BLACK IMAGINES.

O DOG

                    Zaria finished the last braid in Kevin's, better known as "O Dog" hair. She was more than happy that she was finally done with his hair since she's been working on it for about two hours now. She wanted to do just six cornrows going back but he instantly shut that idea down, saying that she had him looking like a fool the last time she did his hair like that. Claiming his boys was "clowning the hell out of him."

               Kevin stood up from the chair he was in and walked over to the mirror that sat on top of her dresser. He nodded his head, turning his head left and right as he stroked the imaginary hair on his chin. "Appreciate it." He said before going into his wallet that was sat on her dresser before he handed her the money he had brought.

               "Oh hell nah," Zaria said, looking at the twenty dollar bill as if Andrew Jackson had just spoken to her. "I know I told you I'm charging your ass forty now. Your tender headed ass move way too much for just twenty dollars."

               "Man, I ain't giving you no damn forty," He responds, looking at her like she was the crazy one. "That's all I got on me right now anyway." He says causing her to roll her eyes before walking to her dresser and placing the twenty dollar bill in her savings jar. He smirked, "Earlier should have been enough payment anyway." He flirted.

               Zaria hid the smile on her face by turning away. "Whatever," She said, running a hand over her own hair. She needed to do something to hers. She was quiet for a few seconds, her mind all over the place but mainly focused on one person. She bit her bottom lip nervously before she turned to face the male who was now sitting at the edge of her bed. "You've seen Dale around lately?" She was asking because it's been about a week since she last saw him and she was getting worried.

               Kevin sucked his teeth, "Probably laying in a fucking ditch somewhere or in an alleyway begging someone for some more crack. I told your stupid ass stop giving that crackhead money."

               Zaria frowned, "Don't say that. And he's not a crackhead, Kevin. He's just homeless and he needs someone to help him back on his feet. Yeah he made some bad decisions but he needs help." She defends, shaking her head. His words made her even more worried.

               Dale was a crackhead who Zaria often saw roaming the streets at all hours of the day or night. She would often give him money whenever she saw him when she had it to give. She would always take him to a Burger King or some fast food restaurant to get food and then give him fifteen dollars afterwards in case he got hungry again later. She knew he was probably just using her money to get high like Kevin said but she just hated seeing people down bad like that and she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. She would always get weird looks from other people in the fast food joint for sitting with a person who smelled like he hadn't washed in months but she didn't care about them. She was doing the right thing.

               Kevin shook his head at the girl. "For you to supposedly be on all A-B honor roll, you don't act like it."

              "So now you tryna insult my intelligence?"

               "You spend at least two hundred dollars on that basehead every week. That's stupid."

               "At least I'm still in school, you fucking dropout. Dale might even have a better future than you ever could." Kevin chuckled, deciding to not even respond to her silly ass. He grabbed the remote from the bed and turned up the television that was playing some old movie. "Oh."