The Summer Daze

Chapter 9

            Tavian and I arrived at the restaurant—a fancy place called Riviera—late as hell because Tavian took forever getting ready. It only took me a total of twenty minutes to shower, brush my teeth, put on lotion and deodorant, get dressed and spray on a little cologne. Tavian took over an hour so we were the last to arrive at the restaurant. I drove us because he didn't want to take his car and also because he'd planned on taking an Uber with Mya to her house later that night after my party at Maxi. As we entered the restaurant, I put my phone on vibrate in case anyone hit me up.

            "There you are," said my mama as she stood up from the table. "I was beginning to worry."

            "Sorry ma," I said as I leaned in and kissed her cheek. "My metrosexual big brother took forever getting ready."

            "Metro what?" Tavian asked with a chuckle. "Don't make me take off my belt, boy."

            I laughed and playfully shoved him before sitting down with him at the table. I then looked at my dad and asked, "What made you choose this place, dad?"

            "This is where Terri and I celebrated our anniversary last year," he answered. "They have the best steak in the city." He looked at Terri and began, "Baby, you remember..."

            "Tonight is Dorian's night," my mama cut in. "I'd rather hear how he's been enjoying his eighteenth birthday."

            I took a sip from my glass of water and told them, "It's been cool so far."

            "Welcome to the legal side," Tavian told me while smiling. "You can play lottery now, buy cigarettes, vote, do what you want with girls and..."

            "Tay, chill," I said with a laugh. "All of that stuff is cool but that's not what I'm thinking about. Today is important to me because I'm officially an adult, a man. And to be honest, I have everything I could've asked for. I'm here with my family; all of my family."

            "That's right, sweetheart," Terri said happily.

            My mama gave her a look before rolling her eyes and telling my dad, "Thank you so much for the driver, Rashad. That Bentley he picked me up in is beautiful. You didn't have to spend that kind of money on little old me."

             "You had her picked up in a Bentley?" Terri asked dad.

            "Yep," mama answered before dad could say a word. "That combined with the suite at the Four Seasons and this dress is just over the top for a gal from Philly like me." She giggled and drank from her glass of wine.

            "He bought you that dress?" Terri asked her.

            "He sure did. It's funny how he took one look at me this morning and knew my exact measurements. As you can see, this dress fits me perfectly. I feel like I should be walking down a red carpet, honey."

            Just as it seemed as if things were about to get tense, the waiter approached our table to take our orders. There was more back and forth between my mama and Terri as we waited for the food; but once the food arrived, they calmed down and we all talked about other things as we ate. When no one was paying attention, I pulled my phone out under the table and I texted Noah to see if he was still coming to my party at Maxi. He replied a few minutes later saying he was in the middle of getting ready for it. As I put my phone back up, I wondered what he looked like in nothing but his underwear. I was soon deep in a sweet fantasy right there at the table.

            "Did you hear me, bro?" Tavian asked, snapping me back into reality.

            "Nah, I'm sorry," I told him. "What did you say?"