[1]
Onika leaves her noisy friends downstairs with a dustpan, broom and flashlight held in both her left and right hands.
She had a bonnet on to protect her hair from any dust that would most definitely come out of cleaning out her attic.
She hated moving for this particular reason.. having to clean out and pack up her stuff.
Her friends who were supposed to be helping out were barely being useful, choosing to rather talk than actually help.
She made her way to the upstairs hallway breathing out a heavy sigh at the thought of having to do all this. She didn't have a lot of stuff up there but the ones she did have, she had to bring them down, keep what was useful and throw away what wasn't.
She pulled down the small stairs and made her way up there, flicking on the flashlight with a small frown on her face.
There were boxes almost everywhere, it'd take her awhile to get through all of them.
She brought down a few boxes, most of them being old items she didn't use anymore but didn't want to throw away. She couldn't help it. Low-key she was a hoarder but she'd probably never admit it.
After what seemed like hours but was only twenty minutes, Robyn and Lauren had finally come up to help her leaving Ariana and Teyana to finish up downstairs.
Onika sorted through the boxes to see which was important to her, Robyn took them down while Lauren organized them in order of which to be kept and which to be thrown away.
"Uh.. There's a box? Summer of '91, with a small B under it. Are these any good?" Robyn calls out opening the box that seemed to be filled with letters and notes.
Onika paused her rummaging for a second, hands frozen on a box. She could feel memories and nostalgia hit her like a freight train. It was almost overwhelming.
"Uh.." She says walking over and gently taking the box away from Robyn's inquisitive eyes "I'll take these to my room."
Robyn shrugs at that, "Okay, but hurry up... Your attic creeps the fuck outta me." She mutters looking around at the dim space which was only lit up by the tiny window and Onika's flashlight.
It wasn't until around five pm that all four friends had finally gotten done with helping their friend pack up her stuff.
It was a bittersweet moment watching her move out of state. They'd known each other for almost ten years having formed a tight friendship with one another over the years. It was hard watching her go but they knew she had to.
She'd gotten an irresistible job offer all the way in Houston. She couldn't pass that up.
And anyways they could always come visit, they could face time and what not. They'd all mentally prepared themselves for this moment all month.
Onika would be moving tomorrow and all they could do was have their last girls night for awhile.
They spent the rest of the evening and night in Onika's living room just talking about everything under the sun, reminiscing about their childhood memories and teasing one another. Onika knew she'd miss this. She'd miss them dearly.
After almost four hours of fun and walking down memory lane, all four women had finally fallen asleep one after the other leaving only Onika awake.
She sat against the couch nursing a cup of orange juice with a small frown on her face. She couldn't get the image of the box out her head.
Slowly standing up, careful not to make any noise and wake a friend. She makes her way to her bedroom eyeing the box that sat on her bed.
The words, Summer of '91 staring right back at her.
