When A boy....

CHAPTER TWO

Day 2...
It was a lovely sunday evening as the freeman residence stayed busy with something that they were doing. Robert was in the kitchen humming and singing to him self as he was preparing a big meal for some guest he would be having over later on. Tom and his family, his next door neighbor and a good friend of his, was invited by robert to have dinner with him and the boys. The occassion was planned way earlier before Charisma's arrival and Robert then thought he'd have to cancel it because of the situation, but instead he didnt because he simply didnt feel like it.
Riley was outside bouncing his basketball and Charisma was quietly sitting in the living room watching tv. Huey had just came out of the shower and he threw on some clothes. The thought of charisma's being with them for two days has been contemplating in his mind. He was still waiting to see if robert would actually resolve this problem in the most simplest of ways. He suddenly goes down stairs to harass his grandad because the pouncing thought was becoming very annoying.
"grandad i thought u said u was going to get child services on the phone" huey said.
"and i thought u said u was gon clean that nasty room of yours up stairs" robert replied."what I tell u about harassin me about that..."
"grandad this is serious, its been two days since she's been here, u have to get defax or something before something bad happens"
"boy aint nothing bad gon happen, u need to stop bein so paranoid and come help me set the table up"
"(sigh) I dont even know why this has to be such a hard task for u..." Huey mumbled.
"well if its such a big deal to you then why dont u go over there and tell her to get out then"
"thats not my problem, you're the adult so you need to do whats expected of u and take her to a foster care"
"boy who u think u talkin to like that "
"i dont think u realize how serious this is to hold a random child we know nothing about under our custody with out at least any legal authorization, grandad u could go to jail and me and riley could get sent to a foster care...."
robert tried to ignore huey by continuing humming and singing to him self because he didnt think huey was making any sense. But huey continued on any way.
"what if somebody is looking for her?" he said.
"boy u didnt hear her when she said her mama left her in the street? she was abandonned..."
"that still doesnt give you the right to kidnap somebody's child like that...how would you like it if somebody did that to us?"
robert turned and looked at the girl sitting in the living room. she was peaceful and quiet and minding her own bussiness. Robert thought about what huey was saying but at the same time, he thought about how innocent the girl seemed to be. Maybe huey was right, but he is still nothing but just a bundle of anxiety, frustration, and peculiar thoughts. It wouldnt hurt to just give the girl a chance at least for another day. Besides, he could be doing her a favor in this dangerous cold world. No one wants that faintly guilt of letting an innocent child astray into the wrong company. huey followed his grandad's stare at the girl as he was in deep thought. Suddenly, she felt their eyes watching her and she turned around and looked at them back, waving. Then she went back to watching tv. Huey thought that the whole moment was kind of weird.
"im not sure what it is boy, but I dont know if I can do that just yet.." Robert finally said.
" what r talking about? whether u know it or not grandad, u are the abductor and she is the victim and this whole thing is illegal, u really dont have a choice...all im saying is to just do the right thing"
"u right u right.... ill call somebody early in the morning, just stop annoyin the hell out of me with this mess boy...sound like your anxiety is bout to take the best of you..."
"(sigh) all I can say right now is that you'll think me later...like always..." huey said. he was getting ready to walk away out the kitchen.
"boy where u think u goin, u aint done setting up this table" huey sighed and did as he was told.
Suddenly, riley had finally came inside the house.
"good, im glad u came in i was just about to go tell your brother to come get u, i need u to get ready and come help me fix the place up a little we bout to have company over"
"it aint one of your little hoe friends is it" riley asked him sarcastically.
"no, its just tom" huey said
"oh"
"boy its mr. tom to u, and he's bringing his family too"
"wait, well what are we going to do with her?" huey said, referring to charisma.
"i'll just keep her up stairs, aint nobody gon be goin up there, u can keep your little friend down here"
"she's not a dog..."
"boy im doin the best i can ok? u got any other plans since u want to get all smart"
"yeah, how about cancelling this whole thing and reschedule it for another time"
"its too late to do all that now, i already got the food and everything ready"
"i dont know why u couldnt just tell him not to come over yesterday, this wouldnt even be a problem"
"because i didnt want to, and it aint no problem, we just need a good plan"
"u makin it sound like we got some kind of a dirty secret we trying to hide..." riley said.
"we do, dont u see that non-freeman child sitting in the living room over there, aint got a drop of freeman blood in her no where, do u know how bad this'll make me look?" robert said.
"but you didnt even want to call the foster care people" huey said
"we can just say she my girlfriend or something..." riley said.
"or maybe we could just call Tom and tell him not to come over today, save the food for tomorrow instead, call the child services, and forget about this whole thing" huey said.
"boy u really don'lost your mind what u was saying now riley?"
"just say she just moved in the neighborhood somewhere and we been goin out for a week"
"that might just work..." robert said
"grandad i know you're not actually considering taking his advice" huey said
" then we can say we met, (thinking to him self), ahite ahite so check this out, she was wit this broke ass nigga and she was like she need a real nigga iced out and all that right, and i just happened to be that nigga she was lookin for cus she like them thuggin niggas wit the braids anyway, so i was just standing outside chillin countin my doh when she was like--"
"boy we dont have time for all that hush your mouth, Chelsea can u come here for a minute" robert said.
"her name is charisma" huey corrected him." and this plan is not going to work, its very stupid." robert ignored him. Charisma came into the kitchen to see what robert wanted.
"hey baby we're getting ready to have company in a minute and i just wanted to know if u can be my grandson's girlfriend for the rest of the evening"
"naw grandad that aint how u do that, see u aint gon ever have no game" riley said.
"boy i got more game than u, now yall boyfriend and girlfriend and aint nothing u gon do about it end of discussion"
" wait what?" charisma said confused.
"its just til the end of the evening so u dont have to worry" huey said. charisma looked at riley and he looked at her.
"i dont like u like that ahite..." riley said
"i know you dont, u dont even know me" cahrisma responded.
"ay when you get adopted maybe you can tell one of your parents to get u some plastic surgery on your face or something..."
That was very mean...Charisma thought to her self.

Huey had just finished saying the prayer for everyone and the feast has begun. Jazmine kept looking at charisma as she noticed she was a new face of the residence.
"so whose your little friend huey" she asked huey out of all people. huey looked at his grandad before he answered her. he sighed.
"she's riley's girlfriend..."
"girlfriend? arent u a little too young for that riley?" Tom said chuckling.
"u know kids these days, always wanna be grown real fast" robert said.
"but grandad u the one said it was a good idea to play like she--"
"ahh!" before riley could even finish his sentence, robert managed to kick him in his shin under the table, but he kicked huey instead on an accident.
"oh, sorry" he mumbled to him.
"oh well i think its cute that riley has a little...friend girl now, at least we know he's not gay" susan, tom's wife said. she says some of the darnest things at the wrong times as the dinner table paused in an akward moment...and the dinner table resumes.
"so arent u going to introduce your 'girlfriend' to us riley" tom said sarcastically. He was chuckling because he wasnt taking the whole thing seriously. it was actually quite funny to him. he was making fun of riley on the sly.
" this aint my girlfriend" riley said.
"boy whatchu mean she not your girlfriend" robert said to him through grinched teeth.
"i believe u now riley, some things arent just meant to be" tom said chuckling and then laughing.
"we broke up" riley said, trying to ignore tom's annoying laughter towards him.
"wow, that was pretty harsh..." jazmine said.
"boy u betta get back with her before i woup your ass" robert threatened him.
"ay when u gon call defax on this bitch any way i just thought about it: im not gettin paid for this"
"what?" charisma said. robert was starting to get upset.
" defax?" susan said confused.
"boy ima woup your ass!" robert said
" what u thought this service was for free? ay if u want me to play like she my girlfriend grandad u gotta pay me, just cuz u my grandad dont mean u can get off with that free shit..." riley said. he was feeling bold enough to say whatever he wanted at the table because he was in front of guest.
"i knew this was a bad idea..." huey said to himself. Jazmine heard him.
"what is? huey whats going on"
"yall just ignore riley, he just a little bipolar" robert said trying to play off the embarassment that riley was causing.
"robert whats going on" tom asked, "who is this girl and what in tarnation is riley talking about?"
and yet again, charisma beganned to feel out of place and humiliated but, she stayed as calm as a butterfly. the moment brought back the thought of her being in a total complete stranger's house with their family and friends while she has none. she thought that calling child services after all would be the best thing for her.
"u know what, maybe u should just call defax sir, im not doing anything but causing more trouble any way" she said to robert.
"no u fine little baby, u didnt do nothing wrong" robert said.
"if you're not riley's girlfriend, then who are u?" jazmine asked charisma. charisma wanted to cry but she didnt.
"robert, is there something u want to tell us? because i am curious to know what is going on" tom said once again. Charisma decided to explain.
"yesterday, my mother had abandonned me in the neighborhood so i came to this residence to have some where to stay until i can figure out why i am here. i just wanted a couple of days of shelter but i'll be on my way out today. im sorry for causing all the confusion and embarassment amongst u all, this is a really good family, i didnt mean to disturb your peace..." and with that, charisma got up and left the table to go up stairs and get her things packed so she could find some where else to stay. the whole dinner table remained quiet in thought for a moment.
"that poor child..." susan said
"robert why didnt u just tell us that u were housing an abandonned child?" tom asked.
"its not as easy as it seems tom..."
"well, u dont have to hide anything like that from us, we could probably help, did u get child services?"
"thats what i've been trying to get him to do since yesterday" huey said.
"child please, im not in the mood to be under all this pressure right now" robert said.
"but u have to call child services robert, you're not actually planning on letting her live with you guys are u?"
"well...no--"
"thats actually against the law--"
"i know tom, but i cant do no child like that? i have to know that she gon be alright when she leave my house"
"well robert, u surely do have a lot of compassion for others" tom chuckled.