Perfectly Imperfect

Chapter 9

It's a Saturday afternoon and I wake up to find myself alone in bed. Lay's side of the bed is cold, so I assume she's been up for a while. I sit up and stretch before I check my phone, I have a missed call and 3 text messages, all from an unknown number. I furrow my eyebrows because I can't remember who this fucking number belongs to, but whoever this person is, sent me 2 pictures attached to the message: "Don't act like you forgot how well I can switch it up, I was doing this shit before you and I have no problem doing it after". I'm starting to think this wasn't meant to come to me, nevertheless, I look at the pictures to see what the fuck they're talking about and damn near drop my phone at the sight.

The first picture is a girl laying down with her ass in the air showcasing her arch along with her red all lace boy shorts that don't do much to cover her ass. The second picture is the same girl but in boxer briefs with a bitch in only a thong sitting on her lap and a joint in her hand. Well damn, talk about making a statement. I bite my lip I don't know who this girl is, but she looks like a fun time and sexy as hell. I shake my head and close my phone before standing and remind myself that I have Lay now and I can't treat my best friend like any other hoe out here. No matter how tempting.

I pull my hair up and change into a pair of red joggers that sit low on my hips and a white t-shirt. I can food being cooked downstairs, and my stomach lets out a resounding growl letting me know it's well pass time to eat. I grab my phone and put it in my pocket deciding not to respond to the text, at least not now, it's obvious it wasn't meant for me, but I have no idea how they got my number anyway. Working with King I can't always ignore random messages and calls, it can be a set up after we had a shootout last week at the club for all I know. I learned my lesson that you can never be too careful.

I walk into the kitchen just as Lay places to two plates on the table, I kiss Ari on the head as she eats the scrambled eggs and couple cut up pieces of pancakes. I sit down next to Lay and kiss her forehead as well thanking her for making breakfast, or brunch I guess since it's almost 1 o'clock. I've gotten used to us eating out because we're both too lazy to cook but her cooking is ten times better, it's so damn good I go back for seconds "baby you did your thing with this food" Lay laughs and shakes her head as she sits next to me.

"You say that if I just get you fast food for you but thank you baby, who was that blowing up your phone this morning?"

"I'm not sure, a wrong number I guess, the message doesn't sound like it was meant for me and the number isn't saved in my phone. I might as King to trace it later to see if we can find the owner." I say shrugging as we continue to eat and talk. When we're finished, I gather all our dirty dishes while she cleans Ari's face, who's laughing and banging on her highchair, me and her are so alike and simple, feed us and we're happy.

"What's your plans for today?" I ask turning around as I finish cleaning the kitchen.

"I don't know chilling I guess, you?" I sigh as I think over what I have to do today.

"I got to go see my mom since she finally called asking to talk the other day, when that bullshit is done, I was thinking of hitting up the park to play a little pickup. It feels like I haven't shot a basketball in years. I can come back and get y'all." When she agrees I go upstairs into a pair of graphic shorts underneath my joggers and my pair of black and red Jordan 13's.

"Alright baby I'll be back in an hour or two" I go to stand between her legs as she sits on the edge of the bed. She's made a pillow fort around Ari who's playing crawling around on the bed laughing every time her face it's the bed. I decide to leave her alone, so she won't get upset if I leave and run my hands through Lay's hair. She wraps her arms around my waist and looks up at me.

"Okay be safe and don't be doing nothing stupid Dre last thing you need to do is get arrested." I resist the urge to roll my eyes cause she is right, but she's always saying this shit like I go out looking for trouble.

"I know baby" I give Lay and my sister a kiss on the forehead and walk out the house to my car. I turn on my phone so I can start playing music and I'm once again met with the messages from that unknown number. I sigh turn on my music before putting my phone down and out of the driveway trying to think who the fuck this person is. Her face isn't seen in any of the pictures, and I don't recognize the number. I decide to just push it to the back of my mind for now, dealing with my mom is enough I don't need to worry about some random bitch.

When she called asking to talk, that naïve childish part of me couldn't help but get my hopes up for the chance that my mom has finally changed. Yeah, I'm angry at her and I don't have high expectation, but I don't hate her, she's my mom and she used to be a good one, before the drugs. I sigh and turn up my music letting it clear my head.

I pull up to my old house and my eyes widen in surprise, is this really the same place, the grass is cut and there isn't a single piece of trash in the yard. The porch is still slightly raggedy due to the age of the house, but it looks way better than the last time I was here. Like someone actually put in an effort for once.

I grab my gun and get the envelope full of cash out of the console and hop out of my car, I still send Sherrie money for the house, because the last thing I want is a call from King or one of his workers saying they see my mom in the streets. I go to the door and take a deep breath, shutting off my emotions before I ring the doorbell. It only takes a minute for Sherrie to come open the door and when she does, she just stands for a second staring at me with teary eyes.

She looks healthier than I've seen her in a while, of course you can still see the effects of the drugs and I'm sure she's still using, but at least for now she looks sober. She's still skinny, and her hair isn't exactly the best, but she looks cleaner, and she dressed in jeans and a white button down like she's trying. She seems better it almost makes me get hopes up again, almost being the key word. I've been through these moments enough times to know better. I'm not falling for it so easily this time and my guard is going to stay up.

"Baby hi I didn't think you'd come" Sherrie finally snaps out of her daze surprised and I just nod and walk inside, not sure what she wants me to say. Seeing her makes me realize it's been a few months since she's seen me, the times I come over I either don't go inside, she's not here, or she's passed out. I look around the house to see that it's surprisingly clean, I do my normal routine and walk to the kitchen and look in the cabinets and the fridge. The basics such as eggs, milk, sliced cheese, one packet of oatmeal and half a container of juice is all that she has to eat.

I sigh and decide I'll just go buy the groceries myself instead of giving her the money, the rest will just go to the bills. I tell her I'm going to the store and leave the house and head to my car run my hands down my face. Sometimes I feel like the parent and not her.

It takes me thirty minutes to finish grocery shopping, since she's not much of a cook I got her shit frozen and microwaveable dinners a long with shit for sandwiches. I even make sure to get the healthy shit like fruit, vegetables, and bottles of water in case she decides not to pay the water bill. When I'm done shopping, I go back to my old house and after a brief struggle with the bags, I manage to get them all without dropping any before I put them up in their proper place. The house has a lingering smell of cologne, and I can hear chatter in the living room, but I learned at a young age to avoid any male company that she has over. Once I'm finished, I figure she's decided against having a talk now that she has her money and I have every intention of leaving when she calls me into the living room. I roll my eyes and take a deep breath before following the voices to see the last person I want to see sitting on the couch looking as good as can be which only further pisses me off.

"What the fuck are you doing here nigga?"