“I haven’t,” he said as I nodded, trying not to show my frustration.
“Not even Draco or…”
“Nobody. Maze went into hiding with him and my mother. Nobody knows if the police are after anyone that’s First Family…. You know your brother is probably just keeping a low profile. Especially with everything going on with your grandfather.”
I stayed quiet as I picked at my nails again.
“Aye…I know you want to go and run straight into some shit without thinking. I know how you are but right now? This isn’t the time to move recklessly like you did last year.”
“Technically, none of that was my fault…not really anyway,” I added.
“Remember what I asked of you. Lay low, keep your head in the books, and stay out of trouble.”
“You say it like I’m always caught up in something?”
Namir snorted like an old man as he sat on the edge of the bed and went through his phone with a scratch of his head.
“Meetings after meetings,” Namir mumbled as he scrolled through his school email and calendar. He sniffed with a rub of his nose, and he glanced back at me. “Everything you do, you are being watched. People are waiting for you to react. Do not give them a reason to come after you. Lay low like the rest of your family until shit blows. Alright?”
I brought my knees to my chest for a hug as I poked my lips out with a small pout, trying to hide my disappointment. I’ve been laying low all my life it seems like. Staying out the way, keeping out of trouble, and being sheltered from all of this. I found myself forcing a smile towards Namir before nodding.
“It’s a reason they moved Legacy Row on the Grounds now,” he went on as he stood up. Bare body covered in soft hairsthat laid against his skin, he picked his clothes up off the floor before digging into the bag that sat in the chair by the desk. “There's so much shit on the news about this school…the media is constantly reaching out wanting to talk. They are controlling everything here to keep calm but outside of these grounds. It’s getting crazy.”
He put his clothes on, shoving one leg after the other into the shorts before looking back at his phone to text.
“Low profile,” I repeated with a nod. “Got it. First Family bad, evil woman with white hair, bad…forget about my family who thinks I died, got it.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Namir replied as he walked towards the bed. He palmed my forehead to pick my face up for a quick kiss. “I’m saying do not draw unnecessary attention to yourself when there are people waiting to see the downfall of you and your family…Play it smart, move accordingly, and remember there are people behind you that will move the fucking earth on your behalf.”
He plucked my forehead with a pop of his finger before walking out. Ayira was just coming out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in her mouth. Startled, she almost bumped right into him in the narrow hallway until Namir held his hand up like she was one of his younger students.
“What’s up roommate?” He greeted. She smiled, having learned to high five from him, they tapped hands before he made his way down the steps. Ayira peeked into my room with her long single braid swinging down her back. She wore the plaid maroon pajama set when she plopped down on the edge of my bed. I smiled, holding it for as long as I could while she tilted her head to the side.
“What is wrong?”
I blinked a few times, looking away as my eyes began to burn. Forcing the emotional breakdown to push back for another moment at another time, I smiled.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Standing up, I clapped my hands together to snap out of my mood. “We have our first class together!”
The unexpected rain this morning caused Ayira and I to hurry and rush through the pathways of Legacy Park. I had my book bag over my head and had a hold of her hand in the other as we ran. The assortment of black, maroon, gray and white umbrellas began popping up all over the Grounds as the weather became gray and gloomy. Ayira and I both wore matching uniforms with the long beige pleated skirts, black pumps with white blouses tucked in and a maroon tie. Her hair was still braided down against her back side dropping well past her hips. The satin blue scarf was intertwined within the braid while mine shriveled up into a petite and uneven afro that probably couldn’t handle a comb going through it.
“Shit, shit shit!” I let out as Ayira screamed.
“I cannot believe it is raining!” She shrieked while looking up at the sky, letting the drops fall against her face. She looked like something out of a commercial for cosmetics where the makeup remains, and her face stays perfect. Her smile and white teeth, looking up at the leaking sky, she was annoyingly beautiful.
“Yeah, yeah, and I’m not trying to be sick and late! Come on!”
When she almost slipped on the wet pavement, we both paused to look at each other before bursting into drunken laughter.
“This is serious Ayira!”
“I do not need classes! I am already educated!” She argued back before shoving her body out proudly into the open with her hands on her hips. “I, Ayira Khamar of the First Kingdom, will go to the dining hall and eat a southern biscuit!” She declared like subjects were around her. I looked around with my book bag struggling to hold the rain back. You give this lady one chicken biscuit and it’s all she talks about.
“Who the hell are you talking to, crazy?!” I laughed. She pushed her long braid back with a raise of her chin in the air.
“I will see you after class roommate–––”
“No you don’t! Come on!” I insisted, grabbing her arm to pull her back. We barely made it to the communications building without collapsing in front of the door in laughter. The building split into two spiral staircases. Each having classes wrapped around the ironically square building. The offices and bathrooms were on the main level where we were along with the map and when I saw the class we were looking for, I immediately dragged her arm and began going up.
