•••
Makai pushed open the heavy rec center door, the cool air rushing out, relieving him from the late June heat. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he approached the front desk.
Lovie's head popped up as she placed her pen down. A tight-lipped smile settled on her face, "Picking up Myran?"
"Yea, but it's no rush. I had a quick question." He placed his arm on the desk, slightly shifting his weight onto it. She nodded expectantly. "Your grandfather in? I was hoping I could talk to him."
She opened her mouth to speak, her eyes searching his face curiously. She knew he knew her grandfather, considering he was one of the many neighborhood kids who frequented the center as a child, but she wondered what business he had with him—just being nosy as always.
"Uh, yea, he should be in his office, one second." She spun around on her heels, walking down the short hallway and knocking on her grandfather's door. "It's open!"
"Hey, Paw? Makai's asking to talk to you. You're not busy, or nothing are you?" His brow furrowed slightly at the mention of Makai; he recognized the name but couldn't quite put a face to it. His memory wasn't what it used to be. "Nawl, gon' head send him in. What's he asking about?"
She shrugged, "I don't know; I didn't think to ask." She headed back to the front, leaving the door cracked slightly.
"You can go back." That same pleasant smile returned. He nodded, making his way around the desk " 'Preciate it."
He knocked on the cracked door before pushing it all the way open. Samuel turned around, looking up at the young man. "I know that ain't who I think it is!" A warm smile spread across his face causing the wrinkles around his wise eyes to fold up.
Makai chuckled lightly. The older man had always been so giddy and full of life. "How you doing, Mr.Wright?" He stepped further into the room, pushing the door behind him. "Oh, I'm alright, blessed and highly favored, of course. Watchu' standing for? Sit down!"
He walked around and sunk into one of the seats in front of his desk. "I ain't seen you in forever; tell me something good young man." A smile just like Lovie's settled. "Oh, I'm alright now that its summer. I been working at the auto shop over on 3rd for a while now, it's nice enough."
"Well, ain't that somethin'? It's good to see you got something steady; how's your mother doing? I see little Myran running around here all the time, but you know this ain't quite the place to ask something like that."
Makai sighed. His mother was always a tough subject. "She's alright, better than she has been." He kept it short in an effort to change the subject.
Samuel nodded slowly, catching the hint. "So, what did you wanna talk about?"
"Right, so um... I know I said I was working at the auto shop, but I actually just stopped working there. Just for the summer, though, I wanna focus more on my art, and the shop doesn't really do part-time."
He got a little antsy every time he mentioned his art to adults. Most of them saw it as a hobby, not a livelihood. " I was wondering if you had any work for me. Maybe just cleaning up or something? Whatever you have, I just need something part-time."
"Cleaning up? That's all you want? Lemme see your art, you ever thought about teaching a class?" Makai nodded slowly and pulled his phone out to scroll and find something he felt comfortable showing.
"We got some kids and parents asking about arts and crafts and all that." He turned his phone towards Mr.Wright. "I'm more into street art and graffiti, but I'm pretty good with painting and all that too."
