Watching from the Sidelines

Chapter 5

“Na-Na who that was on the phone?” asked Roshad, one of her older brothers.

“Raven! What you doing in my room anyways?” she asked standing by the door waiting for him to get out.

“Mane Nadi, I need some deodorant”, he said looking on her dresser for some.

“You ain’t about to use my deodorant unless you shave under your arms and take a damn bath!”

“Ma, Na-Na in here cursing!” he yelled.

“No I’m not!” she yelled.

She walked to the front room of the small apartment where her mother was.

“Ma tell Shad to get up out my room. Talking bout he need some deodorant!”

“Roshad get your musty ass up out of my room!” Sheila, Nadia’s mom yelled.

Nadia and her mom shared a room, while her four brothers shared the other room in the small apartment. Roshad was nineteen, Calvin was eighteen, Darrius was seventeen, and Jamian was fifteen. Sheila would buy Nadia and Jamian whatever they wanted, but never bought anything for her other sons.

“Ma I need some deodorant!” he yelled walking to the front room.

“You ain’t using my baby deodorant, you better ask Dee or Cal!”

“Mane ya’ll tripping”, he said going back into the back.

“I’m going to the grocery store tonight, you better stay up if you coming”.

Sheila got food stamps, and she would always go at 12:00 a.m. when the stamps would be on the card. She didn’t like going in the day time, because she didn’t want everybody knowing she got food stamps.

“Okay”, Nadia said before going back into the room.

She got into the bed and turned the television to BET.

T.I.’s new video “Ball” came on, and she got up and begin dancing.

“Girl, what you doing?” Jamian asked busting in the room.

“Shutup!” she said sitting back on the bed, laughing at the fact that she got caught dancing.

“I’m telling mama you in here dancing like you on the Twerk Team”, he said laughing.

“Chill out, where you coming from anyways? Boy it’s almost ten”.

“I was chilling at the park over on Langston”, he said taking his shoes off and laying across the bed.

“Where Raven live?”

“Yeah, and your girl was all hugged up with my niggah JG. You can’t tell me he ain’t hitting that”, he said watching the video.

“Boy please, Raven ain’t with his trifling ass”, she said looking for her phone to call Raven.

“Trifling? That niggah stay clean, no homo. Ain’t nothing trifling about JG”.

“You acting like he a fucking God or something”, she said as she stopped looking under the bed to give him a look of disgust.

“Shad got your phone”, he said.

“How you know?”

“Cause when I came to the house he was sitting on the porch talking on your phone”, he said grabbing the remote.

“Mama!” she yelled running to the front.

“What Na-Na?” she asked irritated.

“Shad stole my phone!”

“Go get it!”

Nadia walked out the front door, and Roshad wasn’t on the porch.

“Ma he gone!” she said slamming the door shut.

“Ya’ll children about to get on my damn nerves!” She said getting up and walking to the back to the boy’s room.

“Ma, what you busting up in here for?” Calvin asked.

“Shad give me my phone!” Nadia yelled from behind her mother.

“Mane, I don’t have your damn phone!” Roshad yelled sitting up in his bed.

“Roshad, give my baby her damn phone back!” Sheila yelled.

“Ma, I ain’t got her phone!”

“He lying! Jamie said he was outside on my phone.”

“Mane I ain’t even been outside! Ma, did you see me leave out the door?”

“Jamian!” Sheila yelled turning around and going to her room.

“Huh?” he said sitting up.

“Give this girl her phone before she have a heart attack”, she said walking out of the room.

“Mane, ya’ll see how she baby them?” Roshad asked Darrius and Calvin. “She was ready to beat my ass over that phone, but since Jamie had it, it was all good! I’m tired of this shit!” he said leaving.

Jamian handed Nadia her phone. “Cry baby ass”, he said laughing.

“You stupid”, she said sitting back in the bed and calling Raven.

She didn’t answer, so Nadia called Brianna.

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