Summer Schooled

2: Omari

        I was in summer school for the second summer in a row and it was really a bitch. I hated regular school, what made them think I'd wanna be here? It was my lack of interest in books and more interest in getting in trouble that landed me here. I love fighting and causing trouble. It was just in my blood. My dad was a hot head too, which was probably what got him locked up. I was no older than 4 when my dad went to jail, and I had only visited him about 3 times and I'm 17 now. He used to write me letters when I was younger, but they started coming less and less frequently and now not at all. It hurt, but that was why I fought: to release my anger.

        School was just boring as hell to me. How is learning about the periodic table and George Washington going to help me not get robbed when I'm walking down the street? The lack of real world skills is what made me dislike school. I'd rather learn how to make quick money, and a lot of it, doing stuff with my brother. And by "stuff' I mostly meant doing things that would be considered illegal. But that was all I knew. At the end of the day, I made a lot of money and spent it on whatever I wanted. Weed, sneakers, clothes. I was only flashy on the streets, not in school because niggas will steal your stuff. "Flexin' and Finessin'" was my and my brother's motto. It was what girls liked, or at least what I was sure they liked.

        Most of the girls I dealt with were fast chicks who usually just wanted me for my money or my bomb pipe game. I wasn't the first one to refer to my skills in bed as "bomb", but it was acquired from a few female companions of mine. Other than having sex, I never really had a relationship. I had "flings" with a couple girls, and by "fling" I meant we had sex more than once and I let them chill with me for a while. But other than that, I had never had genuine feelings for a girl.

        My older brother, O'Shea, had it bad for a girl he had been dating since he was my age. Her name was Leila, and she was bad as hell, but down for the long run. She was the first girl O'Shea formally introduced to our mother, that was how I knew it was real. Leila really loved my brother, and it showed. He quit messing with other chicks not long after they started dating, and was he most faithful nigga I knew. You could say he was whipped, but he really respected her. I hoped one day I could find a chick like that. But knowing myself, my lifestyle, and the path I was most likely headed in, I figured no girl would ever be able to hold me down.

        There were a lot of girls I thought were cute, but knew we would never match. Ayla Mitchell was one of them. She was a cool chick with a body I don't think she realized other girls dreamed of having. I didn't really need her to buy me a bag of chips, but she saved me from looking broke in front of the other kids. I had never spoken to her a day in my life, but what she did spoke volumes to me. She didn't owe me anything. I know it was just a bag of chips, but I'm not really used to people doing nice things for me. Not to mention she smiled at me, when most people usually looked terrified of me. Was I catching feelings? Hell no. Was Ayla a cute chick? Yeah. But she was way too smart for me and would probably laugh in my face if I told her she was pretty. 

        Our break was over and the teachers rounded us up back into our classrooms. Our teacher, I didn't even know the man's name, nor did I care, was talking about the book we would cover in class.

"Of Mice and Men. A tragic tale of two companions. A John Steinbeck classic. Plus it's a little over a hundred pages and an easy read so I thought this would be a good choice." He held the book up for the class to see. A couple kids groaned from the back.

"Why are we reading?" Luis Ramirez whined from the second to last row in the class. This kid was an A1 slacker, but smoked with me sometimes and I didn't have a problem with him.

"This is English class Mr. Ramirez." Our teacher responded.

"No hablo ingles." Luis laughed a couple other kids chuckled. I shook my head. Luis was a clown.

"Sure..." Our teacher looked slightly annoyed but started passing out books. I took one and turned to hand the rest of the pile I was given to the person behind me. When I turned, I focused my attention on Ayla. She was reading the back of the book and didn't notice me looking. She had on a blue t-shirt from some track meet she ran in, denim shorts that hugged her curves, and black flip flops. Her caramel colored skin looked very moisturized and was probably soft to the touch, and her black hair, which looked naturally curly, was tied up in a big messy bun on top of her head. She had a nice body shape even when she was sitting down. My eyes traveled from her face, down her back to her hip facing me, and to her calves and crossed ankles. It only lasted a few seconds, but I took all of her in in a good sweep.

"Ok." The teacher's voice startled me back to reality and I faced the front of the room. He went on about how we'd be able to cover the whole book in the short time we had and the analysis we'd be doing of it. I wasn't really sure exactly what "analysis" meant, but it sounded like it would take a long time. Before I knew it, it was time for our second break around 11:00. Everyone darted out of the room, but I lingered around becasue Ayla didn't get up right away. I found mysef waiting for her becasue I had something to ask. She started to get up, not noticing me, and headed for the door.

"Hey," I caught up to her and put my hand on her shoulder, which scared the shit out of her becasue she jumped. 

"What?" She tunrned around quickly, eyes wide with fear.

"i didn't mean to scare you," I took my hand off her, "but I just wanted to say...thanks for the chips."

Ayla looked around like she was searching for a way out. It was really awkward.

"Uh, no problem." She nodded and started to walk away, but I found myself opening my big mouth again.

"Aren't you in, like, smart classes?" I asked.

She sighed and then turned to face me. "Yes, I'm in advanced classes, but I lost credit for English."

"Why?" There I go again. Why can't i just let her walk away?

She rolled her eyes like she didn't want to answer, but started talking. "Long story short, I had some family issues and had to go out of state for a while and my teacher is a dickhead for not tellng me I had missing assignments. So, I lost credit for the class and I have to make it up here."

I chuckled. Dickhead. I didn't think she was the type of girl who would say that.

"What's funny?" She furrowed her eyebrows at me like I offended her.

"Oh, my bad, you said dickhead," I started to laugh again, "you just don't look like the kind of girl that would say that."

"What kind of girl do I look like?" She looked directly at me.

That type I'd like to take home and f- 

"Like a girl who's got it all figured out." I have no idea where that came from.

"Well, obviously I don't because I'm stuck here." Ayla rolled her eyes agagin. It was kind of cute. She looked embarrassed suddenly and apologized. I think she thought she offended me. 

"Nah, it's cool." I shrugged and had nothing else to say. There was an awkward silance for a few moments, then she took a step backward  to go somewhere.

"Well, it was nice talking to you...'O' ". She looked like she was afraid I'd yell at her for calling me that.

"You can call me Omari." I offered her a small grin and she smirked. She waved and walked away toward the water fountain and I couldn't help but follow her with my eyes. What the hell was it about her that made me want to keep talking to her? Of course, she was cute and had a mean shape, but it was deeper than that. It was only my first day in summer school, but I was already interested in learning more about Ayla Mitchell than about whatever it was were doing in class.

 Note: Omari in the media