“Hey I have a few bills to pay”
“Oh sure dad!”
Malachi sat in the truck wearing a sleeveless Nike t-shirt with a dark pair of cargo khaki shorts with a pair of Keds shoes wondering how his father, who wore a button down and a pair of blue jeans was managing not to break a sweat.
“Dad, it’s hot outside! How are you not sweating?”
“Son, I’m from the deep south where we have a head index of 90 plus in the morning. Your boxers will be stuck to your ass at 7:00 am from the humidity during the summer months. By 10:00 am, the heat index is more than 100 degrees! This ain’t nothing for me.”
They went to pay a few bills prior to going to the grocery store.
“Your mom has a cousin who lives in Long Beach who’s coming to visit. She’s gonna bring her kids”
“Yea, mom said something about that”
“She’d be grandma’s niece?”
“Yes, your mom’s first cousin”
He picked up a block of cheddar cheese, two bags of shredded cheese, and a can of salsa. “I hope they like nachos. Doesn’t costs too much and it’s an easy fix”
“Son, grab a couple of packs of ground beef for me”
After placing the ground beef in the basket, they went to the produce section to grab some fixings such as sour cream, lettuce, pico, and tomatoes.
“Essentially, we are reconnecting with family and being introduced to some through all this”
“Right!”
Malachi then asked about Quincy’s family. He had seen them more than he had seen his mother’s family. It was usually during the summer. They would make at least one trip per summer to California for vacationing. He had not seen his aunt or his uncle in about three years. He had not seen his grandparents since he was about 6 years old; however, he did not consider them strangers. On the other hand, he was clueless when it came to his father’s cousins.
“My mom was born and raised in Mississippi. My dad is from a town in Louisiana called Jennings, it’s about a half an hour east of Lake Charles. He went to Jackson State University on an athletic scholarship. He majored in Management, got a job at a beverage plant and eventually worked his way up to being a sales supervisor. Mama worked in the hotel industry. We weren’t dirt poor, but more or less low middle class. There were five of us; I have three sisters and one brother. I have three siblings that are older than me. Me and my baby sister are the last two.”
“Do you still talk?”
“Yes, and I’d always make the effort to get a trip in down there when I was on duty. We don’t talk as much as I’d like, but we’re not estranged”
After checking out, they headed to the house to clean up. When they got there, they saw Deja and Clarissa sitting on the sofa reading something on Clarissa’s phone. “Did y’all forget that we got company coming over?”
“Yeah, and the house is a mess”
Deja make getting ready for company a difficult task. “You know how stressed out you get when you have to clean house” Quincy reminded her.
“I know, I’m on it. Clarissa, wanna help?”
“Well since I’m here….. I’ll grab a broom”
The children were then sent off to their rooms to clean as well as clean the bathrooms.
“Can one of y’all straighten out the guestroom?” Quincy asked, “I’m fixing to get in the kitchen and help your mama”
While cleaning Aundrea was talking with Malachi and QJ, “She has four kids, they’re spending the night tonight, and we’re going to be on the floor in the den. Better, get the air mattress out. Just giving you a heads up”
The kids were cleaning while Deja and Quincy were getting the food ready. Hours passed by when Yvonne, Azalea and Anita arrived. Faye arrived shortly after 5:00 pm. 5:15 pm to be exact.
Faye can be described as dark brown, about 5’8, with a pixie cut. She sported a pink sundress with matching earrings.
“Hello”
“This is my youngest one”
“Darius”, the young boy said, shaking QJs hand.
The oldest son introduced himself as “Ian”
The 12 yr. old “Ramona” and the 11 year old revealed her name to be “Alexis”
“Dominic” Azalea’s son said.
After introductions, Deja informed Faye that Yvonne had mentioned her in a conversation.
“All good I hope?”
“Nothing bad, stated that you lived in Long Beach and that you’re our mother’s first cousin”
“Yes, my mom is your aunt Clarisse.”
“So tell us about you?”
“My mom and your mom are like three years apart in age, your mom moved out here early on in life. My mom was 35 when she moved, so I was 10 yrs. old. We lived a rough life for a while, she never married and I unfortunately did not have a relationship with my dad growing up. She went to school later in life and became a therapist. She began applying everywhere, and having our cousins in Sacramento was a big help. She stayed in Sacramento until she could get on her feet and then we settled in Long Beach. I graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School. I went to a technical school and obtained a certification. I’m currently working for a cable company out here. My kids go to an online k-12 school. I initially had them in public school, but I took them out due to teachers wanting to penalize anything and everything.”
Yvonne chimed in. “Zero Tolerance, was a trap”
“Amen” Faye responded followed by a hi-five.
“well you guys hungry?” Deja asked
“we have a little food fixed, not much, but you know? Last minute.”
While they were eating. Deja asked Faye if she was married.
“No divorced. Been six years, I found out that my husband had been seeing another woman for half of our marriage.”
“Damn!” Quincy exclaimed
“Yeah, imagine my surprise to find out that he has a child around the same age as my 11 year old.”
“We have joint custody and I’ve never withheld the kids from him, we co-parent alright, though I’ll admit that it took me a while to get there”.
Anita then asked about the homeschooling situation
“I took my kids out of public school due to what I felt like was unfair treatment. My sons couldn’t even play tag with their friends without administration throwing a bitch fit about it. They do okay with the k-12 academy I found. It’s a free online school. I’ve networked with some other parents who have enrolled their children. We do a field trip at the end of the school year.”
“That’s neat, what do you do for the cable company?”
“I work in IT, enough about me, what about you?”
“Well I’m an attorney; I’ve been with the firm for a little less than a year”
They continued talking over nachos and wine when Clarissa and Azalea confirmed that they were both professors and Deja informed about her status as a high school English teacher. As they asked more about her father, she revealed that her mother informed her that she was conceived through a one night stand and that she met her father when she was 15 years old doing a trip down to Louisiana. While they were conversing, Azalea asked, “Hey, where’s mama”
“Aunt Helen?” Faye asked, “I have yet to meet her and we’ve been living here for so long. My mom has told me some of the stories. I know that our grandmother had a drinking problem. She’s sorry about what happened”
“What do you mean?” Deja asked
“Well let’s just say, there is a reason that the family is somewhat estranged now. Our grandmother’s alcoholism got in the way of her being the parent that she could have been. I’ll leave it at that for tonight”
The children were sitting on the porch when QJ and Darius decided to go play video games. The adolescents stayed on the porch and finished eating prior to watching TV
“Hey can we have some more?” Darius asked.
“Of course”
“Eat in the kitchen” Faye interjected.
QJ laughed and said, “My mama is the same way”.
They later played video games for about two hours before getting the sleeping bags out.
“Can Darius sleep in here tonight?”
Deja agreed, figuring that they would probably fall asleep playing video games.
After Clarissa, Anita, Azalea, and Yvonne left. She got the air mattress out and some blankets. The older children decided to sleep in the den on the air mattress watching movies on Netflix.
Faye, Deja, and Quincy went to bed. Before calling it a night, she Deja advised that they not stay up too late as they were going to get out and do something tomorrow morning.
TO BE CONTINUED WITH EPISODE 14
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