Page 17 of Royce
“You need to learn how to lie better. It’s all in your eyes that you just talking to be talking. I won’t push though. Serinity is bringing somethings for the baby when she brings CJ home. A few outfits and this traveling bassinet I seen. Since you doing the whole bedrest thing, I don’t have to tell you when. Your ass should already be home.”
“I will be. Thank you, Auntie. I’m going to get going. CJ, give Mommy a kiss,” I said cutting the conversation short.
It wasn’t that I didn’t respect my aunt’s lectures, but she just never stopped doing it. She made it her business to tell me about my poor choices when it came to Cojak. I was already filled with regret. Her telling me how sorry he was didn’t help.
“Bye Mommy!” CJ said throwing his little arms around my legs. I couldn’t bend down because it was no telling how I would get back up.
“I love you, baby boy. I’ll see you later.” He nodded wildly and went to tearing the toy out the box. “Thanks, Auntie. I’ll talk to you later.”
I walked out the door feeling a sense of relief. There were times when her words were welcomed but today wasn’t one. I’d already began to emotionally detach myself from Cojak so her reminding me of his ways wasn’t needed.
Getting comfortable in the truck, I headed back to the house. It took me a little over twenty minutes to cross town. The morning rush had somewhat slowed up, but it was still pretty packed. As I pulled into the driveway, I stopped at the mailbox. I already knew what was in it but stopped anyway.
I opened the door flap to the mailbox and grabbed all the envelopes from it. However, there was a thick orange one toward the back. I pulled it out and saw that it was filled with money. Crisp ass hunnid dollar bills filled it. I looked around as if the person that left it was still around.
Standing there, I thought on the past events and got pissed all over again. It took me witnessing his infidelity and beating his ass for him to finally make a move and help me. He must’ve known I was leaving his ass. He picked a fine time to be a fuckin’ man. I hopped back in my car to count the blue faces he sent. Just because he gave up the bread now didn’t mean shit to me. I was still detaching myself from him for the sake of my kids. Two minutes later, I was chuckling at the five bands in my lap. He really was a piece of fuckin’ work.
Throwing the car in reverse, I backed out and headed right to Spring Energy. There were small office locations around the city where we could go and pay our light bills instead of going to the main office on the north side of town. The convenience was appreciated. They had no clue how much. I didn’t stop driving until I was in front of the building. I grabbed a space right at the front door.
Sliding out the front seat, I snatched up the orange envelope and made my way inside. Thankfully, there was no line. One other person was inside so I took a place behind her. I felt like with this bread, I could finally get a hold of things and lift a weight from my shoulders. I planned on calling the landlord once I left here. I was praying an eviction wasn’t filed.
Stepping up to the counter, I immediately gave her my information. “Klarity Monroe. That’s clarity with a k, not c. My address is 2120 White Road.”
She pecked on her key and said, “I got you pulled up. So, what are we doing today?”
“Paying the bill. I believe it was $396. 24.” I went digging in the envelope for four blue faces.
“I’m sorry ma’am but that balance has already been resolved. You have a zero dollar balance at the moment.”
Rasing my head, my brows were dipped, eyes squinted, and nose scrunched. I was confused on how my balance was paid off when I hadn’t put anything on it in months. I’ve always had to put other bills before it. Hell, I just got the letter in the mail two days ago about a disconnection if I didn’t make a payment. There was no way it could be resolved.
“Excuse me?”
“Ms. Monroe, you don’t have a balance at the moment. There’s nothing for you to pay,” she repeated.
“How can that be though? I hadn’t made a payment in months. Are you screwing with me?” I asked still confused on what she was telling me.
“I have no reason to screw with you. You have a zero balance ma’am.” She turned her computer screen to face me and pointed to where my balance would be. Sure enough, it had the $0.00 inside the box.
“I see it, but what I’m saying is, I didn’t make a payment. Can you tell me when it was made?”
“It was paid yesterday right before we closed in cash. All I can tell you is to accept it as a blessing and move on. Is there anything else I can help you with?” she inquired.
Releasing a deep breath, I shook my head. “No. Thank you so much.”
I walked out the building feeling lost as hell. One thing I knew for sure was Cojak wasn’t giving up money and paying bills. It was one or the other with him. Then again, what went down might’ve woke him the hell up. This changed nothing. I was cutting ties. Thank you for finally stepping up but it was a little too late.
Back in the car, I called the landlords. The married couple was a white one, but they worked with me as much as they could. I appreciated them giving me grace when it came to paying them, but even I knew that shit stretched so thin. He answered after a few rings in his normal chipper voice.
“Hi, Klarity. How’s it going?”
“Hi Mr. Parrot. I was calling to let you know I can pay the back rent and next month’s rent as well, today. Can you meet me at the post office so I can get you a money order?”
“Oh, there’s no need. Your rent is caught up and already paid for next month. We appreciate you keeping your word. We get unexpected things happen all the time and we really didn’t want to evict you and your family,” he expressed.
“I’m sorry, you said it’s paid already?” I questioned. This was the second time I tried to pay something, and it was already handled. I scoffed the longer I put two and two together. This was him apologizing thinking it meant something to me.
“Yes I did. If you need anything fixed in the house, please let us know. Have a good day and congrats on the new baby since we won’t be in touch next month.”
