Julisa called her mom since she neglected to call her all morning.
"Hey baby..." Jill said flustered when she answered the phone.
"Um...where have you been?..." Julisa says, not likening her uneasy tone.
"Sorry, I lost track of time is everything okay?" Jill felt bad for not checking up on her daughter sooner.
"I was just getting ready to ask you. It's not like you to not at least call me... I got worried..." Julisa says hoping she'd tell me the truth if something bad really did happen.
"I know Julisa, mamas sorry I really got so caught up." Jill couldn't believe the impact Anthony has had on her. She literally forgot all about Julisa.
"Are you hurt?" Julisa said with concern laced in her voice.
"No baby! I just really had a good time..." Jill felt like she left a piece of her heart at Anthony's loft. It made her feel ridiculous.
"Oh! Is he nice? Will he get a date?" Julisa say hoping she found someone she would start dating. Julisa felt guilty for what she was doing to her mom. She's never kept a secret from her and the fact that she was sleeping with an ex that her mom hasn't moved on from yet makes me feel so bad.
"To early to tell baby..." Jill says, hoping to find a way to get Anthony's number later.
"Oh... okay... well how soon will you be home?" I say a little discouraged.
"In like 15 minutes."
***
When Jill gets home she rushes in and runs straight upstairs.
Julisa was on the couch in the living room eating cereal and watching tv. She was watching the CNN coverage on the rebel strife going on in Jamaica. Things were getting bad and she wondered if she would ever be able to vacation there again. She had been there three times already and was in love with the food, music, culture, and people. Julisa truly felt bad to watch what has transpired in the country.
When she heard her mom barge in. She put the cereal bowl down and ran after her. When she got up to her moms spacious bedroom, she yelled "Well good morning to you too!"
"Oh sorry baby, I didn't see you..." Jill called out from her walk-in closet.
"You didn't look either!" Julisa snapped, following her voice.
When Julisa spotted her mom, she was completely naked and rummaging through her closet. Julisa noticed the hickeys on her neck, chest and breast.
"Dang mom who had you all night, Damain Salvator!"
Jill ignored her as she found the perfect classy summer dress for the brunch.
"Or was it Edward Cullen because whoever it was seemed like he couldn't get enough..."
"Julisa!" Jill said sternly, not liking when her daughter got fresh about her sex life.
"Sorry!" Julisa gave a surrendering gesture. "You were just gone for so long and showed up with all these hickies on you."
"The only person that needs to worry about not showing up home with hickes is you!" Jill said, indicating this topic was done.
"Okay sorry..." Gion knows better. Julisa thought to herself.
Julisa wishes she could just tell her mom she's having sex so she could stop being so stiff about the topic. I know it's only because she doesn't want me to end up like her. But I won't. Gino is strict with using condoms since my mom won't let me get on contraception because she believes it's poison. She teaches me how to track my cycle by using an app on my phone. Even though I tell Gino I know when we can have sex without condoms because I know when I'm ovulating, he doesn't care. He won't add the extra risk on top of what he's already doing. Jail really traumatized him. Every now and then when he's holding me and looking into my eyes, he says "I am f***ing crazy." I hate when he does this. It makes me think he'll break up with me 😢.
Jill put on her dress and looked at her daughter for approval. It was an off the shoulder baby blue dress.
Julisa almost approved when she noticed a dark bruise on her shoulder.
"Mom! What happened to your shoulder?!"
Jill looked in the mirror and saw the big bruise. "Oh! When I was riding with my friend, he slammed on the breaks and I wasn't wearing my seatbelt."
"Were you guys in an accident?"
"No! Well almost... It's nothing! I should have been wearing my seatbelt!" Jill groans in irritation having to find another dress to wear.
"You sure your okay?" Julisa asked, thinking her mom has been acting weird all morning.
"I'm fine JuJu Bean... Now help me find a different dress." Jill smiles reassuringly.
"What about the dress I found at the thrift store last week?" Julisa had bought this $800 dress for her mom and really wanted to see her in it.
It was a peach wrap style dress that stopped mid thigh. It covered Jill's bruised shoulder perfectly. It's wrap front v neckline offers subtle skin but she still has to put a little make up on her chest to hide the hickes from her time with Anthony.
Jill brushed her teeth, washed her face and redid her makeup as she listened to Julisa tell her about some last minute decorations and things people we're doing or giving for free as a gift for her birthday. All these things we're actually things Gino was paying for.
Jill would stop and gush at things that were really exclusive sounding. "You are so lit! Look at all the people who care about you!" Jill was so happy to see that people thought her daughter was just as precious as she believed.
Jill first started saving and planning for Julisa's sweet sixteen a year ago. Sheri was also saving to be able to help if there were things she couldn't get last minute. So far, there wasn't a need to bust open that piggy bank.
Jill proudly thought to herself, "Fuck you, Danny! We never fucking needed you!" Jill reminisced on the times she would cry worrying about how she would afford to do things for their daughter without him. The only good thing that came from Danny leaving, was the hustle that drove Jill to finish school to provide the best life for her baby girl.
When Jill looked at the time, she saw it was exactly 11:30am. Sheri was going to kill her if she didn't leave now.
"Oh I gotta go! Sorry baby, we'll talk about this later! I love you!" Jill raced downstaires.
"Love you too!" Julisa called after her.