STREETZ

1

"Just cause you live in the ghetto doesn't mean you can't grow."

-Tupac Shakur

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Aaliyah awoke from her extremely long nap, patting her full-size mattress her frail fingers slid along the cotton sheets feeling for the red 8 plus iPhone.

Picking up her phone, her eyelids fluttered shying away from the blinding light cascading from the screen. 

The time read at 8:39 pm.

Her nap was extended over 4 hours.

Throwing the plush purple cover from over her small body, Aaliyah swung her feet over the side of the full-sized bed letting her bare feet kiss the cold floor.

Aaliyah extended her arms over her head, the tip of her toes pressed deep into the mahogany wood, she stretched the tightness of her bones away.

Her jaw expanded widely, as a tired yawn escaped her mouth.

The single window let in a small bit of light from the night's moon.

Aaliyah's room was chilled and dark. The single window allowed a faint light from the night's moon to cast shadows over the widen dresser. The attached mirror that sat onto of the dresser beamed a reflection of the half full moon and the small stars that surrounded it.

A hurling sound aroused from her aching stomach. Aaliyah drew a deep breath before releasing it. She slowly making her way out of her room down the dark hall of the boxed apartment to her mother's room.

Softly pushing the slightly cracked door Aaliyah peered her head inside, she scanned over the sight before her.

Bonnie's curvaceous body was sprawled across the bed, a thin white sheet covering the lower half of her bare body. The illumination of the mounted TV glowed on Bonnie's deep-dark skin.

The more Aaliyah pushed herself into the room the more the air became tight and dry. The scent of long lit cigarettes, and alcohol swindled all over the place.

She found herself avoiding the exceeding amounts of rubbish on the floor of Bonnie's dismantled room. Colt 45 bottles, empty food wrappings, and random shoes staggered every where along with hefty piles of clothing.

" Ma." Aaliyah's voice rasped as she peered closer to the drunken woman.

The bed of matted curls covered Bonnie's face. With her hand placed on Bonnie's shoulder she shook her slightly ignoring the loud snores alluding from Bonnie's mouth.

Bonnie stirred in her sleep letting out a harsh snort before she turned over on her side.

"Ma!" She called out again a little louder. This time Aaliyah shook her exposed shoulder roughly.

Bonnie sat up slowly the matted curls stuck to her head like glue. Her bare chest hung low in the shape of a tear drop. Her chocolate nipples hardened from exposure to the air.

"What, girl?" Bonnie slurred.

Even in such a fucked-up state Bonnie's features still seemed almost perfect. Her deep skin resembled the reflection of the midnight sky casting over calm bodies of waves. It glowed even in the dark. The apple structure of her face enhanced her angular cheekbones, and her bulbous shaped nose. Bonnie carried feline slanted eyes fringed with wispy thick lashes. Her copious lips were noticeably peeling in need of Carmax.