Anything But Royalty

iii.

Royalty Wilson|Brat

I woke up in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed, and I started trying to figure out where I was—until the events that occurred the previous night flashed through my mind.

I looked beside me to see that Treasure was no longer there, and I started panicking internally.

I jumped up and rushed out of the room, running down the stairs. I was relieved to see Treasure in the living room with the TV on.

I picked her up and kissed all over her face, which caused her to giggle. I put her back down once she was sitting, then went to look for Beast.

I walked into the kitchen and saw him cooking shirtless while listening to music. I guess he heard me coming because he spoke.

"Well, look who's awake," he said as he turned around.

"Good morning," I said as I took a seat on one of the stools at the counter.

"How long has Treasure been awake?" I asked.

He looked at the clock before answering.

"About an hour and a half," he said as he grabbed two plates and a mini bowl from the cabinets.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because you looked exhausted."

He fixed two plates with bacon, eggs, and pancakes and sat one in front of me.

"Thank you. And even so, I thought you said you had stuff to handle this morning. I don't want Treasure to be the cause of you not getting to do what you needed to do."

"What I needed to handle was handled in my office here. She wasn't in the way of anything. Can she eat eggs and pancakes?" he asked, taking a second to turn around and look at me.

"Uh, yes, but I'll have to break up the pancakes."

He passed me the bowl, and I broke the pancake up, then sat the bowl on the counter and went into the living room to get Treasure.

"Babygirl, let's eat eat."

"Dowa," she said, pointing to the TV.

"You can watch Dora after," I said as I picked her up.

We went back to the kitchen, and I sat down with her on my lap. I pulled the bowl closer to the edge so she'd be able to reach, and we started to eat.

Beast sat down and started eating.

It was quiet for a while before he broke the silence by asking me a question.

"How old are you, Royalty?"

"Uhm, I'm 16... you?"

"19. How old's Treasure?" he asked, taking a bite of bacon.

"She's 1."

He nodded but didn't say anything.

So I decided I'd ask a question.

"Aaliyah. Is she your girlfriend?"

"Aaliyah's a pretty girl, but the whole hood has been up in that. She's not the type of chick you wife up—she's more of a quick nut."

I nodded but didn't say anything.

"You're 16, so I'm guessing you're a junior in high school."

"Senior. I skipped junior year."

"Well, you still have to go to school while you're here, aight shawty?"

"Yes, father," I said with a light chuckle.

"Haha, funny—but I'm serious," he said with a small smile of his own.

"Okay, I hear you... I have a question though."

"Wassup?"

"What do you do?"

"I'm in college," he said with a slight shrug.

I looked around the apartment and spoke.

"A college student able to afford all this? There's more to it than that," I said, eating the last of my food.

"Is that so? What do you think I do then?" he asked with a light chuckle.

"Well, your name is Beast, your apartment and everything in this place looks like it could send me to college, and your car is probably worth my life. Student loans won't cover all this. You're either scamming—and I'm not talking about that baby stuff, I'm talking about really up there—you're a pimp, or you're moving work. Unless you have rich parents," I said seriously.

I'm book smart, but I'm also street smart. He isn't just some regular college student.

He looked at me for a minute, then chuckled while shaking his head.

"You're wrong. I'm in the s*x trafficking business," he said with an extremely straight face.

I looked at him like he had two heads, then he burst out laughing.

"Don't play with me like that," I said, shaking my head. He really had me shook for a second.

He was still dying laughing like Kevin Hart himself was in the room.

I rolled my eyes, then placed Treasure on the floor before grabbing her bowl, my plate, and his. I carried them to the sink so I could wash them.

"You don't gotta do that," he said as he calmed down from laughing.

"It's fine. I don't mind."

He received a phone call and got up to take it.

I finished the dishes, then went to the living room to grab Treasure so we could both get freshened up.

I stripped her out of her clothes before taking off her diaper, then sat her on the counter so I could run her bath water.

In the meantime, I grabbed both of our toothbrushes and put toothpaste on them—mint on mine and bubblegum-flavored toothpaste on hers.

I handed her her toothbrush and stood her up on the sink facing the mirror, then started brushing my own teeth. She started brushing her teeth and dancing in the mirror.

"Go Tink, go Tink, get it Tink," I said, hyping her up.

I giggled, then we finished brushing our teeth.

I placed her in the tub and started washing her up while she played with the water.

When I finished washing her, I let her play in the water a bit longer before taking her out and wrapping her in a towel.

I placed her on the bed, grabbed a diaper, a onesie, and a pair of socks from the bag, then lotioned her skin and got her dressed.

I turned on the TV and sat her in the middle of the bed with pillows surrounding her, then went to take a shower.

I left the bathroom door open so I'd be able to watch her.

After about fifteen minutes, I hopped out of the shower and got dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a tank top.

"Mommy tea," Treasure said as she held up an empty sippy cup she had taken from the bag.

I took the cup from her hand, then placed her on my hip.

I went downstairs and sat her on the counter while I washed the empty cup. I grabbed the bottle of milk from the fridge, poured some into the cup, added a bit of sugar, and stirred it.

Then I microwaved it for a few seconds.

When it was warm enough, I shook it and gave it to her.

Beast walked out dressed as if he was going somewhere.

"Aye, I got some business I gotta handle. I'll be back in a few, aight?" he said as he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

"While you're out, can you grab a few things from the store for Treasure for me please?" I asked.

"Yeah, just text me what babydoll needs," he said as he came over to the counter and tickled her.

"Uhm... I can't text you," I said, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

"And why is that?" he asked, still messing with Treasure, causing her to giggle.

"Cause I don't have a phone," I said quietly.

He went into a drawer and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper.

"Here, write what babydoll needs with your ole tank-head ass," he said, handing the pen and paper to me.

I rolled my eyes and started writing the list.

1. Box of diapers

2. Some sippy cups

3. A bottle of almond milk

4. Applesauce and fruit cups

5. Wipes

6. Baby lotion, baby wash, powder, and baby oil gel

I handed him the list.

"Gimme a second to grab the money for the stuff," I said, getting ready to walk upstairs until he grabbed my arm.

"Don't worry about it. Is there anything you need from the store?"

I thought about it.

"Anything I might need, I doubt you'll want to purchase."

He handed me back the list.

"Add them on there."

I added what I needed, then gave him the list again.

He looked it over and nodded.

"Aight, I'll be back in a bit," he said, grabbing his keys.

"Be safe," I said.

"Always," he replied before walking out.

I lifted Treasure off the counter and walked to the door just to check if he locked it.

Then we went upstairs and laid down.

Treasure fell asleep, so I turned off the TV and decided to take a nap with her.

>.<

It's been about two hours.

Treasure's still asleep, and Beast still isn't back yet.

I decided to use the time to do my Calculus homework since it's due tomorrow morning.

It took me about an hour to finish. After I was done, I decided I'd cook.

Since Treasure was still asleep, I placed pillows around her so she wouldn't fall off the bed.

I went downstairs and checked what there was to cook.

I found the ingredients to make chicken Alfredo, so I decided to make that.

About fifteen minutes into cooking, I heard Treasure wake up.

I ran upstairs, changed her diaper, then we came back downstairs.

I fixed her some ramen noodles, crushing them up before cooking them so it would be easier for her to eat.

While the pasta was boiling for the Alfredo, I fed her.

When she finished eating, I fixed her some juice and gave it to her while she sat on the counter.

I continued cooking, making sure to keep a close eye on her.

Just as I turned off the stove, Beast walked in carrying bags.

He placed his keys and the bags down, then lifted Treasure off the counter and started playing with her.

"All the stuff's in those bags."

"Thank you," I said as I looked through them, putting the items that needed to be refrigerated into the fridge.

"Beast, this is way more stuff than I asked for," I said.

He had bought toys, clothes, shoes, and more.

There was also a bag from AT&T.

I looked inside and saw an iPhone 7 Plus with a case and a screen protector.

I put it back in the bag and tried handing it to him.

"Nah shawty, that's yours too," he said while tickling Treasure.

"I can't take this from you."

"Why not?" he asked, barely looking at me.

"Because that phone is like $900, and that case is like $50. I appreciate it, but that's too much. I'm already staying here."

"Which I already told you I don't mind. It's already bought—there's nothing you can do about it. So just take it."

I sighed.

"Fine. I'll pay you back for it then."

I went upstairs, grabbed the money, and came back down. I tried handing him $950, but he just looked at the money in my hand.

"Royalty, put your money away."

"No. Take it."

"Listen, ma. If I minded doing any of this, I wouldn't be doing it in the first place. Just trust me when I say you're good, aight?"

"Okay, fine," I said, putting the money back in my pocket.

I took the phone out of the box and started setting it up.

"I'm guessing you have no social media accounts either, right?"

"Nope," I said, popping the P.

"Download Snapchat, i********:, and Twitter when you're done setting your phone up."

I did what he said and created accounts for each.

He gave me shoutouts, and I started gaining followers.

"You hungry?" I asked as I placed the phone down and grabbed plates from the cupboards.

He nodded yes, so I started fixing both of our plates.

We ate, then watched TV for a bit.

Around 9:00 p.m., Treasure and I went to bed because I have school in the morning.