AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

NINE

LONG CHAPTER.

1993
Queens, New York
[Queensbridge]

JAHKAI

       "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAI KAI!" Jahkai jumped out of his sleep, startled by his mother's excitement. She approached him with a huge smile on her face and a tray with a plate of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and orange juice.

Jahkai chuckled as he sat up against the headboard while rubbing the sleep out his eyes. "Ma, I'm not 5 anymore. Don't call me that."

She rolled her eyes and placed the tray on his lap before taking a seat on the edge of the bed." Boy, I don't care if you 5 or 25. You'll always be my Kai Kai."

Jahkai just smiled softly and looked down at his breakfast. "Thank you for this." He said and glanced back up at his mother. "Thank you for everything that you do." He spoke genuinely almost bringing her to tears. 

These words were so simple, but he meant them and she knew it. Even though she was annoying to him 99.9 percent of the time, that was still his mother. He loved her more than anything in this world. He never disrespected her and always showed gratitude towards her. All he ever wanted was to make her proud and pay her back for being such an amazing mother to him. And whenever life decides to put him in a position to do so, that was the first thing he was going to make happen.

"Well, I gotta get to work now." Mrs. Jones got up from the bed. "Make sure you wash them dishes after you're done. Don't be leaving anything in my sink. You don't get a pass just because it's your birthday."

Jahkai snickered and nodded. "Yes ma'am." He responded and began eating as she walked out his room.

After eating his breakfast, Jahkai did as his mother said and hopped in the shower right after. He completed his morning routine and decided to go over his lyrics for tonight's competition. He was excited but nervous for his performance. He knew he was a good rapper, no doubt. But he had never done anything like this in front of anyone except his close friends.

Although this was all his idea, Jahkai couldn't help but let his somewhat shy, introverted personality start to get the best of him. Malik was the complete opposite, he had no worries about tonight's performance. But that's just how he was.

Ever since kindergarten, Malik was always the more outgoing one and the class clown. People favoured him more because of his high energy while Jahkai just stayed more to himself, never really speaking until spoken to or unless you were someone close to him.