The next day Aaliyah woke up and her back was hurting from sleeping on the couch. She sat up and she heard arguing outside. It was men's voices.
Aaliyah got up and began to walk to the door. Suddenly Jay came into the house and he looked angry and she stopped walking.
Jay shut the door behind him.
"What happened? Who was that?", she asked.
"Nobody", he said.
Aaliyah didn't say anything.
Jay wanted to the kitchen and opened the fridge.
Aaliyah stared at him.
He grabbed a water bottle and looked at her. "What?", he asked.
"Everything okay?", she asked.
"Everything is fine", he said.
"...Okay", she said.
Jay walked into his room and Aaliyah followed him. She paused and looked around. It was the first time she actually went in there.
"why?", he asked.
"I know you don't know me much but... I just wanna let you know that you can talk to me about stuff", she said.
"I'm good", Jay said.
Aaliyah nods. She begins to walk out of the room but noticed a picture of her Jay, her dad, two girls, and another woman.
"Is that your mom?", she asked.
Jay looked at the direction she was looking at and noticed she was looking at the picture. "Yes, and the two other girls are my sisters... well ours", he said.
Aaliyah looked at the picture again. "They're pretty too. How old are they?", she asked.
"Umm Jaclyn is 16 and Kiara is 14", he said.
Aaliyah looked at Jay. "So I'm the oldest I see", she said. Jay was 20.
"Basically", he said.
Aaliyah nods as she looks around some more. "I've had a lot going on lately, and seeing my mom dead on the floor took the cake. There was a lot of tension between us. The both of us let so many years go by...and I guess I don't want it to be like that with my dad", she said.
"So what you saying?", Jay asked. "You wanna meet him?"
Aaliyah nods. "If that's okay", she said.
"Yea. I'll call him and let him know", he said.
"Thanks", Aaliyah said.
"No problem", he said.
Aaliyah walked out of the room and sat on the couch. She picked up her laptop and continued apartment hunting.
—————————————————————-
A week later Jay was taking Aaliyah to their dad's house to meet him. He pulled up to the house and Aaliyah felt like she was paralyzed. She was so nervous.
Jay got out of the car and realized Aaliyah was still sitting there. "You coming?", he asked bending over and looking at her.
"Um yea", she said as she opened the car down.
Jay stood up straight. "Ain't nothing to be scared of the old man cool", he said.
Aaliyah got out of the car and saw her dad come out of the house. He stopped at looked at her.
Aaliyah looked down then looked up at him.
Her dad walked to her. "Aaliyah?", he asked.
"Hey daddy", she said as she started tearing up.
Her dad teared up as he hugged her.
"Pops, you crying?", he asked.
"Oh shut up boy", he said.
Jay chuckled and so did Aaliyah a little bit.
Her dad pulled up and wiped his tears and looked at her. "You've grown so much", he said.
Aaliyah smiled and looked down as if she was shy.
"Come on let's go in the house", he said.
The three of them went into the house. Aaliyah looked at the couch and saw Jay's mom, Kiara, and Jaclyn.
Jay's mom stood up. "Oh my goodness you're so pretty", she said as she got up. "I'm Helen"
"I'm Aaliyah", Aaliyah replied.
"Come on", she said holding her arms out. "We do hugs around here"
"Yea I should've warned you about that", he said.
Aaliyah and Helen hugged each other. Aaliyah pulled away and looked at Kiara and Jaclyn.
"Hey", Aaliyah said to both of them.
"Hey", Kiara said.
"What's up", Jaclyn said.
"Have a seat, honey", Helen said.
Aaliyah sat down.
"So, how are you and your mother doing?", Helen asked
Aaliyah looked down and played with her purse a little.
Jay cleared his throat and his mom and dad looked at him. Jay shook his head.
"Did something happen to your mom?", her dad asked with concern.
"She died a week or so ago", she said.
Her dad was silent, he looked down.
"I'm sorry to hear that baby... if you need anything we are here for you", Helen said.
"I am sorry to hear that too", her dad said.
Aaliyah nods.
Helen tries to change the subject. "So anything exciting going on? A new job? A boyfriend? -", she got cut off before she could finish.
"Boyfriend? I hope not", her dad said.
Aaliyah chuckled a little a shook her head. She just met him and he acted as if he knew her for years.
"I'm actually looking at a job right now and no... no boyfriend", Aaliyah said. "And dad I'm 22. Nothing is wrong with having a boyfriend"
"Boys ain't no good", her dad said.
"I guess I can agree with you on that", she said with a smile.
Her dad looks at Jaclyn. "See take note", he said.
Jaclyn rolled her eyes.
"Excuse him. Jaclyn is starting to date and he doesn't like it", Helen said.
"I don't like the lil ass boy she's with", he said.
"I'm not even gone lie. That lil nigga do be getting into shit", Jay said. "You better stop being around him"
"Could y'all please leave me alone?", Jaclyn asked.
"You better watch who you talking to", her dad said. "Must be talking to your brother"
Jaclyn folded her arms.
"Okay that's enough", Helen said.
Jay sat down next to Aaliyah.
A couple of hours passed and Helen began to make dinner and Jay and their dad talked in the backyard while their dad grilled some steaks. Aaliyah was in the living room with Jaclyn while Kiara was upstairs doing homework.
Jaclyn and Aaliyah were on their phone. Jaclyn looked at Aaliyah every now and then until finally she put her phone down and started talking.
"Can I ask you a question?", Jaclyn asked.
Aaliyah looked at her. "Sure", she said.
"When did you have your first boyfriend?", she asked.
"17", Aaliyah said. "Well my first actual relationship or at least I thought"
"What kind of guy was he?", Jaclyn asked
"sneaky", Aaliyah said. "He didn't care about nobody but himself"
"Is he the reason why you dont have a boyfriend?", Jaclyn asked.
"No", Aaliyah replied. "I guess you can say that I'm the reason I don't have a boyfriend. I don't trust people that much, guys haven't really treated me good so I just see them all as the same. But its not true because not everybody is the same"
Jaclyn nods.
"But if you're dating somebody who's in a gang, or doing something illegal, I would leave that before things get too serious", Aaliyah said. "Just make saying it from experience"
Jaclyn looked down.
"They might be attractive but you shouldn't be with them", Aaliyah said. "They won't do anything but break your heart"
"I guess you're probably right", Jaclyn said.
"Girl I have seen it all", Aaliyah said. "You don't wanna be around that trust me"
Jaclyn nods.
Their dad walks in with a stack of steaks. "Jaclyn go to get your sister. The food is done", he said
Jaclyn got up and went upstairs. After she came back down, everybody sat at the table and ate and talked. As Aaliyah laughed and began to talk more, she realized she missed a lot. She realized she missed what it could've been like to have a family. She never had people who welcomed her as if they knew her for years. Even though she regretted ever meeting Dre, she was glad she did because she never would've known she actually had a family.
TO BE CONTINUED...