Check-in time was two o'clock, so Lela and Antwan had lunch in the Hilton Café. Once checked in, she and Antwan dressed for the picnic and drove to Keisel Park. Before she could get out of the car good, she heard Uncle Calvin's voice blasting through the speakers.
"The James are back together once again! Watch out now, Grandma!" Calvin shouted.
"There's nothing like family, babe," Lela told Antwan while shaking her head. "Remember that."
Excited to see his young male cousins, Antwan scurried toward the crowd, bypassing all the girls who he said had the cooties.
Lela saw Calvin mouth to his wife, Dawn, of twenty-eight years to bring him something to drink. Dawn winked at him and sashayed over to the bar like a teenage girl in love. He watched her every move, nodding his head and licking his lips.
"Mercy! Let's bump a little Nelly. It's getting hot in herrrrr," Calvin said as he winked back at Dawn and adjusted his pants on the sly.
Lela watched the playful exchange between her aunt and uncle, and wondered if she would be so lucky to find a husband who would still be putty in her hands after twenty-eight years of marriage.
Seeing her uncle and aunt together always made her wish she could find in a mate a fraction of the affection they shared for each other.
Dawn was one aunt that Lela did like. It figures she got along with her uncle's wife but not any of her blood aunts. Speaking of the evil trio, they all seemed to spot Lela at the same time. Jenny, Lacy, and Tab were all sitting under a shade tree and waved Lela over.
Being cordial, she went over and hugged each of them before making an excuse to keep it moving.
"Hey, Lela baby, when are you going to bring a man with you?"
Aunt Lacy asked, starting the line of questioning.
"Where is that fine thing you had with you last year?" Aunt Tab chimed in.
"What you need to do is get yourself a husband like my Robert," Aunt Jenny preached.
Lela was just about to let Aunt Jenny know what she could do with her two-baby-momma-having husband when she saw Grandma Jana. Quickly, she walked over to her grandmother's table.
"Grandma! How are you?" This was the main person Lela could not wait to lay her eyes on. She had not seen her grandma since she flew out to see her over a year ago.
"I'm fine, baby. Where's that big boy of yours? He hasn't even came and kissed his great-grandma yet."