Twenty-one Houses [Ryan Destiny & Keith Powers]

15.

Weeks passed, and I was starting to get the hang of my new lifestyle. I stood on the balcony and look out at the stars. Between trying to stop smoking and my mind racing at night, I couldn't sleep. It's been this way since I moved here. I managed to cut down on smoking blunts and moved to a the pen. I stood on the balcony, enjoying the cool breeze for a while. Until I saw precisely what I was looking for.

A boy climbed off Sahnai's balcony and took off to the exit by the pool. I saw the same guy a few nights back while I was outside smoking. I had to be sure this wasn't a one-and-done thing; lucky for me; it wasn't. Jamell was so worried about me smoking weed. He didn't even realize his daughter was sneaking a nigga in and out of her room. I shook my head and took another hit off my pen.

The following day I got ready for school and walked downstairs.

"Good morn, dude, you look horrible." Yonas spat, which made Jamell look over at me.

"You sick" Jamell asked, putting his coffee mug down.

I shook my head. "Imma get going," I said, grabbing the door handle.

"You don't wanna ride with us?" Yonas questioned. I glanced over at him for a quick second. Then slipped out the door before Jamell could stop me.

I figure walking to school would help me clear my head. Plus, I needed to figure out what I would say to Sahnai. I knew they would get to school before me because they always rode with Jamell. So I had enough time to think.

When I got to school, I walked over to Sahnai's locker. She talked to her friends when they all stopped and gave me a puzzled look, making Sahnai turn around. As soon as she saw me, she rolled her eyes.

"What'd you want?" Sahnai asked with an attitude.

"We need to talk," I replied, waiting for her friends to leave, but they didn't, "alone," I continued.

She turned around and smiled at her friends. "I'll catch up with you guys later." She said nervously, and they looked at one another. After exchanging their goodbyes, they left. "What did I tell you about talking to me in school?" Sahnai spat, slamming her locker.

"I saw you last night, sneaking that boy out of your room," I said, and Sahnai's eyes snapped open. "Out your balcony," I said, kicking my feet up against the lockers. "I would hate for Jamell to find out." I continued looking at my fingernails.

She scrunched her face up and looked at me up and down. I could tell she was trying to figure out what to say. "I would hate for Dad to find out what you do on your balcony." She whispered, getting closer to me.

"Let's see, him finding out I smoke a little bit of weed, which he already knows. Or him finding out his precious daughter is sneaking dudes in her room." I said, getting closer to her face, and she backed into the locker. "What'd think he'll be more upset about?" I asked in her ear.

She pushed me back. "Ok, what do you want?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"How'd you know I want something?" I asked, clutching onto my backpack straps.

Sahnai let out a brief chuckle and rolled her eyes. "One, I have two brothers. Well, three if I'm counting you" she shrugged. "And two, you haven't told dad yet" She smirked. "So clearly you want something from me; what is it," She asked, crossing her arms.

It was hard to look at Sahnai as a sister. Especially with the way she spoke to me, it reminded me a lot of Ken. "I need you to take my drug tests for me."

"Are you crazy" she spat" dad will kill me if he finds it."

"So you'd rather him kill you when he finds out you're sneaking guys in your room?" I stopped to think before looking back at Sahnai "cool," I shrugged and walked away.