solid | THE CHI

01

♡ TIA ALANNI BUTLER ♡

One thing Tia always found interesting about herself was that she had trouble with change. Tia was a simple and well-organized girl; she had a fixed schedule, a meal plan, a fixed morning and night routine, and even fixed hair appointments. Tia's life was arguably perfect. Everyone loved her. She had great friends, came from a good family, and was extremely gorgeous to top it all off. All of that changed when her older brother, Javell, was shot dead seven months ago. Secrets were spilled and more blood was shed. Following the death of her brother, the young girl felt that she needed time away from Chicago. She decided to spend those seven months in Phoenix, Arizona at her grandmother's house. Her grandmother constantly nagged at her in the weeks before her leaving, often asking if she was sure she was ready to be back in Chicago. Truthfully, Tia wasn't sure if she was ready to face the problems she'd ran from. What she did know was that she missed the city and her closest friends, Kevin Williams, Jake Taylor, Stanley "Papa" Jackson, and Maisha.

Tia rolled her shoulders back and sighed as she stepped out of the Uber that had picked her up from O'Hare airport. She quickly grabbed her luggage and mumbled a "thank you." After the Uber left, Tia turned and faced her home that she had abandoned months ago. She hadn't realized how long it'd actually been since she had last been home. It felt different. The young girl let out a shaky breath and began walking towards the house. Suddenly, someone crashed into her, knocking her to the ground.

"Man, fuck!" Tia heard a male voice coming from next to her. She groaned and sat up at the same time as whoever ran her over. When the two finally looked at each other, Tia instantly felt her blood boil. Her eyes darkened when she saw who it was.

"Bakari. You just had to be the first person I see when I get back to fuckin' Chicago," the shorter of the two spat, anger laced in her tone.

Bakari looked at her blankly. Tia wasn't happy to see him, but he was sure happy to see her. The two were supposed to loathe each other, being that Bakari and Tia's brother weren't too fond of each other. It was easy to hate her at first until Bakari really started to notice how pretty Tia was. He could tell that she was naturally a sweetheart and out the way. She mostly kept to herself, only hanging around the same four people he often saw her with. Bakari realized his feelings for Tia weeks before her brother's death. After hearing that she left Chicago after the incident, the boy was devastated. Sure, he didn't much care for Javell, but he wouldn't wish that type of pain on anyone. Especially not Tia. He always kept his feelings at bay, though; it was better to watch from the sidelines.

Tia scoffed when she noticed that he wasn't going to give her an answer back. Bakari rose to his feet and stuck his hand out for the girl to help her to her feet. She looked at it before looking at him with a stank face.

"Nigga, I don't need yo damn help," she said, slapping his hand away and getting up on her own.

Bakari shrugged with a sly smirk on his face, "excuse me for trying to help out a beautiful lady. You straight?" Tia glared at him as he laughed at her expression. To Tia, he was teasing her and trying to be funny. In reality, Bakari was flirting.