Window Seat

5

A few hours later, they all woke up. Ayla woke up angry.

"Ayla, what's wrong?" Fatima asked

"I want Christmas to stay forever! I don't like when mommy takes me to school. She doesn't like me."

"Ayla, mommy does like you"

"She does not! She always push me out of the car."

"You won't be going to that school anymore because I'm transferring you. I'll drop you off at school and pick you up everyday."

"Really?"

"Yes, it'd be impossible to take you to school everyday if you were still going to school in North Carolina. You're staying with me."

"Yay! I like it here. I even have my own room."

"Yes, I might be moving into a bigger place soon."

"Can we get a dog?"

"No"

"Please!"

"No"

"Please, I'll take care of it"

"I'll think about it, but my answer is no for right now."

"Can I ask Zac?"

"You don't call him plane man anymore? You gave him a nickname."

"He told me that I can call him that. I like his name. Where is he?"

"He's still here. He's getting ready for work."

"Does he really have to leave?"

"He's going to make money. I'll invite him over again."

"Okay. Are you guys going to go on a date?"

"Ayla, what do you know about a date?"

"Mommy went on dates"

"Oh, okay."

Zac came out of the bathroom. "I hate going to work."

"I can tell. You be frowning your face up. I hope you didn't get sick." Fatima said

"Nah, I can usually tell when I'm getting sick."

"Do you really have to leave?" Ayla asked

"I do, but I'll call you." Zac said

"Can you buy a dog so I can play with it? Tima said no."

"I don't like dogs."

"Not fair!"

"Calm down, you'll probably get a dog eventually. My friend has one."

"Can I see it?"

"Yes"

"I'm about to leave, give me a hug."

Ayla hugged him. He kissed Fatima on her lips.

"Sister, you got a boyfriendddd" Ayla said

Zac laughed. "I'll see you later". He left out of the house. Fatima dramatically slid down the front door after she locked it.

"Are you okay?" Ayla asked

"Yes, go turn the t.v on. Are you hungry?"

"No, I had apples. I'm full."

"Okay" Fatima grabbed her phone and sent Madam a text.

Fatima- He kissed me!

Madam- You being fast! I should've known something when you didn't text me this morning

Fatima- I'm sick asf. He made me lay my ass right back down this morning. Ayla has stopped calling him plane man.

Madam- invite me to the wedding🫶🏽

Fatima- As long as you invite me to you and Raphael's. Y'all aren't just business partners.

Madam- we are business partners.

Fatima- I don't think that business partners take you on vacations to talk about "business".

Madam- Nobody goes on vacation to talk about business. We're good friends

Fatima- Y'all fucking or you going to keep lying?

Madam- We're fucking AND we're business partners.

Zac called her. "You got your lottery ticket from yesterday?"

"Yes. You gave me 2."

"Umm, we just won the lottery." Zac said

"You know that I'm irritated and sick. Why you playing like that?"

"Check the numbers yourself, we won."

"I'll check it later. That's your money though because technically you won. You bought the tickets."

"No, I bought all 3 of us tickets. Just make sure you get Ayla a dog."

"She doesn't need a dog. I already told her no."

"If you look at the numbers and we won, can you get her a dog?"

"Yes, I guess."

"Look at them and take her to get a dog today."

Fatima looked at the winning numbers. "Wait!"

"Exactly, go get her the dog that she wants. I'm about to go into the store, I'll call you later."

"Okay" Fatima was left in shock. There were a billion things going through her mind for some odd reason. In the midst of her pacing the floor, she ended up getting a call regarding the case.

The lawyer informed her that Mona is deciding to file a claim against her, and she wants Ayla back. Since there's no paperwork that states that Fatima has custody, Mona can have her back. Fatima didn't feel like she was doing enough. She only wants Ayla in her custody.

Mona is asking for custody of Ayla because she doesn't want to do time for the abuse that she caused.

Fatima felt defeated. She decided to just shut down.

*At Zac's Job*

"Bro, you've been staring into space for 10 minutes." His coworker says

"Something doesn't feel right. I don't know what it is, but I feel it." Zac said

"I don't know what you mean."

"It feels like somebody needs me. I don't know how to explain it."

"Is the girl that you were cool with okay? That might be what it is."

"I just left her house 20 minutes ago though. She was sick, but she was fine"

"My sister used to get sick and pass out. You might want to go over there and check on her."

Zac clocked out and drove to Fatima's house.

He knocked on the door hoping that she would answer. It was Madam standing at the door.

"Hi, who are you?" Madam asked

"Zac is back!" Ayla yelled, running to the door.

"Ohhh, you're the man from the plane" Madam said

"Yes."

"Well, you might want to come over at another time. Fatima needs space." Madam said.

"What happened? It's only been 20 minutes since I left. Is she good?"

"She's not opening the doors or talking to anybody right now. I can't even get to her."

"Take the door off of the hinges. We got to make sure that she's okay."

"You don't think that that's a little much?"

"No, I'm pretty sure that I can talk to her though." He went and knocked on the door. "Fatima"

"Go to work, Zac. I'm okay"

"This girl really answered" Madam whispered lowly

"That doesn't sound like you're okay. I'll sit here all day if I have to. Tell me what happened even if you need to text it to me."