The Lion (6 page)

  Lance got to his feet and stood staring down at her. “Thank you Katydids, I'll hook up with you later.”

She nodded. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  “I'll walk you to your car,” Lance told her taking her hand. He glanced at Rion who was shaking his head.

  The two disappeared leaving Rion to dig into his breakfast. While he ate, he thought about the meetings he had lined up for today, one with the Mayor and another with the Council President. He needed the leaders in the city to support his bid for a team and once he'd gotten rid of the ones threatening him, he had to make sure everyone else stayed on board. He was meeting Tauri's grandparents later since she'd sent him a text saying that they wanted him to come for dinner at six.

  Rion laughed at how everyone knew about him and Tauri, when there really wasn't even a him and Tauri yet. They'd had dinner together and kissed, which could hardly be considered a relationship. In his mind, he knew that he was definitely moving forward with her. He also knew that she had deep reservations about him and his life. Rion vowed that he would make sure she knew that he had no intentions of leaving this city...or her.

  That evening Rion showed up at the home of Tauri's grandparents on the city's east side. He stood on the porch with two bouquets of flowers until sexy hazel eyes finally greeted him.

  “Hi.” That raspy voice sent chills down his spine.

He smiled at her. “Hello Tauri.”

  “Come in.” She stood back and allowed him to enter. Once inside he handed her one of the bouquets in his hand.

  “These are for you.”

She slowly took them watching him closely. “Thank you Orion. This was very thoughtful.”

  He stepped closer to her in the tiny foyer and focused on her mouth. Tauri lifted her face to his, touching his lips briefly. Rion touched her cheek gently stroking it.

  “Are you still mad at me?” he whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “Did the flowers help?”

She smiled. “No.”

  He laughed as she took his hand and led him into the living room where her grandparents were waiting.

  “Granny, Granddaddy this is Orion Shaw,” she introduced him. “Orion these are my grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Henry Patterson.”

  Tauri made the introductions like she'd been taught by her grandmother since she was able to talk as Rion looked at the couple and smiled.

  “It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Patterson.”

Tauri's grandfather beamed. “Look at this Millie! Orion Shaw in our living room.”

  “I see him Henry,” she responded while looking over Orion dressed in dark jeans along with a lightweight beige sweater that hugged his chest and dark brown boots. She also saw how her granddaughter's eyes devoured him.

  “Sit down! Sit down!” her grandfather boomed happily. Orion took a seat in one of the empty chairs while Tauri took the one opposite him facing her grandparents. He jumped back up remembering the flowers in his hand and gently handed them to her grandmother.

  “These are for you Mrs. Patterson. Thank you for having me in your home.”

  Millie Patterson took the flowers still watching Rion closely. “Thank you Mr. Shaw. This was very thoughtful.” Orion felt a sense of deja vu as Millie Patterson had the same raspy voice as her granddaughter along with that edge of steel.

  He smiled and regained his seat taking a quick glance at Tauri. Once he was seated again, he felt like he was up to bat with the bases loaded, bottom of the ninth with two outs. He cleared his throat and focused his attention on the two people on the sofa.

  “So Mr. Shaw, ReRe tells us that she's working on a case for you?” Millie asked.

Rion looked to Tauri “ReRe?” She frowned at him before he turned back to her grandmother.

  “Yes, she is and please call me Rion.” He smiled.

  Millie looked at Rion. “And just what else do you want her to do for you Mr. Shaw?” she asked pointedly.

Rion blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “Granny...” Tauri warned.

  Tauri's granny ignored her. “Powerful men usually want one thing from a beautiful woman.” She turned to Tauri. “And although I've warned Tauri about letting men in her panties, she doesn't always listen.”

  Rion paused and ran a slow hand down his face as Tauri responded, “Granny, Orion didn't come here to discuss my panties.” Tauri cut a look at him.

  “Millie, leave these young people alone. I got your panties on the first date,” her grandfather reprimanded.

Tauri lowered her head into her hand and Rion smiled.

  “Don't you discuss my panties Henry Patterson!” her grandmother cried.

  Henry moved closer to his wife. “And they were the only panties I ever wanted.” He kissed her cheek.

Millie gently pushed at him with a soft smile. “Go away Henry.”

  Henry smiled at her. “Now, why don't you and baby girl go and check on all that food you've cooked and let me and this young fella have a little chat before we eat?”

Millie smiled and got to her feet. “Come on here ReRe.”

  Tauri got slowly to her feet and glanced from her grandfather to Rion. She let out a breath and followed her grandmother into the kitchen. Rion watched the women leave then turned to Tauri's grandfather wondering what was next.

  “Orion Shaw. Boy, when ReRe told us she'd met you and you were coming here, I'd about died.”

  He continued. “Coming home and bringing another team to the city? Boy, that right there...” He shook his head.

  “As a black man in this country there are a lot of things I thought I'd never see a black man achieve, yet I have...not all, but some.”

  “I understand sir,” Rion commented.

  Henry leaned forward. “This is no small thing you're trying to do. Things like this can get real messy. You afraid to get your hands dirty?” he asked cryptically.

  Rion leaned forward. “No sir. I'm trying to let their system work, but I'm not that naive to believe that it will resolve things completely, if at all.”

Henry smiled. “I knew you were special boy...and not just on the baseball field.”

  “Thank you sir, if it wasn't for the strong black men who've come before me like you, I would never have had the opportunity to be in this position.”

Henry nodded. “Now, about my granddaughter and her panties...” He lifted a brow.

Rion sat up. “Your granddaughter is a beautiful, brilliant and strong woman.”

  “She's like her grandmother.”

  Rion glanced at the fireplace in the room. “May I?” he asked permission to go over and study the many photographs displayed.

  Henry nodded and Rion stood to walk over to the mantle. His gaze scanned photos of Tauri at various stages in her life. Tauri in thick glasses and then in braces, Tauri in braids, pony tails and in the  short cut, she now wore. Rion felt a stab at his heart. He pictured their own home filled with pictures of their own kids. He teased her mercilessly about having children together and as he looked over her growth through these photos, he knew she had been made for him.

  “She's so incredible,” Rion whispered.

  Henry joined Rion by the fireplace. “She's strong, stubborn and will fight to the death. She's also the sweetest, most loyal and compassionate woman you'll ever meet.”

Rion nodded and continued to study the pictures.

  “I think you're a remarkable young man Orion Shaw but if you hurt our baby girl, I will get my hands very dirty,” Henry warned.

Rion turned to him. “Yes sir.”

Henry patted him on the back. “Hot damn! Orion Shaw in my living room!”

  The women returned and announced that dinner was ready. They all sat at the table in the dining room with Tauri and Rion across from each other. Their gazes connected frequently and held. Her grandmother had prepared a feast fit for a king and Rion enjoyed the well-cooked meal.

  “So Rion, I understand that you're a part of the Negus here in the city,” her grandfather commented.

  Rion nodded. “Yes, along with my brother and three of our close friends.” His gaze connected with Tauri's again as she picked up her glass.

  “What exactly does that mean, Negus?” her grandmother asked.

Rion turned to her. “It's an Ethiopian title for kings or rulers.”

  “So you call yourselves kings?” her grandfather asked as Tauri took a sip of her drink.

  “They're the kings, I'm the young god,” Rion answered and Tauri spit her drink across the room and began to choke.

  “What the hell?” her grandfather roared.

Tauri regained her composure after a moment. “I'm sorry Granddaddy.”

Henry turned to Rion. “Did you say that you're a young god?”

  “Yes sir,” Rion answered firmly.

Tauri's grandmother looked at her in question and she quickly intervened.

  “Rion and his family follow Khemetic beliefs,” she explained quickly.

  “What in the Sam Hill?” her grandfather exclaimed.

Her grandmother frowned. “Henry...”

  “So you think my granddaughter is supposed to bow down to you, Mr. Young God?” he demanded.

  Rion stopped his meal and turned to Henry. “On the contrary Mr. Patterson, as a young god, I know that it's my responsibility to provide for, protect and worship my goddess.” He looked at Tauri. “I will use every resource within my power to make her smile. Each day my objective is her ultimate happiness. There is nothing that she requires that I won't freely give.” He held her gaze as she stared back at him.

  Her grandmother smiled down the table at her husband while lifting an eyebrow. “Did you hear that Henry?”

  The rest of the meal concluded without incident. Tauri helped her grandmother clean the kitchen while Rion and her grandfather talked more about Rion's plans for the new team. When all was cleared away, her grandparents retired to their bedroom leaving Rion and Tauri in the living room sitting on the sofa.

He turned to her. “I think I'm in love with your Granny.”

She smiled. “Shut up.”

  “I think your Granddaddy might kill me though. He did threaten me tonight.”

Her eyes widened. “No!”

He nodded. “He told me if I hurt baby girl, my ass is done.”

  “My granddaddy did not say that!”

  “That was the gist of it.”

Tauri put a hand to her face then looked at him. “You wanted to meet them.”

  Rion took her hand. “And I'm glad I did, because of them I have this incredible woman sitting next to me.”

Tauri smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

  “And I hope our daughter looks just like you with pop-bottle glasses and braces,” he told her.

Tauri's mouth opened then closed. “I hate you.” She pulled her hand away.

Rion laughed. “What? You look adorable.”

She stood to her feet. “Well you've had your dinner Orion. You should leave now.”

  Rion smiled and grabbed her arm pulling her down onto his lap. “Come here.” He looked into her face.

  “You play way too much,” she whispered.

  Rion ran his hand along her leg and hip. “You were adorable then and you're adorable now. If we were thirteen I'd still be all on you.”

  She grudgingly smiled before he brought her mouth to his and kissed her softly. She pulled back and touched his face. “Is this our third date?” she whispered.

He nodded. “Uh...huh.”

  She smiled wickedly and began to kiss him again until his phone rang. Rion froze for a moment because he'd thought he'd turned it off before entering for dinner. The ringing continued until he pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the screen then quickly sent the call to voicemail.

  Tauri watched him as he shut the phone down and placed it back in his pocket. She got to her feet slowly.

  “Goodnight Orion,” she said frostily.

  “Tauri...”

  “Leave now so you can call her back.” She folded her arms.

Rion leaned forward. “I'm not calling her back and how did you know it was a woman?”

Tauri looked confused. “Try that guilty ass look on your face?”

Rion studied the patterned carpet for a moment. “She's not important.”

  Tauri sighed. “She's not important, she doesn't mean anything, she's from my past,” she recited to him.

  “Goodnight Orion. When you have my evidence I will move forward with your case.”

  Rion clasped his hands between his legs as he bent over. “I'm not leaving Tauri. Not like this...never like this.”

She lifted a brow. “Oh, you're leaving Orion. Don't make us the headline for the news tonight.”

  “You're going to listen and I'm not leaving until you do,” Rion promised.

  Tauri's face was filled with anger. “Listen to what Orion? Listen to how you lied to me hours ago saying that you weren't attached to any other woman?” she questioned.

  “I didn't lie to you.” He stood and looked down at her. “Not to sound redundant but no, she's not important, she doesn't mean anything and she is from my past.”

Tauri gave a short laugh. “Who has your current number and feels free to call it?”

  “It's been over a year since I broke up with Rhonda.”

  “Well it looks like she's ready to get back together. I wish you both the best.”

  Rion pulled her taut body to him. “Stop! I'm not that man. I would never pursue you with another woman in the picture.”

Tauri placed her hands against his solid chest. “I don't want you to pursue me.”

He stared into her eyes. “Do you think I'm going to stop?” Rion caressed her cheek.

  “Three days Tauri,” he whispered. “Three days and you've invaded my mind and my dreams. I couldn't stop pursing you even if I wanted to...”  He pulled her tightly against his body. “And you don't want me to because you feel this just as much as I do.”

  Tauri stared up at him. “I'll fight for you in court Orion, but I won't fight to be in your life,” she told him. “No matter how this feels.”

  “You will never have to Tauri.” He lowered his head to kiss her and she pulled back.

  “Have you heard of the 'Blocking' feature on your phone?” she asked pointedly.

Rion laughed. “It's done. I should have done it before.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes, you should have. I want to at least get my fourth date before I have to put you in the rear.”

  Rion tasted her lips. “You will get plenty of fourth dates goddess, I promise you.” Tauri gave in to his kiss and they both allowed the fiery currents to flow through their bodies.

*********

  “Where the hell is Rion?” Lance asked putting his phone away. “I've called his ass three times and it just goes to voicemail.”

Brandon looked at his menu. “He's with Tauri.”

Corvus frowned. “He just met this girl and his ass is gone. She put it on the brother.”

  “She is fine though,” Khalil inserted looking at his own menu. “A lot of brothers would beg her to put it on them.”

  “Didn't he know we were meeting here tonight?” Lance grumbled. “I could be out with one of my own women.”

  “He'll be here,” Brandon assured the group before turning to Khalil. “How are things at the community center Khalil?”

Khalil looked up from his menu. “Things are going well.”

  “How's Kyros?” Brandon asked.

  “He's adjusting. I have to start thinking about his schooling. This public school education is not what it should be and although we all went to public school that was a different time. Now it's basically the pipeline to prison for most black boys. It’s just one system feeding another and profiting off of black bodies.”

  “What are you thinking of doing?” Corvus asked.

  “For right now, just explore all the options,” Khalil explained.

  They all looked up as Rion joined them taking a seat at the table. “What's up Negus?” he asked smiling.

Lance looked at his watch. “What's up is that your ass is late.”

Rion smiled. “Don't worry Lance, I don't think the females you deal with can even tell time.”

Everyone laughed and Lance frowned. “This from the lion who's been tamed in three days?” 

They all looked to Rion who slowly picked up his menu.

  “Khalil, I saw Khayla earlier,” Rion opened the menu. “Man, she is beautiful. I'm surprised nobody has wifed her up yet.”

  Khalil frowned heavily looking up. “I'm waiting for a brother to step to me asking about Khayla. He'd have to be Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and Bobby Seale all wrapped up into one or else he's getting straight bodied.” Khalil went back to his menu and everyone else looked at Lance.

Brandon shook his head and looked at Rion. “So Rion do you have any updates for us?”

  “My friend in LA called and he's sending out some of his people in the next few days to work on getting this evidence Tauri needs.” Rion told him.

  “So what's up with you and her?” Corvus asked.

Rion looked at him. “Uh, none of your damn business.”

Corvus laughed. “That girl is boss, I give her mad props. She got you turned all the way out.”

Rion reached for his glass of water. “Momma's not here. Don't get hurt.”

  Lance laughed and Corvus looked over at him. “What? Your Momma do be saving you all the time,” Lance admitted.

  Brandon decided to cease the antics. “Rion, you know this won't be over quickly. Once you have the evidence, the soonest we can get a trial on the docket could be three to four months away.”

  Rion nodded. “I have six months to complete this deal or I lose the opportunity completely, so one way or another I have to make it happen.”

  “You got enough funds?” Lance asked.

  “I'm straight on that. With my investment, the Negus and my LA investors, money's not an issue.”

  Everyone nodded around the table. “It's time for this to happen. We have to show our young gods what is possible.” Rion told them.

  “You're coming to talk to the youth next week right?” Khalil asked.

  Rion turned to him. “Yeah, and I'm teaching them about baseball so make sure you stay your ass in your office. I don't need your fight the power speech while I'm talking.”

Khalil laughed. “As long as you're teaching them accurate black history, I'm cool.”

  Rion looked to his brother. “You and Lance should come with me. Lance said you've been schooling the young warriors on the streets and I know they look up to you both.” 

Corvus nodded. “I'm down.”

  “Me too,” Lance agreed looking at his watch. “Are we eating or what?”

Rion shook his head. “I had dinner already with Tauri's grandparents.”

Everyone turned to him. “You met the fam?” Corvus asked. “Damn, y'all ain't playing.”

  “It was dinner Corvus,” Rion explained.

Lance turned to Corvus. “They're going be married next week!” The two burst out in laughter.

“She probably pregnant with twins right now!” Corvus cracked.

“So we got jokes?” Rion asked frowning.

  Corvus looked at his big brother's face and sobered instantly. “It's all good Bro. I just never expected you to go down so fast.”

  Rion looked at his brother and thought to himself...he hadn't expected it either. Now he had to see where it would lead. He stayed with his brothers while they had dinner then returned home to his apartment. He showered and laid across his bed staring out at the dark water while remembering last night and how he'd slept outside with Tauri in his arms. 

  The incident earlier with Rhonda could have been a disaster. Thinking of that he reached for his phone on the nightstand and added her to his 'Blocked List'. There was no reason to keep avoiding her calls since there was nothing else to discuss. He'd moved on and hopefully she would too. While he had his phone in his hand, a call came through.

   Tauri's face appeared on his screen and he smiled at her. “Well this is a pleasant surprise,” he said lying back across the bed.

  “I wanted to see how you survived my grandparents.”

  Rion smiled at her. “Your grandparents are very entertaining and your granny must have some hella panties.”

  “Don't talk about my Granny's panties!” she chastised smiling.

  “I'm more interested in her granddaughter's panties.”

Her hazel eyes darkened. “Did you enjoy the rest of your evening?”

  “Let's see,” he said softly.

  “See what?” she asked confused.