❀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪʟᴅ ʜᴜᴍ of the microwave echoed through the capacious kitchen as Ni'mari sat on one of the stools lined up by the counter, resting her head on her hands that were propped upwards by her elbows. She watched as her mom prepared dinner, helping her ever so often.
Ni held her hair in her hand, before running through it with her fingers and sighing, as the fresh breeze from the air conditioning hit her bare skin.
"You know that boy that you asked if he could come over to the house last week?" Her mom said, sparking up a conversation between the two as she chopped up some peppers.
"Yeah, what about him?" Ni replied, listening curiously.
"He's your boyfriend?" Her mom asked, slightly smirking and looking up at her.
"What, no?" Ni said, laughing. "Why do you think that?"
"Mary-Anne, you know, that old lady that lives right across the street from us? She said she seen y'all kissing at the front door." Her mom responded, raising an eyebrow. "So, now give me a real answer."
"What???" Ni said, with a tone of awkwardness and a hint of slight embarrassment.
"I've never made you feel like you had to lie to me 'bout things like this, so why are you tryna lie now?" Her mom replied, laughing. "Are y'all a thing or no?"
"I don't know." Ni said, shrugging. "I wouldn't say we're a thing, we haven't made anything official yet."
"But you like him though, right?" Her mom grinned, eagerly.
"Yeah, I guess." Ni'mari said, trying to hide the smile that began to form on her face. "He's cute."
Her mom smiled. "When next is he coming over?"
"Ion know," Ni said, laughing awkwardly. "Don't make it a big deal, Mom."
"I'm not, I'm not." Her mom replied, laughing. "You're growing up, I'm just excited for you, that's all. I remember my first boyfriend-"
"He's not my boyfriend." Ni said, cutting her off and chuckling.
"He might be soon though." Her mom replied, still smiling. "I had just turned 12-"
"Damn, 12?" Ni said, cutting her off again. "You was running wild at age 12?"
Her mom laughed, clapping her hands. "There's so much shit that we shouldn't have done, seeing as we were so young. But even if I could go back in time, I wouldn't change any of it."
