march 31st, 2024
4:17 pm
JALEN SAT BY ALANI'S high chair, his face creased with impatience and annoyance.
This was the third time that Jalen had tried to feed her baby food and the second time that the one-year-old had thumped the tiny blue and yellow spoon so that the mashed banana would land on the floor instead of her mouth.
" C'mon, Lani number two. Doesn't this look good?" Jalen attempted a pleasant voice as he scooped up more of the baby food from the minuscule jar, "Open up!"
"No!" The child pressed her lips together more firmly and scrunched her dark eyebrows in an angry expression that matched her mother's when she was also upset.
Jalen pushed his curls out of his face in a frustrated motion just as the doorbell rang, the chime emanating throughout the large but empty home. As soon as the first chime ended, the doorbell began to sound off in quick succession.
"I'm coming," Jalen muttered to himself as he picked up the pace from a casual stride to a light jog.
As soon as he opened the front door a crack, his younger sister, Jurnee, pushed through to the entryway with a duffle bag hanging from her left shoulder. Jalen raised an eyebrow, "I thought mom and pops were heading to Vegas tomorrow. Why are you here?"
Jurnee sighed as she dropped her bag near the staircase, "They wanted to start their romantic getaway whatever thing early."
"Okay. Make yourself at home." Jalen shrugged before he whirled on his heel to stride back to the kitchen and continue his attempt at feeding his daughter.
In the thirty seconds that Jalen had been gone, Alani had scooped some of the baby food that had spilled and let it splatter onto the floor with a series of laughter.
"Oh no," Jalen groaned as he scanned the previously clean kitchen floor, "Jesus."
Jurnee sat down at the kitchen table across from Jalen, her cell phone held aloft in her dominant hand. She glanced at the tiny jar on the white plastic tray attached to Alani's high chair before releasing her own childlike giggle, "Father of the year."
Jalen immediately creased his face into a scowl, "Jurnee, do me a favor and shut the fuck up."
Alani smacked the top of the tray and fussed even louder, "Fuck!"
Jalen raised his head so fast that it almost gave him whiplash, "No. No, Alani that's a bad word."
Alani ignored him with a laugh, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" The baby was visibly amused at her father's anguish.
"Alani, no. Stop that now!" The baby quieted at the volume of his voice and then began to release an almost ear-splitting cry.
"Shit. Shit. Shit." Jalen muttered to himself in quick succession before dragging a hand down the length of the lower half of his face and rising to his feet.
Jalen scooped Alani into his arms and began to lightly bounce her in an attempt to soothe her.
Jurnee tucked both lips in as Alani began to grow quiet, though her face was still red from wailing, "Well, at least you know how to do that. Why don't you just call her and ask what kind of baby food Alani likes? It's clearly not bananas."
"I can't," Jalen replied.
"You can, you just don't want to." Jurnee pointed out.
"No, I can't," Jalen repeated.
"Why?" His younger sister demanded, her eyebrows raised.
Because I asked her to get back together and she ran out.
Because I need to learn how to do this single-parent shit.
Because I need to learn how to live without her before it's too late.
"I just can't, okay?" Jalen replied as he sat down in a regular chair and then readjusted the baby on his lap. Jurnee had taken it upon herself to open the right door of the fridge, "Um... Where's all the food?"
"What?" Jalen asked, a little absentmindedly. "There's nothing in here besides baby food and celery. What do you eat?" Jurnee continued as she shut the fridge door and faced Jalen once more.
"Um... I'm usually not home and when I am, I mainly drink protein shakes." Jurnee shook her head at his answer and moved to the island, quickly swiping one finger along the granite, "And this," She held up a dust-defined fingerprint, "Is disgusting."
"Did you come over just to make me feel like crap? Because I don't need that in my life right now," Jalen swiveled in his chair to shoot his sister an annoyed expression, "I get it? Okay. I'm not home to take care of that kinda stuff. Lani... Lani took care of that stuff."
Jalen sighed quietly then murmured to himself, "So, that's what she meant when she said she made this house a home." He took another breath, "I bought this house when I found out Lani was pregnant. It wasn't... It wasn't supposed to be empty like this. We should've been married and on our second kid by now."
"When I say this I mean it with so much love," Jurnee started as she traveled forward to rejoin him at the kitchen table, "I swear I do... Bro, you gotta let go of that dream. It didn't work out and you gotta start moving on. You look like shit and mom agrees with me."
"I don't look like shit!" Jalen exclaimed. Jurnee only raised an eyebrow in response, "Sure you don't, big bro. Sure you don't."
Jalen simply scowled, "Please go somewhere else with that. Why every time I see you, you just make me feel worse?"
"Being single has made you mean," Jurnee noted. "Shut the fuck up if you're gonna stay here." Jalen snapped in response.
In his lap, Alani released a yawn and Jurnee rose to her feet, "I'll take her up for a nap and you calm down then order some pizza or something?"
Jalen exhaled, "Yeah. Yeah, sure." As soon as his child and his sister were out of the room, Jalen covered his eyes with his hand, simultaneously leaning forward to rest his elbow on the table.
His head was starting to throb and ache from the topic of conversation and after a few more seconds in that position, Jalen unsteadily stood and sauntered over to the first floor bathroom. The mirror, positioned by the door, held shelves that were lined with drugstore medications.
On the highest shelf was a tiny bottle of Advil and with no hesistation, Jalen ran the faucet, opened the bottle, let one peach colored pill spill into his dominant hand and then into his mouth.
When he lifted his head, he couldn't help but notice how right Jurnee was in her last stinging comment. He did look like shit. His eyes were sunken in and held deeper bags then he cared to admit and without Noelani's hair products, his hair was noticeably frizzy and dry.
His kid sister was right, he needed to get his shit together.
With that last thought in mind, Jalen dug his phone out of his pocket one last time, pressed a few buttons and then held the phone to his ear.
"Hello, Daisy's realtor office!" A pleasant voice picked up on the other line.
Jalen gulped, "Hi, my name is Jalen Green. I was hoping to speak to someone about selling my house?"
NOTE FROM KY
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