Freedom Belle, 26, was one of the lucky ones. As the years progressed, it became harder and harder for the youth of Philadelphia to escape the gravitational pull of the dumb shit in the streets. She made it out just in time to take her life back and...
"I guess nobody ever told you all you must hold onto is you." —Erykah Badu
Freedom
When I woke up, Johnson was gone. It wasn't unusual for me to wake up alone following a night I spent with him. There were so many admirable qualities the man possessed. But his disappearing act was one of the few that I despised. In fact, it played a large roll in our demise.
I know that it may seem a little dramatic, but this morning my mind was really feeling like a place of chaos, where thoughts and questions cluttered every nook and cranny of my brain. I needed answers that a google search couldn't produce. But I had no way of reaching the one person who held all of them. Yaya was the first person I called. It was only 6:02 and I knew I was waking her up. "Girl this better be good," she whined into the phone and I almost giggled a little.
"Goodmorning Yaya. I just called to let you know I'm not coming in today. I already looked at my calendar and everything, you know what to do. Call me later girl." I went to hang up but she spoke up, "Wait you're not coming in? You okay?" I sighed. "Yeah I'm straight. Just call me later. Go back to sleep." I hung up, laying back down attempting to fall asleep but I couldn't.
My mind wandered to Johnson and where he'd slipped off to in the middle of the night. There was no doubt in my mind he was probably laid up somewhere under another female. That was his style. He came to me for some pussy he couldn't get and went to find it elsewhere. That was the only reason he found himself on my doorstep last night. As of late our relationship solely consisted of casual sex from time to time. I still considered him one of my best friends, hell he is a good person. The part of my heart that still loved him just wished he could still be so much more than that for me.
He was the only shoulder for me to lean on during a time when having an escape felt like crack. He and I both made big dreams of wanting to get away from the bottom, and we both did that. I went on to become a lawyer and he pursued a career in school psychology. Johnson was my first friend and my first lover. We understood each other on a different level than those surrounding us and I thought he'd be my forever— until that cloud of bliss fell right from over my head when the mother of his child turned up pregnant and we finally went our separate ways.
After the way things played out, I just don't ever see us getting back together. Johnson was my everything and he knew that right along with everybody else. But I felt like he left me embarrassed and looking stupid. No amount of apologies could help us come back from that. I decided to text him.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Even though he obviously didn't come here to have me fall into his lap in tears, he was still there for me. And I felt like he deserved to know I appreciated that.
Marcellus
I'd just come out of the office at the auto shop when I saw my lawyer Mr. Damiere Walker walking up to me and I sighed internally. "Wassup Marcellus, how you been my man?" He shook my hand firmly as I threw the towel I kept handy over my shoulder. "Wassup?" I asked. He looked over his shoulder before looking back to me. "You haven't been returning any of my calls." I shrugged. "I been busy. Been picking up some extra hours here at the shop." I leaned against the car that I was working on before my break.
