cousin.
“You know, I fall under that technicality, as well. I’m just…” Q drew in a deep breath. “I have a problem with change. If this knucklehead here…” he said, tilting his head toward Jeremy, “…bails on me, I’m going to have to wrangle up some new cousins from some place.”
Xavier set his bottle down and stood up from the table. “Come here.” He opened up his arms.
“What?”
“C’mon,” he coaxed. “Let’s hug this out.”
Quentin’s bottom lip quivered as he stood up from his chair. “That’s all a brother wanted, a hug.” He opened his arms as well and the cousins came together.
“Aww…” Jeremy tossed his napkin down and then stood up from the table and threw his arms around both of them.
Quentin peeked over Xavier’s shoulder at Eamon.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Eamon said.
“You don’t feel the love?” Q asked.
Jeremy glanced back with a cocky smile. “C’mon, man. We’re all family.”
Exhaling a long sigh as he glanced around the crowded restaurant to see that his crazy family was indeed the center of attention, Eamon reluctantly got out of his chair and wrapped his arms around all of them. After all, the sooner he did, the quicker the little bonding episode would end.
“Ahem,” a throat cleared.
One by one, the men dropped their arms and went about pumping out their chests to reestablish their image of masculinity.
When Jeremy turned to see who had interrupted their family moment, his face exploded into a huge grin. “Well, I’ll be damned. Look who’s here. Roy, my man. How the hell are you?” He now threw his arms around his boyhood friend.
“I’m good. I’m good.” He nodded at Eamon and Xavier. “I see you guys are still thick as thieves.”
“You know it,” Jeremy said, standing back so that he could take another look at Roy. “I just can’t believe it. It’s been years.”
“Well, it’s not like we haven’t invested a healthy sum in long-distance phone calls. What are you doing here?” he asked Jeremy.
“The same reason everyone else is here. I came to get something to eat.” He laughed.
“C’mon. You know what I mean. Wait.” He looked around and then grabbed a chair from the next table and crammed it next to Jeremy’s.
“Join us. Have a seat.”
“For a few minutes. I’m having a business dinner, but I don’t see them just yet.”
“Cool, cool. You can just hang out with us until they get here,” Jeremy said, excited.
His brothers and Quentin had sat down by then.
“Oh, so does this mean that you’re being traded to the L.A. Razors, Roy?”
“It looks that way, but don’t tell anyone just yet. We haven’t made the official announcement.”
“Cool. Oh, I don’t believe that you’ve met my cousin here, Quentin Hinton.”
“Hinton?” Roy repeated. “As in your rich cousin you used to brag about?”
Quentin smirked. “Guilty as charged.”
Jeremy laughed. “I did brag about that.”
“Yeah, like that changed the fact that you were eating fried bologna sandwiches and drinking purple Kool-Aid like the rest of our broke butts.”
Jeremy nodded. The King family didn’t have much growing up in their small house in Atlanta, but they had plenty of love. “But you were like the king of the neighborhood because your pop built a tree house in your backyard.”
“Yeah, perfect for kids that ran away from home with a boxful of puppies.”
The table erupted with laughter.
Quentin’s brows crashed together as he tried to keep up with the conversation. “Do what?”
“Oh, you didn’t tell your cuz about that?”
Jeremy propped his elbow up on the table while his entire body trembled with laughter.
“It was a long time ago,” Eamon started to fill Q in on the story.
“Yeah,” Xavier agreed, shaking his head. “I tell you one thing, it certainly wasn’t funny at the time.”
“What wasn’t funny?” Q grew anxious, waiting on the story.
“You want to tell it?” Xavier
“You know, I fall under that technicality, as well. I’m just…” Q drew in a deep breath. “I have a problem with change. If this knucklehead here…” he said, tilting his head toward Jeremy, “…bails on me, I’m going to have to wrangle up some new cousins from some place.”
Xavier set his bottle down and stood up from the table. “Come here.” He opened up his arms.
“What?”
“C’mon,” he coaxed. “Let’s hug this out.”
Quentin’s bottom lip quivered as he stood up from his chair. “That’s all a brother wanted, a hug.” He opened his arms as well and the cousins came together.
“Aww…” Jeremy tossed his napkin down and then stood up from the table and threw his arms around both of them.
Quentin peeked over Xavier’s shoulder at Eamon.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Eamon said.
“You don’t feel the love?” Q asked.
Jeremy glanced back with a cocky smile. “C’mon, man. We’re all family.”
Exhaling a long sigh as he glanced around the crowded restaurant to see that his crazy family was indeed the center of attention, Eamon reluctantly got out of his chair and wrapped his arms around all of them. After all, the sooner he did, the quicker the little bonding episode would end.
“Ahem,” a throat cleared.
One by one, the men dropped their arms and went about pumping out their chests to reestablish their image of masculinity.
When Jeremy turned to see who had interrupted their family moment, his face exploded into a huge grin. “Well, I’ll be damned. Look who’s here. Roy, my man. How the hell are you?” He now threw his arms around his boyhood friend.
“I’m good. I’m good.” He nodded at Eamon and Xavier. “I see you guys are still thick as thieves.”
“You know it,” Jeremy said, standing back so that he could take another look at Roy. “I just can’t believe it. It’s been years.”
“Well, it’s not like we haven’t invested a healthy sum in long-distance phone calls. What are you doing here?” he asked Jeremy.
“The same reason everyone else is here. I came to get something to eat.” He laughed.
“C’mon. You know what I mean. Wait.” He looked around and then grabbed a chair from the next table and crammed it next to Jeremy’s.
“Join us. Have a seat.”
“For a few minutes. I’m having a business dinner, but I don’t see them just yet.”
“Cool, cool. You can just hang out with us until they get here,” Jeremy said, excited.
His brothers and Quentin had sat down by then.
“Oh, so does this mean that you’re being traded to the L.A. Razors, Roy?”
“It looks that way, but don’t tell anyone just yet. We haven’t made the official announcement.”
“Cool. Oh, I don’t believe that you’ve met my cousin here, Quentin Hinton.”
“Hinton?” Roy repeated. “As in your rich cousin you used to brag about?”
Quentin smirked. “Guilty as charged.”
Jeremy laughed. “I did brag about that.”
“Yeah, like that changed the fact that you were eating fried bologna sandwiches and drinking purple Kool-Aid like the rest of our broke butts.”
Jeremy nodded. The King family didn’t have much growing up in their small house in Atlanta, but they had plenty of love. “But you were like the king of the neighborhood because your pop built a tree house in your backyard.”
“Yeah, perfect for kids that ran away from home with a boxful of puppies.”
The table erupted with laughter.
Quentin’s brows crashed together as he tried to keep up with the conversation. “Do what?”
“Oh, you didn’t tell your cuz about that?”
Jeremy propped his elbow up on the table while his entire body trembled with laughter.
“It was a long time ago,” Eamon started to fill Q in on the story.
“Yeah,” Xavier agreed, shaking his head. “I tell you one thing, it certainly wasn’t funny at the time.”
“What wasn’t funny?” Q grew anxious, waiting on the story.
“You want to tell it?” Xavier
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