A Familiar Ring

CHAPTER 16: Don't Trouble the Water PART 1

It was the day of Messiah's big 10th birthday party and everyone was in Savannah to celebrate. Messiah, his dad Micah, Prosper, Briscoe, and Poppa Freeman were on the way back from camping so the birthday boy was arriving fashionably late. Nola had sent a text to Prosper saying she was on the way, so she'd be fashionably late as well. He rolled his eyes but suddenly was hit with the realization that he'd be introducing Nola to his immediate family—and Cadence. If it was possible for a man with as deep and rich hues of melanin that Prosper possessed to turn pale, he would have. Poppa Freeman took notice of the change in Prosper's demeanor.

"Boy, since when you start getting car sick?" Poppa Freeman asked.

"Huh? Oh, no I'm not car sick," Prosper offered flatly.

"Hmph," Poppa Freeman glanced at him curiously before continuing, "Women trouble?"

"Me and Cadence are fine, pops."

"I ain't say nothing about no Cadence, boy. Hell, all of Macon know y'all two soulmates! Must be a woman back in Atlanta that ain't too pleased about all this."

"Nola."

"Boy, how the hell you managin' a woman in Macon and a woman in New Orleans? You in over your head now."

Prosper smiled. "No pop, her name is Nola."

Briscoe was sitting in the back row with Messiah when he heard mention of Nola's name. It was a strange coincidence as his boss had texted him about a woman named Nola late last night but he thought nothing of it.

"I see. And do this, uh, Nola, know about my Cade?" Poppa Freeman continued his line of questioning.

"My Cade, pop. And yeah she do," Prosper answered truthfully.

"So what's the problem? Why you sitting over there looking like a ghost?"

"Nola is... coming to the party today. I'm introducing her to everyone."

Poppa Freeman let out a dwindling whistle. Micah watched the two in the rearview mirror and shook his head while letting out a low laugh. The car sat in silence for a few moments and Briscoe took a moment to review his text from last night.

Boss:A woman named Nola is coming up to Macon tomorrow. She runs the girls at Luckie's Lady Lounge. Show her around our clubs out there. I'll send you her address once I get it.

Last night, Briscoe had responded "cool" but now he had to let his boss know that there might be a slight problem.

***

Cadence and Phoenix were just finishing setting up as kids and their parents started to arrive. They were in the kid-friendly area of Tybee Island. Messiah, for reasons Cadence didn't quite understand, had gotten very into surfing and wanted this surf beach theme party.

"Girl, I was on Pinterest for weeks trying to put all this stuff together. Thank you for helping me get everything right," Phoenix said. Cadence nodded.

She'd certainly gone all out for her son's 10th birthday. She ordered these decorative surfboards to stick in the sand, beach balls, and hand made a wave as a photobooth backdrop for the kids to take photos. She set up a surf bar for the kids to order drinks which she named Tsunami (an Arnold Palmer) and Cyclone (an icee), and had tons of kid-favorite finger foods. She even ordered a bunch of wet suits and additional life vests for the kids and, by a miracle, found an actual surf instructor. Most of these kids were only used to the local community pools and didn't go to the beach much. Plus she wasn't sure of their swimming abilities so, as a parent, she wanted to be safe.