07| Chapter Seven
February, 2015 | Harlem, New York
Joey was very angry at me.
He had every right to be, but he had no right to question me. He had no right to ask around and find out that I was in Brooklyn. He had no right to continue to bombard me with angry accusations. I was getting tired of him. I was getting tired of this in general. I still had the address that Tyson gave me. I wanted to go. I wanted to find Reid and help him. I wanted him to go back to Compton and see his Mom and his sister. I smiled at the thought of his sister. I hadn't talked to her in awhile. But she was growing. She was only five years younger than Reid and I. She would be at least fourteen now. Maybe I should call her. Maybe I should go down there and visit.
I rolled my eyes.
I was just tripping. I wasn't going back to Compton alone.
Joey banged on my door again. I sighed, rubbing away the tears that were on the rim of my eyes. Maybe I should tell Joey. Joey could help me. Joey had friends in gangs and shit. They would protect me. But at the same time, I wanted to save Reid by myself. Joey banged on the door harder. "I'm coming Joey damn--" I paused when I opened the door and realized it wasn't Joey, but Leah. She had on red lipstick and her hair was pressed straight. She had on a long t-shirt that she paired with a black coat and black garters. She closed the door behind me and waltzed towards my bed and sat down on it.
"What's wrong?" Leah questioned.
I glanced at her.
"You look nice." I stated. Leah placed a dramatic hand on her chest. "Why thank you dear Isis. But the real question is what's wrong? No one has heard for you in a few days. That isn't like you." Leah stated. I didn't want to talk about it. "I've just been focusing on school." I stated. I saw Leah's face light up. "I think that's great. I was thinking that you were mad about something. But now that I hear you're focusing on school I think that's a lot better. I see you're finally taking up on my lessons, eh?" Leah stated. I was surprised that she believed it. I thought that she was going look at me with that stupid look on her face. But she believed me, and I was glad.
"But, while you were gone, things have happened." She stated, winking at me.
I looked at her.
"Like what?" I questioned. Leah smiled. "Well, Rakim and I went on a date: alone." Leah stated as a blush fell onto her fair toned face. I rolled my eyes. This wasn't any surprise to me. The way the flirted everyday and the subtle touches here and there told us all that they were interested in each other. The only question way, who was going to take the initiative first and ask the other one out. I had to give props to Rakim. I was beginning to think he was never going to ask her about.
"About damn time." I responded hopping up out of my bed.
I headed towards the bathroom, throwing cold water onto my face. I plugged in my straightener and sat down on the toilet as Leah went into details about their date.
"He took me to this fancy restaurant. We were all dressed up in satin and shit. He pulled out my chair and everything, I was surprised as hell because we all know Rakim ain't about that gentlemen shit..." Leah continued talking my ear off about the date. I was happy for her, yes, but as of right now, I didn't want to hear anything about relationships and boyfriends.
"Can I have some Samoas?" Leah stated out of nowhere.
I paused, peeking my head out of the door to see Leah holding the box of "Samoas".
"No!" I practically yelled.
"I mean, there's no cookies in there. Just feminine stuff. I like to hide them in creative places." I stated. Leah laughed, throwing the box to the side. "I get you girl. I use to keep tampons in my shoes and shit. It wasn't the most comfortable thing ever." Leah stated. I nodded as I began flat ironing my hair. I wasn't going anywhere, but I needed to go grocery shopping. I might as well just flat iron my hair. I knew generally, after the grocery store, I was going to find myself somewhere else so getting ready for the day seemed like the only logical explanation. Leah continued on with the details of her date and it wasn't until maybe ten minutes later that she realized that I wasn't really paying attention. She patted me on my back and told me to text her later. I probably wasn't going to, but I told her I would anyway.
