"You love me right?" Yoshi asked as he sat across from me on his bed, taking a hit from a neatly rolled joint.
"Of course." I responded while in the process of rolling the second joint.
"You got my back right?" This time I turned to look at him with my eyebrows pulled together as I worked on the joint.
"Yeah. Why?" I asked.
He paused and rubbed the back of his neck slowly before saying, "Cause I know what I have to do."
I gave him a look wondering if the weed was that strong or if he was having a moment.
"You know what you have to do?" I asked, grabbing the lighter off the bed and sparking the j.
"To fix myself." He pointed to his head and I frowned even more.
"Yoshi what are you talking about?"
"Rakim." He said simply. "I gotta kill Rakim."
2 hours earlier
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Yoshiiiii, happy birthday to youuu!" We sang in unison to Yoshi who laughed as I tried to spice the song up and hit a couple high notes. I failed, but it made Yoshi laugh so it was still a win.
It had been a week since I'd seen him last which was at Luther park for the intramural games. He told me then that he didn't want to do anything big for his birthday so I did my best to make this event as small as possible.
I got with Yoshi's dad, Mr. Rakeem or Keem as he liked to be called, and asked him to invite some people in the family while I invited Yoshi's friends. They consisted of me, Luke, and Shelly. As far as family went Yoshi's grandmother and aunt Trina were the only two who showed up and while that might have seemed sad to most people, it was just right for us.
"Here's to 20." I held up a shot glass and all four us took a shoot together while Yoshi's family sat at the kitchen table playing dominoes. "I'm still a little salty you're leaving me in the teens." I said smiling up at Yoshi. I was about one shot away from being completely fucked up.
"Slow down youngin'" Yoshi said as he took the shot glass out of my hand.
"I'm just trying to celebrate!" I semi-yelled in his ear. He winced and gently pushed me away from him.
"Sawyer go sit your loud ass down somewhere." Mr. Rakeem yelled from the table causing me to suck my teeth with fake attitude. Mr. Rakeem was cool as hell and I could never recall a time when he'd seemed like anything more than a friend. He definitely wasn't a strong father figure, but he was present and I guess that had to count for something.
I was leaning up against the counter in the kitchen, chewing on a piece of pizza when I felt Yoshi come up next to me.
"Wassup with them?" He asked nodding toward Luke and Shelly who were in the corner whispering to each other. The look on Shelly's face let me know the conversation was not a pleasant one.
"Looks like a lover's quarrel to me." I shrugged, going back to my pizza.
"Nah." Yoshi said, rubbing his chin. "I don't trust that bitch."
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "What?"
"I don't trust that bitch." He pulled his eyes away from Luke and Shelly and looked down at me. His face had not a hint of a smile on it.
"Shelly? You don't trust Shelly?" I asked and he replied with a simple head nod as he drank from a freshly opened water bottle. "We've been best friends since the 9th grade." I said in disbelief.
YOU ARE READING
NINETEEN
قصص عامة"What are you willing to do?" Sawyer and Yoshi have a bond most people couldn't find in two lifetimes. Sawyer knows Yoshi isn't what most people consider normal. She knows he's got more than a few demons chasing him and she knows all the reasons wh...
