"Baby, I love you, but this is a terrible idea." Lesane says, as we set up the table.

"Its Thanksgiving Pac, I'm sure everybody can get along for a couple hours, especially since there will be food involved." I say, making him shrug.

"And besides, it's too late for doubts now. So I hope you can fix your attitude by six o'clock." I laugh, making him suck his teeth.

"Well. I just don't see this going good Dri. Ya mama ain't even met me, and my mama don't like you... what exactly do you expect from this baby?" He turns to me, holding my hand in his, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles softly.

I furrow my eyebrows a little.

Maybe he's right, this can only go badly.

My comedic relief won't even be here to lighten the mood. I haven't heard from Jamie in months, I guess she wants me to take a hint. She's perfectly fine with her weird life or whatever. But a part of me thinks that Jamie would never abandon me without explanation.

I just figured we could all put our differences aside for one night, I even invited my brother.

"As much as I'd love to live in this little bubble where just me and you exist, we have families. We can't shut them out. By inviting them it shows that we're being the bigger people." I smile.

"I ain't no damn bigger person." Pac mumbles, making me roll my eyes.

"Well. You will be tonight. Go put the greens on the stove." I nudge him away.

"This look igh?" Lesane asks, walking over to me as he puts his other watch on.

"Is someone nervous?" I chuckle, kissing him on the cheek. "You look good baby, don't stress." I add, turning to myself in the mirror.

My own nervousness has me trembling slightly. I know my mom is gonna have something to say about my dress, and Tupac's excessive jewelry.

Hell, she'll probably have something to say about the entire house.

"What time is it?" I ask, smoothing my dress in the front. "6:16."

The doorbell rings, just as I started to say something. Serenity barks in the room across the hall. Me and Lesane argued about whether or not we should lock her in the room, we ultimately decided that it was best because my mom hates dogs around the food and so does his.

"I should get it.. just in case it's my mom." I say, brushing past him after giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

I take a deep breath, as I head downstairs. I can hear muffled voices behind the door. I open it, relieved to see Jada, and her boyfriend Will.

She squeals throwing her arms around me. "Hey girl!" She smiles, I stand aside so they can come in. "Hey Will, I've heard a helluva lot about you." I chuckle, taking the foil wrapped tray from his hands.

"Bae this is Adrienne, Pac's fine ass boo." She chuckles, before looping her arm through one of mine and following me into the kitchen.

I place the tray on the counter, peaking under the foil. "Oh my God Jada, I'm hiding this." I say, looking down at the banana pudding. It's my favorite dessert, but for some reason the only time of year I think about it is Thanksgiving.

"Uhn uhn, then it's gon look like ian bring nothing." She says, making me laugh.

"I'm just kidding, put it in the fridge for me." I say, handing it to her.

"Your boo thang shol is quiet. You alright?" I ask, making him smile.

"Yea he igh. Mr. Movie star prolly rehearsing his lines innat big dome of his." Pac says, coming into the kitchen.

"Wassup man." They dap each other up, before sharing a manly hug. Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I've ever seen him hug another man. At the club he only ever exchanges glances, and a handshake from time to time.

My eyes stick to Pac for a little while. He's lost a little weight. He hasn't been eating as much lately, I think he's stressed out about something and I wish he would tell me what it is. He seems fine for the most part though, which has kept me from asking him if anything is wrong.

"So who all supposed to be coming?" Jada asks, as her and Pac give each other a side hug.

"My mom, his mom, his sister, my brother and yall." I shrug, opening the oven to check on my turkey. "Yall know we don't have no bunch of friends." I laugh.

"Good. Sound like we gon have plenty to take home." Will says, I smile slightly at the sound of his voice. First thing he's said since he's been here.

The doorbell rings again, making my smile drop. Me and Lesane exchange glances before he decides to answer it.

"Oh lord. I think I got the wrong house!" I hear my mom's voice, making me rush into the foyer.

"Hey mama." I say, my eyes briefly locking with my brother. He has a smirk on his face, which tells me he's gonna do everything he can to make this night a disaster. "Adrienne who-"

"Mama, this is Lesane Shakur, my boyfriend." I say, as they come into the house. My mom's head snaps from left to right as she looks around, probably trying to figure out how he could afford this place.

She gives him a distasteful look, making Pac chuckle a little.

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Walker." He says, before turning to my brother, "You must be Andrew, Dri told me alot about you." They shake hands.

"I bet." Drew says.

"Nice dress, I definitely can't see your nipples." Andrew pats my shoulder before walking past me. I roll my eyes before looping my arm through my mom's. "I can show you around the house if you want ma." I say, but she shakes her head.

"I'll look around when I'm ready." She glances down at my chest before pulling her arm from mine and heading towards the kitchen behind my brother.

"See, it wasn't that bad." I chuckle, looking at Lesane.

"I guess. Is your brother...?" He asks, looking past me, making me laugh a little too loud.

"Yes Lesane.. he likes men. Watch your back." I wink at him before giving his butt a quick slap, and rushing away from him before he can say anything. A few minutes later, Pac's mom and sister arrive, making Lesane's demeanor look very uninterested and stern.

"Anybody wanna say grace?" I ask, looking around the table. I fight the urge to roll my eyes when my mom raises her hand.

"Dear heavenly father, we come to you today, grateful for this meal that Adrienne and her... this young man have prepared for us. I ask that you bless it and bless each person at this table. Amen."

"Amen."

The table falls silent, other than the sound of silverware on plates.

When a few more minutes pass, I nudge Pac, hoping he breaks the akward silence.

He looks at me with a playful smirk before looking back down at his food, forcing me to say something. "How's school Sek?" I ask, making everyone look up at me. Ms. Afeni's eyes burn a hole in my face, she really doesn't like me.

"Its okay." She says, her tone sharp and dry.

Pac glares at her.

Jada clears her throat. "These greens good Adrienne, spicy." She says, Will nods in agreement.

"Hm." My brother scoffs, making me look up at him. "You got something to say Drew?" I ask, raising a brow at him.

He chuckles slightly. "I mean.. they igh. Maybe you shoulda let ya boyfriend make em." Andrew jokes.

"She did." Pac says, his voice deep and serious.

Everyone around the table shifts nervously. My brother looks down at his plate, avoiding Lesane's gaze. As he should.

I rub his knee softly to calm him down. I can tell he's not enjoying this at all. "Pac actually made everything except the turkey and the Mac and cheese. My baby been slaving all day." I coo, kissing his cheek. I feel some of his tension go away.

"Must be nice to have a man that cook girl." Jada says, making Will scoff a little before playfully hitting her.

"I wouldn't call him a man." Afeni says, making the table fall silent yet again, this time not even the silverware can be heard.

"Mama please." Sek gives her a knowing look.

I squeeze his knee a little harder, but it doesn't help.

"You ain't gon disrespect me in my house." He says, looking her dead in her face. My eyes shift to my mom, her disapproval of him even more evident now.

Afeni sips her drink casually. She's obviously trying to make him mad.

"Where was the disrespect? I stated an opinion son." She says.

"Well you can keep yo opinions to yo damn self." He says, getting up from his chair. "I'm finna go smoke." He says looking at me, pulling his lighter from his pocket and heading out of the room.

"Ain't you gonna chase him?" My brother asks, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"He just needs a minute." I say, pushing my plate away from me, my appetite suddenly nonexistent.

He was right. This was a terrible idea.

Afeni excuses herself from the table, wandering off, probably to look around our house and be nosey. The tension thickens between me and my mom, making Will and Jada excuse themselves to "get some air".

"I just find it funny that you call this negro ya boyfriend, and I ain't heard a word about him." My mama says, dropping her knife and fork onto her empty plate, the clacking sound seeming louder than usual.

"How long you say you known him?" She adds.

I feel my skin get hot as I start to get more and more agitated.

"Almost a year." I say.

"And what kinda job he got? This place shol is lookin nice. I bet he take care of everythang huh? All you good for is layin on yo back at the end of the night for him huh?" She says, her eyes darting around the room.

Sek's eyes meet mine before she excuses herself from the table, as if she knows this is about to go left.

"Excuse me." I say, furrowing my eyebrows at my mama.

"Don't you gimme that. Like you ain't laying up with this nigga cause he got money. I ain't crazy. I know what kind of boys you like and he ain't the type." She says, waving her finger at me.

My blood begins to boil. How dare she come here and insult me? Her only daughter. I invited this woman out of the kindness of my heart, but I should've known better.

"Yall need to go." I say, getting up from the table.

"So soon? You ain't even give us a tour sis." Andrew says, folding his arms over his chest. "What? Yall hiding something in one of these fancy rooms?" He chuckles.

"Fuck you." I spit, the words coming out of my mouth before I even realize it.

"What you say?" Drew gets up from his chair.

"You heard what the fuck I said. Now get yo black ass up and out of my house." I say, no longer caring about filtering myself.

"Now you better watch yo mouth-" my mama starts.

"I said leave." I interrupt her.

I expect her to walk over to me and back hand me into the wall, but instead she gets up slowly, shaking her head. "That negro got you smelling yaself. You betta get it together, cause all he wanna do is screw ya, and when he done with that, yo ass gon be left high and dry." She says, before walking out, Andrew behind her.

I know better than to listen to my bitter ass mama.

But what if she's right? Me and Pac haven't even had sex yet.. how do I know he's not just waiting for me to give it up so can kick me to the curb.

I shake the thoughts off, going into the backyard to find him.

He's sitting in one of the lawn chairs smoking a cigarette, Will and Jada are chasing each other around the yard, their laughing echoing into the night.

This really was a bad idea.

Lesane spots me and pats his thigh, asking me to sit.

"You ready to live in that lil bubble now?" He asks, making me laugh a little.

"Doesn't sound too bad."

••• end of chapter

Hey my loves. I'm sorry about the wait. Life has been absolutely crazy. I hope all is well with you guys and you're staying healthy and happy. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Love ya - Zayla ❤