𝑼𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎)

ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫Don't Leave Me On Readˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫

"M-mom?"

Mrs. King crosses her arms and looks displeased. "So you're finally home." She glares at him a second more and then looks at Jai, her gaze softening immediately and pursed lips lift into a smile.

"Jai, I haven't seen you in so long." Her hands drop from their folded position and she pulls him into a hug, rocking them side to side. "I missed you."

"I-I missed you too," he awkwardly smiles and allows the woman to hug him very tightly.

"So he gets a hug and I get yelled at?"

Mrs. King pulls away from Jai to hold his face. "Happy birthday," she kisses his cheek.

Jai feels burning in the apples of his cheeks, a result of smiling so hard. "Thank you."

"That's cute- uh c'we go inside now? I'm tired and I-"

"How old are you? Twenty-two, right?" She asks Jai, completely ignoring her son.

"Yeah," Jai says.

"Did you have fun today?"

"Yeah, and I got some shoes too, so that's cool," he shrugs with an easy smile.

"Okay, that's good. I didn't get you anything, but I will," she promises.

"So we just gon' keep ignorin' me? Like this ain't mah place?"

Mrs. King rolls her eyes and finally turns to Shekar.

"I don't care where we are, I'm your mother. Now get in the house, I'm tired of standing up out here."

"I just- aight."

They all step into the apartment, Shekar and his mother going into the living room while Jai puts away his leftovers.

"How you get in," Shekar asks her once they settle down on the couch.

"Oh, y'know your little friend? The one with dreads?"

His eyes narrow, "Jahlil?"

"Yeah, that's him. He came over when I was at the door, knocking for who knows how long, and he unlocked the door for me."

"I needa take away his key, what the fuck?"

"Watch your mouth," she scolds.

"Sorry." He mutters, "it's mah place though."

"Shekar," she warns.

"Aight, I said sorry," he puts his hands up defensively and looks away.

She changes her focus to Jai, who's admiring his new sneakers again. "Jai, I'm really sorry to hear about your mom."

He's caught off guard by the topic, his smile loosens and his shoulders subtly drop. "Yeah... um- It's fine."

"Did you guys have the funeral yet?"

"Um, yeah. My aunt, she, uh- she took care of it." He doesn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't go to the funeral, because it was just too much for him.

Mrs. King nodded, empathy displayed on her face. "That's good, that's good. Are you studying something?"

"Communications. I'm doin' Data Analytics and minorin' in Journalism."

Her chest fills with pride and she beams, "that's really good. I'm proud of you Jai, I remember you saying you didn't even want to go to college."

"Yeah."

Shekar could sense how awkward Jai felt. He knew that Jai never really liked discussing himself. "Mom, how long you stayin'? And where dad?"

"Oh, your father stayed in Brooklyn cause we're moving. He wanted to be there to deal with all the paperwork. And I'll be here for a few days," she shrugs.