Old Memories
Kimani's P.O.V
I woke up two minutes before my alarm and just sat there. I really needed those extra two minutes you know. I shook my head as the alarm went off and went onto my phone. *no new messages* I shrugged and went into the bathroom. Today was Friday and I only had one lesson today, Media.
I dried my body off as I entered my bedroom. Since I was in quite a good mood and the weather was still warm, I decided to wear something casual, a black graphic tee which said 'good vibes' in the corner of the shirt with some black jeans and my black hurraches, yes I wear them all the time but I don't own footlocker you know. I put my hair into a 'messy bun' and then applied some lip gloss after doing my eyebrows. I put on my bomber jacket and backpack as I headed into the kitchen. My mom doesn't work on Fridays and Sundays so I could sometimes see her in there cooking or drinking coffee with pancakes or something but when I went in it was empty. I guess she was sleeping or something.
I got myself some pancakes and some juice and then left for school.
"Hello Asia, where are you?" I asked as I quietly closed my front door to go to the bus stop to meet her.
"I'm not coming school today, sorry, I feel abit sick." I pouted my lips as though she could see me and consoled her as I went to the bus stop. Once I reached the bus stop I came off the phone and put my earphones in and scrolled through my phone looking for something to listen to. I came across 'D.R.A.M - Caretaker ft SZA.' Something slow and soothing for this early morning. I sat on the bus alone and continued to listen to my music as I texted Shemika who had a later start today and was getting ready for school. As the bus carried on to drive I could feel a body sit next to me, I didn't remove my eyes from my phone until it was taken from me and I looked up to see Tristian.
I playfully rolled my eyes and stook my hand out for my phone as he played on my phone. "Can you give me back my phone please?"
"Yeah, I can give it back." He said as he held his hand down on the shutter button taking about 100 photos a second. I gasped and tried to reach for the phone as he continued to take photos. I will never understand why people feel the need to do that honestly. "Can you let me finish please?" He questioned as he continued to take pictures of himself mushing my head. He then went onto contacts and added his number underneath as 'Tristian ⛽️❤️✨🤘🏾' with hella emojis. "There you go bro." He said smiling and staring at me as I deleted most of the images he took. He took a total of 384 images. This cheeky boy.
...
Omniscient P.O.V
The class began to fill up with students as the bell rang indicating that the class was going to be in session. Kimani and Tristian sat in Media doing work as they talked about general topics such as football, art, society, school etc. Tristian was talking to her and as he learnt more he began to develop feelings. No, not those kind. Feelings of friendship, she wasn't like most girls, she had intellectual intelligence, she let on enough to impress you but not scare you, Tristian enjoyed listening to her view on certain topics.
"What about India Love, do you think she's peng?" Tristian asked as he wrote into his notepad, thoughts and ideas about his magazine work, they were set a task to design a magazine on what ever type of topic they wanted. Tristian chose Urban culture, broad but free.
India Love Westbrook, Instagram personality and model with over a million followers, beautiful young lady with long brown hair, curly edges, big boobs, small waist, big bum, chiselled face, pointed nose, arched lips, brown eyes and most of all, light skin.
Kimani shrugged and replied with, "She's pretty I guess." Inside it was tearing her up to know that she was another Instagram model who was beautiful and light skin, it was always white, light skin or Asian, no one knew about the dark skin models, the ones filled with melanin, sun kissed skin, gravity defying hair. Nothing about them.
Nothing.
They continued their conversation as they talked more on different topics of interest, meanwhile ..
"Okay .. Thank You very much, so he starts on Monday .. Great." he put down the phone and called for his son to come downstairs from his room. Still the same way it looked 9 years ago, single bed, blue walls, grey carpet, his toys weren't there anymore though and his clothes no longer fit him of course, they were just memories of what he once had. Italy was different, different people, customs and most of all language. He walked down the stairs to the kitchen to where his dad was sitting, looking through envelops encased with old memories and pictures.
"Yeah Dad what did they say?" He questioned his father who began to put his feelings into the envelops and turned to his son.
"You start next week Monday." he stated with a smile plastered on his face. His son was back, his right hand, his heart, his world. He still remembers Natasha calling saying it was time. Two teen parents not knowing what to do with a new life in their hands, they had nothing else to do but try to work things out and create a place for this child to grow and be happy.
..
Kimani walked into her house to smell food being cooked in the kitchen. She walked in and greeted her mother Imani. Her mother was wearing leggings which hugged her physique, a vest top and flip flops. She was cooking rice sticks with meat and vegetables. This was on of Kimani's favourite things to eat. "Hi Mommy!" Kimani sang gleefully as she wrapped her arms around her mothers waist inhaling the coconut scent which was laced through each strand of hair. Her mothers hair was also long but was constantly cut off at the shoulders, never reaching its potential to grow longer.
"Hello Baby, how was school?" Her mother questioned as she smiled cutting up small chunks of meat, seasoned to the bone, bursting with flavour. Preparations for the party were underway, food was being cooked in all households which were in attendance.
"It was good thanks, how was your day?" Kimani had now stolen a piece of meat from the bowl and was eating it, savouring each bite as she knew her mother was going to shoo her out of the kitchen. Once her mother saw her chewing she screwed up her face and squinted her eyes. She pointed with the knife in her hand towards the door to the kitchen. "Leave."
Kimani laughed as she left the kitchen and went to her bedroom. No homework, no coursework, nothing to do. As she opened her wardrobe she saw her Ankara for the party. A two piece ankara set, a pencil skirt and a sleeveless top. Since it was made by her aunty she knew the measurements were correct and just smiled at the outfit. She loved wearing Ankara, especially two pieces, it was the perfect mix of Africa and Contemporary culture, African prints modernised with Contemporary dress styles. She went under her bed and pulled out some red ankle strap high heels to accompany her outfit.
Kimani pulled out some black dolphin shorts and a black tank top with some fuzzy socks to slip and slide across the house. Once she changed into something more comfortable she went onto the computer in the living room to watch makeup tutorials. She already knew how to do makeup but she wanted a look to make her outfit stand out and look nice. She was going to straighten her hair tonight in preparation for tomorrows festivities. Whilst she was in the middle of looking at one of the makeup tutorials her phone began to ring indicating someone was trying to FaceTime her.
Kimani jerked her head back and narrowed her eyes as she didn't really FaceTime her friends unless it was one-on-one, she only OoVoO'd her friends since it allowed more than two people to be in a call. As she went to get her phone she saw 'Tristian⛽️❤️✨🤘🏾 would like to FaceTime ..." appear across her screen, her eyes widened as she looked at how she was dressed. She sighed knowing if she declined then he would bother her at school, so instead she pressed the volume button to stop the ringing noise and placed her phone face down. She averted her attention back to the computer to hear her phone ringing again shortly after. She sighed and answered the ft call leaving the phone on the table so that it was faced upwards showing nothing but the ceiling.
"Whats the point if I cant see your face, its FaceTime?" Christian questioned through the phone. Kimani's face plastered with a questioning look on her face. Christian? She picked up the phone and looked down to see Christian laying on a bed looking away to whatever was happening in the background. Kimani took this time to take in his features, chiselled jaw structure, plumped lips, clear brown skin and a small moustache on his top lip which he licked as he placed his attention to the phone call. "Aah there we go Kimani's on ft properly now." He replied as he saw Kimani now on the call.
"L-O-L Hi Chris." She said as she playfully rolled her eyes.
"What about me!?" Tristian yelled as he snatched the phone from Chris. He placed the phone close to his face as he looked at Kimani waiting for her to reply to his question. Kimani burst out laughing looking at the Tristian's face close in the camera. Tristian was darker than Chris but just as beautiful.
"Hello Tristian how are you?" Kimani said in between laughs.
"I'm fine bro, why di-" before he could finish the phone was grabbed and Christian appeared on the screen looking back at Tristian rolling his eyes.
"Anyway back to OUR FaceTime call, why did you give him your number but not me, you knew him for like and hour longer than me." Christian questioned as he stared with a straight face looking at Kimani. Kimani thought to herself and began to laugh again.
"Not gonna lie, I didn't even give it to him, he took my phone from me today on the bus and I guess he added and saved his number." She replied regaining her neutral state. Christian turned his lips out and nodded as he stroked the chin hair hair he had. "What?" Kimani questioned confused by why he was staring at her like that.
"So now can I have your number?" He asked as he put her on pause already giving himself her contact details.
"Yeah, you can." She replied as she positioned the phone on the desk so that she didn't have to hold the phone any longer.
"Kimani cam (come) help me quick!" Imani yelled from the kitchen as she continued to cook, she needed Kimani to get some seasonings from the shelfs whilst she was cooking the food. Chritian came back onto the FaceTime call as Kimani informed them she would be back. Kimani got up from the computer desk and walked towards the kitchen, Christian stared at her bun jiggle in her shorts as she walked away from the camera. He put the microphone on mute and turned to Tristian.
"Aye Kimani's bum is BIG!" He semi yelled emphasising on the word big. Tristian laughed as he played his Fifa 17 and shook his head.
"How do you know?"
"She just walked away from the camera and shes wearing them 'I want to fuck shorts' and her ass was just moving hella, shes got nyash!" He said in one breathe as he said in amazement, usually Kimani wore things which didn't hug her body or her back bag would cover her body.
"I'm back, sorry my mom wanted me to help her with something." She replied as she repositioned her self on the swivelling chair. Christian diverted his attention back to the camera and put the mic off mute.
They continued to FaceTime for about an hour before Christian left to go home to go to training to play football. He didn't play it as a possible profession but as a hobby, he liked being out with other people enjoying the same things which he liked also.
Kimani returned to her youtube videos and then went to help her mother in the kitchen again.
...
Next Day
It was now 2pm and the party started around 5pm leaving Kimani with around 2-3hours to get ready. She stopped her reading of Media studies and went to get ready, after a few minutes in the bathroom she left to go into her room to get ready, she used her Victoria Secret body lotion on top of her vaseline so that her body could smell sweet and nice, she then put her underwear on and then put on her Dolphin shorts and a vest top. She then progressed to doing her makeup, red lips and nude eyelids, winged liner and lashes and of course she applied that highlighter. After doing so she sprayed her face to make sure her makeup stayed as she knew these African parties could get really heated and hot if she wasn't careful.
After beating her face she then moved onto actually getting dressed. Once she was dressed she then released her hair from its wrap and let it loose. She used a brush to make sure the hair was bone straight and then slicked her edges to make them look even more apparent.
It was now 3:30pm and she was dressed and sprayed and spritzed with perfume and natural body sprays. The smell she emitted was beautiful and drool worthy. She then took some pictures in the hallway mirror.
(A/N - i tried finding one with her (inkmyafrica) in a simple-ish anakara but couldn't as her ankara's are very detailed and beautiful so I found this one, so just imagine her in this with the makeup look which was listed and red heels. Thanks!)
...
She began to help her mom and uncle unload the food into the hall where the food would be served, her mother made rice sticks and roast meat and banana bread. The hall was big and was decorated beautifully with a red and blue car theme. The hall matched the ankara other than the orange on the dresses and suits.
People began to fill the hall with food, family and friends. The music began to play and the little children were dancing on the dance floor as aunties and uncles watched from their tables. Since it was only 6pm the kids music was playing which consisted of popular Pop songs.
Kimani was on the dance floor dancing with the little kids as they jumped and paraded around her and her two cousins, Maliki (Mali - Kye) and Marissa. They weren't twins but their parents liked the matching name titles.
"Okay, can we have the immediate family and friends with the ankara come to the front so we can cut the cake." Kimani's Uncle shouted into the microphone as if his voice wasn't projected already by the microphone. Kimani rolled her eyes as she knew this meant that pictures were going to be taken.
"Can na ya .. ah hah .. lek so." (Come here, ah hah, like this.) Kimani's uncle said placing everyone in there spots so that everyone could be in the picture. It was a big family photo which everyone was going to receive after the party. They all stood with smiles plastered on their faces as they all looked ahead at the camera which was going to be taking pictures for the evening. The photos began to get taken until the kids got fidgety and began to run away to dance to Let it Go playing. The photos were left with the adults and teenagers.
Once the photos were done, the cake was cut and the music began to slowly change into older tunes such as 90's and late 80 tunes, Kimani and her cousins went outside onto the backyard grass area were the children were playing. "You look REALLY nice Marissa!" Kimani said analysing her cousin, she was wearing a jumpsuit version of her dress and her hair was in the a bun with a fringe. She was beautiful.
"Thank you babe, so do you!" She said having her turn to analyse her cousin also. Kimani gave a small smile as she blushed, when she did get compliments she cherished them, most of the time the compliments were from her family members but they were still compliments which she would take into consideration. "Pretty family!" She exclaimed as she lightly twerked causing Maliki to screw up his face and roll his eyes causing Kimani to laugh. "Problem?" She asked directing her question to her older brother Maliki. Maliki was 20 and was going to his second year of University soon whereas Marissa was 18 and in her last year of college.
"You better not be dancing like that when I go to Uni or I'll fuck you up." He replied with a stern look on his face. Marissa rolled her eyes as she stopped dancing. "You too Kimani, I'll fuck both of you up." He said resulting with Kimani's eyes to bulge up as she knew her cousin was being serious about what he had said. He was like an older brother who was very protective of his sister and Kimani.
...
The party came to and end and Kimani's mother Imani was gathering takeaway bowls for the house whilst Kimani called for an Uber as her Uncle who had dropped them had left earlier as he had work the next day.
"Kimani, ou sai d uba dey?" (Kimani, where is the Uber?) Kimani laughed at the way her mother said Uber.
"Ou-Ba Mommy not Yew-Ba." She replied giggling as the Uber was 5 minutes away from the destination. "5 more minutes mommy, its like around the corner." Her mother nodded as she took of her heels and put on her flip flops, Kimani had already adjusted herself to her slides so that she could be comfortable. As the Uber arrived Kimani and her mother went inside and sat down as they rode back home.
They reached home around 12am and were both equally as tired but Imani was drunk and tired, although she disagreed. They both fell asleep, Kimani on the couch and her mother in her bed. Kimani was too tired to go up the stairs.
Next Day
Kimani woke up tired as hell. She just wanted to sleep the day away. She looked at the time on the clock which hung above the television. It read 10am. Kimani yawned as she rubbed her eyes and saw brown appear on her hands. She frowned as she noticed that she had slept in her makeup, she dragged herself up the stairs and went into the bathroom to wash her face off and brush her teeth.
Once her face was cleaned and dried she proceeded to change into her Dolphin shorts and tank top. As soon as she tied her hair up into a bun the doorbell began to ring. Drowsy as she was she was able to get to the door and look through the peephole. She saw two male figures standing. One was Mr.Ferguson her next door neighbour and the other was a boy who looked noticeable and memorable. She cleared her throat as she unlocked the door. "Hi Uncle James, how are you?" She asked as she let them into the house, her thoughts stuck on the boy, he was tall, brownskin and cute.
"I'm fine Kimani how are you?" He responded.
"I'm fine thanks, I'll go get my mom if thats who you want." She replied as she turned to go upstairs. Usually when Mr.Ferguson comes around he comes to talk to Kimani's mother about problems and situations. Imani was was like a councillor for him and also a best friend to James Ferguson, they became friends when they were in secondary school, it was Imani, Devon, James and Jamelia, Imani's best friend till today.
"Thank you Kimani." He said as he got comfortable on the couch. Kimani went up the stairs and knocked on her mothers door to see her on the her phone laughing.
"Look at this funny video I found Kimani, he's acting like he's blind." She said as she showed Kimani, Kimani looked at her mom as she re watched the P.O.P Holding it down video she then started to giggle.
"Mommy, this is OLD and thats a woman not a man mom." She said laughing as her mothers laughing came to a stop. She rolled her eyes and continued to scroll down her Facebook Timeline. "Uncle James is downstairs with some boy, I think he wants to talk." Her mother nodded indicating she would come downstairs. Kimani left the room and went back into her bedroom to put on her jogging bottoms. Although James had been a part of Kimani's life since she was a baby she still didn't feel comfortable wearing provocative clothing in front of him, such as shorts.
Kimani rejoined James and the mystery boy downstairs. For some reason emotions and old memories started flowing into her mind. It was a blurry picture which was being formed, kids playing in the playground. ..
"Hi is Kimani allowed to play out today?" He asked as Imani opened the door to see James' son Jermaine aka JJ standing with his scooter by his side and an army of children behind him.
"She's just putting on her shoes and she'll be out shortly okay JJ?" She asked as his face filled with a smile. The other 5 kids started smiling and dancing knowing that Kimani was coming out. Kimani was now becoming the 'cool girl' she used to get bullied by the other kids for her looks and shyness but then JJ stood up for her, as he was one of the cool kids on the block everyone flocked to him and then began to respect Kimani. Thats why Kimani was always with him, she didn't say much but if she did it would be funny and all the kids would laugh and praise her charisma rather than bash and make fun of her as they used to.
Kimani came downstairs in baby washed dungarees, a pink top with a drawing of a pig on it and some pink nike trainers, her hair in a big puff on top of her head, glasses positioned symmetrically on her face and her braces showing as she smiled widely up at her mom.
...
"Kimani, you're my bestest friend did you know that?" JJ asked as they both sat under the cherry blossom tree, hiding from the sun. The tree was bright and rich with colour, bright pink petals fell down from what seemed to be the sky, showers of colour brightened up the scenery. A petal dropped on Kimani's nose and then slid down her face into her lap. She looked up as her eyes met with the brown stems of the tree reaching out as if they were calling out for someone. She felt JJ's hands in her hair as he placed one of the flowers into her jet black hair.
"IM your bestest friend?" Kimani finally asked as JJ stared right into her eyes and nodded. A smile crept onto Kimani's face. She has never heard words so nice, most of the time the words would be something aggressive and diminishing. Being accepted by someone, by JJ was one of the best things which could happen for her.
'Kimani, you're my bestest friend..' words which she would cherish forever. ...
Kimani smiled at the boy and asked. "You look familiar, do I know you?"
YASSSSS I DID IT .. EVENTUALLY BUT I DID IT THOUGH. I FINALLY DROPPED ANOTHER CHAPTER. THIS ONE IS HELLA LONG THOUGH AROUND 3,980 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
Yep the mystery boy is Jermaine one of her friends from her childhood.
As per usual I'd like to say THANK YOU for reading and constantly showing me love. To see your comments, votes and the story being added to Reading Lists it really warms my heart honestly.
- what do you think of Chris?? Like him or naah
- views on JJ? Old memory or New Flame?
Please have a nice morning, day, afternoon, evening or night. Much love - MadMarsz xo.