Anything But Royalty

i.

Royalty Wilson|Brat

"Yo Royalty, get the f**k up and clean this damn house. I swear you ain't gon ever amount to s**t. The only thing you'll ever be good for is opening your legs."

That was the first thing I heard as I woke up.

"Dumb hoe, I know you hear me talking to you! Don't let me have to come up in that room." My mother, Rhaine, yelled from down the hall—drunk and high as usual.

"I'm coming, damn," I yelled back, the irritation clear in my voice.

Treasure was on the other side of the bed, knocked out. I checked my clock to see what time it was, and it's only 6:00 a.m.

"This lady must have lost her rabbit-ass mind waking up this early and starting this bullshit," I muttered to myself, grabbing a pair of pajama pants and throwing them on.

I walked out of my room to see Rhaine and her weird-ass boyfriend sprawled out on the couch. Empty beer cans and vodka bottles were scattered all over the floor, and three lines of coke sat on the coffee table.

Disgusted was an understatement for the feeling sitting in the pit of my stomach.

I walked into the kitchen and saw the sink piled up with hella dirty dishes. I guess she cooked last night.

I rolled my eyes and started doing the dishes. After about fifteen minutes, I was done and moved into the living room to clean up their mess.

The lines of crack were gone—and so were they.

After thirty minutes of picking up trash, putting things back in their places, and vacuuming, I was finally done cleaning.

It's now 7:00 a.m., and I'm getting dressed for school.

I showered and brushed my teeth, then threw on a plain black tee with a pair of jean shorts and my black Chucks. I put my hair up in a simple hairball on the top of my head and applied some Vaseline to my lips.

When I finished getting dressed, I woke Treasure up so I could give her a quick bath and get her dressed as well.

It's now 7:45, and I'm about to head out so I can get to school. Treasure comes to school with me because my school has a daycare.

My sophomore year, I enrolled here because I had no one to watch Treasure while I was at school. My mother sure as hell couldn't do it.

I grabbed my backpack and Treasure's bag, then headed out the door. There's a diner across from my school, so I'll just stop there to get us some breakfast.

>.<

I dropped Treasure off at the school's daycare and then headed to the other side of campus to my locker.

That's when I bumped into Aaliyah.

Aaliyah is the girl that all the guys want and who all the girls want to be. She's gorgeous.

The only thing that makes her unattractive is her personality.

"Watch where you're going, you dumb slut."

I didn't even bother saying anything. I just kept walking.

Everybody in the hallway started laughing.

At one point, I would get upset about it. But now it's something that happens regularly, and I've gotten used to it.

See, everyone knows that Treasure is my daughter. So they'll call me all types of hoes, and they all have their own theories about how she was conceived.

Shit, someone even said I was trained and Treasure was the outcome.

I never say anything because it's pointless. I know the truth, and that's all that matters.

I went to my locker, grabbed everything I needed, and made my way to class. I only have three classes a day because I completed a lot of online summer courses.

As I entered the classroom, I was greeted by Mr. Jackson, my Forensics teacher.

"Good morning, Royalty. How are you today?"

"I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm doing lovely."

"That's good," I said with a nod before going to the back of the class to my usual seat.

After about another minute, the late bell rang. Mr. Jackson closed the door and began the day's lesson.

We had a test today, and after the time for the test was up, it would be a free period.

He handed out the test papers, and I began working. After thirty minutes, I was the first to finish. I revised my answers, then placed my head on my desk.

That's how I remained for the rest of the class period.

My second and third period classes were both extremely boring today.

It's now my lunch period, but I'm not eating. I have no more classes after lunch, so I'm about to get Treasure and leave.

It's now 3:30 in the afternoon, and I'm getting ready for my job. Even though my shift begins at 5, I need to be out of the house by 4:15 so I'll be able to catch the bus and get to work on time.

After putting on my black pants, my uniform shirt, my work shoes, my name tag, and my work visor, I was done getting ready.

I packed Treasure's bag with things she might need for when Ms. Rose—our next-door neighbor—is watching her.

Another five minutes went by, and Treasure and I were finally leaving the house. I locked the door behind me, then walked across the hall to apartment 305 and knocked.

It took her a while, but after about a minute she opened the door.

"Hey baby," Ms. Rose said while hugging me.

"Hey Ms. Rose, how are you?"

"I'm as good as I can be," she said while taking Treasure's bag from me.

I picked Treasure up, kissing her cheeks.

"I'll see you later, okay baby girl?"

"Otay mommy."

"I love you," I told her, kissing her cheek.

"I wuv you."

I kissed her cheek once more, then handed her to Ms. Rose.

"Okay Ms. Rose, I'll see you guys later. I get off at 11, so I should be here by 11:30."

"Okay love, be safe."

I nodded in response, then left and started my walk to the bus stop.

My timing seemed to be on point today because once I got there, I saw a bus approaching.

It stopped in front of me. I got on, swiped my 30-day bus pass, then walked to the back and took a seat.

After sitting on the bus for about twenty minutes, we were finally approaching my stop.

I walked into the building, going straight through the employees' door and to the back to clock in.

After clocking in, I took my position at the register and began taking orders.

"Welcome to McDonald's, what can I get for you?"

"Uhm, lemme get a 10-piece nuggets combo with a large sweet tea," this really cute chocolate-skinned dude said.

He looked to be about 19 or 20.

"Sauce for your nuggets?"

"Sweet and sour," he said, still looking at me.

"Okay. Does that complete your order?"

"Nah, get her order too," he said, stepping to the side so I could see the girl standing next to him.

She started stating her order while looking down at her phone.

"Can I have a quarter pounder with cheese?"

"Would you like the combo or just the sandwich?"

"Combo," she said, still looking down at her phone.

Disrespectful females.

"Okay, and what would you like to drink with that?"

She finally looked up and started to speak—until she noticed me.

She looked at me with a smirk, which caused me to mentally roll my eyes.

"If it isn't daddy's little girl," Aaliyah said with that same smirk on her face.

"Are you going to finish ordering or step out of the line? I have other customers waiting," I said, leaving a blank expression on my face.

"Mhm. To drink, I'll have a medium caramel frappe," she said while looking me up and down.

"Will that complete your order?" I asked, mainly directing the question at her guy friend since he's the one paying.

"Yeah," he said, pulling out his wallet.

"Your total is $14.50. Will that be for here or to go?"

"To go," he said as he handed me a $20 bill.

I gave him the receipt and his change, then took orders for the two customers standing in line behind them.

When I finished taking orders, I went to fix their drinks and then called their order number.

Aaliyah walked up to the counter with the receipt in her hand and collected the drinks—but not before she mumbled "hoe" under her breath.

I shook my head, then grabbed their bags of food and handed them to her.

"Have a good day," I said with a fake smile.

She responded by rolling her eyes and flipping her weave over her shoulder before grabbing the food off the counter and walking to the door where the guy was waiting.

I returned to serving customers until the inside closed. Then I cleaned the tables, swept, and mopped the floors of the dining area.

After about thirty minutes, I was finished and clocking out.

It's now 11:15, and I'm sitting at the bus stop waiting for the bus to come.

After about five minutes, a bus showed up. I got on, swiped my card, and sat in the back as usual.

After about fifteen minutes—because there was barely any traffic—we arrived at my stop.

I walked into my apartment building, passed my door, and went down the hall to Ms. Rose's apartment and knocked.

A couple seconds later, she opened the door and stepped to the side, letting me come in.

"Goodnight Ms. Rose. I hope she didn't give you any trouble today," I said as I walked to the back where Treasure was.

"No, she was perfect. She didn't eat much today though—no matter what I gave her. I think she might be getting sick," she said, grabbing Treasure's bag from the closet.

I lifted Treasure off the bed and let her lay her head on my shoulder, then took her bag from Ms. Rose and threw it over my other shoulder.

"Okay, I'll just have to monitor her and see what's going on. Thank you again for watching her—it really means a lot," I said while walking toward the door.

She opened it to let me out.

"It's no problem, baby. I love little Treasure. She's the sweetest thing," she said with a smile.

I smiled back.

"Goodnight Ms. Rose. I'll see you in the morning," I said, kissing her cheek.

"Goodnight baby," she said, giving me a small hug.

I walked down the hall and used my free hand to open my apartment door.

It's quiet in here, so I'm assuming Rhaine and her boyfriend aren't home.

I walked into my room, locked the door behind me, placed Treasure on the bed, and pulled the covers over her.

I stripped out of my clothes and went to the bathroom to take a 10-minute shower.

Afterward, I wrapped a towel around myself, walked back to my room, and threw on panties, a sports bra, and a pair of pajama shorts.

I had homework, so I stayed up another hour to complete it.

At about 1:45 a.m., I turned off my light and finally went to bed.

Only to wake up at 7:00 a.m. for school.