“Bianca,” she gasps. “Are you losing your mind?”
“Only joking,” I say, laughing. “I mean about the slow burning death. But I am definitely serious about not having time for a man.”
“And why is that?”
I sigh. I swear I love my mom. We have a wonderful mother-daughter relationship. One in which we can laugh and share hurts and pains. We are very close, for the most part. Probably not as close as we should be, but close enough for me to know that I can go to her in time of need and she’ll always be there without question or reservation; that I can talk to her about anything without judgment, if I chose to. But when it comes to men and love and relationships, she and I will always be at odds.
Though she believes a woman should be financially able to take care of herself, something she instilled in me, she also believes a woman should have a man, a companion, someone to complete her. I, on the other hand, believe a woman doesn’t need a man to complete her. She should already be complete. A man should be there to complement her.
“Most of ’em come with too many issues for me.”
“Oh, please,” she says dismissively. “We all have issues. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t someone special out there for you. There are some really good men out there. You just have to open your heart and mind to them.”
“What’s so funny?” she asks.
“Oh, nothing,” I lie. “You never cease to amaze, Mom. And that’s why I love you so much. You will stop at nothing until you have me married off.”
“Well.” She giggles. “Sweetheart, I’m anxious to see you with a good man, someone who will make you as a happy as your father has made me.”
I smile. “Mom, what you and Daddy have most people only dream of. I don’t think I could ever be so lucky.”
“Sure you can. You have to believe. And pray on it.”
I laugh, realizing there will never be any winning with her. “Mom, if nothing else, I believe you are always praying on it.”
She laughs, too. “You know me so well. Now, tell me. What day will you be flying in?” she asks, changing the subject.
“I’ll be there Wednesday night, and flying back on Friday,” I say.
“Oh,” she replies, sounding disappointed. “I thought you’d be staying a little longer than that, since we don’t see much of you.”
“Mom, I was just there a few months ago.”
“And you only stayed two days that time as well. It really doesn’t make sense to me for you to fly out all this way and not stay for at least a week.”
I laugh. “Mom, if I were staying a week, you’d be saying that wasn’t long enough. Then you’d want me to stay a month.”
“And what would be so wrong with that?” she asks, laughing.
I think about her question, try to consider my response, remembering my visit for the Fourth of July weekend. My parents were having a big family barbeque and wanted all of us there. And while I was there, everyone doted on me, showering me with love. But the one thing that put a damper on my almost perfect visit was the lack of dick. And, my wonderful, loving brothers—all six of them—made sure that getting any was damn near impossible. So the only fireworks popping off that weekend were the ones going off down at Balboa Park, ’cause there definitely wasn’t anything cracking between my legs.
I smile. “Not a thing, Mom,” I finally say. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“I can’t wait to see you either, baby. Travel safe, and see you when you get here.”
“I will,” I say, hanging up. “I love you.”
“And your father and I love you more,” she says in her sweet, motherly tone. I smile, hanging up, looking forward to feasting with my family.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Thanksgiving was beautiful. Although I picked at the food—because I didn’t have much of an appetite the whole time I was there and I was afraid I’d start throwing up again if I overate, from what little I did eat, my mother really outdid herself. And, as always, the weather was great. With the exception of having to look in Cherelle’s fucking face, I really enjoyed my time with everyone. But, I am so glad to be home. I love my family dearly, I swear I do. However, more than two days with all of my brothers, well, four of ’em, in one room is enough to have me slice my wrists. Terrance and Tyler are the only two who consistently prove that there really are good, decent men still around. It’s too damn bad that Terrance is married to a damn trick. Who, by the way, did her very best to keep her distance from me, which was fine by me. I hate that bitch! And it tears me up to see how Terrance has so much love in his eyes for that ho. It is bitches like her that are so undeserving of a good man, but they seem to always be the ones to end up with one. Despite this knowledge, it was really nice to see how Terrance and Tyler interact with their families. It reminds me so much of our father, and how he treated our mother and us growing up, doting over her and his children. Yes, Terrance and Tyler are truly good men.
But the rest of my brothers, forget it! They are womanizers in every sense of the word. Oh my God, I can’t get over how cocky and chauvinistic Lamont and Thomas are. Chicks really have them gassed up into believing that they are truly God’s gift to women.
“I expect a woman to jump when I speak, and not give me a bunch of backtalk when I tell her to do something,” Lamont had said while we were all sitting around the table, talking about relationships while playing spades. “If I tell her to wash my feet, if I tell her to get on her knees and bark like a poodle, I expect her to do what she’s told.”
I rolled my eyes, sucking my teeth. “And if she doesn’t?”
“Then I dismiss her. Next,” he said, snapping his finger. “Someone else is filling ya spot. So If you wanna keep ya position, and want me to keep giving you all this good lovin’, then you’d better stay on ya job or be ready to get replaced.”
Tyler laughed. “Man, I don’t know where Mom and Dad found you, but you one sick dude.”
“Yeah, whatever, man. You can call it what you want,” he snapped back, smirking, “but I’ll never be henpecked. Like some of you. I promise you that.”
“And what’s wrong with a man loving his family, and wanting to see his wife happy?” I asked.
“Ain’t a thing wrong with it,” Lamont stated, “if you like borrrrring.”
“So, let me get this right,” Terrance asked, rubbing his chin. “A man being devoted to his family and committed to his wife is boring to you?”
“Hey, man, if you like it, I love it. I just know it could never be me. I need variety in my life.”
I smirked, knowingly. ’Cause Lord knows I have had an assortment of dick to fill my platter.
“And you will always find yourself bouncing from bed to bed.”
“And the problem is?” he asks, raising a brow, laughing. “They don’t call me the Panty Slayer for nothing.”
“Ugh,” I grunted in disgust, studying my cards, “too much information.”
“Your go,” Trent said to me.
I rolled my eyes, tossing out the queen of hearts. It walked. “And the queen still rules,” I said, winking at Terrance and scooping up our books.
“Even the queen needs a pipe layer to bang her back out and keep her in check,” Lamont said.
