“And? That doesn’t mean you don’t need to sleep, right?”
She chuckled. “Probably, but I was actually waiting for you.”
“Which means you want something. What’s up, shorty?” I grabbed a bottle of water and turned around to look in her direction. By now she was leaning against the island with a sneaky smirk on her face. My baby sister was growing up right before my very eyes, and that shit sent palpitations through my chest every time I looked at her. I was twelve when my mother had Niema. She had already dropped me and Namari off at our grandmother’s house, so I guess it was really nothing for her to do the same with Niema. My mother had been on drugs since I was seven, so nah she didn’t raise me and my siblings, our grandparents did until they both died a year and a half apart. They did the best they could to care for us and keep us together, but after they died that was left to me. My mother didn’t even come to their funeral let alone to be a mother. Instead, she stayed wherever the fuck she was and that was completely fine with me. I made sure our struggles were over.
“No, I don’t. I just wanted to wait for you.” She smiled sweetly in my direction. I guess raising a teenager wasn’t all that bad. She wasn’t a bad kid at all, shit Niema at some points was more mature than Namari which was sad because he had several years over her.
“Also, I made cupcakes.”
I nodded my head in her direction before I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket. “Good looking baby girl. Now you’re really tryna have a nigga hit the gym.” Reaching into my pocket I pulled my phone out only to see that baby girl had indeed texted me that she was home.
She laughed. “It’s in the basement, Nor. It’s not like it’s really that far.”
I cut my attention from my phone to my sister. “Either way. You know I only got that motherfucker because it sounded nice. On another note, are you really serious about getting a job?”
She looked at me for a while before she nodded her head. “Yes. Mari thinks it's because I want to go half with him on the car, but really, I just want to get out of the house.”
“So, you’re getting a job, Ema?”
“I mean why not? I might as well make my own money while I work. Plus, you made me quit my last job because you didn’t want me working during the school year.”
I nodded my head. “I guess. Don’t stay up too late, lil’ mama.”
“I won’t.”
I walked in the direction of my room wondering just what the fuck I would say to shorty. I mean I wasn’t used to wanting to converse with anybody. I mean most fucking times I wanted a bitch to leave me the fuck alone, but this one I wanted to bother. Finally, I settled for some corny shit that I was sure would get a response.
Me: Thought I asked you to hit me up when you got home? I ain’t say shit about texting.
A few seconds later I saw the little gray bubble before she texted me back.
Omyia : Lol! I did.
Me: Texting ain’t hitting me up, ma.
I saw the little bubbles again, but this time I didn’t wait for a response. Instead, I pressed the little camera in the contactdetails and called her. She answered a few seconds later, smiling into the phone.
“So, this is what you meant by hit you up?”
“For sure lil’ pretty ass woman,” I complimented. Even with that ugly ass scarf on her head she was still fucking gorgeous.
“Maybe you should’ve been a little more specific? Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s la?—”
“Why aren't you with your baby father?” Call me nosy, but I believed in asking the right questions.
“How do you know I’m not?” she countered.
“Because you’re laid up in yo’ bed talking to me.”
She giggled. “Keeping it a buck, he and I are two different people. At twenty what I found attractive isn’t what I find attractive now. Four years ago, I didn’t see a problem with the things that I see a problem with now.”
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what she was talking about. Her kid’s father was probably in the streets. “I hear you.”
“Plus, when you want something different you do something different.” She laughed.
“Yo, you’re wise as fuck. I guess that big ass head you got is s?—”
“I really thought we were going to get along, but now you’re coming for my head. That’s crazy because I didn't say anything about your forehead. Shit is more like a freaking five if you ask me.”
