AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

THREE

1993
Queens, New York
[Queensbridge]

ZARA

        The delightful smell of what seemed to be pancakes being made, was enough to wake Zara completely out of her sleep. Her stomach loudly grumbled as she inhaled the strong scent and quickly got out of bed, slipping on her baby blue fur house slippers.

Zara turned around to see Janae still in bed, smiling in her sleep. She softly laughed, wondering what her cousin was dreaming about.

"She dreaming about some dick." Zara mumbled to herself before exiting the bedroom.

After brushing her teeth, Zara rushed out to the dining table to help herself to some food. "Good morning, auntie." She smiled at her aunt Lira who just finished setting up the table.

"Good morning, hun. How was your sleep?" Lira asked as she sat down in her usual seat.

Zara sat down across from her and quickly scanned the multiple options of food that were laid out nicely around the table. Pancakes, sausages, bacon, hashbrowns, fruits - she was dancing inside.

"I slept well." She responded as she proceeded to make her plate. "We got back home pretty late last night, but there was no way I was gonna sleep through this. Thank you for making all of this." She said happily, causing her aunt to laugh.

"No problem, baby. Eat as much you like. Your uncle and Dominique don't really wake up on time for breakfast anyways, and by the looks of it..." Lira looked up at the clock on the wall. "Janae doesn't either." She chuckled.

Zara was ecstatic to receive this kind of treatment. Sitting around the table for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was something she never did back home in California with her family. Her parents were always busy with work and never paid much attention to her or her brother, Tristan.

"So did you guys have fun last night?" Lira sparked up conversation.

"Eh. It was alright. I'm not really into basketball, or any sport if we're being honest. But Dominique's friends seemed cool. Malik's hilarious." Zara giggled at the memory of Malik's antics.

"Oh yeah, that boy is something." Her aunt agreed. Their conversation was suddenly interrupted when there was a knock at the door.

"You've been on your feet all morning, auntie. I'll get it." Zara insisted and got up from the table. She checked the peephole to see who it was and lowly scoffed when she seen Jahkai standing there.