seasons | killmonger

24 | A P O L O G I Z E

"Things will be fine. I promise if I hear anything or if we see anything, I'll let you know as soon as possible. You both need to just enjoy yourselves."

"And when you two come back," I heard Shuri's voice and saw her hand push T'Challa over. "Can you bring me back something? Anything; as long as it's something you think I'd like. Surprise me, but make it poppin."

I laughed and nodded my head, "I got you princess."

She grinned before disappearing to do something that caught her attention. T'Challa shook his head and rubbed his hands together. "I'll keep you posted." The hologram cut off, and I pushed a button, sending it back into my bead, heading back out the room.

The tv was still going off and by the time I made my way next to her, Mbali was sleeping with a braid still clutched in her hand. She was a quiet sleeper, so it was hard to tell. Huffing, I took the braid that was still in her hand and started undoing it, making sure to not wake her up.

I didn't have memories with my mom, but I had a older neighbor who was probably in her fifties at the time and I remember helping her take down the same braids that Mbali had in; so it wasn't hard. Each braid that I undid, I made sure to keep the used hair on the opposite side of her so it wouldn't start making a mess. I sat next to her and finished them, and watched her head go from being on the back of the couch to falling on my shoulder, to my leg. She was a quiet sleeper, but a heavy one. I didn't feel like moving her over, so I let her stay there until we landed, looking down at how long her eyelashes actually were. They dusted across her cheeks lightly and her hands were tucked under her head like a little kid. One of my free hands fell on her back while I closed my eyes; trying to get at least a little bit of sleep before we landed.

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"You didn't have to do that, I could've finished them." Mbali told me when we made it to the hotel. We ended up staying at the Ritz-Carlton. She dropped her things in the living room area and looked in the mirror at her hair that I managed to pull into a bun. "Thank you though." She smiled quickly and took a sip from the water she had in her bag. "Did T'Challa tell you anything about the mission?"

"It's not for a couple more days." I lied, "he wants you to start off by just getting a feel for the area and all that shit to relax. Sage and Y'lan might be on their way over soon. We're dropping y'all off at the shop then heading to a different store. We'll pick y'all up when everything's done."

Mbali gave me a basic head nod; but she only did that when she still had attitudes, so I knew I was still in the dog house regardless. One thing about her being mad that irritated me was that she could really go days without talking to you, and not have a problem with it. She could care less about how you felt and would make you work to be back in her good graces. "Can you fix up my head before we head out anywhere?" I asked and leaned against the island in the kitchen.

She huffed and nodded, "I talked to Sage earlier before we left. She wants to go to dinner; were you and Y'lan planning on coming too? She mentioned to me that she wanted to have a hot girl summer— but I don't really get it. It's not summer?"

I chuckled at her attempt to even try and make sense of what Sage's dumbass meant. "More than likely we will." She patted a spot on the couch that was next to a wide view of Los Angeles from the window.

"Come sit."

I walked over and did what she said. She started braiding my hair back; not forgetting to put oil in like she always did. It smelled sweet, and I made a big deal before about not liking it, but it grew on me the more she used it. She cocked my head to the side and started braiding more. "What all did you wanna do while you here?"