Not That Bad

FOURTEEN

"What do you mean you're going to New York?"

Augusta's shrill voice had Kaya wincing. She had already taken off two weeks from work for her vacation and Ty had given her good luck while Lauren and Olivia were getting a room ready for their friend. Her aunt and uncle wished her luck as well. All she had to do was call her mother to let her know. Which she dreaded for good reason.

Augusta didn't believe in vacations. She believed in constant work and that you were supposed to get rest after work instead of taking time off. Even if she had unlimited days off because Ty was her best friend, Augusta was of the mindset that even if you had unlimited days of you still had to save some of your time because you never knew what happened. The only time Augusta had been off of work was when she was sick. Kaya couldn't do that. People shouldn't have to wait for something bad to happen to take time off. If she needed a mental health day or she knew she wasn't going to get anything done that day, she would take her time and use it.

"I'm taking a vacation," Kaya said. "And before you say anything, I've already bought the plane tickets and found a place to stay."

"There's no need for you to take a vacation," Augusta countered. "You should be working."

Augusta was one of those people that were of the opinion that your job should be your happiness, that the best way to be happy was to work. Kaya didn't agree with that sentiment, and she and her mother clashed every time Kaya had taken time off for herself or to travel. It was an argument that was never going to end. Kaya was of the opinion that, once in a while, a person needed to rest and take their mind off of things like their job. There was only so much a person could stand when it came to work, especially if they hated the job. And with Kaya being primarily self-employed, there were times where she needed to do a reset and take a break from whatever she was doing.

"Ma," she said, making sure her voice masked her impatience—Augusta was truly a Black mother, and if she heard any hint of an attitude in Kaya's voice she would fly off the handle—and rolling her eyes, "I need this. With everything that's happened this year, don't you think I deserve a break?"

"Your break was that period of time where you had no job."

Kaya held back a gasp. "Ma."

"I mean it, Kaya. No job likes when their employees take a lot of time off. It makes them look unreliable."

"I'm practically self-employed by this point," Kaya argued. "And Ty is perfectly fine with this. He endorsed it, even."

"Ty's only doing this because he has a soft spot for you," Augusta said. "What if he finds another person to work with him while you're gone?"

"He wouldn't do that," Kaya said, rolling her eyes again. She didn't tell her mother that Ty had been pushing her to branch off on her own, to create her own business and brand. That alone would give her mother a conniption.

She listened to her mother rant some more before interrupting and saying that she was about to leave for dinner with her aunt and uncle. That shut Augusta up—even if she hated April she loved her younger brother and believed that he could do no wrong.

"Give them my love," Augusta said, sighing. All the complaining she had done had her out of breath. Kaya knew that August was only looking out for her, but she'd had enough of her mother reprimanding her.

The dinner was a lie, of course, and Kaya texted her aunt and uncle to back her up, but she had just really wanted to get off of the phone with her mother. Her clothes needed to be packed and she needed to get her documents together so that she wouldn't have to worry about looking for them the next day.

Later that night, Ty visited with food that he had cooked at his place and a movie that he had rented from the local library. Behind him were Ximena and Santiago. Not questioning why the two kids were with Ty instead of home sleeping, Kaya let them in and gathered some blankets from the guest room while everyone else got settled.

Once everything was good, they all relaxed.

"It's going to be so boring without you here," Ximena complained as she helped Kaya take her bags from her car. "Where are Santiago and I going to hang out when we can't go home?"

Kaya smiled. For someone who hated having a mentor, Ximena had a lot of questions for Kaya. Ever since school ended for the summer, Ximena was constantly in Kaya's corner, watching TV while Kaya worked, appearing with takeout and movies whenever she had the time, and getting a job at Ty's studio as a receptionist instead of hanging out in the streets. There was growth involved in this, growth that Kaya could see. Ximena wasn't the same girl that she'd met almost a year ago. Kaya was glad that Ximena had taken the plunge and started working with Ty, even though she knew that it would take a while for her to relax and stop thinking that he would fire her for something ridiculous.

"You can hang out with Ty," Kaya said. "I know he likes having you guys over."

"God, no," Ximena said. "It'd be really weird hanging out with my boss. I'd feel like he was babysitting us."

Kaya laughed and took the bag from Ximena before giving her a hug.

"Remember what I told you," Kaya said. "My door is always open for you two. Derrick has your back if anything happens and his door is open, too. If something bad happens where you really need me, you have my number."

"Promise me that you won't stay in New York," Ximena said, her voice hard. "Don't leave me and Santiago." Kaya's heart broke. It was clear that Ximena's parents constantly leaving them alone had created issues deeper than Kaya could fix, but she was hesitant in suggesting therapy for the two kids. They'd grown up thinking therapy was for crazy people, along with the fact that they couldn't afford it and Ximena didn't have her license yet.

"Not if I can help it," Kaya said. "It's only two weeks and then I'll be back. Until then, stay safe. Now get to work."

Ximena gave Kaya one last hug and then she was gone.