“Come in!“ Aundrea said
“Hey, what’s going on”
“Oh nothing, listening to music, getting ready for the pool party”
“Oh so you decided to go?”
“oh yes, I figured it would be the last bit of fun we get to have for a while anyway”
“So are you ready for your new school?
“Yep, and most of my friends are going to be there too. I’m looking forward to it, I’m already thinking about what I want to get involved in”
“Are you sure it has nothing to do with that guy down the road is going to be in your class is it?”
“What guy?”
“’What guy?’ Nice try, you’re only 11, boys should not be your priority”
“Dad, we’re friends, I’m not trying to marry him”
“Okay, that’s what I wanted to hear, let’s keep it that way for at least a little while”
Meanwhile, Malachi and QJ were ready to go.
“I didn’t know that you were going to the party too Q”
“Dad, why can’t I stay home alone?”
“Ummm because I’m not going to jail over a neglect charge, you’re too young, plus Noah is going to be there.” Noah is the younger brother of Malachi’s friend Caleb.
“Y’all need to eat something before we go”
“They’ll probably have food at the party”
“Okay then, let’s go”
“Aundrea, you ready?”
“Coming!” Aundrea exclaimed!
They got in the car and headed to Caleb’s house when QJ asked if he could have host a sleepover for the first week of school. “I’ll think about it son”. They pulled up to the house and much to QJ’s surprise, there were kids around his age there as well. It turns out that Caleb’s parents made him invite some of his younger cousins. In the backyard was a pool, there were slip n’ slides, water balloons, and water sprinklers on the site as well.
“Dad, you don’t need to follow us in”
“Yes, I do, I’d like to speak to the parents myself”
“Dad, we’re 11!”
“My point exactly!”
He goes in, he introduces himself to the parents and he went over a few ground rules with the children. “Do not leave site. Y’all stay together or within close proximity. I don’t want a call about one of you drowning. I’ll see you guys later. Y’all have fun”
In Louisiana, Deja and Yvonne are packing while talking about the trip. Jameson walks in while drinking coffee and says. “I wish y’all could stay one more day”
“Awww, don’t be sad” said Yvonne. “We’ll be back, but we have families in LA. My kids are grown, but Deja’s kids are going to school in a couple of days.”
Meanwhile, Clarissa got an alert. “DAMN IT!” she exclaimed.
“What’s wrong?” Yvonne asked.
“Our flight was delayed due to bad weather”
“Okay….so when is the next one?”
“Tomorrow evening”
“Good, because there’s some stuff that I want to give y’all.”
Jameson began going through Anna’s bedroom and kitchen and found old photo albums, cookbooks, keys, etc.
To Deja he gave a cookbook full of dessert recipes.
To Yvonne he gave a photo album of childhood pictures
“If anyone knows how to cook a dessert it’s Deja” said Azalea.
“Yeah” Clarissa agreed, she always loved watching Aunt Anna make sweet potato pie and if it wasn’t a sweet potato pie she was making, it was peach cobbler.”
“We really should have a family reunion next summer, maybe the end of June when all of our kids are out of school.” Deja stated.
“I agree” Jameson said, “We should actually plan one and have it, so many times, it’s been bought up, but we never do it. I didn’t get to talk to y’all much at the funeral but what are y’all all doing now?”
Yvonne: ”Well my daughter is 20, my sons are 17 and 14. She’s at the University of Southern California. My oldest son just graduated high school. I’m a social worker”
Clarissa: “I’m a college professor, I teach Communications.
“What about you Deja?”
“I’m a high school English teacher, my husband recently retired from the Air Force. I’m also in the process of writing a book.”
Azalea chimed in, “I’m also a college professor. I teach at UCLA, I teach Sociology and Criminal Justice”
Anita: “I’m an attorney by profession, however I’m also in the process of getting my real estate license. My primary focus is child custody, child support, and workmen’s comp. You’d be amazed at the amount of single dads on the rise that I see in my profession.”
Deja’s phone rang, “Hey bae”
“Just dropped the kids off to a pool party, what y’all doing in there?”
“Nothing, but I’ve got news”, flight was delayed” “Yeah, I saw on the news that there was some weather headed y’all’s way”
“I leave in the evening Monday”
“I’ll probably be home the day before they start school, I’ll call the house later to talk to them”
At the party, Malachi is talking with his friends Caleb, Nate, and Carson while taking turns to see who could hold their breath under water the longest.
“So y’all ready?” Malachi asked.
“’Y’all?’“ scoffed Nate.
“Look man, my dad is from Mississippi, I can’t help it!”
“We forgive you”
“Do y’all remember when we were in third grade and we began writing cursive? We felt so mature before we learned how to sign our names!”
“Do any of you know what your class schedule is?“ asked Caleb
“Nope” Carson said.
“Carson, at least you have an older brother than can help you navigate”
“Yeah bro, we’ll be following you” said Nate
Aundrea walks over “What y’all over here talkin?”
“Just talking about our last weekend of freedom” said Caleb
“Right?! Can’t I have one more weekend?” Aundrea responded
“This IS that one more weekend” exclaimed Nate
Aundrea invited them to come play a game of volleyball
“Hey they’re about to play a game of volleyball in a bit, c’mon!”
“See you in a bit sis”“okay, where’s QJ?”
“He’s over there, you see him?”“Yea , hey, what’s dad doing here?”
“yeah…….that’s also something I meant to tell you, he’s chaperoning”“WHAT???”
“Yep, I meant to tell you earlier, I’ll see you in a bit.”The guys later on joined the girls for the volleyball game and later enjoyed refreshments served at the party. As the sun went down, and the party came to a halt, the kids thanked Caleb’s parents for having them.
They then later got in the truck.
“Did you guys have a good time?” asked Quincy
“Absolutely!” Aundrea exclaimed!
“Mom’s flight was delayed, she leaves tomorrow evening”
They pulled up to the house, after they showered and got out of their wet clothes, they sat in the living room and just talked about the party and then began asking Quincy when they would go to the beach to which he responded “Maybe next weekend”
Meanwhile Deja called from Lousiana
“Hey kids, your mom is on skype”
“Hi mom”
“Dad tells me you all had much fun today!”
“A blast! Swimming, volleyball, Water Balloons, We had a boys vs girls game, you know us girls slayed” Aundrea exclaimed
“What about your brothers?”
“yeah, Malachi played, QJ ended up seeing some of his friends there too, he didn’t even wanna go to the party at first”
“How is it seeing the family you have not seen in so long?”
“It’s been nice, you have cousins down here that are around your age that I want you to meet, I’d also like to talk a bit more about that side when I get back. Well y’all we are getting ready to head out, us ladies are going to a get a drink. Out here, you can get drinks to go, I’ll talk with you all later”.
Malachi was later seen writing in his journal about his day prior to retiring to bed for the night. Prior to going to bed, he locked the journal away and said a quick prayer. He then retired for the night, he lay in bed for a few minutes thinking, which was a nightly ritual of his prior to actually going to sleep.
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