Who Do U Belong 2?

XVII

May, 1976

The harsh winter in Minneapolis melted away bringing the most beautiful spring I'd ever seen. I never thought I'd be so happy to see leaves and grass. We had just graduated from Central High and I had been accepted to the University of Minnesota which was exciting because I could live at home and be with Prince.

My mom had slowly been getting better with her drinking, although I still worried because she still drank, just not as much. Our relationship was rocky at best. Avoiding her as much as possible was my day to day strategy. It wasn't very hard to do because she worked so much.

The bank in town hired me as an office assistant. So every Monday through Friday, I would go in for four hours a day to do various tasks around the bank. It was a little boring, but it felt nice to have a job and my own money.

"M'ija, Happy Birthday! Here's your gift. Sorry I have to work today. I love you. Bye." My mom whispered to me as I lay half asleep. I was finally 18, an adult.

As I sat up in my bed, I looked out of the window to find beautiful blue skies with big puffy clouds floating high. I was relieved because for the past week, the skies held on tightly to the dark rain clouds I'd grown so tired of seeing. Maybe April showers were gone. It was about time, since we were in the middle of May.

I wanted to make sure I looked good on my first day as an adult. I bought a new hot pink low cut romper last week that I'd been saving for today. Luckily, the rain let up, allowing me to show it off.

As I finished my look for the day by applying my favorite red lipstick, the door bell rang making me wonder who'd be coming by this early. I knew it wasn't Prince since he usually slept in until about noon.

"Happy Birthday!" Andre said, giving me a gift bag.

"Oh, thanks Dre! You didn't have to hand deliver it!"

"Oh, well, we have a thing at my aunties house, so I won't be home until late. I figured I'd just drop it off before we left. Open it!"

I opened the bag to see the Andrea True Connection album More, More, More. I couldn't help but laugh. I hated the song so much when it came out. While we were in school, Andre would walk by me and start singing it to purposely get the song stuck in my head. It worked every time.

"Thanks Dre, I'll listen to every song but that one."

"You're welcome. I bought the album like two months ago because I knew you'd love it so much." I gave him a hug before Ms B yelled from the car for him to hurry. "Ok bye. Have fun today." He said, walking towards the waiting car. I waved to them as they drove away.

I moseyed around the house for a while, knowing it was far too early to go next door. The deck of cards I'd kept in the junk drawer of the kitchen was screaming my name. I was in the middle of a pretty intense game of pyramid solitaire when Prince called earlier than expected and asked if I wanted to come over.

I put my game of solitaire on hold and walked next door. Prince unlocked the front door before retreating back into the basement so I walked right in. The sound of the drum set being played grew louder and louder as I reached my destination. From the sound of it, he was practicing a new song. "Hey baby." I said, while he stopped momentarily to pucker his lips and wait for my kiss.

After our smooch, I sat on the lawn chair and watched. Prince was never the type to just stop what he was doing to go do something else. I always waited for him to finish. That was just a part of his musical process. So I sat and waited for another hour until he was satisfied with what he was working on.