Friday evening

We'd landed in New Orleans about ten minutes ago. Kaleigh, Danielle and I were waiting while Khari was with Randy, who had one of his bags misplaced. I quickly texted Makayla to tell my mom that we had made it. Surprisingly, she didn't protest when I said that I was going to New Orleans with Khari. Granted, she was a little skeptical since we are dating or whatever. She asked where we'd be living at and I told her that I was staying with Danielle. I lied, but she didn't need to know that. Other than that, she was glad that I was supporting him.

Tapping my foot happily on the floor, I looked around at the people who were passing by trying to see if there were any differences in the people down here. I'd never been to New Orleans and I was excited to be in a new place. I was noticing many people talk with people they didn't know which was the obvious difference. People in the south were very friendlier than those up north. I heard whispers from behind me and when I turned around, Danielle and Kaleigh were eyeballing me while talking amongst once another. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to understand why they were whispering. "What?" I asked. They just continued to look at me like they had made a new discovery or something. Whatever they were doing, it was creeping me out.

"Nothing, you're just...glowing." Danielle woke up. Again, I raised my eyebrows in confusion. I hadn't noticed a new glow or anything. I thought that I had always sported a glow. I guess not. Maybe because I was just happy for the first time in a long time. "Anything you wanna tell us?" She added.

I thought it over and shook my head. "No, not really. Why?"

"Oh, come on Malia. We're your friends. We will know when something is different about you." Kaleigh said in a duh tone with her hands on her hips. Every since Monday night, I did have more pep in my step and I also smiled more. I internally laughed because I now knew what they wanted to know. Seems like they already knew though. "Are you pregnant?" Kaleigh asked.

My eyes grew wide as I quickly shook my head. "No, nooo." I mentally went back to when Khari and I had sex. He didn't use a condom or anything, but I was on birth control. We talked about it, though. That would've been a disaster to get pregnant on my first time.

Danielle's mouth formed a smirk. "Why are you mentally checking?"

My attention focused back onto them and they were really looking at me with knowing eyes now. I blushed a little and they started screaming. "Be quiet." I hushed them, looking around before looking back at them.

"When?!" Kaleigh asked, referring to me losing my virginity.

I sighed softly, moving my hair to the other side of my head. "Monday."

Danielle gasped. "That's why your ass been jumping on the clouds all week. Dancing and shit. You're dickmatized." She yelled in a whisper. Kaleigh started laughing which caused me to glare at them. I hadn't realized that I was acting like they were describing. Maybe I was. But, I think I was just glad that I had a good first time. "Well, how was it?"

I blushed again. "It was amazing, Dan. He was patient, gentle.. And I don't even have any regrets." I answered, shrugging my shoulders.

"That's good!" She said hugging me. "This is a proud sister moment because I predicted this shit." She said wiping her eyes in a dramatic fashion. I playfully rolled my eyes, waving her off. "I'm happy because you just don't know what Khari has been through. For him to even be making love, it's good for him. Especially since he didn't even believe in it." Danielle said seriously. I nodded my head, understanding where she was coming from. I never thought I'd be the one who's make him believe in it. Funny how things change.

"He must really be the one because you didn't allow Duane to get a taste." Kaleigh joked.

"A taste of what?" We all jumped at the sound of Khari's voice. We all turned around to meet him and Randy. Khari had a questioning look on his face which caused me to giggle.

I walked up towards him, putting my arms around his neck. "Nothing babe. Did you all find his bags?" I asked, looking back at Randy.

"Yeah, I had the same bag as someone else. Glad they opened it before they left." Randy said. I nodded my head, agreeing. That would've been tragic. "Your cousin coming to get you and Malia?" Randy asked Khari. I looked back Khari expectantly.

"Yeah." He dug into his pocket, and I pulled away. "She said she'd be here in like five minutes."

"Where are you going?" I asked, looking at Randy.

"My mom is coming from Baton Rouge to pick me up." He put his bag over his shoulder. "She should be outside so I better head out. I'll see you at the funeral, kid." He did a handshake with Khari and said his goodbyes.

"My dad is coming to get us from your grandma's." Danielle looked at Khari, who nodded his head. We all grabbed our things to head outside so we could wait for his cousin. I sensed his nervousness because he was biting his fingernails. I grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently to tell him that I was here by his side. It seemed to calm him down, for now.

"Your fine ass cousin still live here?" Danielle spoke up.

Khari chuckled, looking over at Danielle and nodded his head. "If you talking about Cedric, then yeah. He ain't doing shit else with his life."

She smacked her lips. "I can change his life."

"Your heart is taken." Kaleigh said simply. Danielle glared at her causing her to chuckle. "Well, it is. As soon as Randy move on, you're gonna be so butt hurt. You better get yo man before somebody else snatch him up. You see Malia wasn't playing any games."

This time, I smacked my lips. Khari chuckled lowly. "Khari?" A female voice called out. We all turned to the direction of the voice. She was a short woman with hair that flowed down her back. She had a coke bottle figure with brownskin that kissed the sun. "Wow, it's been so long." Khari got up, embracing her. I lifted my eyebrow, wondering who the hell was this.

"That's his cousin." Danielle said, answering my thoughts. I sighed in relief. She was extremely beautiful and I had gotten insecure for a second.

"Danielle!" The woman exclaimed. "You've grown into such a beautiful young lady. Wow." She looked Danielle over.

"Thanks Bri. You're pretty as always. Never an off day with you." Bri waved her off, as they both giggled. They both wrapped each other into a long hug.

"Where's Randy?" Bri asked, looking around.

Danielle shook her head. "Randy and I aren't together anymore."

"For right now." Kaleigh spoke up.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Bri meet my obnoxious friend, Kaleigh. Kaleigh this is Brianna."

Brianna extended her hand. "Nice to meet you. You're a pretty girl as well. That's right. We stick together."

"Nice to meet you as well." Kaleigh said, shaking her hand.

Brianna eyes grew wide. "An African girl." They shared a smile, engaging in a short conversation. I felt a hand on the small of back, forcing me to get up. I looked up at Khari who was looking at Bri. Her eyes then fell on me. "Another pretty girl. And you are?" She smiled, holding her hands out.

I blushed a little, placing my hand into hers. "Hi, I'm Malia.. Khari's fr—"

"Girlfriend." Khari interrupted.

Bri and I looked at him simultaneously. She started to shake my hand which caused me to look back at her. "Wow.. Girlfriend. You must be a special young lady. I see he has great taste." An approval from a family member made you feel good inside. Although I was shocked that he had introduced me as his girlfriend, I knew that I had many more family members to convince. At least I think.

"I guess I am." I said, briefly glancing at Khari. "Thank you so much."

She waved me off. "It's nothing. You're family now. But, let's get out of this heat. I'm sure you're not used to it being this hot in March." She joked. I nodded because she was right. We were still wearing coats in DC. We all gathered our things and headed to her spacious truck. I read that her tag said Atlanta so she didn't live here. We didn't have to put our bags into the car since Khari did it. Once he was done and in the passenger seat, we were off to his grandma's.

The car drive was silent for a minute until Brianna started talking. "Grandma is pretty pumped to see you even though it's under these circumstances." She said, glancing at Khari. He didn't say anything which had me a little concerned. Brianna sighed a little.

"How is she doing anyway?" Danielle asked.

"She's doing well. Still feisty." Brianna chuckled. "But, she's good. She doesn't know you're coming so I'm sure she'd be glad to see you as well. How long has it been? Four years?"

Danielle nodded her head. "Yeah it's been that long. I rarely came to New Orleans when I reached high school and when I did, it was only to see that knucklehead." She slapped the back of Khari's head. He reached back and gripped her exposed thighs with a firm grip. "Ow ow let go Khari!" Danielle yelled as he chuckled.

"Say you're sorry." He smirked.

"Owwww... Ok ok I'm sorrrryyy." With that, Khari released his grip making Danielle rub her thighs. She mumbled something her user breath threw up her middle finger when he turned around. I chuckled and shook my head at those two. The rest of the ride was short and it was seconds later when we pulled up to an average sized home. The bricks were discolored, the grass had missing patches, and the wired fence was in its worst shape. It wasn't the best looking house, but it was enough.

As she parked into the driveway and shut off the engine, we got out of the car. Khari immediately took his my hands into his as we walked up to the door. Seeing that the door was unlocked, we headed in. I quickly noticed that the inside of the home was nothing like the outside. The decor of the home looked to be recently remodeled and designed for an elderly immobile. We slowly moved to the back of the home and into what looked like the master bedroom.

In the bed was a fragile woman. She was really small, but did have a head full of while hair. It was beautiful. I'd never seen white hair. She wore light skin, hazel eyes and a gorgeous smile. "Khari." She said with her Spanish accent and much enthusiasm. She smiled from here back to DC. Khari let go of my hand to go greet her. She cupped his face with both hands, kissing him. "So glad you're here."

"Hey abuela, how are you?" He asked, kissing her forehead.

"I'm fine. Better now." She smiled at him.

He returned it. "Danielle is here."

She looked up to see Danielle and her eyes gleamed with excitement again. "Danielle, querido, come here." Danielle obeyed and walked around me to get to her. She did the same with Danielle as she did with Khari. "It's been so long dear."

Danielle nodded her head. "Yeah it has been." She placed a kiss on the lady's forehead. "How are you, Bela?"

She whispered something into Danielle's ear causing her to giggle. "That's how I've been." She said, laughing with Danielle. Suddenly, those same hazel eyes that Khari had landed on me. I immediately felt small under her gaze for some reason. Maybe it was because I couldn't read her.

Khari got up to come stand beside me. He, again, placed his hands around my waist and returned his attention back to his grandmother. "Bela, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Malia. Malia this is my grandmother, Alano." He said. Her lips formed a smile causing me to relax a little. She then motioned for the both of us to come to her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Alano." I said with a smile, extending my hand. She slapped my hand away and pulled me into a hug.

"She's beautiful, Khari. I'm so happy for you." She said as she pulled away and looked at me. I gave her a smile which caused her to laugh. "And she has pretty teeth. She's a keeper." Everyone in the room started laughing and she let me go. She looked at Kaleigh. "What's your name sweetie?"

"Kaleigh." Ms. Alano motioned for her to come over and give her a hug as well. Kaleigh obeyed.

"Well my dad just texted me to let me know that he was outside. I'll see you tomorrow Bela." Danielle spoke up, giving Ms. Alano another hug. Kaleigh did as well before following her out.

"Ok sweetie. Go on and go speak now." Ms. Alano said to Khari and I, shooing us out. Walking out of the room, I felt better than before. She was just a beautiful spirit to be around.

"You good?" Khari asked as we headed outside.

"I'm fine baby." I reassured him. "Grandma likes me." He smirked at me before he started laughing. Danielle's father was loading his truck with Danielle and Kaleigh's things when we approached him.

"Daddy!" Danielle said, causing the man to turn around. "This is Malia, my friend I was telling you about."

He looked at me, extending his hand. "It's finally nice to meet two of Danielle's friends she never shuts up about." He joked. "I'm Damon, but you can call me Pop."

"Nice to meet you as well." I said. "She talks about you a lot. I think she's a big daddy's girl." He chuckled lowly. Danielle started giggling as she latched onto his arm.

Damon looked at Khari, and smiled. "Wow, it's been a while Khari. How are you doing?"

Khari nodded his head. "I'm good Pop. I'm better."

"That's good. I watch you everytime y'all are on tv. You keep it up because you're a baller man. There's great thing ahead of you." He looked at Khari, who just nodded his head. "Even though I know you and your dad didn't have the best relationship, I'm still sorry for your loss. No kid deserves to lose both parents. And who knows? He could've changed."

Khari just shrugged his shoulders. "We won't know now."

Damon placed his hand on Khari's shoulders, patting him gently. "Well, it was nice to meet you Malia. We're gonna head out of here. We will see you tomorrow." Khari and I nodded our heads as we watched them get into the car. After a few minutes, they drove off into the distance. I looked back up at Khari who was looking at nothing in particular. He was here physically, but elsewhere mentally.

"Hey." I called out. He looked down at me, and smiled a little. "Are you okay?"

He sighed softly, nodding his head. "Yeah I'm good." He pointed an abandoned house down the street. "My mom and I stayed there. It looked better than that back then because she kept it up of course. My dad used to be a good dad when I was smaller. He stayed with us and we'd walk down here to see my grandmother everyday. He'd take me boxing with him and everything. One day, when I was waiting for him to get off of work so we could go to the gym, he never showed up. And I didn't see him until seven years later when I had to bury my mom. Mind you, he'd come over here to see Bela almost everyday. He couldn't take a minute to walk down the street to say hey to his son. I never got my answers of why he left. For a long time, I blamed Halle. Is it a coincidence that she took him away from me twice?"

I looked back at him before looking back at the house. I grabbed his hand, attempting to pull him but he wouldn't move. He shook his head, signaling that he wasn't ready to go to the house. I understood. Wounds take time to heal. "Do you believe what Mr. Damon said?" I asked.

He looked at me. "What?"

"That your dad could've changed." I shrugged a little. "Well, maybe he never changed. Maybe life got too hard or maybe he was dealing with some things that he never spoke about. When we hurt, we tend you hurt the people who loves us the most. You say he was a good dad at one point.. Maybe he still was."

He shrugged his shoulders, playing with his finger while biting down on his teeth. "Maybe so.. My mom loved him so much. The way he beat Halle made me wonder did he ever lay a finger on my mom. All those negative thoughts fueled my anger which made the situation much worse. It got to the point where we would just fight everyday. I ain't never been this calm in ma life."

I wrapped my arms around his waist, looking up at him. "That's a good thing. You don't need to be angry all the time. I bet you enjoy life more now. After tomorrow, it's a new chapter. You forgive him, and move on." I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him. "Don't look back." I said softly.

"Okay."

*****

Next day

The smell of breakfast woke me up. I felt on Khari's side of the bed, feeling that it was empty. I sat up, flipping my hair out of my face. Glancing at the clock on the stand, I seen that it was a little after 7:30 in the morning. I shook my head because I was never up this early. The funeral service didn't start until 11:00. I was grateful that I was given the room with the bathroom. Khari wasn't supposed to sleep with me because granny didn't play that, but when did Khari ever follow the rules?

I grabbed a shirt and some shorts just to put on and went to shower. After I was done and did my hygiene duties, I placed my hair into a high bun and headed into the kitchen. I heard a few familiar voices with one I couldn't make out. Once I was in the kitchen, I seen Khari, Brianna, and Grandma Alano, who was in a wheelchair. I was now able to tell why she was immobile. She was missing a leg. There was unfamiliar guy in the kitchen as well.

"You're up." Khari's voice took me out of my thoughts.

I smiled at him, and nodded my head. "The food.. It smell so good. Smell like shrimp."

He chuckled, nodding his head. "Shrimp and grits."

I looked at him to see if he was serious. He was. I'd never heard of shrimp and grits. I didn't know people eat shrimp for breakfast. But, I guess it's a first for everything. "Goodmornin' Malia." Brianna greeted.

"Good morning Brianna. Are you the cook?" I asked.

She smiled and nodded her head. "Nothing like some good ole shrimp and grits. Bela wanted some. Are you allergic or anything?" She asked genuinely. I shook my head no causing her to wiggle her eyebrows in delight. I laughed at her silliness. "Well, this is my brother Nathan." She said motioning towards the unfamiliar guy. He looked up from his phone and smiled. "Nathan, this is Malia. Khari's girlfriend."

"Say what na? Little ole Khari gotta girlfriend? It must gonna snow today or sumthin." He joked, but Khari didn't laugh. So, I didn't either. "Nice to meet you tho. Welcome to tha fam. I kno' he ain't lettin you go cause he ain't never brought no girl home. I thought he gay stay for minute ya feel me?" He snorted.

"Nate." Khari looked at him.

Nathan threw his hands up in defense. "I'm the funny cousin. He the uptight one as you can see." Nate said looking at me. I giggled discreetly. He was pretty funny. He seemed like the type to try to make people laugh even in a tragedy.

"Nice to meet you too, Nathan."

"I'm jus glad he didn't go up thea and get no snow bunny. Niggas act different when they go to a white school for sum odd reason." He looked at Khari. "Ain't nun like a black woman. Ain't that right, Bri Bri?"

"Yep. And now leave the girl alone." Bri said as she sat Khari and I's plate in front of us.

Nathan smacked his lips. "Whea my plate?"

She rolled her eyes and sat beside Grandma Alano who was in her own little world, eating. Today was probably a bad day for her. "Nigga, you got two hands and feet. Get up and fix your own."