It was way too hot to be outside, but my mother had insisted that we eat outside. “It’s a cookout, everybody, not a cook-in. Now get out of my basement,” she told everybody who kept trying to sneak in and soak up some of the air-conditioning. Even at 6:00 P.M. it still was at least 90 degrees and as muggy as ever outside. It was, in fact, typical D.C. summer weather.

My mother was enjoying her annual Fourth of July gathering. It was the first one that I had made it to in five years. I had never bothered coming home for the Fourth because there had always been too many other dates that I had had to come home for during the rest of the year. I had had to pick and choose. I couldn’t have missed Mother’s Day, Christmas, or Kyle’s birthday, and I had come home each year to accompany my mother to my father’s gravesite on his birthday. He would have been fifty-seven this August. Time was flying.

As I sat in the shade sipping on a Corona, I remembered my father working the grill every Fourth of July and cooking enough food to feed an army. He had been a good cook, too. Nobody could come near his grill when he was working. He was always accusing somebody of trying to steal the recipe for his secret sauce. During his days on the grill he never told anyone how he made it, not even my mother. But the day we went to the reading of his will the lawyer handed Freddie an envelope that contained the deed to their parents’ home in North Carolina and, to everyone’s surprise, the recipe for his secret barbecue sauce. Since that day my uncle Freddie has taken over the grill. Now Freddie guards that recipe with his life. It was almost like having my father back one day a year.

There were at least thirty people at the house this year. Nina, who was helping my mother host, was busy running back and forth to the kitchen until she started to complain about the heat and feeling dizzy. Her allergies hadn’t bothered her in a couple of months, but Moms ended up making her lay down upstairs in the cool confines of my bedroom while Brenda took over. All of my crew was there as usual, plus I had invited a couple of other folks. My barber, Dee, had shown up, accompanied by two honeys, neither of whom looked older than seventeen. My cousin James had come, and he had brought his wife, Gina, and their two boys, James Jr. and Manny. Brendan had come, and he had brought Laney with him.

Nate had shown up with a honey no one had ever seen or heard of before. She was, of course, nice looking, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of chemistry between them. I noticed that she wasn’t much of a conversationalist. She was the type who answered questions with as few words as possible. I knew from the look on Nate’s face that she was driving him crazy. When she went inside for a minute to use the bathroom and left Nate alone, I jumped at the opportunity to ask.

“What’s up with her, Nate? She doesn’t talk a lot, huh?”

“I know. She’s acting all stuck-up and shit. I’m about to run her ass home. I’m not even pressed to crush it now,” Nate said, twisting his lips as he pulled the Corona from them.

Dee heard us talking and leaned back on the bench toward us. “Nate. Is that the broad from South Beach…the one with her belly button pierced?”

“Yeah.”

I remembered her then. “Damn, you’re still talking to her. I thought you said…” Dee joined in with me and we said it at the same time: “What ever happens in South Beach stays in South Beach.” And then we laughed.

“I know, but I didn’t fuck her, though. She was on her period when I met her. And when she left she was still on it. She has been trying to hook up with me ever since we got back.”

“Damn, we been back for a month and you been that busy.” Dee laughed. “She should have given up by now.”

Nate laughed, but I knew better. Nate had been acting strange for the last two months. Ever since he had come back from New York in early May he had been tripping. He hadn’t so much as mentioned Sahleen. When I had tried to ask him about her he just said that she was overseas for the summer working, and he wasn’t going to sit around waiting for her. But knowing Nate the way I did, I sensed something else in his tone and in his eyes, but I hadn’t bothered to question him.

He had told me that he had broken it off with India as well, simply because she kept pressing him for a commitment. That sounded about right. For as much as I had gotten a chance to know her, I did take her to be the serious type who would want a commitment from a man who she was sleeping with.

Nate’s date, Monica, walked back over toward us and sat down next to Nate. It was too hot for the tight jeans she was wearing, and they were black on top of that. Some sisters will do what they must in order to properly flaunt their asses, I guess. I couldn’t help but take a good long look at it before I got up and left to go check on Nina.

I pushed open the door to my room and peeked inside. My princess was lying on her side, fast asleep it appeared, and I started to slip back out when she spoke: “Cory.” She rolled halfway over and looked up at me.

“Hey, baby, I thought you were asleep. You feeling okay?” I walked over and sat down on the bed next to her.

“I’m fine. I was a little dizzy earlier, but yeah, I’m fine now. It feels so good in here,” she said in a whispery, sleepy voice.

“Do you want something to eat or drink? I’ll bring it up,” I said. I walked over toward the window and I could see into the backyard. I was watching my mother as she sat with a group of her good friends. My aunt Earline was next to my mother, and they were laughing, having a real good time. Mr. Fields was on her other side and was glaring at her.

I had noticed the way he looked at my mom whenever he was around. It was obvious that he had a thing for my mom, but I think he was afraid to pursue it for one reason or another. I had no problem with it. As a matter of fact, I’d mentioned it to Brenda, and we shared a good-natured laugh about the two of them hooking up. I even hoped that he might get up the nerve to finally ask her out.

“No, I’m not really hungry.” Nina paused, as she was now staring right up into my face. “Not for food anyway.” She smiled.

I knew what that meant, and I leaned down to kiss her before I got up and locked the door to my old bedroom. Nina was a perfect match for me. She was the kind of woman every man dreams of having. It wasn’t just about her looks, either. It was about how she complemented me in every way and, just as important, about how she was always in the mood, just like me.

I pulled off my T-shirt and shorts and was naked in seconds. She was almost as fast coming out of her halter top and wraparound miniskirt. My face immediately dove down between her thighs, but she stopped me.

“No, Cory. I’m already wet. I want you inside of me, now,” she said, pulling me up by my ears.

I put up no arguments as I quickly slid my body up hers and slowly worked inside of her. She began to moan and rhythmically lift her hips off the bed to meet my every stroke. My upper body was suspended over the top of her as we looked into each other’s eyes between moments of rapture that made us high off one another. I began to shower her face with kisses. I kissed her eyebrows, her nose, her cheeks, and her lips. I could feel the slight pinch of her fingernails as she squeezed my butt while she attempted to pull me deeper inside of her.

“Oh, Nina,” I heard myself say when I felt her body begin to quiver. “I love you so much. I love you so much, baby.”

“Do I make you feel good? Huh, Cory. Do I?” she said.

“Oh, yeah, you do, baby…” I was cut off when she screamed out.

“Baby, I’m about to come. Ohhhhhh…”

Her body began to buck and her back tightened up as her moans increased. Neither of us seemed to care that there were people out back or possibly in the basement. She flung her head to the side as she reached her peak. I could feel her muscles contracting and the sensation caused me to reach my orgasm as well. We both panted our way through the sensations and tremors, and I collapsed on top of Nina’s golden body.

We weren’t sweating, but there was a light moist shine on our skins. I rolled off Nina and she placed her head on my chest while her hand fondled my manhood. She always did that after we finished.

“You better get up and go back outside with your friends before they come looking for you,” Nina said.

“Or send my mother to do it.” I laughed out as I stood up. I looked at Nina lying naked on the bed, and I knew I would be ready to take her home soon. I wanted to finish what we had started.

She grabbed her clothes and walked out of the room and into the bathroom, after grabbing a washcloth from the linen closet. I didn’t bother washing and just put my clothes back on. I knew that my underwear would be stuck to me later, but I didn’t care. I fixed the covers and looked outside and saw that no one had missed us. Brendan and Laney were sitting across from Nate and Monica, and they were all playing cards. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Nina walked back into the room and took her spot back on the bed. I tied up my tennis shoes and was about to head back outside when Nina said, “I’m going to stay in here. It’s just too hot out there for me.”

I nodded my head and said, “Okay.” I looked at my watch. “It’s almost seven. We can leave in about an hour if we’re going to go watch the fireworks.”

“I’m not really pressed. I enjoyed the best fireworks in town just now.” She smiled.

I smiled back. “I bet you did.”

“Cory.”

“Yeah.”

“If I tell you something…” She paused and tilted her head. “Can we agree not to discuss it any further right now?”

“That depends on what it is.”

“No. It is a yes or no question. So, can I tell you something?”

“And I’m not going to want to discuss it right now?” I asked.

She shifted her body so that she was completely on the bed. “I didn’t say that you weren’t going to want to discuss it.”

“Look. Just spit it out.”

“Who are you talking to like that?”

“Pardon me, Nina. Please just tell me what it is.” She was beginning to irk me. I knew that whatever it was it wasn’t going to be all that important. She just liked to rile me up because she could.

“Okay, that’s better. So you agree that when I say what it is that you will walk out of the room and not bother me about it until at least tomorrow.” Her lips were turned up as she smirked.

“Deal,” I said, as I stood by the door. “You haven’t cheated on me. Because if you have the deal is off.”

She laughed. “No, stupid. I haven’t cheated on you.” Then she was silent and just looked into my eyes.

I looked back. “Well,” I said.

“I’m pregnant.” There was silence. “Now go outside,” she said, and turned back on her side.

I stood there motionless for about fifteen seconds before I walked back over to her. I didn’t say a word. I just kissed her long and hard, held her tight for a long while, and then I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I made love to her once again.

After we finished she kissed me on the forehead and whispered into my ear, “That was the correct response. Congratulations, Cory, you’re going to be a wonderful daddy.”

“And husband,” I added.

“What?” she said, as she leaned her face back to look at me.

“I want you to marry me.” I swallowed. “I mean, will you marry me, Nina?” I corrected myself.

Without hesitation she said, gleaming, “Of course I will marry you, baby, but you’re going to have to propose to me a little better than this.” She laughed.

I nodded my head and responded, “Tomorrow we will go pick out your ring, and I promise that that will take care of the real proposal.”

“Are you sure that you’re ready for that? We don’t have to get married just because of a baby, Cory.”

I shook my head. “You know better than that. You know I love you, and you love me, too. There will never be anybody else for me, and no one is going to love you the way that I do.” She smiled.

She was about to speak when I put my finger on her mouth. “You know I’m right. This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life. This is it.” I got up, put my clothes on, and headed toward the door after having spent the last hour inside with Nina. She called my name and stopped me at the door.

“Cory…”

I stood there looking at her.

“Are you sure that you’re happy about this?” Her big brown eyes were staring into mine. “I mean…really?” she asked.

“Yeah, baby…really.” I smiled, because I truly was pleased at the thought of bringing a life into this world with Nina. Then I turned the knob and walked out of the room.

I had just walked back to the picnic table where Brendan and Laney were whipping Nate and his date, Monica, in spades.

“Where you been, boy? You missed this clinic in spades,” Brendan said, as I sat down next to him.

“I was inside checking on Nina. She’s not feeling too well. She’s got bad allergies.”

Brendan nodded. Laney said, “Maybe she should take that prescription stuff.”

“Claritin? Yeah, she already does, but sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

“That’s a shame,” Laney said.

“C’mon, Nate, throw something out,” Brendan yelled.

“Man, shut up. Don’t tell me how to play my hand,” Nate barked back.

“Is that what you call yourself doing? Monica, I understand if you want to get a new partner.” Brendan laughed.

Nate finally threw out the king of spades, and Laney took the book with the little joker.

“They’re going to renege, Laney.” Brendan laughed out. “They’re going to renege.”

Nate shouted out, “Shit.” But not loud enough for the older peeps to hear. Then he said, “That’s it, then. I quit.” Nate huffed.

“Don’t quit, Nate,” Monica said.

“Look, we were only playing to five hundred. They have four hundred now, and we’ve got…What do we got, Laney?”

“Minus thirty-seven,” she answered.

“A fucking minus thirty-seven.” He shook his head. Then he yelled at Dee, who was sitting on the deck drinking a beer and talking to my cousin James. The two young ladies whom he had brought with him were playing volleyball with James’s two sons. “Dee. It’s your game if you still want to play.”

Dee just waved. He was drunk.

As I popped open another ice cold Corona, Tory came running out of the house. “Hey, everybody…Nate is on TV.”

We all just looked at her. “He’s on a video, with Shawn Simmons. You better hurry up,” she yelled, and then disappeared back into the house.

Brendan was the first one up. I followed, with everyone else who was at the table. I looked back to see Nate moving coolly in the back of the crowd. I was expecting to see someone who looked like Nate, but when I entered the basement and took a look at the screen, there was Nate’s black ass walking hand in hand with Shawn Simmons. I turned and looked at him. He looked like he was holding in a smile.

“Y’all move over,” I heard my mother say, as everyone moved out of her way. “Well, look at that,” she said. “Nate, I didn’t know that you were an actor.” He was sitting at a table in a silk robe with a glass of champagne watching Shawn sing. Nate was now smiling. He was feeling proud of himself. He really looked like he belonged on that screen. The people at Excite World Video had done a superb job with the special effects. There was a haze, and the glow from the candles seemed to reflect off his body.

My mother’s basement was filled with oohs and ahhs as we watched the dance steps. Nate hadn’t watched them film that scene. He had gone shopping. He still had the clothes that he had bought for India and Sahleen in his closet. At that instant, he decided what he was going to do with all of the stuff he had bought. There was at least two thousand dollars worth of fine clothing in the bags, all of it sizes four and smalls. Otherwise he would have sent it to his mother.

Nate was taking notice of the sequence of the video. The scenes had been shot in almost the complete opposite order, which meant that…

“Oh my God,” I heard Laney yell out. “Look at you, Nate.” Nate was in bed with Shawn Simmons, kissing her on the mouth. He looked like he was completely naked and so did she. I couldn’t believe it. I watched as their bodies writhed underneath the satin sheets.

“Kyle, cover your eyes. Tory, you too,” my sister Brenda said. “I can’t believe these damn videos today,” she said, as she shook her head and looked at Nate. Even though she was three years older than Nate, she acted as though she had always wanted to screw him…if she hadn’t already.

The video went off and everybody, including me, began asking him a thousand and one questions, as though he were at a press conference or something. It was incredible. He hadn’t said anything about being in a video, let alone with Shawn Simmons. The chick Monica who he was with looked as though she was ready to rip his clothes off right there and take him in front of everyone. His new star status had done a number on her head, and the two girls who were with Dee as well. It was no surprise when Dee quickly rolled out, taking his two hotties with him.

As the sun set on the cookout, every one began to leave one by one, and soon there was only Nina and myself in the house. Brenda had convinced Mr. Fields and Momma to ride downtown to see the fireworks with her and the kids.

Brendan had left with Laney to take advantage of a rare opportunity to have the townhouse to himself. Renee had gone out of town, to Virginia Beach, for the Fourth, with one of her Delta sorors. On the way home he and Laney joked about the “fireworks agreement” that they had made on New Year’s Eve. Then they talked about how they almost hadn’t made it this year, but how glad they were that they had. I didn’t even see them leave, but I knew that Nate and Monica undoubtedly had headed back to his place to make their own fireworks.

Nina and I ended up staying the night at my mother’s in my old room. We stayed up until about eleven talking about our wedding, our baby, and our future. Nina cried at least twice, saying that she had had no idea that I would be so good about it. She said that she had thought that my career was my only focus, and that I wouldn’t want a baby or even a wife to interfere. She had been wrong, because we were definitely getting married and having a baby.

Everything was looking good. The future was set. The only thing I had to do was find the right time to tell her that Mr. Hakito was going to need me in New York for about six months or so, starting in the fall. I knew that Nina wouldn’t want to go, but it was only temporary. I had to go and take over the New York/New Jersey production and keep it on track while the Hakitos went back to Tokyo for a short time. I was told that I was the only one they trusted to handle things while they were gone. I had no choice. Six months wouldn’t be that rough.

We drifted off and fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up at 4:00

A.M. and got up to relieve myself, I saw that my mother’s door was still open. When I stuck my head in I saw that her bed was empty I almost freaked out. I woke Nina and called my sister.

“Cory, Mom is fine.”

“How do you know?” I asked. “What if they got into an accident on the way back here?”

“Back here…where are you?” Brenda asked in a sleepy voice.

“I’m still at Mom’s house.”

“Well, Mr. Fields drove downtown in his Lincoln. I left my car there, so he had to bring us back there to get my car. We didn’t see your car there when we got back. We thought you were gone.”

“We came in Nina’s car.”

“Oh,” she cleared her throat. “Look outside. Is his car in his driveway?”

I walked to the bay window in the kitchen and looked in his driveway, and sure enough his car was parked. “Yeah, it’s there.”

“Well then, Cory.”

“Well then, what?” I still didn’t get it.

“Cory, Mom never told you about her and Mr. Fields?”

“What?”

“Never mind,” she said. “Cory.”

“Yeah.”

“Go back to bed. Moms is fine. Believe me.” She laughed.

It all came to me, and it made my head swim. I couldn’t believe it. But I said okay and went back up the steps.

“Is everything okay?” Nina asked.

“Yeah,” I said, sounding dejected, or maybe embarrassed was a better word.

“Where’s your mom?”

“Across the street, at Mr. Fields’s crib.”

Nina laughed. Then she said something in Spanish.

“What did you…never mind.”

“I said that your mother has to get busy too every now and then. She’s only fifty-something, not a hundred.”

“Leave me alone,” I grumbled.

“Don’t playa hate con-grat-u-late, Pappi,” she laughed out and rolled back over. “Goodnight again.”

I just lay there and tried not to imagine my moms getting her freak on as I drifted back to sleep. I had enjoyed an eventful Fourth of July, and now all of my tomorrows were coming quickly, all at once, it seemed.