When Jaida Met Kadeem

41

Krystal had met me at the L & L bar straight after she had finished work so she was dressed in her work uniform her curly hair pulled back into a low, slicked bun, her thick baby hairs framed her face prominently, her bronzy-brown complexion seemed to glow flatteringly against the dim lighting of the bar, her face bare but that natural beauty she had always obtained was obvious. I, on the other hand looked exactly how I felt. I had been staring intently into my alcoholic fruit punch glass as if I was trying to transfer the contents of my thoughts into it. I had heaved out a weighty sigh before absent-mindedly scooting my eyes towards the entrance when I had noticed her come in. She had caught my eye immediately and offered me a warm smile, I smiled back wearily detecting the slight shift in her expression and the curiosity that clouded her eyes.

"Hey," she greeted me before leaning in and giving me a brief hug, a sugary-sweet scented perfume wafting up my nose.

"Hi, are you okay?" I asked her as she pulled away.

"No, the question is – are you okay?" she half-laughed as posed her question. "I caught the look on your face...what's up?" she plopped herself down on the stool beside me, placing her bag on her lap as she retrieved her purse. I watched her actions unable to formulate the words to describe how I felt. I did not know what was appropriate to mention at this stage of our reconciliation. We were in the process of mending our friendship, we were not there yet and besides, I wanted to get out of the house to escape from my problems...not talk about them. So I gave her a generic response. "Nothing, just the usual...work, university...money problems..."

"Urgh, trust me," Krystal eagerly cut in causing a wave of relief to briefly wash over me as I knew I had managed to divert the attention off of me and we could discuss things that were on more safe grounds. "I have been saving up like crazy to move out of my parent's house but the rent for London flats are so expensive."

I nodded in agreement before heaving out a sigh. "I hate growing up. I hate responsibilities. I just want to sleep."

My last statement caused Krystal to burst into laughter before being distracted by a bartender who then took her order. She ordered a Sex on the Beach for us both. I smiled again when she pushed the glass towards my direction before bringing the straw to my lips.

"It must be so hard working, going to university and bringing up a child." Krystal was saying as we naturally migrated to a section of bright coloured plush seats positioned in a circle with a round black table in the middle.

"It is." I assured her before reflecting to the amount of outstanding assignments I still had to do. "I'm so behind at university and I've got severe writer's block at the moment." I confided in her before taking a long sip of my drink, the sweet, fruity aftertaste with just the right amount of alcoholic kick causing me to relax a little.

"You've been through a lot these last few months, you'll bounce back soon." She reassured me before removing her straw and downing the rest of her drink quickly. "Okay," she slammed her glass down on the table. "Now it's time to do some shots." She announced brightly.

Doing Sourz and White Russian pudding shots was the perfect icebreaker - drunk Krystal was a brighter, funnier and more colourful version of the Krystal that I was still learning to adjust to. It was like getting to know each other all over again and in some sense that is exactly how it was. Although we were reminiscing on high school days, on the things we all used to get up to there was also a lot of things we had missed out on and the colourful shots simply filled the blank white space that stretched between the time we were seventeen and that present time, like the fact that she had plans of going abroad soon to inspire her and enhance her culinary skills.

"I had no idea you liked to cook so much." I remember saying after she had told me. She nodded her head vigorously.

"It's so therapeutic." She replied. "It's the only time I feel like I'm in control, I can be creative, I try new things..." her voice trailed off momentarily before she added. "My husband will enjoy." I laughed in response.