PARADOX

PDX15

November 17th 2022
Harlem, New York
10:08 am

Rashad walked out the bodega and hopped back inside the truck he ordered, he slipped on his seatbelt before cracking open his Arizona fruit punch and took a swig before tightly closing it and sitting it next to him. He unwrapped his bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich—with salt, pepper, and ketchup added of course and took a big bite. Rashad nodded his head in approval, the taste was always consistent which he appreciated.

His phone began to vibrate in his pocket, snapping him out of his foodgasm. He used his free hand to answer the incoming call. "Yeah." Rashad greeted, realizing he didn't bother to look at who it was.

"You mad weird." Isis' voice came through the phone, "How?" Rashad furrowed his eyebrows together as he continued to enjoy his sandwich.

"How you gone fuck me and then leave, like I'm some cheap hoe or something?" Isis semi yelled, "I had shit to do Ice—I couldn't lay up and shit, you went to sleep anyway." Rashad rebutted.

"Whatever nigga, you should've laid your ass down and went to sleep too." She replied, causing Rashad to lightly chuckle. "I'm not laughing Rashad, that shit feel like you used me for sex." She added.

"We both know that ain't true." Rashad replied as he finished off his sandwich, he balled the wrapper up and made note to discard of it once he reached his destination. "How?" Isis questioned.

"Cause, I don't need you for sex Isis. Pussy ain't hard for me to come by." Rashad frankly spoke. In that moment he realized he was in a Uber and the driver could hear his conversation, but he didn't care. "Get the fuck off my phone—I wouldn't fuck you again if you was the last dick on earth. You gone stop saying all that fresh shit to me dayroom ass." Isis fussed.

"Nigga you called me." Rashad argued before the three beeps sounded, indicating that Isis hung up. Rashad wasn't phased in the least bit, shit like that didn't move him, especially from Isis. Once he looked he realized that they were outside of Drea's, he hopped out and decided to sit in the front with the driver so Drea and Sahara could sit in the back.

"Why didn't you sleep at our house?" Sahara questioned as her uncle pulled her into a hug, "Cause you snore too loud." Rashad teased, opening the door for her to hop inside. Soon came Drea, of course she was done up for the visit. Fresh nails, hair, lashes, and a new outfit were apart of her ensemble. As she walked by the scent of Prada's Candy perfume filled Rashad's nostrils.

"GoodMorning." Drea greeted in a sing song tone as she walked toward the truck, "GoodMorning Drea." Rashad replied, he made sure she was situated in the car before getting in the passenger seat. As the ride progressed, Rashad grew more and more nervous. Not only about seeing his brother, but for his niece to see her father in those circumstances as well.

The car ride was silent, despite the movie that Sahara was watching on her phone. He guessed that everybody drowned it out since they were so deep in their thoughts. The driver attempted to make conversation with Rashad, but quickly gave up when he realized how short and unsweet Rashad's responses were. He looked back to see Sahara had fallen asleep with her movie still playing, the left side of her head was pressed against the window and her mouth was slightly ajar. Rashad let out a small chuckle as he grabbed her phone and stopped the movie. He turned the opposite way and noticed Drea's lips were pursed together as she stared out the window—in her own little world.

Rashad turned around and refocused his attention on what was in front of him. His phone's Lock Screen continued to light up as he got notification after notification. About an hour later they made it to Jersey, where Rahim was locked up at. Although Rashad hadn't visited his brother in a while, he still remembered the check in process and how strenuous it was.