“Yes, Lisa Nash. I don’t think we’ve ever had the pleasure.”
“I’m Stella. Nique and Nel’s mom.”
My mother, who had been distracted taking photos with Aunt Maxine and had missed the earlier tension at the table, looked genuinely surprised. Her eyes moved from Stella to Nique andback. “Oh my! I thought you might be a sister I didn’t know about. You look so young!”
“I’m her sister!” Whitley chirped from behind Stella, leaning into the light.
“Mighty strong genes,” my mom said, her voice carrying a genuine warmth as she looked between Stella, Nique, and Whitley. “Very beautiful women.”
I felt a quiet jolt move through me. My mother hadn’t paid Nique a real compliment in years, not since the shooting when she made up her mind that Nique was trouble my future didn’t have room for. Hearing her say it now felt like a crack in something that had been frozen for a long time.
Beside me Amina went rigid. She didn’t say a word but she grabbed her margarita with a tight grip and took a long slow sip, her eyes fixed on the tablecloth. She had spent the better part of a year being the woman my mother approved of and watching that approval extend to Nique clearly wasn’t sitting well.
Stella beamed, encouraged by the warmth. “Thank you Lisa. I was just telling Nique how much she reminds me of myself at that age. Same fire.”
Nique didn’t respond. She just traced a slow pattern in the condensation on her glass, her eyes somewhere else entirely.
“Dex,” Stella said, turning to me with a playful glint. “Seeing that picture makes me wonder, are you two still as close as you used to be? Tevin used to say he couldn’t keep you from around the house.”
The question landed like a live wire across the table. Nique looked up, her eyes wide and full of warning. Beside me Amina set her glass down just a little too hard, waiting on my answer.
Before I could say a word Uncle Elliot jumped in from further down the table.
“That boy used to come over claiming he wanted to hang with Eli,” he chuckled. “Eli would be inside on his video games andthose two would be outside racing down the street like a pair of Great Danes.”
“It was so exhausting timing them,” London added, her smile nostalgic.
“Exhausting just being around them period,” Kyson said with a smirk. “Those two acted like nobody else existed.”
“Can we please move on from memory lane?” Nique asked, a flush creeping up her neck.
The table laughed, the tension easing for just a second before Stella dropped the bomb.
“I really thought you two would be married with kids by now,” she said softly, like she was just thinking out loud.
Amina didn’t hesitate. “He already has a daughter,” she said, her voice cutting clean through the laughter. “With me.”
Stella’s eyebrows lifted, her eyes shifting to me with a flicker of regret like she’d just realized she’d walked into a room without a map. “Oh wow. You’re a father now Dex? I’ve missed so much.”
“I wonder why,” Nique said under her breath, quiet but sharp enough to draw blood.
Stella looked at her, her posture softening just a fraction. “I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
“Dex and I are still just friends, Stella,” Nique said, her voice turning clinical, detached. “Plus, I’m a lesbian.”
The table went dead silent. Even the ocean seemed to pull back.
“What? Since when?” Stella asked.
“I was in a relationship with a woman for two years,” Nique said, her eyes steady.
“Was?” Michelle asked, her voice soft with concern.
“Yeah Auntie. Kel and I broke up.”
“Where are you living then?” Tevin asked, already in protective mode.
“Transitioning back to Grandma’s with Nel for a little while.”