Page 5 of Mr. Calloway

“You see me, Mars? I was down there whipping that shit,” I said as I placed the tray on her lap.

She was so tickled, but I was deadass serious. She glanced down at the tray, then at me. “Why is your gun up here?”

I ran my hand down my face. “Oh, that. It’s just a reminder that a nigga will?—”

She giggled. “I knowfah, fah, fah, fahsomeone’s ass.”

I nodded. “As long as you know. For real, though. It’s a reminder that no matter where you are, if you ever need me or someone ever crosses you, this—” I pointed to my gun, “—will be all they see before they meet the nigga with the long coarse hair and fine clothing.”

Her eyes had become serious, and so did mine. “Samara, I didn’t put that ring on your finger to be the same nigga I was. I’m a man.Yourman. I told you once, and I’ll tell you again, as Chevy would do for Z.”

She glanced down at her ring. “I’m really engaged,” she mumbled.

I stood from the bed. “You are. I’m fucking proud of you, baby, and I hope that while you're gone, you have the time of your fucking life. Two and a half months with no pussy is going to drive me crazy, but it’s worth it if you’re happy.”

I began putting on clothes while she dug into her food. “Damn, these pancakes are good as hell,” she muttered.

“Yeah, and they’re going to have you feeling right too.”

Her head shot my way. “What the hell do you mean? You put something up in this?”

“It’s just love from the earth, Mars. Relax.”

All she could do was laugh. Samara made me happy, and now that we’d gotten over the bullshit, it felt as if we had passed a test in our relationship. I just hoped that this trip didn’t change anything for us.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I’m going to grab my shit from the dorms. Then I need to holla at Beans. While you're away, I’m going to be fucking with Scooter. You know, his music shit. He’s finally getting out of the halfway house.”

“Morgan is going to be happy about that.” She paused. “Well, I’m going to see Paige and Alyse before I leave.”

“Cool. I’ll take my bike; you take my ride. I’ll have one of the guys bring your car here,” I told her.

She gave me a weak smile, one that didn’t sit right with me. I walked over to her. “You cool? You want to talk about it?”

“I’m going to miss Father’s Day, and what if this trip changes things for us?”

I lifted her chin. “Chevy understands, I’m sure. Have you talked to him?” I asked.

She shook her head. I felt like a part of her was scared to really open up to Chevy. I knew they had a bond, but I was sure it could’ve been much stronger if she let him fully be in her life. However, the one thing Chevy, Zaria, and I had to understand was that Samara was her own person, and before us, she had a life.

I didn’t want to spend the morning going down a sad rabbit hole, so I changed the subject to family. “As for us, if the man above says we don’t need to be together, then I have no choice but to understand. Is it going to stop me from airing shit out?No, but if you don’t want this, then you don’t want it, but tell me now.”

She sipped on her drink before answering, “All I want is to enjoy this trip. I love you, Dionysus, and what we have. I don’t want that to change. Now you have fun and be careful.”

“Every day all day. I love you more,” I said before I kissed her and left the room.

I wanted to say some smart shit back when she ignored what I said about whether she really wanted what we had. Only time would tell if Mars and I would truly make it.

Clark

“You didn’t show up,” I mumbled as I stood in the doorway of a home that used to be something.

My mother sat on the couch with half of her dirty cotton nightgown hanging off her shoulders. The curtains were partly closed, letting in a sliver of light, casting her drunken shadow into deep shapes. She swirled a glass of dark, piss-colored whisky in her hand.

“You ain’t gone be shit, just like Clarence. Education? Tuh—” she scoffed before placing the drink to her lips, taking a swig. “—all that education isn’t going to change the devil inside you,” she said as her eyes had now landed on me.

My pride was shattered. I had just graduated summa cum laude and followed in my father’s footsteps, becoming a member of Chi Kappa Chi, which he and his best friend founded. Why wasn’t she proud? I worked hard to earn the scholarship I got to TSU, while my daddy’s mother worked as a house nigga and his daddy worked as a field nigga to make sure he didn’t end up like them. I was going to be the change, the shift we needed to get out of Covana. It was going to be the Merciers, with a dinner spread only Jesus could love, draped inthe finest, and a house that my grandparents could only dream of.