When I woke up, Momma was standing in the room brushing her hair out in the mirror. Me: "Whatchu doin?" Mom: "Good you up." Me: "What time is it?" Mom: "past 12." I sat up and said "Why ain't nobody get me up?" Mom: "I was bout to." Me: "I mean earlier than 12." Mom: "You gon be ight." I got up then walked in Mani's room. I shook her shoulder and she said "Move.." Me: "Get up we gotta go soon." Mani: "Move." I rolled my eyes then looked around her room. I picked up her phone then called Durk. He took a second to pick up but when he did he said "Wassup bae?" Me: "It's Lai.. I need you to get Mani up." Durk: "Ight..." I put him on speaker and sat the phone next to her face. Durk: "Imani." I started shaking her shoulder again and she said "Hm?" Durk: "You gotta get up." She opened her eyes and said "Ion want to." Me: "You gon make us miss the flight if youn get yo ass up." Mani: "We don't gotta leave til 2." Me: "You take too long to get ready." She sat up and said "Ight imma get ready now.. Damn." I went back in my room and seen Momma sitting on the edge of the bed on her phone. She was laughing and gossiping about someone I didn't know. Me: "Momma I gotta change, can you get out for a second?" She put her hand up and said "Hollon girl... Whatchu say Lai?" Me: "I need to change." She nodded then left. I pulled some shorts and a tank top out of the bag then put on some sandals. I still heard Momma out in the hall being all loud, laughing and shit. I walked out and went in Mani's room. Her hair was braided up and looked nicer than the last time. Me: "When tf did you get yo hair done? 🤣" Mani: "Gramma redid it last night cus she said she was tired of the ones I had in. Dat lady in Chicago can't do hair..." Me: "You posed to check the reviews before going to dem ppl dumbass." Mani: "Shut up. She showed me some pictures of past clients and they looked good." I shook my head then sat on her bed. Me: "You still otp wit Durk?" Mani: "Nah he said he was gon take Von somewhere before they had to go to the airport." Daddy knocked on the door then walked in and said "Y'all betta be ready here inna few hours." Me: "We will be..." Mani: "Imma call Nique and tell him to come get us." Me: "Where we finna go?" Mani: "Ion know, he just said he was gon take us somewhere before we left." She picked her phone up and called him. I went downstairs to talk to Gramma and get something to eat. Gramma: "Oh good, you up. Here take dis. I need you to take dis to my friend Elaine house. You remember Ms. Elaine? Prolly not, you was little. Anyways, take this to her then drop these off at the post office and pick up a book of stamps at the grocery store for me." She handed me some papers and a few letters then gave me a kiss on the cheek. Me: "Gramma how imma take allis stuff?" She turned around and said "Nique comin over soon. I'll tell him to drop you off." Someone started knocking on the door and Gramma told me to answer it. Nique was standing outside with Marion and they was smoking. Gramma: "Aht! Uhnt uhn no no no." She started pushing Nique out and he said "What?" Gramma: "Don't you come up in my damn house smellin like dat shit." Nique: "Well somebody needa go get Mani." Gramma: "I need you to take Lai a cuppa places. Baby go get Mani." I went upstairs and told Mani to come ob. She grabbed all her stuff and ran downstairs. Gramma: "Girl what in da hell-" Mani: "My bad, my bad." Nique: "Y'all come on, I ain got all day." Me: "Neither do we bitch 😂" Gramma: "Y'all needa be back at 1:30!" I shut her door and we got in Nique's car. Marion let me sit up front and he sat inna back with Mani. Nique: "Ight where we goin?" Me: "We gotta go to Ms. Elaine's house first." Mani: "Aww I miss her." Nique: "Man she always grabbin my face all hard and shit." Me: "Just shut up and go 🤣" He took us to her house and the neighborhood was quiet. Marion: "Only old folk live over here?" Me: "Yeah." We got out and knocked on her door. She unlocked it and said "Aww look at y'all!" She seen Nique and started smiling then she grabbed his cheeks. Elaine: "You so adorable. Oop, and who is thiss? Laiya got her a lil boyfriend?" Mani busted out laughing and I said "Ew no... he's Nique's friend." Mani: "Her boyfriend in Chicago 😏" Elaine: "Oh she got herself a city boy huh?" Marion: "We jus gon ignore how she said ew to me?" Nique: "You is a ugly mf tho 😂" Elaine: "Oh hush up dat mess, he's handsome." Me: "Our granny wanted me to give this to you.. ion know what it is." She took it and read over it then she said "Ah! Okay. Imma call her here inna lil bit. Y'all want anything to drink? It's real hot today." Nique: "No thank you." Elaine: "You need to come see me more boy! I ain't seen y'all in forever." She patted his shoulder and he stared at her. Nique: "Yeah... aye we gotta go so we gon see you later Ms. Elaine" Mani: "Yea bye." Elaine: "Okay, yall come back soon!" We got back in the car and Nique said "She hella touchy for no reason." Marion: "Aye nigga dat could be yo suga mama 🤣" Nique: "Hell naw! If I get a suga mama it's gon be yo grand mama fasho." Marion: "Nigga what?" Nique: "Yo gramma still look good, she got a fat a-" Mani: "Okay damn. Ion wanna hear bout no granny booty." Marion: "Dis nigga tryna fuck my gramma." Nique: "Who said anything bout fuckin?" Me: "Come on now 😭" Nique took me to the post office and the grocery store. Gramma called while we was in there and asked us to get a few things. Mani: "She really makin us run her errands.." We went back to Gramma's house and gave her the stuff she asked for. She handed all of us $50 just for running back and forth. Nique: "I was boutta say.. somebody betta gimme sum gas money." Gramma: "Hush Nique." Mani: "How you get allis money?" Gramma: "I just went to the bank the other day." Mani: "Still tho like-" Nique: "Aht shut up. Come on I still gotta take y'all somewhere." He pushed all of us back outside and said "Get in da car mane." He drove us to another house in a bad part of our city but this time there was a bunch of people outside. There was a grill going and kids running around in sprinklers. Me: "Nique we ain't got time for no damn barbeque." Nique: "Y'all don't. We do." Me: "Yo ass betta be ready to take us back to Gramma's in an hour." Nique: "Ight man shit." Mani: "Ion know these people bruh..." Marion: "They my people, it's cool." We got out and everybody started saying hey to each other and allat. There was a short girl with long hair that came up to Nique and gave him a hug. She put her arms around the back of his neck and said "Hey Dominiqueeee" He put his hands on her lower back and said "Aye girl." They started talking and Mani said "Gurl who da fuck is dat..." Me: "Prolly one of his hoes." Mani: "She real friendly wit him.. most of his hoes rude." Me: "She look better than most of em too." Nique came back over to us and said "Mannn, she want me." Mani: "Who is it?" Nique: "A girl I been tryna get at. She won't get wimme tho. All she do is flirt and tease." Me: "She ain't dumb 😂" Nique: "What dat mean?" Mani: "Boy everybody know you a hoe." Nique: "Aye issa difference between bein a hoe and bein a playa" Me: "She prolly know whatchu be on and she don't wanna deal wit it." Nique sucked his teeth then the girl came back over. Nique: "Aye dis my sister and my cousin." She started giggling then she said "Hii I'm AJ." Mani: "You and Nique been fuckin round?" Nique: "Imani!" AJ: "Oh no... we're just friends. Nique is like a brother to me." I busted out laughing and they stared at me. Me: "My bad 🤣" A lady called for her and she said "Oh hollon I'll be right back, sorry." Nique: "Mani you get on my damn nerves." Me: "She said you like a brother to her mane 😭. You ain't gettin that" Nique: "What?" Mani: "If a girl says that a dude is like a brother to her, that most likely means she knows you like her but she ain't interested and she's trying to say it in the nicest way." Nique: "Man fuck y'all. Yo ass gon be lookin real mfn dumb when I get her." Me: "Ight Nique 😂. Imma let you believe whatever." Mani sat down and stared at her phone. Me: "What's wrong?" Mani: "I can't wait to go back." Me: "Lawd." Mani: "When do we leave?" Me: "In a lil less than an hour." Mani: "Ugh that's too long." Me: "Girl Durk ain't goin nowhere 🤣."
In a quick amount of time, we had to get ready to go back to Gramma's house. Me and Mani had to go in the the house and look for Nique cus we didn't see him anywhere. I ran into Marion and said "Hey where's Nique?" Marion: "He was wit AJ the last time I seen him. Just look out back or sum, I'll look for em." I scooted past all the people and made my way out back. I still didn't see Nique. I pulled my phone out my pocket and dialed his number. He took forever to pick up but when he did he said "Man whatchu want?" Me: "Nigga it's time for us to go. Come tf on. Where you even at?" Nique: "I'm comin bruh." Me: "Hurry up." I hung up and rolled my eyes. I looked up and there was a dude walking towards me so I tried to look busy on my phone so he wouldn't talk to me. He tapped my shoulder and said "Wassup shawty? I ain't seen you here before." Me: "Ion live around here no mo." He started laughing and said "You cute or whatever." Me: "Thanks I guess.." Dude: "You ain't gon give me a compliment back?" Me: "If I told you that you were cute it would be a lie, love." Dude: "Oh you got jokes 😂" Nique came out the door and said "Aye come on." Dude: "Oh wassup Dom?" Nique: "Wassup. Lai come on." Me: "I'm comin." Dude: "Dats you?" Nique: "Hell naw nigga dats my cousin. She got a boyfriend too so you might as well give up." He grabbed my arm and pulled me thru the house. Me: "Where Mani at?" Nique: "In the car." Marion stopped us and said "Aye dawg where you goin?" Nique: "Imma be back in a lil bit." We got in the car and went back to Gramma's house. There was an airport shuttle outside when we pulled up and I seen Momma and Daddy standing out in front of it. Momma: "Bout time yo ass got here!" Me: "Nique was takin forever..." Nique: "Yeah that's my fault." Daddy: "It don't matter, y'all come on." We got in and the shuttle took us to the airport. Mani: "I didn't get to tell Momma or Gramma bye... or JoJo." Daddy: "Y'all shoulda came back earlier." Mani: "Nique always fuckin round mane." We got to the airport, got boarded then we had to find our seats. I wasn't seated near Mani this time so I was by myself at a window. I stared out the window for a majority of the time but about 30 minutes into the flight, an old lady tapped my shoulder. She pulled her glasses down and said "I'm so sorry but can you read this package for me? My eyes are so terrible even with these glasses." I nodded and said "What part do you need me to read?" Lady: "The sugars. I can't have a lot." She handed me a bag of pretzels and I looked for the sugars in it. Me: "8 grams.." Lady: "Okay thank you baby doll."
We finally landed back in Chicago and got off the plane. Mani was jumping around, all excited just to see Durk. Me: "You need to relax 😭" We went to get our stuff off the belt and I seen Durk and Von talking to each other in the corner. I was starting to get like Mani was, wanting to jump around and shit. Durk seen us and pointed then they started walking towards us. Momma and Daddy stood behind us and Daddy said "Oh lord." Mani jumped on Durk and put her face in his neck. Von put his hands around me and squeezed me hard. I kissed his cheek so many times until he said "Man come on wit dat lipgloss." Momma: "Y'all gon ride wit them or take the shuttle?" Me: "Imma ride wit them." Mani: "Can me and Durk ride in the shuttle wit you?" Daddy: "Yeah get ya stuff and come on." They walked out and I stayed behind them. Momma: "You betta be home soon Lai." Me: "I will." Von's car was parked in the lot so we walked across the crosswalk and got in. Von: "You lookin good ma." Me: "I missed you." Von: "You kno I missed you too." He leaned over and poked his lips out. I started laughing at him and he said "I'm not doin this witchu." I kissed him and he said "Yeaa." Me: "Where we goin?" Von: "Back to my crib." He put his hand on my thigh then took us back to his house.
We walked inside his house and it was empty. Me: "Where they at?" Von: "My dad upstairs, he gotta leave inna lil bit. Mama and allem went to my uncle's crib for a cookout or sum. Come on." He ran upstairs and I walked up behind him. He opened the door to his room and a bunch of cold air came out. Me: "Why tf is it so cold..." Von: "Cus it be hot outside." He took a hoodie out his closet and threw it at me. Von: "If you that cold 😂" I put the hoodie on and sat down on his bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and cut his playstation on. He leaned back and laid in between my thighs. I was playing in his hair while he was on the game cussing people out. His dad walked in and said "Boy if you don't shut da hell up in here wit allat damn noise." He stared at me for a few seconds then he said "Hey girl!" Me: "Hi." Pops: "I ain't know y'all was comin back today. Is Durk out wit Mani?" Me: "Yeah I think they still at my house." Pops: "Ight well, I best be heading to work now. Dis house bet not be dirty when I get back boy." Von: "Aye get em, get em!" Pops: "Dayvon." Von: "I heard you mane." He mumbled something then he shut the door. Me: "You do needa be quiet 😂" Von: "Shut da fuck up." Me: "You shut up bitch." Von: "You a bitch." I pulled his dreads and he said "Stop nigga damn!" I started laughing at him then he pinched my leg. Me: "Fuck you." Von: "Nah nigga we even now." I rolled my eyes and he tossed the controller on the bed then got up. He got in my face and stared at me. Me: "Boo bitch 🤣" He gave me a kiss and said "Come on." Me: "Huh?" Von: "I needa go to the store, is you gon ride?" Me: "Yeah." I got up and pulled his hoodie over my head then I picked up my phone. Von: "All dressed up and shit." Me: "I ain't even dressed up." He had on a tank top, basketball shorts, and some slides with white socks. Me: "You look like you just got out of prison or sum." Von: "Maybe I did." We stared at each other then he started laughing. Von: "Come on ma 😂" I walked downstairs with Von behind me and we seen the front door wide open. Von: "Da fuck..." He scooted past me and ran in the kitchen. He came back then looked out the front door. I came down the rest of the steps and stood next to him. His dad was standing across the street with a neighbor and they was talking. Von picked his keys up off the couch then walked out. We got in his car and seen his dad walking up to the driver side. He tapped the window until Von rolled it down. Von: "Wassup?" Pops: "Where you goin?" Von: "To da store." Pops: "I need you to get me a few things." Von: "You got gas money?" Pops: "I'm not playin wit you." Von: "I'm not playing either 🤣. Do you got gas money?" Pops: "Ight... Imma remember dat." Von: "Write it down, ion care 😂" Pops: "Go on somewhere fore I whoop yo ass." He rolled the window up and started laughing. Me: "Y'all so rude to each other 😭" Von: "Nah that's just how we play around. You can't be soft innis family." Me: "I see dat."
We pulled up to the corner store near my house and I said "Why you come to dis one? It's a lil far from yo house." Von: "Cus we goin back to yo crib for a lil bit." Me: "Why?" Von: "Cus Mani said she wanted us to come over there. You got a lot of questions today." I unbuckled my seatbelt and we got out and went in. The man behind the glass waved at us and Von walked over to him. When I went to the drink aisle, I seen the same group of boys that try and guard the corner. They was shooting dice in the corner and talking about some girl. I tried scooting past a skinny dude the best I could but he stepped back and bumped into me. He turned around and said "Oh shit my bad ma." Me: "Uh you good... can I get a drink?" He moved over and opened the door. The one that was scared of Von stepped up and said "Nigga whatchu doin?" Me: "He's letting me get my drink." He looked over at me and said "Oh I remember you." Me: "Mhm I remember you too. You da grown ass man dat was bothering me over $5. Didn't you and yo brother get ya assed kicked?" He slammed the door to the cooler then said "Look bruh, get ya shit and go. Ion need no shit gettin started." Me: "I don't either nigga. You jus hadda bring yo funky ass over here and-" Von: "Lai." I turned around and seen Von standing a few feet back. Von: "Hurry up." I grabbed 2 bottles of juice then shut the door. Von put his arm around me and walked me to the counter. Von: "Always gettin in sum shit." Me: "Nah he always talkin shit." I put my stuff up then paid for everything. We walked out and seen a group of people running around a corner. Me: "What da hell..." Von: "Jus get inna car. We ain't bout to wait and see what they runnin from." We hurried in the car then he took us back home. I got out and tried to open the door but I realized it was locked. My key was in my suitcase and that was in the house somewhere. Me: "Shit..." Von: "You ain't got a key?" Me: "Nah I think it's inna house.." Von: "Why tf you leave it in-" Me: "Shh." I started knocking on the door until somebody unlocked it. I stood outside for 5 minutes knocking then Von said "Just call em." Me: "You call em." He called Durk then he said "He ain't pick up. Call Mani." I sighed then called Mani's phone but she didn't pick up either. Me: "How tf she gon tell us to come over then not even answer?" This time I was beating and kicking the door to get somebody to answer but it was still no answer. Von: "Aye chill damn 😂" He tried calling Durk again then he said "Man dis nigga needa pick df up." I jumped off the porch and went to the side of the house to get Mani's attention from her window. I looked around for something to throw at her window that wouldn't break it then I seen an old soccer ball sitting in the yard. I didn't know who's it was cus we never had one but I just brushed the dirt off of it and threw it at her window. I kept throwing it at the window until Durk slid the window up and said "Yeo." His dreads was twisted up and pulled back and he was standing there squinting at me with no shirt on. I didn't know he had that many tattoos because he always wore stuff that covered em up. Me: "Why tf y'all ain't answer the door or y'all's phone? Where Mani?" Durk: "She sleep. I was too." Me: "Y'all ain't hear the phone ringing?" Durk: "Not if it's on silent." I shook my head and said "Can you jus unlock the door so me and Von can come in?" He shut the window and I walked back around front. Von: "His ass still ain't pick up." Me: "His phone is on silent. He boutta come unlock the door." A few minutes later Durk opened the door and dapped Von up. Von: "Fuck was you doin" Durk: "Sleep man." I shut the door and said "Is Mani still sleep?" Durk: "Nah she puttin some clothes on, she gon be down inna minute." Me: "Where's my parents?" Durk: "They said they was gon be out at the store and shit for bout 2 hours." Mani came downstairs with a t-shirt on and her braids wrapped up in a scarf. Mani: "Wassup?" Me: "Whatchu mean wassup? You told us to come back over 🤣" Mani: "Oh yeah. Y'all jus needa hang out wit us you know?" Me: "For what?" Mani: "Cus we family hoe. I got everything planned out." Me: "Whatchu tammat?" Mani: "Girl you askin too many questions. Huh jus come on." She walked me upstairs and into her room then she said "Ight so listen, I wanna have a movie night." Me: "Okay?" Mani: "Y'all got dem couches from Atlanta inna basement, dat tv and a whole bunch of shit we can watch movies on." Me: "Cus dats Daddy's lil man cave." Mani: "Ight den. He should be good wit us just sitting down there for one night. They out at the store gettin a bunch of stuff na." Me: "Okay den." Mani: "I need you to help me set everything up." I nodded and she pulled her blanket off her bed. Mani: "Get another one out dat closet please." I pulled out a big fluffy blanket out her closet and we took em downstairs and threw em in the basement. Von and Durk stared at us like we was stupid but Mani ignored them. We was in the basement cleaning and tryna set up an old DVD player for an hour until we heard Daddy talkin upstairs. I came up the basement steps and Daddy said "Aye take ya stuff Mani." He handed her a few bags full of food then Durk said "What's allat?" Mani: "It's food for tonight. Can you take these downstairs for me? I gotta help Auntie put up the rest of the groceries." I walked downstairs with Durk and showed him where to put the food and stuff at. Durk: "Da hell y'all got planned 🤣" Me: "Dis is all Mani." We went back in the kitchen and Mani said "Okay everything done." Me: "Imma be right back hollon.." I went upstairs and grabbed my pillow then I came back down. Von was still sitting on the couch on his phone. Me: "You good?" Von nodded but it didn't feel right. Me: "You sure?" Von: "Yes Lai 😂" Me: "Okay... come on." He got up and we walked downstairs to the basement. Mani was banging the DVD player then she said "Dis mf don't wanna work na." Me: "Unplug it." She yanked the cord out the wall then plugged it back in and it cut on. Mani: "Damn I hate this thing." She put in "Friday" and told us we was gon watch all 3 of em.
A few hours later halfway through the 2nd movie, Von got up and said "Aye I gotta go. My dad back home and he told me to come back." He bent down and gave me a kiss, then I hooked on the back of his neck and he said "I gotta go Lai." Me: "I'm goin too." Von: "Ight jus come on." Mani: "Aww bye y'all." We went back upstairs and I said "Wait lemme grab my key." I went upstairs and looked for my suitcase then I dug in the front pocket and pulled the keys out. I ran back downstairs and said "Okay let's go." We got in his car and went back to his house. The house was still empty when I went in so I asked Von where his mom and everybody were. Von: "It's only 6pm, they not coming home til around 8." His dad came out the kitchen and said "Boy didn't I tell you to clean up dis damn kitchen?" Von: "No you told me not to dirty up the house. I didn't make no mess innat kitchen." Me: "Oop.." Pops: "Don't be getting smart boy. I'll whoop yo ass." Von: "Come on den 😂" Pops: "I'm too old for allat. Go sit down somewhere" Von started laughing then he told me to come upstairs. He opened his door and I felt the cold air come out again so he cut the AC off. I picked up the hoodie he gave me earlier but it was too cold to put on. Von: "It ain't even dat cold in here." Me: "Yes tf it is.. hand me dat blanket please." Von: "Hell naw mane it's mine." He snatched it up and wrapped it around him. Me: "Quit playin nigga damn. It's cold in here." He started laughing and threw it at my face. Von: "Ole tiddy baby 🤣" I wrapped the blanket around me and sat in the middle of his bed. His dad came in the room and said "Oh Dayvon.. Learn how to cut yo shit off! I came home and you had this light on, yo TV on, yo game on! Cut da shit off when you leave. You runnin up my damn bill." Von: "Ight." He shut the door and Von said "His ass don't even pay dat bill 😂. Mama pays one half and he pays the other half." Me: "Leave him alone 😭" Von plopped next to me and started pulling stuff out his pockets. He pulled out a lighter, a plastic bag, and the pack of wraps he bought earlier. I stayed quiet and watched him roll up everything. After he finished he turned around and said "You always staring at me." Me: "Mhm." He started laughing then he lit the blunt. He tried to pass it to me but I shook my head. Von: "Oh fr?" Me: "Yeah." He put the blunt in his mouth and laid back. I picked up my phone and was scrolling through my timeline then Von started coughing. I looked over and he sat up then started hitting his chest. I patted his back and he said "Shit dawg..." I started laughing and he said "Shut up." Me: "Fuck you." Von: "Ight bet." He got up and started looking around his room. I rolled my eyes and looked back down at my phone. He threw a big ass teddy bear at me and said "I forgot to give you dat earlier. Frfr I shouldn't give yo ass shit da way you been talkin to me" Me: "Aww frr?" I got up and started to kiss the side of his face. Von: "Issa teddy bear ma 😂" Me: "That you bought for me nigga. And you know I like teddy bears so.." He shook his head and sat on his bed. His eyelids started getting low and he was staring at his ceiling. I got on the bed and laid next to him then I looked at him. He looked over at me and started laughing. Me: "What?" Von: "Nun man.." I got on his chest and gave him a kiss then he said "I see youn got dat sticky ass lipgloss on 🤣" Me: "I can put it on since you wanna complain." Von: "Hell naw." He put his hand on my throat and pulled me closer and gave me a kiss. Von: "Next time y'all leave, I'm goin witchu." Me: "No you not 😂" Von: "Ight bet. You gon see." We sat there talking for another hour then he cut his TV on and told me to pick something. Von: "Imma go take a shower so just stay in here. If you need sum jus let my dad know." Me: "Okay.." He kissed my cheek then walked out. I started watching something on netflix that I'd been wanting to watch for a minute.
30 minutes later Von came back in with his towel around his waist. Von: "I forgot my pants. Go innat second drawer and gimme a pair please." I got up and threw a pair of shorts at him and he said "Preciate it." He stood in front of the door with no shirt on and I was looking at his tattoos. Von: "You gon make me get a restraining order 🤣" Me: "Yo tattoos look good." He looked down at his chest and arms then said "Huh?" Me: "They look good on you 😂" Von: "Man I'm finna go get another one on my neck." He cut the light off in his room and cut a lamp on then he laid next to me. Von: "Fuck is this?" Me: "Just shut up and watch it." He put his arm around me and said "Youn get to talk to me like dat na." I rolled my eyes and put my head on his chest. He went to sleep a few minutes later, then I started to get tired. I reached over him and cut the lamp off then I pulled the blanket up and went to sleep.