Talk a Good Game

by Angie Daniels

  I can’t believe it! I had a hot new ride, sunroof, five disc changer, heated seats—you name it. I clicked on the music and realized I had Sirius satellite radio. As I zoomed up one street after another, I reached over and squeezed my man’s hand.

  “You like it?” he asked as if he didn’t already know.

  “Oh baby, I love it so much. Thank you, thank you!”

  Kaleb looked genuinely pleased. “I’m glad you like it.”

  It was almost an hour later before I pulled back onto the driveway and killed the engine. “That was fun!” I couldn’t stop grinning but when I looked over at Kaleb he looked so serious.

  “Babe… I wasn’t going to mention this until after we were married, but,” he paused and drew a breath and the look on his face made me sit up on the soft black leather.

  “Oh my God!” I whispered. “What’s wrong?” He looked like he wanted to cry. And there was nothing sexy about that.

  “A couple of years ago I received two million dollars.”

  Did I hear him right? “Two million?”

  “My father worked for years at this meat packing plant, and lost his arm a few years back in a meat grinder.” He sat up on the bed and I waited for him to continue. “Something was wrong with the switch. He tried to cut off the blade and it sliced into his arms. He had to have it amputated.”

  “Oh no!” I shifted on the seat so I could see him better and waited for him to get to the money. It was then I noticed CJ standing out on the porch, probably wondering what was taking us so long to come inside. “And then what happened?” I urged. I wanted to hear the good part before his pesky son came over and put his dirty fingers all over my car.

  “He settled in court and got millions. Instead of moving out of Sugar Land, my mom and him stayed in that little-ass town and built a house on a hill looking down on the city.”

  “That sounds pretty.”

  He gave me a look that said, “whatever”. “It’s okay, but they act like it’s a museum. They want their grandkids to visit, and when they come down they bitch and complain if they touch anything.” He shook his head. “Anyway, my father set it up so me and my sisters each receive ten million.”

  “Ten million?” I choked out.

  “Two in the beginning, three in December, and another in five years.”

  “Wow! Your dad doesn’t sound like a bad guy. It sounds to me like he loves you.” That was more than I could say about my father.

  “I don’t know why my father did it,” he replied with a scowl. “I guess that’s why he had his lawyer draw it up so he couldn’t change his mind. I think he was drunk when he did it.” He winked and started chuckling and I giggled along with him. I was laughing because I was tickled and so damn happy. I was going to marry a fucking millionaire! I knew Kaleb had money. I just didn’t know he had that much. And even better he had more to come.

  “Anyway… I’m telling you this to explain why I act so paranoid. My ex-girlfriend was only interested in getting her hands on my money. I had no problem sharing because I believe in spoiling my woman, but she just wanted the money. I don’t even think she really wanted to be bothered with my son. I remember she used to tell me CJ acted retarded.”

  It took everything I had not to laugh because she was right. CJ did act retarded.

  He squeezed my hand. “What I’m saying is, I need a woman who’s gonna have my back… CJ’s back. Someone we can trust.”

  “You can trust me.”

  “I hope so.” He brought his lips to my forehead, then gave me a hard look. “We have a promising future and I want to share that life with you.”

  And so do I.

  CJ came racing over to the car and slammed the palm of his grimy hands onto the glass. “Dad, what are you doing?” he whined.

  It took everything I had not to put my new vehicle in Reverse and roll over his big ass feet. Instead, I focused on the money.

  Cha-ching bitches!

  21

  NYREE

  “There she is.”

  I swung around, searched the crowd of high school graduates and their family and watched as Jeremy’s daughter raced toward us. She was followed by her brothers Chad and Jose, and the fat woman behind them had to be their mother and her twin sister.

  “Daddy, I’m so glad you made it!” Tiffany practically fell into his arms while the other two circled and hugged him as well.

  It was good to see he had a great relationship with his children. While they talked, I stood back feeling like an outcast while his ex-wife tried to avoid eye contact. She was a chunky Latina with short-cropped black hair and a round face. I bet it was killing her to see her ex-husband with a woman as beautiful as me. I was rocking a black pencil skirt and a white ruffle blouse with stilettos that showed off my legs. She had on some frumpy, red dress that showed every roll on her round body. I had to resist the urge to laugh.

  “Babe, let me introduce you to my kids. This is Tiffany… Jose… and Chad.”

  They each gave me a warm smile and a hello. I grinned at all of them. So far they seemed like they were receptive to their father dating.

  His ex-wife and her sister stood off to the side and exchanged looks.

  “Congratulations,” I said to Tiffany, and handed her a card.

  Just as I thought, her eyes lit up with surprise. I guess she wasn’t used to her father’s girlfriends buying her gifts. We talked and chatted for a few minutes before everyone agreed to go to some popular soul food restaurant a couple miles away to eat.

  “Dad, I’m going to ride with you,” Jose said and followed us back to his Tahoe.

  I found myself imagining what it would be like to be his wife and these kids being my stepchildren. It wasn’t so bad. In time I’m sure I could learn to love them as well. Jeremy took my hand and led me to his SUV where he opened the door.

  “Everything okay?” he asked searching my eyes.

  I nodded. “Everything is great.”

  We’ve been dating for over two months now and each day our relationship grew stronger.

  Last week, I finished The Five Love Languages and had called my mother raving about that book.

  “Chile, me and your dad discovered that book years ago.”

  “Really? What’s your love languages?” I asked, drawing the phone closer to my lips.

  “Well your father is acts of service, which I should have known the way I’m always running around taking his clothes to the cleaners.” She giggled. “And I’m quality time.”

  “Ooh, so am I! Jeremy’s words of affirmation.” Not that I was surprised. As insecure as he was, I should have already guessed his love language. Which meant it was my job to make sure my man felt good about himself with positive and supportive words. What could be hard about that?

  We had a great lunch with his children. Despite their mother sitting at the end of the table sneering her nose at me, I felt relaxed and at ease. Jeremy squeezed my hand under the table, and I knew he was feeling what I was feeling—family.

  We made plans for them to come down in July and spend some time with us. The entire time I was thinking, Nyree, girl you can do this! You’ll be a great stepmother! I know I was getting ahead of myself again but Jeremy had already been hinting about a future together so I knew it was just a matter of time.

  After the luncheon, Jeremy kissed his kids goodbye and I was shocked when they each came up and gave me a hug.

  “Ms. Nyree, it’s so nice to meet you,” Jose said. I was amazed at how much he favored his father. He had the same big melon head and goofy smile. I could have hugged him all evening he was just that cute.

  “Nice meeting you Delaney,” I said with a two finger wave. And since I did it in front of her kids, she was left with no choice but to respond.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” she muttered under her breath and then quickly climbed into her car.

  We waved again and waited until she peeled her Sonata out the lot before we moved to his Tahoe.

  “What do you
think?” Jeremy reached over and took my hand.

  “I like them.”

  He nodded, pleased. “They like you too.”

  That definitely made me feel good because I really wanted his children to like me.

  Jeremy helped me into the car and I sat there feeling like I was on top of the world.

  Was I dreaming?

  I must have been because I finally came down off the cloud and realized Jeremy was driving in the wrong direction. “Where are we going?”

  “I want to take you to meet my adopted daughter, Jasmine.”

  My excitement suddenly came crashing down. Talk about sticking me with a pin. “Oh, okay.”

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about meeting the child of a woman he used to date but I didn’t see the point in making a big deal about it.

  He pulled into a parking lot in front of a south side Chicago daycare center. I gave him a curious look but Jeremy’s eyes were everywhere but on me.

  I had a hundred questions and he knew it, which is probably why he was still avoiding eye contact. I decided to just see how things played out. Jeremy held the door open and I stepped inside. Kids could be heard laughing and playing in the playground in back.

  A childcare worker came over to greet us. “May I help you?” she said with a curious look.

  Jeremy cleared his throat. “Yes, I’m here to see Jasmine.”

  “Oh, right! Hold on.” She had that familiar look in her eyes as she turned and moved to the back door and called for the little girl. I just looked at Jeremy out the corner of my eyes. He was fidgeting nervously and still avoiding eye contact, but I didn’t say anything. Like I said I wanted to see how this played out.

  Within minutes a little girl came around the corner and screamed, “Daddy!” and then I watched as she raced into his arms.

  Daddy? Why in the world was her mother confusing that child like that? I watched the way she was hugging his neck and grinning down at his face. It was obvious how much she missed him.

  He finally turned to me. “Jazzy, this here is Ms. Nyree.”

  She waved. “Hi Ms. Nyree.”

  “Hi, sweetie.” She really was cute with a smooth dark complexion and two long pigtails. Gold studs were in her earlobes. She was wearing jeans and a pink t-shirt. On her feet were Nike tennis shoes. Somebody was taking good care of her.

  I stood by and listened as Jeremy told Jasmine we had just attended Tiffany’s graduation.

  “Daddy, can I go home with you? Please,” she pleaded and looked so pitiful I almost felt sorry for her.

  “I can’t Jazz, but maybe next time,” he said. She whined a little more then finally he kissed her a couple of times, lowered her to the floor and she hurried back outside.

  “Thanks for coming by.” The childcare worker said, then she went back to writing something on a clipboard.

  We waved and headed out to his Tahoe. Jeremy pulled onto the street and I just sat there waiting.

  I caught him looking at me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Really? What do you think?”

  “I told you about her,” he said and had the nerve to sound defensive.

  Oh no he didn’t. “You told me you had an “adopted” daughter.” I tossed quotation marks in the air. “I was thinking a fake daughter. I wasn’t expecting her to call you Daddy.”

  He had the nerve to look dumbfounded. “Why wouldn’t she? I am her father.”

  I crossed my arms beneath my breasts and shook my head. There was no way this was happening. “You knew I wasn’t interested in dating a man with little kids.”

  He blew out a long breath. “So I guess now you’re ready to break up with me?” He looked frantic but I didn’t care or at least I pretended I didn’t care.

  Jeremy pulled into the gas station and instead of answering him I got out the SUV and went inside the store. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to hear his explanation. I could deal with the teenagers, but a four-year-old... I just wasn’t feeling that idea at all. I was already thirty. I wanted children of our own. Hell, how in the world could we afford that with him making child support for the next fifteen years? I know it sounded crazy. It wasn’t like he had asked me to be his wife. At least not yet, but I was expecting it soon. Well, a girl can only hope. But he wasn’t going to play games with me. I needed a man to be on the up and up. And what he had done was sneaky.

  I grabbed a Pepsi and was reaching for a bag of hot cheese puffs when Jeremy stepped inside the convenience store. I rolled my eyes and pretend I didn’t see him.

  “Hey,” he came up from behind and wrapped his arms around me.

  “What?” I said but not with as much attitude as before. It was something about the way his arms felt wrapped around my body that always seemed to make it hard to stay angry at him.

  “Baby, I’m sorry I threw that at you like that. On the ride home I’ll tell you about it.”

  I pouted and decided to act stubborn because that’s what a woman has to do sometimes to make sure her man knows she wasn’t going to put up with his shit.

  “Hey,” he swung me around and I tilted my head and stared up into his eyes.

  “Angel, I’m sorry.” He lowered his head and pressed his lips to mine and it was a wrap. There was no way I was leaving this wonderful man.

  I took his hand and followed him up to the register and waited while he paid for our things. We went back to the SUV and headed for the highway before he began talking.

  “When I first started dating her mother, I had no idea she had Jasmine.”

  I glanced over at him. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean… Mia and I had been dating for two weeks and she had practically moved in. I came home from work one day to see this baby in her arms.”

  “What? Where was the baby?”

  He was shaking his head, like he was embarrassed by the whole story. “Mia said her mother had been keeping her. She was afraid if I had known she had a daughter, I wouldn’t have dated her.”

  Yeah, I know exactly how she felt. But I’m sure he was already in love with her and she could have said she had HIV, and it probably wouldn’t have mattered at that point.

  “So what did you do?” I said, giving him a little nudge.

  “They moved in, and we talked about getting married. In the meantime I fell in love with Jasmine, and I decided to adopt her.”

  “Where was her father?”

  He hesitated. “He was standing trial for sodomy and rape.”

  I raised an eyebrow and muttered, “Damn.”

  “Exactly.” He waited until he had pulled onto Interstate 55 before he continued. “Mia had ended the relationship with him long before she had Jasmine.”

  “So ol’ boy gave you permission to adopt his daughter?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, his name was never on the birth certificate. So I signed it and she became mine.”

  Okay, so now my neck was rolling. “So then call it what it is. You didn’t adopt Jazz. By you signing the document she became your daughter.”

  “Yeah, pretty much.” There were those puppy dog eyes again.

  “Did you and her mother get married?”

  Jeremy shook his head. “Nah, something just wasn’t ever right about our relationship and when I found out she was messing around with a friend of mine I ended it.”

  Damn, he went through some shit. “But by then you had already adopted her child.” I concluded. “I guess you’re paying child support too, right?”

  He looked nervous by my question before he finally answered. “Yep.”

  I shook my head. I tried to keep my anger to myself. Some men are so stupid when it comes to getting with a woman. “Tell me, what was it about Mia that had you adopting her child before you even married her?”

  I could tell Jeremy didn’t even want to answer my question. Well, too bad.

  “I don’t know, she was on the bowling team and one of my boys said she was interested in me. I guess I was so flattered this young, beautiful woman want
ed me.”

  “How young?”

  “Fifteen years.”

  What did I tell you? He met a beautiful woman and lost his damn mind. Did anybody teach him that what looks good isn’t always good for you? But instead of saying it, I just kept my comments to myself and turned and looked out the window.

  “So what? You mad at me now?”

  Goodness, he needed me to pat his head and tell him it was okay. Not this time.

  “Well say something.” He reached across the seat and squeezed my hand. “Just tell me what you’re thinking or feeling.”

  I wanted to say I felt like I had been played. Nowhere in that damn online profile of his did he say anything about having a four-year-old daughter. She wasn’t adopted. She was his, dammit.

  I sat there staring out the window and pouting for what felt like forever. The fantasy of this wonderful life with just Jeremy and I was starting to have a few flaws.

  Nobody’s perfect.

  I released a long sigh and closed my eyes and said a silent prayer. Lord please guide my actions and my heart.

  With my eyes still closed, I suddenly remembered The Five Love Languages and the secrets to a love that lasted. Christ, commitment and consistency were important. I had a good man whose life had been filled with so many disappointments. And I didn’t want to be one of them.

  I reached over and laced my fingers with his.

  “You still mad?”

  I shook my head. “What can I say? I’m in love with a man who has four kids.”

  There was that goofy smile. “Is that a bad thing?”

  I wanted to scream, hell yeah, but in all honestly I couldn’t say that. I loved Jeremy. Despite all the kids and the fact there was one he would be paying child support to for the next fifteen years, for some reason, nothing else seemed to matter except how crazy I was about this fool. He was almost everything I wanted in a man and I learned years ago you can’t get everything you want. You just have to figure out what you can and can’t live without. Since the kids were only coming down for brief visits I could deal with them, but Jeremy, his love, faith, and magic tongue, I just couldn’t live without.

  He squeezed my hand. “Nyree… You know I love you, right?”