Page 59 of Hellcat Barbies: Imani
“Daddy,” he whines.
“It’s time to get up, man.”
After wiping his hands over his face, he frowns then groans, “That was wet.”
“It’s just water. Get on up and get in the bathroom,” I say as I pull his cover back.
Lazily, he eases out of the bed and treks to his bathroom. While he’s in there, I make up his bed then grab his clothes and shoes from his closet. Little Einstein requires uniforms, including shoes Monday through Thursday. Fridays are the only free dress days. So, since it’s Monday, I grab a pair of his grey pants, his dark blue V-neck crested sweater, white shirt, and Doc Martens. Then, I go into his bathroom to check on him.
“Miss Imani went home?” he asks as soon as I walk in, fully awake.
“Nah. She’s sleep so we got to be a little quiet this morning.”
“Ok. She gone be here when I get home?”
“I don’t know yet. Why?”
“Cause I like her. She’s nice and pretty.”
“Yeah, she is and she likes you too. You see she cooked some of your favorites.”
“And her carrots taste like Maw Maw’s,” he adds with a smile.
“Make sure you gargle,” I tell him and he grabs his mouth wash.
After he gargles, we walk back into his room and he gets dressed. To save time, I button his shirt before he puts on his sweater. Then, he puts on his shoes while I check his book bag. A few times, he’s tried to sneak his iPad in there. The school doesn’t allow them because each student is given a restricted one to use in class.
When he’s ready, he heads to the kitchen to grab his lunch kit and a bottle of OJ. I step back to my room to check on Imani. Although I hate to wake her, I need to tell her that I’m leaving. So, I creep into my room and over to the bed. Then, I lean in and kiss her cheek a few times. Her body squirms a little then she opens her eyes, barely.
“Hey,” she mumbles.
“Good morning, beautiful. I didn’t want to wake you but I’m bout to take him to school. Stay and go back to sleep. I’ll be back,” I say and she nods her head, closes her eyes, then turns.
I walk out and close the door. DJ is sitting in the living room, waiting on me. He stands when he sees me and walks to the door. I join him and grab my keys from the ceramic bowl on my console table. We leave then head to my ride for our thirty-minute commute to his school. We’ll spend another fifteen to twenty minutes in the car line. Although there are buses for Einsteins, about eighty percent of the students are car riders and that line is usually long as fuck.
“Dontay said they got boats and race cars there, daddy,” DJ says excitedly.
He’s been hyped all week. One of his little school friends, Dontay, invited him to his birthday and it’s being held at a new spot on the northside, Blast! Fun Center. According to the invite, the spot has indoor and outdoor shit for the kids to do. It has arcade games, go-karts, bumper boats, kid rides, mini golf, and batting cages. We are heading there now.
“Yeah, I saw. You gone drive?” I ask him.
“If they let me,” he says with a laugh.
“They will; kids can drive the go-karts there. We gone race.”
“Is Miss Imani gone race too?” he asks.
Just like she captured me, Imani has won DJ over too. He really likes her and every time she’s over to my place or we’re at her crib, he has a blast and getting him to go to bed is a task. So, when he got the invite, he asked her to come with us and thank God she said yes. I love my son’ he’s not the problem. I just know I can’t handle a room full of six- and seven-year-olds.
“She likes to race. I’m sure she will.”
“That’s why she drives that fast car?”
“Yea.”
“I wanna get a fast car when I get big too,” he says.
“How you gone buy that car?”
