business with people that she didn’t know. So I figured that I would work for her for awhile and let her see that she could trust me and then introduce her to y’all.” Twon knew he had fucked up and was looking for a way.
They had known each other for a long time and all felt Twon was lying through his teeth.
“So how did you meet this woman?” Jon asked.
“She’s cool with my cousin Mike from the East side.”
“How we gone shake y’all moms?” Zoe asked wanting to floss ride and not get dropped off at the dance.
“I already took care of everything.” Jon said.
“What do you mean you took care of it? When? How come I ain’t know anything?” Don asked looking at his brother.
“I hollered at Bay Bro and he got us covered. Just be ready at six o’clock.”
5:45PM
The boys stood in Don’s room. They were dressed in black Hugo Boss suits with gold Versace silk shirts and black gators on their feet.
5:50PM
Bay Bro rang the twin’s doorbell to pick them up. The boys rushed upstairs and found Tina and Bay Bro carrying on like childhood friends.
“Ready to go, old man?” Don asked itching to get in his ride.
“Yeah, little men, I’m ready if y’all are.” Bay Bro said with a smile.
“Don’t forget, I want pictures,” Tina said hugging all the boys.
“Don’t worry Tina,” Bay Bro said then passed out five black canes and five black Dobbs hats to the boys. “We’ll be right back. You jut have that camera of yours ready.” Jon kissed his mother as they went out.
“I see ya’ll done came up in the world.” Bay Bro said as they got into the van he rented for the evening.
“We doing ahight, but we could always be doing a lot better?” Zoe winked as he spoke.
“Y’all not ready yet,” Bay Bro said choosing his words carefully. “Y’all got y’all hustle going for y’all. It might seem like slow money right now, but it’s money. Y’all still a little young and right now school is important. When I think the time is right, I got y’all. Don’t worry. So where we headed?” Bay Bro asked Jon since he had not spoke up to tell him where to go.
“Back to my moms,” Jon said and all eyes went on him. “I need to talk to you about something important first.” Bay Bro nodded and headed back to Tina’s after picking up the dates.
Tina snapped pictures of the boys and their dates. She just kept going on and on about how handsome the boys were and how pretty the girls were. While Tina was enjoying the moment, Jon tapped Bay Bro on the shoulder and nodded his head towards the porch.
“What’s on your mind?” Bay Bro asked.
“Well,” Jon seemed to be trying to build up strength and choose the right words. “I didn’t tell you where to pick up my date up because I don’t even know if I have one.”
“I don’t understand lil brother.”
“It’s like this. Now you have to hear me all the way out before you start telling me how crazy it sounds.”
Bay Bro nodded with a serious expression on his face and Jon continued.
“My date is a girl that I have a huge crush on. I don’t really know too much about love but I can say that I do love her. The problem is I have a lot of respect for her family and don’t want to burn any bridges. She’s the girl for me and I don’t know if I should take the chance of going to pick her up and ruining my relationship with her family. What do you think I should do?”
“If you really like this girl then you should go for it.” Bay Bro lit a cigarette and continued. “The family should either embrace you or warn her, but never have ill feelings towards you. Now you do have people that will kill to protect their loved ones.” Bay Bro was looking straight in Jon’s eyes. “If one of y’all tried to talk to my baby girl, we’d definitely have problems. I wouldn’t say that I would kill y’all, but it would definitely be some repercussion.”
“Bay Bro, I love you like a father and I mean no disrespect, but my date is Lynette. I’m willing to get punished for my feeling but please let it be after the dance. I don’t want to take no pictures with bumps and bruises. Plus I…”
“Boy, who did you think you getting over on? I saw Tina Jenkins name at least fifty times on the caller ID this past week. I also knew for about two years now that you and Lynette liked each other. It was just a matter of time. I do like that you didn’t let my little speech deter you from your goal. Out of all y’all, it’s you that I don’t have to worry about. Because you’re smart, but at the same time you don’t take no shit. Let’s go get Lynette.”
“I got love for you, old man and oh, don’t tell the others.” Jon whistled in relief.
“That’s ahight with me.”
Tina was still taking snap shots while the boys mugged.
“That’s enough Tina,” Bay Bro said reaching for the camera. “Save some for Jon and his date.”
“Oh no, I don’t,” Tina said switching the camera from her right hand to her left one. Don walked over to Jon.
“What’s up? Everything all right, Jon?”
Jon smiled and hugged his brother. “I’ll tell you everything later,” he said.
Tina finally let the boys on their way but was sure to tell Jon to hurry back. Bay Bro dropped the boys off around the corner where their Mustangs were parked. He and Jon chat as they headed to his house.
“You know that I tell everybody that I got three kids, a girl and two boys-twins. I love Lynette with all my heart. She’s my baby girl and I would do anything to protect her. If I thought that you wasn’t good enough for her we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Just remember that ya’ll two are the same, hard on the outside and soft on the inside.”
Jon listened and realized that this was forever. Bay Bro stopped the van in front of his house and stayed inside. Jon got out the van and went to the front door. Lynette was pissed about them taking so long. She didn’t wait for Jon to make it all the way to the door. As soon as Jon put one foot on the top step, Lynette snatched the door open.
“What the fuck took ya’ll so long!”
Jon stood frozen, not by her anger but her beauty. He had never seen a more beautiful girl than Lynette in his whole life. She stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips wearing a from-fitting gold Versace dress to her ankles. Her long hair hung down her back. A bang covered her left eye. She wore a matching gold silk shawl.
“Well Jon,” she said.
“You’re beautiful,” Jon muttered nervously.
“Boy, quit playing and let’s go.”
Lynette grabbed her black clutch-purse, locked the door and headed to the van. Bay Bro smiled all the way back to Jon’s house.
“Oh my God!” Tina screamed when she saw Lynette. “You’re so beautiful.” She continued. “I can see why my Jon be up late nights on the phone. You are really beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Bay Bro said proudly.
“I’m not complimenting you,” Tina said looking at Bay Bro. “I’m talking to this beautiful young lady.”
“Well, she’s shy right now. I guess a cat got her tongue.” Bay Bro said still smiling.
“Daddy stop,” Lynette said softly.
“Daddy…?” Tina blurted out surprised.
“Yeah, this beautiful