Page 20 of Senior

“Real funny,” he said, opening the fridge and grabbing the pan of seasoned meat. “Y’all two get on my nerves the most.”

“Well your kids get on ours, so we’re even,” Allison said. “Bye, Stanley.”

He chuckled as he walked out the kitchen. I tried to focus back on the task at hand but felt several sets of eyes on me.

“What!” I asked, looking up.

“Do I sense a spark igniting?” Tavia asked. “Those looks were something serious.”

“They weren’t anything. I mean, I look good. I got the same look from men at the gas station this morning. It’s not that deep.”

Allison rolled her eyes. “Girl, those looks were full of lust. It’s okay to desire something physical. I mean, it’s been four years. Nobody would fault you for wanting to get back on the horse, even if it’s your baby daddy.”

“Right,” Tavia agreed. “Shit, we don’t want him. He’s all yours.”

They shared a laugh. Ms. Rebecca shook her head.

“Let me have a surplus of wine for this round,” she said, turning to the stove. “My grandson is about to be on my nerves.”

I scoffed. “So y’all don’t think I have self-control? Wooow! You think so little of me and that man. We’ve been playing nice this whole time. Not one disrespectful comment or lustful stare⁠—”

“Until now,” Allison said. “But we aren’t the ones in denial. I’d put money on you two spinning the block.”

Tavia snorted. “Speak for yourself. I’m keeping my money in my pocket. I don’t believe in just giving it away.”

I looked from them to Jeanie. “You agree with them?”

“Baby, I don’t have a dog in this fight. You see my situation. I stayed way too long so I’m the last person to tell you not to go back to what you know and love.”

I looked at Ms. Rebecca and she just waved me off.

“I’ve known you since you were fifteen years old, Stephanie. That’s forty years, baby. Many of those years were spent with my son. I know you two better than you know yourself. I don’t have anything else to say. I’m just gonna sit back and watch this play out.” She clasped her hands together. “Now. I don’t wanna hear shit else about Senior and Stephanie. It’s my grandbaby’s birthday and I wanna get all this food done before y’all’s fat ass sons come begging. Chop chop!”

I wasn’t mad about her shifting the attention. I didn’t want to talk about Senior and I, or should I say the lack thereof. There was nothing going on between us. Just because we both happened to be single, one of us not by choice, didn’t mean that we would gravitate toward each other again. We hadn’t done it in all this time, so we could continue to keep shit cordial… right?

I made the mistake of looking out the back window at him to find him looking at me. He winked at me, making me swallow hard. Those familiar butterflies began to flutter in my stomach.

I was in trouble.

The party was well underway, and Maceo was having the time of his life. He and Shar were on the dance floor fucking shit up. I just knew nine months from now, I was gonna be welcoming another grandbaby. It was a miracle that they hadn’t caught up to Smoke and Romi yet. They were good and tipsy, and it was only a matter of time before everybody was looking for them while they were nowhere to be found.

The DJ shifted the song to “Candy Rain” by Soul For Real. That one got the crowd going. If there was one thing we loved, it was a good throwback, adults and kids included.

“Pop Pop, come dance with me,” Nayelli said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out to the dance floor.

This happened to be one of her favorites. Of course, she and Korri had a whole little routine for this song. Because their Pop Pop was that nigga, I learned their routine, just putting my own swag on it. The minute we started dancing, Korri ran over to join us. We had a nice little rhythm going. Their mamas were recording videos while their daddies and uncles were talking their shit.

“You gon’ feel that shit in the morning, old man!” Smoke said.

“Them knees finna be aching,” Deuce added.

“Somebody bring out the Bengay!” came Titan.

Quaid and Steel just shook their heads. Maceo’s silly ass came hopping over, shaking his shoulders and shit. He had his own moves going on. The girls were trying to ignore him because he was fucking up the routine, but he couldn’t be stopped.

“Move on out the way, lil bits,” he said, pushing Nayelli and Korri aside. “Let Unc show you how it’s done.”

“Nigga, don’t be pushing my baby!” Smoke said. “Juri, handle my light work. He pushed your sister.”