Florida Kilos

Damn You

      I scanned through the newspaper that was delivered at my house earlier this morning. Every now and then I'd glance from the paper to Amalita kicking her feet back and forth trying to catch as much air as she could so she can get higher into the sky.
     The corners of my mouth curled up and brought my attention back to the paper. There were definitely jobs available, but all required skills that i didn't have. Looking through this newspaper made me wish I could go back in time and redo everything i ever did. I wish i could've gone to college like momma told me to but i was too naive to listen. But there's no going back, i'll just have to accept what i've done and move forward.

     "May I sit here." I was startled by the deep rough voice coming from a stalky broad shouldered man. His black waves were slicked back behind his wide head, his eyes were blocked by a pair of reflective shades. His thin lips were surrounded by a scruffy go-tee, despite the hot weather he had on a long sleeve shirt with a pair of khaki slacks. I opened my mouth to speak but he had already sat down beside me, his arms stretched out behind the bench. I glanced at Amalita  and she was still swinging, i turned my head to the mystery man who was already looking at me.

     I swallowed the spit that was building up in my mouth," Marina Allen, right?" My eyebrows furrowed together and my back stiffened up," Who are you?" He let out a dry laugh and curled a piece of my hair in his finger," You're alot more beautiful in person." I snatched my hair away from him and glared at my reflection in his glasses," Who the fuck are you and what the hell do you want!?" He chuckled once again, my hands gripped onto the newspaper,"Listen, I wasn't suppose to tell you this ,but you were so damn pretty in the picture I just had to come see you myself," His tongue glided along his bottom lip and flashed me a white smile,"He's coming." With that he stood up from the bench, as he was about to walk away, he lightly pinched my chin; I immediately jerked away from him and shot him a glare. I got up from the bench and paced over to Amalita,"Mommy are you gonna push me?" I grabbed onto the swing and gently slowed it down,"No, we have to go." I scooped her up in my arms and we went back to my car and went back home.

    I closed the door behind us and immediately locked it, I wasn't going to test my luck with that guy. I carried Amalita to her room and set her on her bed; I embraced her face into my hands and gazed into her eyes,"No matter what, don't listen to anyone unless mommy says it's okay, got it?" she nodded her head slowly and she snaked her arms around my neck and I squeezed her tight,"I love you." "I love you too mommy." We let go of each other and I let her play with her toys. I walked out of her room and into the kitchen to start dinner. I grabbed a pot from the cabinet and filled it with water and boiled it on the stove. While the water was boiling, i opened up the nearly empty pantry and reached for some pasta and pasta sauce. I dumped the pasta into the boiling hot water and took out a pan to heat up the sauce.
    Once the spaghetti was done, I grabbed two bowls from the cabinet and two forks from the drawer,"Amalita, time to eat!" I quickly heard her little feet patter across the room, she hopped up in her chair and smiled at me,"Hungry too huh?" "Yeah." I set the bowl in front of her and she didn't hesitate to dig in. After dinner, I put away the leftovers and Amalita helped me wash the dishes. After I put away the clean dishes, I followed Ama to the bathroom and ran some warm water into the tub," Can't forget bubbles!" Ama squeezed the soap near the faucet and foam bubbles began to form. She quickly removed her garments and jumped into the bathtub, throwing the bubbles into the air. I got her washcloth and helped her wash her body before taking some shampoo and thoroughly washed through her thick curly hair.  I rinsed her off and wrapped the towel around her body, she scurried off into her room while i drained the water.

       When I got into her room, she was already dressed in her night clothes," Where's your brush girlie?" She ran off to her dresser, grabbed her brush and gave it to me. We took a seat on her bed and I placed her on my lap, I grazed the brush through the strands of hair, getting every tangle I possibly could before tucking her in bed. I gave her a light kiss on her forehead," Goodnight." "Goodnight, love you." "Love you too sweetie."

I exited her room closing the door slightly before i went into the living room. I plopped on the couch, I snatched up the newspaper from the table and read it continuously. As I read the paper, I kept praying to myself  that Rich could get me that job, I really didn't care what i was doing. As long as i wasn't hoeing around or selling drugs, I was cool with any job I could get. I finally put down the paper and laid back on the couch. My eyes wandered the light blue tattered walls, the pictures of my family hung loosely over the tv.
      One picture caught my eye, I was standing beside my mother , about 5 months pregnant with Ama. My mother had a big smile upon her ageless brown face, the wind was blowing her permed hair, which seems to be the style now a days. We both looked so happy that day, like nothing could bring us down. Unfortunately, one person could and still can, that one man who changed my life forever.

      Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, I swung my head towards the clock on the wall, wondering who the hell would be here at this time. I steadily got up from the couch, I crept slowly towards the door, my shaky hand was inches from the door knob. Abruptly, the door knob rattled, I backed away from the door, but it swung open with ease.

    My heart almost stopped at the sight of the tall tan man who stood in front of me. His long black wavy hair was pulled back so tight that his eyes were almost slits. Every inch of his upper body was covered in tattoos, his thick eyebrows raised in mischief at the sight of me. A long smirk was plastered on his grim face and he rubbed his chin with his thick rough hands. A humorless coarse chuckle erupted his throat. I shakily let out the breath i was holding in,"....Caesar?"