Twenty-Three
“Keisha Kei-shaaaaa,” my roommate, Symia, greets me as she enters our dorm room. A full-figured girl with dark chocolates skin and shoulder-length red hair, Symia always looks like a fashion plate. Seriously, her wardrobe is far better than mine and she’s even taken me on as a pet project.
A business major, Symia hopes to open her own salon one day. She does hair to support herself on the side. She’s the reason why my hair is grown out into curly ringlets. “Are you going to the party tonight?”
Since I’ve been at USC, there’s been a party every night. While I indulged for the first couple of weeks, it became old very quickly. How many times can one play beer pong in one week?
“I don’t know. I’m thinking I’m going to skip it and stay in.” Yeah, staying in on a Friday night is really unheard-of in college but I see no point of going out right now. Besides, I have a paper that could use my attention.
“There are going to be some hot men at the party tonight.” Symia pauses for a beat. “You, Daryl is checking for you.”
Daryl Barker, USC’s prime quarterback who is responsible for leading the team to one of its best starts in school history. He’s also Daryl Barker, the dog who has a new chick every week, with a ton more waiting in the harem. I think I’ll pass on the chlamydia. “I’m sure he is.”
“Well, let me know if you decide to go,” Symia collapses on her bed. “I can’t wait. You know, big girls are the new hot sauce now.”
Symia may be a big girl but her phone never stops ringing. A part of it is she’s just a naturally attractive woman, but another part is she can line a man’s fade just right. It seems everyone goes to her to get their hair did (yes, I said it right), and she’s been collecting numbers and using up condoms at the same time. She’s the real P.I.M.P. if you ask me.
“Well, we’ll see how I’ll feel later.” I yawn and I have to drag myself to lecture. I honestly want to skip it but I know this will be info I can use later for the paper I’m working on. “I’ll see you later, Mia.”
~~~~~
Life has been so crazy these past few months. Once I graduated out of LACC, I officially moved out of my home and let Tasha and Junie rent there. I told Tasha I may have been cool to not her pay rent as her roommate but as her landlord, I’m getting a monthly check from her.
Tasha tried to bargain with me and I told her if there are any problems, she can always move out. Once she checked the surrounding area and saw how expensive Inglewood was becoming, her tune quickly changed. Needless to say, she started paying.
Tasha, is well, Tasha. She’s stuck between wanting to grow up and wanting to stay the way things are. I told her she doesn’t have much time to be straddling the fence before it makes the decision for her. I don’t know if she’s going to listen. Some people have to want to be great, to do great.
Junie has blown up and is now a highly sought-after producer. He recently worked with one of the hottest rappers in the game, Dolce Gabbana. His album should be dropping soon and everyone is already predicting it’s going to do big numbers. If that happens, Junie’s stock just skyrocketed.
He’s still with Tasha, but things are kinda weird between them. He’s not cheating on her or messing around, but I’m not sure how much longer he’ll be in the picture if he’s trying to spread his wings and she’s content doing nothing.
My auntie is still in the other duplex and true to form, we’re still not talking. Oh well. I’ve tried. I can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to do. Older people love to lecture younger folks without realizing that they too, were once young and stupid. They also don’t like to realize they can also be a bit of an asshole themselves. Maybe one day we’ll be cool but as of right now, she needs to stay where she is.
Of course, I still have my Granny’s home, but the neighborhood has changed a lot now. There’s a lot more development but there’s also less black folks in Inglewood. There are a lot more white faces. I’m feeling iffy about the whole thing. I miss how cozy and welcoming my neighborhood was.
Everyone knew each other, their kids, their kids’ kids. Seeing old men playing bones and chess at Leimert Park was not a thang. Going to the Saturday flea market was a thing to do and I always got the flyest gear for hella low prices.
However, with everything good, there’s always the bad and Inglewood had a lot of that. I don’t miss the gang activity, drug addiction, and senseless violence. Lil’ C was lucky, but he’s one of the few. Kids are often caught in the crossfire of dumb-ass adults. I guess you can say gentrification solves a lot of that.
Jalen was arrested for a host of charges, including attempted murder of Lil’ C. Last time I heard, he was still in jail. He still has a harem of girls. Occasionally I get whispers from other people telling me he’s been asking about me, but really, I don’t care.
Daddy and Ashley are finally back together and Daddy recently proposed to Ashley with a huge diamond ring. Their wedding is set for next year. My daddy is no longer slanging stating he now has enough money for all of us and our kids to retire on. Truthfully, he’s always had plenty of money but I guess there was a dollar amount my daddy wanted and he finally got it.
Daddy decided real estate was his calling, and he’s already invested millions into the Inland Empire and the Lancaster and Palmdale areas, building it up for the black migration there. I guess all that drug dealing to the white folks paid off in some ways. Daddy’s the real Robin Hood.
Andrea has been showcasing her baby bump for all of the world to see. King J is also still in jail but he’ll be home in a couple of years. Andrea and I still don’t have a relationship and well, not sure if we’ll ever have one.
As far as me and Savior goes, no phone calls, no texts, nothing. The loss of him was more devastating than I thought it would be. The silence was beyond heartbreaking. The pain started in my heart and coursed through my body like a maze, grounding me to the cement. It was like we never knew each other at all.
When it came for my tuition bill, however, Savior did show up even if he wasn’t physically present – my entire USC tuition for all four years is covered and that includes books.
I stayed at my daddy’s home so I could recover, and Ashley took off a few days from work to help me. We went to a spa treatment and I tended to my Netflix addiction. I watched more black movies than anyone could handle during that time. I ended up getting a new phone number and just completely erased myself from anything Savior. I still kept the pictures of us for reasons I’m not entirely sure about.
The Google alerts I still had on Savior told me he left his father’s law firm and started his own. The same alerts didn’t tell me about a girlfriend or wife. I know I shouldn’t care and I know he doesn’t. Hell, he probably made the same offer to another stupid college student right now and I’m just playing myself.
Surprisingly enough, I’m still cool with one Ellison brother – Soul. He emails me all of the time and gives me first dibs on the latest FBLs before they hit the stores. He even said he didn’t mind that I resold them on Ebay in case I needed the money. He’s super cool like that.
I finally make my way over to the lecture hall and sit in the standard back row so I don’t bother anyone. It’s for my political science class and as much as I love my major, it can be boring AF at times. Hopefully, the lecture will be short and sweet and I can go back to the dorm and sleep.
