Whirlwind

5

[Lamarr]

The thought of having seven days off seemed ideal. I could finally do all of the things this tour was making difficult to do on a regular; one being as simple and small as sleep for more than four hours. I could rest my mind and clear it for space, space that would hold new ideas I'd create for some new verses. I'd also be able to live my regular degular ass life again, maybe hit up a pizza joint in Queens or drive to another borough to visit some friends.

Even with all this shit accumulating a list, a nigga couldn't find the energy. All that exhaustion had caught up with me and I was straight up being lazy. As I deserved to be, of course. The first three days I spent cooped up in my apartment, watching old reruns of shows I've never cared to watch before while I drank tea and ate soup for the strain in my throat, and a mix of junk food I had no business fuckin' with.

Melanie was able to fly back to New York with me the night after the Ottawa show and hang around for a while, but we still didn't get to bond with each other as I had liked. Her schedule seemed just as jam packed as mine which meant less quality time for each other. We were learning to manage it all and find some kind of balance I suppose. If we didn't, we'd definitely be doomed and I wasn't quite ready to let six years slip down the drain.

So while she was now headed to Atlanta with her job for another business trip, my boredom was growing. It was too cold out during this time of the year to be trying to shoot some hoops, and with my luck I'd fuck around and mess up my ankle or something. So I let that new idea go and thought of other things I could possibly, or actually dabble in.  The only thing that came to mind was taking a ride around the block and pay the one and only a visit. Since it was nearing towards seven in the evening, I knew for sure she would be home from work and there would be food there too. With that in mind I didn't even hesitate grabbing my keys and heading over to her place. Luckily for me the drive through the streets of Queens was somewhat quick, even with my putt putt ass Honda pushing slow on me.

As I pulled up to Riley's apartment building and got out to head inside, I smiled over at her old aged landlord as she checked her mailbox. Ms. Wilson was her name and she was very much familiar with my face by now. At one point she even asked if I lived here and apologized for forgetting if I did. While I found the misunderstanding funny, my friends on the other hand would chastise and tell me to chill on coming over as frequent if they knew. But they didn't know, and for the sake of my sanity it would remain that way.

"How are you doing, Lamarr?" Ms. Wilson asked as she twisted a key out of the lock of her mailbox.

"I'm doing pretty well, can't really complain. How about yourself? You look lovely today," I complimented as she waved me off and shook her head. 

"Oh thank you, sweetie. You're always so polite and a good liar may I add. This worn house coat is hideous on me," She joked. "I'm great as usual, my age hasn't quite caught up with me yet. Do me a favor though, sweetie. Tell Riley I said hello and give her this envelope. They always mix at least one piece of her mail with mine,"

"Alright Ms. Wilson, will do. You take care," I said, taking the mail from her grip and smiled back at her before jogging up these creaky old steps. The hallway of this building did nothing for how the actual apartments looked. They were half way decent but the outside said different.

Once I approached the door and knocked a few times,  Riley's friend and roommate Leslie opened it with a frown on her face as she rolled her eyes.

"Well look who it is. Came to eat up my snacks again?" I sucked my teeth as she walked back into the living room leaving the door open for me. After closing it behind me, my shoes were off and I began trailing after, making my way to the love seat beside their couch.