Worth

I

Order (Across): Danny, Kairo, Kyon, Neal, Davia, Imperia, Emerson, & Kinsley.

Kyon Armelle King

"Ooh I know he fuckin her right. He cute as hell, too. Dick game gotta be bomb."

I sat there listening to some groupies whisper about my boyfriend and I. I rolled my eyes at their ignorance.

Neal was a well known rapper in his hometown, Jackson, MI. We both had moved back here from Florida a year ago, a bit after he met my parents.

Them meeting went awful. No one could get over the age difference. He was 21 and I 16, a minor. I knew it was frowned upon, but we couldn't help how we felt.

It's not like we meant for things to go down the way they did. The way we met was pretty weird, but silly.

I was in a career readiness program and I remember during the first class, we kept looking at each other. I started it.

I had finally taken in his looks and noticed how handsome he was. He was a bit short, about 5'8-5'9, but who was I to talk? I was 4'11. He had a medium sized Afro. It almost looked like a Thot cut, but it was picked out and patted down. He kept a fresh line up.

He was a bit skinny, also, but I liked it. I don't know why. Everything about him became appealing to me, and I couldn't help it. His glasses were around the same size as mine.

Talk about blind.

Anyways, during classes, we would always steal glances at each other. Smiling every time one of us caught the other dazed. Many times, I was the butt of the joke. But I didn't mind.

He knew I was into him, and he was into me.

As time went on, we would only stare at each other, not actually share a small conversation. Well, until it got close to the last week of the program.

Whenever the instructor called for me, he would always whisper for me to sit down in a joking manner.

I smiled, noticing things were progressing. On the last day, I was a bit upset, because I would no longer see him on a regular basis, like I had grown immune to.

Our instructor had ordered pizza that day and as we all ate and chilled, we still glanced at each other, making smart remarks every now and then.

That same day, I found out that his passion was music, and there I knew, he was perfect. He shared one of his deepest treasures with me, his songs.

As the lyrics flowed through my ears, I allowed the melody to caress my body and carry me into a vibe that I wasn't used to, but slowly became addicted to.

Every word he spit was real. My heart yearned to hear something else, but I wouldn't allow it to be known. As the song ended, I crashed back into reality.

I removed the headphones from my ears and returned them. I humbly complimented his music, smiling in the process.

As I sat listening to my own music, I felt a fruit snack smack my nose. I opened my eyes and caught him chuckling, what a kid. I smirked.

As time went on, it inched to the end of class. Neal walked up to me and snatched my phone from my hands, adding himself on snapchat. I didn't disrupt him.

"Babe... BABE?!" I shook out of my daze, giving my attention to Neal who sat across from me at Cheddars, eating his burger. "Huh?"

"What are you thinking about?" He smiled. I blushed, he was aware that he was on my mind. "How we met... And you meeting my parents." I smiled, then frowned a bit.

"That always upsets you. Baby girl, you'll be 17 this summer, and I'll be 22 this fall. Pretty soon, what they say really won't matter because I'm not leaving you." I nodded.

"I love you... You love me?" I smiled, and looked at him. "More than anything." I answered.

About 30 minutes, later, we made our way back home. With the money Neal saved up, he was able to get us a 2 bedroom house and car.

"Baby girl, come here." Neal called. I walked to the living room, seeing him mess with his DJ stuff. I smiled, whatever made him happy, made me happy.

He shut his stuff off once I had made it to him. "So I have a gig at the new club that opened, on Oxford." I smiled bright.

"Congrats love!"

"You're coming with me."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "I'm not old enough." I explained.

"I'm not doing this without you, ma. You been riding for me and you deserve to have a good time for a change."

"You're not understanding what I'm saying. They won't let me in! I'm under aged!"

"No, YOU don't get what I'M saying. You're my girl, and you're going. You going to get in." I nodded, giving in to what he said.

"So, should I start getting ready, or...?" He nodded. "Yeah, it's around 9 right now and my gig is at 11."

"Come here, first." Neal said. I walked over to him and he pulled me in his arms, kissing my lips and squeezing my butt. I kissed back.

"I love you, baby girl."

"I love you, too, daddy."

As I walked back to our room and began getting ready, I thought about how life was before him.

I remember always being in the house, low key looking for something to do, someone to talk to, or someone to come over.

I loved school, but it stressed me out. I lived up to high standards and only strayed away once. I was thankful for that though, people knew me for mainly good reasons.

Seeing Neal had definitely put a booster on my attitude. He was absolutely amazing, and I only knew him for smiling every time he saw me.

I remember this one guy, DJ, he was like a year under me. As I was performing a task for our instructor, DJ had whispered to Neal that I was too young for him.

I didn't like him in our business, but the good news was that I knew for a fact Neal was feelin me as much as I was feelin him.

I would've never thought that I would be with Neal a year later and take online classes for my senior year.

I still couldn't believe my parents allowed me to move to Mississippi with him. Even though they thought everything would fail and I would come crying back to them, I was grateful that I was allowed to make my own decisions.

I had a life of my own.