"You know your mama would've been proud of you, Quay. I know she's looking down on you smiling, baby." Gregory said to his daughter who just graduated from high school.
Charnae gave her father a smile, but it quickly disappeared. A few months prior to her graduation, her mother was murdered by a man who was attempting to rob her. Gregory, being the hot head he is, went out to find the suspect himself because authorities weren't doing enough to get justice for his wife. Now, he's facing life in prison and he regrets his actions because he didn't think about how it would affect his daughter.
"Baby." Gregory said, gaining Charnae's attention. "I'm sorry for everything. I only made things worse for you and I didn't think before I acted."
"You don't have to keep apologizing, daddy. I'm okay." Charnae replied.
Gregory sighed. "I'm so proud of you. Through all of this mess, you still managed to graduate at the top of your class and now you're going all the way to South Carolina for college."
"I wish you and mommy were gonna be there to send me off." Charnae said as tears fell from her eyes.
"Please don't cry, mamas." Gregory told her. "I would do anything to have things back the way they were."
"Me too." Charnae cried.
"Promise me something." Gregory said. "Promise me that you're never gonna give up."
"I promise, daddy."
Charnae sighed as she popped the trunk of her Chevy Cruz. It was a long drive from St. Louis to Columbia, but she finally made it. All she wanted to do was go to sleep, but she had to take care of a few things before she did that.
Charnae is attending the University of South Carolina majoring in early childhood education with a minor in general psychology. To be nervous was an understatement because she did not have her mother for support and her father was incarcerated, so she was unable to call him at any time of the day. She lived with her aunt on her mother's side after her father was arrested and it was hell. Long story short, she's never talking to her mother's side of the family ever again. As for her father's side, they can kick rocks as well because none of them were willing to take her in after Gregory's arrest. Charnae felt alone and she was very unclear on how she was going to make it.
Charnae took out her large suitcase and two duffel bags out of her trunk. She knew she was going to end up taking more than one trip and she was okay with that. She began her hike towards her dorm building, dreading every last minute of it.
Once she got to her dorm, she used her key to get in and was greeted by her roommates who were getting settled in. "Hey, girl!" Faith exclaimed as Charnae closed the door.
"Hey, boo!" Torah said afterwards
Charnae smiled. The three of them conversed almost everyday once they found out they were roommates. Faith and Torah already knew each other from middle school. They both went to Gibbes, but ended up going to different schools once they reached high school. Charnae liked both girls. They were very friendly and outgoing, which balanced Charnae who was more laidback and shy.
"Hi." She spoke quietly. "Umm, I'm going to put these down here. I have more stuff I need to get."
"Oh, baby. We'll help you." Faith told her. "C'mon."
"You don't have to—"
"Girl, let's go!" Torah said, pulling her along with them.
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Charnae stared at the picture of her and her parents when she was a baby before she placed it on the desk next to her bed. Classes didn't start for another four days, so she decided to use this time to continue to get settled in her dorm.
Faith walked in with a couple of bags from Target in her hands. "Hey, Charnae. Where's Torah?" She asked. When the girls first met, Charnae did say she sometimes went by Quay due to her middle name being Zaquavia. Neither of the girls liked the nickname because it sounded to similar to quail.
"I'm not sure." Charnae replied.
"Aww, is this you as a baby?" Faith asked, spotting the picture.
"Yes." Charnae answered.
"You still have that baby face." Faith commented. "You look just like you daddy and your mama was beautiful—I bet she still is because black don't crack, honey."
Charnae did not tell the girls about her circumstances. One—it was no one's business and two—she did not want anyone to pity her. She experienced enough of that the remainder of her time during high school.
Charnae smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Faith said, placing the picture back to its rightful place. "So, there's a party tomorrow and I think we should all go."
"Oh, I'm not really the party type." Charnae told her, making her frown.
"Aww, that sucks. I'm not going to pressure you into going though. I understand." Faith said.
"Thank you."
Torah walked into the dorm with a big smile on her face. "Y'all, let me tell you about Jordan motherfucking Bell and his fucking friends!"
"Who?" Charnae asked.
"Jordan Bell is a white boy who hangs around Leon Thompson, Trey Hurd, Mike Franklin, and Damien Pickett—all black dudes. Long story short, all of them play football, fine as hell, and can go into the NFL draft at anytime because they're that good. All the females want to be their wives, girlfriends, sneaky links, hoes, etc." Faith explained.
"I ran into them in the hallway and y'all!" Torah squealed. "Jordan and I exchanged numbers, then Trey and Mike asked about y'all. Charnae, Trey thinks you're cute and Mike thinks you're fine as fuck, Faith! They're gonna be at the party tomorrow, so we gotta go!"
"I'm going, but Char doesn't want to go. She doesn't do parties." Faith said.
Torah pouted. "Charnae, it won't be bad."
"It's just not my thing." Charnae replied. All of a sudden, her phone began to ring beside her. "Excuse me. I have to take this." She quickly grabbed her phone and stepped out of the dorm. She answered it then followed the operator's instructions. "Hey, daddy."
"Hey, baby. How are you doing?" Gregory asked.
"I'm good. How are you?" Charnae said.
"I'm making it." Gregory sighed. "How's everything so far?"
"It's good. My roommates are pretty cool. Right now they're trying to get me to go to a party tomorrow, but I'm not really up to it." Charnae explained.
Gregory chuckled. "I remember my college days. I used to go to all of the parties. That's how I met your mama."
"I heard the stories, daddy." Charnae said, making Gregory laugh.
"You should go and have fun, Quay. Everything has been so hectic the last few months—you deserve to be that carefree teenager you were before all of the chaos." He told her. "Your freshman year is the best time for you to have fun and make careless mistakes, but not too many careless mistakes."
Charnae giggled a bit. "I'll think about it."
"Please do. I don't want you to be worried about me. Promise me another thing. Promise me that you're going to work on becoming yourself again."
"I promise, daddy."
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