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5

palisades

the strong sun rays shined brightly on my skin as i floated in the crystal clear pool water. natural sounds of life blessed my ears, along with the barely audible sound of a donald glover song being carried out of an neighboring open window by the wind. this was so calming. i wasn't surrounding by nagging bitches, my annoying friends, or anything that didn't have a good energy surrounding it. it was just nature and i alone.

for about ten more minutes.

my relaxed eyelids popped open as i hear the garage door begin to open and a car started to back inside of it. i hastily swam to the edge of the pool and lifted myself out of the water. after grabbing my towel, vans, phone and skateboard that i carried along with me and rushed over to the fence surrounding the backyard. carelessly throwing my stuff over the fence and using a patio chair to get me a few feet higher off of the ground and i pulled my waist up to the top of the nine foot tall fence. hesitantly i tilted my body forward and flipped the rest of myself over the fence, hitting the grass with a thud and clutching my shoulder. pain seared through the area from the heavy impact but i had to shrug it off and gather my belongings to get the hell out of here.

see, i decided to go swimming in a random person's outdoor pool because the temperature reached 87 and the local pools would be stacked with nasty ass black folks. i searched for an empty house with an exposed outside pool and decided to take my chances. i do this all of the time when i feel like going swimming, but i do it every sunday. i ride to a nice neighborhood and trespass as it's called. i call it retribution for whatever meaningless reasons i have for invading people's pools.

the pain in my shoulder subsided as i wheeled down the sidewalks, water dripping off of my body and soaking the insole of my sneakers. a half naked guy wearing bathing shorts with a towel draped over their shoulder is a typical sight to see in california. especially since it's nearing the summer time. i wish i had a hat. i can feel my ears beginning to flap against the wind; at any moment i could be carried into the sky by these big ass shits.

i could hear the ring tone of my phone go off and i bring my phone up to my face to see veronica was calling me. i rolled my eyes and groaned, stopping the rolling of the skateboard by placing one foot on the ground. my eyes stared at the phone as it continued to ring, she had called me nonstop since we had reacquainted and it's getting really annoying. it's not like she was calling me to come over and lay it down, she just wanted to talk. bitch, the fuck. get off my line with that shit. i blankly stared at the phone scree until she finally hung up the phone. i sighed with relief and slipped my phone into the pocket that had dried up. my foot kicked against the ground to launch my skateboard and at the same moment my phone started to ring again. i loudly groaned in frustration, stomping my foot onto the concrete once again then snatching my phone out of my pocket and sliding over the green circle.

"what?" i barked into the phone. i didn't give a fuck how rude i was being this bitch was getting on my last fucking nerve.

"baby, i miss you." melanie's voice was laced with lust as she exaggerated the y at the end of the word baby. my tense muscles relaxed and my voice lightened up automatically as i spoke.

"i'll be right over."

i got that mm, mm. i got that gotdamn. i'm yo pusha man. i'm yo, i'm yo, pusha man. pimp slappin', toe taggin', i'm just tryna fight the man. i'm yo pusha man.

chancelor the rapper played in the background as i sat at veronica's computer desk playing with the photo booth program on her large ass mac computer. veronica's window was open, blowing a cold breeze into the already air conditioned room. she was sitting on the window sill with a cigarette in between her fingers and tobacco in her lungs. i hated cigarettes but i didn't want to go home yet and be alone. it was a constant fear of mine to be alone. that's why i'm always hanging out with someone even if i hate being social.