Down Bad.

twelve.

Zachari.

"Mom?" I stood at the door in shock. "Mom! Come in, oh my goodness!" 

I stepped to the side as she made her way inside the house. She looked just as beautiful and youthful as the last time I saw her. 

"Come here you," She laughed as she engulfed me in a hug. "Wow, I missed you kid."

"Missed you too, mom" I mumbled. "What are you doing here, though? I thought you were stationed?" 

"Well that's actually what I came to talk-" 

"Trevor one more word from you and I'm getting a switch." Lilley said as she waddled into the room with Trevor hot on her heels. Once she looked up to see my mother, her expression matched mine. "Well, hello! What a surprise." 

"Hi to you as well," My mom said as they shared a hug. Her eyes grew big once she looked at Lilley's growing stomach. "A surprise in your stomach, too. How far along?" 

"I'll be five months in a week." She beamed. 

"Congrats, sweetie." Mom smiled and gently rubbed her stomach before averting her eyes to a clueless Trevor. "And you are?"

"Whatever you want me to be.." He gawked, making me pinch his side. "Trevor. I'm Trevor, Zachari's friend. You must be her sister?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at his antics. He was just pestering Lilley less than a minute ago and now here he was flirting with my mother. He was such a boy. 

"Nice to meet you Trevor. You're just too cute." She giggled. 

"In what dimension?" I mumbled, rolling my eyes. "Anyways, are you hungry mom? Trevor just finished dinner." 

"Mom?" Trevor looked between us two then at Lilley. "Hol' on. I thought-"

"I'm adopted, Trevor." I sighed. 

He caught on to the situation and decided not to pry. Instead he volunteered to go to the kitchen to fix my mother a plate. I had no intentions on sharing such personal information with him, but there was no reason to hide it either. 

Once he left the room, my mom, Lilley, and I made our way to the dining room. Although I was more than happy to see my mom, I wanted to know why she dropped by so suddenly. It was evident that Lilley was thinking the same thing. 

"Why thank you mister Trevor." My mom said as he sat her food down on the table. "I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks."

Bending down to place her water on the table, he made sure to make eye contact while licking his lips. "Me too."

It was almost disgusting to watch my mom giggle and grin like a school girl at Trevor. Purely disgusting. 

Shortly after, Trevor said his good-byes and told me he'd see me later at school. I was a little relieved he was gone so I could have my mother's undivided attention and get personal. 

"So," I started. "What brings you by so suddenly? I thought I wasn't going to see you until graduation."

"Yeah about that," She cleared her throat while sitting her fork down. "I decided to take a break from the military." 

"Take a break?" I questioned. "You can't just take a break mom.. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Her facial expression altered as she picked at her food. I knew my mother better than she knew herself. There was definitely something she was hiding and I was going to find out what it was. 

As if on cue, Lilley's phone began to ring causing her to excuse herself. 

"So you're not gonna talk?" I folded my arms across my chest.

"Zachari you don't seem to excited that I'm here. I just said that I'm taking a break. You should be happy that your mother is back." 

"Maybe I would be if I knew the truth of why she's back." 

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it once Lilley entered the room. 

"That was your teacher Mr. O'Ryan." Lilley looked at me. "He wants to have a parent teacher conference tomorrow." 

"Did he say why?" I asked.

She shook her head no. "I-"

"What time do I need to be there?" My mom asked, sipping her water. 

Both Lilley and I looked at her in confusion.

"You're going?" We said in unison.

She looked back and forth between us before letting out a chuckle. "It's a parent teacher conference. I am a parent aren't I?"

"It depends." I scoffed. 

"Zachari Azul Castonoga you better watch your mouth young lady." She scolded. 

"Look, it's late we should all get some rest and talk about this in the morning." Lilley yawned, rubbing her belly. "Are you staying here tonight Mrs. Castonoga?"

"No." She sighed standing up from the table. "I'll be staying at the Hilton down the street. By the way, call me Izra. We'll be seeing a lot of each other so lets get familiar."

Lilley forced a smile on her face before heading to the stairs. "And there's the door. You'll be seeing a lot of it so make yourself familiar. Zach lock up behind your mama. Goodnight."

My mom twisted her lips as she averted her eyes to me. Not saying a word she went to grab her things before heading to the door.

"Goodnight, Zach." She said, closing the door behind her. 

This is gonna be interesting..

                                                                        ************

Does anybody else sense animosity between the mamas? Whew Chile.

Also, rip Nipsey Hustle. One of my biggest role models.