7 Days

18

"Why did you run, boy?!" My uncle yelled as my family finished dying of laughter.
"I-I don't know." Ray sat next to me on the couch and the rest of my family sat around the room in chairs watching us with smiles.

"You ain't gotta be scared of us!" My grandma walked up to him and rubbed his head, "you're family here!"
Ray smiled at her then grabbed my hand.

"So tell us about yourself," my mom asked. Everyone stared at Ray as he took a deep breath.
"My name is Raheem Amini and I'm f-"
"RAHEEM AMINI?!" My brother yelled from behind us, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"
"Stop!" I yelled as I walked back to him and hit his shoulder.
"Roe, do you know it's guy's a billionaire!?"

"Billionaire?!" My uncle yelled. Ray looked back at me and I gave him a comforting smile.
"Well...yes-yes I am," He spat out. Everyone looked at each other then back at him.

"Well we don't care about money here!" My grandma said as he sat where I was and hugged him, "we love you for who you are." Ray smiled and hugged her back.

"So finish telling us about you."
"Well," Ray continued nervously, "I'm from Armenia but I didn't stay there long. My family and I always moved from place to place."

"How long have you been in America?" My mom asked.
"I guess I've stayed here permanently for about five years. Before here, I stayed in London."
"You don't sound like you're from anywhere," my uncle said as he looked at him suspiciously."

"Yeah...I don't have an accent."
"Why?" My cousin asked.
"Well, my nanny raised me. So I talk like her...I guess."
"What do you mean she raised you?" My grandma asked.

"My father was always at a different meeting and my Mom never really liked kids. So my nanny is the one who raised me."
"That's nice of her to do!" My Mom said with a smiled.
"Where is she from?" My dad asked.
"She's from somewhere in America...I'm not sure."
"What's her name?" My grandma asked. Ray smiled and sighed thinking about her.

"Miss. Bernice Jones."
"OHHHHHH!" My whole family yelled.

I turned around to my cousins and we we all laughing.
"Everything makes sense now!" I whispered.

Ray laughed as my Grandad walked outside and started playing music on the porch speaker..
"Come on out here, Ray!" He yelled. Ray and all the men walked outside. My grandma led all of the girls into her bedroom.

My grandma's bedroom is where we always have little family meetings. It's not a big room, and her bed takes up more than half of it. She has a long dresser with a mirror in front of the bed that has a TV sitting on it. The walls are cream white and she has a blue comforter.

"So," my mom began as we all sat on the bed, "how did you find a billionaire?!" We all laughed.
"I didn't find him, he found me."
"Chocolate fever," my grandma whispered.

"No, he doesn't have chocolate fever!" I yelled as we all laughed again.
"He's cute!" I younger cousin Hera yelled. She's 25, but we were never close. She's always been very pretty, with her light brown eyes and black hair.

"You should see him with his hair down!"
"Do you really like him?" My aunt asked.
"Well, believe it or not I've only known him for a few days."

"What?!" My mom yelled.
"You brought him over here that quick?!" My grandma chimed in.

"He had never been around a family before," I confessed.
"Awww poor boy!" My mom said.

"Yeah, but he's nicer than I thought he would be."
"He's not arrogant," my aunt added. She was right. He has never gloated about his money.

"Monroe come out here!" My brother yelled. All of the women and I walked out of my Grandma's room and headed to the glass patio door.

Then I saw the funniest thing in the world.
Ray doing the Electric Slide.

I walked outside giggling as all the men were dancing with Ray in the front.
"We're teaching him some line dances," my brother bragged.

"Look Monroe!" Ray yelled as he shuffled back and forth, "This is called the Electric Slide!"
"I know, Ray!" All the girls laughed as we watched him dance with my Uncles and cousins.

Suddenly the Mississippi Cha Cha Slide came on and Ray smiled big.
"What's this?!" He asked my cousin.
"Another dance we gotta teach you!" My aunt, Mom, and Grandma all ran out to dance, leaving me with Hera.

"Wanna go for a drive?" I asked her. She nodded and we walked back inside.
We walked down the driveway into the car.
"Where are we going?" She asked.
"Just gonna drive around. Dinner should be ready in a minute, so we'll be back soon."

I pulled out of the driveway and drove around the block.
"Soo?" I toyed.
"Um-" Hera spat out, "I saw the pictures of you with Denzel."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah! They were on some blogs."
"Wow!" I replied. I hadn't even thought about that. There's probably all kids of stories about us online.

"I'm not dating him," I told her.
"You and Raheem are cute," she mumbled.
"Thanks little Cuz!" I yelled as we laughed.

"So you got a boyfriend yet?" I asked her.
"Umm..."
"What?"
"I have to tell you something. I need help."
"You can tell me anything," I said softly.

"I...I have a girlfriend."
"Oh you're a lesbian?!" I asked. I didn't have a problem with that. Hell, I was a little bi myself!
"Yeah...I don't know how to tell anyone." I pulled into the parking lot of a Corner Store to talk to her.

"I think you should tell your mom," I suggested as I parked the car.
"I don't know how she'll take it."
"She'll understand. She's always been understanding." My aunt was a very 'go with the flow' type of person.

"You don't think I'm wrong for it?" She asked.
"Not at all honey!" I smiled and started the car back up. She sighed and we rode in silence back to my Grandma's house.

I walked inside and smelled the heart warming scent of Collard Greens, Cornbread, chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, turkey and ham. My mouth began to water as I looked into the family room and saw R-

"WHO GAVE RAY CORNROWS!"

*******

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