“I running, Daddy.”
“I know.” I chuckled. “You almost met the ground too.” Helping him into his North Face, I put on the matching hat, grabbed my wallet and keys, and we were out the door.
I walked into Sullivan & Co. with my future CEO at my side. I’d been working on building a legit cleaning empire over the last three years one contract at a time. My team consisted of ten women – sharp, organized, and they kept my business moving better than any Fortune 500 company. I’d handpicked all single mothers who were hustlers and as loyal as they come.
I made it my business to employ an all-female staff because the reality was, no one had the gift of gab like a woman. The way they finessed, contracts were as good as signed without negotiating our prices or standard of business.
“Morninggg,” Kalia, the front desk receptionist, sang. “There go my favorite boy.” Before she could get from behind the desk, EJ had run to her.
“You just love the ladies, don’t you?” I said, grinning. “Good morning, Kalia. I have a visitor coming through at 12:30. Her name is Thyri Anderson. Can you make sure to escort her to my office when she gets here?”
“I sure can,” she replied while tickling EJ. “You want me to take him to the kids’ room?”
“Yes, please. Gimme five, man.” I held my hand out for EJ to dap. He slapped it hard, and I pretended to be hurt. “Ahhh, man,” I grabbed at my wrist, “you getting too strong for Daddy.”
He smiled proudly, making me and Kalia laugh.
“That’s cause he a big boy,” Kalia added. “Come on, lemme get you set up.”
“Oh,” I stopped her, as she went to walk away, “how’s Kayla?” I asked about her daughter.
“She’s doing really good. My mom is home with her today. Thanks again for helping with the physical therapy, Enzo.”
“No sweat. Glad she’s on the mend. If you ever need her to come here so you can keep an eye on her, I can have my cousin send someone over, and she can do her PT in the kids’ room. This way you don’t have to worry about her regressing.”
She nodded. “I appreciate that and will keep it in mind.” Smiling, she walked away to drop EJ off.
The kids’ room was a space that I had specially designed for the children of my staff, so they never had to choose between work and childcare. With their input and even input from the kids through colorful sketches I had my designer come up with, we created an oasis for the kids to be kids. And I made sure to cover all basis from soft mats, toys for infants to toddlers, down to two flat screens and game systems set up for the pre-teens and teenagers. It was kind of like a home away from home that was fully monitored by two licensed care providers. Those providers also happened to be my cousins, Kyiris and Shawna. Keeping business in the family was my thing.
Heading into my office, I pulled out my phone to call my cousin, Aura. The phone rang a few times, and just as I was about to hang up, the call connected.
“What’s the word?”he answered with a yawn.
“Ain’t no way you just now waking up, my nigga.”I glanced over at the clock, and it read 11:03 a.m.
“Nah. I just got in the door like thirty minutes ago. Bout to shower and take my ass to sleep. Wassup?”
“You just getting back in town?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, aight. I ain’t want shit, was just calling to tap in witchu.”
“How’d the meeting go?”he asked, and I knew he was referring to the hit.
“Successful. Had an unexpected guest but nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Oh. I know you went up by the hour.”
“For sure.”
“Copy. I don’t hear your shadow in the background. He sleep?”
“Nah. We’re at the office. I had some paperwork to handle, and I’m interviewing a potential nanny in a little bit.”
He snickered before speaking.“And who bout to watch his bad ass? Did you have to upload a tape of how he is on a daily basis?”
I laughed.“Nigga, fuck you. Y’all gon’ stop talkin’ bout my kid.”
