“Lord have mercy, Jasmine! Who is this fine young man?” Big Momma asked the second Dylan and I walked in the door. She looked Dylan over from head to toe and nodded her approval with a wide grin. “Well, Jasmine, aren’t you gonna introduce us? I know I taught you better than that.”
“Yes, ma’am. Big Momma, this is Dylan Taylor. Dylan, this is my grandmother, Mrs. Washington.” I had to keep from rolling my eyes at all the formality. When she met Derrick for the first time, Big Momma had barely allowed herself to make eye contact with him, and she made it clear from the start she was watching his every move. But as much as she hated Derrick was as much as Big Momma seemed to love Dylan, and she didn’t even know the guy.
I had no doubt, though, that she’d done as much checking on Dylan’s background as she could with all her connections in the community. After Derrick had us all believing he was a lawyer, Big Momma wasn’t taking anyone’s word on anything. She probably learned Dylan was a legitimate business owner, and that was enough to make him worthy in her eyes. Big Momma’s biggest concern was getting me to end things with Derrick. She probably thought Dylan was a pretty good prospect to help her reach that goal. And Dylan, with his polite self, was making Big Momma’s eyes light up right about now. He reached out to take her hand in his.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Washington.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, Dylan. And around here all the young people just call me Big Momma, because we family.” This time I did roll my eyes, but I made sure to turn my head away first. Big Momma never let Derrick call her anything but Mrs. Washington.
“Big Momma, huh? Well Mrs. Washington, that’s kinda personal.” Dylan let go of her hand. I held my breath, ’cause for a second I thought he might say something insulting, and then Big Momma would have to show her true self. “But if you want me to call you Big Momma, I’d consider it an honor. But you better come over here so I can give you a big kiss like we really are family.”
Well, Big Momma looked like she could just about melt. Her face got two shades deeper after Dylan planted a huge, wet kiss right on her lips. I just stood there in shock. I’d never seen my grandmother blush before.
“Lawwwd have mercy! I ain’t had a man kiss me like that in thirty years!” Big Momma grabbed her chest, pretending to have a heart attack á la Fred Sanford. She knocked over a few chairs and fell over onto the sofa. Poor Dylan was so confused by her apparent heart attack that he looked as if he were about to bend down to perform CPR. It was a good thing my look stopped him, too, ’cause Big Momma probably would’ve had a real heart attack if he’d pressed his lips up against hers again. It was one hell of a show, and we’d just barely walked in the door.
The rest of our visit with Big Momma was more of the same love-fest. Big Momma’s eyes lit up every time Dylan spoke about himself. I could see her taking mental notes about all his good qualities, and I just knew once she got the chance, she’d be doing her best to sell me on him. So it was no surprise when she woke me at six the next morning tryin’ to play matchmaker. I wasn’t about to tell her she was preaching to the choir, that I’d been sold on Dylan since that first night at Joe’s. I just had too much invested in Derrick to drop him. So I just let her get it off her chest.
“Now, Jasmine, baby, he sure is a good man. Don’t you let him get away, you hear? Men like that don’t grow on trees.”
“Big Momma, I know he’s nice. But he’s just a friend. You seem to forget I’ve already got a man.”
“Shoot. That boy ain’t no good. He ain’t nothin’ but a drug dealer. A convicted one at that. He ain’t brought you nothin’ but grief since the day you met. Now, men like Dylan, or your sister’s man, Travis? Good men like that don’t come around but so often. You’d better jump on Dylan like your sister did Travis. Otherwise you’ll end up being a bridesmaid at his wedding tryin’ to figure out what the hell happened.”
Big Momma kept me on that phone nearly two hours telling me what a fool I’d be to let Dylan go. She couldn’t have made it more clear how much she despised Derrick and how much she loved Dylan. It was enough to make my already confused emotions even more jumbled.
“What’re you thinking about?” Dylan interrupted my thoughts.
“You and Big Momma,” I laughed. “You know y’all getting married one day, don’t you?”
“Well,” he smiled, “the way things have been going, I guess I could do worse. Only problem is, she probably don’t wanna have any more kids.”
I reached across the table and touched his hand as I laughed. “You really wanna have kids, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I’d love to have a family.” He stared at me momentarily before changing the subject. “So, miss, you got any plans for tonight?”
“None that I’m aware of. Why?” I wondered if my face revealed how much I was hoping his next words would be an invitation to spend some more time together. Thankfully, he didn’t disappoint me.
“Well, you know my birthday is Saturday, but I’m gonna be outta town most of the day. So I was wondering if you and your girls would mind celebrating with me and Joe tonight at Joe’s club in Petersburg.”
“I can’t speak for Becky and Sabrina, but I’ll be there. So, birthday boy, what do you want for your birthday?” He smiled wickedly, raising both eyebrows as he looked off into the distance. I was about to press him for more details when my cell phone rang. “Damn it, hold that thought.” I reached for the phone in my purse.
“Hello,” I said sweetly, smiling across the table at Dylan.
“Jazz?” The voice was barely audible.
“Yes, this is Jasmine. Who’s this?”
“It’s Stephanie.”
“What wrong, Steph? You sound like you been crying. I can barely hear you.”
“Jazz, I need your help. It’s important.” Her voice was sounding more desperate. I was worried. If she was asking for my help, then whatever was going on must’ve been real important, ’cause we both knew she didn’t really like me. Hell, I’d damn near single-handedly saved her engagement to Travis a while back and I was still waiting for a thank-you.
“Okay, Steph. Where you at?”
“Um, I’m at home,” she told me between sniffles. “I need your help, Jasmine. Please.”
“Don’t worry, Steph. I’m gonna help you.” I looked at Dylan and apologized with my eyes. He knew I was getting ready to cut short our lunch date. “Where’s Travis? Did you call him?”
“No! Oh, my God, no! Don’t call him. Please, don’t call him,” she pleaded. “I just need you, Jazz. I need my sister.”
“Alright, Steph. Calm down. I’m on my way, okay?” I hung up my phone and gave Dylan a weak smile. “I’m sorry, I gotta go. Family emergency again.”
“Everything all right?” He sounded genuinely concerned.
“I’m not sure,” I sighed. “It’s my sister. She’s in some kind of trouble. She says she needs me.”
“Want me to come along?”
“Nah, I better go by myself. You never know what kind of drama Stephanie is involved in.” I stood and gathered my things. “But thanks for the offer. I’ll call you if there’s any problem.” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, though I can’t tell you how much I wanted to kiss his lips. I was going to have to make a decision about us soon. There was only so much a woman could take.
“You be careful, okay?” He squeezed my hand. “I’m only a phone call away if you need me.”
“I know.” I smiled. “And I appreciate it I’ll see you tonight at the club.”