Free Loose Ends by Electa Rome Parks Page A

there. If I wanted to come here alone—”
     
     
    “Okay, okay, what did I miss?” I asked before she went on and on about how I was neglecting her.
     
     
    “You see the tall, dark-skinned guy over in the far corner?” She boldly pointed him out.
     
     
    “Yeah?”
     
     
    “Well, he’s the maintenance man for this week. Sexy has been giving me the eye all evening. You just watch; I’m going to sample those goods.”
     
     
    Sharon and I talked, laughed and drank some more, compliments of Sexy, for another hour or so before I called it a night. True to form, before we walked out the door Sharon had Sexy’s home, work, pager and cell numbers and a date for later in the week. Amazing. Girlfriend is unbelievable.
     

 
    Christian
     
     
    Brice and I were both quiet while we cruised down I-20 West and listened to V-103 on an early Saturday morning. It was like old times again, us back together again. Older and wiser.
     
     
    Brice broke the silence. “Man, promise me you’ll think about it. I’d love to bring you in as a partner. The Two Musketeers together again. Wouldn’t that be a trip?” Brice said as we made our drive over to his parents’ house.
     
     
    “I can’t make any promises, but I will think about it. It sounds like you have everything planned out to the letter. It would be a great opportunity.”
     
     
    “Well, what’s the problem, my brotha?”
     
     
    “Mia. Mia’s the problem,” I replied without looking in his direction.
     
     
    “Man, you can handle Mia.”
     
     
    “Brice, I don’t ‘handle’ Mia. We make major decisions together.”
     
     
    “Hold up. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying you can convince her that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s too good to pass up.”
     
     
    “I don’t know; we’ll see. I’m still trying to get her to think it’s a good idea to meet with you. Let me get her used to one idea at a time.”
     
     
    “How’s your pops doing, man?” I asked with deep concern. For years he was one of the only male figures I had in my life.
     
     
    Brice looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “If you stopped by to see Moms more, you’d know for yourself, wouldn’t you?”
     
     
    “Brice, our situation is kinda awkward.”
     
     
    “Yeah, it is, but they never stopped loving you. Moms asks about you all the time. Even when I was in Germany, she’d tell me to call you and work through our problems. When I told her you were stopping by, she was ecstatic.”
     
     
    “Cool.”
     
     
    “But Pops, he’s not doing that well. He has his good and bad days, with Moms right by his side.”
     
     
    “Of course. Your moms ain’t going nowhere.”
     
     
    “You ain’t never lied.”
     
     
    “How does she feel about this situation, our new lives?” I always felt Brice’s mother thought I had betrayed Brice by marrying Mia. Therefore I stayed away.
     
     
    “Christian, Moms knows I messed up bad. In fact, she predicted this would happen if I didn’t straighten up. Moms always loved you like a son and Mia like a daughter. That didn’t change. She wanted you both to be happy; if with each other, so be it.”
     
     
    “It’s that simple, huh?”
     
     
    “Man, only you’re complicating it. You’re happy and I’m happy. Kree is the wife I’ve always wanted. She does what I tell her to.” With that statement, Brice started laughing. I wasn’t too sure if he was serious.
     
     
    “Well, five years ago, you could have killed me with your bare hands.” I glanced back out the window.
     
     
    “Five years ago I was a different man. I’ve changed. I hurt a lot of people, but that was then; this is now.”
     
     
    “Yeah, this is now.”
     
     
    We rode, turning down a few secondary roads, passing familiar sights, in a comfortable silence while music played on the radio station.
     
     
    “What does Kree think about this little reunion?” I asked Brice.
     
     
    “She doesn’t,” he