😗sorry for any mistakes

Friday

🎶Drinking lime and bitter from my lemonade

White horses, maritime won't do🎶

Bad Blood by Nao played inside Sarai's room as she was currently folding up the laundry that she had just gotten out of the dryer.

She stayed home from school today for mental problems. Something her parents allow her every once in a while when she feels drained or too sad to go to school.

She wasn't depressed but after her uncle, Myles died in May of last year at 25 years old due to gun violence. She had days where she just sometimes couldn't get out of bed.

Her uncle was her best friend, someone she felt understood her.

His death hit her harder than anyone else. Besides her parents, he was who raised her. He was who always told her that no matter what, never stop being the sweet angel she was.

Sarai sighed, putting the graphic tee she had in her hands down. She walked over to her walk-in closet, with the door already wide from putting her clothes up. Standing on her tippy toes to reach a top shelf, she grabbed the tan color, build a bear.

Leaning on the wall, she bit down on her bottom lip staring at the bear Semaj, JB and Rell got her for her birthday in February. She pressed the red button that was on the small paw, letting the sound play.

"Hey, Sugarfoot! Yo' favorite person loves you babygirl" The voice of a happy Myles played, tears slipped from Sarai's eyes as she slid down the wall, holding the bear close to her body.

"I-I miss you so much" She mumbled, breaking down in tears.

"Give me the pepper ova' thea' on the table, Sugarfoot," the 18-year-old—Myles said as he stood at the stove, seasoning the mac and cheese. "Okay!" A 9-year-old Sarai, happy just to be with her uncle, jumped up from the chair.

She hasn't seen him in a while since he's been busy with work and being with his girlfriend a lot more lately. But today, he cleared his whole schedule for her, picking her up from school so they could have an uncle and Niece weekend.

She went over to the table where her uncle directed her to, grabbing the small bottle labeled 'Pepper'. She skipped over the stove where Myles' taller body stood. "Here you go," She smiled, holding the bottle up for him.

"Thank you Sugarfoot, you wanna snack while we wait for everything to finish cooking?" He asked, looking down as she was now clung onto his legs "Yes please" She nodded eagerly.

She was starving but she knew dinner would be ready in a little while so she didn't want to ask for a snack.

He nodded, putting the pepper down. He struggled to walk over to the pantry since Sarai was still clung to his legs. Sarai fell into a fit of giggles and laughed at him struggling when he could have just asked her to move.

Finally getting to the pantry, he opened the door, getting a bag of Sarai's favorite chips— A red bag of Doritos. She moved from his legs, taking the chips from him and telling him thank you.

She rocked side to side with a smile on her face as she opened the chips.

"You want one?" She asked, watching him close the pantry door. He told her no, then walked back over to the stove with her following behind him.

She watched him put all types of shredded cheese on top after he put different seasonings in. "Uncle Myles, when I grow up, I wanna be just like you," Sarai nodded, still eating her chips.

Myles's eyes widened and paused in his movement "Noo, don't be like me. Be than me" He spoke seriously.

Myles wasn't the best role model being that he was a drug dealer for a living. Deep in the streets at that, he didn't want his innocent, sweet little niece to take part in that. He wanted so much more for her because he knew she could do better than him.

"But" Sarai frowned "Why can't I be like you?" She asked Besides her parents, her uncle was the best person in the world. Someone that carried himself very well at the age of 18, growing up without either parent in his life.

Of course, she didn't know about his lifestyle because nobody going to tell a 9-year-old that. But in her eyes, he could do no evil.

Myles put the mac and cheese in the oven before bending down to Sarai's level "I want you to be better than me Sugarfoot. Don't follow in my footsteps, be yourself, and don't let anyone change you" He spoke, moving her curls out her face and tried not to laugh at her smacking on her chips with a confused look.

"B-but nobody likes me. I'm—I'm too quiet and—and I have a disorder where I can't talk to people sometimes. Everyone likes you," She said sadly. She always got made fun of because she had a slight stuttering problem and social anxiety, which made her a quiet girl.

People made fun of her because they thought she was slow since she didn't talk much.

"It doesn't matter if nobody doesn't like you. As long as you like and love yourself, that's all that matters. Don't be that person that everyone likes, and be who you are to the fullest" He advised. He hated how she felt like she was a problem when she wasn't.

He looked at her social anxiety as a blessing. She stayed out of trouble and to herself. She had 3 friends that always took up for her. He can't count on his fingers how many times Sarai came to him talking about how her 3 best friends jumped someone for picking on her.

Having a lot of friends made you have to watch your back a lot, most of them weren't your real friends. He was glad Sarai wasn't experiencing it.

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?" He asked, watching her light brown eyes light up "A chef! just like you. I wanna own a bigggg restaurant" She smiled.

She loved cooking mainly because she was with her uncle. He always made it fun and although he wasn't a chef, he did enjoy the hobby of cooking.

"Ima be the first one inside." Myles smiled. She gasped "You promise?" She held out her small pinky finger.

He chuckled lacing his much larger pinky finger to hers

Sarai sniffled, wiping her tears away "You broke the promise uncle Myles. You broke it" She broke down, even more, holding the bear closer to her body.

_________________

🫧💕

I'm outsideeee😏

lmao! it's givin' creep but here I come!

Sarai laughed at the message before clicking out their thread and putting her phone back in the cup holder. She grabbed her fresh new bottle of cocoa butter lip therapy from her cup holder and applied it to her lips while she waited for Carmen to come out.

Over the past few weeks, she and Carmen have been growing closer every day. Carmen's classes got switched so they only had first and third period together but that didn't stop them from being with each other every day.

Sarai liked having a female friend, it felt refreshing and she could talk to Carmen about things without being judged.

She understood Sarai's times of going quiet just because. Not because anything was wrong but just because sometimes she likes to go mute.

Closing up her lip therapy, she glanced over to the two-story home where she spent many of her childhood days at. Carmen started walking out of the house, looking at something on her phone while she walked down the driveway.

Sarai unlocked the doors once she got close to the doors "Heyyy bitchhh" Carmen greeted, getting into the passenger seat.

Sarai smiled, "Hey, I like your bag, why you ain' get me one?" She questioned, looking at the green telfar bag she had.

Carmen closed the door and turned to mug her "You jus' ordered a yellow one! Yesterday!" She laughed.

Sarai playfully rolled her eyes "That's not the point Leelee! Why didn't you get me one?" She chuckled, pulling off after the car passed them.

"I didn't even kno' I was gettin' this foreal. My uncle just threw it at me when I got home today." She shook her head with a small chuckle. "But um, you fake as hell. What happened to you tellin' me when you weren't comin' ta' school?" Carmen frowned.

Sarai lowly sighed "I'm sorry. It was so last minute. I woke up and jus' wasn't feelin' it. Rell texted me sayin' he wasn't goin' so I went back to sleep" She explained, reaching up to press the button to open the sunroof up.

Carmen eyed her "Everything okay?" She asked, concerned.

Sarai nodded "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry" She waved her off. She never wanted to speak about the slight depression she had after losing her uncle. Her parents were going to put her right in therapy and she didn't want to go back. She spent half her life in therapy and although it was helpful.

It was draining too at times.

"Did you get the job tho? They changed my department so I work in the baby area now" Sarai changed the subject while switching lanes.

"Oh yeah! I got the job but they haven't sent me all the information yet. I hope we get the same schedule or work some of the same days" Carmen stated, putting on her seatbelt when she noticed Sarai driving like a bat outta hell.

"I only work morning shifts on the weekends and they give me one day during the weekdays. Those usually be Mondays or Tuesdays" Sarai explained, slowing down some when she started seeing police hiding out on the sides.

"This is my first job tho. You think I will like it?"

Sarai shrugged "Eh. People are really rude for no reason but It's okay. I jus' don't like the customers and sometimes it gets real ghetto there"

Carmen nodded, taking in everything she was saying. "So the Walmart back in my old state had ta' wear the new shirts. Y'all do that yet?" She asked.

Sarai shook her head "No. Not yet. We still wear the vest but the shirt makes people look so professional" She giggled, stopping at the train track when the sign was down. She backed up a little so she won't be so close.

"Lowkey it does. But this is Walmart, not Target" Carmen said, making Sarai bust out laughing. "Byee" She chuckled, grabbing her phone from the cup holder as they waited for the train.

🖤

🙄🖤

Rayray😐 Don't piss me off

🙄🫶🏾

Yo' ass never wanna go anywhere. It jus' waffle house🤦🏾‍♂️

And I'on wanna go🤷🏾‍♀️

Those y'all friends. Not mine.

🙄🖤

Nobody said you gotta talk ta' them Ray.

I'll think about it.

Sarai huffed, clicking out the group chat thread. She didn't know why they wanted to invite her out after the football game anyways. They knew she was a homebody and she didn't know any of Semaj's teammates that they were going to be with.

This was probably her second time coming to a football game. Only because she had nobody to go with. Semaj and Rell always ended up leaving her and JB were in the band.

She was only coming to this game because Carmen wanted to go since it was against their rival team.

"Oou this is my song!" Sarai started dancing, turning the volume of the music when she heard But Im bulletproof by Young Dolph playing.

Carmen's jaw dropped as she watched her friend rap the lyrics in shock. She thought Sarai was just so innocent, which she was but when it came to music, Sarai was a different person.

🎶Catch 'em at the red light and leave 'em drippin' wet (drippin' wet)🎶

"She loves a good hood jam!" Carmen laughed. Sarai looked over seeing she was recording her making her laugh.

"What he say?!"

"Movin' like the President! Cameras at the residence! Niggas said that they got hittas but ain't nun' hitta hit shit!" Sarai rapped into the camera and Carmen gassed her up.

_________________

Carmen intertwined her and Sarai's fingers together after they walked through metal detectors to get into the crowded stadium.

It was the small things like this that made Sarai hope for their friendship to last. She never had a caring person as a friend beside the boys. Let alone a girl. This was her first female friend and she tried not to get overly excited about it but she couldn't help it.

She's been around boys all her life besides her mom and grandma.

"Excuse me, can we do an interview wit' yall fa' tik tok?" A tall darkskin with fresh cut and triangle parts. He had a slit on his eyebrow and his eyes were grey with pretty white teeth. He had in a gold hoop nose ring on the right side of his nose and his natural bushy eyebrows, perfectly arched.

Sarai tried not to stare at him but he was very handsome, she never noticed him at school before either.

She also never found any other boy attractive besides Semaj.

Carmen looked him up and down before looking at Sarai for confirmation. Sarai shrugged, not really sure, then looked at the other boys that were coming behind him. She noticed a few from the basketball team.

"Sure" Carmen responded.

"Y'all go ta' Columbus Heights?" He asked, stepping next to Sarai, and another tall dark skin stepped in front of them with an iPhone 13 pointed at them.

They both nodded "Bet," He said before his friend started recording.

"Aight who am I here wit'?" He pointed the bottom of his phone at Sarai first.

She nervously swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to ignore his intense stare down at her "S-Sarai" She stuttered and mentally cussed herself out for it.

He light chuckled and moved to Carmen "Leelee"

"Aight, what's y'all body count?"

Sarai's eyes widened and Carmen scrunched up her face "Negro what? What's yo' body count?" Carmen raised her eyebrow making Sarai chuckle.

"I asked you first." He laughed.

"And I asked you second" She resorted back.

He sucked his teeth "Movin' on. What do you rate yourself 1-10?" He pointed the phone at Sarai. She shrugged a little "5? I-I'on kno' " She said lowly.

He looked her up and down, lustfully, and shook his head "Definitely not a 5" He licked his lips and then moved the phone to Carmen. Sarai started blushing, looking away.

"Umm, a 7 ½ or 8" Carmen shrugged.

"I give you a -1"

Carmen busted out laughing "You think I'm a -1? Why? Damn, that's fucked up" She still laughed and he laughed with her.

"A -1? What typa' interview is this?"

"Nah, y'all both 10's but preciate y'all" He chuckled, and his friend stopped recording. He told them to follow him on tik tok, Instagram, and Youtube but they all walked away from each other.

"Damn. Y'all band get down like this?" Carmen started dancing a little to the band playing. Sarai nodded, looking over everyone from the top of the bleachers to see if she spotted Semaj or Rell.

"They didn't play at the prep rally?" She asked, still looking. There were way too many people for her enjoyment. This is why she didn't come to the games in the first place.

"Yeah, but they weren't this lit. And the football team is good?" She asked, shocked, looking at the scoreboard. The score was 60-34 in the second quarter. All their sports teams were good, they were top schools in the state. Most of the athletes were D1 players including Semaj.

Sarai saw Semaj standing up, laughing at someone at the bottom of the bleachers, close to the band. Her heart fluttered looking at him before she held Carmen's hand to walk over to the stairs.

They held each other's hand tightly walking down the steep stairs, while others were going up the other way. "Damn, what took y'all so long?" Rell stood up once they made it to their row.

"It's still a long ass line to get in the stadium"

"I kno' it is. We betta' whoop they ass too. I bet money on them" Rell chuckled. Sarai sat next to Semaj who was talking shit to one of his associates and didn't notice Sarai sitting there yet and Carmen sat on the other side of her.

She softly tapped his shoulder for his attention. One thing about it was she always wanted his attention and was going to get it one way or crying cause he hated it when she cried.

He turned around and mugged her, making her smile fall. "Who the hell dressed you?" He tugged on her short white crop top that had the words 'Angel' written in pink letters. She just found it in her closet today. She could admit it was really short since it only covered her breast and her whole stomach and back were out.

"You showin' all dis skin, thinking you grown" He fussed, pinching her bare skin thighs since she had on black biker shorts.

She only wore them because her mom told her it made her booty look bigger. She got real hype hearing that. She loved when someone told her her ass looked fat.

"Ouch Zyair! Stop!" She whined, popping his hands away from her. She huffed, fixing her middle part, 30-inch tap-ins. She ran her fingers through her hair and laughed at Semaj mugging her still.

"This" He circled his hand over her "Is too grown fa' me. What happened ta' my innocent sunshine?" He frowned. She playfully rolled her eyes "Semaj. You ain' my daddy, stop actin' like it." She rolled her neck at him.

"I am yo' daddy. Fuck you talm 'bout" He scoffed. Sarai got nervous feeling a double meaning but tried to get the nasty out of her mind.

He side-hugged her "You look pretty tho Rayray" He commented. She slightly blushed "Thank you" She smiled back at him.

She looked over at Carmen when she felt her elbowing her. "He keeps lookin' at you" She nodded her head to the side of them. Sarai leaned up a little to see who she was talking about. She got flustered when she made eye contact with the boy who gave them the interview.

She quickly looked away from him. "Oop" Carmen mumbled.

_________________

"I'on know. You kno' how you can jus' feel vibes off, people? I feel like that nice shit jus' a front" Camren said into Sarai airpod as they both washed their faces over facetime.

The game was over now and the girls were talking now talking about what happened when they were at Waffle House. When they got there, Liberty was all over Semaj but Carmen said she wasn't like that until they walked inside.

Sarai didn't know because when she saw Semaj and Liberty together, she rather not pay attention. She was trying to protect her feelings of wishing it was her and Semaj.

Sarai patted her face with the hot white rag "Maybe it's not" She shrugged, not wanting to talk about it honestly.

"Nah. When they are on the phone, it's jus' something bro. I jus' can't put my finger on it" Carmen shook her head, applying the oil Sarai got her to her face.

"But friend, when are you gonna tell him about bein' in love wit' him?"Carmen whispered, making Sarai's eyes widen and she looked at her phone in shock.

"H-huh? Whatchu' talkin' about?" She questioned, growing nervous, hoping Semaj couldn't hear her.