SINFUL *STILL editing*

SINFUL - 19

Like he had promised his mother, Raheem went out with her to purchase new fresh flowers to decorate their home. It didn’t matter that it was after 1am and they had had to walk to the Tesco that was 24 hours, he just wanted to see her smile. He held the bouquets and kissed her head as he towered over her. They walked down the high street as she babbled on and Raheem laughed every now and then although his mind was far from there. As they turned a corner and approached the road leading to their estate, a matte black 1 series zoomed past them, blowing his mother’s long flowing burnt orange skirt upwards. Raheem’s eyes followed the car, knowing exactly who was driving it. The car was followed closely by a Golf and Corsa, Shaydun and Guvna. Prince had always been the flashiest out of the infamous threesome.

Although they lived relatively close to one another Raheem hadn’t laid his eyes on Prince in a while. Raheem sighed as he thought about how their relationship had altered over the years. He knew Prince would never admit it but he resented Raheem, whereas Raheem was unapologetic because he had his own mind and made his own decisions. He peered at his mum, watching her mouth moved rapidly while the wind blew at the hairs on her temple that hadn’t been caught in the large top bun she wore.

She didn’t know it but she had saved him.

Prince exhaled when Kobe and Raheem got into his car after he’d picked them up from their secondary school. As usual, Raheem was silent, with his head down and the serious expression he always wore on his face. His eyebrows furrowed when he caught Prince watching him with a pitiful look in his eyes. Raheem kissed his teeth and stared at the window as Prince turned on his engine.

Raheem knew he was in dire need of a haircut and a new woolly hat but he couldn’t care less. Why would he care about his appearance when emptiness was eating away at him from the inside out? Prince couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Raheem happy, the light in his eyes had dimmed and it was paining him. Kobe and Raheem glared at Prince as if to question him when the car stopped abruptly.

“Go and f*cking cut your hair Raheem.” Prince shoved a ten pound note towards the back seat. Raheem stared at it kissing his teeth. He knew back then not to let pride get in the way, there was no way he could refuse Prince because they were family. There was no such thing as feeling sorry for one another. He snatched the money from Prince’s hand and jumped out of the car and into the barber shop.

Two hours later, they were back on the estate. After getting changed out of his uniform and briefly glancing over his due coursework, Raheem left his house. He had stepped out from his block and was chilling on his bike by the park with Kobe and a few other boys. He had his phone on his shoulder which he held up to his ear while licking his rizla paper and sealing the spliff he had just built. His eyes travelled across the estate where he spotted two girls walking, one was white with long thick hair, a round backside and chucky thighs. The other one was light skinned and slim.

“That’s that girl.” He eagerly nudged Kobe and used his chin to point in their direction.

“Who?”

“That Talula yat.”

“I swear she’s onto you?”

“Hmm.” Raheem grunted, licking his lips and placing his spliff behind his ear. Talula attended an all girls Catholic secondary school which wasn’t far from his own school. They had come across each other more than a few times. It was evident to Raheem that she was attracted to him, just as much as he was to her but she was playing hard to get. He watched the girls closely and realised they weren’t walking in their direction. Raheem had ended his phone conversation, when he pulled on the strings of his Nike hoody, and climbed onto his bike completely and rode towards them.