It's Whateva

Welcome Back

"GIRL! I am so glad you are off and came back to the neighborhood just in time for this block party!" My cousin screamed to me from her kitchen. I was sitting in the living room of my cousin Alexis looking at a photo album of my family.

I looked up from a picture of me and my cousin Lex smiling with make-up all over our faces. I think I was six or seven when my aunt took the picture.

I smirked and tore my eyes away from the picture when Lex plopped down on the couch next to me.

"Yeah me too, it's been about what? Three or so years?" I questioned while flipping to the next page.

"Something like that, you know the last time you came you missed Michael...he was a bit salty." I cut my eyes at my cousin and sighed, just my luck I turned to a page that had me, Lex, Michael and his little brother Khalid in a few pictures.

"You still hang around him Lex? He was trouble then and I'm sure he is now." I huffed and closed the book. Lex smacked her lips and grabbed her shoes from beside the couch.

"Actually Ms. Kill Joy, I hang around his brother mostly...me and him are still tight. It was YOU who Michael always hung around and tried to get at...and don't act like you two were not tight...yall were always together and doing who knows what when auntie and Buck weren't home." Lex laughed the last bit out and I used her head as leverage as I stood up.

Well, maybe Michael and I were closer than I would like to speak about. We always hung out and he always flirted with me. Granted, I started being sexually active around fifteen, but I never let Michael do anything...well...not much, but for some reason he made me shy even though I was a few years older then he was.

"Okay so maybe he wasn't sooo much trouble. He was sweet to me, but rough around the edges." I spoke while looking down at my phone to see someone started a live on Instagram...my ex.

"No nigga, he was sweet on you. Don't think I don't know you two were just as tight as me and Lid is. Aunt Stacey and Uncle Buck just moved yall over East and you up and moved around Arundel Mills after college-" I put my phone back in my back pocket and rolled my eyes.

"Anyway! Even though he was cute and tall...he was skinny, always into something and young-" Lex stood up and rolled her eyes.

"Two years younger my nigga, cut that shit out-" I grabbed the photo album and put it back under the side table where I originally got it from and fixed my khaki shorts.

"Whatever, let's go to this block party before I slap you." I bucked at Lex and she just giggled at my short ass while leading the way.

–

We were walking the two blocks down to where the block party was taking place and you could already hear the music vibrating off the cars and ground. Bandanas and half ski masks wearing boys on dirt bikes were zipping up and down the streets causing older people to shake their heads and fuss about the noise.

Young men and women leaning on cars and smoking or rolling blunts while laughing at whatever was funny at the moment. Children gathered around the ice cream truck telling the teenagers what they wanted...the young girls looking far too grown and full of attitude, but dropping it all when a boy nudged them or did anything to make them smile...

"The life of Cherry Hill." I mumbled watching everything around me and thinking about this is where I grew up and lived around most of my life until I ventured out on my own a few years ago and got my own place out Anne Arundel County.