A Mother's Bond

10

"I hate giving tours so I'm not gonna do that. People always end up forgetting where shit is immediately after you show them, so I'm just gonna show you the important stuff."

Beyoncé shoved him. "Give her the full tour."

I shook my head. "It's fine. He's right. I'll just forget everything. Plus, I'm kinda tired so I'd rather just get this over with."

She turned to look at me, and I turned away, barely hiding my scowl. Jay looked between us before nodding and heading upstairs. I followed him. Beyoncé trailed behind me, giving me space. Good. If she had tried to walk any closer, I probably would've turned around and pushed her down the stairs.

I gazed at the pictures along the wall. There were more pictures upstairs than downstairs. A lot of pictures of Blue. A LOT. I stopped to look at them. Mama didn't have any pictures of me before the age of seven. I was kind of hoping to see some pictures of myself, but guess I was shit out of luck. Wasn't a single picture of me in this whole damn castle. Not one. I kissed my teeth. Shady as fuck.

When I got to the top, Jay was waiting for me. He pointed down the hall to my right.

"The room at the very end is ours. Blue's room is the next room over. Your room is right over here." He turned left and opened a door on his right. He waited for me to walk in.

I walked in cautiously, careful not to touch him. I had already slipped up once, I couldn't let it happen again.

I stepped into a room bigger than my apartment. I looked around, noting the neutral color scheme. This was obviously supposed to be a guest room. It was classy and simple. It had a large bay window at the opposite end, overlooking a huge backyard. A king bed sat against the wall to the left, with a million pillows. Opposite to it, was a beautiful mahogany desk.

I noticed two doors, one farther into the room and another one closer to me. I walked to the closest one and opened it. It opened to reveal a closet the size of a regular bedroom. The walls were lined with shelves and compartments to store clothes and shoes. A plush, white footstool sat in the middle of the room in front of a full-length mirror at the end opposite to me. I blinked a few times and walked out, heading towards the other door.

"Let's see what's behind door number two," I mumbled to myself, feeling completely overwhelmed.

I opened the door and stepped into a spa–sorry–'bathroom'. It had a huge shower with some sort of electronic controls on the side. I would definitely be trying every setting later. I walked over to the 'tub' that looked more like a mini pool. I nodded, trying to play it cool, and walked away pretending to inspect the sink. I didn't want them thinking they could buy me. Especially after talking all that trash. I couldn't lie to myself though, after years of struggling it would be nice to live in luxury, if only for a little bit.

I walked out of the washroom and nodded again, pretending to survey the room. Jay looked at me, with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He was clearly enjoying himself. He saw right through my act. How annoying.

"Don't worry, Angel, we'll personalize your room later. Make it feel more...homey. Maybe add some roaches. A crackhead or two."

I snorted. I tried to hide my smile, but it was pointless. He knew he got me.

"First of all," I started, crossing my arms, trying to regain control of the situation. "My name isn't Angel, it's Sarayah–"

He shrugged. "Don't care. It's a nickname. You don't get to choose it. I do. So, get used to it."

I narrowed my eyes at his interruption. "SECOND, we did not have roaches."

He shot me a disbelieving look. "See, now I know you lying. Soon as I stepped into that apartment them niggas rolled up on me, a whole gang of them, talking bout, 'run that'."

I pressed my lips together and shook my head, trying my hardest not to laugh. It was surprisingly difficult. Don't get me wrong, I laugh really easily, but only when I'm comfortable. I didn't think I'd be comfortable enough to laugh around him, especially not this quick, but he reminded me so much of Kai's stupid ass. Making up ridiculous stories that didn't have a lick of truth in them but were still funny somehow. It was disarming.

"Whatever, this room ain't even all that. Closet ain't nearly big enough for all my clothes," I joked.

He looked down at the tiny bag he was still holding. "Uh huh. And I suppose that bed isn't big enough for that gigantic head of yours either."

I smirked. "Actually, I was just thinking about how it's the perfect size for me and my boyfriends."

His eyes damn near popped out of his head. I burst out laughing. He shook his head, holding his heart.

"See, you think you funny, but you not gon be laughing when you sleeping on a twin bed."

I laughed harder. He joined me, and for a moment I felt happy. That is until I saw Beyoncé pitifully lurking at the door. She looked like a lost puppy, her brown eyes watching us longingly. I immediately stopped laughing, coming back to reality. This was not my real home. This was not my real family. I did not belong here. Jay looked at me and then Beyoncé, his laughter dying on his lips.

He clapped his hands together. "Okay, so we'll let you get settled. I have to go get Blue anyway. I put both mine and Bey's numbers into your phone so call if you need anything."

I nodded. He gave me one last smile before shutting the door behind them. I jumped onto the bed. It was so comfortable. I stretched my arms out, lounging. So, this was my temporary home, huh? Not bad. Not bad at all.