It had been six months since Lela and Tyrese broke up, and Lela was finally getting her life back on track. Tyrese had tried, to no avail, to get back with her, but she stood her ground. She had been hitting the gym and taking care of herself. Instead of putting her faith in a man, she put it in God. She had even started going to church and tithing more regularly. To this date, she had six months of celibacy under her belt. She couldn't believe she held out for six months, but she had.
Trey called her the morning after he and Neil dropped her off, teasing her about getting so drunk until she passed out. He also teased her about kissing Neil in the parking lot. After that night, she had not pursued Neil. Before opening another door, she wanted to make sure the door was nailed shut tight from her relationship with Tyrese. However, this did not stop Neil from invading her dreams nearly every night since that Saturday night six months earlier.
Tyrese had called and stopped by so many times that she had to get a restraining order and her phone numbers changed. Turns out, Sarah dumped him fast after her parents found out about them and threatened to disown her.
"Antwan, get the last bag by the door! We need to get going!"
Lela yelled up the staircase to her son. She mimicked Cedric the Entertainer in the movie Johnson's Family Vacation, adding, "I-10 by 10."
They were on their way to the annual James Family Reunion in Atlanta, which was a two-hour drive from the small town of Opelika where she lived. She was not really looking forward to the drive or the reunion. Sometimes being around family, especially hers, was not all hugs, kisses, and old memories. They could get rowdy and be ready to fight in a heartbeat. Plus, there were the uppity members who never failed to have unwanted advice to share.
Then there were her aunts, who threw her a pity party every year because she was not married. They brought up everything they thought was wrong in Lela's life, which they believed kept her from finding a husband. If it wasn't for her mother, she would have told them a little something about what was wrong in their own lives a long time ago. Especially Aunt Jenny who still sported her 1970's afro with the green, black, and red African headband and matching clothes. Jenny couldn't have kids, but that didn't stop her husband from having three kids outside their marriage. Yeah, that's right…three outside kids by two different women. And to top it off, most weekends you could find Aunt Jenny walking through the mall with the three little kids trucking behind her whenever she babysat for her husband. Lela's main question was who needs to pity who? "I'm coming, Momma," Antwan responded, breaking her thoughts. He still had his PlayStation game controller in his hand playing Mortal Combat.