"My MaRiLyn..."

23.

Its 5:40pm and some Gospel music is playing from Miss Fiona's phone and she sings along to the song with her amazing soprano while she makes a special fruit salad for the three of us to eat for dinner.

Ciara is stirring up some spaghetti and I am chopping some tomatoes and onions to garnish the spaghetti sauce. There is a peaceful vibe going on here. There is so much peace that Ciara and Miss Fiona are bringing to my darkness and restlessness right now. I am grateful they came over.

"Ho-ho-holy, Jesus!" Miss Fiona sings out loudly and Ciara laughs and applauds for her boss. I laugh and cheer for the woman and she is embarrassed. She nervously laughs and points at us with the wooden spoon she's using to mix the mayo and the salads together and says,

"You didn't have to hear that."

"It's the holy spirit Mami," Ciara says to Miss Fiona. She shakes her head in disbelief and chuckles. Miss continues with the salad and mayo mixing and the salads look amazing.

"So Timothy,how long have you been staying here?"

"It's been four months now,ma'am," I respond.

"Ooh,beautiful. So where are you from?"

"Uh,I don't really want to talk about where i come from,I'm sorry," I say to Miss Fiona.

She nods in approval and smiles at me.

"We all run away from things but when the devil wants to hold us back,he holds us back but when you have Jesus,you become a changed man," Miss says to me.

She just spoke life to me. I'm not really a Christian nor a religious man but I respect what people believe in and I like to learn about things for my advantage.

"The spaghetti is ready. Gimme the things you've chopped up,Tim," Ciara says to me and I give her what she's requested.

"Salads done," Miss says and covers up the salads.

"I'll be setting up the table in the living room. Both of y'all talk some fun things out," she walks out with the big bowl of perfectly made salads.

I sigh and sit up on the kitchen counter.

Ciara leans against the kitchen sink and crosses her arms. She looks at me.

"She's actually my next door neighbor. She's beautiful in and out,"

"She's an Angel,I can tell," I respond.

"Yes, she is. She looks out for me when Baba Is not looking. He doesn't like it when she's around me,he's paranoid,"  Ciara says to me honestly.

"Is Baba your only relative around?" I ask curiously.

"Mom died out of Cancer,Dad died in prison. He was wrongly accused of killing a white kid and my older sister ran away from home. She left me all by myself  just so she could get screwed by her drug addict boyfriend," she scoffs and I can see that she's saddened.

"I am so sorry to hear that." I really am sorry.

"No,don't be sorry. I hate it when people say that and by people I mean me,myself and I because I sometimes feel sorry for myself but it's cool,I'm fine," Ciara says to me and there is silence between us two.

She wants to cry but she's swallowing the hurt real bad. She clears up her throat to speak up again but this time she puts on a light smile on her face. She wants to put on big boy pants.

Actually, Ciara has real tight big boy pants on and I admire that. I mean you can hurt and cry when it hurts real bad but the strength and energy Ciara has Is amazing.

"How's it going with your married crush Marilyn?"

"Great. She's an amazing person. We are getting along pretty well," I lie to her. I can't tell her that I freaked Marilyn out and that she's ignoring me because of that.

Marilyn is my goal and she is the reason why I'm still sticking around this neighbourhood. I need her to open up her eyes and realise what's in front of her. Me.

Ciara nods in affirmation of my lie and I lightly smile at her.

"You know what Timothy?"

"What's the cheese?" I ask and she laughs.

"You're not such a creep after all. You're a cool guy and I am glad to be able to call you my friend," Ciara says to me and that's so sweet of her. I have a real friend now and that's pretty cool.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself after all," I reply. Ciara playfully rolls her eyes at me and begins to stir the spaghetti sause.

"I am the best thing anybody could ever have. I am an Angel,keep me safe," she unknowingly says out the truth.

She is truly an Angel.