My Spooky // On My Block

One

"I will take care of mommy." He smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Alright you have to get going for your first day of preschool. And don't forget I'll see you soon okay?" She nodded wrapping her little arms around him. The scene damn near broke my heart. He put her down then hugged me again before leaving.

Princess started to cry seeing him drive off. I sighed and picked her up. Jamal and Ruby came outside and walked over.

"Aww What happened?" Ruby asked her.

"Uncle Mario left." She pouted.

"He'll be back don't worry." She wiped her eyes and nodded. I smiled seeing Monse walking to the house. I put Princess down and gave her a hug.

"How was camp?" I asked her.

"Camp was good. Notice anything new?" She asked.

"You got boobs." Jamal and Ruby said at once. We both rolled our eyes.

"She got her braces off. And yeah she got boobs." I told them.

"Thank you. Where's Cesar?" She asked.

"We don't roll with Cesar anymore." Ruby said as we began to walk.

"What why?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it. Just know he's dead to us." Most off the walk consisted of Monse trying to figure out what Cesar said, but I didn't know and Ruby and Jamal weren't saying anything.

"Fine, I'll ask him myself." She said. I watched as she walked into the street right in front of an all too familiar car.

"Are you crazy?!" Oscar yelled sticking his head out the window. When the hell did he even get out of jail? Last time I seen him, he was in the back of a cop car. Monse moved to go talk to them. I made eye contact with Oscar but looked away quickly.

I picked up Princess and started walking away. I hoped he didn't recognize me. I didn't know what to say to him after all this time. I sighed hearing the car pull up and drive next to me.

"Mommy look. Red." Princess smiled pointing out the color of the car.

"Yes that's red baby."

"You don't know nobody now Mani?" Oscar called from the car.

"Hello Oscar." I said and kept walking. I heard the tires squeal and the door close.

"Imani." He said again. I sighed turning around the face him. He walked up to me causing Princess to lay her head down. Something she did mostly around strangers.

"Who's the kid?" He asked looking at her. I gulped.

"I-"

"Yo I'm gonna be late." Cesar said from the car.

"We can talk later." He said before getting back in the car. I let out a breath and continued the walk to the preschool. Once we got there, I brought her inside and found her class. I put her down and crouched down to her level.

"Are you excited?" I asked her.

"Can you come too?" I sighed.

"No mommy's gotta work. But you're gonna be fine. It's just like daycare. You get to draw and color and practice your numbers. You'll make friends." I smiled.

"Really?" She smiled.

"Oh yeah, you're going to have so much fun." I smiled. She giggled and hugged me. I closed my eyes and hugged her close.

"I love you."

"I love you too mommy." She smiled giving me a kiss. She waved before following the other kids into the class. Once I dropped her off, I headed to work.

I worked for Jamal's dad at his BBQ restaurant. I walked in and greeted Mr. Turner while putting on my apron.

"How's that daughter of yours?" He asked. I smiled.

"She's good. She started preschool today." I smiled.

"Yeah? Did she go easy?" He asked.

"Yeah she didn't give me a problem."

"Lucky you. Jamal kicked and screamed the whole way there." He snorted. I chuckled.

"I bet." We talked a bit more before we got ready to open. All day, my mind kept going back to Oscar. Did he put it together? Does he know? Does anyone else know? I was not looking forward to talking to him.