The sound of the buzzing and the loud music combating it was all that Sean tried to focus on as a needle dug into his skin multiple times. Despite the fact that he had tattoos running down his arms, he still didn't get used to the nagging feeling.
"You taking this like a champ!" The tattoo artist exclaimed.
Sean shook his head and watched as he glided slowly along his forearm. He had a bit of space left on his right arm and decided to get a customized butterfly with his mothers name along it. His mother loved flowers. He had many tattoos that were inspired from his parents- specifically his mother. She hated it.
She didn't mind her boys having a few tattoos. Sean's older brother had at least six tattoos. Sean was pushing it. His mother lost count of how many tattoos he had. And the tattoo he was getting at this very moment wasn't going to be his last time.
He was very into art and expressing himself. He didn't talk often just because he didn't want to. No one really understood him anyway. But, he was able to express himself through his tattoos. All the pain, the joy and the comfort was drawn all over him.
He didn't think he would regret any of them when he got older- except for the spider on his left forearm. That was his first tattoo and he'd gotten it done in someone's basement. He was definitely getting it removed.
"You're almost done."
Thank god. He thought to himself.
After twenty minutes, all the shading was finally done. He'd been sitting in the seat for about two and a half hours. He technically was only supposed to be in the chair for two hours, but the artist was a perfectionist. And, he had no problem with that.
"Thank you, man."
He ran his hand over the tattoo that was wrapped up and stood up from the chair. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out the exact amount in cash. He worked overtime for this.
"Bet. See you again in a few weeks."
"Yeah."
He wasn't getting his own tattoo, but his friends were coming in for some. They weren't completely tattooed like him, but they wanted to have a few.
The breeze almost knocked him down as he swiftly opened the front door. He grabbed his bike that was locked onto the near pole and quickly made his way. He crossed the street and went through a short cut towards his neighbourhood.
"Yo, Sean!" A friend of his yelled out from outside of their house.
"You good?" Sean yelled out and proceeded to head home.
He knew basically everyone on this side of town, and everyone knew him. They knew him as Jennifer's son, the kid who never stayed inside, the nice boy that helped all the elderly and the people in need, the boy who would always fall asleep at church, but came almost every Sunday. The kid whose brother almost got stabbed to death in the upper town.
They would never live that down and he wouldn't either.
Although his brother was doing just fine and and moved on with his life, Sean still held that grudge for him. He witnessed how hard it was for his brother to get back on his feet. How scared his brother would be to even go outside. The therapy that Jared had to go through. Thank God, his father had it covered, because it was a lot of sessions.
That was a traumatic moment for them both.
He threw his bike to the side near the garage and headed up the steps of the porch. His mother sat in front of him with a book in her hand and a glass of wine. Her curls were tossed into a high bun, revealing her beautiful face. Her light brown skin glistened in the light. The only signs that gave away that she was in her mid 40s was the lines appearing near her forehead.
Her thin eyebrows rose with admiration and excitement when she saw her son.
"Hey, baby! Where'd you go? You left straight after school before I could tell you that your dad needed you to get some more seeds for the backyard."
He shied away from his mother and tucked his arm behind his back. "I was out-"
"Father God, help me in this time of need with my crazy son. Let me see!"
Sean chuckled nervously and held his arm out.
"I said no more!" She called out annoyed.
"I know!" He sat beside her on the porch. "But, look! This one is a butterfly- your favourite, with your name."
"I don't care! I said no more."
She smacked his arm causing him to tell in pain. He cuddled into her and rocked their bodies from side to side just to get a rise out of her.
"I know I'm still your favourite son."
"Like hell you are." She smacked her lips. "Go finish your homework or play video games or something. Be a damn kid."
Sean kissed his mothers cheek and stood up from the chair. He knew that it was all love with his mother and everything she said and did for them came from a good place.
"Sean."
He looked back at his mother. "Yes, mom?"
"It looks nice... but no more."
"Last one." He promised with his fingers crossed behind his back. He already knew was he was getting for his next two tattoos.
He thanked the heavens that the house wasn't as humid as outside. They were out of moody weather and heading into more heat. It wasn't the time to not have the AC working.
Grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, he made his way to his room for his towel. He turned back on his TV and made his way to the washroom. Once, he got settled in, he turned on the water and stepped inside when he felt like the water would be warm enough. To his surprise, the water didn't turn hot at all.
He shuddered at the cold water beating on his back and closed his eyes tightly.
When were they going to pass this phase of living their lives bill by bill and still struggling?
They were all working jobs and were still unable to pull through. There were so many things that needed to be paid for with so little time.
He sucked it up and cleansed himself quickly.
"Sean!"
"What?"
He stepped out the shower and wrapped his towel around his waist. He opened the door and frowned at the sight of his older brother standing in front of him with his work uniform on.
His hair was growing out of its low fade, revealing his curls. Jared always had really long hair since they were kids. But he hated dealing with it when it was hot out. So he'd cut it or shave it off whenever summer was coming around.
"I was wondering if you were here. Mama said you got a tattoo. Let me see."
Sean held his arm out.
Jared nodded his head with approval.
"It's nice, but these tattoos got you looking like you in your thirties."
"Shut up."
"Stop stressing mama out with all that stuff." Jared smacked his arm. "I hope you didn't use up all the hot water."
"There is none."
"What?"
"I just had to take a cold shower."
"I just paid for the hydro. I'll just pay that one next."
"I could-"
"Chill, man. Senior year is almost done for you. You gotta save up for your own shit. We got this."
Jared walked into his room leaving his little brother in the hallway alone. He felt useless at that point. There was something that he had to do. He has a couple hundreds in his account that he was able to give for the bills. Even if it were for grocery.
He needed to do something. He needed it help in some way.
He walked into his room and finished his nightly routine. Once he was done, he pushed a spare towel near the door and plopped on his bed. Rummaging through his drawer next to him, he pulled out a tray with marijuana on it. He tried not to smoke too often, because it didn't do well for his lungs. But he smoked enough.
He grabbed the blunt that he didn't finish earlier and lit it up. He made sure to open the window, because he knew that his parents would kill him if it lingered around the house. Some part of him was still afraid of his father. The guy was huge and he knew he could do some damage.
Cartoons played on the TV, but it was all background noise for him. He couldn't focus when everything was slowly falling apart for him.
He ignored his phone that was constantly vibrating and focused on his thoughts for the entire night.
Before Sean knew it, the sun was up and it was time to at least try to get his day started. His textbooks were still sprawled out on his bed, not one of them was open. He interned on doing his homework before bed, but he was so tired that he fell asleep.
So, he made it a plan to do it before he left the house. The last thing that he wanted to do was be even more behind in school. Work was such a priority for him, he was forgetting that he had to put a lot of work into school or he wouldn't graduate.
It didn't take him long to finish. Once he did, he slipped on some shorts and headed downstairs.
He sighed heavily at the sound of his parents' and brothers voice. The last thing he wanted was to interact with anyone at the moment. Yes, he loved his family, but there were times where he just wanted to be alone.
"Good morning," he mumbled.
"Morning, son." Allen called out from the island table. He held a newspaper in his hand. No one really read the newspaper anymore, but they continued handing them out and his father continued reading them.
"Good morning, baby." His mother kissed his cheek. "Tea or hot chocolate?"
"Hot chocolate, please."
"Did you finish your homework?" Allen asked.
"Yeah. Just now."
"Good cause your school called me yesterday morning saying that you're behind."
"I know."
"And, you know if you continue to slack then I'm gonna have to call your workplace."
His father made it known that he didn't really like the fact that his son out work before school. He wanted his son to go places and working under someone at some factory wasn't going to do him good. He wanted him to make school his first priority, and if he had to cut his hours himself he would.
"I know."
"Just reminding you, because you seemed to not hear me the first time last term."
Sean grabbed his plate of food and sat down at the dinner table. He didn't have time to go back and forth with his father. He knew that he was wrong and needed to sharpen himself up, but it got annoying hearing it everyday.
"Have you thought about where you wanna go to school?" Jared asked.
"Here."
"Here?"
"Yeah."
"Nah."
Sean snapped his head over to his brother. "What do you mean "nah?" This is where I wanna stay."
"You better than here," Jared shrugged.
Sean's dark eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "You stayed here."
"Because I was in a hospital was tubes in my mouth. The best option for me was to stay here. But I'm not tryna stay here for long. You... you're better than Boston. You don't need to go to school here."
"Jared, let him decide for himself." Allen intervened.
"No, he needs to hear this. We all know if we had enough money to get up out of here we would. Why would I make my brother settle for less?"
Sean didn't think there was anything good out there. He was safe here. Boston was what he knew and he didn't want change. There were so many things that had to be done here and he knew that his help was needed.
"I'm not settling."
"You are," Jennifer chimed in. "You gotta go out there and explore. There's so many things to see."
"And, I could go out there when I finish school... here." He slid out from his seat and headed into the kitchen with his plate and cup. "I gotta go."
He didn't have anywhere to go. But judging by the conversation that was had, he didn't want stay home.
He sat on his bed and scrolled through his phone trying to find anything to do for the day. Suddenly, he remembered that there was going to be a rib fest going on in the afternoon.
Who's free today?
He typed in the group chat.
Alex: I have to help my mom with the salon.
Drake: I got work.
Benji: I'm tired af.
Vanessa: I'm free after work.
Nyla: Free for when?
He began typing.
Now.
Nyla: Yeah. What were you planning on doing?
He decided to make a separate chat with Nyla and let her know that there was going to be a rib fest going on. She was excited to go, because she hadn't been before. They planned on her meeting at his house in the next hour and a half.
Sean rested his phone on the bed and sighed heavily. At that moment he regretted even inviting her. They hadn't hung out alone before and didn't quite know that much about each other. They were the kind of friends that needed other friends to hang out.
What was there to even talk about?
He couldn't help the unsettled nerves ha the began to feel in his stomach.
Did he make a mistake?
He didn't have time to dwell on it when she'd be on her way soon.
-
Allen walked towards the door and opened it. His eyes widened at the sight of the young girl standing in front of him. Her brown eyes weee wide with curiosity as she stared at the tall man before her. She gripped the strap of her tote bag on her arm.
"Hi," Allen said in a soft tone. He didn't want to scare her off. "Are you here for Jared? I'll call him right now- Jared!"
"Oh, no. I'm here for Sean."
"Sean?"
"Yeah."
Allen didn't even think that Sean was into girls. Into anyone for that matter. He was always that kid that never really showed any interest into anyone or anything involving love.
"You can come in. He'll be right down."
Yazmin stood by the door and watched as Sean's father headed towards the stairs.
"Sean! Someone's here for you."
"What's your name?"
"My name's Nyla," She said quietly.
"Sorry. Nyla's here."
"Nyla!"
Yazmin jumped with shock when she heard her name being called. Slowly, her lips turned upwards into a wide smile at the sight of Jennifer.
The older woman wrapped her arms around her and brought her into a tight hug. You could feel the genuineness and the love just through her arms and her chest. She hugged her as if she was her own.
"How are you? I haven't seen you in a while."
"I'm good. Just waiting for Sean.."
"I didn't know that you guys were-"
"Mom, we're just going to the rib fest. Nothing serious."
Sean called out as he emerged down the stairs with his shoes in his hand. He wore black cargo pants that reached to his knees. His only leg tattoo was on display for everyone to see. He wore a white graphic t-shirt and gold jewelry accompanied his neck and his wrist.
"Hey," He nodded at her.
"Hey." She waved and moved out the way so he could slip on his shoes.
Sean rolled his eyes at the sound of his brother heading down the stairs behind him.
"I heard my name?" Jared smirked.
"I thought that Nyla was here for you, but she's here for Sean." Allen called out from the living room.
Jared turned towards the young lady by the front door and walked towards her. Nyla quickly looked away from his defined upper body. She stared right at his nose.
"Hello, how are you?"
He held his hand out.
"I'm good. How are you?"
Jared smirked. "Great."
Nyla blushed and looked away from him.
"Jared, stop it," Jennifer scolded him.
Sean smacked his lips and held open the door for Nyla. "We're leaving now."
Nyla waved at the family and walked out. Sean closed the door behind them and made their way down the sidewalk.
"Are we driving?" Nyla questioned.
"No," He looked down at her. "Bus stops over there."
He pointed on the other side of the street.
-
The smell of corn and ribs made Sean's stomach grumble. After an hour on three different buses, they finally arrived. Three pretty awkward hours. The ride consisted of them quietly sitting next to each other, looking around at their surroundings. They indulged with a bit of conversation, but they were both so hungry and focused on getting to the destination. They also didn't know what to say to each other.
Nyla smiled as she looked around.
"I smell corn."
"You like corn."
"Love."
"Let's go look for some corn."
He led her through the entrance. The pair walked around and pointed out whatever caught their eye. There were a few rides and games that they were able to play. But at that very moment, they were trying to find food.
"Have you ever had honey garlic ribs?"
Nyla shook her head. "No, but it sounds good."
He nodded towards the line up.
"You wanna get the corn while I wait for the ribs?"
"Yeah, sure."
She grabbed her purse and began to search for change before Sean pushed his hand into his pocket and pulled out some cash. He handed her a twenty.
Nyla paused in her tracks and looked up at him. "It's fine."
"I gotchu today."
He was never the type to let a lady pay for something while he was around. Especially if he was the one who asked her to come out.
Hesitantly, she took the cash and walked off. Sean smiled lightly as she walked into the crowd with her hands gripping her bag. It was evident that she was nervous since they met up at his house.
The last thing he wanted was for her to be nervous the whole day. He didn't want it to be awkward, but he didn't do well with people that he didn't know. It was a struggle for him to be social.
A couple minutes passed and finally Nyla came back. She quickly walked over with her head up. She held corn in each hand and walked over to him smoothly.
Sean took the time to look her over. She wore grey cargo pants revealing a bit of her stomach and a regular white t-shirt. Her curls that were usually out were tucked away in a sleek low bun. She carried a Steve Madden purse on her shoulder.
She nervously stepped towards him.
"I asked them to put butter on if that's okay."
"That's great. Thank you."
He grabbed the corn and stepped up to order the ribs for both of them.
They didn't have to wait that long before they got everything they ordered and began looking for seats.
"I didn't even notice that you got a tattoo. What'd you get?"
"I got a butterfly... for my mom."
He held his arm out for her to see.
She gasped at the sight of it.
"It's so pretty. When'd you get it?"
"Yesterday."
Nyla sighed and took a seat at one of he free tables. Sean sat across from her and immediately began to dig into his food. Being the navigator for the day made him hungry.
"I wish I could get a tattoo, but my parents wouldn't allow that."
Sean understood. His parents were strict, but not really about tattoos. More so about school, coming home late, etc.
"What would you get if you had the chance to get one?"
"I'm not sure," She hummed. "I really like yours though. Your mother... she's a great person from what I've witnessed so far."
"She is. She's been through a lot- we all have. But my mom has really shown her resilience. With my grandfather passing away last year, it left my parents having to pay all of his medical bills..."
"Wow," Nyla frowned. "Were you guys close?"
"Yeah, we were really close. I really have to be thankful for having my grandparents, because not many people do."
"Yeah..." Nyla looked down at her food. "I've never met my grandparents- well the ones on my dads side."
"Maybe you should find a way to contact them. It's really a blessing to have multiple generations of your family in your life."
Sean loved his grandparents. He learned a lot of what he knew now from all of them. He wouldn't have been the man that he was if it weren't for them. They kept him grounded.
"My dad never really got along with his parents. They didn't know that I existed until I was one," Nyla explained.
"That ain't right. So, who took care of you?"
"Um, a babysitter."
"Y'all could afford a babysitter?"
"Yeah. I mean my parents were kind of stable enough to have one at the time ."
"All I had was my brother."
Nyla scoffed, "At least you have a brother. It's pretty boring being the only child."
"I can tell."
Nyla tilted her head to the side and smiled. "You can tell what?"
"That you're the only child."
"How?"
"I don't know you just give out that vibe. It's had for you to navigate in our group."
She shook her head, "No. It's just hard coming into a group that's already been a thing for years. Plus you weren't the most inviting."
Sean spread out his arms and smirked. "I invited you out here didn't I?"
Nyla laughed and nodded. "Thank you."
The pair talked more for a bit before they decided to play games. Sean didn't understand why he told her almost his entire life in just one day.
She sat there, she listened and sometimes inserted her own opinion. And none of it was bias. She chuckled at times when he spoke about his family and grew teary eyed when he spoke about the struggles his family recently went through, and how his grandmother Mexican grandmother helped raised him at some point.
Nyla didn't speak much of her own experiences. She told him that since she was the only child and her parents weren't really close with their own families there was nothing to really talk about.
Sean accepted that.
The sun was beginning to set and the two were back on the bus. It was packed only leaving Nyla with a seat. Sean had no problem standing in front of her and holding onto the bar.
She refused to sit without him, but he insisted.
He watched with curiosity as she pulled a book out of her bag and began reading from wherever she left off at.
"What's that?"
"A hood girls guide to murder. It's a mystery." She explained.
Suddenly, the elderly woman beside her got up and walked off of the bus. Hesitantly, she nodded towards the seat and looked up at him.
"Wanna sit?"
Slowly, Sean sat down beside her. She placed the book between them and caught him up to where she was.
Sean was never one to sit and read for too long, because of his attention span, but he thought the book was pretty interesting.
They shared the book the entire way back to his house. They were almost down the book when Sean decided that he would buy his own and read from where they left off.
"Did you call your Uber?"
"Yeah, it's right there." She pointed at the black car parked out side of his house.
They walked along the sidewalk side by side, their hands touching each others ever so often. Sean crossed his arms and looked down at her.
"Thank you for coming out. It was really fun."
He hadn't had that much fun in awhile. It was peaceful and calm. It was just as fun as when he was with his friends, but they didn't do anything but eat, read and play a couple of games.
"I had a great time. We should do it again-" Nyla winced. "If you're up for it a-and if I'm free."
"Yeah, definitely."
He didn't mind going out with her and he'd do it again.
With just them.
"Message me when you get home?"
"Yeah. See you later." She waved with a wide smile and slipped inside of the car.
Sean watched as the driver drove off down the road.
He didn't understand anything that transpired that day and be stayed up all night questioning it. He was so wrong about Nyla and he felt bad, because she was someone that he didn't mind hanging out with.
He truly enjoyed her company.
________________________
it's been foreverrrrr. y'all better stop demanding updates when I don't even see you voting or commenting on other chapters lol.
discussion: what do you guys think? thoughts on Sean? Should he stay in Boston or should he leave? Is he taking up too much responsibility? what do you guys think about Sean inviting Nyla out? Is it the start of a new friendship? thoughts on Nyla?(guys remember that Nyla is Yazmin. When I write with other characters POV I use Nyla because that's what they only know her as)
If you'd like to read more of my content, check out my website; Lataviawrites.com
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love you all!