Grace

5

"Did I not invite you to my grandmother's cookout? You don't remember?" Michigan walked over to the closet, beckoning for Grace to go to the bathroom. Grace decided to just go with her friend. Sitting in the house would not put a solution to her problem. She had to go out and think on how she was going to relieve herself of the stress.

The sound of her hangers verified that Michigan was picking an outfit out. Grace proceeded to shower until the water began to cool down. She stepped out then started to dry off, before walking back into her bedroom. A tight-fitting, pale pink dress was laid out on her bed. Michigan paired it with a pair of brown sandals. She sighed, then went to get ready.

Destinny hugged Grace. "I'm off the whole weekend. I'll be here if you come home."

"OK."

"Bye, Destinny." Michigan waved. The girls got into the car and sped off after getting situated. They weaved through traffic, enjoying the sound of their music. Both of them bobbed their heads to the music, rapping along and looking at their phones.

Michigan's grandmother retired from cleaning schools a little over three years ago. She wasn't exactly rich but she was wealthy, including the money from her husband's death. Her grandmother kept their house, which was located on the outskirts of the city. It was precisely big and the neighborhood was nice.

Michigan's mother and grandmother didn't get along much. Michigan's mother was very money hungry and straight forward. She didn't care about what she said to people. It was part of the reason she fell out with her mother. She disrespected her so much, and only came around if it pertained to money. She wasn't even struggling as bad as others but she made it seem like it.

"Do you have like five dollars on you? My momma was tripping about it, and I'm almost out of gas." Michigan inquired, already turning into the gas station. Grace gave her the five dollar bill with hesitation.

"When are you going to start working?"

Michigan kissed her teeth. "Grace, you so dull. Hold on, I'll be back." She hopped out of the car and walked over to a man that had just pulled in behind them. Grace watched in curiosity as the two engaged in conversation. He was leaning into her friend with a smirk on his face as Michigan spoke, her hands were lingering by his pockets. Soon, her friend had money in her hand and he was happily attempting to give her more.

They exchanged numbers, then she was pumping the gas after paying for it.  Michigan hopped back inside, flashing all of the money. "Conversation rule the nation."

"Can I get my five back?" Grace said.

"Of course. It's more where that came from," she continued, "I know you a virgin and all but these men is where it's at. You wouldn't even have to work no grocery store job. You'd be so taken care of, and you could get it with just a simple task. It ain't as bad as people make it out to be. My mom was telling me that's how she got what she wanted, and girls was so jealous of her."

Grace disagreed. It was no way in hell was she spreading her legs for anyone. She loved herself enough to know that was unnecessary. Any real woman was going to work for hers. A grocery job was better than the dirty money Michigan received. Half of those men were old, married, or drug dealers that didn't give a damn about her. Michigan just didn't care.

The thought lingered on her mind as they rode along to the cookout. She always tried to overlook how her friend acted, but it was annoying. It made both of them look bad. People in school knew Michigan acted nasty like that and they probably thought Grace did, too. She made the mental note to not hang around Michigan as much. It was clear where she was headed if she didn't grow up soon.

The yard was full of cars. Kids were running around the front, as the adults sat around the porch and played cards on the table set up. It was the normal setting for the average cookout. The two girls blended in perfectly as they walked up to the house. Everyone waved to them.

"Grandma in here?" Michigan asked her aunts. They all nodded, continuing their game of Spades.

The house smelled like pure home cooked meals. Grace inhaled the pleasant scent, following behind. The air conditioning was on, feeling much better than outside. She sighed in content.

"Hey, grandma." Michigan wrapped her arms around her grandmother.

"Hi, Miss Ann." Grace said, shyly. Ann smiled to the two.

"It's nice to see you pretty girls. That food should be done any minute. Y'all gone stay and eat?" They nodded. "Well, let me get back to my movie. Y'all go speak to them boys out back. I think they out there cooking. I see the smoke."

Michigan stormed out and Grace followed. They walked outside to see Michigan's cousins, Khalil and Dominic, enjoying a blunt. Michigan closed the door and stared at the two of them. They were staring at Grace, who was fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Y'all are so dumb. You know Grandma got a oxygen tank around here. Why y'all smoking?"

"Chill out. It's just one, small blunt. It ain't like we out here, blowing it down." Khalil playfully pushed her head. Michigan punched him in the arm.

"Put it out. C'mon, Grace. We going to the front." Michigan shook her head in disgust. One thing she didn't do was smoke. She would drink here and there but she was afraid of drugs. She was afraid to indulge in them. It ruined her uncle's  life.

Dominic gently grabbed Grace's bare arm. "What's up? I haven't seen you in a long time. What's been going on?"

Khalil sighed heavily, following after Michigan who was smirking. They walked around the house to the front.

She smiled. "Not much. I've just been working and stuff. What about you?"

He sighed, guiding her towards the bench. He sat down and she followed suit. "Girl, I couldn't tell you. It's a lot. But I can tell you it's nice to see you after all these years. You act like you don't know me anymore."

"I don't, I'm just not like I used to be." she replied, still smiling. Although she had no feelings towards him, it didn't change the fact that he still put a smile on her face. He was the bad boy she had a love and hate relationship with. They were complete opposites, and opposites attracted.

"What? Young? No, you just acting funny because you got a new boo. Michigan told me you go with some little ball player from y'all school. She say homeboy got a big head and be trying to stop y'all from kicking it."

Sammy disliked Michigan. He always tried to get Grace to make new friends. He said Michigan was an obstacle, and was only waiting on opportunities. She never did her school work and she had sex like she didn't have any home training. Still, Grace loved Michigan like a sister. They had history before Sammy became apart of her life. She didn't want to play her friend like that.

Michigan disliked Sammy. To her, he was a cocky, pretty boy with too many extra girls. She had saw him talking to other girls occasionally and even saw him at parties. She knew that he was only trying to get to one thing. Michigan had messages from him before he jumped into a relationship with her friend. She just never decided to show Grace because Grace had finally found someone she liked, and she knew it would be impossible to bring it up without ruining her friendship.

"Well, first of all, that's not my relationship anymore. If it was, it wouldn't have anything to do with me acting different. I only grew up, Dominic."

Dominic nodded with his signature smirk. He was handsome as well. His strong jawline made him. He had a beautiful, clean smile to go along with his plump lips. He was a little darker complected but it fitted him so perfectly. His skin also made him even more attractive. And he had the accent and the thuggish appearance. That attracted her to him each time she seen him. He was fine but you seldom seen him, which made seeing him even better.

"So, did he know that you're not really his? You were just stringing him along."

"I'm sure he sees it now. We're not a couple. I d-didn't really like him."

Dominic, with quickness, grabbed her face and gently kissed her. His tongue rested on her lips before he entered, gently caressing the side of her face. Their tongues engaged in slow motion. She pushed herself closer to him, her cheeks flushing hot from lust and embarrassment.

Sammy who?