Uncle lives here with me now, but I used to live here by myself.” He said then all of a sudden became saddened. “My cousin would slide through a lot and sometimes stay over when he was too wasted to go home.”
Scarlett softly laughed to try to brighten his load. “Sounds ‘bout like me and my bestie,” she said. “If I get wasted at her house, I’ll stay the night and I live only two houses down from her.”
Troy laughed. “I like you,” he admitted.
“I like you,” Scarlett responded with a shy smile on her face. She did like him and the six shots of Patron only enhanced those emotions
.
“You want something to drink?” he asked.
“Sure, what do you have?”
“Some of everything,” he said, getting up and walking into the adjoining kitchen where the wet bar was.
Scarlett got up and followed him. She smiled when she saw the variety of different liquor she could choose from then she immediately spotted the Patron.
She pointed at the bottle. “That’s what I want.”
Troy frowned. “Patron?”
“Yep,” she responded with a smile.
“Okaaaay,” he grinned. “You must be staying the night?”
Scarlett smiled while looking around his nice immaculate house. “I can.” Her comment caused Troy to smile from ear to ear as he poured her a drink. “Just a splash of cranberry juice, please.”
He frowned again. “Just a splash, okay then,” he said while shaking his head. “This might be an interesting night.”
Scarlett reached for her mixed drink. “Aren’t you gonna drink with me?”
Troy shook his head, knowing that he wasn’t a hard liquor drinker. “I’ll have a Corona.”
“Just a Corona?” Scarlett laughed. “You must be can’t hold your liquor?” She asked, already starting to sound like she couldn’t hold hers.
Troy grinned. “Oh, I can hold it, but if I drink with you I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
“Well, drink with me,” Scarlett insisted. “You said to come over and we’ll have a carefree, laid back night of getting to know each other, right?”
“I did,” Troy said with a smile. He already liked where this was going. “By the way, I like your carefree, laid back attire. You seem quite comfortable.”
“I am,” she said with a grin.
“Are you sure you want me to drink this with you?” He teased, but was very serious.
She smiled. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
“Well, in that case,” he said, grabbing the Patron bottle. “Your ass can drink, too can’t you?”
“I just know how to hold my own.” She said. “Hey, when you fix your drink I wanna check out the rest of your house; if that’s cool with you.”
“That’s definitely cool with me,” Troy said then started to fix his drink as his uncle came downstairs.
“I thought I heard a woman’s voice down here.” He said, reaching out for a handshake. “Hey, I’m Anthony. Troy’s uncle.”
“Nice to meet you,” Scarlett said, shaking his hand. “I’m Red.”
“Watch out for this one,” Troy said with a grin.
Unc laughed and looked at him. “What’s that in your hand?”
Troy chuckled a little. “She insisted that I drink with her.”
“In that case, he’s the one you better watch out for.” Unc said, causing Troy and Scarlett to laugh. “Neph, I’m headed out for a little while, but I just gotta let you know that your company is very pretty.”
Scarlett smiled. “Thanks, Anthony.” She said, admiring his handsome looks. Troy looked just like him except his hair was full of big curls, his uncles was low cut, but with deep waves that had the potential to look like Troy’s if it grew out a little.
“The pleasure is all man,” he said. “Neph, come walk me outside.”
Troy looked at Scarlett and smiled. “He’s about to talk about you.”
Scarlett blushed. “Go ahead. I’ll be right here when you come back.” She said, turning up her drink.
Once outside on the porch, Troy didn’t waste any time. “What you think, Unc?” He whispered.
“I think she’s a pretty girl and she seems pretty cool like she comes from a decent family.”
Troy smiled. “She is cool, huh?”
“She is,” Unc said, enjoying the smile that Scarlett had put on his nephew’s face. “Be easy on that drink. You know you can’t handle no liquor. You’ll be passed out before she could make a move on you.”
Troy laughed. “Or if she let me, I’ll be trying to get in her panties.”
“That’s the only way your ass will stay up.” Unc laughed, knowing that Troy will go to sleep on a nigga quick as hell after taking a few swallows of liquor.
“I don’t wanna sex her, though, Unc. I just wanna show her a good time.”
Unc looked at him sideways. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that this one is different from the others.”
Troy had a big kool-aid smile on his face. “She is,” he said. “I felt something the first day I laid my eyes on her.”
“Well, if you want it to last then you can’t sex her on the first date.” Troy listened as he sipped from his glass of Patron and Cranberry juice. “Maybe the second or third date, but not the first one,” he said as Troy turned to walk back in the house like he was ignoring his uncle’s advice. “You hear me, neph?”
He nodded his head. “Yeah, I hear you, Unc. Guess, I’ll be going to sleep on her then.” They laughed. “Be careful while you’re out.”
“I will,” Unc said then walked off heading to his car. “Aye, neph,” he called out, causing Troy to look back as he opened up the front door. “Have fun, man.”
“Will do,” Troy said then entered the house, closing the door back behind him. He looked over at Scarlett who had finished her drink. “Now, back to you.”
“Yeah, back to me,” she said, holding her empty glass up with a seductive smile.
____________________
Forty minutes later, Scarlett and Troy had made their way upstairs and in his bedroom lying across his bed. They were both on their backs propped up on some pillows feeling pretty good as she enjoyed the beautiful view of his fish aquarium. Scarlett looked over at him and smiled. She really did like him, but she was torn. She didn’t expect to feel the way she did, but he made it so easy. He was charming, kind, very easy on the eye, and thoughtful. He was also going through a loss and was deeply saddened by it. All she wanted to do was bring a smile back to his face in hopes that if the truth ever came to light he’d forgive her instead of wanting to retaliate against her brother.
“Your uncle is a funny guy,” she stated, just trying to conjure up some kind of meaningful conversation.
“He is a funny guy.” Troy agreed with a nod of his head.
“Y’all seem very close. I think it’s great to see family members so close with each other.”
“Yeah, we are close. He raised me and my cousin since we were lil boys.”
Scarlett was surprised to hear this. “He raised you?” She pondered.
“Yeah, unexpected turn of events happened and my cousin and I ended up in his care.” He said, sort of looking away from her like the subject was a very touchy one.
Scarlett leaned up on her elbow so she could be face to face with him as he lay there with one hand propped behind his head. “Do you mind me asking what happened?”
Troy sighed then cut his eyes over at her. She was beautiful and the look in her eyes told him that she cared about his situation. “Well, uh,” he started. “When I was eight years old my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor and by the time she found out it was too late. She died six months later.”
“Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said, saddened by his past.
“Thanks,” he said, and then continued. “My aunt, which was my cousin’s mom, was heading to meet my uncle to finalize her funeral arrangements and was in a terrible car accident. She died two days after my mom, which was her sister.”
Scarlett’s eyes filled with water. She felt horrible after hearing about this. “So, your uncle was the brother to your mom and your aunt?”
“Yep, and because they were the only siblings each other had then he cared for us. He wasn’t about to let us go to a home.”
“Aww, he is a stand up guy.” Scarlett said, holding back her tears.
“That was a struggling time for us. My cousin was two years older than me, but he took it the hardest, because his mom died unexpectedly. I was able to come to terms with losing my mom. She’d go
tten prepared and prepared me as much as she could. I still have videos that she recorded for me and whenever I’m going through a rough time, I play one just to hear her voice and see her face.” He sincerely looked at Scarlett with a slight smile. “Other than my uncle and my cousin, no one has ever seen her videos, but maybe, I’ll show you one someday.”