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I was awakened from my deep sleep by the ring of my phone. My vision was a little blurry, but I read 5:34 a.m. on my phone.
"Hello." I spoke into the phone my voice groggy from me just waking up.
"Wake that ass up nephew it's time to work." hearing my Uncle Rodney voice.
I rose from my warm bed, and headed straight to the bathroom. I turned on the hot water, and I started brushing my teeth. When the water hit my body, it instantly relaxed my tense muscles. I let the water wet my dreads, and I stayed under the shower head to get my thoughts together.
After 45 minutes of being in the shower; I began to get dressed after I dried off. It was a cold day outside so, I decided to wear a warm sweat suit. My uncle was letting me stay in one of the duplex condo buildings he owned. It was already furnished when I got here. A large brown couch, two 65-inch flat screens in the living and bedroom. An already filled bar cabinet, there was a table in the middle of the enormous kitchen. A king size bed with nothing but silk sheets and the closet.
Growing up I stayed with my mom mostly; we moved around a lot. My Dad passed away when I was like 13 from AIDS. My Uncle Rodney was father's older twin brother by six minutes. After my dad's passing, my uncle Rodney always looked out for me. He taught me how to drive, shave, and always put money in my pocket. My uncle Rodney was a real business man, and he told me that he wanted to teach me some of it. He owned a couple clubs, laundromats/cleaners, hotels, and some apartment buildings like this one.
I walked through the building's garage to a jet black BMW. Which was also a generous gift from my uncle. I peeled out following the GPS directions to the address I was meeting my Uncle Rodney. I was heading down Saint James Ave. I almost had an accident because, I thought I saw a familiar face. But, it could not be who I thought it was. I busted a U-turn in pursuit to make sure. I honked my horn when I got closer. She looked in my direction, but kept pushing after a quick glance. Then I remembered that the windows were tinted. I pull up to the curb and hopped out.
"Hey!" I shouted she continued walking.
In my last I attempt I whistled trying to get her attention. She turns once more to my direction, I could see her eyes widen. She ran towards me with her arms wide opened. I had not seen my baby cousin Jennifer some years.
"Oh my God Donnie!" she said not letting me go as, we held each other.
"Hey, sugar foot." I said.
"What are you doing here?" she asked with excitement as we broke apart.
"Just take care of some business with your father." I replied with a smile.
"Oh really, I didn't know he was in town." she said as her smile quickly vanished from her face.
"How your mom?" I asked changing the subject.
"She passed away a couple years ago." She informed me.
