🎶I'd rather not talk about it, just do that shit!"🎶
-carti
Omniscient—
"Light me up." Michael said, holding out his blunt to be lit up from King who had the lighter. They were on King's porch as always with the absence of Bianca who was back with her friends at Michael's house, hanging out. She insisted of course.
"Stoke's big mad." Uly scoffed, chewing absentmindedly on a red twizzler. "The hell he attackin' you fo? Pop's the one who snitched on y'all."
He was referring to how Stoke never let the grudge go of being locked up at the cost of Michael and Pop. "Right." Michael shook his head. "He should be turnin' on Pop's ass. Reckless as hell. I care bout my house more than anything. Imagine if I wasn't even home." He fumed
"If you weren't home he woulda robbed yo shit." King began to laugh along with Uly who dapped him up but Michael wasn't amused, so they stopped.
Anytime they hung out out in the open, onlookers would spot them and attack. They were never fazed though. Michael blew out the smoke from his blunt casually drifting into his own world. He wasn't one to really get high off of weed and never did it long enough to do so.
King on the other hand is always high, which explains why his speech is lazy. But he handles himself better than others.
"You know them niggas was in ma crib the other day? Michael raised his brow, balancing himself onto the wooden railing of King's porch.
"The ones who took our shit?" King asked
Michael nodded. "Uh huh." He mumbled. "Tryna take Naija back wit' 'em. I ain't let 'em."
Uly nearly whipped his head towards him and raised a brow. "What, you'n want her to leave?" He teased, causing Michael to roll his eyes and blow smoke in his face.
"Nigga ain't shit like that." He shook his head. "They asses jus' shouldn't be treatin' somebody like that, you know what I'm sayin'? The girl was visibly scared out her mind jus' seein' 'em, you know what I'm sayin'?"
"Did you shoot 'em?" King asked and Michael shook his head. "Nah but I shoulda. Shit was pathetic how they was talkin' all that shit in ma crib." He scoffed "And Marshall's big body ass tried to come peacefully. It was tragic."
He swore he only stood up for Naija because of the way they treated her and that she should be somewhere more safe. That was it and that was final.
"Y'all ready now? Goddamn we been sittin' here fa hours." Michael complained, hopping off of the railing before pulling out his gun, standing in the grass.
"Nigga we been here for like 20 minutes." Uly shortly laughed before standing from his seat.
They were planning on having a little fun—and it wasn't always legal. Their idea of fun was shooting, stealing, smoking—doing anything to their delight. Michael was eager to get his hands dirty despite his grandmother's words of being more careful.
"King, get off yo ass 'n come the fuck on." Michael kissed his teeth, hopping into Uly's car, taking the back seat
King sighed deeply, throwing his blunt into the grass. He looked up at the sky for a seemingly long time, contemplating on ways he could magically appear in the car with them without having to exert any form of his energy.
He looked back up and stood up slowly and lazily, grunting as he stretched his arms. "Such a damn drag." He muttered before taking his time to get into the passenger's side.
They drove down a few blocks before Michael's eye caught Stokeley and some others, hanging out outside—which wasn't a great idea.
"Pussies!" Michael yelled out the window after unwinding it.
He cocked his gun and lifted himself up onto his knees, opening the sunroof. He poked his head through it, now completely standing. He pointed the gun at them and began shooting. It was exhilarating for him.
"Shoot me back! C'mon!" He yelled out, sticking out his tongue in a taunting manner, shooting one of them in the leg as Stokeley watched casually with hard eyes.
He didn't aim to kill but it was always fun to threaten. Uly was driving so he didn't make an effort to join in on it as King only lazily watched.
They shot at each other as their car moved and soon it came to a stop as soon as they heard sirens in the distance. Michael turned his head and looked behind him. The police weren't visible but he heard the sirens in the distance, causing him to get completely back into the car. "Shit." He cursed.
"The cops?" King stressed as Michael shook his head. "I ain't goin' back. The food was straight ass."
Uly drove faster and zoomed down the streets as they laughed at the damage they did to Stokeley's house.
It was back and forth with them. When one shoots, the other shoots the next day. Living in the streets is all about revenge and vengeance. Each action was reciprocated. It was filled with pointless rivalries and grudges held by those who can't learn to forget and do good in the world.
Michael wasn't always like the way he is, but people change due to experience.
"Nigga you had the chance to pop Stoke's damn head off." King muttered, lighting up another blunt as they raced the streets.
Michael kissed his teeth. "Then what fun we gon' have if he dead? I'm really waitin' fo the day he comes up to me and talks it out wit' me properly. I ain't the one. It's Pop 'n his ass that won't listen."
Uly laughed lightly as he proceeded to casually cruise through the streets. "I'on know why he buggin'. Jail was fun as shit. He actin' like it wasn't a blast." He scoffed.
Michael suddenly smirked and sat up, looking out the window again, planning to stick his head out the sunroof like before. "Where Pop ass at? Y'all think he 'round here?" He asked.
"Pop prolly out gettin' high or some shit." King laughed slowly blinking—ironically he was a little high himself. "Why?"
"Less pull up to his place too." Michael said in pure mischief, earning a kiss of the teeth from King. "He live on the other side of townnn." He groaned like he was the one driving
"Nigga who's drivin'? Me or you?" Uly shoved him playfully. "I'm in."
Michael let out a hardy laugh—almost villainous like in the medieval times, causing King to look back at him like he lost his mind.
"Laughin' like you King Tut or some shit. Shut the hell up."
"Michael don't got no damn goodies up in dis bitch." Ameera, Bianca's friend, said, tossing snacks from his pantry onto the floor carelessly as the rest of the girls stood behind her, wandering through his kitchen
"Watchu expect? The nigga was in jail just a few months ago. He'n know what's good no more. I heard jail food is-" Yisel pointed her finger to her tongue, making a disgusted facial expression
Bianca and her friends were over at Michael's house after they learned that he would be going out with both King and Uly. Whenever those 3 go out, the girls find their own things to do. Since they're fond of Naija now, they had no problem keeping her company.
"So Naija," Ameera turned around after making a complete mess by his pantry. "if we weren't here, what would you do here fa fun?" She asked
Naija kept her hands behind her back and timidly shrugged her shoulders. "Um...I don't know. I-I'm used to being by myself..so I'd find somethin' to do." She smiled it off
"Wrong answer." Ameera placed her arms around Naija, causing her to nearly shriek from the contact. "We should have like a girls movie night. Like what them lil girls in the movies do. You know what I mean B?"
"Girl get yo hands off her. You scarin' her." Bianca kissed her teeth and flicked Ameera's fingers from Naija's shoulder. "Anyways girl we was bouta go out shoppin' or some shit today so we'a bring you wit' us so you won't be here wit' Bear's annoyin' ass all day."
Almost as if Bear could understand her words, he tilted his head up at her. "Yeah I'm talkin' bout you."
Naija was flustered at first and was almost in shock by her words. She wasn't used to so much attention from people, let alone being invited to events or hangouts. It was almost foreign to her. "M-me?" She pointed to herself
"Yeah you! You the only Naija here." Yisel laughed and lifted herself onto the granite countertop. "Itta be fun. We jus' shop fa clothes 'n shit. Finna look like bad bitches."
Naija looked down at the floor before lightly smiling. "Okay."
"Girls day out!" Ameera childishly cheered and began dancing around the kitchen like she's gone mad.
"Don't mind her," Bianca side eyed her. "She crazy." She shook her head as Naija laughed lightly back. "But imma tell you now, I always treat my friends to somethin' special. So I might feel generous and get y'all some food later on too."
Naija froze when she heard the word "friend." That word was almost foreign to her too. She's never experienced this before. "Friend?" She asked. Her brows scrunched up in curiosity, connecting her eyes to Bianca's.
Bianca scoffed like it was obvious. "You wit' these questions. Yeah! We friends, why the hell not? You chill as fuck. We aint them tacky ass mean girls who do too much. I'm chill wit' whoever's chill wit' me." She shrugged
"Yeah. We all chill...except Ameera.." Yisel muttered, causing Ameera to kiss her teeth and attempt to smack her upside the head but missed—and soon they ended up wrestling
Naija's lips suddenly curved into a wide smile and inside she felt overwhelmed almost. "I've never had one before." She lowly muttered, but Bianca heard loud and clear.
"You neva had a friend before?" She was astonished
Naija shook her head. "I was homeschooled all my life. Plus..kids didn't like me. They would pick on me 'cause of my skin color or what I'm wearing anyway." She muttered. Her voice lowered and her eyes almost narrowed at the discomfort it brought her just talking about it.
Yisel and Ameera stopped their wrestling almost immediately. "Giiirl I woulda beat they asses if they picked on me." Yisel kissed her teeth. "Shit. They would be walkin' on crutches."
Naija's dad struggled financially, so it took a lot of labor trying to support him and Naija. Although Naija was homeschooled, she often visited the park with her dad every Saturday, when he was off work. The kids there would pick on her for little things, as well as her dad's job, bragging that their parents were doctors to try and bring down her dad's 9-5 job.
She never had the luxuries of friendship. Her only friend was her father.
"Well them days of no friends is ova. Now get ya ass up, we goin' out." Bianca patted her back and marched to the front room as the other two followed.
Naija remained in the kitchen for just a few moments longer, smiling to herself. "Friends." She whispered again and again until she smiled wider.
She thought it was childish being so infatuated with friendship, but she's missed so many things that having youth is her only option. Youth was key.
"Which mall?" Yisel asked once they entered the car and shut the doors closed. "'Cause the one we went to last one was trash." She complained, sitting in the passenger seat beside Bianca who was driving.
"Fairlane." Bianca smirked, putting the radio up and they sang all throughout the car ride. Naija stayed quiet and folded her hands in her lap while gripping her phone in her hand.
It was already unusual being in the car with Michael, but she found this far more unusual. Being in a car with a bunch of happy people singing their hearts out was the last thing she could've imagined. Her cousins were always serious and never knew how to let loose.
"Come on Nai, sing along!" Ameera encouraged her, and it was first time anyone else has ever shortened her name before. Her father always called her Nai and she hasn't heard it in years. It placed warm feelings in her heart when she heard it.
She instantly began to get red and turned her head towards the window. One thing she doesn't like is attention or using her voice for too long. "No thank you." She cowered
"Come onnn!" Yisel snickered from the front seat. "I got the aux. Whachu like to listen to?" She asked
Naija perked up and looked ahead again. She enjoyed talking about music. "Um...I really like Beyoncé." She muttered
"Ouuuu!" Ameera squealed. "Me too!"
The rest of the car ride consisted of loud singing, Beyoncé, and fighting.
༒
They arrived to the mall. It was loud, crowded, and large. Naija trailed behind the rest of the girls with her hood above her head, walking timidly and cautiously. Her eyes were glued on mannequins wearing stylish clothing and jewelry. Her eyes glistened.
She's of course been to the mall, but as she always says "not in a long time"
"What store first? What y'all plannin' on buyin'?" Yisel asked and Bianca shrugged back. "I need some more dresses. More clubs are openin' up 'n it's callin' my name."
Naija was too busy staring at her surroundings that she didn't even realize they were talking to her. "Aye, you listenin'?" Bianca waved her hand in Naija's face causing her to blink twice and snap out of it. "Hm?" She hummed
"We bouta go get some dresses, you in? Or you wanna go somewhere else?"
She bit her lip. "Um...I-I don't have much money to-"
Bianca scoffed. "I got that covered." She flicked up a debit card from her purse and waved it around.
Yisel perked up. "Who's is that-"
"King's of course." She scoffed once more. "He gave me his card 'n said I could use it when I want. Imma pay fa me 'n Nai. Y'all betta run up 'em racks. Come on." She took Naija's hand and nearly dragged her into the next clothing store.
By the time they were finished, their hands were nearly full of clothing—mainly tight fitting dresses appropriate for the club. Naija on the other hand had nothing in her hands. She didn't know where to start.
"Umm where yo clothes at Nai?" Yisel asked as soon as they entered the dressing room and she sheepishly laughed. "Umm..."
"Here," Ameera took one of her dresses she held in her hand and gave it to Naija. "Try dis on."
"T-this?" Naija stuttered, staring at it in shock and Ameera nodded her head. "Yes it's sexy as hell. You'a like it."
It wasn't Naija's style, as she usually wears baggy sweat shirts and hoodies with boy-shorts or leggings underneath but obliged hesitantly. She reached forward and took the dress from her hand and nodded. "Okay."
Moments later, they were already flaunting themselves in the mirrors outside of the stalls while she was still in her own stall, cowering at the idea of anyone seeing her in the dress.
"Nai if you don't bring ya ass out hea." Bianca threatened.
"Coming." Naija muttered and slowly unlocked her stall and sauntered shyly to the mirrors around the them and they froze, staring at her with widened eyes.
"Oh my God! Shit! Naija you ain't tell us you had a bomb ass body underneath all 'em baggy hoodies you be wearin'!" Ameera nearly squealed again causing them to shush her.
Naija shielded herself almost immediately after meeting their stares. "That dress was made fa you girl." Bianca swooned. "This deserves a whole chef kiss."
"Naija low key thick." Yisel snickered and Naija knitted her brows in curiosity again. "Thick?"
"You heard me. Thick. You buyin' this fa sho. You'a get all da boys wit' this."
"B-boys?"
"Men saweetie. You gon' have them droolin'." Bianca nodded her head confidently.
Naija looked at her reflection and ran her hands down her curves, turning her body side to side, almost at a steady tempo. She had to admit, she looked good and she enjoyed staring at herself in the dress, but due to her insecurities, she didn't see herself wearing this willingly.
"We gon' hook you up wit' more den dis." Yisel said, flaunting her dress as well in the opposite mirror as they began to take pictures and fool around. Naija was uneasy, but she let them do anything they wanted. They're all friends, and she was getting used to it just fine.
Time passed again, and they ended up buying Naija a whole new wardrobe—along with some clothes she usually would buy for herself and her own comfort.
Their bags of clothing was spread out across Michael's living room and their heads turned as soon as the front door opened, revealing Michael and the rest.
Bear ran up to Michael's legs instantly and he kneeled down, ruffling the dog's fur before his eyes landed on his living room—a mess. "The fuck happened here?"
"Shoppin'." Bianca answered casually, pulling out a pair of jeans from one of the bags. "We had fun." She smirked
"And my house looks like this.." Michael nodded sarcastically, pursing his lips while chewing the mint gum in his mouth. "Ight. Looks like this the last time y'all comin' over."
"We'll clean it up!" Yisel laughed shaking her head before they heard footsteps sounding from the hallway.
"D-does this really look goo-" Naija paused as she spotted all of the men that entered the house and shrieked lightly, nearly scrambling back behind the wall where she was. She was wearing a body suit along with tight fitting blue jeans—another outfit they bought and wanted her to try on.
Michael's brow was raised and he caught onto the situation almost immediately. "So y'all forced this jit to go shoppin'?"
"We ain't force shit." Bianca smartly said back, beckoning Naija to come back out. "Come on Nai, we all girls here."
"Who you callin' a girl-"
She slowly emerged from the corner of the wall and smiled sheepishly, lightly waving to Michael. "Hi."
He cocked a brow and scoffed. "This what y'all did all day?"
"Well we know yo ass wouldn't take her shoppin' so we took the pleasure." Ameera said proudly, placing some things back into the shopping bags, getting ready to leave soon.
"I'm busy." Michael shrugged. "Plus King's bum ass ain't wanna do business today so we came back early, you know what I'm sayin'?"
King lazily groaned from the couch which he previously threw himself onto. "'Cause y'all were talkin' bout walkin' all the way down the block in order to do so when we clearly had a car. I ain't built fo allat."
"'Cause if we pulled up in a car they woulda thought we was on some shit." Uly said, digging into his pockets, bringing out some leftover candy from weeks ago
"What a damn drag." King muttered into the pillows
"You is lazy nigga." Michael shook his head and began to walk further into the living room where the girls were, and removed their feet from his coffee table and gathered up their bags. "Ight, y'all needa bounce now. Bye."
"Bye? Nigga we ain't even done-"
"Do it at ya own place. Iss gettin' late."
"Iss like 6pm. You buggin' now." Bianca straight faced him, causing him to poke out his lip sarcastically at her, pretending to care deeply. "I'm sorry, can you forgive me?" He asked, making her shove him with a laugh
"Boy shut up. We was on our way anyway." She picked up her bags and met Kings arms as he had wrapped them around her shoulders, kissing her cheek. "Bye Nai! Try on all 'em clothes!" She scolded and Naija timidly nodded her head as they all left the house, leaving things to become quiet again
As soon as Michael locked the door and turned around towards her, she ran back behind the wall so he wouldn't see her outfit—which she was only comfortable letting the girls see.
He laughed dryly to himself, shaking his head. "I'on know why you doin' the absolute most right now, jit. I ain't tryna catch a peek if thass whachu afraid of." He assured her but she did not budge.
He shook his head once more and headed towards the kitchen where his feet stopped and he spotted his snacks from the pantry all over the floor. "Hell nah." He muttered and knew it was one of the other girls and not Naija.
"I know damn well y'all ain't leave my kitchen lookin' like dis. Disrespectful asses." He muttered under his breath. Naija smiled to herself hearing his fussing words from the kitchen as she walked back to his room—which is almost her own room now—planning to change out of her clothing for the day.
Although it wasn't obvious, she was happy. She hasn't felt happy in ages and today she truly had fun. It was the most fun she's had since her dad was alive. Her, Bianca, Ameera and Yisel had exchanged phone numbers, so she could now text or call them whenever she'd like
Friendship is something she's truly invested in learning about, and she was excited.
She thought of Michael as a friend too—although sometimes she has other unfamiliar feelings when she's around him.
Michael walked down the hallway towards his room, fuming. "Aye, tell yo new friends-" He paused just behind the doorway to his room where she was, fiddling around on her phone as she held the strap to her dress in one hand, preparing to pull it down and change, but she didn't just yet.
Her body was natural—something he valued greatly. She had curves for days, and her dark skin was smooth and glistening. She did not wear makeup, so she was already naturally pretty as well.
He never usually took the time to look deeper into her shy persona and get to know this girl. He was just focused on keeping her out of trouble.
Her long braids always trailed down her back, and she looked almost godly in a tight fitting black color.
He caught himself staring for too long, long enough for her to notice him standing there. He suddenly swallowed his words. "Did you want something?" She timidly asked, now standing from the bed, fidgeting with her fingers.
After a few moments, he shook his head. "Nah.." he muttered. "Jus' askin' whachu wanna..eat."
She never had a mind of her own in these situations so she replied the same way she always would. "Whatever you're eating." She smiled
For some reason she didn't find herself shielding herself relentlessly from him, considering she's still wearing the dress. He smirked and shook his head. "You needa make yo own decisions."
"Sor-"
"And enough of that sorry shit. Givin' me a headache." He commented, waving her off before completely exiting the room.
His exterior was hard, and things were unfamiliar on the inside. He was hard to read but could read others easily. His upbringing wasn't too bad—not compared to Naija's, but he often blamed the absence of a father for his need to cause trouble with the law.
"How long you in fo?" Uly asked Michael, drinking from the milk carton in the prison cafeteria. Michael scoffed and looked back ahead. "Like a year left—I believe. Shit's wack."
"Whachu in fo?"
"Aiding 'n abetting." Michael casually answered. "I was 'pose to get up to 3 years but I been extra good." He shrugged
"I'm gettin' out soon too. My sista been fightin' to get me outta here eva since."
He was referring to Yisel, Bianca's friend
"I been tryin quit the streets 'n stop runnin' around doin' dumb shit but it's like an obligation. There's always somebody or somethin' who drives you to act a fool. Can't stop, won't stop."
Michael looked down. "I been in 'n outta here since like 15. So yeah, I see shit that way too."
He deeply wanted a normal life, but the streets call.
He never had a normal teenage life, like a serious relationship, attended prom, went to college etc. sometimes he regretted causing his grandmother so much stress because of his actions but he had a goal—and it was nothing like how anyone would picture it.
Naija ended up taking a whole shower before she came out of the bedroom and he had already left the house and came back with food.
She entered the kitchen, hearing the TV from the living room playing and the sound of Bear's paws hitting against the floor, excitedly waiting for his bowls to be filled.
"Bout time. I was able to leave 'n come back before yo ass was done." He commented and she furrowed her brows
"Y-you left?"
He nodded. "See? Ain't so bad bein' home alone is it?" He taunted her and she bashfully smiled, looking over her shoulder like a small child being teased by family members would.
She was dressed a bit different tonight. Since she went shopping, she was able to get some new pajamas—which was just a casual patterned and silky buttoned up shirt with matching silky pants that reached her ankles. She had a pair of shorts to match it too, but chose the pants for tonight
He glanced at her again without her looking as her eyes were solely focused on the food on the table. Her dimples deepened as she fixed her mouth into a smile and to say thanks for the food.
"I been meanin' to ask." He suddenly said, as she had grabbed a paper plate from the table. "How long you wanna stay?" He asked, raising a brow. "I been callin' all the shots eva since. I ain't hear you say nothin' bout it."
She stood straight and pondered for a little bit, looking up to the ceiling. He spotted her long eyelashes flutter as she blinked twice and fixated her eyes back on him. "I-I'd like to stay a bit longer..until I can manage by myself..i-if that's okay with you.." She looked at the floor
He nodded and shrugged, taking his hands out of his plaid pajama pants. "Iss whatever's cool wichu. Either way i'on really give a fuck." He casually said
She nodded. "Okay." She said and it was silent for a few moments—this time it was an intense silence, rather than a comfortable one.
"You been smilin' a lot." His eyes narrowed into her soul and he licked his lips before looking back down at the chicken wings he went out to buy. She quickly looked away from his stare and placed some into her plate. "Whachu smilin' bout?"
"Nothin'." She lowly said, beginning to smile just because he pointed it out.
Just days ago she always had a solemn look on her face. It was hard to tell what she was thinking. Even with a smile on her face there was sadness in her eyes.
"Uh huh." He muttered, smirking to himself.
Her hair was tied up as she always left it down. She looked different tonight, and it was a good kind of different. She began to feel a bit more comfortable than when she first arrived.
He ate in the living room, and she followed him there too. They didn't speak much, but enjoyed their food while watching whatever was on.
Once again, it was a comfortable silence—and he found himself growing more interested with this girl.
**
A/n: 🏃🏽♀️