Big Changes

***

*DISCLAIMER: This chapter has a little bit of curse words.*

I ate my last bite of enchilada, which made me quite disappointed, actually.

"Thanks for the enchiladas, Jamal."

"No problem, man."

"I wanna see some houses online to buy." I stated. "I need my new mansion A.S.A.P."

Jamal raised an eyebrow.

"How're you gonna look online when you don't have data?"

"Um, duh, use your phone." I replied with an eye roll.

"Ok, I guess." Jamal agreed. I took his phone from out of my pocket. Jamal looked confused.

"Hey, how'd my phone get in there?"

"I was calling Jay and I forgot to give it back to you." I explained.

"Ohh, ok."

I turned his phone on.

"What's the password?"

Jamal was probably thinking about whether he should give his password to me, but eventually did.

"9081999."

I opened the phone and searched up some million dollar homes around my area. And boy, did I get what I was looking for.

I saw this extravagant three-story mansion worth $900,599, just perfect for my newly reunited family. It a big front yard with a pool and a big backyard, six bedrooms, each with a walk-in closet and a bathroom, eight bathrooms, 2 family rooms, and a beautiful basement. The exterior had a luxurious aesthetic decorated gorgeously with bright and fancy lights that made the house shine like a diamond. The pool had a glamorous and glittery border around it, with a nice ladder added to it. The water inside the pool was marine blue and sparkly. You could see the bright lights' reflection in the pool. The interior was still a luxurious aesthetic. The bedrooms were gigantic! And each bathroom contained two sinks. The bathtubs looked very sanitary and clean. The kitchen had a "polished wood" aesthetic with gold hints all here and there. It was very spacious and had a lot of free room to cook and move around freely. The basement was still very luxurious, even though a basement is meant to store unnecessary items for later. The washing machine and dryer looked quite expensive which made me love being filthy rich. I felt like the luckiest man on Earth. My mansion was gonna be beautiful!

I scanned the screen for the date I could meet with the owners, which was in two days. That was extraordinary. I couldn't wait to move in with my family. I contacted the owners of the house so I could meet up with them in two days, and hoped for the best. Now all I needed to do was go and meet Jay. I couldn't wait to hear her soothing voice again.

"Malick, have you saw a house you wanted yet?" Jamal asked.

"Yeah, it's this one!"

I showed him the extravagant house I really wanted.

"I already contacted the owners by email. Hopefully they respond." I stated.

Jamal snatched his phone from my hand and put it in his pocket.

"Don't worry, they will."

"I have a favor." I said to Jamal.

"What is it?"

"Could you drive me Jay's house? You remember her address, right?" I replied, nervously. I thought Jamal wouldn't accept my proposal since he thinks Jay is bad for me and only using me for my money. But that's not true! However, Jamal shot me an inquisitive look.

"What for?"

I stayed silent for a few seconds. "What for?" was definitely a question that I could not answer. I'm not good at lying, especially to Jamal, so I don't even try. But this situation was gonna change my life. And with those types of situations, you need to lie a little. I finally came up with a terrible reply.

"Um, there's a MacDonald's near her house and I like the food there better." I lied.

"I can make your life a bit easier by driving you straight to the MacDonald's!" Jamal offered. Suddenly, his tone changed to a serious tone and his expression was dead inside. "Or you can tell me the truth about why you wanna stop by her house."

This is why I never try to lie to Jamal because he can always see right through me. He kept staring at me, his eyes demanding my answer. If looks could kill, I would've been brutally murdered.

"Um, I'll take a taxi instead actually, thanks for the offer though." I forced my lips into a fake smile and made a crummy thumbs-up. "Your phone would be helpful,...y'know, to call the taxi driver."

Jamal rolled his eyes. "If it wasn't for this million, I would've walked out on you by now." He pointed his phone at me.

"Thanks for not walking out, man." I took the phone from Jamal's hand.

"Password please?" I asked.

"9081999." Jamal replied with a sigh. "I wish you could just tell me why you want to go to Jayelle's house."

I looked at Jamal like he was the most stupid person in the world.

"I want to go to the MACDONALD'S near her house." I corrected.

"MacDonald's..." Jamal repeated. A skeptical look was shot at my face like a gun. "..near her house?"

"MacDonald's near her house." I confirmed.

I unlocked Jamal's phone and called a taxi. It would take about five minutes to arrive as I saw on the website.

"Jayelle is using you for money, just remember." After saying his completely incorrect & possibly made up statement, Jamal sighed an fatigued sigh. He looked really annoyed by something, and it was possibly that I wanted to go to Jay's house. Well, MacDonald's.

I thought of something to say to break the awkward silence, but nothing came to mind. This is one of the most annoying things to happen to you, especially if the person you want to talk to may not want to talk to you. Perhaps Jamal saw that I was trying to think of something to say, because he started to looking away from me, probably a gesture saying that he didn't want to hear me talk. But that sucks for him, because I started to speak.

"What would you do if me and Jay were dating?"

The silence spoke to me and told me that I should shut my mouth before I get ignored once again, so I listened and followed.

"Who's Jay?" Jamal asked. Ugh, I fucked up.

"Um, Jayelle. My bad." I mumbled.

"Didn't you call Jayelle 'Jay' when y'all were dating?" Jamal eyed me dubiously. The only reply that I could say was obvious.

"No."

"Yes. You did. Why are you calling her 'Jay' again all the sudden?"

Jamal was really starting to GET ON MY NERVES. Why couldn't he mind his own business? I know he was trying to "protect me" or something, but I'm old enough to do things myself around here. I know what I'm doing.

"I don't know?" I jeered. "I guess it just slipped out?"

"Actually, it didn't slip out. You called Jayelle 'Jay' two times already." Jamal disagreed.

"What? When?" I was starting to get anxious. I had a feeling that Jamal was going to find out the truth.

"When you asked me if I could drive you to Jayelle's house and just now." Jamal stated casually. "I figured that y'all got back together. I don't even know why you like her so much. She has such a boring personality." He took some time to think of what more to say. "Her voice is so annoying. And..." He paused for a few seconds. "She's ugly. And she has an ugly ass kid. How are you in so much love that you can date such a creature? And her forehead is so big. With her 'I got a lot on my mind' lookin' ass."

I stared at Jamal for a very long time. A lot of anger was bubbling up inside of me, wanting to explode. But I didn't let it.

"Ok." I said blankly.

"She doesn't deserve you. She's so ugly. She's annoying. She's needy. She's nasty. She's musty. She's rude. She's boring. She's-"

"Shut the fuck up!" I yelled. All the anger inside exploded like a soda bottle that had been shook way to much. "Are you the one dating her? No. So you don't have to complain about how ugly and annoying she is, ok? YOU DON'T NEED TO DATE HER."

Jamal sighed and walked off, not before giving me a dirty look. Maybe he is just trying to protect me, but I don't need his protection. I can protect myself easily. Will Jamal not wanna be my friend anymore? That's a really big change. But it's whatever. I have Jayelle and my beautiful boy, Amari. Damn, I might actually be beginning to like being a father! Just then, I saw my taxi. I ran over to the taxi and hopped in.

"Hey," I greeted. "how're you doing?"

"I'm good, and howdy!" The taxi man said cheerfully. "12328 Heather Hills, correct?"

"12328 Heather Hills." I repeated.

"Alright. You know you gotta pay before I can even start the car, right? Twenty dollars should do it."

"Oh." I gave the man $20 dollars, and he started the car.

"So," He started. "How's life?"

"Could you shush? Please." That might've been cold, but I wasn't in the mood to talk about my life right now.

"Whatever you want, man." The man murmured quietly.

I looked out the window while the taxi drove away from my abandoned apartment. The whole ride, I was thinking about what had just happened. Jamal and I were really like that now. Just awkward conversations about girls. I could see some men on the street hugging and shaking hands, what I really wanted to do with Jamal. I also saw a couple passionately make out. I wanted that. So bad. And I was going to get it when this taxi dropped me off at Jay's house. Ugh, I hate waiting for things I want so much. I could sniff out french fries and chicken nuggets in the air. I wanted those, too. My mouth was watering for some. I thought about Jay and our son, Amari, who I haven't seen yet. I left Jay when she was pregnant, like how I left my other exes when they were in the same condition. After five years, I was so ready to see Jay again, and hear her amazing voice that was like a mask, see her beautiful face that didn't even look real, and finger-comb her always untangled, voluminous, and strawberry-scented hair. I loved her. I missed her. I needed her. I will admit, it IS kind of crazy how she wanted to talk to me RIGHT after I won ten million. But it might've been a coincidence. I don't believe at ALL that she wants to use me for my money. I mean, her voice? It sounded as genuine as the Louie Vuitton belt I had on, which was in fact, very, very real. God, I wanted Jay here with me right now. I did feel a bit nervous because this was my first time meeting my girlfriend in five years, and my child, that I abandoned and couldn't care less if he felt like a mistake because his father left him. But in technical sense, he IS a mistake.

"Sir, this is your stop."

"Oh, thanks man." I said as I opened the car door to take my leave. Standing right in front of me was the house that I had abandoned so I could live a life away from children. It was time for me to ring the doorbell. But I was WAY too scared. Ok, I need to breathe in and breathe out. I need to take deep breaths. Your son WANTS to see you. That means he'll be polite to you...right? Well, it was time to find out.

𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘨!