Page 24 of Scribbled Excellence

Temporary To Permanent . . .

“So, you think he got a girl pregnant or something?” Rashad asked from the passenger seat of my car. When I side-eyed him, he chuckled. “I mean, shit. Why would Tomorrow’s lil brother ask you to ride to Atlanta to see him? You said he told you not to tell his sister that you were coming, hence me here with you. Got you lying to ya lady.”

I shook my head. “Shut the hell up. I didn’t lie to Mar. I told her that me and you were going to Atlanta for the day. What part of that was a lie, nigga?”

“Did you tell her that you were going to see her brother, though? I’m just asking. I don’t want no smoke with sis-cuz.” Rashad annoyed me often.

It was just best to ignore him. “Yo, I saw on Facebook that your best friend, Daylen and Sim are expecting another baby. He wasn’t playing when he said he wanted his babies back-to-back.”

Daylen Verse and his wife, Simonette, had a son, Daylen Junior, who was two years old. They did a pregnancy, gender reveal announcement video last week to announce the anticipated arrival of their daughter, Daria Jubilee Verse. The video was dope as fuck.

“Yeah, man! They are so excited about it. Lil DJ bad ass already told me he was gonna beat people up behind his sister. That’s my lil G.” Rashad’s eyes lit up.

My eyes ping-ponged between him and the road. We weren’t that far from the address that August asked us to come to. “You want that shit, don’t you? You want the whole woman and kids.”

“I don’t remember saying any of that.” He stared at the side of my head for a beat. “I mean, if it happens, I’m at the point in my life that I’m not going to fight it. I’m just not searching for it either.”

I tittered. “I hear you talking, Cuz. It usually comes when you least expect it.”

It didn’t take us much longer to get to the address that August gave us. I was confused as to where we were since it was an apartment complex.He must be at a friend’s place.The apartment number he gave us was on the third floor.

Knock! Knock! Knock! August answered seconds later. “Aye, what’s up, y’all! Come in!”

The second I stepped foot into the apartment, I knew that he was not at a friend’s place. There were pictures on the wall ofhim, Tuesday, and Tomorrow. “So, this is your spot? When did you get an apartment? Mar and I were just at your dorm . . . what . . . a week and a half ago.”

He closed the door with a titter. “Yeah, I know. Um, I’ve had this apartment for almost three months now. I wanted you to come check me out.”

I walked around his place to get all the details. It was a nice sized one-bedroom apartment that was just big enough for one person. It was the perfect size for a college student’s first place. When I came back to the living room, Rashad had made himself at home. He was in the middle of creating a character in August’s basketball game on his game system. August had a controller in his hand, so I guessed they were going to play.

I sat down in the armchair in the living room. “So now that I’ve checked it out, when are you going to let Tomorrow check it out?”

Yeah, I wasn’t the one who needed to be here checking shit out. I was just the boyfriend. He needed to get the buy-in from his sister.

He set his controller down on the coffee table. “Yeah, well, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I was hoping that you could help me break the news to her.”

Rashad cleared his throat. “How you paying your rent? That’s the shit that she’s going to care about.”

My eyes floated over to August. “That’s a good question. Did you get a job that you haven’t told us about?”

The corners of August’s lips spread across his face. “I applied for a scholarship, and I got it. It comes with a living stipend, I got a work-study job that I work between classes when I’m on campus, and a part-time job. The rent is $1,200 a month, all-inclusive. The Stipend is $1,000 a month for ten months out of the year.”

It sounded like he had it all figured out. “That sounds good. Having a work-study and part-time job won’t affect your grades. You know your sister is not going to play any of that grade dropping shit.”

“Nah, I’m a teacher’s assistant for my advisor as far as my work-study is considered. That happens during the day while I’m on campus. Next semester, my classes end by two in the afternoon every day, and no classes on Friday. My part-time job during the semester is thirty hours a week and more during the summer when school is out.”

I nodded. “Okay, well, you have your ducks in a row. Why do you need my help telling your sister?”

His hand rubbed down his face. “Man, you know how Tomorrow can get. I don’t want her to think that I’m like abandoning her or something because I want to stay here in Atlanta.”

I smiled at the fact that he wanted to be a man, yet he still cared about his sister’s feelings in the matter. He had been tasked to be the man of the house since he was younger than he should have. The abandonment thing could be a thing as well since Tomorrow still saw them as her babies. I knew that it might be hard when the time came that she had to let them go.

“I understand that, and I do know how your sister can be. I also know how a man should be. This is not something that you need help with. Your sister loves you and wants the best for you. Go into the conversation knowing that and lead from there,” I told him.

He sighed. “I know, I know. I’m gonna talk to her before the end of the semester.”

There was silence for a moment before Rashad clapped his hands. “Alright! Now that we’re past that, let’s take you out to celebrate this step into your manhood, cuz-nephew.”

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