BANDIT

•60•

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.- Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

5 years Later...

Summer of 2021... 

Zee...

I shield my eyes from the sunlight, hearing little snickers of laughter. Groaning, I turn over burying my face in Bricks chest as he laughs. This is every morning for me and you think I'd be use to it, but I'm not its still a hassle.

"Mama get up." Imani whines. 

"Your mom is tired. Let her rest." Bricks tells them. 

"How she tired she not doing nothing?" Imer says. That boy and his mouth I tell you.

"She had a long day yesterday boy, don't start." Bricks warns. Imer huffs, sitting down on the stool in front of the bed. Bricks always straightens the kids out. I might say something here and there but he's the disciplinary. They don't play with him because Bricks is more of the strict parent. I can't do it.

I feel a little body climb over me, falling in between Bricks and I. I open my eyes to India who giggles showing her little teeth, with cookie crumbs all over her face. I'm guessing I slept through breakfast. 

"Hi mommy." Her litte soft voice greets. I smile, pinching her cheek and sitting up. She's three years old with all the mouth. That's because of Imer and Imani. She picks up everything they say and repeats it.

"What time is it?" I yawn.

"Time for you to get a watch." Imer laughs. I mock his laughing, plucking his ear. He jumps on me as I laugh hysterically from him tickling me. Imani jumps in and I beg for them to stop in tears of laughter, falling out the bed. I lay there for a minute, playing dead as India jumped on my back.

"Up." She says.

"Mommy stop playing you not dead." Imani says shaking me.

"Oooooo. Y'all killed mommy." Bricks instigates.

"Not uh! I ain't do it!" Imer assures in fright.

"Yes you did you started it. Now we gonna go to juvi." Imani says with attitude. Bricks burst into laughter as I tried to hold mine in. My kids are really crazy.

"Well that means pop gotta go to juvi, cuz he watched it happened and did nothing." Imer concludes.  

"Well what about India? Where is  she going to go?" Imani questions in sadness.

"I don't know, probably foster care." Imer guesses.

"No!" India yells. Well damn, at least my kids are smart enough to know what to do in a situation like this. I feel somebody, kneel beside me sniffing me.

"Pop is your breath suppose to stink when you die? Because mama's breath is humming!" I couldn't hold my laughter in that time, Imer is too funny. And for him to be five years old he's very smart. Imani as well. They go to an Ivy League schools for geniuses.

"Somebody get India please." I chuckle. Somebody takes her off my back, and I get up off the floor. 

"Thank Bob. I thought you kicked the bucket." Imer says, crossing his arms and shaking his head.