Changes by De' Andrea

Author:De' Andrea
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

“Del-lee-awn’s, Del-lion’s?” I struggled with the restaurant's name. “Whatever it’s called, the food must be hittin’.”

“You said it right the first time,” Pros let me know.

I hopped out the truck and freed Peach. “Do not run across the parking lot.”

“Ok.”

A car passed by blasting Quavo’s “Strub Tha Ground.” Hands to knees, Peach bounced and glanced back at her Pull-Up covered bottom.

“I’on know, Ms. Nae,” Pros joked. “Y’all showing us y’all’s other side today, and Peach might be a bad influence.”

“Uh-uh! Don’t be judging my girl! She ain’t gon’ do nothing but bring Emmy out of her shell.” I tittered. “Honestly, I believe Peach inherited my mama’s craziness.”

“That lady don’t cut no corners. Chocolate Drop, you got an ol’ lady? You know, my Nae is single.”

“You know what? I’m not surprised at all.” Shaking my head, I reached for Peach.

“No! I want Pies hold you!”

“Forget you then!” I stuck out my tongue. “That’s why I got another baby! Come on, Emmy.”

I picked her up since we were parked quite a distance from the building. It was hot, and sometimes small kids move at a snail’s pace.

“I like you hair,” she complimented.

“I love yours. Who did your braids?”

“My TeeTee Chari.”

“Charity is your cousin,” Pros corrected.

“Charity Jones?”

“Yeah. You know her?”

Indeed, I knew her. One of Syx’s conquests. She and I’d never had any confrontations, but I’d discovered some messages in his phone.

“We went to school together.”

He held the door and allowed Emmy and I entrance. “That’s not all. You ain’t gotta talk about it, but it’s all over your face.”

“Something crossed my mind, but it ain’t no beef or hatred.”

“Hey! Welcome to Dellion’s!” A hostess grinned and grabbed two booster seats. “Follow me.”

My eyes scanned the interior as we walked. It was very industrial with exposed silver pipes running across the ceilings. Uniquely crafted lamps were suspended throughout the establishment. The lighting wasn’t extremely bright, but not too dim either. Burnt orange, yellow, and blue paintings decorated the walls. We were escorted to a burnt orange booth. She slid the seats inside, let us settle, and then pointed to the menus propped against the wall. “You can go ahead and check out the menu. Your waitress will be with you in a minute.”

“Thank you,” I said and flipped to the kids’ section first. “Baby doll, you want apple juice, lemonade, or fruit punch?”

“Punsh and shicken!”

“You don’t want any fried fish or shrimp? It comes with fries.”

“Fish, shimp, and shicken!”

“No. You only get one.”

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

“Peach, don’t play with me!” I cautioned. “You want Pros and Emmy to see you catch a whooping?”

“Them white folks gon’ call the police on yo ass too,” Pros stated, his eyes casing the other patrons. “Be good, ok, Peach?”

“Ok,” she whispered. “Ma Ma, mad you?”

“No.” I flipped to the main menu and decided on a Coke and fish and oyster platter. Peach could have the fish.

“Em, you want fish?” Pros asked.

“Mhmm, and nemonade, please,” she answered, politely.

“I don’t know if I want alligator bites or red beans and cornbread.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.