Omari pulls up to the gate; he rolls down his window as he begins typing in a code. Their parents looked at Omari, perplexed.
"When did Maryel'le live in a gated community?" Mayte chirps up. Omari ignores his mother as the gate opens, and he pulls up to the security.
"I need y'all ID."
"You have mines in your wallet." Danielle reminds him.
"Why we need our IDs?" Marion ignorantly Asks.
"Because her gated community will not let us in unless we give them our IDs." Mayte opens her purse, impressed.
"Oh, this man got my baby in a safe community! I like him already!" Mayte exclaims, looking for her wallet.
"They can clearly see that we're related. I don't know why they would need to see my ID?" Marion argues. Mayte lets out an annoyed sigh,
"Marion will stop being ignorant and give them your damn ID!" Mayte exclaims. Omari glances over at the Security guard at the post. The guard chuckles as Omari and Danielle are regulars.
"So, these are the 'rents?" He asks as Omari hands him their IDs.
"Wait, you know him?"
"Yeah! Mari is a regular! By the way, how is Amira?"
"Oh, she's great!" Danielle rolls down her window and shows him a picture of Amira. The guard takes the phone.
"AWWEE!!! She's so adorable! Did she come with y'all?"
"No, we left her back in Henderson, but Auri got her in the best care! And honestly, I could use the break." Danielle says, chuckling. The guard chuckles, shaking his head, and handing Danielle her phone back.
"Who are you telling? When I leave here, I gotta go back to three of them." Omari gasps.
"Hannah had the triplets? Oh my, the time has passed! They got to be at least a year now, right?" Omari asks.
Mayte and Marion sit there, confused. How long has Maryel'le been living here? Mayte clears her throat, distracting Omari.
"Here's my ID." Mayte nudges Marion, who begrudgingly hands Omari his ID.
"Why do you need our IDs?" Marion asks as Omari groans, embarrassed by his father's behavior.
"Omari, it's cool! We just need to have it in our file for security purposes."
"Does anything bad happen in this area?" Marion asks.
"Oh! NO! sir. We're actually listed in the top 5 safest neighborhoods in Connecticut!" The guard informs him as he scans their IDs. A red screen appears, and he sighs. He hands them their IDs.
"I just have to get the residents' permission to allow you guys in." Marion and Mayte looked at him, offended. Mayte leans over Danielle to the window.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Mayte asks, offended. The guard shakes his head, de-escalating the scene.
"The residents don't have you on the list of allowed visitors and it's also the fact your IDs are new to our system. It's just a safety percussion!" He reassures her. Mayte goes back into the Navigator and looks at Omari & Danielle.
"Did y'all have to go through this?" Omari and Danielle tried to hide the guilty look on their faces. They didn't. Auri specifically put her brothers, their spouses, and their friends as allowed visitors. Nothing against her parents. She didn't think that it would get to this point. So, why add her parents?
"Your silence says enough... What is Maryel'le hiding?" Mayte asks, with her arms folded. Before Omari could say anything, The guard interrupts them.
"Mr. Smith has granted permission. I added you guys to the list of allowed visitors, and only need to show your ID when you visit! Omari, we will need to catch up!" The guard expresses as Omari nods.
"For sure! Have a good shift." The guard nods as Omari drives away.
"How many times have you guys been here?" Mayte asks. Omari sighs.
"Why does that matter?"
"You're calling the guard's wife by her legal name, and how did they know about Amira?" Omari sighs,
"We've been here a few times."
"What is a few?"
"Well, when we lost the house, We stayed with Auri..." Danielle confesses. Mayte gasps.
"Danielle!" Omari scolds.
"What?!"
"You said that we couldn't visit you!" Mayte exclaims.
"Auri's rules, not ours. I'm not arguing with my little sister about the rules of her house." Omari points out.
"What is your sister hiding?! Why is she pushing us away?!" Mayte badgers as Omari pulls into an apartment complex.
"Look, Auri isn't going to be home for a bit, and she would like us to wait for her to be back. Uhm, Ario should be on his way with Rayven." Mayte shakes her head, opening the car door. Danielle tries to grab her arm, but Mayte aggressively jerks it away.
"Omari, which apartment is Auri's?!" Mayte exclaims.
"I am not telling you." Marion looks over at his son.
"Don't disrespect your mother!" Marion argues.
"I'm not! Auri told me to wait for her, and I'm respecting her wishes." Marion shakes his head as he gets out of the Navigator. Omari curses to himself as he sees his mother badgering an elder white lady to find out where Auri lives. The elder lady looks frightened. Danielle rushes out of the car, apologizing to the elder lady. Omari gets out of the car, cursing.
"MOM WILL YOU STOP ACTING LIKE THAT?!" Omari scolds.
"Watch your tone, boy! We're still your parents." Marion threatens. A Silver 2023 Audi Q5 parks beside the Navigator. Ario urgently gets out of the car.
"What the hell is going on?!" Ario asks.
"Auri wants us to wait for her and Mom and Dad acting like toddlers," Omari complains. Ario sighs.
"Aye, let's get something to eat while we wait for Auri..." Ario suggests.
"Not my baby boy in this plot." Mayte disappointingly says, cupping Ario's face. Ario sighs.
"Look, we should respect Auri's wishes."
"MAYREL'LE HAS BEEN KEEPING SECRETS FROM US! WE HAD TO FIND OUT OUR ONLY DAUGHTER IS ENGAGED BY THE FUCKING MAIL?!" Mayte flusters. Ario sighs, feeling bad for Mayte. Omari glares at his brother, but Mayte's sad eyes always get to him.
"She lives in the penthouse," Ario confesses as he points to the beautiful penthouse that is on top of the apartment complex.
She gasped, covering her mouth. The penthouse looked so beautiful.
"Thank you, son." Mayte and Marion go inside the office as Omari hits Ario's chest.
"What? It was the damn eyes." Ario admits. Rayven finally gets out of the car.
"And where were you?!" Omari exclaims to Rayven.
"I did the smart thing and stayed in the damn car. Yo crazy-ass momma was not dragging me into this!" Rayven argues as they all laugh.
"Where is Mario?" Omari asks as they enter the office.
"His flight is delayed. They'll be here tomorrow evening." Ario explains as they walk towards the elevator, where their parents are eagerly waiting.
"Ohhh, Auri is going to be pissed! His girl was the reason she had to go to Bartfort." Omari informs as they laugh.
"My money is on Auri," Danielle interjects.
"Damn, y'all have no hope for my boy?" Ario says, playfully clutching his chest. The elevator doors open, and they all enter.
"Auri had that boy in a leg lock. He was turning purple before she allowed him to breathe, and her excuse was she wanted to see the light go out of his eyes. Please, don't play with my good sis, Auri." Danielle argues as the boys laugh.
Mayte angrier by the minute.
"I don't know why y'all are laughing! You don't feel like your sister did her own parents wrong?!" Mayte scolds. They immediately fell silent. The duration of the elevator ride was tense and silent. The elevator doors open to a vacant floor with one door. Mayte rushes to the door and bangs on the door.
LeRoi hears the knock and walks to the door. Beside the door was a screen that showed who was outside. He smiles as he sees his in-laws at the door. He unlocks the door and opens it, greeting them with a smile. Mayte looks at him, relieved.
"Hi, I'm Mayte, and this is my husband, Marion. We're Maryel'le's parents!" LeRoi smiles.
"It's nice to meet you, I've heard a lot of good things about both!" Mayte smiles.
"I wish I could say the same about your son," Mayte says, barging into the penthouse. LeRoi stood there confused as Omari, Ario, Rayven, and Danielle tried to contain their laughter. LeRoi looks over at them, confused, and they coyly shrug.
"My son?" LeRoi probes.
"Yes, your son. I'm pretty sure you're just as upset as we are or maybe your son respects you more than our daughter does."
"Well, I would hope so?" LeRoi says, still very confused about what was happening. Why is she talking about LeRon? What does LeRon have anything to do with this?
"So, where is he?" Marion asks as he begins to look around the penthouse.
"Where is who?" LeRoi asks. Mayte chuckles as she pats LeRoi's chest.
"Look, I know Maryel'le told y'all to wait until she gets home, but I would like to meet the groom that is taking my daughter's hand in marriage and ask WHY HE CONDONED HER KEEPING THE RELATIONSHIP A SECRET! I mean, I'm just so mad, it's like everybody knew about the relationship, and instead of informing us, they just kept it as some big ass secret!" Mayte vents.
"Damn, what does your son do? I know baby girl makes decent money, but I would assume that your son is paying for the apartment." Marion asks.
"Well, no. I pay for the apartment." Mayte gasps as she clutches her chest.
"Please tell me that your son is not relying on your money! I don't want him to marry her and try to get alimony or child support out of my baby girl! She worked too damn hard to let some trust fund baby take her money!" Mayte scolds, confusing LeRoi. He backs away and rethinks everything Mayte and Marion are saying, and it clicks. They think he's the groom's father.
Which is strange...
She did inform her parents that she was marrying an older man, right?
"Uhm, what do you know about the groom?" LeRoi curiously asks. Omari chuckles as he realizes that LeRoi is catching on.
"Mario is going to be so mad that he missed this," Omari whispers to Ario.
"Don't worry, I'm filming this shit and sending it to the group chat," Danielle says as she points her iPhone Camera to the interaction. Ario chuckles.
"I knew you were a long-lost sibling!" Ario jokes. Rayven shakes his head.
"Leave me out of this. I still want to be in Auri's good graces." They wave him off as they continue to watch the disaster unfold in front of them.
"His name is LeRoi Smith. That's all we know." Mayte replies.
"Why?" Marion asks, confused.
"My name is LeRoi Smith," LeRoi informs them. Mayte looks at LeRoi and begins to laugh. Marion watches LeRoi's serious expression, deciding to laugh it off. He couldn't be insinuating what he was insinuating, right?
"So, where is LeRoi junior then?" Mayte asks. LeRoi sighs,
"There is no LeRoi Junior. I'm the man that you're daughter is marrying." Mayte laughs, thinking it's a joke, but looking at LeRoi's serious and disappointed expression made her soon realize it wasn't a joke. She faints, falling on the floor as the door opens.
"Aight babe, I'm home! Can you belie---" Auri pauses as she sees the full house. LeRoi's face did not look happy.
"Maryel'le Natalia-Marisol Haslett, what is going on?" Marion furiously asks. Auri looks around and gives an anxious smile.
"I can explain?" She nervously states.
"Yes, Maryel'le. Please explain," LeRoi asks, with his arms folded. LeRoi never calls Auri by her government name.
She was in some deep shit.