"Good Morning mommy. Are you okay?"Aaliyah poked her head in Damita's room to check in her. It was Father's Day, a day that was always hard for her.
"I'm alright baby. Thank you for asking. I'll be down to put breakfast in a minute."Damita replied with a small sigh. "Come give mommy a hug."
Aaliyah walked up to her mom and tightly wrapped her arms around her mothers waist and Damita kissed her forehead. "I Love You so much you know that? You're always taking care of me."Damita explained, holding her daughter close to her.
She needed that hug, because truthfully she wasn't okay. She missed her husband more than anything. She had a new man, but he didn't mean nearly as much as Amaru meant to her.
"I love you too mommy."Aaliyah replied with a toothless smile. "Want me to help you cook?"
"Sure honey."Damita replied, sliding on her robe.
Damita was very affectionate with her children, she made sure that she was always around and got them whatever they wanted. She didn't want them to hate her like Amari. She wanted them to know that mommy will always be around, especially because their father wasn't.
"Can I make the pancakes mommy?"Aaliyah asked as she followed her mother into the kitchen.
"Yeah, make sure you make waffles too because your brother doesn't eat pancakes."Damita replied.
"He's so weird."Aaliyah giggled and rolled her eyes.
"Your dad didn't eat pancakes either. I swear your brother is like a clone of him. He even talks like him now."She sighed.
"You miss him a lot huh?"Aaliyah asked.
"Of course I do. I think about him everyday."She replied then became silent.
"Mommy can I ask you another question?"Aaliyah asked. Damita nodded her head and continued to crack eggs open into the skillet in front of her.
"Do you ever miss your dad? I mean you never talk about him or grandma Katherine. And when they come to pick us up you don't even speak to them."Aaliyah spoke, causing her mother to become slightly irritated.
"Do you want omelettes or scrambled eggs?"Damita asked, dismissing her daughters question.
"Scrambled is fine."Aaliyah sighed. Her mother always did this. She never wanted to talk about anything. Even if she knew something was tearing her up inside, she was always "fine" and Aaliyah hated that.
"I'll finish up here, go and wake up your brother."Damita said as she put the eggs in a separate bowl then filled the skillet with bacon.
Her rose gold iPhone 7 started to vibrate on the counter, causing her to become distracted from cooking. She then rolled her eyes at the number that was displayed on her screen.
Afeni.
They had grown apart over the years. Especially after all the things that Katherine had done to her. Damita felt that she couldn't trust anyone, considering that it took them a whole year to get her out of the asylum and three years to get her kids back. She felt that if they wanted to get her out sooner, they could have.
"Yes?"she scoffed.
"Goodmorning to you to Damita."Afeni chuckled.
"Goodmorning."She said in her best fake happy voice.
"I know that you and I don't speak, but I'm calling because the police station just called me. They're reopening Amaru's case and they need us to come down to the station to answer a couple of questions."Afeni explained.
"What time?"Damita asked with a slight attitude.
"Now if you're not busy."Afeni answered.
"I need a couple of minutes. The kids are eating breakfast, then I have to drop them off. I'll text you when I'm on the way."She replied and then hung up before Afeni could say anything else.
Damita then sat her phone down and proceeded to make her children's plates.
"Goodmorning Ma."Amaru smiled and kissed his mother on the cheek.
"Goodmorning Son."She smiled and grabbed his face to kiss him on the lips.
He then sat down and she put his plate in front of him. Then she put down two more plates for Aaliyah and herself.
"You doing okay Ma?"Amaru asked, stuffing his mouth with bacon and eggs.
"What have I told you about talking with your mouth full?"She scalded him.
"Sorry ma."he sighed then wiped the corners of his mouth with a paper towel.
"Are you still going with Joseph today?"Damita asked with a bit of irritation in her voice. Although she wasn't close with her parents, the kids were. They spent a lot of time with them when Damita was away.
"About that?"Amaru sung, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. Damita cut her eyes at him, she wasn't in the mood for anything less than what was supposed to be going on.
"They want to pick us up. They want to see you."He added with pursed lips.
"Are you serious? And you weren't going to tell me?"She rambled, as her nostrils flared. She then crossed her arms and got up from the table.
"What the fuck is it pull up on Damita day."She mumbled, walking up the stairs.
She walked into her bathroom and turned on the tub. She always took a bath when she felt like something was too much for her and at this time it was well needed. This day brought her anxiety, mentioning her parents brought anxiety and seeing Afeni and Amari would bring anxiety. All she wanted to do was relax.
"Where'd she go?"Aaliyah asked her brother.
"Upstairs. You might wanna check on her. You know how she gets."Amaru scoffed.
"What's that supposed to mean? What did you say to her?"Aaliyah asked angrily.
"I just told her that papa and grandma Katherine want to see her that's all. They're picking us up."Amaru shrugged.
"What? They're coming here? Today?"Aaliyah rambled.
"I don't think that's a good idea. That's not good for mommy right now. She doesn't need to be around them."She sighed.
"Liyah, they're her parents. What do you mean?"Amaru asked.
"Forget it. You just don't understand. Come on and get dressed. We're going to have to leave soon."Aaliyah instructed, before disappearing up the stairs. She walked into her mothers bedroom to check on her, noticing that she wasn't in her bed she knew exactly where to look.
"Mommy? Are you in here?"She asked, knocking on her bathroom door.
"Yes sweetheart. I'm in the tub."She sniffled in a muffled low voice.
"Are you okay?"Aaliyah asked.
"I'm okay. Go get dressed."She whimpered.
Aaliyah knew not to press the issue, so she did as she was told. She walked into her room and changed her clothes like her mother asked her too.
Meanwhile, Joseph and Katherine were on the way to the Shakur residence.
"I don't know Joseph. I just still feel like the kids should be with us or Afeni. Who knows when she'll have another meltdown."Katherine explained, shaking her head.
"I think you should let it go Kat. She's had them back since they were three and things are fine. They keep her happy. They keep her busy too."Joseph replied.
"I'm just saying. We don't know if she's well."Katherine explained using air quotes.
"Why do you think our daughter is crazy Katherine? We've put her through a lot already. Let her live Kat."He sighed, because she was getting on his nerves.
"Whatever Joseph. We'll see today."She replied, pressing the button on arm rest to lower the partition.
"Stop here Timothy."She demanded as they pulled up to Damita's home. He then got out and opened the door for the two of them.
"Wow. She's done some upgrades."Joseph smiled.
"I'll say."Katherine replied combatively.
Joseph shook his head and continued to walk to the door. Katherine walked in front of him and rang the doorbell, anxious to get into the home.
"Hi grandma."Aaliyah said sweetly.
"Hi pumpkin. How are you?"Katherine smiled and kissed her cheek. "Where's your brother?"
"I think he's in the kitchen."She replied, opening the door to let them in. Katherine looked around before sitting.
"Where's your mother?"She asked, looking around.
"Oh she'll be down soon. She's getting dressed"Aaliyah replied sweetly, with no knowledge of her grandmothers intentions.
"How has she been? Is she okay?"She asked.
"She's doing good. Mommy is just kind of sad today, you know with it being Father's Day."Aaliyah explained.
"I see."Katherine replied.
Damita then came strutting down the stairs with her purse in her hand.
"Katherine, Joseph."Damita greeted them dryly.
"Damita."Katherine replied.
"Well, you've seen me. Come on now I have somewhere to go."Damita shrugged."Amaru come on, they're ready for you"
Damita opened the door, letting them know she was ready for them to exit her home.
Katherine chuckled then arose from the couch and walked towards the door, with Joseph close behind.
"Have a good day mommy."Aaliyah hugged her mother and she kissed her cheek. "I will baby." She smiled.
"Amaru, I know you're not gonna walk out of this house without kissing your mother."Damita fake pouted and crossed her arms. "Sorry Ma."He chuckled and kneeled down kiss her forehead.
"Bye momma."he smiled and gave her a hug before walking out of the door.
She walked into the garage and entered her car. She then texted Afeni to let her know that she was on her way. She wasn't really excited to see them either.
Her and Afeni hadn't talked in years. They had no reason to. The kids were old enough to speak for themselves. Amari on the other hand had a strong hatred or dislike for her mother. She couldn't even tell you what Damita's voice sounded like because she refused to talk to her.
Damita tried to reach out to her daughter multiple times, but Amari just wouldn't cooperate.
"Lord, please let this go smoothly. I'm not really in the mood for any drama today."Damita sighed before getting out of the car. She then grabbed her purse and climbed out of the car.
"Hi Damita."Afeni smiled as she entered the door.
"Hi Afeni."She fake smiled, giving her a friendly hug.
"You can goto that room on the right. They want to ask you a couple of questions."Afeni explained.
"Alright."Damita smiled before walking away.
"Granny. What is she doing here?"Amari asked with her arms crossed.
"Amari. Don't start." Afeni rolled her eyes.