It was Saturday morning, and Jason rolled out of bed to his alarm going off at 8 am. He started work at 9 am. He got ready, ate breakfast, and headed out the door. He drove to work listening to J.Cole's Love Yours on the way there, nodding his head to the music. He was tired and just wanted to get back in bed, but the one thing that gave him the motivation to get up and start the day was his date this evening with Kendra.

He arrived at work and got started.His cousin Colton was running his mouth as usual talking about sports, girls, music or whatever came to mind. He looked at his cousin, (who had several tattoos despite being 17) and wished he would be quiet and get some work done. His mom and dad (Jason's uncle) were ok with him getting tattoos, as long as he did well in school, stayed out of trouble and showed up to work with his dad. Evan, his younger brother was more clean cut, but was still influenced by his older brother in some ways, in Jason's opinion.

Time at the shop went by and it was already 1. Jason would be done by 3 pm. His mind was on finishing up the day, getting home and scrubbing the gasoline smell off himself and making sure his nails were clean. He wanted to make a good impression tonight. He wanted them both to have a good time.

《《 Jason 》》

I only had two hours left at work and I was just counting down the minutes in my head. I wished Colton would shut up for once. We had customers complaining that the wait was too long. If it got around to my Uncle Brant he would be pissed. You would think Colton would have enough respect for his dad to put in more effort and take the business serious. This is how you eat bruh, cause your momma don't do shit. I decided to forget about Colton slacking off and just let it catch up to him. As the day ended we cleaned up the shop. My uncle came to where I was at and started helping me out.

"You're in deep thought, what's on your mind?" He asked.

"Oh, um..nothin'..just in the zone I guess." He caught me off guard as my thoughts were set on my date at 5:30.

"What you got planned for the rest of the day?" He asked.

I smiled. "I'm takin this girl out on a date".

"Ohh, that's exciting. She goes to your school?"

"Yea, she's a sweet girl".

"Thats nice man. I remember those days, enjoy them, before you get old like me."

I smiled. "You're not old Unc, how old are you, 50 or something?"

"Close, I'm 51."

"Thats not too old." I grinned.

"Not too old? Oh thanks Jason" He laughed. "Yea, high school was over 30 years ago for me." He shook his head with a look of reminiscence of his face. "I had my fair share of dates back then. There was a girl I remember clear as day. Her name was Miriam, she was a beautiful black girl.

"You dated a black girl before Uncle Brant?" I asked.

"Yea!" He said enthusiastically. "I was so in love with her. We turned alot of heads, caused alot of faces to scrunch up, but we didn't care. "

"What happened? Why did yall break up?"

"She had just gotten out of a relationship with another guy when me and her started dating. He didn't treat her right. Then, later, still early on in our relationship, she found out she was pregnant. I knew I wasn't the father because we had never done nothin'. It was the other guy but he was actin' like it wasn't his, saying she left him for me which wasn't the case. She was just fed up with him and then I came along soon after they broke up. She felt like it wasn't fair to bring me into the situation with her carrying another man's baby. But I didn't care, if he didn't want to be the father I was prepared to step up and be there for the child. He was already in the military at the time, he was a year older than us. She decided she wanted to have a family with him and at the same time, my Ma and Pa were moving us back to Texas. So me and Miriam had to go our separate ways. Later on I found out they got married. It broke me man, I cried like a baby."

"Dang, I'm sorry. She must have been very special to you."

"Its ok, I'm over it. That was decades ago. And yes she was very special to me. I think about her from time to time. I wonder where she is in the world and how she's doing."

Jason nodded, touched by the story his uncle just told. He had never known that his uncle dated a black girl. He thought he would be the first one in his family to do so, but he was wrong

"Kendra, the girl I'm taking out, she's black too".

"Is she?"

"Yea. I liked her for a while, but I just worked up the courage to ask her out because of that."

"Ah, don't worry about race. We're all human at the end of the day. There's gonna be people who have their two cents to put in about it. Just ignore em'. They don't matter. It's about you and her and as long as yall are happy together that's all that matters. Ya hear me?"

"Yes. Thanks Unc. I needed to hear that."

"Sure thing kiddo" He patted me on the back and walked into his office.

Once I got home, I texted Kendra.

I jumped in the shower and took my time scrubbing the days work off of me.

I got out and started searching for what I would wear.

Once I found something, I got dressed and headed into the living room to watch some TV before it was time to go.

My mom and stepdad came to the living room and started asking me questions.

"So where are you taking her?" My mom asked.

"The carnival".

"Oh that's fun" she smiled. "When do we get to meet her?"

"In time, mom. It's the first date" I chuckled.

"I know, I know" she giggled.

Josh took a seat on the couch and decided to be nosy.

"Where are you going?"

"On a date. To the carnival."

"About time" Josh joked.

"Whatever"

"Josh be quiet, leave him alone, he's just selective". My mom said.

Josh chuckled.

~~~ Meanwhile at Kendra's house~~~

Kendra's P.O.V

I rummaged through my closet, trying to find something to wear. My mom was trying to help me find something, too.

"Yall are going to a carnival, so just dress cute and casual. Don't overdo it." She suggested.

"Ok. I'm just gonna wear this and call it a day." I decided letting out a breath.

"Yea that's cute".

I got dressed, did my hair, brushed my teeth and put on lip gloss.

It was 5'oclock and he would be here at 5:30.

"Are you nervous" my mom asked.

"Very. I don't know why because I see him everyday."

"Its because yall are actually going on a date, it changes up the whole dynamic. But you will be fine. When do I get to meet him?"

"Oh that's another thing, I really don't want to introduce him and you guys meets him today, after what happened last time. I just want to take things slow. I'm not getting my hopes up".

My mom gave me an understanding smile. "Ok".

It was 5:15 and I got a text from Jason saying he was on the way....