𝐏𝐎𝐕
----
" Hold that pose! " I said, snapping a picture of Mallory.
The camera clicked as the picture came printing out. I've always liked the aesthetic look of a polaroid picture.
" Okay, I'm getting tired. We've been taking pictures since twelve, and it's almost five, " Mallory complained, which made me giggle.
I like Mallory; she's sweet and pretty but probably doesn't swing that way. " what y'all want to eat? " Marie asked as she grabbed her Tote bag, Adjusting it on her shoulder.
" Umm... Street pizza? " Mallory suggested as I shrugged my shoulders.
"sound good to me," Marie said as she grabbed the keys off the table.
" Hey, where are you going? " Calvin asked as he followed us out the door. "Don't wanna hang with your ole Brother while he's in town for a bit? " He coaxed as he held his arms open.
" come with us. " I invited, as I looked at Marie for permission.
" Yeah, I don't care... " Marie acknowledged as she continued out the door.
" Damn, these people got money! " Calvin whispered as he followed behind me.
Calvin is my older Brother. He currently resides in Georgia, where he is a Full-time Police officer, but he came to visit my mom and i for her Birthday.
Calvin and I sat in the back as Mallory accompanied her sister in the front. " now, I'm not familiar with how parking goes up here; I usually walk, " Marie declared as she clicked her seatbelt.
Calvin gasped, as his eyes widened. " what the fuck" I thought, as I frowned at him. " is everything okay? " Marie asked, looking through the rearview mirror at us.
" yeah, I just had something stuck in my throat, " Calvin panted as he tensed up a bit.
Pulling out my phone, I went to my contacts, sending him a quick message.
- Bro, why do you look like you're bout to shit yourself?
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯🤎
- If I'm not mistaken, that girl killed that man on the highway.
" what " I mumbled to myself as I scrunched up my face.
- Calvin, what are you talking about?
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯🤎
- 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭
- look at her fucking hand.
" y'all good back thea? " Marie peeped through the rearview as she continued driving.
" all good," I smiled before going back to my messages.
" Y'all niggas never told us where we park, " Mallory said, looking back at us.
"This Jawn is too nice to be left on the road; you can park it at my place," Calvin suggested.
" is it in midtown? " Mallory asked, handing Calvin her phone to put the directions in.
" Yeah "
—
—
Ayla played with her hair as she sat across from August. She silently laughed and blushed when she caught August looking at her.
"Why are you so nervous? " Calvin blurted; Ayla rolled her eyes at her Brother. She hated how he would call her out on stuff aloud.
" I'm not nervous..." Ayla said bluntly as she continued playing with her hair. " I just had a knot in my hair."
August chuckled before taking a bite of her food. " what's funny? " Ayla smirked as she took a sip of her sprite while looking up at August.
" you are hilarious," August joked.
" so...tell me about yourself? " Calvin pressed as he folded his arms on the table, looking at Janien.
"Ummm... well, my name is J-Marie, and um... I'm 21, originally from Geor-G-G-Germany, but I now reside here, " Janien stuttered.
A million thoughts ran through her head as she tried to explain, and her messing up made her heart pound harder.
" Germany, huh? What part? " Calvin challenged as Janien bobbled her leg up and down nervously.
" Berlin..."
" Nice, what made you decide to move here? " Calvin questioned as Ayla and August frowned at him.
" damn, can she ask you questions now? " August protested. " you sound too federal," she added as she side-eyed Him.
" I'm saying, what else do you want her Social security number? " Ayla chuckled as Calvin mugged her.
" Alright, Alright... since I'm asking you all the questions, you lay some on me..." Calvin implied.
" So... Calvin, tell me about yourself..?" Janien mumbled lowly as she put her left hand in her jacket pocket.
" I'm originally from Da Bronx, but reside in Atlanta... where I currently work for the Po-Politcal department, " Calvin stuttered, as he felt Ayla kick his leg under the table and eye him.
Everyone felt the tension in the air. They were all on the same page but not saying anything.
" so what do you want to do after we eat?"Calvin asked, changing the subject.
Janien tugged at her jacket as her body began to overheat. Sweat dripped from the coat as she rolled the sleeves up a little bit.
" Mallory, let me get some of your water." Janien reached as she took a sip of August water.
" want you to take to jacket off? I see you over there sweating," Calvin muttered. Janien mugged him before pulling her sleeve back down and making sure not to show her thumb.
" So how about we go to an Arts museum?" Ayla suggested as she showed them her phone.
" Ayla... that's white people's shit. I wanna do something fun like go-carts or something, " beamed Calvin.
" I mean, I don't mind the Art museum, " August shrugged.
" Or we can go to Walmart and buy sketchbooks and draw at my place? " Janien added.
"That's so therapeutic... let's do it! " Ayla cheered.
Ayla enjoyed the whole Fine art Photography. It was a dream she had since she was a child.
" so Arts and crafts it is, " Calvin huffed as he dug in his back pocket for his wallet.
" Alright, how are we doing tickets? " the waitress asked as she held her notebook.
" me and Aug-Mallory," Janien pointed, " and—
"Here, I got it," Calvin implied as he pulled out his bank card, handing it to the waitress.
" You didn't have too big, brudda, " Ayla cooed.
" thank you, " August smiled. Janien dug into her tote bag, searching for her wallet.
"'August, have you seen my wallet? " She asked as August sighed heavily.
" fuck! " Janien thought to herself, realizing what she had said.
" Who is August? "
—
—
" honey, I doubt we can find her in this big ole city," Joshua sighed as he followed his wife out the airport.
Carolyn decided to take matters into her own hands in finding her children. Janien, who has been missing for over a month, and August, who has been missing for about a week.
Her motherly instincts could sense that her daughters were together... but where could they be in such a big city like New York?
Carolyn entered the back of the taxi cab as Joshua, and the driver put all of the suite cases in the trunk.
After they were finished, Joshua joined Carolyn in the back as he fastened his seat belt. " Where I take you? " The driver spoke.
" We are staying at The Hyatt Grand Central," Carolyn responded as the driver nodded.
The car ride was silent as the radio played Indian music. Carolyn was distracted by her thoughts; she didn't even realize it was playing. Joshua was stressing over his family and his job.
" You visited before? " The Indian man asked as he glanced through his rearview mirror.
"A long time ago," Joshua answered.
" Yeah, much different now...more people and mixed culture, " The Driver spoke with his thick Indian Drawl.
"you're from here?" Joshua asked, as the man repeatedly said, " No."
" No, no, no, India born and raised, " the driver assured him. " I moved here back in the 90s and have been ever since," he added as Joshua nodded.
" I've been to India once," Joshua said.
" Oh really, which part? "
" Odisha," Joshua told him.
" Oh, nice place; I originated from New Delhi," the driver said as Joshua nodded.
Shortly after, they went through Manhattan's traffic, reaching their hotel.
" thank you so much, Sir, " Joshua greeted as he patted His wife's thigh.
"C'mon sweetheart, where here," Joshua said, opening the door to the cab.
.
Carolyn placed her luggage on the kitchen island before stepping outside on the balcony. She took a deep breath, leaning over the railing and looking up at the city. Her eyes traveled through the crowded city as she watched the passing cars and pedestrians, hoping to see her daughters.
Joshua slid the balcony door open and stood at the doorway, shaking his head. " We can't stress ourselves over this, Carolyn, at the end of the day...Janien is going to have to pay the consequences."
" We don't even know if it's truly her!" Carolyn fussed.
Joshua rolled his eyes and huffed. " Stop being in such denial," he said while stepping out on the balcony and pulling out a cigarette.
"When are you going to put those things down!" Carolyn continued fussing. Joshua didn't respond.
" When hell freezes over..." Joshua smart-toned her.
Carolyn snatched the cigarette from Joshua's mouth and threw it over the balcony. " you will not disrespect me! I don't know what's got into you lately, but I don't like it" she told him. Carolyn held back her threatful tears as she stepped back into the hotel, letting them go.
Carolyn felt that Joshua had been acting weird since they returned home from Jerusalem. " Maybe it was because of the money he was missing out on," she thought to herself. It didn't make sense to her though, she couldn't figure it out.
Joshua walked into the room, and sat on the couch propping his legs on the coffee table, he knew how much that annoyed Carolyn. He grabbed the remote controller, placing it on the football channel. No words were exchanged between the two.
Carolyn wiped her tears away as she sat at the other end of the couch. As much as she wanted that missing attention from Joshua, she tried her best to push it away. " What do you want for dinner, I'm going to order some Pizza probably?" Joshua broke the silence as he continued his attention on the television. Carolyn didn't respond.
It was a brief silence before Carolyn responded, " Why are you acting weird ?" she asked.
Joshua huffed, before rubbing the side of his face. '' I'm not acting weird, I'm just stressing out" he admitted. " a lot going on right now, and I don't have no control over it," he told her.
" Why aren't you telling me, we vowed to ea--
"it's not that easy to explain Carolyn" Joshua interrupted.
Carolyn was confused, she started actually thinking, What else could Joshua be stressed about? what if there something she doesn't know about?