Mr. Tan

Chapter 54: Here Comes Trouble

The week went by kinda fast and now it was Friday afternoon, 3:12 to be exact and Ava's bus would be dropping her off any minute now. Today was rainy and dreary outside with temperatures in the upper 80's. Earl withdrew $230.00 a few days ago so I could take Ava shopping for a few new outfits and get her hair professionally styled. Earl was at work as usual and I made myself busy in the kitchen getting dinner ingredients prepared. A few minutes later Ava came through the front door and was greeted by an excited Duke. I could hear her babbling to Duke for a few moments.

"Hey mom, I'm home", Ava called out.

"Hey, hon, I'm in the kitchen", I replied.

She came into the kitchen with Duke in tow. Today Ava wore a simple pink cotton knee length skirt and a solid red sleeveless shirt and her pink and white canvas sneakers without socks. Her thick hair was in cornrows with multi colored beads at the ends of each braid. I braided it last night and it took me an hour and thirty minutes.

"So, how was school?", I asked.

"Fine, um, how do you feel about a new friend of mine's calling here?", she asked, twiddling with her fingers.

"I wouldn't mind as long as they are respectful when they call here", I replied. And as long as you know there's no phone calls after 9:00 on school nights.

"Okay", she replied.

"So, who's this new friend?", I asked.

"Mia Tate", Ava replied. She's really nice and we have art class together.

"Wait a second, she's not one of the girls that was teasing you earlier this week, is she?", I asked.

"No", Ava replied. She's pretty cool, she's a really good artist that knows her away around a paint brush and pastels. She says her mom's an actress that's been in dozens of plays and her dad is a high school music teacher.

"Oh, the artsy type, I like it", I replied.

"I sat with her at lunch instead of at my normal spot", Ava replied.

"You mean with those other girls, right?", I asked.

"Yep", Ava replied.