“First of all, get y’all asses off the floor.”
Both Maylee and I stood and then gave our mother our undivided attention.
“There’s no running in this house, and damn sure not at one in the morning.”
I was listening to my mother speak, but my eyes were fixed on my father. His bushy brows were dented in anger as he looked at my attire. My mother was giving Maylee the stare down, trying to break her. Being the baby, she was loose at the lips sometimes.
“Maylee, get to talki?—”
“Maliah, why are you fully dressed?” My father cut my mother off.
“I, umm.”
I couldn’t just lie to my father as quickly as I could lie to my mother. It was no secret that I was his pride and joy, so I hated disappointing him. Before my older brother came into our lives and before I was born, my mother and father had a baby. Onethat had passed, and then years later, I came along. The stress of being their official first child was sometimes too much to bear.
“She was trying on clothes for school tomorrow when I busted into her room and started messing with her.”
Maylee was quick on her damn feet. Ms. Goody Two-Shoes was learning her way around being deceitful, so I knew that she was undoubtedly getting older. My parents stood there in silence for a little moment. Two pairs of eyes kept switching from me to Maylee.
“I don’t like that belly out shit. Pick a different shirt.”
“Okay, Daddy,” I said as I tried to pull my crop top down a bit.
“Where did you even get that shit from?” he asked.
My eyes rolled over in my mother’s direction because she had let me get it from the mall. Although I found it hard to talk to her at times, she was way better than bringing anything up to my dad. Quickly, she spoke.
“Y’all have school tomorrow, goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” both Maylee and I said in unison to our parents.
“Where the hell did the shirt come from?” my father asked with confusion in his eyes. My mother gently kissed his lips just before closing the door to their room.
“Add in that Dior headband too, sissy,” Maylee whispered.
I rolled my eyes as she followed me into my room. I handed her the bag and matching headband that she had requested.
“Nice doing business with you,” she said with a wide grin on her face.
“Whatever, brace face.”
I slammed my door and then sighed. I made a mental note to do a better job when it came to sneaking back into the house. Maylee had been blackmailing me out of my clothes for the last month, and I was cutting it close with being caught every time.My phone vibrating in the back pocket of my jeans broke me from my thoughts.
Trigga: You good?
I flicked my room light on and off to let my boyfriend know that I had made it in safely before texting him back.
Me: I’m okay, sorry, almost got caught
Trigga: Maybe it’s time to tell your peeps.
I was eighteen years old, and I had no desire to tell my parents that I had a boyfriend. They were super protective, so sneaking out had become the norm just so that I could get some time with Tahari.
Me: I know, I will
I pushed my curtain out of the way and peeked through my blinds. I squinted to see his car finally pulling away. Looking at our massive front yard, I couldn’t believe that I had climbed over the gate, run across the grass, climbed up the vine ladder on the side of the house, and scaled the roof to my room.
My mom and dad had known each other since my mom was my age. I needed my parents to understand that I was in love. Tahari was everything to me. In so many ways, he reminded me of the love I saw my dad give my mother. Tahari was rough around the edges, but his heart was golden. He used to go to my school and was in the grade above me. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to graduate because something had happened with his father. Still, we kept in touch after he left, and flirty texts turned into a full-blown relationship. I sat on the edge of mybed for a moment, just stuck in thought. Sneaking around was getting tiresome for sure.
