Chapter two
Dimitri
Around five Sunday evening, I decided to go over to Ms. Corrine’s house to cut her grass.
I was trying to give her time to go to church and rest before I went over there.
On my way, I stopped by Popeye’s to grab a two- piece chicken dinner for her to eat for dinner.
I had come to love Ms. Corrine like the grandmother I was missing since mine had passed when I was a kid.
When me, Malcolm, and Jordan became friends, it was like their families made me a part of their lives.
They were like my brothers, and their families were like my close relatives.
We all looked out for one another, and Ms. Corrine was top of the list. I often stopped by to bring her some little snack cake or some dinner during the week.
I just liked to check on her and make sure she was okay.
On the weekends, me and Jordan, sometimes even Malcolm, would go by there to cut her grass and tend to her lawn. She was a huge part of my life. I cared about her deeply. So, I knocked on the door and a few minutes later, she let me in.
“Hey there Dimitri,” she greeted.
I kissed her on the cheek and smiled. “How you doing today Maw Maw?”
“I’m doing alright. What you doing here?”
“I came by to bring you some dinner and to cut your grass, but I see Jordan done came by already. But I hope you haven’t eaten yet,” I said.
“No, I haven’t eaten yet, and yea, Jordan came by yesterday. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.”
“I don’t think we spoke yesterday. You know he got this new lil girlfriend,” I said as we chuckled.
“Yea, he brought her by with him yesterday. She seems like a nice young lady.”
“How your day been going?”
“Well, I got a lil headache I’m tryna get rid of,” she said.
“Aww, did you take something for it?”
“Yea, I took some Tylenol earlier. I’ma take a couple of ibuprofens before I go to bed. Maybe that’s gon help.”
“Okay. Well, if you need anything, just call me.”
“I will, baby. Thank you.”
She escorted me out and I embraced her. After saying goodbye, I got in my truck and left.
On the way home, my baby mama Renee hit me up with some bullshit about twenty dollars.
I sent it to her on cash app and kept it moving.
I never knew how money hungry she was until after she said, “I’m pregnant!
” Seems like as soon as those two words came from her mouth, her hand stayed open.
Now, I don’t have a problem supporting my child. I made sure I did that on time every single month. It was the extra shit that her mom expected that I didn’t like. My responsibility was to our daughter, not Renee, but she didn’t seem to understand that.
Renee thought because she was the mom, I was supposed to take care of her too.
I wasn’t doing that. She was lucky that all she asked for was twenty damn dollars because other than that, she wasn’t getting a dime.
I pulled up to my condo and parked my truck.
I went inside and then got a phone call from Deidre.
“What up D?” I answered.
“Hey you, what’s going on?”
“Nothing much. Just got in from work.”
“Oh, okay. Well, guess who’s trying to play matchmaker for you and my cousin,” she said.
“Who?” I asked.
“Maw Maw!” she shrieked as she cracked up laughing.
“What?! Maw Maw trying to match me up with somebody?”
“Yes!”
“With who?”
“My cousin Gianna,” Deidre said.
“Wow! I just went by her house to bring her some chicken from Popeye’s,” I said.
“Fa real? How is she?”
“She’s okay. She said she had a slight headache, but other than that she was okay.”
“I gotta go see her some time this week,” she said.
“I can’t believe she’s trying to hook me up. I mean, she always talks about your cousin, but I didn’t know it was because she wanted us to get together,” I said as I chuckled.
“Maw Maw so slick though. But when you think about it, the two of you would make a cute couple.”
“I never met your cousin, so I couldn’t say.”
“I’m sending you a picture,” she said.
A couple of seconds later, my phone buzzed in my hand. I pulled it from my ear to see the picture. I had seen her picture in Ms. Corrine’s house.
“I saw her graduation pictures in Maw Maw’s house. But ain’t she living in Texas or something?”
“Yea, she’s in college out there, but she’ll be moving back here for the summer. Y’all can get to know each other then.”
“I’on know about that. I ain’t looking for no long-distance romance, ya feel me?” I inquired.
I mean, what nigga wanted to be involved with a female who lived hours away from him? What would be the point of being together if we couldn’t be together?
“Well, when she comes out here, you can decide after y’all meet.”
“We’ll see.”
“Okay. Well, I’ma talk to you later,” she said.
“Yea, aight.”
We ended the call and I sat down to eat my food. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until that time. After I was done eating, I went to take a hot shower. Once I finished bathing, I climbed in bed and was asleep in no time.
The next day, I went to work. I was having a good day until I received a text message from Jordan. I had to read the shit twice before it actually registered what he was saying. I wanted to leave work immediately, but I didn’t think things were that bad.
I met up with Malcolm at the door and we headed outside. Jordan had texted him the same message, so we both headed to the hospital to check on his grandmother. The whole way there, I prayed that she would be alright.