𝙇 𝙄 𝘽 𝙀 𝙍 𝘼𝙏 𝙀 𝘿

21 L I B E R A T E D 21

21 L 21

The next morning, I woke up with a bad headache and the sounds of Ramyn shouting in the kitchen.

"When big sister feels better, can we go out and get ice cream? Can we? Can we?"

I groaned, rolling over in the bed.

"...see about that," I heard my mother say across the apartment.

I grabbed my pain killers off of the nightstand and gulped them dry. Sitting up in bed, I stretched my stiff muscles out a bit, trying to prepare myself for the living force that was my crazy family.

"I'll go upstairs and check on her," I heard my mom say. I got out of bed, looking for something decent to put on to go downstairs.

"Liberty?"

"Yes."

My mom peeked her head into my bedroom. "How you feeling, love?"

"Better. I think I ate something bad last night," I lied. Curse Vonna! Now I feel extra guilty every time that I lie. "Oh. Poor thing. But guess what," I glanced at my mother in the doorway, putting down some pants. "What happened?" I asked.

"Guess who's opening up her first store very soon!"

"Oh my gosh. Really," I ran to hug her.

"Yes! And Carmela's helping me start it off. Matter of fact, I'm dropping Ramyn off at daycare. She wants us to come over to her place over there in Aster Waters Homes and help me plan out my new physical store. August Adamant is now online and in-store!"

"This is your biggest dream, Mom," I could feel tears coming into my eyes. "You're officially joining the boutique world."

"I know." She sent me a regretful expression. "But unfortunately that means that I won't have as much free time as I used to with business starting to boom. I need to hire employees. And..."

"It's okay. I understand. You want me to quit at Mr. Cherry's. I'm up for it, Mom. And working at a boutique store can't be that hard, can it?"

Well, if you have a stealing problem, it can be, I thought a moment later.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart. Alright!" she clapped. "Find something presentable to wear. I'm sure you and Vonna will have fun doing y'all own little thing while we're there..." I tuned out the rest of what my mother had said. Vonna? I would be spending the rest of my day with fucking Vonna?

"I mean...I could stay here and watch Ramyn for you, Mom. Instead of you wasting your money on daycare," I suggested. "Oh, since when do you like watching your sister for more than an hour? And you know Ramyn is hyped up on candy from her sleepover last night," my mother rolled her eyes, "And don't you want to spend time with your new friend?"

If I said no, my mom would wonder why Vonna and I weren't on good terms so I gave her a fake smile, "Yea. Sure. So, where's dad?" I switched topics.

"He's at work today. Handling some business," my mom said, looking at her nails. "I can't wait to tell him the good news."

"Well, I'm finna hop in the shower and do my stuff. I'll be out in twenty."

"Lovely."

My mother practically bounced out of my room, but my mood was the complete opposite. I closed my bedroom door and got my clothes together. I slipped my weed pen into the pocket of my jeans before taking them to the bathroom.

Today's going to be a long day.

After we dropped Ramyn off at daycare, my mother drove us to Vonna's in her SUV. "I'm so excited. I wonder if I'll be able to afford a big store. Or maybe, I should start off small to give it a home-y feel. Bigger doesn't always mean better- even though we're in Texas," my mother did a little happy dance in the driver's seat.

I was glad I had taken a few hits and dropped in my eye drops before I got into the car. The excitement over the news of her business was starting to fade away on my part, and her constant happiness was beginning to drive me insane, especially because I had to deal with Vonna today.

"I was low key still a little sick. I coulda stayed at home alone," I suggested. Man, I wish I had thought about that earlier. "Well, it's too late now. We're almost there," my mother stated, turning on the radio, and switching to a rap station.

She couldn't even give me the satisfaction of a good nap. The selfish bitch, I thought in a half joking way.

Maybe I need to start up my own jazz playlist on my phone for when my mother didn't have it on in the car. I watched the scenery go by, the historic buildings of Aster Waters and the stores passing us by.

Or were we passing them by.

"I think I'll finish up next week with working for Mr. Cherry before I put in my two weeks," I told her.

"That's fine. The boutique will probably be up and going by the end of the year. Hopefully sooner though. Oh, I have so much saved up for this." My mother turned to me. "Baby, this is gonna be what you and Ramyn rely on. Remember, if I ever die, you two will have something. Something made with my love and hard work. I'm not saying you have to grow up to be in the fashion industry, but this is something in case you end up not going anywhere. I'd love to think my children would amount to something, but I won't sugar coat shit- life happens. I'm doing this for our family," she told me.

"Thank you, mama," I smiled.

Then plugged in my ear buds.