2. Tomorrow #2
When he was sixteen, he got a part-time job at a local grocery store.
I didn’t want him to, but I also didn’t want to block him from the opportunity to make his own money.
He came home with his first check and gave me money for the light bill.
At sixteen, he stood there and told me that the light bill would be his responsibility going forth.
The pride that sat on his chest as he told me that made me proud to be his big sister.
It was at that moment that I knew for certain that I had done something right.
When I first sketched this mural, I worried that some would see it as sad, but it was anything but.
It was a celebration of love and survival.
Amid the chaos in our lives, we still survived.
Not just survived, we thrived. If we could do it, so could others.
That was what I wanted to illustrate with my mural.
The crowd observed both murals for several more minutes before Dominique began to speak about the planned activities that would happen in the new space.
Today, it was a community fair with vendors and community partners.
There were five food trucks for people to choose from as well as other food vendors who sold popcorn, hot dogs, and other simple items.
After Dominique finished, I left the stage to first speak to Judge Black. Time had been extremely nice to her. She was no longer on the bench, as she retired a few years ago. Now she was a law professor. “Judge Black, thank you so much for coming.”
“Now, you know that I wouldn’t miss this. I am so proud of you. That day in my courtroom, I knew that greatness awaited you,” she said with a smile.
Her words had always been powerful. I hung on to every one of them. “Thank you so much for believing in me and giving me a chance.”
She grabbed my hand. “I didn’t give you a chance. You gave yourself a chance. All I did was give you room.”
We spoke for another minute before I moved to find my brother and sister. Tuesday was right where I thought she would be. She loved fresh squeezed lemonade, and her favorite lemonade vendor was here. “I hope you got me one.”
When Tuesday turned around, she had a strawberry lemonade in one hand and a regular in the other. “You know I got you your favorite.” Strawberry. “Your mural is amazing, Sis! I love it.”
I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her cheek. We were almost the same height at five feet, six inches. We took on our mother’s height while August got his height from our father. He was six feet tall or maybe a little taller.
I saw August in the distance with some of his neighborhood friends. I would let him be for now. Tuesday and I found a seat to enjoy our drinks. The sun was high today, but there was a nice breeze.
“Excuse me,” a male voice said from the side of us.
When I turned to face the voice, my brow hiked. Who is this? “Hey.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt y’all. I’m Kyro Goings.” His smile was gorgeous.
My head snapped to the mural that Danielle painted, then back to him. I pointed at the mural. “Wait, that Kyro? You’re Danielle’s nephew.”
He tittered before his head nodded. “Yeah, that’s me. I wanted to come over here to tell you how dope your mural is.”
My head tilted toward my ear as my shoulders lifted, and my cheeks warmed. “Thank you so much. That is really sweet.” I zoned out in his sexiness for a moment but was pulled back to reality when Tuesday cleared her throat. “Oh, um, this is my sister, Tuesday.”
Kyro smiled as his eyes left me to her. “How are you, Tuesday? You have a pretty dope sister. If she included you in her mural, you must be awesome too.”
Lawd! She’s about to eat this up. My sister had the most outgoing personality that I’d ever seen. When she was younger, I worried that she would get kidnapped. She did not understand the concept of stranger danger. In her mind, a stranger was a friend to make.
Tuesday’s hand covered her chest. “It is amazing when people recognize the awesomeness that is me and my sister. You must be pretty awesome, too, for your aunt to include you into her mural.” She leaned forward, then cupped her hand on the side of her mouth so that I couldn’t see it.
I wasn’t sure why she did that if she wasn’t really going to whisper.
“She totally Stans your aunt . . . like real bad.”
Embarrassment set in. “I don’t Stan her. I just highly admire her and her work.”
Kyro chuckled. “It’s cool to Stan her. I do. Something tells me that I might end up Stan’n you.” He paused for a beat. “I’m going to let y’all enjoy the rest of your day. Tomorrow, I’ll see you around.”
My mouth dropped, but nothing came out. Good thing he walked away before my mouth fell open, because I would have looked crazy. Danielle mentioned to me when we worked on our pieces that she had a nephew that was biracial. The two races mixed exceptionally well in Kyro.
“Why do you look like that?” August’s voice pulled me out of my daze. “Did you see a ghost or something?”
Tuesday snickered. “Nah, she didn’t see a ghost. She saw her future boo.”
I smacked her arm lightly and told her to hush. August’s face contorted before he looked around. “Who?”
“Kyro Goings. He came over here to admire her mural and told her that he was a future Stan of hers.” Tuesday had such a damn big mouth. To her, there was no business like someone else’s.
August’s head snapped in our direction. “Wait, Kyro Goings? Yo, he owns Bridged Hearts. I’ve been trying to get into his shop to get a tat by him, but he is booked up for like a month.”
“Oh, yeah. Danielle did say that he owned a tattoo shop. That’s cool. I should check him out,” I said absentmindedly.
August crossed his arms over his chest and gawked at me. “Yeah, I think you should check him out. Matter of fact, we’ve been talking about getting that matching tat that Tuesday sketched. How about we go see about him tomorrow?”
My head bucked back. “I thought you said that he was booked up? How are we going to see about him tomorrow?”
August was tripping. How the hell would we get an appointment if he was booked solid. Over a year and a half ago, Tuesday sketched an amazing tattoo for us. When she showed it to me, I cried. August and I planned to get it, but time had gotten away from us.
The smirk that surfaced on August’s face was troublesome. He was about to be on his good bullshit. “Something tells me that he’ll move some shit around for you. Let’s test the theory.”
Some Days Later
The Way Home . . .
I didn’t feel comfortable just popping up at Kyro’s business since August said that he was booked.
I felt that it would be disrespectful to show up and expect him to shift his schedule because I thought he liked me.
He never actually said that he liked me.
Yeah, he said that he would Stan me, but I thought he meant more of my artwork.
I called Bridged Heart Tattoo Shop the next day to see if I could get an appointment.
The receptionist told me that he was booked until the following month, but she took my name down just in case there were any cancellations.
Less than an hour later, I got a call back from her.
She told me that Kyro had a cancellation and could take me and my brother.