Page 20 of Scribbled Excellence

“What’s up, sis?”

There was shuffling on her end.“Kyro! Kyro! Is Tomorrow with you? I tried to call her and she didn’t answer.”Her sniffles put me on high alert.

I abruptly leaned up, which caused Tomorrow to stir before she awakened.“Yeah, she’s right here. She was taking a nap. What’s wrong?”

“Is that Tuesday? What’s wrong with her?” Tomorrow asked while she stretched.

Tuesday’s cries were soft but there. I wasn’t sure who needed to be fucked up, but someone did.“Um, she needs to come home . . . Something happened.”

“Are you safe, Tuesday?”It took her a second to confirm.“Alright, we’re on the way.”

“Baby, we need to get to your house. She said that something is going on there,” I told her.

Worry etched her expression. I had no idea what happened, but I knew that it couldn’t be good. After Tomorrow jumped up and grabbed what she needed, we were out of there.

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.

Once a quarter, we had an art show where students displayed their art. People in the community could purchase the art if they wanted. The artist received 70 percent andScribbled Excellence received thirty.I wanted to teach the kids how it could look if a gallery acquired one of their pieces. In the past, I had a student or two whose artwork was in high demand negotiate their percentage with me. We settled on an eighty-twenty split.

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 ofmanipulating 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?”