Post by Auset on Oct 5, 2005 22:56:22 GMT -5
I've been working on this treat for the fam, so here it is a short story composed from our topic of 1995 Deep long winded kiss. I hope you all enjoy!
Deep Long Winded Kiss
Copyright © 2005 Nikkea Lewis
Summer nineteen ninety five. It was a hot one. I felt the warmth of the sun as it peered through my bedroom window and blanketed my skin. The phone was ringing interrupting my slumber. It was annoying the hell out of me. Damn where was everyone? Why wasn’t anyone answering that phone? Didn’t they know I was the first day of summer break? Didn’t they know this was my excuse to sleep in the entire day? I rolled over in my bed trying to get a better position one that would allow me to sleep through the constant ringing.
It wasn’t working. The person had hung up and decided it was necessary to call back a second time. I punched my fist into the pillow. There was only one person that would do that. My mother, I had no choice but to roll on out of bed and answer the phone. If I didn’t she would continue to call and then when I answered she would have an enraged tone that I didn’t care to hear my first day out of school. “Hello?” I spoke into the gray colored portable phone. It was the same one I had seen while watching The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. That fact always made me feel good when I answered the receiver.
“What you doing sleeping this late? Did you take your sister to camp? Have you taken a shower yet?” my mother continued to invade my eardrums with her constant borage of questions. I tried to answer them as she threw them at me one after another. I wasn’t prepared for all of this. Didn’t she understand my plight? I was only looking forward to enjoying my summer my last summer before entering high school at that. All of the questions she was posing to me had not even entered my train of thought.
“It’s the summer ma; I haven’t had the chance to even wake up good yet.” I responded wiping sleep out of my eye. I was planning on going right back to sleep when I got off the phone with her. She might as well have called it a day. I wasn’t content on her words. Not the least bit. I let out a settle moan when I realized just how early it was. Ten o’clock. In summer hours that was like four in the morning. She might as well have a roster wake me up at the crack of dawn. I decided to pace around the house.
“And what about your sister, did you take her to camp yet?”
“No I thought the house was empty the way the phone was ringing. I didn’t know that she was even here.”
“Well check and make sure she didn’t try to walk down the street herself. You know the girl think she grown.”
“She is eight years old it’s not like she’s that little.” I tried to break it down to my mother. Me being fourteen I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I had been roaming around the neighborhood by myself when I was eight. But this was the baby of the family, momma’s baby at that. I should have known better than to think that that one was going to fly off.
“Girl don’t you even think you too grown to be talking to me with all that sass in your voice. I didn’t ask you to tell me how long it’s been since I birthed that child. I asked you a simple question. Don’t make me have to make your summer one that you will be spending in the house because I don’t have any hesitation in doing so.”
I could tell by the tone in her voice that she was more than serious. If I played the wrong hand then It would be the worst summer that I’ve ever have. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” I tried to make it up.
“Umm hmm, just go around the house and check on your sister.” I hurried back to the bedroom I shared with my younger sister. I hadn’t paid attention to whether she was home or not earlier because I just wanted to stop the incessant ringing.
Sure enough there was a lump in her twin size bed which could not be mistaken for anything other than a human body. I kicked her with my bare foot to see if she would move. She did slightly and then waved her arm off for me to go on about my business.
“She’s here,” I said dryly.
“Well don’t let her sleep all day and make sure she gets to and from camp alright.”
“Yes,” What more can I say, she had put me in check. She was living proof that no matter how old you think you are you are not too grown to back talk your momma. I of course continued to push my limits like I didn’t know.
“And before you think about leaving the house you make sure you clean the kitchen, and I don’t men just do the dishes I mean sweep the floor, clean the cabinets, wipe the counters off, and clean the refrigerator. And don’t you leave no dishes in that rack either you better dry them off and put them up.”
I wanted to scream damn! But I knew she’d fly home from around the corner where she worked to lay a hand on my behind if I did. But I mean really, it was my summer vacation. She just had given me two hours worth of work to do. “Yes.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up the phone and I slammed the cordless down on my bed. I walked over to my sister’s bed and began to shake her continuously until she woke up.
“Get up man; mom said we gotta clean the kitchen.” I lied.
“No she didn’t,” she groaned. She being the baby hardly ever had to do so much as pick up her toys off the floor.
“Yes she did, now get up and come help me or I’m not taking you to camp.” I turned out of the room trying to bring an authenticity to my plea. I heard my sister grumble again and then punch and kick her mattress before she finally got up. I smiled, it worked. My sister wasn’t often easily tricked into helping me out with my chores so I had to milk it for all that it was worth. I traveled down the steps of our two story home on my way to the kitchen.
It was a Monday. The suns brilliance made air condition a must. My mother would have fussed if she found out I put the air on so I opted to bring up the osculating fan instead from the basement. The basement was a dark place that my mother tried to fix up to make it seem welcoming. There was a television, area rug, and even a living room set. But no one spent as much time down there as she wished we would. The fan was all the way in the back, I blew out air in a huge huff at the thought of having to drag that thing up those raggedy stairs.
After finally trudging it up the wooden stairs of the basement and plugging it in near the back door which I opened to increase the flow of air. My sister was at this point walking down the steps half sleep with her pajamas still on. “What I’m ‘spose to do?” she asked.
“Sweep the floor, here,” I shoved the yellow broom in her direction. The broom was almost taller than her. She became aggravated as she snatched the broom out of my hand and began to sweep the dirt in my direction.
I paid her no attention as I started running the hot water and stopped up the sink. I loved to wash dishes in hot water. I wanted it almost scalding because that way I knew the dishes were guaranteed to be clean. I should have cleaned these dishes up the night before but I had complained to my mother and requested to wash them when I woke up knowing school was out. I set my self up. My mother had put her foot in the Sunday dinner which explained the residue of macaroni and cheese, collard greens and barbeque sauce left on the dishes. By this time everything was hard and would be near impossible to get off unless I soaked it. So that’s exactly what I did. I neatly put all of the dishes in the steaming hot water and turned to walk out of the kitchen.
“Where you going?” My sister asked. She had moved the chairs from the kitchen table so that she could reach the broom under the table.
“To mind my business,” I began.
“That aint fair you aint even wash the dishes!”
“They’ve got to soak! Dang!” I responded with a sly smile. She didn’t by my crap but I continued to go back up to my room like I didn’t hear her.
The phone started to ring and I ran up the stairs to retrieve it. I turned on my small black boom box so I could hear Hot 97. A Mary J. Blidge song was playing, she was my idol. “Hello?”
“What’s up you up yet?” it was my home girl Tisha. She lived around the corner from me. We had spent every year since fifth grade at the free camp together that my sister was about to attend. This year we technically still where old enough to go but Tisha and I had vowed to spend that summer out of camp. Now we had our fun at the park which housed a picnic table and art trailer which the city called a camp but in he same token we were about to go to high school and we needed to do other things.
“Yeah I’m up, my mother got me cleaning the whole darn house before I go anywhere.”
“Word so how long is that going to be?” Tisha said thinking it was going to take all day. Her mom didn’t ask her to do much besides clean her room so I knew she couldn’t really relate to my dilemma.
“I don’t know not too long. It’s only really the kitchen plus I got my sister to help me with it the most.” Tupac was now playing and it was my song I get around. I started to dance around my room with the phone still in my hand. I often acted as though I was on Soul Train while alone in my room.
“Aight cause today we are going to the Port so put some sneakers on, I know how you like to wear all them dress shoes.” When she said the Port my heart beat faster. I had to do more than just throw on an outfit that would look good with sneakers. And Tisha knew I only owned one pair of sneakers. She had a closet full so it was easy for her. And then there was my hair, if we were going to cross the town border of Stratford and cross over to the city border of Bridgeport I wanted to be the flyest thing doing so.
“I’ll make it work but I’ve got to take my sister to camp first.”
“That’s cool I’ll meet you there just call me before you leave.” Tisha said before saying her goodbyes.
I put the phone down and cut the radio off. I made a dash to the kitchen in a rush to scrub the dishes clean and get that out of the way. My sister was putting up the broom and about to go upstairs. “Get dressed so I can take you to camp.” I yelled in her direction. She excitedly jolted up the stairs to heed to my command.
I breezed through those dishes like they had soaked all night long. I finished off everything else my mother might have thought of when my sister came back down the stairs showered and dressed. “You going somewhere?”
“Yes I’m going to Tisha’s house,” I said nonchalantly lying.
“Well what am I supposed to do about lunch, are you coming to get me for lunch?” Her question was realistic. Because every other year I had been there to walk her home and make her something to eat.
I knew I was not going to be anywhere near in reality to bring her home to fix her something to eat. If I was really going to Tisha’s house that would be one thing, but I knew I wasn’t. “Well I’m going to make you something to eat now, bring your book bag and I’ll tell the counselors to watch it in the trailer so no one tries to steal it.”
“Why can’t you just come and get me? Tisha’s house is even closer to home I know her mom has something I can eat there.”
“Because, I may not be at Tisha’s house all day, we may go to another friend’s house. So hush up and I’ll make you some sandwiches and juice.”
“You better be back in time to bring me home. I don’t want to be there all day.”
“Listen little girl, you will be alright.”
I didn’t wait for her reply, I walked past her and got washed and dressed my self. My hair was the task. I hadn’t had a relaxer in about three weeks and my roots where showing it. I went with my trademark flat ironed bang and neat ponytail to the bag. I took my mothers shears and slowly snipped away at my bangs to make them look so straight they were almost oriental. I pressed some Dudley’s crème press in my hair to give it a brilliant shine after I flat ironed it.
I smiled at my reflection. I was cute, no I was fly. Fly enough to catch the eye of a handsome suitor. I ruffled my ponytail to make it seem like it was longer than what it truly was.
When my sister saw me in my tight VIM jeans and green zipper tank top that matched my Adidas she knew instantly that I wasn’t going to Tisha’s house. “I’m telling momma, unless you make me two more sandwiches.”
“Who are you trying to extort?”
“I’m not trying to ex…ex…exort anyone, I’m bribing you though.” I laughed at her, she was too cute.
“Extort means something like black mail which is what you are trying to do to me. It means you have information on me and I have to do something for you for you to keep quiet. And I would have to bribe you, if you were bribing me you would be offering me something to keep quiet about something about you.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah and you aint getting no extra sandwich so put your lunch in your bag and call it a day.”
“Man, I don’t never get nothin’!”
“It’s I don’t ever get anything. You said a double negative that turns your sentence into a positive.”
She smacked her lips, “I don’t know what a double negative is but I know you know what I meant to say.”
“Well that doesn’t give you an excuse to talk like that because I know what you mean. If you can’t say it properly you should find another sentence to use.” She wasn’t paying attention to me. I knew it. But it didn’t stop me from explaining my point of view.
By the time we left the house there was a small breeze blowing. I was relieved because the sun was brutal. I had on a pair of what I called my Mary J. shades. They were an opaque black and they completed my outfit. We walked up the street making up songs as we went. This was something my sister and I often did while I washed the dishes. We were on the Apollo stage in our minds and the Sand Man was no where in sight.
The park at Honeyspot School where the free camp was held was full of kids. I recognized a lot of them. The free camp was a way of making sure that kids like us whom parents couldn’t afford to get them in an actual camp that didn’t have volunteers for counselors, one where the kids didn’t have to wait to use the bathroom for when the janitor opened up the school doors. One where we didn’t have to pay ten cents for lanyard or a nickel for some popsicle sticks to make houses and such. The free camp may not have been much to other people but for kids like me whom couldn’t afford more it was everything.
Only this year because I had outgrown the camp it was time for my sister to enjoy and rule the camp like me and my clique had done the years before. I saw Tisha jogging in our direction. By this time I had already arranged to have my sister’s lunch book bag be housed and guarded in the trailer. I knew a lot of these knuckle head kids would have a ball with my sister’s food if it wasn’t guarded properly.
I waved goodbye to my sister and walked towards Tisha. She was decked out in a pair of guess jean pants and a Penny Hardaway jersey with matching sneakers. She had a ponytail in her hair as well. It was tilted slightly to the left but it always worked for Tisha. She was always to pick up any guy she wanted in that same half done ponytail so she never tried to changing it.
“Look at you, you gonna turn some heads at the center.” She smiled.
“What center?” I asked because there was a center not to far from us in Stratford that we often frequented. There was a camp there as well but that camp wasn’t free.
“The Dunbar Center of course, their about to start their summer league and it’s going to be packed full of cats. Let’s roll.”
“Hold up which way are we going?” There were two ways to get to Bridgeport from where we were, straight down Stratford Ave or take Lordship Blvd to Hollister. The latter part was not something that I had no intentions of doing being as my mother worked off that very street.
“I already know you situation we are taking Stratford Ave even though that’s the long way.”
“Whatever, I don’t need my mother snatching me up. You know she won’t mind embarrassing me in front of a crowd so call it what you want.”
She laughed my situation off as we headed towards the Ave. We talked about everything and everyone as we normally did when we got together. It made the half hour it took us to walk to the center go by faster. Before we both knew it we were standing in front of the grey brick building at the corner of Stratford and Central Ave.
A tall slim boy walked over to us and smiled at me and spoke to Tisha, “Hey T, what’s going on? Who’s your friend?”
Deep Long Winded Kiss
Copyright © 2005 Nikkea Lewis
Summer nineteen ninety five. It was a hot one. I felt the warmth of the sun as it peered through my bedroom window and blanketed my skin. The phone was ringing interrupting my slumber. It was annoying the hell out of me. Damn where was everyone? Why wasn’t anyone answering that phone? Didn’t they know I was the first day of summer break? Didn’t they know this was my excuse to sleep in the entire day? I rolled over in my bed trying to get a better position one that would allow me to sleep through the constant ringing.
It wasn’t working. The person had hung up and decided it was necessary to call back a second time. I punched my fist into the pillow. There was only one person that would do that. My mother, I had no choice but to roll on out of bed and answer the phone. If I didn’t she would continue to call and then when I answered she would have an enraged tone that I didn’t care to hear my first day out of school. “Hello?” I spoke into the gray colored portable phone. It was the same one I had seen while watching The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. That fact always made me feel good when I answered the receiver.
“What you doing sleeping this late? Did you take your sister to camp? Have you taken a shower yet?” my mother continued to invade my eardrums with her constant borage of questions. I tried to answer them as she threw them at me one after another. I wasn’t prepared for all of this. Didn’t she understand my plight? I was only looking forward to enjoying my summer my last summer before entering high school at that. All of the questions she was posing to me had not even entered my train of thought.
“It’s the summer ma; I haven’t had the chance to even wake up good yet.” I responded wiping sleep out of my eye. I was planning on going right back to sleep when I got off the phone with her. She might as well have called it a day. I wasn’t content on her words. Not the least bit. I let out a settle moan when I realized just how early it was. Ten o’clock. In summer hours that was like four in the morning. She might as well have a roster wake me up at the crack of dawn. I decided to pace around the house.
“And what about your sister, did you take her to camp yet?”
“No I thought the house was empty the way the phone was ringing. I didn’t know that she was even here.”
“Well check and make sure she didn’t try to walk down the street herself. You know the girl think she grown.”
“She is eight years old it’s not like she’s that little.” I tried to break it down to my mother. Me being fourteen I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I had been roaming around the neighborhood by myself when I was eight. But this was the baby of the family, momma’s baby at that. I should have known better than to think that that one was going to fly off.
“Girl don’t you even think you too grown to be talking to me with all that sass in your voice. I didn’t ask you to tell me how long it’s been since I birthed that child. I asked you a simple question. Don’t make me have to make your summer one that you will be spending in the house because I don’t have any hesitation in doing so.”
I could tell by the tone in her voice that she was more than serious. If I played the wrong hand then It would be the worst summer that I’ve ever have. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” I tried to make it up.
“Umm hmm, just go around the house and check on your sister.” I hurried back to the bedroom I shared with my younger sister. I hadn’t paid attention to whether she was home or not earlier because I just wanted to stop the incessant ringing.
Sure enough there was a lump in her twin size bed which could not be mistaken for anything other than a human body. I kicked her with my bare foot to see if she would move. She did slightly and then waved her arm off for me to go on about my business.
“She’s here,” I said dryly.
“Well don’t let her sleep all day and make sure she gets to and from camp alright.”
“Yes,” What more can I say, she had put me in check. She was living proof that no matter how old you think you are you are not too grown to back talk your momma. I of course continued to push my limits like I didn’t know.
“And before you think about leaving the house you make sure you clean the kitchen, and I don’t men just do the dishes I mean sweep the floor, clean the cabinets, wipe the counters off, and clean the refrigerator. And don’t you leave no dishes in that rack either you better dry them off and put them up.”
I wanted to scream damn! But I knew she’d fly home from around the corner where she worked to lay a hand on my behind if I did. But I mean really, it was my summer vacation. She just had given me two hours worth of work to do. “Yes.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up the phone and I slammed the cordless down on my bed. I walked over to my sister’s bed and began to shake her continuously until she woke up.
“Get up man; mom said we gotta clean the kitchen.” I lied.
“No she didn’t,” she groaned. She being the baby hardly ever had to do so much as pick up her toys off the floor.
“Yes she did, now get up and come help me or I’m not taking you to camp.” I turned out of the room trying to bring an authenticity to my plea. I heard my sister grumble again and then punch and kick her mattress before she finally got up. I smiled, it worked. My sister wasn’t often easily tricked into helping me out with my chores so I had to milk it for all that it was worth. I traveled down the steps of our two story home on my way to the kitchen.
It was a Monday. The suns brilliance made air condition a must. My mother would have fussed if she found out I put the air on so I opted to bring up the osculating fan instead from the basement. The basement was a dark place that my mother tried to fix up to make it seem welcoming. There was a television, area rug, and even a living room set. But no one spent as much time down there as she wished we would. The fan was all the way in the back, I blew out air in a huge huff at the thought of having to drag that thing up those raggedy stairs.
After finally trudging it up the wooden stairs of the basement and plugging it in near the back door which I opened to increase the flow of air. My sister was at this point walking down the steps half sleep with her pajamas still on. “What I’m ‘spose to do?” she asked.
“Sweep the floor, here,” I shoved the yellow broom in her direction. The broom was almost taller than her. She became aggravated as she snatched the broom out of my hand and began to sweep the dirt in my direction.
I paid her no attention as I started running the hot water and stopped up the sink. I loved to wash dishes in hot water. I wanted it almost scalding because that way I knew the dishes were guaranteed to be clean. I should have cleaned these dishes up the night before but I had complained to my mother and requested to wash them when I woke up knowing school was out. I set my self up. My mother had put her foot in the Sunday dinner which explained the residue of macaroni and cheese, collard greens and barbeque sauce left on the dishes. By this time everything was hard and would be near impossible to get off unless I soaked it. So that’s exactly what I did. I neatly put all of the dishes in the steaming hot water and turned to walk out of the kitchen.
“Where you going?” My sister asked. She had moved the chairs from the kitchen table so that she could reach the broom under the table.
“To mind my business,” I began.
“That aint fair you aint even wash the dishes!”
“They’ve got to soak! Dang!” I responded with a sly smile. She didn’t by my crap but I continued to go back up to my room like I didn’t hear her.
The phone started to ring and I ran up the stairs to retrieve it. I turned on my small black boom box so I could hear Hot 97. A Mary J. Blidge song was playing, she was my idol. “Hello?”
“What’s up you up yet?” it was my home girl Tisha. She lived around the corner from me. We had spent every year since fifth grade at the free camp together that my sister was about to attend. This year we technically still where old enough to go but Tisha and I had vowed to spend that summer out of camp. Now we had our fun at the park which housed a picnic table and art trailer which the city called a camp but in he same token we were about to go to high school and we needed to do other things.
“Yeah I’m up, my mother got me cleaning the whole darn house before I go anywhere.”
“Word so how long is that going to be?” Tisha said thinking it was going to take all day. Her mom didn’t ask her to do much besides clean her room so I knew she couldn’t really relate to my dilemma.
“I don’t know not too long. It’s only really the kitchen plus I got my sister to help me with it the most.” Tupac was now playing and it was my song I get around. I started to dance around my room with the phone still in my hand. I often acted as though I was on Soul Train while alone in my room.
“Aight cause today we are going to the Port so put some sneakers on, I know how you like to wear all them dress shoes.” When she said the Port my heart beat faster. I had to do more than just throw on an outfit that would look good with sneakers. And Tisha knew I only owned one pair of sneakers. She had a closet full so it was easy for her. And then there was my hair, if we were going to cross the town border of Stratford and cross over to the city border of Bridgeport I wanted to be the flyest thing doing so.
“I’ll make it work but I’ve got to take my sister to camp first.”
“That’s cool I’ll meet you there just call me before you leave.” Tisha said before saying her goodbyes.
I put the phone down and cut the radio off. I made a dash to the kitchen in a rush to scrub the dishes clean and get that out of the way. My sister was putting up the broom and about to go upstairs. “Get dressed so I can take you to camp.” I yelled in her direction. She excitedly jolted up the stairs to heed to my command.
I breezed through those dishes like they had soaked all night long. I finished off everything else my mother might have thought of when my sister came back down the stairs showered and dressed. “You going somewhere?”
“Yes I’m going to Tisha’s house,” I said nonchalantly lying.
“Well what am I supposed to do about lunch, are you coming to get me for lunch?” Her question was realistic. Because every other year I had been there to walk her home and make her something to eat.
I knew I was not going to be anywhere near in reality to bring her home to fix her something to eat. If I was really going to Tisha’s house that would be one thing, but I knew I wasn’t. “Well I’m going to make you something to eat now, bring your book bag and I’ll tell the counselors to watch it in the trailer so no one tries to steal it.”
“Why can’t you just come and get me? Tisha’s house is even closer to home I know her mom has something I can eat there.”
“Because, I may not be at Tisha’s house all day, we may go to another friend’s house. So hush up and I’ll make you some sandwiches and juice.”
“You better be back in time to bring me home. I don’t want to be there all day.”
“Listen little girl, you will be alright.”
I didn’t wait for her reply, I walked past her and got washed and dressed my self. My hair was the task. I hadn’t had a relaxer in about three weeks and my roots where showing it. I went with my trademark flat ironed bang and neat ponytail to the bag. I took my mothers shears and slowly snipped away at my bangs to make them look so straight they were almost oriental. I pressed some Dudley’s crème press in my hair to give it a brilliant shine after I flat ironed it.
I smiled at my reflection. I was cute, no I was fly. Fly enough to catch the eye of a handsome suitor. I ruffled my ponytail to make it seem like it was longer than what it truly was.
When my sister saw me in my tight VIM jeans and green zipper tank top that matched my Adidas she knew instantly that I wasn’t going to Tisha’s house. “I’m telling momma, unless you make me two more sandwiches.”
“Who are you trying to extort?”
“I’m not trying to ex…ex…exort anyone, I’m bribing you though.” I laughed at her, she was too cute.
“Extort means something like black mail which is what you are trying to do to me. It means you have information on me and I have to do something for you for you to keep quiet. And I would have to bribe you, if you were bribing me you would be offering me something to keep quiet about something about you.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah and you aint getting no extra sandwich so put your lunch in your bag and call it a day.”
“Man, I don’t never get nothin’!”
“It’s I don’t ever get anything. You said a double negative that turns your sentence into a positive.”
She smacked her lips, “I don’t know what a double negative is but I know you know what I meant to say.”
“Well that doesn’t give you an excuse to talk like that because I know what you mean. If you can’t say it properly you should find another sentence to use.” She wasn’t paying attention to me. I knew it. But it didn’t stop me from explaining my point of view.
By the time we left the house there was a small breeze blowing. I was relieved because the sun was brutal. I had on a pair of what I called my Mary J. shades. They were an opaque black and they completed my outfit. We walked up the street making up songs as we went. This was something my sister and I often did while I washed the dishes. We were on the Apollo stage in our minds and the Sand Man was no where in sight.
The park at Honeyspot School where the free camp was held was full of kids. I recognized a lot of them. The free camp was a way of making sure that kids like us whom parents couldn’t afford to get them in an actual camp that didn’t have volunteers for counselors, one where the kids didn’t have to wait to use the bathroom for when the janitor opened up the school doors. One where we didn’t have to pay ten cents for lanyard or a nickel for some popsicle sticks to make houses and such. The free camp may not have been much to other people but for kids like me whom couldn’t afford more it was everything.
Only this year because I had outgrown the camp it was time for my sister to enjoy and rule the camp like me and my clique had done the years before. I saw Tisha jogging in our direction. By this time I had already arranged to have my sister’s lunch book bag be housed and guarded in the trailer. I knew a lot of these knuckle head kids would have a ball with my sister’s food if it wasn’t guarded properly.
I waved goodbye to my sister and walked towards Tisha. She was decked out in a pair of guess jean pants and a Penny Hardaway jersey with matching sneakers. She had a ponytail in her hair as well. It was tilted slightly to the left but it always worked for Tisha. She was always to pick up any guy she wanted in that same half done ponytail so she never tried to changing it.
“Look at you, you gonna turn some heads at the center.” She smiled.
“What center?” I asked because there was a center not to far from us in Stratford that we often frequented. There was a camp there as well but that camp wasn’t free.
“The Dunbar Center of course, their about to start their summer league and it’s going to be packed full of cats. Let’s roll.”
“Hold up which way are we going?” There were two ways to get to Bridgeport from where we were, straight down Stratford Ave or take Lordship Blvd to Hollister. The latter part was not something that I had no intentions of doing being as my mother worked off that very street.
“I already know you situation we are taking Stratford Ave even though that’s the long way.”
“Whatever, I don’t need my mother snatching me up. You know she won’t mind embarrassing me in front of a crowd so call it what you want.”
She laughed my situation off as we headed towards the Ave. We talked about everything and everyone as we normally did when we got together. It made the half hour it took us to walk to the center go by faster. Before we both knew it we were standing in front of the grey brick building at the corner of Stratford and Central Ave.
A tall slim boy walked over to us and smiled at me and spoke to Tisha, “Hey T, what’s going on? Who’s your friend?”