He Changed me

Chapter 1: Night Out

Naudia

Where I come from, it’s not odd to see a single parent or even a family being raised by the oldest sibling. Where I come from, it’s more likely for a female to marry a dope boy than a basket ball star. Where I come from, it’s rare that a females IQ is higher than the guys she slept with. Where I come from, you either eat or get eaten.

I’m Naudia; my close friends call me Nana, to others it’s just plain Naudia. My mom’s from the islands, whereas my dad was from Brooklyn, New York. I didn’t know him very well, seeing that he passed when I was around 4. What I do remember is that he made everyone happy. Everyone could be having a bad day; Mom could’ve had a stressful day at work, my older brother Christian’s basketball could’ve went flat, and my 64 box of Crayola crayons with the built in sharpener could’ve gone missing. But when daddy came home, none of that mattered. He could fix every bad day with a smile and promise’s of a job that didn’t stress out mom, a new solid gold basketball for Christian, and a million crayons of every shade for me. He was our hero, and it broke everyone’s heart when he died in a car accident. I loved my daddy, now I loved Christian. He was the man of the house and also a pain in my ass. Just because I was 17 and he was 20, he thought he could boss me around like he was my daddy. Right now for instance, we were standing in the middle of my room arguing about what I was wearing to school.

“You are not going to school like that Naudia.” He yelled at me.

“What is wrong with a crop top and some jeans Christian? Beyonce wears them, so does Rihanna. You don’t say nothing when they dancing all across the tv screen in outfits similar to this”

“Beyonce and Rihanna are not my sisters; they are my wife and mistress. You are my baby sister, and I’ll be damned if you going out dressed like one of the hood rats off the street. I know how I see Beyonce; do you want them niggas at school to see you that way to? ”

“Oh, so now you are saying I look like a hood rat? If you didn’t want me to wear the damn shirt, why would you buy it for me? That makes no sense at all CHRISTIAN.”

“It was longer when I bought it! Now that you done got a hold of it it’s all the way up to here and cut up. This is why I wanted to take your scissors!”

“Now I can’t have scissors! What the hell Christian, how old am I? I am expressing myself through fashion. Which means that I can’t just wear what I buy, I have to make it my own. I have to make it scream NAUDIA.”

“Here we go with this fashion shit again. Naudia either put on a shirt that covers your stomach or put a tank top under it.”

“You tripping Christian, I don’t have to listen to you.”

“Fine then, go out looking like that. I don’t even care anymore. If you want to go out looking like every other bitch walking the halls, GO AHEAD. Now when you get attention from a whole bunch of nobodies instead of Mr. Right, don’t come to me saying you should’ve listened.”

“Whatever Christian, I don’t have the time or patience to deal with you this morning.”

“End of discussion. I’ll be waiting for you in the car.”

With that, he was out the door. I rolled my eyes and started to huff and puff as I looked for another shirt. That’s what I am talking about, always thinking he somebody daddy.  I can’t wait till I’m 18, got my high school diploma, and off to the Art Institute of Hollywood. If you haven’t caught on, I want to be a designer, and Christian is blocking my artistic view. I put on a black tank, with a white shirt that had rips going down the back before grabbing my book bag and running out to his car. I have my license, but he insists on driving me to school to make sure I get there safe. He’s very over protective, and honestly smothering me into suffocation. But that’s my big brother, and he takes care of me while my mom goes in and out of insanity. I arrived at school early enough and kissed Christian’s cheek.