A New Dawn

III

   beep..

beep..

Beep.

BEEP.

BEEP.

The agitating and increasingly loud sound of an alarm, pulled Idalia from her slumber. She groaned as she fumbled around for her cellphone, eyes still closed, to end the grating noise.
I'm so sleepy. She groggily stopped the early morning alarm and sat up, yawning as she threw her legs over the side of her bed.
   Wait a second, what's today? Idalia checked her cellphone once more, and shimmied her shoulders in little dance.

Praise Jesus, it's Friday!

Idalia shot up from her queen sized mattress, and headed towards the bathroom, to get ready for her shift. Make no mistake, she wasn't excited about going to work but more so about the upcoming weekend. Idalia loved the weekends. Those, as most working adults, were her only days off. Idalia considered herself to be a homebody for the most part, but this weekend was different. Idalia, Anais, and Louise — Anais' wife — were going out!
Idalia shot a quick text to her best friend, excitedly reminding her of their fun weekend plans as she removed the satin head scarf that protected her natural hair. She stared at her gravity-defying hair in the mirror, making a goofy face at herself and releasing a short snort of a laugh. Idalia removed her large square framed glasses and shook her head with a small smile as she prepared to insert her eye contacts. I'm literally so funny, what the hell?
On Fridays, Idalia liked to wear makeup. She usually didn't as running in and out of a hot kitchen for ten hours a day basically ruined whatever she had on, but she loved to celebrate the approaching "holiday." Her casual makeup routine was simple — eyebrows, winged eyeliner, her most natural false eyelashes, blush, and a cute shimmer eyeshadow on the inner corners of her eyes. This look always ate, it was definitely her go to when she was feeling up to actually doing it.
Idalia lightly doused her hair with water from her spray bottle, and ran some leave in conditioner through her tight coils. You better not shrink, or so help me. She warned her hair, knowing that the second the minute amount of water on her hair dried her afro would be two times smaller than what she was currently looking at. Teeth brushed and dressed in uniform, Idalia glanced at herself in the mirror.
I look good. Right? She fidgeted with the tucked in t-shirt, not wanting it to be too tight around her midsection. Yeah, I look good.
Idalia grabbed her belongings and headed to the door.
Today's gonna be a great day. She manifested with enthusiasm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

   "Nanny, what?!" Idalia exclaimed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. The short, older black woman in front of her, shrugged her shoulders — not seeming to be bothered by what was going on as she placed plastic lids on multiple individual food plates.
"Isaiah no called-no showed again so I'll need you to deliver these boxed lunches. Sorry, Idi." Mary Alice — Nanny to Idalia — instructed. "I'm about through with him, he's so unreliable. This is his third time doing this." She shook her head, knowing she wouldn't be getting rid of him any time soon as he was her nephew and Idalia's cousin.
The heavy set sixty-five year old woman in front of Idalia could've been mistaken for her mother, they looked just alike despite different skin tones and height, so everyone who looked at them said. And Idalia loved that, she thought her maternal aunt was a beautiful woman. Mary Alice raised Idalia as her own child when her mother proved to be.. unreliable. And Idalia couldn't have asked for a better role model.
Mary Alice had a lot of notches in her belt. From helping run her father's printing company — the first black-owned printing company in their small Texas hometown — to becoming a registered nurse and helping others for forty years, to retiring and being a constant beacon of support in her community, to now owning her own popular café restaurant. Idalia didn't know how her aunt did it all, but she was proud to be a part of it.
"Nanny, I'm supposed to be serving. I'll barely make any tips if I leave." She groaned before glaring and cracking her knuckles, the thought of not making money put a bad taste in her mouth "You want me to go beat him up? You know I will. I know where he lives."
Mary Alice shook her head and chuckled, adoring her niece's humor. Idalia quirked an eyebrow, unsure of why her beloved aunt was laughing. She was serious.
"These lunches will need to be delivered by one o'clock. It's for that architecture company's lunch so it'll need to be on time." Mary Alice stated pointedly, securing the final plastic lid.
"Yes ma'am." Idalia nodded, before smiling slyly and cheekily nudging Mary Alice with her elbow.
"Do I get a free lunch from the menu if I do it?"
Mary Alice squinted her eyes at Idalia, the cunning girl.
"You can have a free sandwich and chips."
"Grilled salmon and dirty rice." Idalia countered, squinting her eyes back at her aunt and crossing her arms.
Mary Alice crossed her arms, face stony before laughing and nodding her head.
"Fine, go ahead."
"Yes!" Idalia hissed, giving herself a small fist pump.