White Lines II: Sunny: A Novel Read Free Page B

dressing in church now?”
    Olivia shook her head again and rolled her eyes at her brother. “Good-bye, Lamin.” She winked at Sunny as she left, still giggling.
    Sunny noticed that Lamin was still standing there as if he had something to say to her. Never one to beat around the bush, she called him on it. “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”
    He smiled at her. “Your cat can have my tongue any time.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Now that was corny.”
    “No, it wasn’t. You gotta think about it. It’s a double meaning.”
    Sunny shook her head. “I get it. It’s still corny.”
    Lamin laughed and so did she. “Okay, so let me start over.”
    “Okay.”
    “Say that again. ‘Cat got your tongue.’ Say that.”
    Sunny chuckled at his silliness. She squinted her eyes and said in her sexiest voice, “Cat got your tongue, Lamin?”
    He cleared his throat and put on his best Billy Dee face. “Well, actually,” he spoke in an exaggerated baritone, reminiscent of Barry White, “I was hoping to make better use of my tongue, Sunny. Do you think you could help me with that?”
    Sunny laughed so hard that she was doubled over. Lamin cracked up seeing her so tickled.
    Finally, she caught her breath. “You’re stupid.”
    He winked at her. “Ladies love a man with a sense of humor.”
    She nodded. “We do. That’s true.”
    “So, all jokes aside,” Lamin said. He licked his lips. “You gonna stop running from me or what?” He had known Sunny for years. When her man Dorian had been alive, Lamin had gotten to know Sunny as part of the Family and as Olivia’s good friend. But when Dorian died and Sunny blossomed into a sexy socialite, Lamin—and every other man with a pulse—had taken notice. He had emerged from a messy divorce and scandalous criminal trial unscathed. And all he needed now was a woman who could handle him. He suspected that beautiful Sunny might be up to the task.
    Sunny sighed, drained from laughing so hard. She looked at Lamin, took in all his splendor. He was a beautiful man—tall, dark and handsome. But he reminded her too much of Dorian at times. She couldn’t get past that. The gritty edge, the tall, chocolate Adonis thing … it was too familiar.
    “I never ran from nothing in my whole life,” she corrected him. She retrieved her purse from the coffee table and winked at him as he’d done only moments ago. “But a real lady knows when to exercise her right to walk away.” Sunny strutted her stuff in true top-model fashion as she walked to the door.
    “That shit was corny,” Lamin said, jokingly, though his face was deadpanned.
    Sunny laughed as she called out over her shoulder, “Whatever!” And the door swung shut behind her.

 
     
    2
    FOOD FOR THOUGHT
     
    There are some things that a mother stores up in her heart and never speaks of to anybody; secret thoughts and worries that they never verbalize. For Jada Ford, that was the case from time to time when she looked at her son. Sometimes, when Sheldon was in the middle of laughing at a joke or if he was angry and scowling, his brow would furrow in a way that reminded her instantly of his father. And it sent chills up her spine every time.
    Jada could still picture Jamari’s creepy grins; the way her ex’s lips would spread into a smile that never quite reached his eyes. Jamari’s smiles had been sinister ones. He had been a monster, full of envy, selfishness and greed, and had assisted Jada in nearly destroying any chance she had for happiness. He had handed her crack cocaine with one hand while slapping her with a restraining order to keep her away from their son with the other.
    She still felt guilty after all these years for having gotten high while she was pregnant with Sheldon. His early years had been plagued by illness and pain, and even now he had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, and was demonstrating that he had trouble controlling his temper. Sheldon was also in the seventh grade, but reading on