Love, Loyalty, and Lies: The Story of Kiara Powers

Four.

{ Kiara's POV }

As the song "Wake Up" by Kashdoll played, I quickly pressed snooze. It was my first day back after the altercation, and I wasn't stressing. Today, I was just going to chill and vibe. I hope don't nobody try me because after what happened with Bree, they said if I get into another fight, I'm getting 10 days to the crib. Yesterday was already boring enough, but 10 days? I think I would die. Just as I start to fall back to sleep, my phone starts vibrating. The caller ID said Jay.

What does he want? It's not Saturday.. it's only Wednesday.

Jay: "Aye Kiara. We got a situation."

That's never good. In the hood, when we got a situation, that means either two things: 1) somebody has to die or 2) somebody has already died.

Me: "What's going on bro?"

Then, he hit me with two words that changed my life forever.

Jay: "There was a drive-by. Mark got hit. They took him to the hospital, started the surgery, then..."

Me: "THEN WHAT JAY?"

Jay: "He died. I'm sorry Kay. You want me to send somebody else or call off the whole thing?"

Things never go my way. This was supposed to be my way of controlling my mom, but now, I can't even do that. Mark and I go way back. We grew up together! He was the brother I was supposed to have. The fact that he was just gone like that is so unbelievable.

Me: "Call it off. I'll call you when I want it done."

After hanging up on Jay, I realized that I had to get ready for school. I couldn't let anybody see me down, so I got myself together and got ready. I put on my ruffled yellow long-sleeved tube top, my light ripped jean skirt, and my brown sandals. Looking in my jewelry box, I grabbed my bamboo earrings that said Kiara on them, my ring, and my bracelet that says "Hello Beautiful". put on some cocoa butter, baby oil, then I put on my Tiki Bay Bath & Bodyworks lotion. I grabbed my MK watch and purse and made sure I had everything in there (lipgloss,gum, perfume, feminine items, the basics). I sprayed some perfume, grabbed my phone off the charger, and then I walked in the kitchen.

Kristen was sitting in the kitchen eating some oatmeal. I don't call her mom in my head any more, only out loud.

Kristen: "Good morning sweetheart! ,she said while smiling extra hard."

While internally rolling my eyes, I told her "Good morning mommy! Have a good day. I love you, I'm about to head out."

Kristen: "Are you eating breakfast sweetie?"

Me: "No ma'am, I'll stop by Mickey D's."

Kristen: "Okay baby, I love you too! We have to talk when you get home, I have something planned."

I stopped dead in my tracks. What did she mean? I tried not to look bothered and just simply replied "Okay." I grabbed my keys, walked out of the house, got in the Jeep, started playing some Ari Lennox, and slowly pulled out of the driveway.

As Ari sung, I started to think what Kristen was talking about. Is she setting me up? Did she hear me? I'm glad I called it off, otherwise, somebody could've gotten hurt. I just hope she don't plan nothing crazy. In about 5 minutes, I pulled up to Mickey D's.

Drive-Thru: "Hello, welcome to McDonald's. Order when you're ready."

Me: "Yeah, can I get a sausage biscuit with a orange juice? No pulp please."

Drive-Thru: "Will that be all?"

Me: "Yes, that's it."

Drive-Thru: "Your total is 3.75. Pull around to the next window."

I pulled through, got my food, and went to school. I walked in my first period, Physical Science, and sat in the back of the class. Everyone was watching me, I felt so uncomfortable.

Ms. Bee: "Hello Ms. Powers. Welcome. I was just about to tell the class to get into pairs of 3."

Everyone groans.

Ms. Bee: "Groan all you want to, but I bet you do it!"

Just like she said, everyone started to get in pairs of three.

As I sat back and watched everyone group together, two girls came toward me. One was a light-skinned girl, but I could tell she was mixed. She was about 5'4 and had curly hair that went down to the middle of her back. Also, she had braces and nails that were about medium.

The other girl was dark-skinned. She was around 5'7, slim thick, and had an afro higher than my expectations. She had pearly white teeth and looked very nice.

Dark Girl: "Hey.. This might seem a little weird, but you were looking sad, so we wanted to come cheer you up. I'm Essence, and this is Layla."

Layla: "If you want us to leave, we'll go. We just didn't want you to keep looking sad. It's Martin Luther King HS.. people want to see you down. Perk up beautiful!"

I allowed them to stay for two reasons: 1) they seem like cool people. 2) I wanted to have some associates just in case something went down.

As we continued to talk, I realized that they were actually cool and we all had a lot in common. We all could vibe to almost any kind of music. We all drove our own cars. We all don't have friends for real. It seemed almost destined. We all had the same classes together too, so there wasn't a moment that we were apart. The day went by so smooth. It's like when I blinked my eyes, the day was over with. They invited me to go skating with . tomorrow, and I gladly accepted. After all, I needed a new change of scenery.

When I got home, I was ready to go in my room. The rest of my teachers had gave us work, plus I had makeup work to complete. But first, I had to see what Kristen wanted. What does she have planned and why am I involved?

I walked in the house and Kristen, my stepdad, and my little brother were sitting in the living room, talking up a storm. Everything ceased when I came in the house.

Kristen: "Oh hey Kiara, we were just talking about what I told you about this morning. Sit down so I can go into more detail."

I sat down in the most secluded chair out of the whole living room.

Kristen: "I know life has been hard here. I can see how much you've been uncomfortable. I heard about Mark. In order to help you get your mind off the situation, I decided we should have a family trip. Lets go out and enjoy each other."

My heart dropped to my toes. She stole my idea. More importantly, how did she find out? She had to be spying on me. Did she know what I was planning? I had so many questions, but I just continued to let her talk.

Kristen: "... We're going to go to Six Flags, bowling, and then out to eat. I'm going to let the babysitter come pick up Lucas. It'll just be me, you and Brad. "

The idea of being with them by myself doesn't sit right with me. I'm a thug though, I'll be alright.

Me (while smiling): "Sounds good ma."

After she was done talking, I went up to my room. I was thinking about how she stole my idea. Why did she feel the need to spy on me? That mean she knew what I was planning. I'm still glad I called it off. She thinks I'm stupid. Why would I plan it if I knew she was listening? That's called street smarts. I want her to think she's ahead of me. Now I can fall back and let her look stupid.

Your turn Kristen.