All of Me

IV

"Hi, Mr. King. It's nice seeing you again." Heather said with a smile.

Amaru smiled back as he took a seat on the other side of her desk. "You too, Ms. McDaniel."

"Killian was on ten today. He couldn't help but show off the paper bag you packed his lunch in." Heather told him.

Amaru laughed. Killian's lunch box was dirty and Amaru forgot to clean it over the weekend, so he found a paper bag and drew on it because he knew Killian was too uppity to carry a plain paper bag to school. "Yeah, I think I started something."

"You definitely did." Heather replied. "So, if you haven't noticed, Killian is one of my favorites. I know that you are aware of the state test scores—thanks to Mya—and Killian scored the second highest in all subjects throughout the kindergarten class. He is also advanced in his reading and English."

Amaru nodded. "That's my boy."

"Sure is. Behavior is great. He's very playful and gets along with everyone. He doesn't give me any trouble at all." Heather said and Amaru nodded in response. "As you may know, the school hosts field day at the beginning and end of the year. Our first field day is coming up next Friday and we are in desperate need of volunteers. Are you interested?"

"I am interested, but depending on my schedule with my clients, I may not be able to do it. I can definitely ask my mom or Shakur to come and volunteer." Amaru replied.

"Yeah, that'll be great!" Heather exclaimed. "So—um—this meeting was shorter than expected, but I can show you some of Killian's work. I can see he gets his artistic skills from you."

"Yeah, I'd love to see it." Amaru said.

-

"I can't punish him for feeling the way he feels, but I don't want him disrespecting his mama." Amaru said as he sat down on Big Mama's couch.

"I understand that, baby, but you can't force him to respect someone who never gave a fuck about him. Killian is a smart boy—and just like you, he's not afraid to speak his mind when shit ain't right." Big Mama explained.

Amaru sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"I know you know." Big Mama said as she pulled out a cigarette. "Don't be trying to protect Simone's feelings either. Fuck her."

"What happened to her being your favorite daughter in law?" Amaru teased.

"That was before she fucked over my babies." Big Mama replied. "But since you wanna play, get the fuck out my house."

Amaru laughed. "Damn, mama. For real?"

"For real." Big Mama said.

Amaru laughed again. "Aight, ma. I love you."

"Yeah whatever."

Amaru quickly kissed his mother on the cheek and exited the house. He had an appointment with a client in a couple of hours, so he decided to go to the shop to prepare in advance.

When he got to his shop, Arman was already there working on someone. "What you doing here?" He asked.

"Got off my nine to five early and decided to come here to see if I could make some extra money." He replied. "How was the meeting with Killian's teacher yesterday?"

"It was good. My boy is smart—just like his father." Amaru replied.

Arman sucked his teeth. "Man, go head on somewhere."

"Don't be hating on my big dawg like that." One of the tattoo artists who work with them said.

"Fuck you and yo big dawg." Arman joked back. "That nigga ain't smart."