Kayla’s hair matted to her sweaty face, which was firmly planted on her mattress. Her knees were tucked together and her slender buttocks pointed skyward, so any passers-by could ogle her winking orifices. With her primary desires already satiated, what she craved at that moment was for Brian to return with the packet of wipes to catch the creampie creeping past her plump labial folds.

“Brian,” she said with exhaustion. “Don’t let the fact that you just wore me out...” She stopped to catch her breath. “Don’t let that make you think I won’t kick your ass for having me here waiting.”

Brian returned with a broad, cheesy grin. He advanced his chiseled, brown-skinned frame to the bed and kissed his fiancee’s elevated rump before she reached between her legs, shaking her hand for the wipes.

“So impatient,” he said, and followed up with a slap to her right cheek. She leaned onto her haunches, holding the wipe to catch his substantial ejaculate. “Man, I can’t wait for you to meet Big Ma.”

“Babe, I love you to death, but can we not talk about your grandma while I’m pushing out your nut?” She raised her brows and jutted her neck around.

“Aight-aight. Just a little nervous, that’s all.”

“Is it because, hmm.” Kayla tapped her chin with an index finger, then gasped and pointed at him. “Is it because we got engaged after dating for only – what was it – six months?”

“That and she never met you before.”

Kayla turned and scooted toward him at the edge of the bed. While looking up, she showed him how much he left inside of her on the wipe. “Lookit all this. That’s nut from a fully grown man. A fully grown, forty-two-year-old man scared of his ninety-year-old grandma.”

He rocked back, nodded and said, “Fair point.”

“But hey, you’re not alone; I’m nervous too. That woman practically raised you, so ain’t nobody gonna be good enough for her sweetheart.”

“Aaand, I’m even more nervous now.”

“Shut up.” Kayla hopped onto him, wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him passionately. They made love several more times in the shower until they left their humble abode.

When they arrived at his grandmother’s residence, they received a warm welcome, to Kayla’s surprise. However, being well-versed in the passive-aggressive ways of people, Kayla knew it was a matter of time before this charade faded, so she steeled herself for that moment’s arrival.

The introductions went smoothly, and Kayla complimented Big Ma’s home on its warm colour scheme, with the beige sofa set, varnished wooden floors and counters. Brian’s grandmother insisted Kayla call her by her given name, Edna, and Kayla breathed a sigh of relief, which she instantly regretted since she made it so obvious. Bypassing that, they enjoyed half an hour of banter surrounding stories of Brian growing up and how he met and wooed Kayla. No urge from either female party to strangle the other, so the meeting was a flawless success up to that point.

“Darn,” Brian said after reading a text message on his phone.

“Boy,” Edna said, “ain’t no forty-two-year-old man that says ‘darn’. You ain’t sixteen anymore. Think I don’t know you cuss?”

“You right.” Brian smirked, then said, “It’s the office: Emergency meeting.”

“Oh, I was just enjoying it here,” Kayla said.

“Oh no, you can stay until I finish over there. Boss says it shouldn’t take the whole afternoon.”

“Well, you tell that boss of yours to understand this is the holiday season and to not pull this nonsense ever again,” Edna said as she stood and kissed Brian on the cheek.

After his fiancée and grandmother told him to be safe, Brian departed, leaving them to sit and chat over mugs of hot chocolate.

“So…” Kayla started setting her mug down, “… Brian is always speaking highly of you.”

“Oh, he better.” Edna’s body shook with a giggle, and she took a sip. “Baby, I hate to be so blunt, but I gotta be since well…”

“Hey, I get it.” Kayla slapped her thigh. “Getting engaged after six months is pretty unusual.”

“Unusual? I was more thinking it’s inadvisable.” Edna’s smile dimmed.

Yup, there it is.

“But, I’m no fool,” Edna said, “my grandson ain’t getting any younger, and I just want him to be happy.”

Okay, that wasn’t too painful.

“I’m curious about something, though.” Edna set down her mug. “Would you be willing to do whatever it takes to protect him? To keep him safe?”

Kayla bent forward, cupped her mug and said, “Of course. I love that man with all my heart.”

Edna leaned back into her seat, her eyes locked onto her future granddaughter-in-law and asked, “Did he ever tell you about some issues he had with bullies when he was about seventeen or so?”

“Briefly. He said the weirdest thing about it was that they vanished as if they never even existed. Nobody knew what happened, and after a while, he stopped asking.”

The room stayed quiet for several seconds before Edna broke it by saying, “I have an idea.”

Kayla’s brows furrowed, and she straightened her posture, dropping the mug from her face. “Wait, he told me that you didn’t know either.”

“And that’s his truth but not the truth. He ain’t comin’ back for a while, so you better not tell him what I’m about to tell you.”

***

Twenty-Five Years Ago

Edna sat with her feet lapped as she spoke on an endangered specimen of technology known as the rotary phone. What was all the fuss about telephones with buttons, anyhow?

“Ricky,” Edna said, “I understand that you feel as if you owe it to Danny, but trust and believe that my grandson will be okay.”

“That’s the thing, Big Ma,” said Ricky on the other end of the line. “Brian being bullied by a bunch of street gangstas ain’t sitting well with me. If Danny were out, this wouldn’t be happening.”

“Listen to me: You need to stop feeling guilty about what Danny did.” Edna sighed. “That should mean a lot coming from me. Think I like that my son’s serving all that time because he protected y’all?”

The line stayed uncomfortably silent for a few seconds.

“Sorry, love, I ain’t blaming you. I love my son, but he made his choice. You and I tried to convince him not to do it, but he’s stubbornly loyal, just like his father was – God bless his soul.”

“Damn. I really miss Big Pop. Can’t believe it’s been twenty years already.”

“I know.” Edna sat and reflected. “I know, baby.”

“I really don’t like that Danny’s kid’s going through this bullshit. But you’re right: I probably would be a bit too heavy-handed with it. They’re just kids trying to be tough. They ain’t know shit about street life.”

“I’ve had about all I can stand talking about street life. It’s the reason Brian’s father been locked up from even before he was born.”

At that very moment, Brian came through the front door, schoolbag bending his skinny frame as usual, but something was off.

“Ricky, I gotta go. Brian just got in…”

“Alright, tell him that Uncle Ricky gave him a shout.”

Edna stood and approached Brian, who just put his bag down and hung his head. Even though his height exceeded hers, her buxom, Amazonian constitution still imposed on his.

“Where are your shoes?” she asked.

Brian didn’t answer.

“Boy, if I have to ask again…”

“They took ‘em,” Brian murmured. “My wallet, too,”

“Who did?”

“Oh, just… the usual. Good news, though.” A ray shone through the darkness of Brian’s overcast cloud.

“What’s that?” She folded her arms.

“They didn’t get a lot of money because…” Brian bent over, unzipped his bag and took out a double CD jewel case, “… I spent most of it on this Life After Death album by Biggie Smalls.”

Edna’s facial expression remained unchanged. “Is that that Nefarious Big fella?”

“Notorious B.I.G, Big Ma.” Brian shook his head in disappointment.

“Baby, I’m sixty-five goddamn years old; I don’t know these muthafuckas.”

“Big Ma!”

“Sorry for cussin’, but you’re upsetting my spirit. They took your wallet, shoes – that I spent my hard-earned money to get – and you getting on about a damn CD.”

Brian frowned and sulked at the floor.

“Ooh, I’m sorry, baby.” She stepped forward and hugged him. “I ain’t like you listening to this rap music with all that cussin’, but I’ll give it a pass this time just because it put a smile on ya face.” While she hugged him and caressed the matted waves on his scalp, a thought sparked, and she released him, leaving her hands on his shoulders.

“What is it?”

“How long is that album?”

“Brother in the music shop said it’s over two hours long. Man, I’m gonna kill this.”

“Once you enjoy it, baby. Go on and take a shower. Eat something after, then go and listen to ya lil album.”

Brian smiled, picked up his bag and sprinted upstairs. When the shower came on, Edna redialed Ricky.

After Brian exited the shower, Edna shouted upstairs that she was leaving. Her buzzed, orange-dyed hair was the brightest thing on her as she strutted along the sidewalk wearing a beige trenchcoat and black stilettos.

The bullying up to that point had only been them talking smack, so Edna didn’t want to intervene and possibly make things worse. Robbing Brian crossed a line, though. Involving the police would’ve proved fruitless based on her past experiences. Furthermore, these types didn’t respect the law – didn’t give a good goddamn.

The street where the offending gang based their operations was not unfamiliar to her. A solid twenty-minute walk that would’ve taken her fifteen probably twenty-five years ago. She tried not to complain too much about ageing, as her body still banged as much as many thirty-year-olds out there – sometimes even outdoing them. Since being Brian’s guardian from birth, though, she upped the ante on her modesty. Plus, she wanted to spare him the pain that came from having an attractive relative, as high school kids could be cruel. She still recalled the endless fights Danny got into over other dudes saying disrespectful things about her.

When she arrived, two young men – one fat, one slim – lingered at the bottom of the perron leading into the small, abandoned house the gang stayed at. They watched her approach and seemed unbothered when she stood before them.

“I wanna talk to whoever runs this little outfit of yours.” She pocketed her hands in the trenchcoat, which ended just below her knees.

“That ain’t happening,” said the slim goon.

“Yeah,” said the fat fellow, “that ain’t happening, so get to stepping, Granny.”

She advanced, and they both reached under their jackets but kept their hands there.

“What’re you bozos gonna do?” Edna asked. “Shoot me in broad daylight?”

The goons looked at each other tentatively, then at her, when a voice from above and behind them boomed, “She’s right. You two are bozos. Let her in.”

At the top of the steps, by the open door, stood a light-skinned brother sporting a fresh haircut and thick, pinkish lips. His clothes, similar to his cronies’, were several sizes too large for him. It was a trend she hoped and prayed would come to an end. God, she missed the old days.

She stepped between them and up the steps, flexing her thick calves with every movement. The glare she gave Pink Lips should have been enough to book her for attempted murder, but the youngster held his poker face as she walked through the door and past him.

Inside, there was a short, untidy hallway and the room he escorted her into had a weathered desk, couch and a wooden table with varying paraphernalia such as cash, guns, ammo, weed and clear bags of white powder.

These youngsters selling coke?

Three other men similar in age to the supposed leader stood around the table. One had a white scarf tied around his hairless dome with the bunny ears tied to the front. Edna botched Biggie Smalls’ name constantly, but she was well aware of his rival’s cultural influence.

“Whatchu smilin’ at?” Mr. Bandana asked.

“I like the style you going for,” she replied. The other two men sat, smoking their blunts and counting cash. “What I dislike is how you’re harassing my grandson when he passes here every single day.”

“You’ll have to be more specific,” said Pink Lips. “We harass a lot of lil muhfuckas every day.” He looked at the others in the room, and they chuckled.

“Before I get mad, tell me what that’s supposed to prove? Why?”

“Other than ‘because we can’, it’s because we’re always recruiting, baby. So many kids pass here, and you see the loneliness and desperation in their eyes. Some of them got good homes, but something’s just missing. Take this kid we jacked today for his Jordans and wallet. Lil homie’s well dressed; looks well fed, but he just looks empty and soulless, man.”

Edna stepped forward and leaned in so her hands touched the desk he was standing behind, stressing the trenchcoat out with her beefy buttocks. “Firstly, I ain’t ya damn baby. I could be ya grandmother. Secondly, that was my grandson you hit today.”

“Well, ya grandson wasn’t looking too good today, Granny.” He eyed the others, and they shared another chuckle. As that tapered off, Edna started to remove her coat, and everyone reached for the nearest firearm, so she stopped.

“Relax.” She peeled the coat off slowly, folded it and placed it on the desk in front of the leader. All the gangsters remained silent with their eyes trained on her as the little, painted-on, black dress mesmerized and hypnotized. The bust seemed to barely contain her mammary offerings, and the cleavage wasn’t shy. The dress’s hemline sat higher than any appropriate day wear, but the millimeters to spare below her fat bottom deemed it provocatively eligible for the night.

“I didn’t want to resort to this, but I’m not gon’ waste what the good lord gave me,” she said. The others stood and crowded in closer.

“Wait, hold on.” Pink Lips doubled over with laughter, and when he straightened, he steadied himself and asked, “You ain’t tryin’ to give up that old ass pussy for us to leave your grandson alone, right?”

“Mouth calling it old…” She twirled slowly and faced him again, “… but ya eyes wasn’t giving a damn when this here coat came off just now.”

“Yo, let’s hear her out for a sec,” said Mr. Bandana, whose tongue peeked out as he scanned her voluptuous body.

Pink Lips walked around to the front of the desk and stopped directly in front of her. “Here’s how it’s going down then: It ain’t gonna be just me getting to fuck. Everybody here, including the two bozos outside gettin’ some of that ancient pussy. After that, we’ll leave ya boy alone.”

Edna refused to show them how shaken she was. Not that she feared them per se, but she hadn’t placed herself in a similar sexual situation for decades, and the thought of underperforming, nearly made her retch.

“I hope you losers wash them dicks properly.” Edna pointed at the desk, and Pink Lips unbuckled his pants and let them drop. He then sat on the desk and spread his legs wide as his dick hardened and bobbed about. Big Ma bent over, resting her forearms on his thighs and stroked his cock with both hands while other belt buckles clattered the floor behind her. She spit on the leader’s dick and kept rubbing while he grinned.

“‘Ey, you sucking this muthafucka or what?” he asked.

Edna flicked her tongue along his urethra, and an elongated “damn” escaped him. Her dress rolled over her fleshy ass and settled above her waist, prompting her to look back and see Mr. Bandana licking the edges of his top incisors.

“Just gonna stare at it or do something with it, boy?” she asked.

“Got a lotta lip on you for an old broad.” Mr. Bandana pulled his dick against his stomach and slapped her heavy bottom several times before resting the tip by her vaginal opening.

“Make me shut up then.” Edna refocused on Pink Lips and shoved her head over half of his penis. She settled as far down as she could and then slowly rose, allowing some spit strings to fall over his genitals. Right after, Mr. Bandana pushed in a few inches of shaft, making her hum.

“You like that, don’t you?” Bandana asked.

“Shut ya stupid ass up and just fuck me.” Edna didn’t even give him the respect of looking at him while speaking. Her cunt slickened a lot faster and easier than expected. No real surprise, as several horny young men at once differed immensely from the generic, everyday sexual circumstance.

“Yo, what we supposed to do?” asked one of the others while masturbating.

“Yeah, we taking turns and shit?” asked his compatriot, who stood next to him and was also jacking off.

“Jesus Christ,” said Pink Lips. “I gotta think for you numbskulls all the goddamn time? She got two hands don’t she?”

Edna stopped sucking for a moment and said, “Bring y’all asses here and lemme stroke them fat dicks.”

The two querying young men swallowed and stepped to either side of Big Ma, and she stroked them from glans to half-point.

“Fuck, this pussy tighter than a muhfucka,” said Mr. Bandana. He spread her cheeks wider and maintained a slow pace, allowing cream to build along his shaft. Edna bit her bottom lip, then flicked her tongue all over Pink Lips’ dick while simultaneously stroking the other two.

“Damn, I want some of that next,” said the gangster to her left.

Mr. Bandana pulled out and said, “Do ya thing, homie.” They exchanged positions, and he tilted his gaze upward when Edna resumed stroking.

“Hey,” said Pink Lips, “give them brothas some head too.”

Edna obliged and opened her mouth wide for the youngster on her right and bobbed in a twisting motion.

“Shit, I’m ‘bout to nut.” His face contorted as if tears were to follow.

“Already?” Mr. Bandana asked with a raised eyebrow.

The ejaculator held Big Ma’s head and fucked it while sobbing and spasming into her warm, moist mouth. “Oh my God. Jesus… oh shit.”

The other dudes cackled at the orgasmic display, and Pink Lips said, “She done took that brotha’s soul.” They erupted again.

Edna’s cranium received its release, and she opened up to show she swallowed all, then closed it. “Don’t be so quick to laugh. That ain’t the most raucous nut I ever heard, and I’ma have all y’all hollering in here soon.”

The youngster behind her continued to take his time and grind, eliciting a guttural moan from Edna and a leg shake.

“Hey, all that talk and she about to nut,” said Mr. Bandana. “Show her what’s up.”

Edna’s eyes rolled back, and her jaw dropped. “I’m cummin’, you useless muthafucka.” She bucked erratically, causing her bountiful butt flesh to plump and cover up most of the youngster’s abdomen. The primal growl that escaped her made the young suitors open their eyes wide as if they didn’t expect a retiree to climax with such vigour.

“You alright, Granny?” Pink Lips asked, holding her chin up.

“Course I am. He gonna regret making me nut like that, though.” She looked behind and said with a sneer, “I’ma make you empty them balls in this sweet pussy. Beat my shit up so them bozos outside can hear it clappin’.”

The youngster accepted the invitation, held her hips firmly and proceeded to fuck her as if she owned the last bit of pussy on planet Earth. The clapping sound of his pelvis slamming against her prodigious buttocks made the three juicy cocks in her periphery flex, causing her to smile.

“You.” She looked up at Pink Lips as he held her head in place. “Fuck my mouth while you… shit.” Edna bowed as the man behind her rutted with unbridled fury.

“Got it,” Pink Lips said. He lifted her face, which twisted in coital bliss, and she opened her mouth for him to drive it inside. Her body ricocheted between the oral and backshots, until finally, the youngster behind her hummed loudly and pressed against her fat cheeks. He audibly exhaled, pulled out, and then dropped onto the couch next to his other boy, who nutted not too long before him.

“Let me get some of that head too.” Mr. Bandana eyed Pink Lips, so the latter nodded and pulled out of her mouth. Bandana dick-slapped her forehead a few times, allowing pre-cum to dot various areas on it. “Yeah, you a dirty old broad, aintcha?”

“Boy, shut the fuck up, bust a nut and go.” Edna had a serious look but then bit her bottom lip and smirked.

“Oh, you like a lotta playing, huh?” Mr. Bandana smiled at her and said, “Open ya mouth, bitch.”

“That’s sexy bitch to you.”

She leaned forward at the same time he put his dick inside. She repeated the twisting, bobbing technique she displayed earlier while he slowly pumped her face.

“Fuck that feels good. ‘Ey, I wanna make you nut again.”

His dick popped from her lips. “You ain’t talented enough.”

Bandana frowned and moved from her side to behind her. “Let me teach her a lesson,” he said to his leader.

Pink Lips nodded and moved from sitting on the desk to standing at its side. Bandana palmed her orange-dyed head and flattened it against the table while bringing her broad hips higher into the air.

“Ain’t talented enough, right?” He stood on his tip-toes and angled his penetration downward, and ground Edna’s sugar walls.

“Oooh shit,” Edna said.

“Yeah, how that feel?”

“You muthafucka.”

Bandana slapped her right cheek, then left.

“Damn,” she said.

He leaned further over her and rolled his hips, drawing out animalistic grunts from Big Ma and causing drool to leak from her maw. “Cum all over this dick.”

Edna tried her best to stay composed throughout but underestimated the determination of horny, young men that needed relief. A part of her wondered if the young women of that generation weren’t bringing it or those thugs barely netted any pussy. Initially, she wanted to avoid appearing weak, but how they handled her eradicated all remnants of care and shame.

“Goddammit.” Edna squinted, then grimaced as Bandana bottomed out and remained. This soul-taking was placed on pause by Pink Lips, interrupting with an instruction:

“Way you goin’, she ain’t gon’ have nothing left. Make her nut, and get ya nut, dawg.”

Bandana nodded and rolled his hips while grounding against her G-spot. Big Ma’s moans grew louder until she shrieked and vibrated, causing her limbs to fall limp. Bandana smiled, gave her about a minute to recover and then started pummeling her curvaceous cheeks until geysering against her heated interior. He withdrew, chuckled and sat with Edna’s previous victims.

Pink Lips snapped his fingers at the first guy who finished and pointed to the outside. The errand boy left the room and returned with the bewildered bozos. Big Ma raised her head and turned it to see them staring at her luscious, upturned backside and how their crotch areas distended.

They weren’t thrilled at the idea of fucking her while their comrades’ semen still coated her walls, but they relented, clapped her cheeks quickly and creampied her all the same.

“Finally, your turn to finish, Mr. Leader.” Edna stood, stumbled slightly and steadied herself against the desk.

“You’ve had more than enough dick digging you out, Granny. Squat and open that mouth up, though. Back of your head against the desk.”

Edna rolled her eyes but complied. Her legs fanned wide, and her mouth tried to stretch just as much. Pink Lips walked around and penetrated, then held her head. He went slow at first, allowing for bubbles and froth to build along his length, but as it progressed, he went faster and harder. Edna opened her gob more to accommodate, and a few glacks and glucks escaped until Pink Lips bellowed like an angry bear. The ejaculate was so profuse Edna’s cheeks puffed, and bursts sprayed through her nostrils and past her lips, around the rigid column of his fat dick.

“Fuck!” Pink Lips shouted. “That’s what I’m fucking talking about. Shit.” He growled again while bouncing her up and down his dick, grunted a final time and pulled her off with a loud pop. Edna coughed as uneven strings of semen and saliva fell from her mouth and chin. She looked up at him through reddened eyes and chuckled huskily.

“I gotcha ass good,” she said.

“I ain’t gon’ even front. Shit.” He nodded and helped her up.

The room remained quiet as Edna rolled her dress down, requested a bathroom and freshened herself up as best she could. When she came out, everyone slept except for Pink Lips, who sparked up a joint and lay on the weathered desk.

“So…” Edna picked up her coat and slipped it on, “… we got a deal?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Pink Lips chuckled, toked on his joint and exhaled.

“I’m serious, boy.” Edna’s tone dropped to sub-zero.

“Granny, you don’t run shit. I run shit around here. Pussy don’t mean nothing to a brother like me, and it sure can’t get me to do what I don’t want to do or what other people want me to do.”

“Say what you really wanna say.” Edna’s posture straightened, and she placed her hands akimbo.

“What I’m saying is, I’ll do with your grandson whatever the fuck I want. Wanna know why? Because soon from now, we gonna be the biggest thing in this whole damn city. Nobody’ll be able to touch us. Now how we gonna do that if we can’t stand up to some old – fine as hell – but still old broad?”

Only snoring and tokes filled the quiet room.

“I see,” Edna said. She turned and clopped out of the room towards the exit.

“Don’t let the door hit that fine, old ass on the way out.” Pink Lips cackled as she descended the steps.

Big Ma’s disappointed visage died as she sashayed along the sidewalk and nodded to the car filled with men who rolled down ski masks simultaneously and exited. Tidal waves of relief swept her concerns away as no guarantee existed that those bastards would’ve kept their word anyway. Her grandson’s safety and future trumped all, no matter the cost.

***

Kayla sat forward, shock illuminating her face at the story laid out before her. Did the gangbang cause that or the implied ending to Big Ma’s tale?

“Hold on,” Kayla said. “What happened to those guys?”

Big Ma shrugged, took up her mug and sipped as her dimmed eyes held contact with Kayla’s.

“Big Ma, did you have those guys ki–”

“What’s important,” Edna said, “is that my grandson wasn’t harassed after that. He could walk past that block in peace. And look how he turned out.” She chuckled and looked up. “Oh, I wish Big Pop could’ve met him.”

“How could you do something like that?” Kayla stood and looked at Edna indignantly.

“Do what exactly?”

“Oh, come on. Hoodlums in a car wearing ski masks, hitting the spot after you signal them? Does Brian know what you did?”

“Now you listen here: I made a promise to my son to keep his son safe. If my boy was out, he would’ve done the same goddamn thing. Plus, his gang owed him. You hear me? Because of him, a lot of them were still walking the streets. And Brian’s in the dark, thank you very much. Nobody outside his father’s crew know what really happened to them boys – not even me. One day they were at that trap house; the next, it was completely abandoned and cleaned out. Now sit cha ass down.”

“You really expect me to believe that you don’t know what happened to them? You’re the one who set the goons on ‘em.”

“As I said before, I just had an idea, but don’t actually know. Now sit down, lil missy.”

“No. I think I’ll wait outside until Brian comes back, and then we’re leaving.”

“Sit… down.” Edna may not have been the version presented in her tale twenty-five years prior, but her deepened voice still sent shivers of intimidation through Kayla. The young lady sat slowly, and they remained silent until her phone rang.

A video call from Brian.

“You answering that or not?” Edna asked, her jowly features showcasing a hardened scowl.

Kayla swallowed and answered while keeping her eyes on her host. “Hey, babe.”

“Hey, I’ll be leaving the office in the next ten minutes,” Brian said. “You and my grandmother getting along?”

“Uh, yeah-yeah.”

“Let me see him,” Edna said with a smile. Kayla’s face turned to stone, and she spun the screen in Edna’s direction. “Now what was so important that it couldn’t wait until after the holidays?”

Brian sighed and said, “Staff cuts.”

“Oh my God. Honey,” Kayla said.

“Yep. With any luck, the boss may keep me on since he loves Kayla so much.” Kayla turned the phone to her and raised a brow.

“Does he now?” Big Ma asked, out of her grandson’s eyesight. She tilted her head slightly, raising her chin in snobby fashion.

“Damn straight.” Brian laughed. “Anyway, I gotta go: Meetings about to resume. Love you, both.”

The two ladies in his life blew kisses at his video form before Kayla ended the call.

“Looks like you’re going to have to handle that,” Edna said.

“What, you want me to murder his boss?” Kayla’s tone dripped with sarcasm, and from Edna’s squint, it wasn’t appreciated.

“Brian’s a very prideful man who loves to provide. Last thing he needs is to lose his job.”

Kayla folded her arms, reclined into the chair and asked coldly, “And what would you do?”

“His boss fancies you, according to what my grandson said. You got a little figure on ya from what I’m seein’ too.”

Kayla leaned forward, jutted her lower mandible out and turned her face at an angle while staring daggers at her future in-law.

“So,” Edna said, grinning maniacally, “own any little black dresses?”