Page 9 of Merci

“Who you with?”

“Un unh. Where you think you going?” he asked whoever he was with.

“I was going to wait outside or in the store to give you some privacy.”

“Nah, stay in the car. I’ll step out.”

“You sure?”

I squinted my eyes, craning my neck like that would help me recognize the voice. It was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place who it belonged to.

“Positive. Give me a minute, and I’ll come open the door for you.”

“Open the door?” I repeated, chuckling. “Since when did you become a gentleman?”

“Since I was in the presence of a lady,” Cujo grumbled as the sound of his car door closing filled the line.

“Who you with?” I asked again, refusing to believe it was who I now thought it was.

“Ariel.”

My steps faltered, and I looked at my phone as if he could see me before I laughed heartily and continued my walk to the car.

“Nigga, I know you didn’t just say Ariel. Not Ariel, Merci’s sister. How you gon’ tell me to stay away from Merci, but you riding around with Ariel?”

He huffed, making me laugh again. “It ain’t like that, aight? We exchanged numbers that night, but neither of us are really on that. She was telling me about her divorce and shit, and since I know how that can be, I wanted to be there for her. I checked in with her earlier, and she seemed down, so I offered to get her out the house. No big deal.”

“No big de—Cujo. You do understand whether it’s platonic friendship or a romantic relationship that you being involved with Ariel is just as bad as me being involved with Merci, right?”

“Not quite,” he stretched, and I could hear the smile on his face. “Merc is not Ariel’s biological father. He might consider her his daughter because she’s his son’s sister, but it’s not the same, Hammer. Plus, nothing sexual or romantic is going to pop off between us. We can stop talking tomorrow, and I’d be cool. Can you say the same about you and Merci?”

Since I couldn’t say yes, I said, “What you call me for?”

His laughter made me smile as I got in my car. “I was just calling to see if you’d be able to join me and Mama for dinner tonight. She said it’s been a couple weeks, and I didn’t even realize it. Tryna make some shit shake for her.”

“Damn. It has been a minute. I can’t do tonight, though. I’ma have a long workday.”

“It’s Sunday. Why are you even at the office?”

Sighing, I started my car and waited for my phone to connect to Bluetooth before I responded. “It’s a long story, but to make it short, I’m having to combine their crisis management clients with mine, and the process is taking longer than expected. They only offered the service because I joined them, and none of us expected so many people to inquire about my services. Are you free Tuesday?”

“I’ll clear my schedule. Just let me know what time.”

“Aight. I’ll hit y’all up tomorrow.”

“Aight, young one. Luh you.”

“Luh you too,” I replied before ending the call.

All I could do was shake my head as I merged into traffic. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t believe my brother when he said nothing would happen between him and Ariel. I couldn’t recall a woman Cujo let have access to his heart as an adult. He had a first love when we were teenagers and his first heartbreak in his early twenties. After that, he stopped putting forth effort with women because he felt like he had too much baggage. A part of me wanted to believe love could help him heal, but the other part of me knew Cujo didn’t believe love and happily-ever-afters were in the cards for men like us.

When I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant I’d grab lunch from, I dialed Merci’s number. It took her a while to answer, but eventually, she did with, “Yes, Mr. Hammer?”

“You ready for me to prove my love?”

Her soft giggle made me smile. “No, sir.”

“Why not?”