A Friend in Me

8

"What can I get for you?" The Hispanic female bartender asked.

"I'll take a um- Long Island Ice tea." Kimberly answered.

"Coming right up." The bartender replied and turned around making the drink.

Kimberly pulled out her phone in her clutch to see her mother text her for the hundredth time in the past five days. She never told her mother why she left. She never told her mother what happened that summer night or the next day when Marcus violated her. She didn't want to hurt Cherry so she planned on taking to the grave with her.

Mama👸🏾💜
Dial me when you get a chance plz

Mama 👸🏾💜
Need to know if u are in town for Christmas tomorrow for Geo's so we can ride together

Mama 👸🏾💜
Monica's mom Sabrina says you're still in town. Idk what's going on. Hope you're safe Sweet Plum 😘

She sighed looking at her most recent texts from her mother. She didn't know how to come front and tell her she didn't feel comfortable with Marcus around. If she did, Cherry would make a whole investigation on why and what happened. She would ask everybody in the family who talks to Kimberly. Yet the only people who talks to her knows about it is Monica and Aunt Geo; when they picked her up from the hospital in Galveston and she told them every single thing.

"Here you go ma'am enjoy the party." The bartender sat the glass in of Kimberly with a red straw in it. Kimberly thank the bartender and slid her a five dollar bill for a tip. She turned around sipping on her Long Island, walking around.

"Kimberly Davidson." She looked to her left and seen a guy from high school.

"Jarvis?!" She smiled at his new masculine attraction. He looked the same: with his waves, light skin complexion, and tattoos on his arms.

They walked up to each other and hugged tightly.

"I feel like it's a school reunion in the motherfucker. How's it going?" He asked her. She smiled and told him everything was going good.

"Good actually, I'm here for the holidays. My mom been crying for me to come down." She told him.

He smiled and shook his head. "Same for mine. I just started work in Pittsburgh two months and my moms been nagging for me to come home. She's been acting like she don't have six more kids down here."

"The same. I didn't know you lived in Pittsburgh. I live in Philadelphia." She announced.

"I've heard. I'd asked Arianna where you stay and she just told me the east coast."

"Yeah, I told her not to tell anyone. Are you still with Mariah or no?" She asked being nosy.

He laughed. "Yeah. Six whole years. She's being trying to ask her job to relocate up there with me."

"That's amazing I'm kind of surprise you two are together. Two psychos. That's good though." She took a sip from her glass.

Jarvis raised his eyebrows at her. "K, what you drinking got you saying nice things about Mariah, bet not be no tequila."

Kimberly licked her lips and took another sip. "That's your woman. You don't want anybody saying nice things to her?"

"Hell yeah, she can be a hand full sometimes." He confessed.

"I know."

"Sometimes I want to slap her ass."! He said.

Duke came out of the blue and stood between the two. "Nigga stop popping up like some secret agent."

Duke and Jarvis dabbed it up. Duke looked at Kimberly who was too busy swallowing down the Long Island. She was drinking to cool down from seeing Duke. Her insides was burning from the way he looked his blue and white college alumni Christmas sweater and blue jeans.

"Hey Kimberly." He walked up to her for a hug. She hugged him back feeling like she was hugging a man of steel. He wrapped his arms around her so tight, letting her inhale his cologne. "Good to see you. Arianna and I need to talk to you in a while. Is that cool?"

"Yeah no problem." She answered and Duke walked off.

"Anyways before I was interrupted. What made you want to leave Texas?" Jarvis asked her.

"To be honest. Felt like I needed a new start. I've been out there for years and feel like moving again." She honestly told him. She felt like she was stuck in life.

"I get what you're saying. Life is fucking tough. I've been on this earth for 26 years and haven't had a break from the shit I've been going through." He said.

Kimberly thought about Jarvis' younger three siblings who were kidnapped and bodies chopped by his father in high school. Then his step mother killing his half brother for a token of her love for Jarvis' dad.

"I'm sorry about that." Kimberly said. Jarvis smiled and grabbed Kimberly's had and guided her back to the bar.

"Are you driving home?" He asked her. She told him no that she was taking Lyft.

"Good. Bartender can we get eight shot of tequila and the keep it going." He said. The people are the bar looked at him like he was crazy. Kimberly did too.

"Boy are you crazy?! We just met two minutes ago and now you want to get drunk together. No!" Kimberly backed away from the bar. He grabbed her hand before she could make another step.

"K, the fuck you doing?! You gonna be tipsy. I'm not doing no funny shit witcha on God." He raised his hands up.

"Okay. But if I feel funny in the morning. I'm a fuck you up. I don't care if it's the holidays or not." She rolled her eyes and sat her clutch and phone on the bar.

The bartender sat eight shot glass in-front of them and poured the tequila in each one.

"Now after this first one. There's no turning back." He gave her a glass and grabbed his.

"Shit that's cool with me." She grabbed her phone and went to Snapchat and started recording.

"Cheers." He raised his glass she raised her too. "To a new drunken friendship." They slapped their glasses together and took the shot.