THE LOVECHILD Ft.Trey Songz

A Mother Knows

ms . kim .

rackinq memory.

Couldn't nobody tell me that that child that Laila was holding on her hip at Wal-mart belonged to none other than my Jahbari. I mean the little girl looked the spitting image of J. She had the dimples, golden brown eyes like Bari, pretty curly hair that ran in my family. And if that wasn't enough when I asked the little girl how old she was she told me that she was four which meant that she had had to be conceived before Jahbari left for college.

That little girl must have been the reason for Laila's disappearance. When Jahbari went off to college I tried to keep in contact with Laila. I called her even did the text thing that these kids do now a days but I got no her response on neither. And to top it off I couldn't go and visit her because I had never been to her home nor was I introduced to her parents before.

It was bad enough that Jay had left to go off to college, but when she shut me out too it hurt more. She was really like a daughter to me. That's why it hurt so much. I looked for her to be my surrogate daughter who would take the place of my Bari when he was gone. But, she hadn't reached out to me after Bari left.

I never got the explanation from Jahbari why things never worked out between them. He never asked for her nor had he ever cared to explain that part with me. I don't know why I never asked.

But, had I known about this little girl, I would've been happy to help out in any way. Sure, I would've been mad like any parents are suppose to because me and my husband have spent time drilling the importance about safe sex, condoms, and the pure way in Jahbari's head ever since he was thirteen. And for them to have been practically messing around out of wedlock and hadn't used protection I would be pissed. But I knew that I couldn't stay mad at them forever. And truly believe that I couldn't just by looking at that little girl today proved that. She was beautiful and looked to have an amazing spirit about her.

I parked my car in front of my home in Miami Gardens. I took the keys out of the ignition, popped the back of the trunk open and grabbed my purse on the seat next to me. I walked around the car to grab a bag which was not too heavy and walked towards the house door to unlock the door. Once the door was opened I called down for Jahbari to come help me with the groceries.

He'd just moved back here from Tallahassee a few days ago and was looking for a place to live. But, until then he will be staying here with me, my husband, and my goddaughter Demetria. I told the boy—oh my bad, he likes to consider himself a man now, but I in my eyes he'll always be my little boy—that he doesn't have to move out but he insist that he wants to. I guess because we give him the freedom to go off to college he feels that he doesn't need to live with us. Either that or he wants more freedom so that he could do whatever he wants without us interfering in his business.

"Yeah, ma." I heard him say as he came rushing down the stairs.

"I'm back with the groceries." I told him.

He walked into the kitchen in his basketball shorts and gray tee which read NAVY. I watched as he headed out of the kitchen to go and get the rest of the bags in the car. I smiled at the sudden memory when he had an interest in joining the NAVY. My husband, who was in the NAVY before I met him and retired once Jahbari turned twelve, inspired him to want to join. And because he learned and participated in the NAVY FLEET WEEK he had this fetish with NAVY labled clothes, tags, etc. I slight chuckle left my lips. But, in the end he ended up going to Florida Agricultural Mechanical University and got a bachelors degree in engineering.

When he got every last one of them he helped me unpacked them and stocked them in the pantries and fridge. When we finished he grabbed a bottle of water, "You'll never believe who I saw at Wal-mart." I told him. He resumed drinking the remaining of what was left in the bottle and wiped his lips.