Page 51 of When I Thug You Like That

“We love overly prepared parents,” Ms. K said, taking the bags from each of us.

“Bye, Mommy. Bye, Daddy.” Jamison waved us off without so much as a hug as he walked off with Ms. K.

India looked devastated, but she held it down. I, on the other hand, was proud of my boy.

“I promise he’ll be fine,” Ms. Jai assured her. “For the first week, I do updates in the app throughout the day for first time parents just so you know what’s going on.”

India looked confused, so I jumped in to help her save face.

“Cool. We got it downloaded.”

“Alright, sounds good. Any questions? Concerns?”

“Nah. I think we should head out before she get the urge to stay,” I joked.

“Or you,” Ms. Jai clowned back.

“Right. Right. Have a good day. You can call either of us if need be. The immunization and physical paperwork is in the black bookbag.”

“Perfect. You guys have a good day too.”

We walked ourselves out, with India walking slower than normal. I wanted to push her forward, but this was new for the both of us, so I gave her space to move at her own pace. Once we made it back outside and to our cars, she spoke what was on her mind.

“Why you ain’t tell me ‘bout the hug?”

“It slipped my mind.”

“No the fuck it didn’t. You did that shit on purpose. That ain’t just some shit you leave out.”

Bringing up her absence was on the tip of my tongue, but I wasn’t about to keep beating a dead horse, so I just shrugged.

“And you inconsiderate as fuck, looking right at her ass like your son not walking beside her.”

“Unless he was watching me watch her ass, then I don’t see a problem.”

“Whatever. That shit was tacky.”

“Man, you trippin’.” I chuckled. “He get out at 3:40. And I’ll send that app to your phone.”

“Here you go. I already know that.”

“Aye, when you come back, have a better attitude too. We on some good vibes shit.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Hopping in her car, she started it up and pulled off. I stood back a few seconds and watched until she turned out of the parking lot.

Now, I had to figure out what I was going to do with myself for the next few hours to stop me from going to sit inside the school for the day. Getting in my car, I pulled out my phone to send a picture to the family group chat. My mother responded first.

MamaLuv: I don’t know why I’m seeing a picture like I’m regular when I should’ve gotten a call this morning, son. My grandbaby look happy though, and I love that.

Me: It was a lot going on this morning, Ma. My bad.

Key: That’s my boy! How’d he do?

Me: He walked in and dismissed us like we were the nannies lol.

The reactions and responses from the family started coming in as I mounted my phone and started the car. Driving off, I felt confident that I was leaving my boy in capable hands. Now, I just had to will myself not to check the app every 90 seconds.