Love Me for Me

Chapter Three

I finally finished my shift of waiting on impatient customers who think the world revolves around them. I hate when people decide to come eat all at once it just makes my job a whole lot tougher. Especially when you have to deal with the occasionally fat jokes. I could finally breathe and sit down; my feet were killing me and on top of that I had to go home and do my homework. I’m telling you between work and school I don’t think I can make it. When I had my things together and was ready to go I went to find Ciara. She was sitting at the bar coloring in her coloring book. “You ready to go kiddo,” I asked walking up to her looking at her drawing of a dinosaur. She had colored it purple and pink. “Yea I’m hungry, what’s for dinner?”

“I don’t know we will have to see what we have at home.”

“What about that guy? Can’t he buy us something to eat again,” she asked looking up at me. I knew what she was trying to do but it wasn’t going to work. I planned on keeping my distance from Hayden at any means necessary. Besides I haven’t seen or heard from him in a week, which could only mean he got the hint to stay away. “No, he can’t we are eating whatever is in the fridge at home.”

“But he likes you and I like him,” she said very confused. I could tell she didn’t understand what was going on but I couldn’t let her get attached to a guy we barely even knew.

We arrived home and again Rico was nowhere to be found. Ever since he joined the basketball team he has been MIA and has completely changed. All of a sudden I am not good enough to take care of him and he believes I have no authority to tell him what to do. I’m getting to the point where I just tell him to leave and let him fin for himself; the only reason he is still around is for Ciara, I don’t want her to lose someone else in her life.

I looked in the fridge and decided to make spaghetti with garlic bread. I put it on the stove and went to my room to change into my sweats. The way I was feeling I highly doubted I was going to school tomorrow, it’s not like anyone would miss me anyway. I threw on a blue tank with grey joggers and headed back downstairs. By the time I finished Rico was walking through the door like he owned the damn place. “Where the hell have you been,” I asked looking at him as he sat down at the island. “I been out, what’s it to you,” he said not looking me in the eye. “I am your got damn guardian which means I am responsible for your black ass which means you need to get your black ass home.”

“I don’t have to listen to you, you ain’t my damn momma.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means our mom left us a long time ago so I don’t need you playing parent. I can take care of my damn self.”

“And how you gonna do that Rico? You don’t have shit to your damn name so how the hell you gonna take care of yourself?”

“With this,” he said placing a gun on the counter. I couldn’t believe he brought a damn gun into our home especially with Ciara in the next room. “What the hell is wrong with you?! You brought a gun into our home; the same home your little sister lives in? Are you fucking crazy?”

“Look I have to do what I gotta do which means I had to do handle my business.”

“So you getting a gun is the way of doing that?”

“Hell yea especially since I joined the Deadly Kings,” he said showing me the tattoo he had just gotten on his chest. I almost freaked out when I saw the red and blue ink that lay on his bare flesh. I wanted to slap the living shit out of him. He had officially lost his damn mind and I planned on returning it to him. “Have you lost your damn mind?! You have fucking little sister that has already lost her mother and now you have went and joined a fucking gang. All you ever think about is your fucking self. I am telling you this now you either find some way out of that damn gang or you get the fuck out and tell them to take care of your ass.”