I pushed the door open, stepped inside, and a few heads turned.
I walked up to the Professor who was sitting in a tall chair behind a podium in the front of the class.
“Hello, I’m Ariana Proctor.”
The words still felt a little new rolling off my tongue, but honestly, they sounded just right.
“Okay, I have you checked in. You can have a seat,” the instructor said politely.
Everything was starting to fall into place here. I have a house, family, and a new fresh start with a man I was always in love with, only now I can shout it to the world.
Proctor
I was sitting at the stoplight across from my daughter’s daycare with my daughter in the backseat, reading an article about the explosion at Dianne’s Soul Food the week before. They credited it to a gas leak, but the truth was that gas leak was credited to me. I needed payback for that snake of a bitch turning on me after all those years I supported her. All because she wanted some dick, she decided I deserved to spend life in prison. I laughed to myself as I closed out of the article. No lives were lost in that explosion, but she definitely took a loss. I guess her husband died in vain anyway, and every dollar she had invested in that building was now gone. I even made sure that she didn’t have fire insurance before going through with that plan.It's good that she had snakes around her just like she was the snake around me.
When the light turned green, I drove to the parking lot and then turned around to give my daughter her motivational speech of the day.
“Little mama?”
“What?” she said happily from the backseat.
“You’re going to have a good day today, ain’t that right?”
“I don’t know,” she made me laugh because her little ass was blunt as hell.
It was amazing how much she had grown over the past year or so. The little girl had an attitude so crazy that we swore she had the same blood running through her veins as me. Treasure acted just like my family and me, cold-blooded toward people who we didn’t love.
My phone rang through the speakers in the car, and I answered, happy to talk to my wife. Today was her first day of school, and I know she was nervous, but I also know she was about to kill this shit like she did everything else in life.
“Talk to me, wifey. What’s up?”
“Nothing really, love. I’m sleepy, ready to come home and lay under you,” she said, sounding like she was slumped over in her seat.
“You know, I'm going to be waiting on you with open arms.” She giggled.
“You know that I know. What are you doing, big man?”
“About to drop Treasure off at daycare.”
“Proc, it is an hour after you were supposed to drop her off. She is not supposed to be that late, baby.”
“I know, I know, but we went to Waffle House. We were hungry, baby and you know how us Proctor’s like to eat.” I laughed because I knew Ari was about to fuss at a nigga.
“Proctor, she’s missing out on curriculum that she should be learning. We pay for her to learn at daycare, so stop letting her play hooky for half the morning.”
“Baby, it’s not half the morning, and I’m sure they're not even done eating breakfast in that mutha fucka yet. She will be alright. She already smart as fuck anyway.”
“Yeah, I know that” she replied, and I could hear the smile crack in her voice.
“But anyway, how’s your class going?”
“It’s going good. My English lit teacher seems boring, but the syllabus makes me think the class will be easy. My next class is in ten minutes and is math, so let’s see how that goes.”
“It will be fine and I’m proud of you, nonetheless. You're doing something you want to do, and you have my full support baby girl. I love you.”
“I love you more. Talk to you when I am on my next break.”
“Okay. later.”
