Marina is a single mother struggling to get by from day to day. Losing her job was another thing to add to her struggle, until her good friend helps her get a job that seems good until she digs deeper into it.
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As I opened my eyes, I turned my head to observe the little girl laying beside me. Her hair was in two french braids and the scarf that I tied around her head was nonexistent. I laughed to myself and touched my own head; the bonnet I had on was no where to be found as well. I shook my head and tossed the covers off of me; careful not to disturb Amalita.
I quickly got ready and took a shower before she could get up and complain that she was hungry. It was only me and her in the house, Mama was at work as usual. She told me she didn't want me to work while I was pregnant. She just wanted me to focus on Ama and the baby; which I greatly appreciated.
Once I was finally dressed, I went into the kitchen and made some pancakes and bacon. As the smell of food enveloped the house, Ama was wide awake with Daisy tucked underneath her arm standing at the kitchen entrance," Look who's up and early." "Are those pancakes!?" I nodded my head "Mmhmm." "And bacon!?" "Yes m'am." She jumped with joy as she rushed to a chair," Yaay!!"
I placed a full plate in front of her and poured a glass of orange juice. She immediately grabbed a piece a bacon and took a bite. I grabbed a bottle of syrup and poured it on my pancakes. I waved the bottle in front of Ama," Syrup?" She excitedly nodded her head," Pleeeaaase!" I poured the syrup all over her pancakes; she grabbed her fork and chowed down on her breakfast.
"Mommy can we go to the park today!?" Ama asked as she blew bath bubbles from her hands," Of course we can." A squeal escaped her mouth and I smiled at the overzealous 4 year old. After her bath, she got dressed in some overall shorts and a pooh bear shirt underneath. I helped her put on her strapped sandals. I grabbed my purse and keys from the coffee table and we left the house.
We got into my car and I drove us to the public park that I use to go to when I was younger. When we got there, there were already families playing at the playground and other people riding their bikes or rollerskating. Ama grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the swings, her favorite," Come on mommy swing with me!" I helped her onto the swing and gave her a push start. I sat in the swing beside her and swung my legs back and forth to gain some momentum.
As I was swinging, I made sure to keep my eye on her. She was giggling and laughing so much that it made me smile from ear to ear. Her smile always warmed my heart, but it faded once Tony entered my thoughts. Yes he was a monster, but I missed him. Is it bad for me to still have feelings for him? I missed how warm and safe being beside him was; like he had some invisible shield over me.
I should've known better, I hung around Cesar and his friends all the time. I should've known Tony was up to no good. Especially when I seen the case of guns in his office. That was my queue then to run, but I didn't.
"Look mommy—the ducks!" Ama jumped out of her swing and hopped in place, waiting for me to get off the swing. I gently stopped the swing with my feet and got off. Ama held onto my hand and lead us to the pond," Let's feed the ducks!" We walked over to the duck food dispenser and I placed some quarters into it. Ama held out both of her hands as the food fell into them,"Here." She poured me some of the food in my hand and we walked over to the pond.
There was dozens of ducks floating in the pond. As we approached them, most of them had their attention on us. Ama threw some of the food as far as she could towards them and they swam their way over to us," Look! Their coming to us!" Ama squealed with excitement as she continued to toss more food.
The ducks flocked to us, crowding around the floating food that Ama and I threw. I never seen her this excited about feeding ducks. It was like she was in her own world, her own little fantasy that no one could touch. We fed the ducks for what seemed like hours, I thought Ama's attention span would have died out by now, but she was still trying to feed them every last drop of food," Alright sweetheart, we have to say goodbye to the ducks—I think they've had enough to eat."
"Do we have to go?" Ama questioned as she glanced up at me. "Yes, we still have to go to the grocery store." Her head fell low and she grabbed ahold of my hand," Okaaay." She waved to the ducks as we walked away from the pond and back to the car. I started it up and drove to the grocery store that was closest to the house.
When we got there, I pulled out a shopping cart and placed Ama in the front of it. We casually strolled along in the store, going down each aisle. I grabbed a few snacks for Ama and other stuff for Mama that was on a list that she gave me. I looked through the cart and double checked to make sure I had everything from her list.
Once I had everything, I went down to the vitamin aisle and grabbed the prenatal supplements that my doctor recommended. I tossed them in the cart and went to the checkout line. Ama helped me put the items on the conveyer. Once the cashier scanned everything, they bagged up our items and placed them back into the cart. I paid for the items and I pushed the cart to my car and unloaded everything inside the trunk.
After shopping, we went straight home. Ama helped me carry the stuff in. I placed everything in their designated area and left out the chocolate ice cream for myself. Ama went into our bedroom and laid down, instantly falling asleep. I grabbed my ice cream from off the counter and went to the living room. I turned on the tv and laid on the couch eating away at the tub of ice cream.
Nothing interesting was on the tv, so I just switched to the news channel. Half of the tub of ice cream was gone, I was about to take another bite until a knock on the door caught my attention instead. I put down the tub of ice cream and closed it back up, leaving the spoon on top of it. I wiped away any chocolate residue from my mouth and made my way over to the door.
When I opened it, I froze in place. My lungs stopped moving and my heart was racing out of control. There he stood with those familiar bloodshot eyes and that scar I've grown to love so much," Pussycat."
