There was a knock on the door that interrupted the tirade I wasn’t done having.
“Jeb, your wife is here, and she brought you lunch,” Renee said and stood in the doorway looking from me to Rochelle.
“How sweet?” Rochelle said. Her hands fell to her side as her eyes registered the hurt over hearing Renee refer to Tameka as my wife. She walked away from the door and back toward the club’s main floor. “I’ll get back to work now,” she tossed over her shoulder.
Major trouble, I thought as Renee walked away but not before looking at me with suspicious eyes. I gathered my thoughts before I headed out front to have lunch with Tameka. Something had to give. Rochelle being here was too close for comfort, and I knew she wasn’t about to give up.
***
“That was delicious, baby. You know what would be the perfect dessert?” I asked as I leaned in to capture Tameka’s soft lips that I’d wanted to taste since I walked into the dining area and saw her setting the table for our lunch. It didn’t help that she chose an inconspicuous corner of the club that gave us a little privacy.
“Hey…” Tameka leaned away from me to avoid another kiss. “After I left the doctor’s office this morning, I ran into your father at the mall. I was shocked when he waved at me,” she said, and frankly I was shocked to hear that too. Waving was a small gesture for most people, but for my old man to wave at Tameka, it was huge, so huge that I sat in silence, not knowing what to say. “Do you think he’ll come to the wedding?” she asked, breaking the silence.
“We’ll send him an invite. If he doesn’t come, he doesn’t come. All we need is us,” I said, doubting my father would ever accept my relationship with Tameka but the hopefulness in her eyes gave me some too.
“I have no way of knowing what my father is thinking or feeling because I haven’t talked to him in months,” I admitted.
“But that has to change. I won’t feel comfortable until you and your father at least sit down and discuss this again. He’s the only parent you have left, and life is too short to not be speaking to each other,” she said adamantly.
I leaned away from her, thinking.
“It’s not that simple, Tameka. You don’t just change generations of hatred with a conversation. My father’s attitude is baked in, and while he’s a quiet, even-tempered man, he’s hardcore stubborn.”
Sadness covered Tameka’s beautiful Nubian features. I hated to drop something like that on her, but the power of hatred was so deeply rooted in some people that even her gorgeous smile and contagious personality couldn’t pull it out.
I had witnessed men throw their children away when they wouldn’t declare white supremacy and agree to pass the torch on to future generations. Women went to their graves not speaking to their daughters who had chosen to marry black.
Our union wasn’t a small deal for my family. To them, deciding to have an interracial family was the highest form of treachery against the white race. I explained all of this to Tameka, so she would understand how my family worked, and so she wouldn’t keep having so much hope for them to come around.
“How will you feel if you never have a relationship with your father again…because of me?” she asked with sorrow in her voice.
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“I love my father a lot. I also knew the day I fell in love with you that I would be worse off losing you than I would be from losing relationships with people simply because you’re black.” I tilted her chin up so that she was looking at me. “I choose you, Tameka. I choose to denounce my family’s standard of hate. I don’t want to have hate in my heart for anyone, anymore. There’s always more hate required, more people to cast aside just because of the skin they’re born in.”
“Jeb, I admire you for changing your thoughts and your life. Not many men would have had the courage,” Tameka said, and the way she looked at me made a man out of me. That look alone made every sacrifice worth it.
“I appreciate what you’re saying, but I feel like I don’t deserve any special treatment because I decided not to be hateful like my family. It’s a low bar. If you’re raised a certain way, you just go that way until you know better.”
“When you know better, you do better,” Tameka agreed with a smile.
“Yep, and I know I will love you ‘til death, Tameka. I will die doing better for you.”
“Awe, I love you too, Jeb.” Tameka pulled my face to hers and soon our lips were latched together in a caress meant for us.
“That’s the only reason I wanted to get married in Hawaii with only the people that matter around. I don’t want my father, old friends, or anyone to get in the way of our special day. But knowing how important it is to you…to us, getting married right here for all to see is the only way.”
“Yes, babe, and I dare anyone to try to mess up our special day. Do I need to get a holster sewn into my wedding gown?” she teased.
I chuckled and squeezed Tameka tight as she sat close to me. “Just leave the protection part up to me. I’ll make sure we don’t have any issues at our wedding,” I said easing Tameka onto my lap and kissing her deeply.
“Jeb, we’re at your job.” She looked around, trying to see if anyone saw us as she eased back down out of my lap.
“I’m the boss, so I can do whatever I like,” I responded and scooted closer to her in the booth and pinned her against the wall.
Tameka tapped my arm as if that would deter me, but her attempt to deny me her succulent lips only made me want them more, and her taste was worth the struggle.
“Jeb—”