𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 |ᴬᴹᴾ ᶠᵃⁿᵘᵐ

004

24th January
9:00 am
Kayla's place

Kayla wakes up and looks around, almost forgetting where she was but realises it's the guest room.

She gets up and leaves the room, walking towards the stairs. She goes down the stairs and to the kitchen. She sees Jarelle and his cousin Lamar sitting on the stools in the kitchen.

Jarelle looks over at Kayla and she looks at him. "I'm making breakfast..." she says, going over to the fridge.

"Can I talk to you?" Jarelle asks and Kayla nods, walking out of the room. He follows behind her and grabs her arm.

She turns to face him and he looks down at her. "I'm sorry mama..." he says and pulls her close to him. She sighs and looks up at him, holding his hands.

"I just wanna be loved Jarelle I just want to go to work and you not be jealous of people. You weren't like this at Chipotle" she says, rubbing his hands with her thumbs

"Kayla they live up there and he walks in all flashy. I wasn't sure if you knew him already or anything" he says, truthfully

"Whatever you weren't sure but instead of asking you just assumed and started getting mad at me for nothing. She responds and he nods.

"I'm letting you know I'm gonna reconnect with Chris. I grew up with him and I don't know many people out here so I'm gonna be talking to him." she continues, letting go of his hands.

"Okay but I don't wanna see you with that fat nigga no more" Jarelle says, stroking her hair.

"Jarelle you're missing the whole point of this conversation. Don't tell me what to do he's a customer" Kayla says and turns to walk away.

Jarelle grabs her arm and makes her face him. "This the last time Imma tell you this shit Kayla you playing with my dick right now. If I see you talking to him Imma beat your ass then imma beat his ass too" he says, squeezing her arm.

She hits his hand for him to get off and he squeezes tighter looking into her eyes.

She yanks her arm away and goes upstairs. She quickly gets ready for work and grabs her things before rushing to her car. She gets in the car and starts driving to work

A tear goes down her face as she drives and she quickly wipes it away, trying to stay composed. As she approaches the work building she sees her Uncle opening up.

She gets out of her car and goes inside. "You're late" her uncle says and she looks at him.

"I'm so sorry I—" she starts apologising and he interrupts her. "It's fine. Just try to be earlier next time".

Kayla furrows her eyebrows at how understanding her Uncle is and wonders if he knows something about Jarelle.

She goes behind the counter and sets up the register. As the first customer comes in she smiles, welcomingly.

—

She hears the chime of the door and looks up, seeing Fanum's friend Duke. He smiles and comes over to the counter.

"Wassup" he says and she smiles. "How can I help?" she asks, avoiding too much small talk.

"I'll just get some ribs, mac n cheese and potatoes" he lists and she punches it in. He pays using apple pay and then steps to the side to wait.

"Damn that looks bad" he expresses and she looks at him, a confused look over her face as he points to her arm.

She looks at her arm and sees a bruise right where Jarelle was squeezing her arm. She gasps softly as her eyes well up. A feeling of embarrassment takes over her body and she walks to the back of the shop.