Page 47 of Widow Mayker

Her face relaxed, and she went back to preparing breakfast. Just then, the doorbell rang.

“That’s Katrice,” she informed me.

I left the kitchen to get the door. Katrice, who had always been beautiful in my eyes, sailed inside the house with the friendly smile she always kept on her face.

“Good morning, Nephew!” she sang.

I embraced her and said, “Mama’s in the kitchen.”

“That’s exactly why I came over here. She said pancakes. I said, say less.”

She giggled, and I grinned as we both headed back to the kitchen. I stood off to the side while Katrice hugged my mama. Watching how Katrice worried over the slight bags under my mama’s eyes gave me comfort that Katrice was still in my mama’s corner. I’d taken everything from my mama. At some point, I wanted to make her happy again.

MAJA

A few weeks later, I was no closer to having the guts to tell Von to step. With every new bouquet of flowers, with every pop-up lunch, with every soft forehead kiss, and with every gift he bestowed upon me, it was becoming harder to sever his tie to me.

Von tossed a football across the yard that fell perfectly into Adrian’s hands. The day was cloudy, but the yard was lively like rain wasn’t on the horizon. Glaring at the man who invited himself to my family’s Sunday dinner, it behooved me that my cousins welcomed him with open arms. Although Von had history with my family, he hadn’t been around them in years. Someone should’ve been a little leery about his ass.

But no. He was out there having the time of his life playing football with Adrian, Humble, Peace, and the twins. I wanted to feel away about the wide grin on Von’s face, and his ability to fit in so seamlessly. He joked and jeered with my family just as he did his own. Everything warning me against Von was the same shit drawing me to him.

Not to mention, my brothers and little cousins flocked to him like he was a shiny new toy that they’d never seen before. Every five minutes one of them was in his face, demanding his attention. He took in stride, easily falling into the fold like he belonged.

“I don’t know, boo. It looks like Von is having the time of his life,” Kwamé echoed my thoughts, dashing ice water on my inner musings.

“I agree with Kwamé,” Bianca seconded.

“I mean… Look at him,” Shyah intoned. “He’s sexy as hell.”

“Big sexy,” Heir added.

I mugged the three of them and glanced at Zia. “What? You have nothing to add to their observations?”

Zia shook her head and chuckled. “My husband named our son while I was heavily sedated. Kwamé and Bianca still won’t let me live it down.”

“Wait,” Heir stated. She, Shyah, and I were dumbfounded by Zia’s statement.

She giggled. “Isn’t it so romantic?”

“Hell, naw!” Heir shot back. “I would’ve cussed him clean out for naming my baby.”

The table rumbled with laughter. Meanwhile, Zia’s shoulders lifted and fell unapologetically, and the smile on her face was full of love. “Percy and I go way back. He was my first crush, and the person I thought I would marry one day. Despite how it happened, crossing paths with Percy again was an opportunity I wasn’t willing to pass up. The fact that I gave birth to another man’s child, and he took it upon himself to give my baby his name… Tell me a man who’s willing to do something like that.”

“That’s what soulmates do,” Bianca said. “They go above and beyond to show their love for you.”

Heir’s face scrunched up. My eyes located Von just as he tossed the ball again. All this talk about love, and I couldn’t even find it within myself to let him in. Bianca was right, though. From the first meeting, Von was doing what he could to show me that he…cared. He wanted to peel back the layers of who I was in order to win me. First, it was with his family. Now, it was with my family.

“He deserves better,” I mumbled. He deserved someone who saw him for what he was and embraced him wholeheartedly.

“No,” Kwamé dragged, “Von deserves you.”

Shaking my head, I tore my eyes away from him and cloaked them away from the women I was closest to outside of Mama. “He’s been offered a promotion. Lieutenant to be specific,” I confessed. My past wasn’t hidden from these women. At some point, each of them had witnessed what I’d gone through after my mama’s death. With the rest of the Bell women, these women had been there to walk me through the hardest times of my life. Whether it was a late-night talk, or a simple shoulder to cry on, these women always had my back.

“Take it from someone who’s been on the wrong side of a man’s love,” Bianca replied. “I almost let the best thing that ever happened to me get away from me. Deep down, I knew Antonias was the man for me. However, I allowed my fears to push him into the arms of another woman.”

Kwamé tsked. “Mm hm, and I remember having a similar conversation with you.”

Bianca chuckled. “Yes, you did. That’s why I want to stop Maja from making a horrible mistake.” She motioned toward Von. “Let’s be honest here. There’s a detective…on Bell Estates grounds…having dinner…with your family…on a Sunday. Let that sink in.”