Dirty Laundry

02: A New Friend

Dirty Laundry's Chapter Two

"He that insecure he got people following you and you can't have friends?" - Andre

- Kimberly Mazent

The next couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur. Malik is on one of his 'business' trips and I've been home taking care of MJ. He's starting to question Malik's disappearances more often. The first thing he wants to know when he wakes in the morning is, "When will daddy be back?"

After the dinner we attended, we came back to the house. MJ was with Malik's mother and Maria, our maid, was off for the night, so we had the abode to ourselves. Just as he was about to strip me of my clothing, his phone rang. One minute the phone was to his ear, the next he was sprinting off the bed and hurriedly packing his bags.

"I'll be back before you know it," he'd assured me with one foot out the door.

I'm not really stressing that though. On the day of his returns, I sometimes wish it was a police officer on the other side of the door. I swear MJ and I will be able to sleep, shit, and eat money when Malik dies. But then I feel guilty for allowing myself to think like that, MJ deserves a father. He has done nothing but be born.

I dressed MJ for the day in Adidas jumpsuit, with a pair of black and white Jordan 9's. I as well wore a jumpsuit, but with a pair of Michael Kors' thong sandals. I also didn't wear the jacket; I instead wore a white, crop top. I need to take advantage of being able to dress freely and as I please without Malik breathing down my neck.

Today MJ and I are going to go out on the town for a while. First we have some grocery shopping to do, and then I'm going to meet my mother and my older sister, Kimbella for dinner. I haven't seen Kimbella in two years; she was on the same list as my mother when I was kicked out. But now, as I've stated before, I came to the conclusion that I should stop blaming other people for my mistakes. This is the first step to getting back the control of my life.

"Mama, can we get food?" MJ asked from the backseat.

"Sure baby, what do you want?" I smiled, looking at him through my rearview mirror.

"Umm," he debated, lightly tapping his chin with his finger. Just like Malik when he's in deep thought.

I made my way onto the exit, already knowing his answer, "Bojangles!" he shouted.

Bingo!

As I pulled into Bojangles' parking lot, I noticed a familiar vehicle behind mine. I hope I'm not being followed, I could've sworn it was behind me when I first left home.

Lord, look at me. Malik got me acting all paranoid and shit.

I shook the nervous feeling off and got MJ out of his car seat to head inside. We waited in line for three minutes before it was our turn to order.

"Welcome to Bojangles, how can I help you?" The young lady behind the cash register asked. She seemed to be a bit younger than me, probably sixteen or a bit older.

"Can I have a-," I began before MJ cut me off from his position on my hip.

"Mama, I wanna order myself!" He exclaimed, slapping his miniature hand on my mouth.

I laughed through his hands as he ordered and called himself flirting with the cashier.

"I want chicken," he said simply.

The cashier grinned at him and nodded, "and you can have chicken sir," she smiled.

"He'll have the Kid's Supreme Dinner with a sweet tea," I ordered.