Page 87 of Until Forever

“You can put your things here.” I flop down in the chair and wait for her to unpack her bag.

A little bit later, she’s ready to paint my face. I close my eyes, trying not to laugh because the brush tickles me. When she finishes, she takes my hands and draws cuffs on my wrists.

“All right, young man. What do you think?” Courtney gives me a mirror.

“Perfect. I’m going to go get you a tip.” I hop off the chair. “Be right back.” I take off into the house, almost tripping over the dining chair. “Ah!” I grab my knee.

“Slowwww down, JJ,” Mommy groans.

“It didn’t hurt,” I fib. That hurt really bad.

“Tell your face that, and where are you running off to?”

I stop in the middle of the entryway with my hand on the wall. “To my piggy bank so that I can get Courtney a tip. She did a really good job.”

The bell rings, and Mommy smiles. “My baby, such a little man. Go ahead. I’ll get the door.”

“Okay.” I run to my room.

“JJ, your friends are here,” Mommy yells, but I don’t answer her. “Why don’t you go to the backyard?”

Brandon yells okay, and there’s then a bunch of footsteps until they all disappear. As I grab my money and turn back to my door, Daddy comes into my room. He closes us in while peeking into the hallway to make sure Mommy doesn’t hear us.

“Hey, buddy. So are we all set for today? Do you know what you’re supposed to do?”

“Yup. And Maw Maw’s ready, too. Just listen for my cue. I got you, Dad.” I pat his shoulder and race out to be with my friends.

There’s a lot of people here now. My friends are either in line for face painting or in the bouncy house. Others are playing some of the games my mommy set out for us. But T’Challa isn’t here yet.

I go over to where Brandon is at the basketball set. “Hey, B. I’m glad you’re here.”

“What’s up, JJ. Your party is so cool.”

“Thanks. My dad helped my mom plan it.” I grab the ball from him and shoot it, but I miss.

“Your dad is really nice. I’m sorry I said that stuff at my sleepover,” he apologizes.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad.”

We continue to play for a while before running to jump in the bouncy house. I fall on Mikey’s head, and we all burst out in laughter because no matter how many times I try to get up, Adrian jumps, and I’d fall again.

“Where’s my grandbaby?”

I poke my head out of the opening. “Maw Maw!”

“Come give me some sugar.”

I fall as I try to get out of the thing but dust myself off and storm into my grandma’s arms. She kisses me like always but doesn’t wipe her lipstick away as my mommy does.

I look around. Everyone’s here. Mrs. Harmony, her husband, baby Ava, and all the other people who came to our cookout. Honestly, they’ve been coming around a lot more since the incident.

My parents try not to talk about what happened, but I hear them sometimes, and ever since, Mommy is even clingier than she already was. But it’s good because that means we spend a lot of time together.

And now that Daddy is here with us, everything is great. Mommy smiles more, and lately, I get to eat ice cream and have game time when they want to kiss each other again. I say it’s a win for me, though.

“It’s time for cake,” my mommy yells.

We race to the table, but I hold my arms up so no one accidentally knocks it out of her hand. Especially since every time I run, I fall over something. She sits it in the middle, and at the same time, my dad speaks.

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