I chuckled. “That may end up being the best advice you’ve given me in years.”
I hung up and turned toward Junior, who had just finished his call. “Junior, I need you to do something for me.”
London
8
I was putting Mariah to bed when I heard voices coming from the foyer, letting me know someone was home from the dealership. It definitely wasn’t Harris’s polished, deliberate male tones. Who knows where he’d run off to once we got home; probably somewhere to call that no-good home wrecker he didn’t want me to know about. Lord help her if I ever found out who she was, because the lady in me was going right out the window. I’d already proven once before that I’d do whatever it took to protect my marriage and keep my man, so doing it again would be that much easier.
What I didn’t understand was why these whores had to chase after married men instead of finding men of their own. Well, you know what they say: competition only makes you stronger. So, when my husband came to bed, I was going to remind him just why he married me. He needed to know that I could still be his lady in the streets and his freak in the sheets.
With that thought in mind, I kissed my slumbering baby’s forehead and went in search of whatever family members had just arrived home. When I approached the top of the stairs and looked down, I saw my mother taking off her coat. She was pale and didn’t look so good.
“You okay, Momma?”
She glanced up at me as she handed off her coat and gloves to Iris, our housekeeper. Although she smiled warmly, I could tell she was trying to hold back another coughing fit. She hadn’t been feeling very well the past few months, and I worried about her declining health. I was sure it had contributed to my father’s decision to move down to Florida. Our parents’ love for one another was an example to us all, especially me in my marriage to Harris.
“I’m fine. Just a little tired is all. It is rather late.”
“Where’s Daddy?” I was surprised she’d come home alone. If I had known, I would have insisted she ride home with Harris and me.
I didn’t expect Paris or Rio, or even Orlando, after Harris mentioned he’d canceled their meeting, but I figured my father would have at least accompanied my mother home. Then again, who knew? Maybe he and Orlando had stayed back at the office to strategize and discuss the transfer of power between them.
Oh, who was I fooling? If I knew my father and brother, this had probably been worked out months ago, and they’d been keeping the rest of us in the dark all along. Dammit, I scolded myself for even entertaining that thought. I hated it when I caught myself thinking like Harris, the king of conspiracy theories. Sometimes I wondered what made him so damn paranoid.
“You know your father. He’s still over there at the dealership,” she answered. “But don’t worry. Junior’s there with him. He’ll make sure he gets home safely.”
“What about Orlando? He over there too?” I was going to be so mad at my brother if she said yes. Harris had offered him an olive branch, and if he’d blown off my husband to sit in the office with Daddy, it would be such an insult.
“No, he said he had some business to take care of out on Long Island. You know that boy can’t stop working. I wish he’d find a woman and settle down.”
Momma gestured for me to come downstairs. I quickly descended the staircase and gave her a hug and a kiss. She hooked her arm into mine and guided me toward the living room, where we sat side by side on a love seat.
“Awfully quiet around here. Everybody asleep?” She looked around our unusually silent home.
“Mariah is. As you know, Rio and Paris won’t be home until the wee hours, if at all, but Harris is around here somewhere.” I gave my mother a somber look as I decided to defend my husband’s honor. “I don’t know if you or Daddy realized it, but your news stunned him tonight. I think his feelings are a little hurt.”