Today was the day that would either make or break Jacquees and I. He was going to have to meet my mother! I was still a little bit worried about it though. Not because I thought that Jacquees would say something to mess it up. I trusted him. I just thought that despite this dinner my mother would still find something that she didn't like about him because she was just that kind of person. I had just finished setting up the table. My mother started to set the food out.
Corn, curry chicken, macaroni and cheese, roast beef, and mashed potatoes. I hope Jacquees liked this. At the same moment that my mom had set the last piece of food on the table, the doorbell rang.
"Hmph! He's on time. There's a good start"
I smiled and mentally thanked God. I think I'm more nervous than I should be and maybe more nervous than Jacquees. She opened the door and said "Hello, Mr. Broadnax" meaning that it was obviously Jacquees. After hearing them talk faintly, she finally moved out of the way and he entered. I walked over to him and we embraced. I couldn't help but to smile. My mother rolled her eyes and split us apart.
"Have seat, guys" she said with the fakest smile I've ever seen.
We sat there eating and gave mostly small talk for the next five minutes. Everything actually seemed to be going well. But then my mom asked the question that made me want to slap her in her face!
"So Jacquees, what do your parents do?"
My head shot up. I looked over at Jacquees to see him fumbling with his mashed potatoes with a sad expression.
"You don't have to answer that" I whispered to him.
He simply shook his head at me and looked at my mother with the best smile that he could manage.
"Well, my mom is having problems right now but my dad has his own insurance company"
Actually, his mother has a job at Wal-Mart. He just knew that my mother would judge an answer like that.
"Oh, which one?" she asked looking more interested.
"Uh, Wesnax Inc."
My mother's mouth dropped wide open.
"Y-Your father is Wes Broadnax?"
"Um...yes. Is there a problem?"
"No, I just wasn't expecting that! I admire your father. Quite the businessman" she smiled.
I could see it on Jacquees' face that he wanted to tell my mother who his dad really was but he decided to keep it to himself.
"Thank you, Mrs. Parker. That means a lot" he smiled as he shoveled a piece of curry chicken into his mouth.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. My mother wiped her hands with her napkin and dusted herself off.
"I wonder who that could be" she stated as she got up and went to the front door.
I didn't know who else would be coming here on a Saturday but I didn't worry about it too much.
"OH! What a lovely surprise!" my mother exclaimed. "Come in, come in" she said moving out of the way for this person to enter.
As they did so, my mouth dropped wide open. IT WAS DRE! My mother just stood there cheesing as if she found this situation somewhat amusing but it was just awkward!
"Dre, would you like some food. We had just started dinner a few minutes ago" I heard her say as she closed and locked the front door back.
I cursed to myself and held up a finger to Jacquees telling him that I would be right back. I got up and walked over to the two.
"Actually Mom, do you mind if I talk to Dre for a second?" I asked.
"Well, I guess you can talk to him while I make his plate" she smiled.
I began to walk into the hallway as Dre followed. I exhaled and pushed my back up against the wall. He just looked at me waiting for me to speak.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Well, a free flight to L.A. sounded like a good deal!" he answered.
"No, I'm serious. Why?"
"You needed to see me in person to realize what you were letting go of" he said.
"I knew fully well what I was letting go of"
"Yeah, I guess you did"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that our relationship must not have meant shit to you if you're just gonna hop right into a new one"
"It's called moving on, Dre. Try it sometime"
"No because unlike you, I know when I have a good thing"
"Why are you doing this now? We discussed this! We agreed to be friends"
"And then I realized that I couldn't just be friends with you, Nic"
"Okay well I don't kow what you want me to say or do. My boyfriend is in there and I really like this guy. All I ask is that you try to be civil"
"Whatever" he scoffed.
As we both left the hallway, I couldn't help but to think about what he said. A free flight to L.A.? Who would be willing to fly him to L.A.? Not my mom. Surely it couldn't be my mom. She knew how much I liked Jacquees and she knew about my problems with Dre. We both sat down at the table and Jacquees looked at me in a worried way.
"Are you okay?" he whispered.
I shook my head slightly.
"I'll talk to you about it later though" I whispered back.
"So Dre, how's life back in Georgia?" my mother asked.
"It's okay" he said eating his roast beef. "Everybody misses Nicole" he said looking at me with a smile.
"Oh, I'll bet they do" my mother chuckled. "But you two were something else back in Georgia. I remember when I would come down there to get Nicole and every single time I did, she was messing with you. Playing with you, texting you, talking to you-"
"But then here came L.A." he said sarcastically.
I glared at them both and Jacquees looked so confused. I could tell that he really wanted to tallk to me about whatever was going on. The rest of the dinner was painfully uncomfortable and way more awkward than when Dre first arrived. But it was finally over after a few more minutes and I couldn't have been more happier. Dre and my mom went into the kitchen to talk and I thought this might be a good moment for Jacquees and I to do the same. I gestured for him to come to my room as we both got up. We entered, I locked the door and we both sat on the bed.
"Okay so what the hell was that?" he finally said.
"Dre is my ex that I've been telling you about" I answered.
"So what's he doing here?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. When I talked to him earlier, it just sounded like he was trying to get back together with me. Like he was trying to sabotage us and what we have. I told him I really like you but he is so stubborn! Then he told me that 'a free flight to L.A. sounded like a good deal'. Now what does that mean to you?"
"It sounds like somebody paid to fly him out here"
"Exactly!"
"So who?"
"I don't know. I'm trying to keep myself from believing that it's not my mom but she's the only suspect I have right now"
"I'm sorry about all of this. You shouldn't be going through this"
I simply sighed and laid my head on his shoulder.
"I'm going to confront her after you guys leave. I'll tell you about it"
"What about your punishment?"
"Yeah I'll let you know how that goes too. I'm so sorry, Que"
"Um...for what?"
"I got you all mixed up in my shit and ruined what could've been a great dinner"
"Nic, with or without him showing up I had a good time. I had you there. What could be better than that?"
"Well...nothing I guess" I giggled.
He laughed and leaned his head on mine for what seemed like hours. But it was a good feeling. A scary feeling. All of this was happening in such a short period of time. Could I possibly be falling for Jacquees? Falling in love with him?
"Why are you so amazing? Why can't every other guy be like you?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Why can't every girl be like you?"
I smiled looking up into his eyes.
"Aight. Well, I'm gonna go. I'll see you later, babe. This dinner was...interesting" he said laughing again.
I laughed too and we kissed. I tried to contain myself because all I really wanted to do was take him down right here and forget about everything that happened. He finally pulled away, got up, and left. I stayed in my room a little bit longer not wanting to speak to either my mom or Dre. Not yet anyway. But after a few more minutes, I decided to get up and go out there. I figured that I should be the one to grow up and prove that this situation wasn't bothering me although it was.
I walked out and looked around the house and only saw my mother sitting on the couch in the living room reading her Essence magazine as simple as could be. I looked round and saw no sign of Dre.
"Where's Dre" I asked.
"He left" she responded.
"Oh...when is he leaving?"
"Monday"
I was dying inside. Another day of him being here? Surely, he was going to spend Sunday with us. This time without Jacquees. I can only imagine what he'll say to me then. I sat down at a nearby couch and looked at the walls blankly. My mother lowered her magazine from her face. She must have sensed something because she closed it and sat there for a while.
"You want to talk about something?"
I nodded and took a deep breath.
"Did you know that Dre was coming?" I finally asked.
"Yeah. I flew him in yesterday" she answered without hesitation and without care which pissed me off even more.
"WHY?!" I exclaimed.
"Why did you have that boy over that night I had to work late?"
I looked at her surprised. How could she have possibly known about that?
"Oh yeah. Remember our friendly neighbor, Ms. Jenkins? She heard some noise outside that night and looked out her window. She just so happened to see a boy with dreads walking out of this house. I thought "Who do I know whith dreads that has any business being in my house?" And that's when it hit me! Your little boyfriend"
"M-Mom, Ms. Jenkins is like 70 years old. She can barely remember her cat's name!" I said trying to cover myself up.
"And I know that. I was pretty hesitant to believe her but she said that she has never been more sure about anything in her life"
There was no point in denying it now. I was caught. I officially hate our neighbor.
"Okay but even if this is true, bringing my ex-boyfriend to our house on the same day that you knew Jacquees was coming is a little juvenile don't you think?"
"Oh you don't get to decide what's reasonable and what's not. In fact, I'll tell you what's reasonable: increasing the time of your punishment!"
"Mom, please don't do this! His dad is Wes Broadnax" I said really not caring about what I said at this point. "Doesn't that count for something?"
"While is father is very well respected, I couldn't give less of a damn if he was President Obama himself! His son interfered with my daughter against my rules"
"It's not his fault. You don't even know the situation!"
"It is his fault because I know you told him that you were on punishment. I don't need to know the situation, just the basics:you brought somebody in here without my permission when I clearly told you not to. But hey, I'm not that bad of a parent so-"
"You'll lessen my punishment?" I asked hopefully.
"Uh...no...you just have the same amount of waiting time. Believe me, I was definitely considering lessening your punishment before all of this. I'lll give you this, Jacquees is a good guy but you messed it up by having him over that night. Now, we're done with this conversation. If you'll excuse me, I was reading"
With that, she lifted the magazine back up to her face and continued reading. I was so pissed! Hell, pissed was an understatement for how I felt at this point. I got up and stomped to my room. I couldn't cry because I was so mad but I couldn't call anyone because I was so upset. I plopped on my bed and buried my face into my pillow screaming while I did so. Why did this have to happen to me?
(Picture of Dre on the side)