Safe Place

*KAYLA*

“No more chicken fingers for you, Mr. Jingles.”

“Is that what you named your shark?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Well how about we sit Mr. Jingles on the couch so he doesn’t get a tummy ache after eating all of that food.”

“Mr. Jingles, Ms. Hines says you have to take a nap.”

I put my shark on the couch and put the blanket on him.

Ms. Hines made me chicken fingers. They were yummy. I like her food. Mommy can’t cook like that.

After I ate all my food, Ms. Hines let me paint her belly. She said she didn’t have any paper, so she told me to pretend she was. She gave me pretty colors like pink, green, and sparkly yellow.

“Ooh, that tickles, Kayla.”

“Sorry. Mommy never lets me have this much fun. She says I’m messy, but I like being with you and uncle. Y’all are nice to me and play with me.”

“I’m sure Mommy is nice to you too. Maybe she’s just busy.”

“Nope. Mommy and uncle are mad at each other. They were really loud. It scared me. He told me to come with him and you.”

“Those two just need time. They’ll be friends again. They won’t be as cool as us, but they’ll be nice to each other after a while.”

I know she wanted to make me feel better, but when Mommy and uncle fight, he doesn’t talk to me. In the car his face was red and he didn’t play our songs we like to sing to. That made me sad.

“Ms. Hines…?”

“Jamira.”

“Can I call you Mimi for short?”

“Sure.”

“Mimi…can I help with my cousin when he comes?”

“Of course you can.”

Mimi gave me a hug. She gives the best ones. I think she’s my favorite person.

….

*JAMIRA*

It was just a normal day of cleaning and doing laundry. Nothing major. Nothing new. I’ve been cleaning more lately. I read somewhere that the closer you get to delivery, the more you start doing things to prepare for your little one.

Between the cravings, low energy levels, and constant bathroom trips, this boy is closer to getting kicked out every day.

I was in front of the TV doing my pregnancy stretches when Eric walked in the door. Except this time he wasn’t alone.

The little figure emerged from behind him and ran up to hug me with the biggest smile on her face.

“MS. HINES!”

I quickly braced myself for impact.

“Kayla! BE CAREFUL!” Eric said as he put her bag in the guest room.

Trying not to bombard her with belly, I angled myself.

Eric stood across the room and stared into nothing before going to his bedroom. I turned on the TV for Kayla before going to talk to him.

He was out on the balcony with that same look he had when he was deep in thought and refused to let it go.

“Eric, what’s wrong?”

He stayed silent, but his jaw clicked. The muscles in his neck tightened slightly.

“Talk to me.”

“Kacie and I…had a disagreement.” he said while lighting his cigarette.

“You’ve gotta stop that.”

He paused for a second.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not going to be able to smoke around here when the baby comes. You should probably get used to not doing it.”

He leaned back over the rail. For a while he just stood there. Just when I was about to leave he finally broke his silence.

“Kayla got suspended today, and she can’t go back until next Tuesday.”

“Huh? She’s eight.”

“Yeah, well they said she’s been getting in trouble a lot lately. Her mom wanted to sweep it under the rug like she always does. Something about talking to her.”

That left me speechless for a second.

“She’s not like that.”

“I know. In the meantime, you mind if she stays with you?”

“Yeah, I could use some company.”

His face relaxed a little, but not enough to assume he was okay. He placed a soft kiss on my neck.

“I’m going to take a shower.”

When he went into the bathroom, I went back to check on Kayla.

We had plenty to catch up on and she was more than happy to do it. She told me she wanted to paint, so I let her use my belly as her canvas. When she was done painting flowers, hearts, and kittens, we played a few of her favorite games. She told me all about her stuffed shark Mr. Jingles. He had his own back story.

After we had a tea party with real tea, she was completely spent. She fell asleep on the couch in the middle of drinking her juice. I took the juice box out of her mouth and covered her with a blanket.

In the middle of cleaning everything up, I got a call from Ayana asking if she could stay a few days. I was more than happy to agree. I needed company and I missed being around my friend.

It took a while for her to arrive and when she did I immediately showed her to the guest room. Somehow she reached behind the bed to plug in her charger and pulled out a bottle we knew nothing about.

We both had questions that neither of us could answer.

I started to get Eric, but he was sleeping.

I took the bottle from Ayana and went to sit on the couch to figure out what the hell was going on.

She came and sat with me after she had gotten settled in.

I was so lost in thought, I almost didn’t feel her sit down.

“Who do you think it belongs to?”

“I don’t know.”

She stared at it as if it would reveal itself completely to her.

“You think it was important?”

“I don’t know, all I know, is Kacie was the last person in that room.”

The silence grew between us.

“I know you don’t like when I say this, but you gotta tell Eric.”