Mommy's Angel by Miasha

make her want to get help. I didn’t know. But I was willing to try. I wanted so bad to get things back to normal.
    I ate my cereal, which I couldn’t even enjoy, I was so mad. Then I washed up and threw on some clothes. I banged on the wall in my room to get Jamal’s attention. He called my phone shortly after.
    “What’s up, boo?” he asked as soon as I said hello.
    “Can you walk me to the market?”
    “When? Now?”
    “Yeah. My mom didn’t get the food.”
    I guessed the crack in my voice let him know that I was hurt. He told me to give him a half hour and he would meet me outside.
    Jamal and me walked up our street and turned the corner. Cat and Stacey were opening their store.
    “You comin’ around here to sweep up?” Cat asked as he saw me approaching.
    I chuckled.
    “Cat, leave Angel alone,” Stacey said, unlocking the door to go inside the store.
    “What’s up man?” Jamal spoke and shook Cat’s hand. “Hey, how you doin’?” he greeted Stacey, too.
    Stacey and Cat gestured for us to come in the store. We followed their lead.
    “Where y’all goin’ dis early on a Saturday?” Stacey asked, taking off her full length fur coat.
    “She was on her way ‘round here to sweep outside, I told you,” Cat said.
    It was a good thing I had brought extra money out the house because that was the perfect opportunity to make good on my promise to Cat. I pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and put it in Cat’s hand.
    “Now you sweep the front of ya own store,” I teased.
    “Ohhh,” he said. “She played me.”
    Stacey and Jamal laughed.
    “Tats wassup, mon. You are now officially my favorite customer,” Cat said.
    He walked behind the counter and opened the register. He put the twenty in it and took out a five and a ten.
    “Here, mon. Your change,” he said, handing me the money.
    I shook my head no.
    “Girl, you better take that money,” Stacey said.
    “No. It’s cool. Y’all looked out a lot,” I said, heading for the door. “I’ll be back around. I’m about to go to the market,” I told Stacey as I left the store.
    Jamal wasted no time asking me what the transaction between me and Cat was about.
    “You know how Stacey always be giving me free stuff? Well, Cat be cursin’ us out about it. So when I found out I got the job, I told him I would pay him back, and he was like if not I gotta sweep outside the store every Saturday,” I explained.
    “Well, you should have took that change,” Jamal said. “I understand you got a job now, but you can’t be too generous with ya money.”
    “It’s not like I can’t make it back,” I told him, subconsciously thinking about the night I had ahead of me and the tips I was bound to make.
    “You talk like it’s sweet at your job. I might have to go with you tonight and fill out a app.”
    “They don’t take applications at night,” I told him.
    “Well, bring me one home. I’ll take it up there Monday morning,” he said.
    I didn’t want to make up another excuse about the issue and make him suspicious, so I just agreed to bring him an application.
    Me and Jamal spent more time in the market than we needed to. We debated about almost every item I wanted to put in the cart. Why you gettin’ jumbo eggs, get large. That kind of cheese don’t melt right. What you goin’ do with celery? Ain’t you supposed to use bread crumbs in stuffin’?
    By the time I got back home and put the food away, it was lunchtime and I was hungry. I made me and Naja a Ellio’s Pizza. I was surprised she was home. Since that day Marvin did what he did, she been getting dressed and leaving out as soon as she woke up.
    “Umm, how you get the crust so crispy?” Naja asked as she took a bite out her pizza. “My crust always be soft.”
    “Put it directly on the rack,” I told her, pouring juice in our cups.
    I sat at the kitchen table with my sister. Kindle was still in the living room watching TV.
    “Thank you,” Naja came out and said.
    “For what?” I