"Nana." Malia quickly approached her grandmother, scanning over her entire body. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
Nana gave Malia a look. "Child, ain't nothing wrong wit' me. You need to ask that motha' fucker that broke in my house what's wrong wit' him."
She rolled her eyes. "You're not hurt?"
"Hell no I ain't hurt." She said, crossing her legs. "But I had to pistol whip that boy in there. Call himself comin' in my house while I was fixin' my mornin' coffee. Hell he think I am?"
Malia sat down and TeNiya sat next to her. "I thought something happened to you."
"I'm fine. Who's this young lady lookin' like Joc? How you doin'?"
"Niya, this is my Nana." Malia said. "Nana, this is TeNiya. She is Ja's younger sister."
Niya looked at Malia. "Your grandma is white?"
"I like ta' think of myself as a black woman, though." Nana joked, fixing her glasses. "Wish I could meet you under betta' circumstances but motha' fuckers like tryin' me early ina' morning."
The 18 year old laughed. "Ja was tellin' me that you a gangster."
"I ain't no gangsta'. But they bet' not push me. Like TuPac said."
"Nana. He said 'I ain't no killer but don't push me'."
Her grandma shrugged. "That, too."
"So, they had you come down here because he got hurt?" Malia asked. "Or are you about to talk to police or something?"
"I already talked to them crooked bastards. I'm hea' to make sure I ain't kill that boy."
She shook her head. "Is he dead?"
"No. I'm ready ta' go now. That's why I tell them ta' call you." Nana sat forward. "Y'all hungry? Let's go get sum' ta' eat."
Malia took a deep breath and they got outta there. Her Nana was going to be the literal death of her and it was insane.
"So, did they steal anything?" Malia asked.
Nana scoffed, climbing gingerly into the front seat of the Mercedes. "I ain't give him the chance ta' get through the damn do'."
A few days went by with Malia going to and from work and hanging out with her friends in between those days. It was boring and she was anxious but a full week passed since Ja left and Malia couldn't wait for him to be back.
Now, Malia was at work, finishing up her tutoring lessons of the day. "And just bring this book back to me on Thursday and we'll pick up here. Work ahead if you think you can."
"Thanks, Miss Hall!" The red-head child said, waving her small hand. "I'll see you on Thursday."
Malia waved bye with a smile, filing papers as she prepared for her next tutoring lesson. She heard a soft knock on her door and looked up, expecting her next student.
"Hi, Ky..." Malia's voice trailed off when she spotted Sean, standing against the door frame. "Hey, Sean. I haven't seen you at school in a bit."
He stood from the door frame, wandering into the classroom. "Went on a vacation over in Europe with some buddies. I heard you're quickly becoming well-liked around here."
That was true. If there's a skill-set that Malia could use in both bartending and teaching, it was being very well spoken. She was also able to get things done in a timely manner.
Not only that, Malia was polite and respectful. Always willing to help out. Those were traits she'd inhabited since she was a kid. Nana didn't do disrespect so Malia had to train herself not to be a product of her environment.
