"Girl I had to work for it
Still you don't judge me
I love the way you touch me
I'm feeling like I'm 'bout to lose you
With all the shady shit I do to you
Some things are better left unsaid
I can't get it out my head
Better left unsaid
Everything that I regret"
Let Me Explain - Bryson Tiller
Dave
I sat across from Jay as her parents sat at the opposite ends of the table. Her mother out did herself tonight with the meal she had prepared.
I looked directly as Jay, as her mother spoke to the table about everything she had made.
"Dave, I know for religious reasons you cannot eat pork, so the small dish to your left is the mac and cheese without bacon. Thats all for you" Alba smiled at me.
"Thank you, you didn't have to do that" I smiled.
"You don't eat pork?" Jaime, Jay's father asked me.
"No sir, I'm Muslim" I respectfully bowed my head.
"With a Jesus piece on your arm" he pointed out.
"Papi really?!" Jay spoke up.
"It's okay" I laughed.
"I was actually catholic, all my life. I had this piece done way before I converted"
"Why did you convert ? If you don't mind me asking?" Alba asked me.
"Not at all. My older brother converted when I was young kid, and my best friend converted a couple years ago. It seemed like the men around me had all converted"
"So you decided to covert because of them?" Jaime asked me.
"Yes and no, I saw how much more disciplined in their lives they were. How dedicated they were to making du'a 5 times a day and never missing a beat. It ultimately gave my life the structure I needed."
Janae smiled at me, causing me to smile back at her.
"Well, we all pray to the same God, just differently" Alba smiled.
"Yeah, that's true" I chuckled a little.
"Jay can you say grace please?" Alba asked Jay.
We all bowed our heads and waited for Jay to start, I felt her foot slide up my leg and sit on my left thigh, I lifted my head a little to see her smirking at me. I shook my head and removed her foot from my leg. She was trying to get me killed.
"We want to thank you tonight God for blessing us with yet another meal, thank you for the hands that prepared this meal for us. And we ask that those who do not have a meal tonight that you bless them with one"
"Amen" Alba and Jaime said in union.
"Thank you baby" Alba gave Jay a big smile.
***
Again, Jay slid her foot up my leg again, I smacked it away because it caught me off guard. Her father looked at me like I was weird.
"So David, are you in school ?" He passed the bowl of rice to me.
"No sir not at all, I was but some things came up" I shrugged, hoping I didn't have to get into it.
"So how did you and Jay meet?" he asked confused.
I didn't know if I should just tell the truth or fabricate a story and have Jay play along. But I knew she'd be mad at me if I did it without warning.
"I actually saved her from getting hit by a basketball" I chuckled.
"What?" Alba laughed.
"She was walking by the park and one of the little boys I mentor throw the ball a little too hard and I caught it time"
It was actually a rather funny story now that I thought of it, but it wasn't entirely all that truthful, I had little Demarco throw the ball in her direction in hopes it'll bounce and hit her ass. But he went to hard and I had to stop it from smacking the shit out of her.
"You don't even play basketball" her father looked at her.
"I was walking to Lisa's house, and between first and second you know the school park over there" she shook her head.
"Well that's an interesting story" Jaime looked back at me.
"Yeah, then I realized I knew Lisa"
"Oh yes, Lisa said you know my mother"
"Mama Gee" I smiled and looked over to Alba.
"Yes, she worked at the school you and your brothers went to right?"
"Yeah, she's the best and her cooking aww man"
"Hey!"Jay laughed.
"I mean your food is good too" I tried to cover myself.
"But nothing beats grandma's cooking" Jay chimed in.
"I understand, no offense taken. I learned from the best" Alba smiled at me.
I could tell her father wasn't really feeling me, it seem like he would ask me something to get information on me and Alba would turn it into something light-hearted. Thank God she was being nice to me, because this was just awkward for me.
"So you mentor kids?" Alba finally asked me a question.
"Yeah, in the summer time I mentor young boys from the ages of 8 to about 14, mainly in basketball ... I use to play in the summer leagues, got a college scholarship playing ball"
At this point I was looking down at my plate, playing in my food with my fork. It never really dawned on me how much I really was doing with my time. How much of an impact I was probably making. Here I was sitting at this table feeling low about my past and my current lifestyle. Not realizing I was a hell of a lot better than I use to be.
"Lisa told me something like that but I thought it was bluff" Jay shook her head.
"Nope, this summer was a little different" I eyed her, she caught on and nodded her head.
"That's really nice of you" Alba nodded her head.
"Yeah, so you just stopped playing basketball?" Jaime asked.
"On a collegiate level ? Yeah. But I play occasionally mainly with the kids"
He nodded his head and looked over at Alba, the both were giving each other strange looks throughout dinner, which I chalked up to them both knowing about my past. Either Jaime said something or she was really looking at him like he needed to stop questioning me.
"And how old are you?"
"28" I looked at him.
"You do know Jay is 21" he looked at at Jay who shook her head.
"Yeah, I'm well aware she's 21 and not a minor"
Jay kicked me under the table, causing me to flinched a bit and look at her quickly.
"I'm very aware that she's not a minor"
"Which means, I can make my own decisions " Jay chimed in, I shook my head.
"I have a daughter so I'm sure I'll understand what you're concern is one day" I looked from Jay to her father.
"You have a daughter?" Her father looked confused.
"You didn't tell them?" I looked at Jay, who looked over to her mother.
"Tell me about your daughter David" Alba smiled at Jay than to me.
"Her name is Kaiya, she's about 7 months old, she's my bestest friend" I smiled at the thought of Kai.
"She's literally his twin" Jay smiled at me, but I my smile slowly faded.
I was all the way thrown to the wolves here, I knew her father was a cop but she waited till today to tell me. She didn't mention I was seven years older than her or that I had a kid. Her father was definitely not feeling me and I was looking like a dick right now.
"I'd love to see a photo" Alba spoke up.
I pulled out my phone and went to my photos and pulled up the album I had of just Kaiya. She was really my pride and joy.
"Aw, she's beautiful and she's really your twin. Look Jaime"
Alba passed my phone to Jay who passed it to her father. He took the phone and although I know his ass wasn't fucking with me, no one could deny the beauty of my daughter. A smile crept up his face.
"Very cute kid" he handed my phone back.
"Thank You" I put my phone away.
"So Jay was telling me you're a cop" I finally directed the conversation towards Jaime.
Excuse the mistakes ...
You guys *cries* this meet is going to be another chapter.
LOL
I'm sorry I don't even have questions for ya because,
this chapter is so ...
BLAH.
I'm building suspense ..
xoMissGabyGee