The BoyZ

Hakim

"In a race between a lion and a deer, the one with the most drive will win" I jolt up, forgetting I changed the sound of my alarm clock. I've been struggling to wake up in the morning so I changed it into something I thought would motivate me to get up but nah. I'm still tired. I go back to close my eyes, but the sun is shining on my face. I really have to convince Aunt to get me curtains. I get off my bed and throw on some clothes.

I skip breakfast, walk past multiple houses, and take a turn on Pierce St. where I see the cemetery where my parents are buried. I close my eyes, slowly open them, take a deep breath, and walk right in. Passing a few graves I see moms and dads right by each other, I sit in between them like I used to when they were alive. I'm happy we buried them right by each other, at least I can pretend they are holding me on our couch while we watch movies like old times. I stayed for a little while but it was time for school.

When I entered only a few classmates were there I exhaled in relief if I had been late Mrs. Carson wouldn't have left me alone. When class started we were learning about Lewis and Clark. Man History is cool but they for real are wasting it on stupid stuff like this when they can be teaching about deep-ass stuff.

I smile when I see Jewels walk in, although he showed up five minutes before class ended. 

"Yo Hakim, what were we learning?" Jewels grabs a seat next to me and ignores Mrs. Carson nagging him.

"Why were you late?"

"Family problems" he frowns.

Fuck, now I feel bad. "I see"

Jewels didn't say anything afterward, we both went silent until the bell rang.

"Finally bruh class is over" Jewels yawned.

"Bro you showed up for like 5 minutes"

"So what, that was five minutes of hell"

That was our only class together, sucks but yeah we end up going in different directions. School honestly is just a repeat of my prior days, there's nothing new or fun about it. Not even fights. Nah I don't even consider it fighting most of the time it's just white girls pulling hair, or dudes punching air.

By the time the teacher dismissed our last class, by the way the bell rang 10 minutes ago, Jewels was leaning on the front gates waiting for me.

"Mr. Gallagher held y'all back?"

"Yep he pulled a 'The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do' type shit"

"Nah, I hate motherfuckers like that"

"Ye, you gonna be ight though right?"

"My parents are coming home late today" he gives me a sad smile. 

"I see" All I know is Jewels got strict ass parents and I know what it's like so I'm glad he ain't getting in trouble. "How was school today for you"

"Bruh school is such a pain in the ass" Jewels complains.

"Stop complaining. Personally I like school, it's a distraction from home" Yeah I know, I was also complaining about school earlier. Call me a hypocrite all you want, but I still like school for it's far from home. 

"Yeah, it really is" Jewels frowns. Me and Jewels are close but I know nothing about his family problems, he never once vented to anyone about it. I could ask his sister but I don't wanna be nosy like that.

On our way to his place, we were talking about who the better rapper was, NF or NEFFEX, and a bunch of random stuff. After dropping him off, I go back to the Cemetery. I love visiting my parents grave. It's calming yet sad but I like the sadness when I can control it.