Page 48 of Hellcat Barbies: Imani
She immediately recognized his attachment to both the bookbag and the lunch box and was nice enough to use her hand gadget to ring up the items. He didn’t have to take his book bag off.
“No,” he says with a smile.
“No what?” I question.
“No, thank you,” he corrects.
As she hands me the receipt, I notice how her eyes scan me from head to toe. Then, her smile gets too damn big. “Do you need anything?” she asks, her tone lower.
“Nah. We good. Thanks,” I say then reach for the receipt.
Clearly, she’s clueless as hell because she isn’t picking up on my non-interested tone or face. When I reach for the receipt, she places her other hand on mine. Because I don’t want to embarrass her or say something off in front of DJ, I warn her non-verbally. My eyes cut to her hand then I shake my head. This time, she more perceptive because she quickly draws backher hands, dropping the receipt on the counter. I grab it and DJ and I leave her thirsty ass in the store.
On a directory outside of the store, I find an Office Mart, we head there and pick up the remainder of those outlandish items on his list. Since it’s getting late, I decide to grab us dinner from the Italian joint here, two kids’ meals for him and the chicken Parmesan for me. Although DJ doesn’t seem like a picky eater, I don’t know if he’ll eat the school lunch so his second meal is for his lunch bag tomorrow.
As soon as we walk into the crib, he rushes to the room with his stuff. He insisted on carrying it all so his book bag is filled with his supplies, all of them. I walk to the kitchen, wash my hands, and take out the food. Because I like my food hot, I place my container in the microwave. While it warms, I walk to his room.
“After we eat, you gotta shower and get ready for bed.”
“Okay but can I call Maw Maw? I need to show her my stuff and my hair.”
“Yeah. Go head but man, where’s the lunch bag though? I need to clean it and put your lunch inside.”
“Right here,” he says before hopping off his bed.
He runs into his closet and I watch him as he pulls it out of his bookbag. I hold in my laugh when he hands me the smashed in bag. He had it jammed into his bookbag.
“You can pick out the snacks to go with it after we eat dinner.”
“Okay,” he says before jumping back on the bed.
“You sure you don’t want a different bed in here, man?” I ask again.
This is my second time asking him. This room was my guestroom. Nothing in here was picked with a kid in mind. There’s a king size platform bed, armoire, small dresser by the bed, and a TV mounted on the wall.
“No. I like this big bed. I don’t want a little one,” he insists again.
“Not little,” I say with a grin. “Maybe something different. I don’t know. I just want you to like your room.”
He laughs then says, “This is my favorite room. It’s big.”
“A’ight. I won’t ask again. Grab yo’ phone and come in the kitchen so we can eat and you can call yo’ grandma.”
“Yes, sir,” he says, looking me square in the eye.
I’m still amazed at how much he looks and acts like me. It’s crazy. A little me has been in this world for six years and I had no clue. That’s why I’m doing everything I can to make that shit up to him, to his grandmother too.
I’ve learned from DJ through general convos that her house in Houston has some issues. He mentioned only being able to take a bath in one of the bathrooms and he said that when it rains, he had a bucket in his room for the water. I have a contractor going there on Monday to do a walk-through and tell me what’s up so I can get it all fixed. I also set up an account for her and set up monthly deposits.
When I walk out with the lunch bag; he’s right behind me, walking fast to keep up with my longer strides. I trek into the kitchen and place his bag on the counter. He places his phone in the counter stool then runs into the hall bathroom. Both of our food containers are on the island when he returns along with two bottles of water.
“Call yo’ Maw Maw before you eat. She’ll be sleep in a minute,” I say and he grabs his phone. As he calls her, I warm the breadsticks in my air fryer.
“Look at your hair?” she says. “You look like a grown man,” she says then laughs.
“I got it cut today. I go to school in the morning and I got everything.”
“Everything?” she asks.
