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𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟰, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬
𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟵:𝟭𝟬 𝗽.𝗺.
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘀, 🅽🅴🆆 🆈🅾︎🆁🅺
~𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚜.~
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The entire drive home, Kel was nervous knowing his brother was going to have a lecture ready for him when he walked through the door.
Ezekiel Queen might have been a grown ass man—21 to be exact, but he was a grown ass man in his third year of college and also related to a drug dealer— a local one at that. So of course, Tone was going to be mad that he didn't hear from his brother 4 hours after his practice had ended. With his line of business, came with paranoia and overprotectiveness of the ones he loved. Kel was indeed at the top of the list.
Kel parked his car in the driveway, turning it off and sighed at the fact there were two other cars parked outside. That could only mean one thing.
"He good g, he prolly wit'—" Kel heard but the person had stopped speaking when they heard the front door opening, everyone turning their head in that direction.
Kel blew out a frustrated breath when he seen Tone, Tank and Bean sitting in the living room, clearly on edge.
Tone was the first to approach him. "What the fuck man?! Hell wrong wit' yo' phone?! You ain't hea' me—"
"T, chill. Let em' walk in tha' do' first." Tank tried to lighten the mood before it even dampened. Leave it to him to joke during serious situations.
Kel rubbed his hand over his waves. "My bad, I lost track'a time."
Silence filled the room. Tone knew his brother wasn't telling him the truth.
"Lost track of ti—Tank and Bean, can y'all leave us fa' a minute?" Kel raised his brows as he watched them quietly leave the room, patting his shoulder for goodluck.
Kel took a seat on the couch, immediately feeling the need to lie down, but thought against it.
"You look tired, Kel." Tone mumbled as he took a seat next to him resting his elbows on his knee as he sat up staring at nothing in particular.
"Practice drained tha' fuck out'a me."
Tone chuckled a bit. "Kel, I ain't tryna treat you like a kid or nun, but you my li' brotha'. I'm just lookin' out fa' you."
Kel didn't reply immediately. He knew where his brother was coming from. He couldn't blame it on the fact his brother was leading a dangerous life, but because he genuinely cared for his wellbeing. He knew that though.
"I know and I 'preciate 'dat, but you gotta unda'stand I can't and won't always be able to pick up da' phone." Kel chuckled lightly which, surprisingly, put a small smile on Tones face as he shook his head.
"Oh, so you think you'a man na'? Can't have ya' olda' brotha' checkin' you no moe', huh?" Tone smirked and Kel pushed him playfully.
"I'ain day all'at, just know I'm good. Ain't nobody gon' touch me." Kel reassured his older brother, jabbing at the real issue at hand.
Tone looked at his brother with what looked like doubt causing Kel to raise his eyebrows. "Nigga, I'a—"
"I'm playin', chill, but I believe you. Just be careful." It was hard for Tone to let up on his younger brother. All their lives, he'd been his protector, care provider, and other thing Kel needed from him to keep him safe and on track. Seeing as that he was finally showing signs of maturity and venturing off into adulthood, he was scared to actually admit it, but he wanted to continue to be Kels shoulders to lean on. He loved feeling dependent on, it made him feel like he was doing some good in the world with all the bad he's done.
Which is why he'd never say it out loud because he would be going against everything he taught Kel, which was to be independent.
"Coo', can I go na'? I'm tired than a muhfucka." Kel stretched as he stood up along with Tone.
"Yea'—"
"Y'all good na'?" They heard Tank say as he and Bean reentered the living room with food and drinks in their hand.
Kel and Tone looked at them and shook their heads. "We was never not good, Hell?"
"Why y'all in our food? Ain't nan' one'a y'all bought anything in 'dat kitchen."
"Nigga if anything, 'dats my food then. You ain't bought shit eitha'." Tone retorted to Kel.
"I be forgettin' y'all from Louisiana sometimes, the accents be throwin' me off and I be like "whea' these muhfucka's from?"" Bean chuckled at the two brothers bickering.
It was true that Antonio and Ezekiel were born in Baton Rogue, Louisiana. Up until the ages 10 and 17, the two were staying with their grandmother, Elise. She wasn't the best at parenting them, but she did with she could, while also being sick. Ezekiel was the quiet and introverted type, he was young but he knew about a lot at such a young age— the actual reason why he had to live with grandma Elise.
Antonio on the other hand was hard headed and had the whole "I don't give a fuck about nothing" mindset after being forced to live with someone who could barely take care of herself. He was also exposed to toxicity between his parents and it fuck him up after witnessing so much of it growing up. That led him to hanging with the wrong crowd and started playing in the streets.
Elise knew nothing of it, still thinking he was to attend college in New York, due to the scholarship he received for his academic records— Antonio was many things, but dumb wasn't one of them. He moved up north like planned and continued to run in the streets. Kel knowing he wasn't in school from his yearly visits, was upset, even when Antonio broke it down for him on why school wasn't for him and the streets were, Kel still didn't understand and was a little taken aback but regardless he had his brothers back. Feeling a little left out of the loop of his brothers life, he moved to New York, which was planned from the very beginning.
She was upset that her second and last grandson chose to move away, far away, but she couldn't hold them back from the things they wanted to do in life. It was never something she liked to do.
Regardless of how life turned out for Antonio, he made sure to never let his brother go down the same road as him. He was exposed to the real world way before Kel was, so you could say he had a hard time at transitioning. After moving with his grandmother at 13, he'd always had a troubled way of viewing and doing things, but knowing he had a younger brother to look after despite who's care they were in, he kept his troubles away from Kel. Still till this day.
"My bad fa' not callin' you earlia'." Kel spoke as the FaceTime call connected. As soon as he saw her face appear on the screen, a small smile appeared on his.
"Are you okay? It's been 4 hours." Her soft voice sounded threw his ears. He could never get tired of hearing it, although he rarely did. She looked as if she was getting ready for bed; wearing a silk black scarf around her head while her curly hair was thrown into a pineapple on top of her head. Her face was blemish free and her dark chocolate skin looked soft, making Kel want to—
"Did you hear me?" She asked sounding worried breaking Kel from his thoughts.
"Yea, yea I hea' you. Im good, just got caught up with somethin'." He didn't feel entirely okay letting Zuri know he fell unconscious in his car. One being he didn't know how she'd react. She knew he was tired and told him multiple times to head home but he chose to not listen. The situation was bigger than what it seemed since Kel had issues with his bad sleeping schedule in the past.
"You looked so tired when I saw you, Kel." She whined looking at him through the camera with a frown. This was probably the most he'd ever heard her speak and he was loving it. He also was catching onto the fact she was always worried about his wellbeing.
"Aww, somebody care 'bout a nigga!" And like always, he'd tease her. They were two people who, out of no where, became close with one another in an instant. Making jokes was their way of making light and sense of it.
Zuri sent a small smile and looked away from the camera, letting Kel know she was blushing. Silence had overtook and they were both okay with that. It was going on to 11 at night and they were both happy it was the weekend.
"You know," Zuri started to say, gaining Kels attention which was already on her. It was dark on both ends, but somehow, Zuri had a little moonlight shining on her, brightening her beauty times a million in Kels eyes.
"Wassup."
Zuri sighed before moving around. She stared at Kel intently through the phone, letting him know what she was about to say was serious. "You scared me today."
Kels eyes widened at her words before he grew a smirk on his face. "I scared you? How?"
Zuri's face showed nothing but seriousness. "I'm not playing. You can joke all you want but your health is something I take into consideration, whether we're close or not. You can't push yourself like that when you know you don't have the energy for it."
Kels heart warmed at the fact she cared for him. He didn't even think about it like that, he was used to overworking himself. So much so, whenever he felt drained but still had obligations to fill, he pushed his personal problems to the side, including health. It was his normality.
He looked at Zuri's face. He unintentionally smiled causing her to scoff. "I'm sorry, I'a try not ta' overdue it."
"Are you sleepy?" Zuri asked as a yawn was drawn from her. Kel nodded his head watching her get comfortable under her covers. "Go to bed, I'd like that from you."
Kel wanted to stay up and keep listening to her voice. It was soothing and had him relaxed.
"Please? I'll be the first thing you hear when you wake up." Zuri said, noticing the hesitation. Kel stared at her with adoration.
Adorable. He thought as he slipped under the covers, his body immediately thanking him by going limp. He was deadly tired, his eyelids fluttering closed as proof. He was trying to stay up longer though.
"Goodnight." Was the last thing he heard before he drifted off into a deep slumber.
Zuri woke up in a surprisingly good mood. That was new.
She was either groggy or just plainly upset. Mornings were always the worst time of day for her.
Hearing soft snoring coming through her ears, she picked up her phone to see Kels phone propped on a pillow that was facing him. His mouth was gaped open and sunlight reflected on his face, his brown skin glowing in response.
A smile found its way on Zuri's face, unbeknownst to her, as she watched him. Realizing how creepy it might've been, she stood up from her bed, stretching, and walked to her bathroom.
After fixing her hygiene— showering and brushing her teeth, Zuri made her way around her apartment cleaning up whatever needed attention. She hated things out of order. She could've cleaned her space 5 hours prior but something would always stand out and she had the urge to fix it.
All while taking 2 hours to complete her morning routine, Kel was still on the other end, sleep. That was when Zuri realized he was not a morning person, which would explain why half of the week, he only had afternoon classes.
She didn't know whether to hang up or not. She'd never fallen asleep with anyone over the phone and it was something new, different but memorable. She enjoyed the fact that she woke up at 3 o'clock to hear Kels soft snores, and it made her feel less alone.
She was starting to let this one person in and she wasn't even trying to.
"Why you up so damn early?" Kels groggy voice had broken her from her obsessive thoughts about loneliness. Her stomach fluttered at how deep and raspy his voice was, which was not that much different from his normal tone.
"I-I, uh..." Kel raised his eyebrows, not knowing what he did to cause her to stutter but he was intrigued, but also annoyed because it wasn't usual for him to be up at 9 on a weekend.
Zuri on the other end felt like this was an awkward moment— she was the only one feeling that way.
"You straight?" Zuri nodded her head watching him move around on the phone. He muted his phone and set it on the bathroom sink and started on his hygiene.
Whilst he was doing that, Zuri received a text from Tone.
Ⓑ
Boss Tone >
9:18 a.m
I need somebody to cover for Damien...
She chuckled at how indirect he was. "What you laughin' at?" She heard Kels voice come through her phone, startling her.
"You're quick in the morning for someone who hates it." She spoke softly
Kel chuckled. "You ain't answa' my question." It was true, Kel was not a morning person, at all. It was something about the daylight so bright and early that rubbed him the wrong way, so be tried to avoid it as much as possible. His day usually started later than 12.
"You're brother, he was asking me about work." Zuri replied, entering her kitchen to make her some breakfast. She'd have to start getting ready in an hour.
Kel scrunched his face up. He didn't like the fact he was on the phone with a girl and his brother was texting her. Even though it was about work, it was upsetting to him, but he wouldn't voice that.
"When did you start workin' fa' my brotha'?" He knew the answer to that since he'd asked Tone about her, but he wanted to hear it from her.
Zuri thought it over as she put a pot of water on the stove to boil for her morning tea. She was very strict on the no caffeine. It messed with her anxiety, making her jittery and on edge 25/8.
"About five years ago. When I turned 15." A small smile had found its way on her Zuri's lips at the memory of Tone offering her a job the day she walked into his shop. She was originally there to get "the big chop" but he'd seen her around more than once and offered his hand to someone he knew needed it.
Zuri briefly looked at her phone screen to see Kel staring intently at her. "Why you lookin' at me so hard fa'?" Her accent slipping and unintentionally scrunched her face up.
Kel chuckled at the face, finding it cute. "Don't question me. When do you have to go in?"
Zuri looked at the time and realized she had 40 minutes to get ready. "Less than an hour..." she didn't know how to end the call and that was clear as she looked between the stove and her phone which was propped up on the kitchen counter.
Kel smirked at her confused behavior. He'd never met someone who continuously made situations awkward but was also really blunt.
"Ight, I'a call you after yo' shift ova'. Bye friend, have a good day at work." He said playfully but Zuri had to pause at his choice of words— or word, to be exact.
She'd never had a friend before. Until then, she didn't even consider Kel one because she didn't know what it was like to be friends with anyone other than herself.
She fought hard to hide the smile that was forming on her face, but lost, Kel smiling at how big it was. He'd seen it before but this one was genuine. "See ya'....friend."
And this is how their beautiful friendship began, leading them closer to some purpose. Fate, is what some would call it.
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{A/N}
I turned 16 6 days ago. 10/26! With school, applying for jobs and looking for scholarships..who knows when I'll update. (10/31/20)
6/17/20