Page 66 of When I Thug You Like That

Fifteen minutes later, we had a fresh cheese pizza, garlic knots, and drinks sitting between us. He kept his word and had shared two with me, and I let him have two slices. The conversation was effortless, from what made me get into the teaching field to family dynamics. And even though Jay was upfront and specific with his questions, nothing felt too deep or invasive.

We talked about our favorite places to eat, music, things we liked to do for fun, people we avoided for our peace of mind, and tangible, right now goals. He told me enough to make me want to ask more questions, and every answer I gave made him do the same. He was easy to talk to, but that didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me was how attentive he was when he spoke. He didn’t dominate the conversation, but he knew how to move it forward. More importantly, he listened.

It was refreshing as I was always used to steering the conversation. Maybe it was because of my intellect or my wittiness, but I always found myself in control of the conversation when I went on a date. With Jay, it was like sitting across from someone I’d known forever. It allowed me to forget the fact that I was sitting across from my student’s father, even if it was for the moment. I liked that.

“You ever dated a parent before?” he asked, placing another garlic knot on my plate that I didn’t ask for but thought about grabbing.

“Umm, as in somebody with kids or are you asking if I’ve ever dated one of my students’ parents?”

I knew what he meant but sought clarity anyway.

OOOP. PAUSE IT, FINE GWORL. NOW, WHEN OUR GOOD SISTA GET ON A DATE? ‘CAUSE LAST I CHECKED… SHE HAD SAID THAT JAY HAD TAGGED ALONG. AND SEE, THAT’S THE THING. THE NIGGAS THAT CAN CAN. AND THE NIGGAS THAT CAN’T SHALL NOT! THE GWORLS THAT GET IT WILL GET IT.

AND JUST A FYI, I HAPPEN TO HAVE ONE THAT CAN, HAS, AND WILL CONTINUE TO. I LOVE YOU, DADA! BUT YEAH, LET’S CARRY ON, SHALL WE?

“Both.”

“Yes to the first question. No to the second.”

He nodded, taking another bite of his pizza. “How was it dating somebody with kids?”

“Horrible,” I responded without hesitation and with a straight face.

He laughed. “Damn. Why, what happened?”

“That little girl was bad as hell. Grown as hell. Gave me hell. And I decided I needed to get the hell on.”

He laughed harder, holding his stomach.

“I don’t know why you laughing. I’m deadass serious.”

“Nah, you gotta see your face.”

“No, I don’t.” I finished off my garlic knot. “I know exactly what it look like when I speak on this topic. That was a wild six months.”

“See, now you gotta tell me what happened. Was the child the only problem?”

I shook my head. “Nope. The child and the mother. And I love kids, so for me to say a child was a problem, believe me.”

He sat back in his seat and gestured with his hands like he was waiting for me to say more.

“Aight. What happened?”

“You nosey.”

“Not at all. I like to be informed so that I know what not to do.”

There was that slick shit that I’d come to like again. Shaking my head, I straightened in the seat and gave a brief overall of my six-month trial run with Tim.

“I mean, the guy was cool. Real cool, actually. But the moment I met that eleven-year-old, I knew it wouldn’t last. Mind you, I’d only been around her a handful of times. It didn’t take me long to figure out she’d been watching one too many episodes of Baddies. She talked to her father crazy, cussed, and her mother allowed it. Well, he allowed it too because he never checked her. And if she didn’t give a damn about what she said to him, I knew she wouldn’t respect me. The mother was delusional and an overall pain in the ass. So, I used my free will and went about my business.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “You’re not a fan of baby mamas.”

“No. I’m not a fan of baby mamas who still want their baby daddies.”

“Got it.”

“How’s your relationship with Jamison’s mother?”