Respect

Chapter 10

"Nothin' feels better than this
Nothin' feels better
Nothin' feels better than this
Nothin' feels better, no, no
We don't gotta hide
This is what you like, I admit
Nothin' feels better than this."
Khalid "Better"

Maia

"Callin' it quits now, baby, I'm a wreck. Crash at my place, baby, you're a wreck." I sang for the millionth time this week, but now along with the radio. 'Sunflower' has been stuck in my head since last night when the kids and I watched 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'. I'm not really a fan of superhero movies, but I liked it. I guess it's because it was animated. I've seen other Marvel movies that were worth the hype like Black Panther. That movie showed the world how great and royal we are.

Some of the best movies I've seen where I like every moment are 'The Hate U Give', 'Moonlight', 'Mad Max', 'A Dog's Way Home', '12 Years A Slave', 'The Revenant', 'Gravity', 'Get Out', and 'Finding Nemo'.

I saw 'Get Out' last year and I had to make Lauryn sleep with me for a week because I was so paranoid that something would happen to one of us. I still went to see 'Us' this past March.

Disney is just collecting money from me this year with 'The Lion King', 'Aladdin', and 'Toy Story 4' coming out soon. I have to rewatch the first three Toy Story movies because I've honestly forgotten what they were about.

"Did you have fun today?" I looked at Lauryn and Joshua through the rearview mirror, which showed me the backseat mirror I recently installed. Since the car seats are facing the other way, I can monitor them. Imagine if one of them starts chocking; I'll be able to see that now. We're on our way to my Mom's house, so I can drop them off before my outing with Kyrie later.

"Yes!" We went to Griffith Park today. I like it more than other parks because in addition to a playground, there are pony rides, a golf course, a merry go round, a train ride, and many more attractions.

"Hey Mom, hello Tristian." I swear, he's always here.

"Someone's excited. Where are you going dressed like that anyway?"

"Nowhere special. We're just going to hang out."

"Mhmmm." Tristian hummed; if looks could kill.

"You're lying to me now?" Mom interrogated me.

"No, don't mind Tristian. He always wants to poke his nose where it doesn't concern him. Did he tell you about how he spent—?"

"Mom, my stomach!" He pretended to fall from his chair, clutching his stomach.

"Boy, nobody is stupid enough to believe that terrible acting." Dad walked into the kitchen and I ran to hug him.

"Mom was about to." I commented under my breath. She heard me and went to smack my arn with a wooden spoon, but I dodged it thankfully. It would have hurt like a b*tch.

"Have you heard anything from child services?" Dad wondered.

"They can't find any of her relatives or even her. It's like she's disappeared off the face of the earth." I replied.

"So what have you decided?"

"I know it's weird because he's Zahair's love child with Kayla, but Joshua has become so attached to me and I've learned to love him like my own. I don't know if I'll have the heart to see him go into foster care. Who knows when'll he been adopted or how he'll be treated when he is? I'm leaning towards legally adopting him after praying over it."