My mom, step-dad, grandparents and I were sitting at the table eating dinner when we heard the doorbell ring; it wasn’t out of the ordinary that people in the neighborhood stopped by so no one thought anything of the interruption. Paul got up to answer the door and came back a few minutes later with someone I didn’t expect. I glanced over at the doorway from talking to my Granny and saw Lani standing there next to Paul.

“Lani?” She had changed since I last saw her; her burgundy and blonde hair was now raven black and it looked like she gained a little bit of weight, not that I was complaining (more cushion for the pushin’ am I right?).

“Hey, sorry if I’m interrupting I can go back to my hotel.”

“Nonsense honey. Justin’s friends are welcomed here all day everyday. Are you hungry dear, we just started eating. I can fix you a plate.” I looked over at my mom who was beaming and rushing over to Lani to usher her into the empty seat next to me.

“I’d like that Mrs. Harless, thank you.”

“Please, call me Lynn.” My mom put a plate down in front of Lani and we continued on with dinner. When everyone was done I took Lani up to my room to catch up.

“I can’t believe you found me.” I laid down on my bed and motioned for her to do the same.

“Well once you said you were home I figured I’d ask Trace exactly where home is. If you didn’t want me to find out where you were you might have wanted to keep that to yourself considering I’m friends with the boy who grew up down the street.”

“No I’m glad you came, I just wasn’t expecting you to show up a month later.”

“Well Gianni just went back to school, so I figured it’d be perfect timing to get away.”

“How’d you manage to get down here?”

“I told the Don, by the way that’s what me and Gianni call my dad these days for fun; anyways I told him that I was going to visit some friends in ATL. Then I hopped on a train and here I am. I actually took a detour to Atlanta and saw my mom for a few days, or else I would have been down here four or five days sooner.” I turned her body towards mine and raised my eyebrows.

“How’d that go?”

“Better than I thought. We talked for a while about everything that’s been going on and cleared things up a little bit from my childhood. Surprisingly she supports what I’m doing right now; for once in her life she supports me and it oddly feels great.”

“What is it that you’re doing exactly?”

“Getting away with you and moving on with my life.” I couldn’t resist kissing her. It had been a very long time since I had been this close to a female (other than Granny and my mom) and I couldn’t help but give into craving the feeling of her lips on mine.

“What was that for?” I shrugged my shoulders and smiled at her.

“I haven’t kissed you in a long time, and I needed it, badly Lani.”

It was weird getting back into the swing of things down in Memphis; I ended up getting a job soon after Lani came down working at Black Diamond on Beale Street at night. I was getting tired of sitting around all day doing nothing while everyone else was at work; my mom ended up finding Lani a job as a nanny for one of her coworkers, which meant that I was alone during the day, again.

A week or two after Lani got down to Millington, I pulled into the driveway of my mom’s house and saw a car that I wasn’t really familiar with sitting behind the used car Lani bought, so I was confused about who was at the house. When I got out of my car and headed up the steps I heard heated yelling coming from inside the house. Immediately I figured something was wrong; Lani was supposed to be at work and she didn’t really know anyone around here for someone to be in the house with her.

“I really don’t know how the fuck you found me Carmine but I suggest you leave. I can’t go back there.”

“Leave? I’m not leaving unless you’re coming with me. Your father is fucking livid that you came down here to be with that fucking asshole. Get your shit and let’s go.” I saw from the storm door that he had grabbed her arm pretty hard and was dragging her towards suitcases that were in the living room. But Carmine stopped walking when he saw me through the open front door.

“There a problem here?” I walked into the living room and looked back and forth from the two.

“Daddy found out I’m here and not in Atlanta. I’m not sure how, but he sent this dickhead to come down here and bring me back home.”

“You’re a grown ass woman Melania. I don’t think that you should be taking orders from your father anymore.”

“I don’t think you have any place in this to be telling her who she should and shouldn’t take orders from Timberlake.”

“It’s Harless actually, thanks.”

“You, are a Timberlake whether you like it or not. You are filthy and your family will get what’s coming to them. Pick your shit up Melania and put it in the car while your little boyfriend and I have a little chat.” Lani did as she was told and got the bags that she came with and put them in the rental car Carmine had driven. I watched as she hung her head and tried to fight back any tears that were about to fall.

“I don’t know why you’re so fucking smitten with Melania here, but it stops today. Got it?”

“I’m not her Carmine; I don’t take orders from people. Sorry.”

“I’m not giving you an order. If you haven’t noticed we don’t get along well with people who aren’t our kind. Is your family Italian?” I couldn’t believe he had just said that; people of “his” kind? Did her family think that they were some sort of superior race? And how did that work out when Lani’s mom was black?

I couldn’t even shake my head no before he answered for me, “I didn’t think so asshole. Take a look around, we don’t take kindly to people who try to penetrate into our family that aren’t initially apart of it.” Who the hell was this guy kidding?

“Hey Carmine, I hate to bust your fucking bubble here, but last time I checked your last name wasn’t Violano either. So how the fuck did you get in with the family?” He didn’t say anything and just looked at Melania as she came back into the house.

“Check your surroundings,” if he told me to take a look around and check my surroundings one more time I was going to check him, “anyone who’s Italian in this room step forward.” Carmine took a step in my direction, but Lani stayed still not really sure about what was going on. “Hm, I didn’t see you step forward Timberlake. It don’t matter if my last name isn’t Violano. Yours will never be, and hers,” he pointed sharply over to Lani, “will never be Timberlake. Or Harless, whatever the fuck you call yourself.”

And with that, as soon as she had come back into my life, she was gone. I couldn’t believe that she let him just snatch her up like that without putting up a bigger fight; that was not the Lani that I knew, so where had she gone? Why was she so quick to crumble under the hands of someone who held no authority over her?

Better yet, what did I miss while I was lollygagging out in my car trying to figure out who was there? What had been done or said that cracked her hard exterior and made her into a softie? There was really only one way to find out; and that was to suck it up and head back to my second home. New York City here I come.