Roc watched Coco until she disappeared into the kitchen then replied, “Ummm, no thank you. There is a small woman with hair to her waist roaming around here that will kill all of us if she sees you over here, so let me direct you to the food.”
“Aye,” Roc motioned for one of the servers, “Can you show them to the buffet table? Thank you.”
“Alright, your loss,” Iesha said.
“Not at all, sweetheart,” Roc said as he rushed them off.
“They was trying to put you and me back in the hospital!” Roc laughed. “You remember that night, though?”
“I do,” I nodded.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I wasn’t about to get whooped on by Coco. I was going to claim amnesia and leave you out there all by yourself,” I chuckled. “I just got out of the hospital, remember?”
“That’s foul!”
“That’s self-preservation.”
Countee walked over and took a seat in a chair next to the couch.
“Mom got you too, huh?” I smiled.
“I’m tired!” Countee said while opening a beer of his own. “I didn’t know a party could be so much work! You have a full staff here, and she still found stuff for us to do!”
“Looks like the gang is all here,” JD said while pulling up a chair. He placed a helmet on the ground and removed his jacket.
“You drove the Spyder?”
“We did,” JD responded.
“Spyder? That three-wheeled thing?” Countee asked.
“Yeah, my kids got it for us as an anniversary gift. They all ride motorcycles so sometimes they let the old folks hang out with them,” he laughed.
“It’s the only thing my aunt would approve of,” Xavier added.
Elisa brought over a plate of food and handed it to JD. We all stood as she greeted each of us.
“Hey Auntie,” Xavier hugged her.
“Hi baby,” she responded.
She walked around him and came over to me.
“Hi, sweetheart, how are you doing?” Elisa asked while hugging me.
I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen her dressed down. Today she wore a pair of jeans, some black boots, and a black polo shirt. She could put some of these younger women to shame.
“I’m much better. Thanks for asking. How are you?”
“I’m good. I’m about to go back over there with your mom and get some of this delicious food. Is everyone good? Do you all need anything?” she asked the group.
“No, ma’am,” everyone answered.
“Thank you, baby,” JD said while leaning down to kiss her.
“My pleasure,” she winked and walked away.