SOLID.

1. New Beginnings

3 years Earlier.

Sapphire Gay
May 23, 2014

    "Finally" I said to myself, after 3 years of struggling with my last years of college it was finally over I Sapphire DID IT! No schemes , no help, nothing all on my own , I finally finished college, graduating with a major in education. I had tuition from the state , and room and boarding paid for by FASFA everything was a breeze.

Of course I had some troubles along the way but it was all a learning experience. Graduating from UH was only the beginning for me, and I was proud of myself.

"Babygirl!!!! I'm so happy for you" my mommy said to me, "Thanks mommy". My mom was my rock, something like my bestfriend, I could tell her anything and receive no judgement back. Her and my dad weren't together but they did the best they could to co-parent with me and my oldest brother.

"You know babygirl I'm so proud of you, my oldest girl Sappy all grown now and things!" She said, I mentally rolled my eyes. I hated when my mom called me "Sappy" , she couldn't think of anything else?

    My mom had 5 kids including me, my oldest brother Sage who was 25, Me of course at 24, My sister Omarie was 14, Ann 13, and MoMo who was 11. You could say she was on a roll with having us, our birthdays each fell in the same month with Sage and MoMo being in December and the rest of us being in April.

We were all Of a creole and East Indian descent, with my grandfather being creole and my grandmother being East Indian, although my father was adopted he was also of a creole descent. My mom kids we're beautiful, with the worse attitudes, but she loved us all and dealt with us the same.

    "Well mom don't you think apart of growing up means throwing that hideous name in the past?" I asked raising an eyebrow, "well no because you will forever be my baby and that will never change Sappy" Rolling her eyes in response. I couldn't do anything but laugh she was everything to me and much more.

"Where are the girls mommy?" I asked, "They're running around here somewhere with your brother, he said something about visiting an old professor I don't really know Saph" She said shrugging. Sage had to be the worse in my book, we were bonding from birth he was everything a sister could want in a brother, never told me know and made sure I had whatever I needed.

"I'm going to go look for daddy" I told her, in response she waved me off, laughing once again I found it funny how they were able to have two kids together but couldn't stand each other or to even look at each other without someone saying something rude, I shrugged that's life I guess.

  After 5 minutes of searching around the stadium low and behold I finally found him and his side of the family talking and waiting for me, you know how your mom has the "boujiee" side and your dad has the "hood" side? Well my situation was very much different, my dads side had to be some of the most boujiee people you could ever meet. But they were down to earth under all that money they had nonetheless.

   "Hi daddy!" I said excitedly, "Hey baby, you did it!" He said. My dad and my mom shared two kids as I stated earlier but in total he had three to her five, I was the baby of two boys the oldest of me and Sage was my fathers son his name was Syn but we called him babyboy because he was a Jr.

Babyboy was mean to people in the outside world but to family he was the sweetest, his mom died when he was still months old in a car accident while he was in the backseat my grandmother described it as a "freak accident" whatever that is, I never got much detail on it. Growing up my mom took care of him and made sure he had everything he needed and for that he loved her you could tell.

After chatting it up with my family on both sides about my accomplishments I was far from ready to go home, I didn't want a dinner or even a get together I wasn't in the mood for anything but my bed, and my boyfriend Genesis of 4 years who couldn't make it due to "work" when in reality he hated my fathers side of the family. He felt like Sage hated him which in the beginning he didn't but eventually he did.

   One thanksgiving we decided we should finally meet each other's family after being together almost a year, we went to my family's house first but never made it to his. After we made it to my last aunts house he had enough of the "disrespect" as he puts it and left me to go to his fathers house, like why couldn't you take me? We had plans and a whole day planned out to the "T" but of course when you bring things up to a dude they flip it so I let it be.

    He didn't like them and I didn't want his mouth getting him beat so I separated the two INDEFINITELY. Genesis and I relationship was far from perfect, it wasn't bad either we just had mini flaws that in one second turned into the biggest flaws, and it was our faults that kept us together.

He cheated on me, lied to me, and always threatened to hit me but knew better cause the turn out wouldn't be pretty. I can honestly say the only reason I'm still around because of the thought of being alone scares me, I hate it and could never warm up to it. Or at least I thought.

   When I finally made it home of my festivities, I noticed Genesis truck was parked in the driveway which was weird because if he's at work then how the hell is he off so early? And why the fuck wasn't he at the graduation, starting to feel angry inside I hurry to the door unlocking it and walking in.

   I had to walk back in and out to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing, you know how you have to make sure the devil isn't deceiving you? Yeah I had to make sure my eyes wasn't. But I knew like hell he heard me come in, there's no way he didn't. "Damn I at least I know why you really didn't make it" I said reaching into my purse for the beautiful gun Babyboy bought me anytime Genesis wanted to pull another threat.

"Baby, baby, baby, look loo-oolllook, just listen to me ok? Put the gun down!!" He said stuttering, if it was one thing I couldn't stand about men it was the pitty they wanted when they were caught in the act or at the end of a barrel. He cheated and made me feel worthless when we were together so I could feel uplifted and beautiful, he was supposed to be the person I came home to everyday after teaching a group of kids.

   I knew right then and there the relationship was far from healthy and I spent all this time making myself believe it could get better but it never would. "I'm going to go, I wish you the best Genesis" I said crying, I was defeated at last.

  After that I left Houston for a teaching job offer in Detroit, I didn't want to be nowhere near the area or even feel the traffic maybe it was for the best.

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Sapphire in the MM
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