I can’t argue, and yet I find myself doing just that. “Hey, ease up. She’s still Simone’s mom, and I never want my daughter to hear me or any of her family talking like that about her mother.”
“Okay, I won’t say it. Long as you know I’m thinking it.”
“Duly noted.” I turn on the shower. “And what about you? You seeing anybody?”
“I might have some news, someone for you to meet.”
I pause, a grin spreading on my face. I want my sister’s happiness more than I want my own. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. You coming to New York anytime soon?”
“We have a game there in a few weeks. We’ll see how things work out,” Kenya replies cagily. “Oh, almost forgot. You talked to Mama?”
Guilt stabs me. I haven’t talked to her as much as I should have since my father died.
“I’ll call her,” I say, releasing a heavy sigh. “She didn’t sound too good last time we spoke.”
“Same,” Kenya replies, her voice uncharacteristically subdued. “They were married forty years. Most of her life was with Dad, and they had one of those epic, forever kind of loves.”
“Yeah, if I hadn’t seen their marriage with my own eyes, I wouldn’t think it was possible.”
“Let’s both call this week.”
“I may do one better,” I say. “I need to go to Philly and check on Faded, that barber shop I invested in. I’ll swing through to see Mama.”
“Take Simone with you. She hasn’t seen her grandmother in a while, and Mama would love to see her.”
“As long as she d
oesn’t start in on Simone’s hair again,” I groan.
“Well, Simone does need to do something with that head, and Bridget has no idea how to help.”
“Give Simone a break. She’s figuring it out.”
“I offered to help her,” Kenya says defensively. “She wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Yeah, but you just buy hair,” I say, laughing because my sister wears extensions year-round.
“And you know this,” Kenya says, laughing back. “Hair is trouble, man, especially during the season. I could get Simone’s own hair tight if she’d let me. Is Lucius still managing Faded?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking of asking if he’d be interested in opening another shop here in New York? Maybe Brooklyn?”
“I don’t have to ask what you’ll be doing when you finally retire. You already have more businesses than I can keep up with.”
“More than I can keep up with, too. That’s why I pay someone to help me.”
“Well thank you for cutting your little sis in on some of that action since obviously I won’t become a millionaire playing for the WNBA.”
“Don’t even think twice about it. Just introduce me to this potential love interest soon.”
“Hey, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
The thought of Lotus being mine, of her in my life, in my bed, makes my dick hard.
I head back to the ice bath.
7
Lotus