Redeem Me

"Sincere, are you ready yet?" My aunt Kay called out to me. She met me to the stairs her loubotins heels clicking on the marble tile. "No, I'll never be ready." I responded matter of factly. She rolled her eyes as she stepped towards me to adjust the ugly polka dotted tie she had purchased for me two Christmases ago. "There perfect." She beamed as she looked behind me to my cousin Omar. "Both my boys looking so handsome." We both groaned at her. She always had to make this more torturous than it already was. Church on Sunday, the main reason I could not wait to be back in my own house. f**k a gas leak. Had me here in O's house subject to this s**t. My aunt grabbed the keys to my 2016 AMG G63 she was always tempted to drive it for some reason. I quickly snatched the keys from her grip, "Not today aunty." I kissed her forehead handing the keys to O who nodded understanding exactly the situation. "I'll ride with you for a change." I gave her the smile she couldn't refuse ever since I was a kid. "Remind me to do yall hair today after church." She pulled my fuzzy dred tucking it back into my ponytail. "All these fast little girls yall play with and not one bothers to make sure yall look presentable." We both laughed as she turned her back to gather her things. "When moms is finish with our hair we got business at the warehouse." I nodded my head. Then he went pass me to the door. O went outside first getting into his charger as me and Aunt Kay followed and got into her Rover. He allowed us to pull out first following behind. We had been driving for fifteen minutes as I toggled between studying my aunt's features and dozing off due to being exhausted. She cared for me when all my mother's other siblings thought that since she wouldn't share who my father was I deserved the foster care system. To this day I have no idea where my mother is and why she was the only person who saw me differently. Maybe because of my birth date and time hence why my name though my mother meant it because of the way my father saw her,people shortened it to Sin. Nobody besides my aunt saw me as Sincere, maybe because others knew what I was capable of. I dont know what I would do without her. So making it to church every other Sunday was the least I could do for her. She was my earthly God. "Saint", she broke me out of my thoughts. "Yes, aunty" My voice was filled with sleep. "She gave you that nickname ya know." She took a quick glance at me searching my face for a reaction to the mention of my mother. Everyone knew I hated talking about the woman that abandoned me at 5 years old. "I'm far from a saint." I muttered as we pulled into the parking lot of HillSong church. She didn't respond like she usually would have, "okay Sincere". Somehow O managed to reach here before us and was surrounded by some guys. My aunt placed the vehicle in park jumping out and immediately rushed over to them. I went over strolling behind because obviously these low level dealers had lost some parts of their minds. Before I could get to where they were standing my aunt had slapped the stupid looking one. I did a light jog over as people entering the church started to look from the steps. The one who was staring them down stopped glaring at aunt Kay when he saw me. "If it isnt Sin the Saint" Rocko my former associate mocked. "O, take her inside get her seated." I said through gritted teeth. Two things pissed me off at this moment; the fact that obviously O went behind my back and made moves with these assholes then the fact that they were stupid enough to make a scene here. "We need our product." This nigga still had the nerve to speak to me. "I'm sure you dont want to test me here. I have no problem making your death headline news." I told him. He contemplated testing me then stepped back. "You shouldn't have done this Sin. You should have just gave me the product." They walked away as I shook my head. I couldn't take him serious because simply I feared little in life. not even death itself. Turning around I made my way into the church passing the people who gave me awkward looks. At the entrance of the doorway stood a living embodiment of a reason to confess your sins. Beside her stood two very miserable looking old women, but nothing took my attention away from her for more than a second. Her hair with its wild curls was held up in a bun that you could see she tried hard to keep in place, but the hair wasn't having it. Her smile which showed that her parents spent countless dollars making it just right. I could imagine her ass without the cover of he knee length a- line skirt she wore. It was obvious she wasn't the usual and that's what made me giver her even more of my attention. She smiled at me handing me the program, "Welcome." She broke the gaze to greet the next couple and I moved along to find my aunt. ***** "Ow aunty s**t!" She jabbed me in my scalp harder with the comb this time. "Stop cussing boy." She said as she parted my growth before applying the loc creme and twisting my dred around between her fingers. I glared at her in the mirror and she pretended not to notice. "Yall two will be here forever at this rate." O said laughing as he admired his fresh set of braids. "I'm headed to the spot." "Omar Jermaine Hamilton." O's face went sour at the mention of his full name. "Yeah ma?" He looked back at her from the doorway. "I love you kiddo." He smiled blowing her his peace kiss which we always did when we were leaving her. "I love you too ma." With that he exited my aunt's shop using his key to lock the door from the outside. She watched him get into his car parked at the curb before resuming my hair. "I wish you both would find some nice girls to settle down with and leave that street life alone." She shook her head as she clipped another loc into place. "I wouldnt have to pray as hard then." "When this gets boring Aunty Kay, I promise." I smirked at her in the mirror as she hugged me something fierce from behind. "Besides we would have to find two girls who could give you competition." She looked appalled as she finished the last few dreds before placing me under the dryer. "If they cant cook then don't bring 'em home Saint." An hour later she pulled me from under the dryer and started taking out the holding clips. Once that was done she freshened up my line up around my head. She knew I hated it styled but she still took two of dreds twisting them around each other securing them with bands which at the end of the day would give me that kinky affect she loved. "Thanks. I love you." I said as I got up finally. "You should be lucky someone cares whether or not your hair looks like the depression." I laughed as she smiled. "Nobody will get them right the way you do no way." I said over my shoulder as I unlocked and stepped out of the doorway. "Let me guess you headed to the spot?" The worry in her voice clear. I nodded. "Be safe, I love you." Her voice cracked a bit. She always worried too much. "I love you too ma." It was the first time I had ever called her that and little did I know it would be the last time she would hear it. I repeated the same action my cuz did hours before me. I kissed my fingers before parting it into a peace sign then locked her into her shop to clean up as I had done many times before.