Pictures & Words

-Questions and answers-

"So what happened?", I played with Simi's hair.

"it was nothing personal. Our dog, Chelsea died and we were heartbroken " she removed dirt from her nails. "did you think otherwise? "
"uhm kinda", I had finished the first unconscious braid
"tell me ", she had now turned fully to face me
"I thought maybe I had done something to offend you and your sister. But I guess my mind was playing tricks on me" I dusted off my T-shirt.
"nah. There's nothing up", she returned her attention to her nails.
"oh ok. Cool", I begun loosening the single braid.

"Leo!", Timi removed her earplugs "come sit by me, I want to sing for you"
"that's swell", turning to face Simi I  said mockingly "excuse me ma"
"it's okay my son", she played along, producing one of the prettiest smiles I had seen. Ever.
          It was a bright Tuesday morning and the sun was still making breakfast. Jasmine had called earlier to our relief saying she'd be in school shortly. Karen on the other hand was no where to be found and Claudine had come down with a fever.

Someone pushed my head.
"hey fam", I said as I turned around and saw Dean.
"you left home early ", his face was uptight.
"yeah about that. Sorry, my mom had some running around to do", I explained.
"it's okay man. Hey Timi, where's your sister? " Dean asked.
"she's over there", Timi motioned to where Simi sat.
       Dean had put on blue jeans and a nice combat shirt with a black sneakers to go with. I sometimes envied his sense of dressing; it always seemed flawless. I had put on a black T-shirt with the word panther printed on the front, a nice black jean and white sneakers to round it up. And since I had forgotten to comb my hair, it was all in a mess.

"are you listening? ", Timi punched me in the shoulder.
"ouch!! Of course I'm listening ", I rubbed my shoulder "was there any need for the punch? "

Timi broke out into an hysterical laughter when my facial expression changed.

"I hate you ", one could tell her laugh was contagious because I was laughing even before I knew it.

"hey Tims", it was Karen. Boy, was I glad to see her.
"Hey babe ", Timi's attention was officially divided. "what happened? "
"didn't feel too well", she knew that we knew that she was lying.
"haven't you seen Leo? ", Timi looked somewhat surprised "what's up with you two?"
"nothing!", we both shot back.
"o--kay", Timi put her earplugs back in her ears.

Karen stomped out of the class.

"hey Karen! Come on! ", I had followed her out.
She stopped abruptly but her back was still facing me.
"I'm sorry okay? ",I turned her around and noticed a small but noticeable scratch on her arm. "who did this? "

"do you care? ", she hissed, covering it with her shawl.
Don't fuck this up,  I whispered to myself
"of course I do ", removing the shawl, I looked at the scratch more closely. It looked like she had been beaten.
"it's my brother", she twitched her nose "he came home drunk yesterday "
"where is he now? ", I was pumping with rage.
"I don't know. Oh please don't go looking for him, I don't want you to get caught up in the crossfire ", Karen hugged me and I pulled her closer." I'll be okay"
"ok I won't if that's what you want "
"it is", she pulled away from the hug and I planted a mild kiss on her cheek.

"hey you two! The lecturer's come", Jasmine called out from the class.
"I did not see when you got in",I walked inside and sat down beside her with Karen close behind.
        I was glad she had finally shown up at school. There were a lot of things I wanted to ask her.

****

We had had two more classes before we concluded for the day.
I threw my books into my bag and swung my bag neatly over my shoulder.
"Dean you ready? ", I asked him.
"sure. Let's move out", he hopped out the class, holding Jasmine's hand in his.
"later beauties. I'll have to put this here queen into a cab ", I was referred to Karen.
She giggled.

"bye", Timi waved
"too-a-loo", Simi chuckled.
      Karen blew them both kisses and stepped out of the class. I followed close behind.
"Leo?!", Simi called out.
"what's up? ", I swerved.
"we'll always be best friends right?. All of us? "
"sure. I don't see why not ", I walked back to her and kissed her on her forehead. "always and forever "
"always and forever ", they both echoed after me.

*****
Oooouuu... I think this is my best chapter yet😍😍

Leo is heating this book up lol.
Random question :what do you think about Leo and Karen?? 😏😏
Yunno there's a comment box down there😁👇👇

And concerning the dedication stuff, you could say I got confused so the comments on this chapter will be the deciding one lol😁😇😇

Don't freaking forget to vote.
Xoxo❤