Khalid & Khalil

Parent: Kay (62)

Parent/ Oldest Sisiter: KIKI (41)

Adult Child- Oldest Son: Khalid (29)

Adult Child- Youngest Son: Khalil (23)

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Kay is the matriarch of her family of five, her adult children consisting of two adult daughters and two adult sons. The two daughters, Kiki and Kamaria, lead successful, fulfilling, independent lives, whereas the two sons, Khalid and Khalil, are seriously struggling through life despite being full-fledged adults. Kay isn’t sure if she failed or succeeded as a mother, but she knows she is too old to still be parenting her two adult sons.

The most problematic child at home is the oldest son Khalid. At 29 years old he has never left the house, he doesn’t pay rent, doesn’t contribute to utilities, doesn’t cook, and doesn’t have a job. He’s a burden not only to his mother; but also, to his oldest sister, Kiki, who is essentially the secondary matriarch and provider of the family besides Kay.

Kiki lives in the home with her husband and three young children, as well as her mother Kay, and two adult brothers Khalid and Khalil. Kiki owns and runs several businesses including a lawn care business and her own CPA/Tax prep business. She makes a good living but finds herself overextending financially to take care of her younger brothers along with her husband and children.

Khalid at 29 has no real job to speak of. He raps and attempts to make music, but that doesn’t pay the bills. He’s tried to follow in Kiki’s footsteps and establish a lawn care business, but work is sporadic, inconsistent, and doesn’t pay well. What money he does scrape together goes to weed and personal items. The truth is Khalid probably couldn’t pass a drug test while looking for a real job due to all the weed he smokes. He’s been asked time and again by Kiki and Kay to pay rent, or at least contribute to utilities and/or groceries. Although Khalid says that he will, he never does. He also has parties with friends who eat Kiki’s food and use the household utilities which infuriates Kiki.

Kiki and Kay are good cops and bad cops when it comes to Khalid and Khalil. Kiki wants to enforce harsh punishments and consequences for her brothers, but Mama Kay is softer and more lenient. If Kiki does try to implement structure, for example paying rent every month, Khalid and Khalil will go behind her back to Kay who will tell them that they don’t have to pay rent or listen to Kiki. Naturally, this infuriates Kiki who either wants to move or evict her brothers. Kiki and Khalid butt heads all the time, in drag-out disrespectful arguments.

Caught in the mix is 23-year-old Khalil who has been living at home for two years since graduating college. The family thinks that Khalil is at a critical impasse, he could either move out and thrive like his two sisters before him or follow his big brother’s path of lethargy and stagnation. Khalil wants a real job, but he also loves to play video games, spending at least three hours a day in his room by himself gaming. If life is so easy at home, why would he want to get a job and move out? Kamaria is the middle daughter who moved out at eighteen and now lives out of state. She’s never understood why anyone would ever want to live at home past eighteen. She says that Khalid has a bad temper and is quick to explode. It’s usually triggered by facing the fact that he needs to start working.

Mother Kay is reaching her golden years; she wants to sell her home, retire, and move to be with her extended family in St. Thomas. She doesn’t want to sit around and pay the mortgage. This is the time of her life to travel and enjoy life. However, that is easier said than done. Kay and her oldest daughter Kiki have been splitting the cost of the mortgage on the family home for a long time and Kiki has also been responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the home for years, pouring tens of thousands of dollars of her own money into home renovations and improvements. Kay has to decide whether or not to turn the home over to Kiki or to sell the home to someone else. It’s a major point of contention because if Kay sells the home she is going to be relinquishing the home that has been in the family for years, as well as rob Kiki of the hours, money, and time she has put into the property. But on the other hand, Kay knows that if she gives the home to Kiki that she will evict her two younger brothers Khalid and Khalil, which would be upsetting and not right in her opinion.

Kiki thinks that because of the amount of money and time she has invested in the home she is entitled to it. She admits that if she gets the house she will either charge her brothers rent or more than likely ask them to leave. If they don’t, she has no other option but to evict them. Everyone in the house wants something different, with Kiki and Kay caught in a complicated position between enabling Khalid and Khalil or asking them to leave and handing them a healthy dose of tough love.