Love Is Not Just A Verb (A Kendrick Lamar Story)

Chapter 18

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

Kendrick's POV

    "Bye, Momma! Bye Pops!" I yelled as I put on my shoes.

    "Bye, baby!" Momma replied. "Be good. Don't kill anyone."

    "I won't!" I chuckled.

    "Bye, son," Pops said. I opened the door and left for school. As I locked the door behind me, I turned to see Yn walking by.

    "Hey, Yn!" I yelled after her. She turned around and waited for me.

    "Hey! Wassup?" she asked as we started walking together.

   "Nothin'," I said. "You?" I turned my head to look at her.

   "Nothin'," she giggled. We had a moment of silence before she tried to break the ice. "Thank you... for last night... you really came through for me... a-and my brother," she laughed a little bit.

    "Don't forget about that other lil nigga, Kenton," I said, laughing also. "But, nah, you said thanks already. I told you, it's cool." She nodded her head and looked away. "Whatchu doin' tonight?" I asked, looking at her.

    She looked back at me and said, "Nothing, really. Probably just some homework. Why?"

    "You wanna come to the studio with me?"

    "What studio?" she asked, a little confused.

    "Well, it's actually Jay's basement, but we kinda turned it into a studio. We just chill and spit a few rhymes and sh*t. You down?"

    "Well, uh. Don't mean to brag but, uh," she scoffed and rubbed her nose like a cocky nigga. "I can carry a couple tunes if you know what I mean," she nodded her head and flicked the dust off her shoulders.

    "Oh, really?" I asked her, sarcastically in shock.

    "Yeeeeaah, Beyonce ain't got nothin' on me."

    "Uh-uh! Beyonce's my life. Don't go there," I replied with a goofy smile.

    "I hope you know I was joking," she said, giggling. Her giggles are so perfect. "I can't sing. But I'll come, I guess." She smiled. "If you want me to, anyway."

    "Nah, you can't come. Not until you a-pol-o-gize for disrespecting my lover," I said, sarcastically.

    "So, it's like that, huh?" she asked, getting an attitude.

    "Yeah. Yeah, it is," I said, rubbing it in her face. She pushed me playfully and I bumped into a bush. She laughed pretty hard.

    "Oh, so you think that's funny?" I asked, playfully.

    "Yeah. Yeah, I do," she replied. We laughed a little bit while crossing the street.

    "K-Dot!" someone yelled behind me. I turned around and saw Q jogging up to us.

    "What it is, Q?" I asked, dapping him once he caught up to us.

    "Just chillin', my nigga." He turned his attention over to Yn. "What it do, miss thang?" he asked her. She giggled as he leaned in for a hug.

    "'Sup, Q?" she replied. As we started walking, Q stepped in between me and Yn and flung his arms around our shoulders.

    "So!" he said. "Y'all a thing now or what?"