Nyla (Urban)

Nyla 7

Nyla
"Ms. Kohl, do you know why you're here?"
I popped my gum and stared at the wall above principle Garret's head absentmindedly. "Not particularly."

She sighed, "Nyla, this is the first time you've been to school in two weeks. Now I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news, but if you don't get your grades up this semester, it's unlikely that you"ll graduate this year. Is everything ok at home? Should we talk to your parents?"

I gripped the seat and looked at her, "No! I mean nah, everything's fine. Look, can't y'all just give me a tutor or something?"

She gave me a tight smile, "We've actually already got that covered. You start tutoring this Friday with Khadi in the library."

I lifted my eyebrow and thought about whether I would actually show up or not.

Ms. Garret interrupted my thoughts, "She will tell us whether or not you showed up and if not, we will have to call your parents Ms. Kohl."

Well, it's decided then.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. I walked out front and was just about to call King when I saw a familiar looking woman yelling at the security guards. Her hair was greasy and stringy, pulled back into a barely there bun. Her skin was pale and the bags under her eyes made her face look sunken in and older than she really was. She was sporting a dirty camisole, tiny shorts, and flip flops. You could tell she had once been beautiful, but the beauty had now been faded from years of drug abuse.

"Where's my baby Nyla!? What y,all done did to her!? I haven't seen her for too long!" She screamed.

My heart stopped as I watched her search for me frantically. I looked around to see people staring at me and whispering. I got even more scared when I locked eyes with Malakai. His face was expressionless as he stared at me, and when I looked back at my mother, she had found me.

"There you are my baby!" She started to make her way over to me, arms spread wide. Her smile was fake as fuck, and she clearly hadn't brushed her teeth in years, but only I would know that. I stood there frozen. The world was spinning and I thought I was gonna faint until I felt someone grab my hand and lead me away from the chaos, pushing people out of the way. Malakai pulled me all the way to the end of the block and hailed a cab for us. There was nothing but the sound of Spanish music drifting throughout his apartment building when we got out of the cab. He led me upstairs and unlocked the door.

"Yo, are you ok?" He said once I sat down on his bed.

I clenched my fist. I hated that bitch. No matter where I went, I would always have to look over my shoulder. She would always be there to remind me how worthless my life really was.

"I'm straight." My vision started to get blurry and Malakai pulled up a chair and sat across from me.

"Nyla." He said softly. It wasn't a question. He was asking me to tell the truth this time.

Before I could stop myself, a shivery sob escaped my throat and tears started running down my throat. I curled into a ball and started wailing uncontrollably. The tips of my ears got hot from embarrassment and anger. Malakai sat next to me and tried to wrap his arm around me. At first I refused to let him pull me closer.

After a second I climbed into his lap and put my face into the crook of his neck, wrapping my arms around his neck. Malakai tightened his hold on me and let me cry until my throat got tired and I eventually stopped.
I pulled my face away and looked at his tear stained shirt. "Shit, my bad." I muttered, wiping my eyes.

He just chuckled and licked lips. "You straight for real this time? I'm hungry as hell."

I instantly felt better realizing that he wasn't going to bring what just happened up. Also that he wasn't gonna stop talking to me.