Brown Sugaa

2. Egypt

A little after midnight, Egypt Monroe walked through her apartment in a tank top and boy shorts, frustrated with herself.

It had been a week and a half since she picked up her saxophone and made any noise and it was driving her crazy. She couldn't sleep, could barely eat and now she couldn't release her frustrations through her music.

It was that time of the year again, Christmas and the nightmares were back full force.

Egypt sighed and opened her refrigerator. Despite not leaving her apartment in over 3 years, it was fully stocked, thanks to grocery deliveries and her dad. She pulled out some sandwich meat, tomatoes and pickles and then went to make herself a sandwich on the marble counter sitting in the middle of the kitchen.

She was bored and restless. More than anything, she wanted to go out and be a normal 27 year old but she was too afraid to leave the comfort of her own four walls.

The last time she did, not only was she almost beaten to death, but she was brutally raped by a group of men who she turned down at the mall. She was so traumatized, after the police did nothing to find the perpetrators, she locked herself inside her apartment and only opened the door for her mother and father.

Egypt shook off the unwanted memories and took her sandwich to the living room. She kicked her feet up, turned on the TV and then adjusted her bonnet. Like every night she couldn't sleep, she turned on criminal minds and got lost in her thoughts.

I should try and write a piece, she thought to herself after a couple of hours passed by quickly. She sighed and looked across the room at her baby. It was a pristine golden alto sax, one of her favorites that she owned, but she knew she wouldn't be able to find the right notes to put together.

Instead of playing a tune or two or calling it a night, Egypt wandered into her second bedroom, where she recorded her music and turned on her Mac book. She got comfortable in the desk chair and pulled off the bonnet on her head.

Tonight would be a night of editing and trying to perfect the last three songs on her debut album.

Sleeping and everything else could wait.

~~~~

The next afternoon, light knocks on her front door woke Egypt up from a deep sleep. She jumped off the couch and fell hard on the ground, groaning with red cheeks.

Not to her surprise, her father stood behind the door when she peeked out the peephole, carrying a bag of Daddy Z's.

"Hey Boog." He greeted her with a kiss on the forehead once he entered the two bedroom apartment and kicked his shoes off.

"Hey daddy. You're early, I didn't even get to shower."

"It's almost 4pm, I called you. You didn't answer so I picked up your favorite." He opened the box of Mac and cheese, Egypt's favorite thing to eat and handed it to her.

"I was asleep. Thank youuuuu." Egypt said happily as she sat on one of the two bar stools in the kitchen. "I was up all night editing a song."

"How many tracks do you have now?"

Egypt and her father, Simmons, talked for hours about music, the latest news, her mother, who was sick with lung cancer and back in the hospital, his job at the bank and everything else in their lives.

When Simmons finished eating and catching his only daughter up with the things going on in his life, he stood up and cleared the counter of their mess. Egypt followed suit and cleaned up the living room quickly.

"Your brother will be in town in a few days." He said out loud as Egypt was in her room, throwing her blanket back on her bed.

It had been almost two years since she laid eyes on her brother, Osiris. With him being in the music industry as well, being a successful guitarist in a band, he rarely got a chance to come home with tours and different gigs.

"Oh, that's good, daddy." Egypt's tone was bored but not because she didn't miss her older brother. She didn't like talking about Osiris because she didn't like to be reminded that she was still living in his shadow.

Growing up, Osiris always did everything right. He was damn near perfect, if you let her parents tell it. In Egypt's eyes, Osiris was the golden child, the kid all parents hoped for.

And she was just there.

Another reason she wasn't excited about the news? She knew any minute now, her dad was going to bring up the subject of her leaving the comfort of her home.

"I'd like for us all to get dinner when he gets here. With your mom in the hospital, I think it would be good for us to...you know...discuss some things."

Egypt's stomach turned and twisted. She didn't want to think about losing her mom, that hurt too much. But what hurt more than that thought at the very moment was the idea of her stepping foot outside.

Sure, she went outside every day and spent some time on the balcony to soak up the sun but that was different. She didn't know if she could get on the elevator and go downstairs, let alone go outside to a restaurant with God knows how many people.

Just imagining the stares she would get as she battled with the anxiety eating her up made Egypt's heart rate increase.

She shook it off and tilted her head in her dad's direction. They made eye contact and without needing to say a word, Simmons knew where his daughters head was at. So he reached out and pulled her into a bear hug.

"You'll get past it, Boog. We just have to work on getting you out of the house."

Egypt enjoyed her fathers embrace. She ignored his words and wrapped her arms around his lean body.

Simmons wasn't a big guy but he wasn't a toothpick either. He was 5'9 and had smooth chocolate skin and a nice tapered fade. Almost an exact replica of her brother who stood at 6'2.

Egypt looked a lot like her father. They shared the same big brown eyes and pouty lips. But her caramel, almost yellow skin color came from her mother, who was a mixed woman from the Bronx.

"I'm gonna shower now, daddy. You staying?" As the words left her mouth, she smiled to herself. She knew Simmons wasn't going to stay now that they had ate and talked for a bit.

"No, I'm gonna get back to the hospital today."

"Okay well..." she sighed and fell into his arms again. "Give mama a kiss for me. I'll call her tonight."

"Will do." Simmons left another kiss on the top of his daughters head before walking out the front door.

He waited half a second and didn't turn to leave until he heard the turn of the dead bolt and three other locks he'd installed 4 years ago.

Inside the apartment, Egypt was now wearing a smile. Despite the bad news her father just dropped on her, she was okay, inspired even.

She took a long, hot shower and an hour later, buried herself in her music room. Since it wasn't too late, she wanted to pick up her sax and create the tune playing over and over in her head.

So that's what she did for the rest of the night. Until one of her neighbors finally broke down and called the police, complaining about the noise.

Again.