"Man, I'm definitely posting this on the gram!" Sidney exclaimed after reviewing the previous picture we took in his yard. I had been at this party for about 20 minutes and was lowkey ready to dip; not that the atmosphere wasn't fun, but my social meter was already being tested.
"Glad it turned out nice.." I spoke softly.
"Definitely, I mean you're a beautiful girl anyway so I had no doubt it would look bad." I hid my cheeky smile and felt a ton of butterflies when he draped his arm around me. "You wanna grab a drink or something?"
"What kind of drink?" He kept quiet till we made it to the kitchen. "Something harmless.." Reaching into the fridge, he grabbed two bottles of Raspberry Twisted Tea and placed one in my hand.
"..Thanks." I replied. I didn't want to seem un-cool and turn down the alcoholic beverage, so I decided that if I sipped slowly, the effect wouldn't be as bad.
"These are definitely my favorite. The give you a small buzz, but nothing like hard liquor."
"You drink often?" I questioned; Sidney was only 17 and almost a high school senior, so I knew his lifestyle was definitely different than mine.
"Eh, only in a social setting. I know drinking may or may not be your thing, so if you want to stop drinking or throw it out, I totally understand .. just thought you could use something to unwind."
"Yeah no big deal, I'm fine." Way to lie Aaliyah ..
We then journeyed to his den area, adjacent to the crowded living room, to talk in a more private setting.
"So isn't like your mom the best doctor or something?" He asked.
I let a small laugh, "Yeah, she's kind of a big deal."
"I think she did my grandpa's surgery .. smart lady she is."
"I agree."
"And even a smart daughter to match."
"Thank you?" I voiced in a questionable tone.
Sidney laughed and excused himself, "I didn't mean it like that, it's just, you're pretty, smart, and even better than me on the court. That's a total package right there."
"You are flirting so hard right now .."
"Damn, it's that obvious?" We laughed loudly and continue to spark more interesting conversation. Beside him being in basketball, he also told me that he plays some football and an was an overall sports man. He's the only child, like myself, but spends most of his time alone because both of his parents are always traveling for work. Not to say same, but, same.
"So what do you do during your alone time?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Play Madden or either Call of Duty with the boys. I assume you spend most of your alone time with Rue?"
Unprovoked, my eyes rolled at the mention of her name. "Did I say the wrong thing?"
"No," I clarified. "I do spend majority of my time with her, but, we're currently at odds."
"Because of earlier?"
"I really don't know .. every time I try to ask her about it, she downplays my concern."
"That's not healthy, you have every right to voice how you feel." He encouraged. I nodded my head in agreement, then took another long sip of my tea. I started to feel slightly off, then shook my bottle to realize in the midst of our talking, I sipped faster than I planned. My body started to feel hot all over and I'm sure he could notice the blood rush to my cheeks. I tried not to become paranoid by what I was feeling, so I decided to play it cool and sit my drink on the glass table to avoid touching it any more.
"Would you like another?" He asked before rising to his feet.
"I'm good, thanks."
"Cool, I'll be right back."
I let out a deep sigh and clinched my jacket tighter around me; I was more than ready to go home now. I pulled out my phone and looked at the time of 10:30pm. I saw no message from my mom or Rue, so I chose to compose a message to my mom, but was interrupted by Sidney once more.
"Grabbed you a water." He spoke before placing the cold bottle in my hand. I thanked him and drunk it gracefully in hopes it'd relief some of what I was feeling.
"Aye yo, round of shots for everybody!" Sidney's fellow teammate announced. Sidney looked at me out of curiosity, "You coming?"
"Why not." I said with a slight shrug. He grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd toward the kitchen. We gathered around the massive marble counter and accepted our shots of clear vodka.
"What type is this?" I whispered in his ear.
"Regular Amsterdam, nothing major."
His friend spoke a lengthy toast before we raised our glasses. I managed to finish in one gulp, and Sidney glanced at me in amazement. My face turned sour and the vodka lit my esophagus on fire. Do people really enjoy this mess?
People started to filter out and I let out a brief sigh as I felt my body begin to feel warm all over once again.
"I'm going to the bathroom." I excused myself. I made a fast dash upstairs and quickly locked the door behind me.
"Breathe Aaliyah, just breath.." I stumbled a little to sit on the toilet, handled my business then thoroughly washed my hands. This woozy feeling was getting stronger by the second and I knew I needed to plan my escape quickly. Grabbing my phone, I traveled to my favorite contacts and pressed my mom's name; I cursed under my breath when I was met with her voicemail.
"Aye you almost done in there!?" A voice shouted through the door. I turned the knob and an older guy fell in.
"What are you doing?" I yelled from underneath him. He pinned me to wall and I could see the drunkenness clear as day in his droopy eyes.
"Heard you was fresh meat on the court, mind if I get a taste?"
"What?-no! Get off of me!" I struggled to say as he gripped my wrist tighter. I felt his body jerk and saw the face of Sidney standing across from us.
"Man, Tyrese what the fuck is your problem!?"
"Sidney chill nobody was touching your girl-" Sidney cut him off with a quick yet strong punch to the face. I gasped and quickly ran out of the bathroom, down the steps and out the door.
I caught my breath and managed to dial Rue's number with my shaky hands, thankful that she answered right away.
"Rue!" I yelled through the phone. "Can you please come get me!? I-I'm so sorry for how I was acting earlier so please, please come get me!" I cried out. The phone went silent and she sent a text that she was on her way.
"Aaliyah wait!" I heard Sidney say from behind me. "You okay?"
"No. I'm ready to leave."
He sighed, "I understand. Listen, I apologize for his behavior. He had no right coming on to you like that-"
"What did you do to her!?" I heard a familiar voice say. I saw Rue quickly dash my way and I held her back from arguing Sidney down.
"Rue please, it wasn't him! Stop!"
"Stop!?" She questioned in anger.
"Yes, just .. let me explain. He did nothing wrong."
"Rue she's telling the truth. I'm just trying to make sure she gets home safe just like you are." Sidney spoke. We shared no more words and I followed Rue to the car. We made it to my house in no time, but I didn't get out right away.
"Thanks for picking me up.." I said softly.
"What happened to your mom coming?" She asked.
"She didn't answer and I needed someone fast, so.."
"What happened in there?"
I cringed just thinking about it; "Some senior named Tyrese approached me in a very non consensual way."
"Did he?" She asked in a nervous tone.
I shook my head no, thankful that Sidney came when he did cause who knows what would of happened if I was left alone.
"..Li I'm so sorry I didn't come and just for my behavior overall-"
"It's fine. I'm just really glad you came."
She initiated our nightly hug and I said my goodbyes before watching her drive away. The Brooklyn neighborhood was still alive as I walked up my front steps and I took a sigh of relief when I made it through the door.
"Mom?" I called out. When didn't get a right away response, I walked up the steps and found her dead asleep in her bed like I had left her; glasses on with her phone and laptop wide open. I made a small smile then walked over to give her a kiss goodnight. She didn't move a muscle at my presence so I made sure to move quietly since I knew she was tired; she worked so hard everyday and needed no interruptions from her sleep.
***
Beyoncé
I woke up in a slight panic, disoriented to the time, place, or how I ended up in a deep sleep with everything in my room still on. I slowly removed my readers and rubbed my eyes clear of all debris. Next, I exited out of my laptop and closed it shut before standing and going straight to my daughter's room. I know she had her little party last night and that I was now the worst parent on earth for not picking her up and making sure she was safe. When I peeked my head in, she was sprawled out on her queen size bed. I glanced at the clock in her room and noticed the time of 8:30am and simply closed her door shut to give her the day to rest from school since she would already be late.
Walking back into my bedroom, I made my bed then headed to the bathroom to freshen up for the day. I had nothing important on my agenda but knew that later on this afternoon Jay and I would be spending the evening together. Thankfully, I was going to be child-less for the night since my mother wanted to spend the weekend with Aaliyah, so I made a note to pack a small bag cause there was no reason to come back home.
Midway through my shower, I felt a gust of cold air hit my back. I immediately covered my breast and turned around to see Idris about to step into shower.
"Um, someone is obviously in here!" I shouted at him. He quickly shut the door back and I heard him start other duties in the bathroom. Just the thought of his presence made me sick, so I quickly rinsed my body off and clung my towel tight to my body. It felt weird to shield away from the man who once knew my curves so well, but I had to remind myself that his eyes no longer deserved to stare. After getting dressed in my underwear and bra, I felt more comfortable to roam free around the closet space and pick out my outfit for the day, along with my little weekend bag.
"Beyoncé," I heard Idris speak.
"Can I help you?"
He sighed, "I would like for us to talk."
"Talk about what? There's nothing to say-"
"About this divorce." He interrupted. I rolled my eyes but decided to hear him out since I was anticipating to get this ball rolling immediately.
"What about it? I think it's a pretty self explanatory term."
"I'm just curious. You just assumed this would be the best move?"
"Why wouldn't it be, Idris!? I have no more fight left in me, I really don't."
He scoffed in disbelief, "So this is what you really want? To run to some lawyer, divorce me, and ruin the family?"
I looked at him in awe that he assumed the folks that lived in this house was anything close to a family. "Are you high, or something? Cause I really can't believe you just tried to blame me for breaking up some "family."" When he said nothing, I continued to let my mouth do all the talking; "We tried counseling, we tried separating to miss each other, but can't you see that nothing has been successful!? I no longer want to be married to a man like you Idris. We fight entirely too much and it's starting to effect our daughter, did you even know she still exists?"
"Yes I know my daughter exist-"
"Bullshit! Did you know she's on the varsity basketball team? Do you know who her best friend is? What her currents grades are? If she's even in this house right now!? No! Because you ran in here thinking it'd be a bright idea to get some pussy from me in the shower like I still love you!"
He gave a sly laugh, "Alright Beyoncé you win. You want this divorce, you'll get this divorce. I'll have my lawyer be in contact and I promise you, this shit won't be easy."
His threat ran down my back like a drop of water, and I couldn't help but laugh at the little strength he had. Unlike him, I had faith that Kelly would pull me through so I couldn't wait to contact her later on about this encounter.
After placing on my outfit and the rest of my personal belongings in my black tote bag, I headed out to the bedroom and spotted my sleepy baby girl coming my way.
"Mom I'm so sorry I didn't wake up." She said softly.
"No problem baby.." I gave her a hug and she refused to let go. "I'm sorry I never answered your call. I'm assuming Rue drove you home?"
"Yea." She mumbled against me. I lowered us both to the bed and looked at her with worrisome eyes.
"Everything okay, Aaliyah? Did something happen last night?" I mustered up the strength to ask.
She looked at me a sighed, "I drunk some things I wasn't suppose to.."
"Anything else?"
"No." She took a while to answer. Her response made me worry just a bit, but I knew that in due time she'd finally tell me the whole truth.
"Well I'm glad that you were honest with me, but that still doesn't free you from any type of punishment. You knew better than to participate in underage drinking, Aaliyah. God forbid something else happened to you and you weren't able to remember what that was?! No phone or laptop for a week, hand them over." To my surprise, she didn't put up a fight. I gladly took her items and placed them in my bag; she'll get them back when I see fit.
"Your grandmother should be here around 12 to come get you. Be ready by the front door, okay?"
"Yea, I'll be ready."
She walked behind me down the steps and I made sure to tell her to lock up the house when she leaves. I could sense a strong change in her mood and knew she would carry around this guilt all day if I didn't clarify where I was coming from as a parent.
"Liyah I promise I'm not mad at you, you just have to learn to make better choices and continue to do age appropriate things. You're only 15, don't spoil these years by acting foolish. I love you."
"Love you too.." She gave me another loving hug and I fought an internal battle with myself to give her back the things I already confiscated. I walked to the garage before giving in to temptation and placed my tote in the passenger seat before driving off toward Jay's house.
After a few knocks, he opened the door looking sexy as hell in a simple white tee and grey sweatpants. His eyes grazed my body and once I stepped forward to come in, he gripped me in by my hips. Our lips met for a nice kiss, then he grabbed my bag and placed it upstairs where it belonged.
"You look mighty comfy!" I said when he came down the steps. I could immediately tell he was free balling when my favorite friend made a nice print in the center with a slight curve to left.. just how I liked it. He gave me a smirk and wrapped me up in his arms for another loving kiss.
"You missed me?" I asked in a sweet tone.
"Of course I did. I tried to get you to come over yesterday but you bailed." He responded.
"Baby I was so tired, I'm not even sure what time I fell asleep and when I woke up, it was a huge clutter of books and papers all over my bed."
"How come? You got some upcoming project or something?"
I smiled lightly, "Actually I do! I'm teaching at a medical conference in Puerto Rico in a few weeks. It'll be at Ponce Health University where I'll do a lecture series for their orthopedic residents."
His eyes lit up, "Damn, baby that's amazing!"
"It is, this isn't my first time doing a work trip like this so I'm happy it's at a beautiful location.. which has me thinking. Remember that trip idea you suggested a while back?"
"Absolutely."
"How would you feel if we went a week earlier than the conference and spent some time alone, away from all distractions?" I said while smoothing my hand over his head.
He reached his hand over and softly caressed my thigh, "That's sounds perfect to me. I'll book everything, even your plane ticket back."
My eyes bulged at his statement since tickets to Puerto Rico were on the hefty side. "You'd do that for me?"
"B I'll do anything for you, you know this.." He revealed.
I pecked his lips, "Thank you baby.."
"Yea, yea.. now come give me some good good, I need a stress relief."
***
Has Aaliyah learned a valuable lesson?
Should Sidney be someone she should keep around?
How do you think the first divorce meeting will go?
Should Beyoncé enjoy her peaceful vacation with Jay or stay home?
Please vote & comment!
- Rae 💖