Curved Edges ✔

(41) Mona's Misgivings

♡ MONA

I've been waiting in front of Ama's door for ten minutes now and wonder why she's not home yet. She was just having dinner with X, right? She better not be hooking up with that fool. I'll slap them both into next Tuesday if that ever happens again.

I bounce my leg and debate if I should ask Mike to let me in. I know he will and I know Ama won't mind. But it just doesn't feel right, so I wait. I need to talk to my bestie about Montell because I'm very confused about it all. Is it a good thing that he felt comfortable enough to be honest with me? Or is it a bad thing that he said he's not husband material?

I pull at my hair, let out a frustrated sigh and look up when I hear footsteps come my way. I look into the green eyes of my bestie and see the same level of confusion in hers. Oh, this is going to be a long night. I hope there's enough wine. 

Her eyes show a spark of joy when she joins me in front of her door.

"Mona! Just the person I needed to see! Come on in girl! I need to get out of these clothes and go for a quick shower. But there's wine in the fridge and if you need a snack, you know the way around my kitchen, so help yourself."

I already feel better. She's always happy to see me. Even if we disagree on something, it's with love and teasing behind it. And her apartment feels just as much like home as my own house does. 

She walks into her bedroom and I open the fridge to pull out the frizzy white wine. I grab two glasses and pour the wine into them, opening one of the cupboards next to find a bag of mixed salty snacks. I throw them into a bowl and put the wine and snacks on the coffee table. 

Grabbing my wine, I get comfortable on Ama's amazing couch. It's like a hug to sit on. I sip my drink and hear Ama hum from the bedroom.

She walks out in her silk robe and her hair in a bun on top of her head. She plops down next to me and asks: "Mani-pedi's with Feli tomorrow, right? You still have the day off?" 

I grin and nod."Yeah girl, we need the pampering. And thanks to Feli we get treated like royalty in the best salon in the city. I really need the day off. Those kids are killing me!"

Ama smiles and says: "I'm taking the day off too. My dad can suck it. I'm not telling anyone besides Ashley. So tell me about the kids first, what did I miss?"

I love how she understands that I love those kids and love talking about them. "Benny has a game on Saturday, but there's no way Mrs. Alderidge is going to let him play. He cried about it this afternoon because I couldn't promise him he'd be able to go."

I feel so sorry for that boy who just wants to be a normal kid more than anything. And that dragon of a mother is holding him back. I frown and just don't see a solution. Besides kidnapping the boy and losing my job over it that is. 

I notice Ama moving from the corner of my eye and I turn my head to her. She gets up to grab her phone and dials a number.

Who the hell is she calling right now? Is what I'm telling her not important enough? I stare at her in shock when I realize who she's calling.

"Harold! Good evening! How are you?" 

She continues to talk to Mister Alderidge like they are old friends and I smile when I hear her say: "Mona and I will be picking Benedictus up Saturday morning. He has a baseball game and I don't want to miss it for the world. I'm sure you're all too busy to take him or even come watch the game. But he can't miss out on something like this. He has been training for it for weeks."

She keeps on cracking jokes and promises Mister Alderidge she'll have lunch with him soon to catch up. She hangs up and turns around to face me with the biggest smile. Her green eyes sparkle with mischief as she says: "You get to take the car home with you Friday night, so you can pick me and Benny up for the game. And Harold is going to try and move his schedule around to come and watch him play."