Chris and Kamaal

Chapter 2: Tour Guide

I wake up from my nap and see that it's 6:30pm. I rub my eyes, stretch, and change into a beater and basketball shorts. I head downstairs hoping that mom was preparing dinner because I was starving. As I head downstairs toward the kitchen I'm immediately slapped in the face with the scent of fried chicken. Hell yeah!!! She's making my favorite meal!!! My mom can throw down in the kitchen. It kinda makes me not wanna go away to college because I will miss her cooking so much. I walk in the kitchen and my mom is taking the cornbread out the oven. She looks over at me smiles, and motions for me to come towards her. "Hey Chrissy. How was your first day of school?" She asks as she kisses me on my forehead.

Ugh I hated when she called me Chrissy. It makes me feel like a preschooler.

"It was alright. Same ole stuff as usual." I say as I shrug my shoulders.

"Every year I ask you this same question and you always give me that same answer." She says as she laughs at me

"I mean, that's what it is every year. Same first day of school mess. Nothing really changes."

"Ok honey, if you say so. Oh, your friend Jamal came by today and asked for you, but I told him you were upstairs sleeping."

As soon as she mentions his name, I roll my eyes and my mood suddenly changes. Why is this nigga comin by my house? I guess he doesn't understand the fact that I'm through with him. My mom picked on my attitude instantly.

Mom: Baby I know he hurt you, but you can't hold that against him forever. Things happen for a reason. You need to learn how to forgive. It's not good to hold a grudge.

My mom was right, but I really wasn't tryin to hear that. That nigga hurt me so bad, and I'm still mad at him for what he did to me. I wasn't ready to forgive him yet.

"I guess your right mom. I'll talk to him tomorrow." Clearly I was lying so I could end the conversation.

"That's my boy, now go get your sister and get her washed up. Dinner will be ready in a few."

I kiss my mom on the cheek, and get my little sister for dinner. I walk in her room, and her eyes are glued to the TV set. Spongebob was her favorite tv show.

"Ashley, what are you watching?" I ask as I sit next to get on the couch

"I'm watching Spongebob." She says as she rolls her eyes and aggressively sighs at me.

One thing about my little sister Ashley, is to never bother while she was watching tv. She gets into her own little zone and will have a little diva attitude if you bother her.

"Oh really? Well lets go downstairs and get something to eat"

"Dinner time?"

"Yeah big head, dinner time."

"Yaaaay!!!" She yells as she hops off the couch and runs into the kitchen

As I watch her zoom toward the dining room, I just shake my head and laugh. For a 5 year old, she has a lot of energy and is pretty smart for her age. She will be starting kindergarten next week. I make my way to the kitchen and prepare to eat the meal my mom prepared for us. Our family is small. I have my little sister Ashley. My dad left my mom when I was younger, so she's been raising us ever since. She's a very strong woman. I finished my meal, put my plate in the dishwater and head back upstairs to my room. My phone vibrates and it's a text message from Jamal. I want to ignore it, but I'm curious to see what he has to say.

"Chris I'm sorry for hurting you. Just give me a chance to explain what happened. You can't avoid me forever."

I roll my eyes at the message. How dare he ask for another chance when I gave him plenty of chances before. He fucked up and now he's gotta deal with it. I open the text message again and decide to respond