𝐌𝐀𝐃

𝟬𝟯

𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘰,𝘐𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴

𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗵 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗶 𝗢𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘀
–––

A man that knows something
knows he knows nothing at all

Neveah's Sunday cleaning playlist played throughout the house as she scrubbed the kitchen counters, The aroma of pine sol and all-purpose cleaner filled her nostrils as she put the rag on the sink. She grabs her water bottle and chugs it down before stepping on the trash can to put the bottle in, sitting on the hard wooden chair she tries to crack her back from the stress of cleaning for 24 hours.

Today's the last Friday of the month and supposed to be her day off but here she was cleaning her aunt's filthy living room after weeks of tiring shifts.

Hearing the slam of the front door she rolls her eyes knowing her aunt will find something to complain about.

"Why the fuck are you laying on my furniture when this house dirty?!" Her aunt yells taking a cigarette out of the box she held.

Neveah cringes not only at the yelling but the cancer stick between Keisha's fingers as she holds an ugly mug on her face. She's always hated the smell of cigarettes and the eye-watering stench that they would get trapped in her clothes.

She snaps back into reality when she feels a hard tug on her hair. Keisha keeps a firm grip on her hair emitting a burning pain on her scalp.

"You ain't hear me bitch?!" She spat in her face tightening her grip.

"I-I'm sorry, I'll finish cleaning" Neveah flinched, tears forming in her eyes. she hated being yelled at, it made her uneasy.

Keisha sends a hard slap across her face, her ring snagging the girl's cheek resulting in blood running down her face.

"change your clothes you damn slut" she stares at her outfit in disgust before marching out of the kitchen.

Neveah looks down at her old baggy sweatpants and her mother's jay-z concert shirt with her brows furrowed in confusion. She didn't see anything wrong with what she had on. Neveah takes a deep breath through her nose and closes her eyes sending a silent prayer to her parents before picking up the broom.

—

Neveah's eyes scanned over her laptop as she pushed her glasses from the tip of her nose.

"Write a four-page essay on a topic you feel is left in the dark"

It was now well past midnight and she had finished cleaning the house hours ago so she decided to get ahead on her college classes. School was pretty good, She was attending online college to major in film and photography since she was planning on being a cinematographer.

Cmon Neveah you've been looking at this for an hour, write something.

Truthfully she could talk your ear off about social issues and anything to do with Black people but she couldn't focus. After a few moments the light bulb in her head turns on and her fingers began to dance across the keyboard, filling the blank page with words.

Blindly reaching by her side, she picks up the fifth cutie she's eaten tonight and begins pealing it while proofreading the first page.

"She'll have no choice but to give me a good grade now " Neveah chuckles already imagining her very white professor reading her article with pursed lips.

Sighing in satisfaction, she sits back and types her title before saving it to her word documents and closing the tab.

Neveah unwraps herself from the bundle of SpongeBob covers she had been laying in and carefully tiptoes to the bathroom being cautious of any of her aunt's "company".

She had already quickly showered and changed into the only thing her aunt considered "appropriate", a hoodie, earlier and spent the rest of her time locked in her room.

After brushing her teeth and washing the orange from under her nails, she tiptoes right back to her room which really isn't much.

The beige-colored room holds a single twin-sized mattress with a small closet that Neveah used for her clothes. there was a small window right by the door that did nothing but let in sunlight. Over the several years of living there, she customized it with a small mirror hanging behind her door and four plants which she named Evangeline, Ross, Shakira, and lastly her cactus, frank.

After applying Vaseline to her lips and slipping her bonnet on she gets back into the blanket and searches through an illegal site to play an episode of boondocks.

After a few episodes, her eyes begin to burn from the bright screen in her face. she closes her eyes while letting out a yawn before placing the laptop on the carpet and plugging in the charger.

Neveah gets up to stretch until she hears at least five cracks before laying back in bed and letting sleep take over her.