Cali Love

Thirteen

Omniscient

Things have been different the past few days between Cali and Kross and it was her fault.  Cali was aware that Kross had a son, which he did not hide from her and was very upfront about it.

It's one thing to hear it, but to see it was a different type of time for Cali. Although Kross was not her boyfriend, she realized she has developed some type of feelings for him in such a short period of time.

That night he told her to text him to let him know she was home safe, she didn't.  He sent texts and calls but was unsuccessful in getting through to Cali.

Kross wasn't the type to chase no female and wasn't gonna place his energy into childish games.   He still had to grind and make sure his son and he had food in their mouths and clothes on their backs, regardless because Cali isn't their provider. '

Cali sat downstairs at the kitchen table working on her homework as her little cousin Phoenix sat across from her, coloring in her Princess and The Frog coloring boo with a plate of homemade cookies that Cali's mom baked for her.

"Hey, Cali?"

Cali looked up from her homework, annoyed and stressed out.

"What Phoenix?"

"Can you pass me the milk?"

Cali looked at Phoenix, at the fridge, then back at Phoenix like she lost her mind.  Cali sighed, rubbing her temples.

"The fridge is right there. Get it"

"I'm coloring," Phoenix said, scribbling vigorously in her book.

Cali sucked her teeth, scooting the chair back and standing up to get this poor child some milk. Cali muttered under her breath as she grabbed the Minnie mouse cup that was in the dishwasher and pouring milk into the cup.

"Here brat" she sneered as she shook her head.

"Thanks a lot, rudey," Phoenix said

She sat the cup on the table, sitting back down and burying her head in her book, then glancing at Phoenix who was having a field day dunking her cookies in her cup of milk.

As bad as she wanted to focus on her homework, she couldn't get Kross off her mind. She felt kind of bad ignoring his calls because she doesn't know how to express her feelings about his son.  In her mind, it didn't make any difference in how she felt about him having a kid.

Cali phone began to vibrate, seeing KJ name flash across the screen. She picked the phone up and placing it to her ear.

"What?"

"Oh, so you answer the phone for KJ but ignore the fuck outta mines?"

Cali clutched her invisible pearls on her neck as Kross' voice boomed from the other side of the phone.

"Kross, it ain't even like that" she lied, trying to sound convincing.

"Whateva Cuh, you on some Lil girl shit"

"Nigga-"

Cali paused as she looked at Phoenix who was paying no attention to her phone call.  She stood up, excusing herself into the living room where she could cuss freely without worrying about Phoenix hearing her.

"Look, Kross, I been busy" Cali sighed.

"That's what we doin now? Lying about being busy"

"I am busy"

"Nigga, all you do is go to school and shop. I know for a fact that you ain't got no job so how busy could you be?"

Cali jerked her head back at Kross's slick ass comment as if she is some lazy girl who can't be busy.  She sucked her teeth, as there was a brief pause from the convo.