"When's the issue going to be resolved?" I heard Lauryn ask while pacing the bedroom floor.
I tried to sleep in and ignore her, but that was hard to accomplish. I rolled over tapping my phone screen, it wasn't even nine in the morning yet.
Once she stopped pacing, she stood with her hand on her waist like somebody's parent. She fell asleep wearing one of my tees, it actually was a little small length wise but she wore underwear to shield what the shirt didn't.
"Okay, thank you." She shook her head, "Yeah, you too." She ended the phone call looking stressed, maybe a stronger synonym was needed.
"You okay?" I asked, while covering my eyes with my arm.
"Yeah, sorry for waking you." She apologized, I heard her quickly typing on her phone.
"Come lay down Ryn." I pleaded, hoping she would, so I could go back to sleep. I heard her phone lock, her footsteps grew louder the closer she got. I rolled over, wrapping my arm around her stomach, and laid my head on her chest. My eyes slowly started to close as I listened to her heartbeat balance.
A few hours later, I was completely awake while Lauryn was sound asleep. I decided to make breakfast, keeping in mind Lauryn's no meat thing. I made potato hash, in college the kitchen served it everyday, so I learned how to make my own and perfect the recipe.
First I diced some potatoes and fried them, then I cut up red and green peppers, onions, and jalapeños. I threw them in the hot pan along with some frozen corn.
I fried the mixture up for a few minutes, then covered a section with cheese. I threw it in the oven, to finish cooking whatever didn't earlier.
"Lauryn, come eat." I yelled up the stairs, after yelling a few more times, she came down.
"You cooked?" She asked in between a yawn. I shook my head and started to fix our plates.
"You don't have work today?" I asked, realizing if she did, she probably would've been gone by now.
She picked through the food, ensuring I didn't accidentally put in meat. "Nope, I'm out the rest of the week. There was an issue with the power, and they can't get electricians out until two days from now." She explained, actually now eating the food.
I didn't reply, "Thank you for cooking." She thanked, her left hand twirled with a piece of hair in the back of head. I just noticed she does that often, twisting her worries away.
"You don't have to thank me for everything." I expressed, truthfully.
She shook her head, "What's on today's agenda?" She asked.
"Nothing heavy, I gotta get Karter today, so we might do something."
"Okay, I have to find my best friend a gift for her birthday." After eating, I got dressed, then we ran over to Lauryn's house so she could change and fix her hair.
Two hours later, we were pulling up to Ella's house. I sent her a text telling her I was outside and she immediately read it. Within minutes Karter was running down the sidewalk, I exited the car, wrapping her in a tight hug.
"You look like a big girl." I stated, Karter was growing up so fast. I know all parents say that about their children, but it was wildly true how quickly kids grew.
"I am!" She replied, with her hand on her cheek. I carried her to the car with Ella following behind with Karter's bag.
As I'm putting Karter in the seat— I hear Ella speak, "Hi, I'm Ella, Karter's mama." She said, initiating a conversation with Ryn.
"Nice meeting you, I'm Lauryn." I was happy there was no attitude, or animosity laced in either girl's voice.
Lauryn turnt in her seat, making Karter's face light up, "Karterrrr!" Lauryn spoke loudly, "Hiii!" I smiled at the small interaction, I grabbed Karter's bag and popped it in the trunk.
"Bye bye, Kay." Ella chimed in, giving Karter a small kiss. As Ella walked back towards the house, her son and boyfriend walked out. I gave lil man a wave, he returned the favor.
Ella
She's pretty, I love that for you.
The message wasn't meant to be petty or ignorant. Ella wasn't like that, after we broke things off we stayed cordial for Karter. Ella wasn't the usual bitter baby mama, probably because she ruined everything. The least she could do was not make my life any more of a living hell after that.
"Where you tryna find a gift?" Cairo asked, I think I wanted to try the mall first. You could always find something there.
"Is the mall okay?" He replied, then drove in the direction of the nearest mall. When we made it to the mall, Cai got Karter out of the car. He held her hand, but she also wanted to hold mine.
We latched our hands, being sure to give them a small swing. The mall was surprisingly empty, aside from the workers, the building was clear.
First we tried the Gucci store, but nothing stuck out. I did see a crossbody purse that I would buy if I couldn't find anything else.
"You like these?" Cairo questioned, holding up a pair of sandals.
"Those are cute." I replied, then continued searching the section.
"What size you wear?" He quizzed, I didn't reply. I didn't want Cairo spending his money on me.
"Huh?" He questioned, "Lauryn." The demand in this voice announced that I wouldn't win.
"Nine." He called over a salesperson to grab the size from the back. He also brought Karter a matching pair, the kid's version was a little prettier.
"I'm hungry." Karter randomly blurted.
"You want nuggets?" I asked, she shook her head agreeing. "We'll get some in just one minute." I assured, while holding up my index finger.
After Cairo paid for the sandals, we went to Chanel. My feet were already hurting, so early. We looked through there for a few minutes, but they hadn't released a new collection so I didn't want to buy anything old.
Next was Saint Laurent, I found a pretty pair of heels. I knew this was the perfect present, walking deeper into the store I found a matching handbag.
"She must be a good ass friend." Cairo commented.
"She has her days." I pointed out, I paid for the gift then Cairo wanted to check out the Louis Vuitton store before we left.
I shopped around and found two pairs of sunglasses for Cairo. I found Karter a necklace that was probably too big, but she'll grow into it.
I got separated from them in the store, but Karter's whining led me to them. I caught back up with Cairo and Karter and his hands were full, covered in some of everything the store sold.
We paid for our stuff, both totals surpassing three thousand dollars. I was feeling good not spending all my money on myself, I loved to give gifts brought with love.
We took all the bags back to the car, "I'm hungry." Karter announced again, deciding against leaving– we hurried back inside to buy food. Cairo carried her, while he held my hand.
"We getting food right now, Kar." I said, hoping to ease her demand. Once she started eating, we got the loud mouth, playful Karter back.
"Ice cream?" She asked, I laughed as Cairo covered his face.
"Yeah, ice cream next." I said, earning a look from Cairo.
"Suck it up." I teased, making him pinch my side. There wasn't an ice cream place in this mall, so we went to a stand alone shop.
"We play outside?" A once silent Karter asked. I stayed out of this decision, partly because I was sleepy.
"Tomorrow, okay?" Cairo suggested.
"Okay." She agreed. We pulled into the parking lot. After getting our order, we sat outside at the picnic table.
Cairo took pictures of Karter, I was starting to realize this girl talked too much. It was always a random, irrelevant topic too.
"Smile, Ryn." Cairo insisted, I hugged Karter and posed for the picture. In the first we simply smiled, then she did duck lips and I put up the peace sign, in the third photo she kissed my cheek and I licked the ice cream, and finally was a group picture. Cairo sat on our side of the bench, with Karter in between us. Everyone kept the picture simple and pretty, all of our pearly whites on full display.
...