Perspectives (Season 1)

Lourdes 1

I woke up to the sun coming through my blinds. I put my hand up to my face and rolled out of the bed. Losing my grip, I slipped and crashed onto the floor. "Ugh, shit!" I groaned as I crawled up and quietly went down our polished wood stairs, careful not to wake up my family.

Halfway down there was a long, hard knock on the front door. I hurried down the rest of the way, skipping the last few steps and sliding to the door. It was 8:00 am, and I had just gotten Lennox, my son, back to sleep after another night of relentless coughing and wheezing. He had caught an awful cold from my younger brother, Reign. 

When I opened the front door, four guys stood on the porch. They looked like they might be related, sharing some similar features. But at the same time, they looked nothing alike. They all flashed wide, toothy grins at me. I quickly returned one. It was really just the corners of my lips turning slightly upwards for two seconds. I noticed they stood in a perfect square, one behind the other. It was oddly satisfying.

The caramel skin with waves and brown eyes stood in the front on my right with a muscular, athletic physique. Tattoos covered both of his arms, travelled over to his chest and peeked over the collar of his tank top. His left leg was covered too. His neck was free of art, and thankfully so was his face. He was handsome. It would have been ashamed to ruin such an amazing thing.

The boy to his right was a darker shade, a bit lighter than my brown skin hue. He was shorter than the boy with waves, who stood roughly 6'3 or 6'4 to my 4'11 stature. He was skinnier with toned tattooed arms, and a low cut. I couldn't help but notice how big his teeth were, but they were also the whitest I'd ever seen. And he had small chin stubble.

Behind him was a light skin boy with a curly afro. He was noticeably lighter than the rest, almost mixed looking. He had chin hair, a light mustache, and a gold tooth. He, surprisingly, was tattoo free unlike his friends. He was muscular too and stood an inch or so shorter than the boy with waves.

The last boy, another brown skin, had long, black hair that he had popped up into a messy bun with his sides shaved. I immediately noticed his pointy nose. He also had an athletic physique but no tattoos and stood at the same height as the first boy with caramel skin and waves.

After doing a thorough once over, I confirmed their similar facial features. I assumed they were cousins or maybe brothers, but they were definitely related.

The first boy with waves spoke first in a deep, sultry voice. "What's up? We just moved in next door with our dad and little brother, Royal. Just wanted to introduce ourselves. I'm Amari Walker," he pointed to the brown skin boy with the low cut to his right, "this my brother Chris," then the light skin boy, "Princeton," then the other brown skin with long hair, "and DeAndre. What's your name?" "Lourdes." I replied, shaking each of their hands in turn. "But you can call me Lo." "Nice to meet you." DeAndre kissed my hand. I smirked and made a face, "You too."

I heard Lennox cry from upstairs. "Nice meeting yall, but I gotta go." I smiled and slammed the door quick, running back upstairs to my room.

When I first found out I was pregnant three years ago, I was embarrassed. Even though I had been with my boyfriend and Lennox's father, Chadlen Sheppard, for two years at that point, I was 16 in the 11th grade; all I wanted to do was enjoy the remainder of my junior year and get ready for senior year and college like the rest of the teenagers in the world. Fearful that my friends and classmates would judge me, Chadlen and I decided to keep the pregnancy a secret until after graduation. The timing just never seemed right. Before I knew it, two years had passed and still no one knew about our son outside of family and Chadlen's best friend, Myles Daniels, and his sister, Mikahyla. 

Then the unspeakable happened, forcing me back into a cocoon of depression and hiding. Springing a nearly three year old on my friends and the world seemed unrealistic. I knew I had to soon though. It had been torture not sharing the adorable pictures and moments of my son on social media. Plus, Lennox was the only piece of Chadlen the world had now. It seemed selfish to keep him to myself.

My mind drifted back to the neighbor boys as I lay down next to Lennox and gently patted his back as he nodded off, constantly trying to fight his sleep. They came out of nowhere. And it was weird that they came over just to introduce themselves at 8:00 in the morning. Of all the years we'd lived in that house, I couldn't remember a single neighbor ever coming over just to introduce themselves. 

We all knew each other and spoke in passing. Normally we would introduce ourselves to new neighbors if we happened to see them outside checking their mail or bringing groceries in, but never by walking up to their front door. On top of that, they said they lived with their dad, but he didn't come over with them.

Mary Patterson, a light skinned older woman, used to stay in the house the neighbor boys lived in now. She lived there before we even moved. She had passed away not too long ago but no one had lived there since. Mrs. Patterson was always so sweet and was one of the very few people who knew Lennox. I shook the tears away, thinking about how much I missed her. She had become such a huge part of my childhood. I felt like I had lost my own grandmother all over again.

I let my son's snore lull me back to sleep, my mind on something besides Chadlen for the first time in months as I drifted off.