by Natavia
You need to comb that matted weave so someone can look at you, I thought. After we were seated, we ordered our drinks and food. We made small talk as we waited for our appetizers.
“So, Mr. Cayman. Do you have any kids?” I asked him.
“Nope, I don’t have any. I haven’t met that special someone yet. Plus, a nigga is still trying to make it in this world. I’ll think about it after I finish school,” he responded. Cayman was different from the other boys from my hood. He was perfect in my eyes, almost like my prince charming.
“I haven’t decided if I wanted kids or not. But honestly, I don’t think I want any. I have to take care of my sisters’ already. That’s enough for me,” I replied.
“Yeah, I feel you on that one,” he said.
“Have you ever been in love?” I asked.
“Honestly, no. I mean I ain’t got anything against it, but I just haven’t opened myself up to that yet. I fucked around with a few shorties that I really liked, but they bored me after a while. I don’t like to be chased,” he said.
“Explain,” I replied.
“A straight forward woman is cool, but it gets old quick. It’s okay to be a little shy or something. Make a nigga work hard for it,” he said.
“So, you haven’t met a woman like that yet?” I asked.
“Yeah, but she had a nigga. Shorty shot me down really quick. The first time my pride was crushed, but I respect her even more,” he said.
Good riddance, I said.
“Was she pretty?” I asked. I needed to know everything because I thought I had some competition.
“She was gorgeous, but I’m not trying to talk about her,” he said feeling uncomfortable.
“So, you’ll push me to the side for her?” I half-way joked.
“I ain’t checking for her no more, she’s cool with someone I know. Just have some faith in me, damn,” he chuckled. I decided to drop it because Cayman didn’t want to talk about it.
“I am, that’s why I’m still sitting across from you. Now, open up and taste this jerk shrimp.” I said after the appetizer was brought to our table. He opened his mouth and I fed it to him. A little sauce dripped down his lip, but I seductively licked it off. I didn’t care what he thought about straight forward women anymore. He just hasn’t met one like me before.
Cayman stared into my eyes, “You are frisky. Do you know that?” he said and I smirked.
“Well, what can I say? I’m adventurous,” I replied. After our main dishes came, we talked about other things. I felt like I knew more about Cayman than what I knew about myself. He was an open book and anything I wanted to know about him he told me. After dinner, we went for a walk downtown. His arm was wrapped around my shoulder, I felt safe and secure. I felt like he could protect me from everything. It was a memorable summer. I had new friends, I screwed my best-friend’s mother, and I met a handsome guy that wasn’t business related.
An hour later, he was pulling up in front of my house. He got out to walk me to the door, “I enjoyed my night with you. Thank you,” I said to him.
“Yeah, it was chill. Now, I have to wake up at six in the morning for work. Call me tomorrow when you wake up.” He said before he kissed my cheek.
“Goodnight, Cayman.” I watched him pull off before I hurried to my room to write in my diary. I had a swarm of butterflies in my stomach as I wrote about Cayman.
The Next Day…
“Kesia, Mekelia, let's go! Emeka is outside.”
Samiah’s mother invited Emeka and me to her house for dinner, so that she could meet Samiah’a new friends. I wasn’t going to go at first because I didn’t want to leave my sisters behind again.
I was leaving them at home by themselves or with Miss Gayle stuck in both apartments all day. I didn't like to leave them alone for too many days without our father or me being home. I didn’t want them to feel like I was abandoning them too. I enjoyed our sister time, even if they had to tag along with me and my friends. Samiah said it was cool for them to come over, and her mother would watch them if we had to leave out. She knew I didn’t want them outside with us because of the drive-by in her hood.
“We’re coming,” Kesia called out.
“I was trying to get her to leave her book behind but she wouldn’t,” Kesia said when she came to the door. I glanced at Mekelia, who was walking down the hallway reading a book.
“Leave her alone, Kesia. She doesn’t bother you when you’re working on your singing and songwriting.” I said. I ushered them both out of the front door just as Emeka honked her horn. Kesia and Mekelia walked ahead of me to Emeka’s car as I locked the apartment up.
“Damn, what took y’all so long? It’s too hot to be sitting in this car.” Emeka said as soon as I sat on the passenger’s seat.
“Girl please. You weren’t out here longer than five minutes,” I said. Minutes later, Emeka was pulling up to Samiah’s house. Her and Adisa were walking across the street from the store when we parked. They both had a bag filled with popsicles in their hands; it was hot like a blazing inferno.
“These are my little sisters, Kesia and Mekelia,” I said to Adisa and Samiah. All of a sudden, police cars flew past us.
We watched the police cars until they turned down the street. It was always something popping off in Samiah’s hood. When we walked into her house, her mother came out of the kitchen. We introduced ourselves to Miss Mariah. I had to nudge Mekelia to speak because she was so caught up in her book. She didn’t know what was going on around her.
“It’s okay sweetie. I have the same problem when I find a good book to read.” Miss Mariah said when she noticed the look of embarrassment on Mekelia’s face.
“But she's reading the same book that she has read a million times already,” Kesia said. She always had to jump into a conversation that had nothing to do with her.
“That’s okay Kesia. Mekelia, I have the second book on my bookshelf in the living room if you want to read it,” Miss Mariah said. Mekelia went to the living room to find the book after Samiah gave her a popsicle.
“Faraji, can I please go to my friend’s house? She lives just down the street?” Kesia begged a few seconds later. I couldn’t say “no” if I wanted to because she was stuck in the house since summer started.
“Yeah just make sure you take the phone with you. Call me every hour, and call me when you're about to leave her house.” I bought Kesia and Mekelia a prepaid phone to share just in case something went wrong. Mekelia never used the phone because she was always with Kesia.
“Mekelia, are you coming?” as much as Kesia complained about Mekelia reading, she didn’t go nowhere without her. It was like they were joined at the hip.
“Can I take the book with me, Miss Mariah?” Mekelia asked as she stood from the couch.
“Yes, just make sure y’all are back by seven for dinner.” Miss Mariah said.
“Call me when y’all get there,” I called out behind them as they left out of the house.
Samiah, Adisa, Emeka, and I sat on the porch eating popsicles, a couple of minutes later after my sisters left. Samiah said the porch would be cooler than the house. The awning that covered the porch had some kind of misting system.
“Let's go be nosey,” Adisa said when two more cop cars went flying down the street. Something must’ve happened since the other cops had called for backup, and I wanted to see what happened as well. We all headed towards the crowd.
“York!” Adisa called out as she ran towards him. When we turned the corner, a cop had York handcuffed with his face pressed against a brick wall.
“Go back to the house,” York said when Adisa tried to get past the cops.
“No, I’m not leaving you here,” Adisa cried. Her cries quickly turned to full on sobs as they pulled York towards a police car. Samiah cried on Emeka’s shoulder as Emeka rubbed her back. I hugged Adisa and told her it was going to be okay. I may not have known them long, but the friendship I developed with Samiah and Adisa became real. Seeing them like t
hat broke my heart.
“Wait give me one second,” York said to the officer that was pulling him towards the car. The officer stopped pulling him, he must’ve felt bad for Adisa too. Most officers wouldn’t have allowed that to happen. York leaned down to give Adisa a peck on the lips.
“I’ll call you when I can. Just go to the house until I do,” York said.
“Step back,” an officer said. He pushed Adisa when she tried to hug York.
“Man don’t be putting your muthafuckin’ hands on her,” York said. He was calm during his arrest up until that moment. York tried to get to the officer that pushed Adisa.
“I know that bitch had something to do with it. I’mma ‘bout to fuck her up,” Adisa said. We looked across the street and saw Emani and her friends watching the drama unfold with York.
“Hoppa get her and take her ass to the house,” York said before he was placed in the back of a police car. Adisa stormed across the street in full rage. It happened so fast, and we couldn’t catch her in time. Unlike Adisa, Samiah was street smart. She wasn’t going to pop off in front of a bunch of cops. Adisa didn’t care about the cops.
“Hoppa let me go, I need to kill that bitch,” Adisa yelled as Hoppa bear hugged her halfway across the street.
Emeka, Samiah, and I followed behind Hoppa as he pulled a kicking and screaming Adisa to Samiah’s house.
“What’s the matter?” Miss Mariah asked. She ran out of the house with a knife in her hand. I figured she heard Adisa’s mouth a mile away and thought she was in trouble.
“They took York to jail,” Samiah said. She ran into her mother’s arms and broke down.
“Y’all must go downtown to see if they are gonna’ charge him and with what. I have to run to his house really quick,” Hoppa said. He let Adisa go before he took off running towards his car. He was probably making sure York didn’t have anything incriminating at his home.
Emeka and I went to get my sisters after, Samiah, her mother, and Adisa left to see about York. We took my sisters to the movies before Emeka dropped us off at home.
Cayman text me and it was the perfect timing. I was just getting out of the shower. I got in bed and text him back. I told him how my day went and he told me about his. Good thing I didn’t have a knack for hood dudes. Seeing York getting locked up made me appreciate Cayman even more.
6. Samiah
Present Day
“I didn’t mean that far in the beginning,” Detective Owens said as he slammed his fist down on the table.
“Look, I don’t have to tell you shit without a lawyer. I am only doing this because I want to figure out what happened to my friend,” I told him.
“We really appreciate you doing this,” Officer Wilson said to me.
“Now can you just move up your timeline a bit more?” Officer Wilson asked.
“That’s all you had to say,” I said to Detective Owens. I went into our college years because that was when we started hiding secrets from one another. Life was eating us up and our college years were just the beginning of it.
Part Two
College Years
7. Samiah
September 2004
Y ork ended up getting ten years for possession of drugs, but he will only have to do five or six with good behavior. He was sentenced a month after he was locked up.
It was our first week of college and our friendship was even tighter. Adisa was still in a funk about York. She couldn’t believe she had to wait five to six years to be with him again.
Kyan, and I have been keeping in contact with each other since I met him at one of Adisa’s pool parties. We even went out on a few dates. He was sweet and cocky just how I liked them, but he still couldn’t compare to Zu. Zu was and will always be my heart although he cheated on me. He was trying to come back around, but I brushed him off. He didn’t take the news of York being locked up too well neither did Hoppa. They got put out of the courtroom when York was sentenced because they were disrupting the judge. York was originally facing up to thirty years, but he had a good lawyer on his side.
********
Faraji, Emeka, Adisa and I ended up at the same apartment complex next to campus. Adisa and I shared an apartment on the second floor while Faraji and Emeka shared an apartment on the sixth floor. Almost every night we ended up in the same apartment.
It was supposed to have been a new life for me but with Zu and I broken up and York being locked up, it didn’t feel the same. The saying “after one door closes, another opens” is very true. My plan was too good to be true. While Adisa talked to York on the phone, Kyan was texting me. He told me he was around the corner. He was picking me up for our movie date. After I applied my lip liner, Adisa handed me the phone.
“Heyyyyyyy brother,” I sang into the phone.
“What’s good with you? Who is that lil’ nigga that’s supposed to be taking you out? What did I tell you about that? You are lucky I’m locked up and can’t get at that nigga! I don’t like niggas I don’t know,” York fussed.
“I know, but me and Kyan are just friends, trust me,” I said.
“You have one minute left remaining,” the operator said. I wanted to throw the phone and curse Adisa out for taking my time.
“Damn, it York! I’m pissed off!” I said.
“I will find a way to talk to y’all all the time, okay? I love you and tell mama I love her too when you talk to her. Be safe out there and remember, school before niggas. Tell Adisa I love her crazy ass too,” he said. My heart ached every time I hung up with him.
“You know you could’ve at least gave me five minutes to talk,” I told Adisa. We had the same conversation every time York called her phone instead of mine, but she always came up with an excuse.
“You were texting and getting ready for your date,” she said. I just knew she was going to say that.
“Whatever, see you later,” I said as I left out of the door. I made sure it slammed so she could know I was still pissed off.
Kyan stood by the passenger’s door of his car, he opened the door when he saw me coming.
“This is very gentlemanly of you.”
“Ain’t nothing gentle about me,” he mumbled underneath his breath. I wondered what he meant, but I didn’t want to ruin our date by asking.
“How’s school been going?” he asked me as he climbed into the driver side.
“It’s been going as school can get, I just can’t wait until I get into my major classes.”
“Yes, when you get to your major classes it makes all the general education classes worth it. But when your major classes get hard you gone find yourself questioning why you are even in them. But once you get that A or B, it once again makes it all worth it.” Kyan said.
“What is your major and how much longer you have in school?” I asked him. I wanted to know more about Kyan. We talked on the phone, but it was about insignificant stuff.
“I’m a senior and my major is criminal justice. I’mma become a cop.” He said and I had to do a double take.
“We can’t be friends once you become one of those boys in blue,” I half-joked.
“Girl stop playing. Once you see me in my uniform, your ass won’t be able to get enough of me.” He said. Kyan circled around the parking lot of the theatre twice before he found parking.
“Thanks,” I said as he opened my door and helped me out of the car. The movie we were going to see was sold out, so he bought tickets to see Deja Vu with Denzel Washington.
Kyan bought sour candy, chocolate, popcorn, and an extra large slushy with two straws to share.
We got there at the right time because the last of the previews were on and there were still seats in the back.
My eyes almost popped out of my head when I noticed Zu and some woman walking up the stairs towards us. I diverted my eyes when Zu looked at me and pretended he wasn’t there. I prayed he wouldn’t do anything stupid, but my prayers didn't work because he sat his ass one seat down from my right side. From where I sat,
I could see his leg bouncing—he was pissed off. He was the reason for my date, so I ignored him. I sat back in my seat and got comfortable as the lights dimmed; the movie was starting.
We were halfway into the movie when Kyan wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him.
All of a sudden, a shiver ran down my spine and the tiny hairs on my arm stood up. When I looked up, I could see a pissed off Zu staring back at me. If looks could kill, I would be dead. I was kind of scared, but I played it off by rolling my eyes at him. I laid my head against Kyan’s chest, daring Zu to do something about it.