Hear Me Sin

Chapter Eight

Compton, California

OMARI OPENED THE RICKETY GATE to his parents house and ascended the three steps. He waited a moment and then rang the doorbell. His parents owned the house for over fifty years and he knew it would be left for him in the will once they passed away. He was an only child so there were no assets to split. The door opened to his mother in an apron and a vicious heat coming from the kitchen's oven.

His mother was short, only five foot five so he had to bend down and give her a kiss. "Ma." He greeted with a mumble.

"Hey baby," she said running back to the kitchen to take the macaroni pie out before it burned. He followed her into the kitchen and saw Terrance, his childhood friend.

"Hell you doing here?" He mumbled, uninterestedly.

"I didn't want you to find out this way...but I've been seeing your mom." He laughed, he couldn't even keep a straight face.

Phara playfully smacked Terrance with the oven mitt in her hand and sucked her teeth, waving him off. "Boy don't listen to this fool."

Terrance was Omari's childhood friend, they lived next door to each other as kids. Instead of moving out when he turned into an adult, Terrance inherited his father's house after he passed away of leukemia. So he stayed next door to Omari's parents and moved his girlfriend Shea and their four year old daughter, Star in.

Their families had always been really close so Terrence still came over a lot. Omari's parents were considered senior citizens now that they were both in their mid sixties. Terrence's presence was great for when Omari's dad needed help around the house and couldn't exactly do it anymore because of old age. Especially when he couldn't be there to help himself.

"Where's Shea?" Omari asked.

"In the living room with Star." He said, using his thumb to point to the next room.

Omari didn't even bother asking about his dad because he knew he was probably in the garage, trying to fix something for no reason. His dad was restless and was always doing something. Even though he'd been retired for six years he couldn't stay still.

Omari nodded and the kitchen took on a long silent pause. Terrence got the message that Omari wanted to talk to his mother alone so he left to go out to the living room with his girlfriend and daughter. Phara rested her oven mitts on the counter and turned to look at her son. She had a concerned look on her face knowing he wasn't the type that was indulged in drama all the time. So something had to be wrong.

"What's wrong baby?"

"It's about Inola and the boys."

"Yeah, what about them?"

Omari's mother and father had always been his rock. He was a grown man and didn't always get his parents in his relationship issues because as an adult he also liked his privacy. But they would always be his parents and some things he could talk to them about that he couldn't with anyone else.

"Last night their biological father came by the house. Apparently Enrique called him. So the guy started disrespecting Inola for whatever reason, mocking her deafness and stuff, so I beat him up. Her son starts crying and saying things like he wants to leave with his dad and he wants his mom and dad together. Basically disregarding everything I ever did for him. I know it's his dad and I'm not tryna keep them from their father or anything, but in these four months I've been with them I haven't seen this man once. He's never around, so I feel like—"

"Aw baby, come here," Phara said hugging her son. She sighed, taking off her reading glasses. She rubbed his back for a couple of seconds before pulling away. "Mari, I warned you that this may happen, most kids will feel like this."