"Red Light"~ a segment from chapter 4

When we walked into that restaurant, I was amazed at how many people were there. It definitely was an expensive restaurant. We were escorted to a table by an employee of where we were to sit. It was an exclusive part of the room. (I think that Kente’ might’ve called the restaurant earlier that day and made reservations. That’s why we were sitting in that part of the room.) Since me and Kente’ were too young to drink, he ordered a Pepsi, and I ordered a Sprite. When the waitress came back to take our order, I ordered a piece of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, banana pudding, and a brownie. Kente’ ordered a steak, two egg rolls, and a piece of red velvet cake. He politely asked if he could taste some of my banana pudding, but he claimed his hands hurt from driving and if I could feed him, so I took the spoonful of banana pudding and put it in his mouth and the way he licked that spoon...

When we were almost done eating, he looked up at me and said, “You look really nice tonight.”

“Thank you,” I said shyly looking back down at my plate.

“Don’t get all shy on me now,” he said smiling. I laughed.

“I’m not shy.” I stated. Then he smiled showing his pearly white teeth.

“Well, I’m just goin’ to ask you straight up, do you got a man?”

“Nah, do you got a girl?”

“Nope, but I was askin’ you that because, um, I was tryna see what was up wit’ you and me.”

“Oh, well, are you askin’ me to go wit’ you?” I asked. He laughed kind of shyly.

“Yeah, I mean... yeah, well, what I’m tryna say is, yeah, will you go wit’ me?” I could tell he was very nervous.

“I don’t see why not.”

“Yeah, I could tell you wanted me,” he said with confidence.

“Oh, could you?” I asked.

“Yep, I could. So, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” After I said that, he got up out of his seat, took my hand, scooted my chair back under the table, and we walked out the door. When we walked to his car, he politely opened my door for me again, and when I got in the car, he walked over to the driver’s side of the car and got in. “You don’t have to keep doin’ that if you don’t want to,” I said when we got on the road heading back home.

“Keep doin’ what?” he asked confused.

“Opening my door for me, I mean, that’s really nice of you, but I just don’t want you to have to go through all that trouble just for me,” I explained.

“Girl, what trouble? That was nothin’. I like opening your door for you. Besides, I didn’t do that for my past girlfriends. I just do that for you because I think you’re special.” I laughed.

“Oh, okay, well exactly how many girlfriends have you had?” I asked curiously. He laughed.

“I would say about six. What about you? I mean, how many boyfriends have you had?

“I had one in kindergarten that lasted for about two days, one in third grade that lasted for two months, one in fifth grade that lasted for about four months, two in sixth grade, and those lasted for, I don’t remember those, three in seventh grade, and none of those relationships lasted longer than a month, and two in tenth grade. One lasted for about three weeks, and we’ll have to see how long the other one lasts,” I explained.

“The other... oh, you’re talkin’ about me, so you’ve had ten boyfriends in all includin’ me.”

“Yeah,” I said. He laughed.

“Oh, okay. Well, I got a feelin’ that this relationship is goin’ to last longer than you think.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked in a flirty voice.

“Exactly what it sounds like, baby,” he said.

“Okay, well, I hope so.” Then, we pulled up in my drive-way. It was 11:26. My mom was probably sleep. My curfew was at 12:00. “Well,” I exclaimed opening my door, “I had a really great time with you tonight, and I will talk to you tomorrow because right now, I’m tired,” I stated.

“Okay,” Kente’ said opening his door coming over to my side of the door opening it for me. When he helped me out of the car, he hugged me, and we just stood there hugging each other for about six seconds. Then, he put his hands on my face and pulled my head up so I was looking in his eyes, tilted his head to the right, moved in closer to my face, closed his eyes, and he kissed me. He had really soft lips. It felt like... a fairytale! I was so surprised, I didn’t even think about what was happening until his tongue invaded my mouth! I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he put his hands on my waist. We finally stopped kissing, but I still had my arms around his neck, and he still had his hands on my waist. “I bet none of yo’ other lil’ boyfriends kissed you like dat,” he exclaimed.

“Nah, you definitely got them beat,” I said laughing. He laughed too.

“Well boo, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said holding both of my hands.

“Okay.” We hugged one more time before I walked in the house. ‘OH MY GOSH! DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN?’ I thought to myself leaning on the door. I ran upstairs, looked in my mom’s room to see just her sleeping in the bed, then went into my room, took a shower and put my pajamas on, got my cell phone out of my purse and put my purse on the dresser, turned the lights out and turned the TV on. Then my phone vibrated. I opened my phone, and at exactly 12:00 a.m., Kente’ texted me. ‘Hey mommi. What u doin’?’ I laughed as I texted back. ‘Nuthin’ so u txtd me at exactly 12:00 lol so u really meant u wuz gon tlk 2 me 2morrow didn’t u.’

‘Lol o ya iz dat a problem?’

‘Yep sure iz n ima fix it.’

‘O iz dat rite? Well c** fix it baby! Lol.’

‘Lol u so crazi. Wut u doin?’

‘Nttn thinkin bout u. Wut u doin?’

‘Aw ur so sweet Im jus layin down watchin TV rite now.’

‘O datz kool but um I hate 2 cut it short but I g2g 2 work n da mornin @ lyk 8:00 so can I holla @ ya lata?’

‘O okay I’ll tlk 2 u.... later on 2day. N b gud 2day! Lol’

‘Lol okay u b gud 2. I’ll holla’

‘Okay bye.’

‘Bye.’ When we stopped texting, I just imagined me and Kente’s relationship in the future together, but I stopped imagining that because we just started going together and I didn’t want to get any thoughts in my mind like that yet.

Later on that day when I woke up, I went downstairs in the kitchen, and my mom was rocking back and fourth in the chair, crying. I went over to where she was and I asked her what was wrong. She just pointed to a piece of paper on the floor, and I went over and got it. It was a note from my dad. ‘I think it would be best if we split up. I just can’t take all this arguing anymore. It just makes me think that you’re cheating on me and... I’m sorry I have to tell you like this’, but I don’t feel like I can tell you to your face so tell Marie I love her, and you can call me whenever you want. I’ve already got my clothes and the rest of my stuff from upstairs. I guess I’ll talk to you later. I love you.’ That is what my dad wrote. Why did he have to leave her like this? I hope she doesn’t get depressed and try to kill herself or anything. I went upstairs and tried to call my dad, but he didn’t answer. Someone tell me please; what was I to do in a situation like this?! I didn’t know what else to do, so I went in my room, closed the door, and prayed for my parents to stop arguing for once and work things out. Then I went back downstairs, but she was gone. I looked in the kitchen, outside, in the basement, everywhere! I called her phone, and she didn’t answer. Lord, please help me, and give me patience!