Teaching Mr. Graham

Chapter Eighty

    "Aisha and Christian are two psychos of a feather that stick together, so hopefully they're enjoying their matching black eyes." Kenya blew on her knuckles as she seated herself at the table of a premier Italian restaurant in Chicago.

    Eric pushed in her chair, then claimed the seat beside her. "You didn't have to do them like that, baby."

    "I sure did," Kenya contradicted. "Coming at my girl, and coming at the 6God like they don't know their damned place."

    Tatiana held a finger up to her lips as she rounded the table. Aubrey followed close behind her and pulled out a chair for her.

    Mr. Wallace caught the action. "It's nice to see that there are still gentlemen out there," he remarked, giving Aubrey a nod.

    Dinner was pleasant. Kenya withheld her Aisha ass-kicking stories since parentals were present. Tatiana could tell that she was eager as hell to tell the story, and was sure she'd hear about it later tonight, but in the meantime she enjoyed the time spent with her parents, her best friend, and the love of her life. She said as much, in a toast.

    "Yeah, speaking of that," Kenya said, with her non-alcoholic drink raised in the air, "I have beef with you for that whole 'You've become my best friend' line. What the fu-" Her gaze darted over to Mr. and Mrs. Wallace. "I mean, what the heck was that shit?"

    Tatiana burst out laughing.

    "Best friend? Seriously?" Kenya went on. "You've known him for two minutes compared to me."

    "I'm sure she said that line just because it fit into her rhyme scheme," Aubrey assured Kenya.

    "That better have been the reason," Kenya muttered, blowing more air onto her bruised knuckles. "Because that best friend spot is currently occupied. F.Y.I."

    Aubrey raised both hands in a defensive gesture. "Got it."

    After dinner, Aubrey stood up and extended a hand to Tatiana. "Would you dance with me?"

    Kenya leaned close to Tatiana. "Tell him that if he dances anything like he did in the Hotline Bling video, the answer is 'No.'"

    Tatiana nudged Kenya before accepting Aubrey's hand. "I'd love to."

    There was no dance floor in the restaurant, so Aubrey found a cleared area where they could dance to the slow music playing over the speakers. Then he twirled Tatiana around and pulled her against him. He moved slowly with her.

    "Sickening," Tatiana heard Kenya say.

    "Think they like me?" Aubrey asked her.

    She looked up at him. "They haven't walked out on us, and they haven't made us walk out on them yet," she reasoned. "They've even given you compliments. My parents love you."

    "Well, he made that comment about me being older....he was looking at me like I was old enough to use a cane or a walker or something."

    "That's just him being...him," she said. "He laughs at your jokes and he didn't stop you from dancing with me."

    Aubrey nodded.

    "So...what's next?"

    "What's next?" he repeated.

    "With us. Since you're not teaching."

    "Ah. Well...you're going to continue taking your classes. I'm going to work on music, and work with my artists. When I can't stand being apart from you anymore, I'm going to fly to you...or fly you out to me. Your summer break will be spent with me, of course..."