The Statue of Liberty: A Norminah Story

Chapter 9

          [DINAH'S POV]
   I park my car into the daycare parking lot before looking towards the backseat to Seth.

   "Go ahead and go in, toko. We'll be there in a second." I say.

   He nods getting out of his carseat happily. Closing the car door behind him he runs into the daycare. I let out a loud sigh looking to my lap. I can't believe I've done this. Normani grabs my hand giving it an assuring squeeze.

   "It's going to be okay. They're just kids." Normani says.

   "Exactly. They're just kids. What do they know about any of this?" I ask.

   "Every kid has a crush. They do it for fun. It may not mean anything. He may just be excited. Don't you remember having a crush when you were his age?" She asks.

   "I didn't go to school till I was like thirteen, even then it was just online. I've never went to an actual school with actual kids." I say.

   Normani frowns kissing my hand.

   "Just let him be a kid. That's all I'm saying. Give them a chance. You never know. You did raise him, so we both know he has good taste." Normani says making me chuckle.

   "I can try." I mumble.

   "That's the spirit. Now let's go." She smiles opening her door.

   I roll my eyes opening my own door. I close my door behind me walking around the car to meet Normani. She sticks her hand out for me to take, which I happily do. Interlacing our fingers we walk into the daycare.

   It's not huge, but it's big enough to hold a decent amount of kids. Seth comes up to both of us with a couple by his side.

   "DJ this is Paris' mommy and daddy!" Seth smiles pointing to the couple.

   "Okay, toko. Thank you. Go play with Paris now." I say.

   Seth nods running away. I look to the couple with a nervous smile. How the hell do I even start this conversation? Hey, my kid has a crush on your kid! So, I was wondering if they could have a play date.

   "Hi, I'm Dinah; Seth's older sister." I say introducing myself.

   I stick out my hand shaking theirs.

   "This is my friend Normani." I say motioning to the girl beside me.

   They shake her hand as well with a friendly smile.

   "You are definitely not what we were expecting." The lady says.

I decide not to take offense to her words and just smile it off.

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm Pearl and this is my husband James." She says.

   "Paris has told us so much about Seth. He seems like a great kid." James says.

   "Thank you. I was actually wanting to talk to you about Paris." I say.

   "Okay, what about him?" Pearl asks.

   I nearly choke on air at her question.

   "H-Him?" I ask.

   "Yes, you wanted to talk about Paris. What were you wanting to say about him?" Pearl asks.

   I look to Normani who looks as surprised as I do. Paris is a boy. Seth likes a boy. Okay, uhm, game changer. I try to ignore my shock and continue on with the conversation.

   "Well, uhm, Seth really likes Paris. So, I was wondering if Paris could come to my house to hang out with Seth for a bit after daycare?" I ask.