Nip it in the Bud (Bunch-A-Blooms 3)

“Good to know. You decide on what you want yet?”

“Everything?” she says with a laugh.

Her lips quirk up, and I admire the natural beauty displayed on her heart-shaped face. Dark hair frames her face, straight and thick. Full lips sit below a slightly upturned nose, and her large, chocolate-brown eyes are highlighted by ridiculously long lashes. She’s beautiful without trying. If she’s wearing makeup, it’s slight. I know more than I ever wanted to about beauty products thanks to my daughters. They’re not allowed to wear more than colored lip-gloss, but it doesn’t stop them from watching YouTube tutorials, or window shopping as they like to call it.

In the end, we both get two-scoop sundaes with various flavor ice creams so we can compare them. I smother mine in chocolate sauce, and she goes the marshmallow

route.

“This is so good.” She moans as she takes a healthy scoop of banana chocolate chip.

“They hand make this here, along with all the candy,” I say with a nod toward the counter on the opposite side of the room that had everything from chocolate-covered pretzels to toffee and truffles.

“Tell me more about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

Her eyebrows rise, and I shrug. “When you’re constantly on the go, you learn how precious time is. I wouldn’t be here with you if I wasn’t interested. So, I want to know what you like what you don’t. What your aspirations are.”

Her eyes widen, and her expression turns thoughtful. I can come on strong when I want something, so tempering my personality would only lead to disaster later down the road.

“I like where I’m at in my career. I might buy into the shop I manage once I get my duckies lined up. I like quiet days at home on Sundays after hectic work schedules, traveling, thrifting, and spending time with family and friends. I have one baby sister who’s twenty-five and works as a nurse. My family and I are fairly close; we get together every couple of weeks for dinner. I dislike sour flavors, liars, raw onions, and the color purple.”

“The movie?”

She laughs. “No, the actual color.”

“Isn’t that like sacrilegious for a girl?”

She clucks her tongue. “So old school and close-minded.”

“My bad.”

She smirks. “Tell me more about you. Same question.”

“You know I’m close to my family. I have a love-hate relationship with travel for obvious reasons. I like spending time at home with my family and friends, old school hip hop and vinyl records. I despise liars, drugs, and judgment.”

“Wait. You’re a Christian rapper, and you consider yourself open-minded?”

“Whatever thoughts you have about Christians, throw them out the window. I don’t believe I’m perfect, or that my way is the only way. It’s the right one for me, and yes, I think everyone should have a personal relationship with God, but that’s not for me to force onto anyone. Nor is it up to me to dictate how it should look. It’s people who do that give us a bad name.”

She tilts her head. “Hmm.”

“What I do, it’s controversial. There are plenty of people who have a lot to say about me and what I rap about. They want me to be someone else and paint a happy, rainbow-filled picture about life. But the truth is life is hard. It can get dark. I want those kids out there to know they’re not alone when they hit those times in their life.”

“It sounds like you’re coming from a personal place.”

“I am. All you have to do is google me to know my history, but I want you to hear it straight from the source. I came from a happy family. I’m the oldest of three. I have a younger brother and a sister. We had the American dream. White picket fence, an awesome mom who taught second grade, and a dad who worked construction. I was in sixth grade when my dad was in an accident on a site that injured his back. Insurance paid for the operations, but he was in and out of the hospital for months and in excruciating pain. The only thing that helped were painkillers. Eventually, he needed them more and more, and it became a habit he never kicked. It put him in the ground.”

She gasps. “Oh my God. I am so sorry.”

I shrug. “He’s been gone for years now, but the devastation he left behind his alive and well. We’re all working on it, and healing a little at a time. I spiraled in my teens. I was looking for something to fill the hole he left behind and fell into the same trap. Unlike most, I had a parent who fought for me. I got on the right path, and I stayed there.”

“Wow.”

“I know it’s a lot, but omission is too close to lying.”