Page 32 of Scribbled Excellence

Tomorrow smiled from her place on the couch at the interaction between Little Muse and her grandfather. It wasn’t that she never thought this day would come. She just thought it would come over ten years later based on his original release date. “That little girl loves you so much,” she absentmindedly said.

Shawn glanced at his daughter. He was in awe of the woman that she’d become. She didn’t become who she was in spite of. She became who she was because she always knew that she could. “You were just like this at this age up until you were about seven. Don’t tell me that you forgot about our weekly tea parties that you said we had to have.”

Tomorrow leaned over with laughter. “Oh, I remember. Do you remember dressing up for my tea parties? You looked so handsome.”

He smiled then chuckled. “It was anything for my baby girl.” He looked down at Little Muse who lay on his chest. It was past her nap time, but her job as a baby was a professional sleep fighter. “I’ll do the same for this one.”

She knew that he would. Since he had been home, if he wasn’t at work, he was with his family. Tuesday was elated to have her father back in her life. She was so happy that she asked him to be her prom date. Tomorrow felt that she used the opportunity to make up for the daddy-daughter dances that he missed.

“Where are my ladies at?” Kyro asked as he walked into his house. They had been in their new home for less than two months now.

When Selly heard her father’s voice, sleep was a thing of the past. There was one man that she absolutely loved more than her grandfather. That was her father. She wiggled out of her grandfather’s arms. “No loyalty, I tell you,” he said as Selly speed crawled to her father.

If God made the decision to not flow any more blessings Kyro’s way, he felt that he would be alright with it. The blessings that God had already provided overflowed his cup in a way that kept him full. As far as he was concerned, his life was imperfectly perfect.

Selly pulled up on her daddy’s leg as soon as she got to him. He bent down, picked her up, then tossed her in the air. “Hey, daddy’s baby. He kissed all over her beautiful face after she was secured in his arms. “You are so beautiful, lookin’ like your mama.”

He walked over to his wife with his daughter in his arms. Every day, she became more and more beautiful in his eyes. She was just like a custom painting that appreciated with time. He leaned down and kissed her lips. “Hi, my love. How was your day?”

She loved his kisses. “It was great. I got a lot of work done on the piece that I’m doing. Little Muse had a time on her paint wall in the studio as well, so we had to take a midday bath.”

When they bought their house, Kyro surprised his wife with a shed that would serve as her paint studio. He wanted her to have her own space for her creativity. The gift was ironic because Tomorrow had done the same for her husband so he could have his tattoo studio. In the back of their massive yard were two sheds that were immaculate next door to each other.

In Tomorrow’s studio, there was a wall just for their daughter, where her mommy and aunties took the time to expose her to colors, paint, and art. Selah loved it, but it was a very messy process. Everyone loved it, nonetheless.

Kyro looked down at his daughter. “You got to paint today? Daddy’s gonna go see your work later.” He turned his attention to his father-in-law. “What’s up, Pop Shawn?”

“Ain’t nothing too much. Living life the best I can. Aye, we still on for that tat session?”

Kyro smirked. “You know it. I can’t wait.”

“Daddy, what tattoo are you about to get?” Tomorrow asked. Her curiosity was high.

She always found it interesting that although her father was in the streets when he was younger, he never got any tattoos. Shawn always stood on the principle that when you lived the street life, you did nothing that could uniquely identify you. Tattoos were something that did just that.

Shawn tilted his head at his daughter. “Aren’t you nosy. You’re just going to have to wait and see.”

The alarm for the door sounded. In walked Tuesday, August, and Lorin, August’s girlfriend. The couple had been together for a little over a year.

August recently graduated from college and still resided in Atlanta. The love bug bit him hard. All the things that he said he would never do when it came to females, he did all those things with Lorin. She was a fit for him, and the family loved her.

“Hey, y’all. How did everything go?” Tomorrow asked. Today was a sensitive day for the entire family. One because of what it was, and two because of the mixed feelings about the day.

A few years ago, when Michelle broke into her daughter’s apartment, when it was all said and done with, she was convicted. Her official charges were burglary in the first degree, felony theft by taking, and criminal damage to property in the first degree. The judge found the crime to be extremely vindictive, so he sentenced her to eight years and $14,000 in restitution.

She was in the second year of her sentence when tragedy struck. One thing that never changed about Michelle, even while she was incarcerated, was her drug problem. Unfortunately, it caught up with her. Tomorrow received notice three weeks prior that she died from a fentanyl overdose.I guess she gave it a go.

When she got the notice, she had a problem reconciling her feelings. On one hand, she hated her mother, and on the other hand, it was still her mother. There was an ounce of love for her, but there was so much damage in their relationship that couldn’t be overlooked.

The conversation with August and Tuesday was hard. August had mixed emotions as well, but he didn’t hate his mother. It saddened him, but he would lie if he said he was torn up about it. Tuesday, on the other hand, was torn up. With all the infractions that her mother committed, she still loved her immensely.

Although she didn’t want to, Tomorrow still had a small memorial for Michelle. Many years earlier, when Michelle’s addiction wasn’t as dire, her daughter convinced her mother to get a life insurance policy. Over the years, Tomorrow kept up the payments on the policy. Thank God that she did.

The family chose to have Michelle cremated. Today, August, accompanied by Lorin and Tuesday, spread her ashes.Tomorrow felt that she had already done enough when she used some of the insurance money for a memorial.

Tuesday shrugged her shoulder. “It went as well as it could have gone. We spread her ashes, so I hope she’s at peace now. I’m going to go to my room and work on the sketch for my sculpture.”

Everyone watched her walk away. Kyro sat down next to his wife, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, then pulled her into him. His lips kissed her temple. “It will get better, baby. Just give her time.”