Minutes, hours, days, weeks... I spend a lot of time at her grave. In the summer through the winter, year after year on her birthday I bring her flowers and pray to God that she's in a better place. She was the most beautiful woman that i had so gracefully met. She was my mother, my heart, my rock.. She left me with a bang and a sizzle, well, I would't call cancer a bang and sizzle.. That saying is generally used as an adjective for newly spontaneous and exciting actions or moments and the death of someone so close to me is nothing like that so.. Let's start over.
Allow me to properly intrduce myself. My name is Imani Maaike. I'm eighteen years of age going on nineteen. My mother was originally from Africa but she moved to America with my dad in the aftermath of their progressing love and growing relationship while my dad was there on vacation. My father is white and comes from a long line of wealth which is why I don't exactly know why he needs to work.
Maybe it's because he doesn't feel like a man anymore because he couldn't save my mother from cancer, maybe it's because I look too much like her. My mother died June 8th 2000; I was three. Brik Daire is my best friend and ex. We dated back in elementary and we pretty much grew up together. He ws there when my mom died, when my dad started working again, when my pets died, when I got my first real heartbreak...
He's like the brother I never had and I'm like a sister to him. I looked down at her grave and placed her flowers on top of the marble and left as small pink flower petals and leaves were tossed around in the air. My long thick light brown curls bounced as I made my way to my car and drove home.
15-20 minutes later.
There were three knocks at my apartment door and yeah, I know, rich girl with daddy issues chooses an apartment over buying her own house with her rich daddy's money she must be on crack. I don't do drugs, I do my school work which is why I'm in college. Not because my daddy pays my way into any school I want. I chose a small community college because Brik's family couldn't afford to get into Harvard. I decided to havee my dad pay for his college tuition as a thanks and I went wherever he did because he made a promise to me when I was four and the other kids were teasing me that he would always be there to protect me no matter what.
There were a few more knocks.
"I'm coming." I breathed, too focused on how short my dress was. I pulled down my dress that sported an awfully sexy dark red at the waist and looking in my long mirror for another five seconds trying to somehow make it seem longer. Then I tried putting my hair up but I surely do have too much of it to even think that I could-
"Imani I know you're in there."
"Shit!" I ran to the door faster than cake disappears in a house full of rug rats (kids).
"Hey-"
"Hey," she laughed standing in front of my door. "Are you ready to go or.."
I let out a long sigh, "Is my dress too short?"
"Yeah but how are you supposed to pick up guys if you don't show them the goodies?" I starred at her for a few seconds in disbelief that we had to show guys anything for anything in return. Then, of course, Tamie laughed..for like five minutes which made me laugh too becuase Tamie has a very contagious laugh.
