7-5-97, 11:42 AM

Kourtnee's phone rung. She answered it. It was Paula. When Kourtnee hung up the phone, she said that she had to go to the office. Mrs. Adams said that I could stay with her. Kourtnee said ok and left. I was a bit unsure about hanging with Mrs. Adams, but I was hoping for the best. Mrs. Adams asked me if I wanted to go to the mall. I said sure. I didn't know that I was in for a great treat that day.

Mrs. Adams, Mr. Adams, and I got in the car. I asked Mr. Adams why he was going. He said because he wasn't sending two women to the mall with his credit cards by themselves. Mrs. Adams smiled. I had to listen to old style gospel music as we drove. It was pleasant listening to Mr. Adams sing with his deep voice. He was off key on most of the songs, but I didn't say anything. Mrs. Adams turned around and laughed at me when she saw me directing my imaginary choir that I used to practice my skills. She said, "I bet you direct in your sleep." Mr. Adams laughed and said, "How is my singing Miss Directress?" I said, "You are a little off key, but you sound alright." He sung even louder and more off key. I laughed and so did Mrs. Adams.

When we arrived at the mall, Mrs. Adams told me that I could get whatever I wanted. I looked at her strangely. She repeated herself. I looked at her with the same expression. She handed me her cell phone, told me to call Kourtnee, and asked her if it was okay.

I took the phone and dialed Kourtnee's number. Kourtnee answered her phone. The conversation went like this:

Kourtnee: Shimmers, Inc. This is Kourtnee Adams. How may I help you?

LaDawnya: Hello, Kourtnee. It's LaDawnya.

Kourtnee: Hey sweetie. What do you need?

LaDawnya: Well, we are at the mall and Mrs. Adams said that I could get whatever I wanted.

Kourtnee: Oh, really. Hold on a second. No, we don't need that many. One hundred will be fine. Change the order. Ok, I'm back. If Mama said that you could get whatever you want, she means it. You can get whatever you want.

LaDawnya: Ok. I can get WHATEVER I want.

Kourtnee: Yes sweetie, WHATEVER you want. If you want it, you can get it.

LaDawnya: Ok.

Kourtnee: You are so silly. If you are scared to get anything, you don't have to get anything. I must go. I'll talk to you later. Bye.

LaDawnya: Bye.

I hung up the phone. Mrs. Adams took the phone from me when I handed it to her. She looked at me and then started walking. I was still unsure about getting WHATEVER I wanted.

We walked around the mall for a while. We went into every store that we passed. Mrs. Adams looked at everything in the stores. Mr. Adams looked around the stores, too. I went with Mrs. Adams sometimes and with Mr. Adams other times. It was fun watching them. They appeared to be a happy old married couple. They walked around holding each other's hand. I shook my head and laughed at them. They were cute. Mr. Adams called Mrs. Adams Mar. Mrs. Adams called Mr. Adams T. It was funny watching them interact.

We went into a store called WDK. This store sold clothes from the What's That Kickin' clothesline. The clothes were designed by Wiley D. Kiytell. WDK was the hottest clothesline in Maddocha. I had a WDK t-shirt, but I had always wanted to own some of the WDK line. The store had everything from the WDK line. I probably could have gotten everything I wanted from the store. I was scared. I walked around the store looking at the clothing, shoes, and accessories. Mrs. Adams walked around with me. We stayed in the store for a while. I think Mrs. Adams was waiting for me to get something. Mr. Adams finally walked up to me and said, "Get whatever you want and quit acting silly." I looked at him. He had a frown on his face. I looked at Mrs. Adams. She said, "T, let's go to Leaders' Bookstore and see if the got the book in yet. LaDawnya you stay here and get what you want. We'll be back later to pay for whatever you get." I said, "Ok." Mr. Adams chimed in, "You better have something in your hands when we come back or I'm gonna take off my belt and whip you." He tugged at his belt. Mrs. Adams pulled his arm, Come on, here. Let's go." They left the store.

I walked around the store. One of the sales clerks had over heard the conversation. She became overzealous and tried to get me to buy everything in the store. I didn't though. I ended up getting a jogging suit with tennis shoes to match, three pairs of shorts, two shirts, two pairs of shoes, some socks, and a cap. When Mr. and Mrs. Adams walked back in the store 20 minutes later, Mr. Adams asked what I had gotten. The sales clerk showed him what I had gotten. Mr. Adams looked at me and asked, "Is this all you got?" Before I could answer, the overzealous sales clerk began showing him everything I had looked at. I was standing there watching the whole scene. The sales clerk was pointing out things to Mr. Adams. Mr. Adams was telling her to get one of each thing she pointed out. I looked at Mrs. Adams. She put her arm around my shoulders and said, "Don't worry, honey. He's not gonna buy you all of that." By the time Mr. Adams and the sales clerk were through gathering stuff, the checkout counter was full of clothes.

Mr. Adams told me to pick out some of the stuff from the items that he and the sales clerk had gathered. I picked more stuff than I really wanted because I didn't want Mr. Adams to go crazy on me and buy everything on the counter. He asked the sales clerk to ring up everything that I had picked. She did. The total came to $493.26. I looked at the mount on the cash register display screen and almost passed out. I had never spent that much money before.

I leaned on the counter. Mr. Adams paid for the things. Mrs. Adams looked at me and laughed. She whispered something in Mr. Adams's ear. Mr. Adams glanced at me and said, "You are silly. You need to hang out with some of our other grandchildren. They could tell you some stories. Five-hundred dollars isn't anything." He laughed as he gathered up the bags.

Mrs. Adams sat down on a bench after we exited the store. Mr. Adams and I took the bags that we had to the car. Mr. Adams told me stories about how much money his other grandchildren had spent. He said that once, Kourtnee tried to get $5,000 worth of furniture for her first apartment. They didn't let her get that much. She only got half of what she wanted. He went on and on with his stories. He and his wife were very generous to their family.

When we reached Mrs. Adams, she said, "Prissy called. She is on her way to the mall." I looked at Mrs. Adams and said, "Prissy? Who is Prissy?" Mrs. Adams blushed and said, "Oh Lord. I wasn't supposed to call her that in front of you. Don't ever call Kourtnee that. That is her nickname. She would get mad at me if she knew I called her that in front of you." I smiled. Mrs. Adams got up from the bench and we began walking around. About ten minutes later, Mrs. Adams' cell phone rang. She answered it. It was Kourtnee. She was at the mall and she was trying to find us. A few minutes later, Kourtnee and Paula were walking towards us. I smiled when I saw Kourtnee. Mrs. Adams grabbed me and told me to not say anything about Kourtnee's nickname. I made a face and said that I wouldn't say anything although I really wanted to. Kourtnee and Paula both spoke. We all began walking around together and going into stores. Kourtnee and Paula began picking up items. Mrs. Adams never said anything to them. They just began getting stuff. Mr. and Mrs. Adams didn't say anything to either of them. Mr. Adams looked at me and said, "See, they know what to do when they are at a mall with me and Mar. You better join them before we decide to leave." I didn't say or do anything. Kourtnee and Paula walked out of almost every store with a bag. Mr. Adams paid for everything that they got.

I was sitting with Mrs. Adams waiting on Kourtnee and Paula. Kourtnee came out of one of the stores and got me. She showed me some outfits and asked if I liked them. I said, "I guess." She rolled her eyes and told me to go try on some of the outfits. She and Paula fussed and tugged at me as I showed them how I looked in each outfit. I ended up getting more outfits. Mr. Adams came in the store and said, "Ok, you all. Get whatever you have now and let's go." Kourtnee said, "Awe, Granddaddy, we just got here can we stay longer?" Mr. Adams looked at Kourtnee and said, "No, let's go." Paula chimed in, "Please Mr. Adams." Both she and Kourtnee gave him some puppy dog eyes. Mr. Adams looked at me and asked, "Are you ready to go?" I was standing close to Kourtnee. She tugged on my shirt. I knew that she wanted me to say that I wasn't ready to go yet. Mr. Adams said, "Don't let them influence you. Are you ready to go?" I felt Kourtnee tug at my shirt again. Paula laughed. Mr. Adams shook his head and said, "Okay, you all have another half hour and then WE ARE LEAVING!" Paula and Kourtnee both said, "Yes, sir." They both went back to shopping.

I walked out of the store with Mr. Adams. He told Mrs. Adams what had happened. She chuckled. I saw a Mega Sports Zone store. I asked Mrs. Adams could I go in the store. She said that I could. She told Mr. Adams where we were going and we went to the store. Mega Sports Zone had the best racquetball equipment anywhere. I had been wanting a Sportsmaster 4000 racquet every since I had heard that it had came out last year. I couldn't get it though. It costs over $250. When we walked into the store, I went straight to the racquetball section. I looked around. My eyes got big. Mrs. Adams saw the excitement on my face and started asking me questions about racquetball. I answered each one as I looked around. I saw it, the Sportsmaster 4000 racquetball racquet. I looked at one. I held it. It felt good in my hands. I looked at the price. It was $229.99. As much as I wanted the racquet, I didn't feel comfortable getting the racquet. I put it back on the shelf. Mrs. Adams said, "You don't want the racquet." I responded, "Yes, mame. I want it, but…" "You can get it," she responded. I said, "Well, you have already gotten me enough stuff today." She looked me dead in my eyes and said, "If Paula, who isn't even related to me can get whatever she wants without even asking, my new grand daughter ought to be able to get whatever she wants. If you want the racquet, get it." I stared at the racquet. She said, "I am not like T. I am not going to get it for. I have told you to get what you want. If you don't get it and you walk out of this store, you won't be getting it at all. It's up to you." I grabbed the racquet. While I was there, I got three cans of balls, two wristbands, some socks, and a set of gloves. Mrs. Adams smiled as we walked to the counter to check out. Kourtnee, Paula, and Mr. Adams were standing outside the store. Kourtnee walked into the store to where we were. She looked at what I had gotten. Mrs. Adams told her not to even think about trying to get anything. Kourtnee laid her head on Mrs. Adams' shoulder. Mrs. Adams patted her head and told her to get out of the store. Kourtnee grimaced and walked out of the store. Mrs. Adams and I walked out of the store a few seconds later.

While we were going to our cars, Paula said that she was hungry. Mr. Adams said, "Girl, we done bought you half the mall, now you want us to feed you, too. Lord have mercy, women." Mrs. Adams shook her head. Mr. Adams said that we could go to whatever restaurant I wanted to go to. Paula whispered in my ear, "Stacalla's." I turned around and looked at her. Mr. Adams said, "LaDawnya, come here." I walked over to him. His stood in front of me so that I could not see Paula and Kourtnee. Paula and Kourtnee couldn't see me. He asked where I wanted to go. I told him Torrez. We walked back over to the group. Kourtnee stared at me and said, "We're going to Torrez, aren't we?" Mr. Adams said, "Yes." Paula poked her lip out. Kourtnee smiled. Mrs. Adams shook her head. We all went to Kourtnee and Paula's cars. Paula got in her car. The rest of us got into Kourtnee's car. We drove to where Mr. and Mrs. Adams' car was. Mr. and Mrs. Adams got out of Kourtnee's car and got into their car. We all drove to Torrez.

We ate. The meal was full of conversation about life, friends, and family. It was full of laughter and fun. It was a wonderful experience. The meal was over. We went outside to go home. I got all of my bags from Mr. and Mrs. Adams' car and put them in Kourtnee's car. Kourtnee's trunk was full. Everyone said goodbye and went home. As Kourtnee and I drove home, we both sung to the Crowley Temple Mass Choir CD entitled, "Song Zion Sing." I forwarded the CD to my favorite song on the CD, "Holy Ghost." Kourtnee sung and I directed all the way home.