Clouded Soul

29

The smell of glorious food woke me up. For a minute I thought I was in heaven, but then I realized who the hell I was. If anything had happened to me while I was asleep I would be in hell.

I groaned and got up doing my hygiene really quick. As I was brushing my teeth, I heard someone yell my name from downstairs.

"WAKE UP MERCY," Dominic shouted.

"Give me a minute," I yell back rolling my eyes.

Quickly, I rinsed out my mouth, took off my towel and let down my wet hair and slipped on one of Dom's shirts. Mine needed to be washed and I didn't have time so...

"Come on damn, Ma," Dominic said and I could hear Shauna scolding him.

"Watch yo mouth boy," she said and I heard a slap.

Chuckling, I continued making my way downstairs. Once I finally made my way downstairs, Dominic and Shauna were cooking and baking what looked like Thanksgiving food. Was it Thanksgiving already?

"Finally," he exaggerated, walking over with egg all over his hands.

"Dom, I just washed! Back up," I whine as he got close to me

"Awe it's Thanksgiving day, Ma, give me a lil hug," he chuckled, reaching towards my face.

His hand almost touched me but I dodged him in time and laughed, running over towards the sink. We both began laughing at each other. As he walked over, he got some soap and used his elbows to turn on the water so that he could wash his hands.

"Hey this is perfect. Mercy, pop that macaroni in the oven," Shauna said dusting her hands off on her apron.

I walked over and opened the oven door. Honestly the idea of just getting close to an open oven scared me, but I couldn't be afraid of the oven forever.

"You good, Ma," Dominic asked.

I nod slightly as I pick up the pan and walk to the oven. Before I could even get within 2 feet of the oven, Dominic comes over, snatching the pan out of my hand and slipping it into the oven.

"Thanks," I mumble.

Shauna was sitting at the table with her legs crossed, chest up, and her face still. She beckoned Dominic and I over to her with her finger. Once we were about a good 4 feet away, she stopped us and sighed.

"What's up Shauna," he asked rubbing the back of his neck.

"I want to know...why in the hell you two are in my fucking house, doing grown ass shit. I get it — you two are male and female and get horny, but what you're not going to do is disrespect me by fooling around in my house, do I make myself clear," she said staring from Dominic to me.

"Yes ma'am," we both said.

"If I need to do so...I will have that guest room cleaned out and fixed up, then Mercy will stay in there. Or I can just kick you out Dominic Vincent," she said turning back to him, "You're 19 now and you know the rules. I shouldn't have to tell you not to be in my house fooling around. If you want to get some pussy, you can go do it elsewhere, just keep that foolishness out of my damn house."

"It's not even that deep. Besides I told you I'll move out later on this year when I get enough money. I still need —"

"Boy have you forgotten who you're talking to?! Don't ever tell me what you said you told me. I know what the fuck you said. Now go on so I can talk to Mercy alone before I bust yo ass," she said through gritted teeth.

He kissed his teeth and walked off. When he was out of the kitchen she patted the chair next to her and I nervously sat down. Was she mad at me? Like really mad? Would she kick me out or beat me?

"There's four things I, Shauna, do not tolerate in my house: sex, disrespect, nudity, and lies," she said pausing for me to say something.

I didn't say anything so she nodded her head and started to continue talking.

"I'm not mad at you so you can stop looking so scared. If I were mad I would've already said something about it and Dominic would've gotten this belt," she joked.

I laughed and she got up sighing.

"So you're not mad about it," I ask.

"Not at all," she said going to her room.

I blow out a sigh of relief and turn to the sink. Lost in my thoughts, I thoughtlessly ran my hands underneath the water. My mind was on how careless I'd been last night. How'd I forget about her being here?

"You look good in my clothes," Dominic says coming up behind me, pressing his body against mine.

I turned around and placed my hands on his chest shaking my head.

"What? You the one not wearing underwear," he said grabbing my butt.

"Stop! Didn't you just hear what your mother said," I asked giggling.

"Yeah and Shauna knows I'm not going to listen," Dominic says leaning in.

Before he could kiss me, I placed my hand in between our faces. He frowned down at me but I didn't care. Honestly, I wasn't trying to be on her bad side. No matter how much I want to, from now on, I can't fool around with Dominic.

"You two done so I can start cooking again," Shauna asked walking back in.

"Nah, me and Ma gon be a minute upstairs," he joked.

"Boy, I will beat yo ass. Don't think just because you joking that I won't. Go wash those hands of yours and Mercy go get dressed properly. You seem to have my young boy distracted," she said eyeing us both.

I nervously laughed but obeyed her instructions in the end.