"Really?" I smiled.
"Yeah." She nodded. "It seems like you got Jay and Imani wrapped around your finger." She said.
"Mrs. Walker, I really like your daughter, and I plan to be apart of her life."
She looked at me in my eyes and put her hands on her hips. "So you gon get in my face, and lie?" She asked.
"I'm not lying I-"
"You love Imani. I could see it in your face." She said as a matter of factory.
I nodded my head being already caught. "Yeah." I rubbed my neck. "I just, I'm trying not to scare her off."
"Tell her the truth, if you don't it'll hurt you both and that's what we don't want." She explained and I nodded my head.
"Mr. Brandon!" Jaylen jumped off the steps and ran towards me.
"Hey man! What you running for?" I asked him.
"Excited to see you." He said and I pulled him in for a hug.
"I'm excited to see you too but you gonna get us both in trouble rumbling down the steps like that."
"Okay, I won't do it again. What we doing today?" He asked.
"Going to a few places. You ready ?" I asked him.
He nodded and Mrs. Walker came to the door.
"Alright boys." She said and kissed his forehead. "Y'all be safe, remember to buckle up and FaceTime me when you can."
"Mrs. Walker thanks, we will FaceTime you as soon as we get off the road"
She nodded. "Alright now." She said and we left out of the door.
I didn't know how to respond when Naomi actually allowed me to hang out with Jaylen. She said she trusted me and that meant a lot being as though I'm trying to start a future with her sister and I actually really like hanging out with Jay.
"You in bud?" I asked him pulling on his seat belt.
"Yes sir." He grinned and I smiled back at him before getting into the drivers seat and honking the horn before I pulled off.
"Um Mr. Brandon?" Jaylen said.
"Yeah?" I asked him looking into my backseat.
"You don't have on a seatbelt."he said. "And auntie doesn't like when we don't ride without them."
I looked into my backseat and nodded before pulling over. She did hate that and she always made sure I had one on when she was in the car talking about I won't be dying on her watch.
I pulled the seat belt over me with one hand and buckled it.
"We good now buddy?"
He smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah we are good."
I nodded and turned the car back on turning the music off so that we could have some dialogue.
"How was grandma and grandpas?" I asked him.
"It was cool." He nodded. "I stay sometimes and sometimes I like it more than Auntie Mani house and sometimes I don't."
"Why?" I asked him interested in his perspectives.
"Well, sometimes auntie gets upset when I make a mess. She doesn't yell but she gets really quiet and tells me to go watch tv and then I always have to make my bed. But I always have fun with auntie and grandma and grandpa sometimes just like staying in the house and playing music." He shrugged. "Plus granny cooks whatever I want."
Twenty Three
Start from the beginning
