"Mama come taste this!" Kari shouted down the hallway. She had made some cupcakes with the recipe she made but she needed an opinion on how it tasted. She wiped the counter off a she waited on her mom to come into the kitchen.
"You're always cooking something girl." She laughed wiping her face. It looked like she was crying. Kari's face softened and she immediately went to give her a hug making Sarina smile.
"Mommy what's wrong?" She asked hoping for a straight answer. She was tired of the half answers she was getting from her. As if she was scared to tell her the whole truth. Kari felt like she was old enough to know what ever it is she had going on.
"Nothing baby. What is it you want me to try?" She walked back to the counter looking at the cupcakes that Kari just got out of the oven. Kari shook her head.
"Mama just know whatever it is, I'm here for you, you can always talk to me." Kari told her. She believed that kind words can help people, thats what her mom always taught her.
She just smiled at her daughter. She was truly proud of the daughter she raised. She was like a direct reflection of her.
Kari gave Sarina a cupcake to try. She looked at her as she bit into it searching for any signs in her face.
"You hate it?" Kari sighed she started to think back to what she could have done to change the taste.
"Is it too sweet? Is it not sweet enough?" She started asking questions. Sarina laughed at how nervous she had gotten.
"Calm down, it is delicious. The icing taste very good did you make it?" She asked. Kari shook her head excitedly. She was proud of herself for making it from scratch. Sarina continued praising her daughter's cupcakes. They sat and talked about their days. Kari told her mom about the day she had with August. He had walked to the grocery store with her and helped her a little with the baking before he had to go.
"I enjoy baking mommy, but I also want to be a doctor." She thought out loud. Truthfully she wanted to do both jobs but she didnt know how practical that was. Kari was very random. The thoughts that ran rapid in her brain were unpredictable. She worried about weird things, and weird things often kept her up at night.
"And you can." Sarina said playing in Kari's curly hair.
"But how?" She rebutted. She wanted to know how she would be able to run a business and be a doctor at the same time. Was it possible? Would she lose her job for trying to juggle both of them at the same time?
"Because anything you want to do, you can do it. Nothing is impossible if you put the work behind it." She preached. Kari forever kept those words in her brain, forever circulating in her memory.
"Granny stop talking about people!" Kari whisper yelled in her grandmother's ear, passing her on the way to the table to refurnish the chicken.
Kari observed her grandmother and another mother of the church talk about this other old woman who was all up on the pastor.
"But look Kari, that man is married!" She whisper yelled covering her hand over her mouth so you couldnt see her lips moving.
"Granny, that's none of our business." Kari reminded her in a sing song voice. Lucy just scoffed because Kari was right. She straightened the creme colored hat that she paired with a cape shoulder top and button down detailed dress.
Kari rolled her eyes at her childishness. She started to fix a plate for her and granny. She put fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collard greens and yams on both their plates. She sat the plates at the table already occupied by her granny before she went back to get them some sweet tea.
"So how was the visit with Amir?" She asked randomly. Kari furrowed her eyebrows because she didnt even tell her granny that August visited her.
"How do you know about that?" Kari asked curiously.
"I've always like Amir you should keep him around. There's something there between you guys." She avoided the question making Kari squint at her because she still wanted to know how she knew about that.
But her Granny had always been like that, she never left the house but she knew about everything that went on in the neighborhood and the church. She would get on the phone and talk to Amir's aunt Rosy and Grandma Annie and they would gossip all night.
"I dont wanna talk about that Granny." Kari fidgeted with her fingers.
Lucy looked up from her plate to see Kari looking into deep thought.
"Whats going through that head of yours?" Lucy asked Kari snapping her out of her thoughts. Kari hesitated on not telling her, but her granny knew her like the back of her hand, she was going to continue to ask her until she spoke.
"Brandon and his family keep blowing me up." Kari confessed. It was truly bothering her.
"That son of a gun." She mumbled quickly but Kari heard her, she just laughed lowly.
"But dont worry about it sweetie he can't do anything about it he's in prison." She took a sip from her sweet tea.
"He's out granny." Kari said above a whisper. She stuffed her face with macoroni and cheese.
"Really," She stopped to think, she glanced over at Kari's worried expression. She grabbed her hand. " Try not to worry too much about it, it's in gods hands." She reminded her. Kari only shook her hands.
"Anyways, so back to Amir, why did it take so long for you guys to rekindle?" Lucy asked being nosey.
"Well granny, did you forget that he left before momma died and didn't even call or write a note to ask how I was doing?" Kari told her.
"Well did you ask him why?" Lucy asked. She was just trying to understand both sides. She knew it was wrong of him to leave and not say anything, but she also knew of the things that were happening in that house he was staying in.
"No, I didn't. He didn't ask me." Kari rolled her neck. She continued eating like she hadn't in days, which was true. She had been working and studying nonstop and she just got too comfortable with not eating.
"I understand that. But I think you two should talk about these things. Y'all are best friends, you could learn from each other." She suggested. She dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin before she continued to finish eating her food.
Kari mixed her yams with her macaroni and cheese as she sat in deep thought about everything that had taken place. Maybe Granny was right, as always.
Kari checked her watch seeing that it was past 4. She needed to get home and get ready for her upcoming week.
Kari sat in her car at the red light. She looked down at her phone seeing she had a text.
We linking today? Kaason
Kari smiled at the thought of his large structured hands feeling everywhere on her body. Kaason was a monster when it came to sex, Kari definitely enjoyed it, but there was no chemistry or a spark between them. They were just doing the do, not making love. Which is why she chose to continue seeing him, but just for sex. She thought she had no time for commitment. But thats what she thought.
Maybe, I'll let you know when I'm on the way. Kari
"Who call the shots in this thang?" Kari joked to herself. Pulling off when the light turned green.
"Me bitch!" She answered herself.
"Better ask about me, period." She swiped her hand under her chin.
Kari had gotten settled in at home. She had taken a shower and did her hygiene early at like 6, she wanted to just relax the rest of the day. She put on her black onesie from PINK that she purchased a long time ago. She just had to order some pizza and find a movie to watch.
She heard her phone go off letting her know someone was calling her. She smiled at the caller before answering the call.
"What do you want?" She asked with a fake attitude.
"Why I always gotta want something when I call?" He sucked his teeth. Kari looked at his background seeing that he was outside somewhere. She quintet her eyes seeing that the trees looked familiar.
"Amir where the hell you at?" She asked as she saw her car behind him. He just smiled like a gremlin.
"Open the door." He said avoiding the question. Kari sighed loudly before walking to the door and seeing him in front of it. She just leaned to the side with her arms crossed as he walked in. She pressed hang up on her phone before walking into the living room where Amir had made his self comfortable on the sofa.
"Just make yourself comfortable." She said sarcastically. She was leaned on the counter looking at the Dominos pizza takeout menu trying to see what she was going to get.
"I'm finna get some pizza you want some?" Kari asked him walking to the sofa, she folded her leg under her and sat down on it.
"Umm, pepperoni." He answered. Kari nodded and opened the app to start the mobile order.
"How much is it?" He asked pulling his wallet out of his pocket.
"22.50." She responded looking at him. He gave her a fifty and she thanked him. She was just going to put it in her wallet because she was using her card.
"Mir stop eating my food." Kari whined hitting his hand.
"you always so whiny." He teased. Kari just rolled her eyes before eating her food and watching "Juice" their absolute favorite movie.
"Today my last day in NOLA."He sighed. Kari's face softened a little. She did enjoy his company while he was here and she would miss his pop-ups.
"Aww, fo real." Kari said, trying to conceal her emotions.
"Can you try to sound sympathetic like your going to miss me?" He asked. He knew that she was going to miss him, he just wanted to hear her say it.
"Boy what does it matter?" She asked. Kari's mindset had definitely changed since she was in high school and that was due to the trauma of losing two people who were close to her. That does something to a persons mental. It definitely Kari, she didn't care for relationships after Julian. Just pleasure, because hey, women have needs just like men do.
Amir just shook his head. He shouldn't have been thinking the things he was because he was in a relationship, but he could resist. Kari had always been his number one. Even when he didn't see or hear from her all those years. He would pray that she was happy and that one day they would be reunited and he could make it right with her. That was what he was working on now, the circumstances weren't the best obviously.
"I was thinking about what you said the other day, about me not reaching out to you after all those years," He started to say after they had finished eating. Kari was now looking for a good movie to watch as she laid comfortably bundled up in a blanket. "I did call you multiple times, but you never answered your phone it was always some guy, I figured it was the wrong number." He recalled.
A couple of years ago he had called Kari on multiple occasions but never got to speak to her, just some man that always seemed mad answered. He figured he had the wrong number. But when he got her number recently it was the same one, which left him confused.
Kari's eyes widened at his memory, she definitely remembered but she hoped he forgot. That was a period of life that she wanted to forget. That version of her self died with him. She shook the memories out of her brain.
"Yea, probably." She said hoping he would drop the topic.
"But it wasn't because when I got your number this year it was the same one. Thats crazy right?" He said sarcastically trying to get her to talk about it. He was looking at the side of her face as her sweaty palms held the remote in her hands.
"Right. You wanna watch Black Is King?" She asked changing the subject. She had already seen Black Is King over a million times, she'd learned the choreography with the girls. Every time she went to Atlanta they would beg her to dance with them.
Amir knew she was trying to change the subject, but he didn't say anything. It was obvious she didn't want to talk about it so he wasn't going to press her about it.
"Yea." He agreed taking his shoes off and grabbing the blanket that was behind his head draped on the back of the sofa.
So Kari put the movie on and watched it in awe as if it were her first time ever seeing it. She sung along to the songs she knew, which was all of them. Surprisingly Amir didn't get irritated as he usually did when they were kids. She would sing all the songs in Princess and the Frog and Aladdin when they had to watch Cameron. Amir hadn't heard her sing in such a long time that he didn't even find it irritating. She had a gift in her voice, but Kari didn't consider it a gift. She figured god accidentally gave her a singing voice so she didn't use it that much.
Kari massaged her temples with her eyes closed praying that this headache would go away. She decided to sit up, thinking maybe it would eleviate some of the pain. This made Amir grow alarmed.
"You good Kari?" He asked with his eyebrows heightened. Kari nodded her head trying to get him to calm down. She hated when people sympathized for her. She didnt like attention like that. It made her feel weird. And asking people for things is like giving them your power. That was something her mom taught her.
"I'm good I just have a headache tha-" she squeezed her eyes shut. The pounded got worse when she nodded her head.
"Gimme your hand." He held his hand out. Kari stretched her hand to him. Amir massaged in between her thumb and index finger. He had took a class on acupuncture a while back and he remembered that the space between the two fingers could stop a headache if you massaged it.
Amir massaged her hand while looking at her face for an expression of relief. The way Kari's body reacted to his touch had her heart and homegirl thumping like no other could. The headache she had made it easy to conceal the smile that so desperately wanted to make an appearance.
She could feel the pressure in her head start to slowly go away, but it was still bothering her.
"Maybe you need to lay down and close your eyes." Amir got up to adjust the throw pillow on the sofa so she could lay her head on it. Kari threw her legs across the spot on the couch Amir was previously sitting. She laid her head on the pillow Amir fixed for her.
He spread the blanket on her making sure to cover all of her so she wouldn't be cold. Kari instantly closed her eyes after she adjusted herself on the sofa. Amir decided to stay until she fell asleep just in case she needed something else.
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thanks for reading!
what do you guys think about the story?
Any questions?
-breeee