SUMMER NIGHTS

2

THE NEXT DAY...

Stepped outside and took in the warm air of the summer morning. It was pretty quiet; something I wasn't used to living in Baltimore.

I decided to sit on the steps of Daddy's home with my bottle of orange juice. His wife didn't cook, so there was an abundance of prepackaged foods and drinks in their house. Made me miss Momma even more. She cooked everyday: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The thought of that made me miss home more than I already did.

It was about 10:30 in the morning and I was bored out of my mind. I didn't sleep well last night, probably due to the jet lag thing Daddy was talking about yesterday. I was surprised that I wasn't  tired. I wanna say it was because I was mad or homesick or whatever. Although I hate to admit it, but it was because I was actually excited.

I was supposed to hate this place and everyone in it, but low-key,  the drive here yesterday and seeing everything made me want to go out  and explore. The only problem was, Not only didn't I  know how to get anywhere, but I didn't have no friends to explore the city with. And the language thing...

I really needed to call my homegirls!

I was so used to just getting up and going whenever I wanted (of course, after askin' Momma first). Takin' the city buses was a normal part of my life. I had to figure out the bus schedule and figure out how to navigate the trains here and I didn't even know where to start. 

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I was startled when I heard, "Bonjour!" off to my right.

I jumped, raising my head to see the 'thought intruder'.

I twisted my face at the guy standing off to my side. He clearly ain't get the hint that I ain't wanna talk to no one.

He smiled real wide at me, which kinda pissed me off for some reason.

"Can I help you?!" I said to him with a bit of my Baltimore attitude laced between e each word. You already know I had to give some neck action to add emphasis. I don't know why I was being so mean. Maybe it was the hood girl in me; taught by my Momma not to be friendly with just anybody.

"You be  too friendly with everyone you meet, someone bound to take advantage of you!" She'd always tell me. I stuck to that and lived my life by everything she said. Yeah, I felt like I already knew a lot about the world, but I knew that Momma was smart. Not only was she smart, I knew she loved and cared about me. I seen a lot of girls on my block not listening to they mommas and daddies about things and end up in bad situations, so when it came to my Momma, I listened. 

I raised my eyebrows even higher when he ain't say nothin. To be honest, I kinda forgot that I was in a place that spoke a whole 'nother language, so I genuinely thought he was tongue-tied when I saw his face twist up like he was thinkin' bout somethin' real hard.

He raised his hands like he was tryin' hard to not offend me, "Okay, I sorry for this English, but I not ever see you here before."

He said his words real slow and careful-like with pauses between each one, as if he was havin' a hard time tryin' to come up with his sentence.  It made me chuckle a bit, but I was quick to recover and give him my serious face again.

"Oh okay, I feel you!" I said to him in response.

He twisted his face up again and I rolled my eyes.

Damn, this communication shit 'gon be hard as fuck! I thought to myself.

I let out a sigh and gave him two thumbs up and said, "You good!" really slow, as if he'd understand that better. I rolled my eyes at myself and shook my head.