"Hello Mr. Phillips." He invited me inside. "How have you been?"
"Life is good. I can fit into my sexy jeans from the 80s. My hair has been growing a little bit. Like a half of a half of an inch. Business is great. I can't complain." He nodded. "And what about you, young lady? Doing okay?"
"Yes, I'm alright."
That was really a lie. I'm not okay. I'm... I have mixed emotions right now. That's why I came here. I need someone to talk to.
"Good, good. Great."
There was an awkward silence. Jahmir's granddad is nice, he is just a little... weird. He says strange things sometimes. A perfect example would be mentioning his jeans that are way older than I am.
"So, what brings you here? Looking for my handsome, single grandson. Who happens to be single at this very momemt?"
Here's another example. He just said that Jahmir was single twice. That's strange. First his cousin, now his granddad.
"Is he here?"
Mr. Phillips smiled. "Yes. My single, adorable kid is here. His single behind is upstairs. Doing single people things. Probably watching Living Single on tv or something."
"Mr. Phillips, I would never date Jahmir."
This man gripped his chest and slid down the wall as if someone just shot him. I looked at him oddly for a moment before going towards the steps.
As soon as I stepped on the top step, I heard old R&B music. I followed it all the way to Jahmir's room.
There I see multiple stacks of clothing. Shorts in one pile, shoes in one pile, shirts in one pile, I even see some of the jackets he bought not too long ago. So he finally decided to clean that big ass closet of his. No guy needs that much space or that many clothes.
"Jay?"
He came from the closet with more new stuff. That's when he noticed me.
"Oh. Hey Kaelynn."
Kaelynn?! I'm not Kaelynn to him!
"Kaelynn?"
"That's your government, right?"
Yeah but... but... I thought I was your Faye.
"Anyway, what are you up to? Reorganizing your closet?"
"Yes. I have way too many clothes so I figure the help center could use them. There are a few men that go there. And maybe some of the women have sons who wear the same size as me."
I don't know too many that's going to give up their clothes like this. Especially clothes that they just purchased. Jahmir still wears a few of his clothes that he's had since middle school. I wonder why he would get rid of that stuff if he can wear it all. I wish I could wear half the things in my closet.
"Some of these still have price tags on them. I've never seen you wear most of these shoes. Why are you giving them away? You worked hard for these things whereas they didn't."
My question clearly annoyed him. It was just a simple question though. He isn't the reason that those people are homeless. He isn't the reason they don't have clothes or their own income. Why should he be responsible for giving them clothes? If he gives and gives, what motivation will they have for doing better for themselves?
"Kaelynn please don't tell me you're that materialistic." He grabbed some trash bags and opened them up.
Judging by his closet, he looks like the materialistic one. He spent well over a thousand dollars on our school clothes. He spent a hundred on all our school supplies. He was even talking about maybe going to Hibbit Sport to get some shoes. But, I won't go there.
"I'm not. It's just not right."
He completely ignored me as he continued sorting his clothes. I was going to talk more about it, but I simply started helping him. I started putting the stuff in the bags.
When he came out the closet again, he smiled at me. Probably because I finally got with the program.
"Okay that was the top of my closet and my shoes I've never worn."
Just the top?! This boy has so many damn clothes. But, I don't know what I expected. His grandpa owns a clothing store.
"If you haven't worn them, why would you give them away?" I know I just asked, but I want an answer. "Don't you think that's a waste of money?"
He shrugged. "Well, you aren't wrong. That's another good reason to give them away. So it won't be such a waste. Instead of getting dusty in my closet, someone else can benefit from them."
I guess I never really thought about it like that. It makes plenty of sense.
I glanced over at his closet and seen that nothing was hanging up anymore.
"Jay! Are you really going to give up all of your clothes?"
"How many times can you ask the same question?" He shut his closet then came over to me. "Everything I really wanted is on the bottom of my closet. And I have to hang my new clothes up."
He helped me put everything in bags and he set them off to the side.
"It's time for a much needed break. Come on."
We went outside to the patio. I swear it's so pretty. Especially at night when the fire pit is lit.
We removed some of the pillows then laid on opposite ends of the sectional couch. Since it was kind of dark now, I stared up at the sky. Even so, I could feel Jahmir's eyes on me. I'm sure he wants to know why I all of a sudden came over here.
"Kaelynn?"
I was wrong. When I looked at him, his eyes were closed and his hands were behind his head. It just felt like he was staring at me.
"Kaelynn, why have you been crying? What's wrong?"
I'm surprised that he can even tell. I didn't cry for long. Just a few minutes until I got over here. It's weird that he would even notice.
"My parents. It's just... well as you know, my mother is pregnant."
"Right. Ms. Marsha is pregnant. That's why you're upset? Don't worry."
"I'm upset because my dad got her pregnant. They told Kayla and I earlier. I don't know what the hell they were thinking. I already hate him and then he goes and does something like this."
Jahmir's eyes opened once that last sentence left my mouth. It was as if none of the other sentences has any effect on him.
"You hate him? Why?"
I sat up and looked him directly in his face.
"Seriously? That's what you're concerned about? I've never liked him, but I really don't like him now. It's not fair to his wife and kids that he is having another baby with my mother. Oh, let me guess, you don't believe in monogamy?"
I don't really believe in it anymore. It's dead. You can be as faithful as you can be to someone. You can go above and beyond for that person. They will still cheat though. Relationships don't mean as much to people as they used to.
He placed one of his hands on his chest then deeply exhaled.
"Don't twist my words Kaelynn. When I find the one, she will be my only one. I barely have anybody, so when my soulmate realizes me, I'm not going to fuck it up. They're important to me."
He said that as if he already knows who it is. Ugh, he can't be talking about Nia. He did get extremely pissed off when he found out about she was cheating though. He couldn't possibly think she's the one, could he? I don't really care, but he has low standards if that's what he thinks.
"It's so unfortunate that you don't like your dad." He started twirling a loose curl around his finger. "You've never even tried to get to know him."
"I can't. Not now. He is so busy, he doesn't have time for me."
Jahmir shook his head before playing with more of his hair.
"That man would probably do anything for you. He w-"
"What makes you so sure?" I was getting annoyed. "You act like you know him."
"I know enough about him to know that he hasn't given up. You say he calls you and texts you all the time. He leaves you voicemails letting you know that you were on his mind and he has to check on you. Oh yeah, that sounds like someone who has absolutely no time for you."
I almost wanted to leave, but I wasn't ready to go him yet. I have no idea of my dad was still at my house right now. After I stormed out like that, I don't want to face any of them. I don't feel bad about what I said to them though. I meant it. It's just not okay.
Jahmir chuckled a little, but he didn't even have a smile on his face. "It's such a shame that you don't realize how much he loves you. I'm not justifying what he did. It was wrong. But..." He deeply exhaled and shook his head before looking at me. "I wish I still had my father." He looked away again. "I miss him. I miss him so much. So many people don't even have their parents. So many people never even knew who their father was. You know, but you're wasting time by being hateful. For absolutely no reason. Such. A. Shame."
Immediately, I felt horrible. Here I am talking down on my dad, but he no longer has his. He doesn't actually have his mother either. He basically lost both of his parents around the same time. He is only seventeen. That can't be easy to deal with at such a young age. Or any age for that matter.
"I'm sorry Jahmir. I just... I don't know. How am I supposed to feel happy for them? What they did was wrong."
"I don't expect you to be happy about what they did, but please don't treat your sibling bad when he or she gets here. It isn't their fault."
"You're right. She's having a girl by the way."
Silence fell upon us. For some reason I couldn't take my eyes away from him.
"So umm, how about we go watch movies or something?" He looked directly at me. "Maybe movie night will take your mind off things for a while."
I simply nodded. We got up and went into the house.