6. Tomorrow
The Night Before
Hated Love . . .
Sleep was my bitch, and I was ready to slap her ass.
Words could not explain how tired I was.
All day I prepared for the meetings that were scheduled for tomorrow morning.
There were two major financial companies that wanted to tour my center and learn about our programs. If all went well, the meeting could end with more grant money.
Grant money received was used for operations, supplies, insurance, field trips, and other budget line items that we needed.
I wanted to see my baby, but he had a long tat session tonight. It was a first-time celebrity client. I didn’t want my man to come across unprofessional because his girlfriend hovered over him.
Kyro was the best boyfriend that I ever had.
Well, he was my third boyfriend, but definitely the best. Derrick, my first boyfriend, wasn’t ready for a relationship.
We were twenty, so that was to be expected.
After he fucked a girl around the way, I let her have him.
He wasn’t happy but moved on when I moved on. My next, Kory, was just a dummy.
It was after nine o’clock, and I just got to my apartment. This was later than normal for me. I tried to be home before eight so that I could cook dinner for me and Tuesday. August was already back at school.
When I opened the door to my apartment, I paused. With confusion, I glanced at the number on the door to make sure I walked into the correct apartment. Before I could say anything, Tuesday rushed over to me.
“Tomorrow, can I talk to you outside for a second?” The worry in her tone was warranted. She definitely needed to tell me something before I went off on her.
I closed the door but kept my hand on it so that I could open it quickly at any time. “Tuesday, I love you. I need you to tell me why that woman is here.”
She put her hands up. “Listen and hear me out. We ran into each other when I got out of school. I just wanted to talk to her for a little while, so I invited her to dinner. I came home and cooked for her.”
My head tilted and eyes squinted. “Wait, so you randomly ran into our crackhead mother, then invited her to our place? A place that she had never been to and didn’t know where it was? You could have taken her to a restaurant, Day! Don’t tell me that you don’t have money, because I know you do.”
I could see the hurt in her eyes, but right now, I didn’t give a piece of a fuck. “Tomorrow, she’s not even high. You didn’t even look at her before you just started talking. She got out of rehab last week.”
Here we go with this bullshit. That was all Michelle had to say to Tuesday for her to fall for the nonsense. My sister’s thoughts were that of a sixteen-year-old and not a fully developed adult mind.
“Tuesday, have you ever wondered why I never invited Michelle here? This isn’t the first time that she’s popped up somewhere to be in our eyesight.
I don’t give a damn what rehab she came from; she is not welcomed in my house.
Now she knows where we live.” I was so damn frustrated with her.
You didn’t let crackheads know where you lived.
Tuesday’s attitude arrived in the chat. “Well, I live here too. She’s my mother, and I wanted to spend time with her. She’s sober, and I can tell. She will be gone in the morning.”
“Pause!” I held my hand up. “What the fuck do you mean in the morning? After she takes her last bite of the food in my house that I paid for, she should be leaving.”
Her eyes softened. She’s about to piss me off! “I told her that she could sleep here tonight. She has a job interview not far from here in the morning, so it made sense.”
I tittered. “It made sense to you to invite someone to my house, where I pay all the bills, without a thought to reach out to me and ask? Is that what you want me to believe, Day? You are far from a dummy. You knew had you reached out to me that it would have been a no-go. This is your way of manipulating me into an uncomfortable situation, and I do not appreciate it. We will talk more about this another day.”
I had to get away from her before I really hurt her feelings. I was trying to give grace because I understood her innate desire to be near her mother. I remember that feeling well when I was younger. I didn’t want to invalidate her feelings, but I knew that she didn’t understand her actions fully.
When we walked into the house, Michelle was now on my couch with a remote in her hand. Her foot was folded under her. Her feet better be fucking clean. The plate that she ate from was still on the dining room table empty. I guess it would have been too much for her to put it in the sink.
My head slowly turned to my sister. She rushed over to the table to clear the dish. “Mama, did you like it?”
Michelle shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve had better, but it was good, considering. You’re only sixteen, so I didn’t expect much.”
The light fizzled from Tuesday’s eyes. I walked to the kitchen to see what she cooked. My forehead creased at the sight of the dish that she prepared. Salisbury steak was the best dish that my sister made. I taught her how to make it myself.
Michelle had yet to speak to me. I would be the bigger person and speak first. “Good evening, Michelle.”
She flipped a few more channels before she looked in my direction. Her eyes scanned me from my head to my feet. “Hi, Tomorrow. You look well. Did you teach her how to cook that? It was one of the only things you knew how to cook when you were a kid.”
It was clear she knew that I didn’t want her ass here. “I did teach her how to make it. Yeah, it was one of the few things that I knew how to cook since someone had to be a mother for Tuesday and August.”
Michelle snickered before her shoulders lifted to her ears. “Hey, what can I say? Mistakes were made. It seems like you all made it out alright. The overall question is, did you die?”
Yeah, let me get myself together and away from her ass before I pounce on her.
“Michelle, Tuesday let me know that you will be here until the morning. You can sleep on the couch. Not sure what time your interview is, but I leave at eight thirty. Be prepared to leave with me if you have not already left.”
Michelle’s head bucked back. “Wait, Tuesday said that I could sleep in the other room. My interview isn’t until ten in the morning.”
With a slanted head, I responded. “Like I said, I leave at eight thirty in the morning, so be prepared to leave. No, you will not be sleeping in August’s room. You are a guest, unwanted, but that’s neither here nor there. Guest don’t sleep in our bedrooms.”
She huffed. “I bet your lil man sleeps in your room when he comes over.” Her eyes were on the photo of me and Kyro that was framed on the wall.
I giggled quietly with my eyes on Tuesday. Her eyes pleaded with me not to curse her ass flat the hell out. “You’re right, he does. He is not a guest. He is my man. You are no one.”
My words were sharp, and I knew it. The thing was that I didn’t care. Tuesday moved to the couch and sat down with her mother. I took the time to shower so that I could get comfortable where I would be for the rest of the night.
After I was showered and dressed, I grabbed my hooded blanket. I went to the kitchen and got the snack and drink that I needed for the night. Once I had it all, I sat my ass down and got comfortable in the recliner that was next to the couch.
Michelle looked at me like I was crazy. “Are you just going to watch the movie with us?” Her lip turned up with her question.
“Nah, I’m sleeping out here tonight. This recliner is my second favorite place to sleep.” Yeah, she was crazy if she thought that I would let her be alone anywhere in my house. Hell, the time that Tuesday and I were outside was too much damn time.
Michelle just stared at me, but she didn’t say anything. That was in her best interest. I was already pissed. I wanted her to give me a reason, and I would put her ass out.
Back To The Present . . .
This was why I loved this man. I spoke with him earlier, and I told him that I was alright. An hour later, he sent me a text that told me that he didn’t believe I was alright. When he got here, Jasmine paged me that he was here. I wanted to cry because I missed him and just needed a hug.
We’d spent so much time together since we committed ourselves to each other.
Oh, and he promised that he would make up for the dessert part of our date that we missed.
Made up for it, he did. One night I went over to his house, and there were dessert stations around his condo.
We ate and fucked all over his place. One of the most pleasurable nights that I ever experienced.
I loved to sleep on Kyro’s lap. For whatever reason, in my mind, there was safety there.
We talked about the situation with my parents a few times.
I never went in depth because the shit was depressing.
Who wanted to talk about their crackhead mother and jailbird father?
The crazy part was that my father was more of a presence in our life, and he was in jail. He called at least twice a week.
My nap on Kyro’s lap felt like heaven. I didn’t sleep a wink last night. My spirit told me that if I went to sleep for even five minutes that I would wake up with valuables missing. That was not a chance that I was willing to take.
When Kyro jolted me out of my sleep, I was annoyed. To hear that he was on the phone with Tuesday annoyed me further. His jaw was tight. When he asked whether she was safe, my antennas went up. “Alright, we’re on the way.”
He disconnected the line. His hands rubbed my back. “Baby, we need to get to your house. She said that something is going on there.”
I sighed because I didn’t want to deal with anything today but lie on my man’s lap and take a damn nap. I jumped up and got what I needed so we could leave. We took Kyro’s car to my place and left mine at the center.