Keep It On The Real

48

"Congratulations, baby." Jas's mom spoke as I gave her a hug. After that, it was Siya, Yatta's dad, and eventually the whole gang. Neisha was here, Project, and Imani came as well. Everyone was there to support and I was too happy. Everyone except for Yatta, of course.

He's still down in Georgia at a rehab center now, working on getting better. He was pissed off that he had to miss my graduation day, but promised to call me when he got the chance. He blew up my phone before hand though, telling me how proud he was of me and how I deserved this. I couldn't thank him enough either, for encouraging me when I felt like giving up.

Nobody knew this, but when I was pregnant with Karl, it wasn't all jolly and shit, like it seemed. I had so many damn mental breakdowns because I was so stressed with school, I wasn't sure if I was ready to be a mother while at it. I couldn't handle it all and one time got really out of hand saying I wanted either an abortion or to drop out. Yatta put me in my place and told my ass off too quick, but picked my head up and told me that he was by my side through whatever. His words really pushed me to want to get through it more than I already did, and look where I am now.

"I finally graduated with my bestest friend, blood. Y'all don't know how juiced I am." Jas spoke as she gave me another hug.

"That part. You really grown up, Jas. I remember when you was a lil youngin, always asking grown folks for some money." Tiggz shook his head and fake cried, even pretending to wipe a tear.

Jasmine smiled. "Aw, I was always tryna flip a quick 5 into 50. Lil hustla from the Sunny."

After talking some more with all our family and taking hella pictures, we decided to head to the restaurant we planned to have lunch at, out in San Fransisco. We already had a reservation for a certain time, so we ended up having to wait a little bit because we were early.

"Mm, I'm so hungry." I spoke because the smell of the food was making my stomach growl.

"Girl, who you telling?" Jas put her hand on her stomach.

"We really did it, Jas." I smiled and she did the same.

"Yes, we did." She returned the smile. "Let's flick up." She pulled out her phone and I got in the camera. We took so many damn pictures today, but our faces were beat and our outfits were some heat so who could blame us?

Once we were called in for our reservation, we were led to a large table they set in the middle of the restaurant. We all look our seats at the long table, and I sat next to Jas while the waitress got a booster seat for Karl. I thanked her once she brought it, and moved it close to me, before placing him in it.

Milli sat next to Karl and I, while Rashad sat across from me. My family and Jas's family were mixed up together, and I was happy about it. They were all getting along well, even my older brothers.

Nasir and Amare actually made up with Yatta a little while ago, when I was down in Georgia with him. Even though they were mad about the things that he put me through, they apologized for their actions before all of that even happened. Yatta apologized for the issues between us too, and they squashed it and were cool. I was glad about that because I didn't like the tension that I felt when we were all together.

Jasmine spoke to me aboutof her dad, and how she wished he was there to support her. It made me sad because of how little hope he gave her. Growing up, he always made promises he could never fulfill. That made all her hope fail of ever having a relationship with her dad, and her self esteem low because she felt like she wasn't good enough, and maybe that was why he didn't come around. But, she learned to move on from that. It also made her appreciate her mom more, and she was able to build a closer and stronger bond with her.