Black Waters (Frank Ocean Love Story)

Chapter 二十

Ajahni’s View.  †

When I woke up, I was alone in an familiar room. Everything that happened the day before had eluded my memory. What happened?

The room was decorated as if it was a girl’s room, with three beds including the bed I was on. There was a golden symbol between the ceiling and one of the walls. That’s when my memory came flooding back in. I was in Cedar Gardens, a mental institution. The symbol was Cedar Gardens’ logo.

I sighed and peered at the clock for the time. It was still early in the morning. I couldn’t exactly say that I wouldn’t be waking up normally at this time, because my waking depends on what predicament I’m in. Every day it’s a new situation for me.

I crawled out of the bed and toward the door, hearing the faint thumping of loud music. As I entered the hallway, I realized that another member of the institution was blasting Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady,” through powerful speakers. I couldn’t quite see the person through the crack of their door, but suddenly someone burst through the room’s door and stared at me like I stole something.

“Hey, silly.” The albino girl purred at me. “You should be stuffing your throat right about now.”

I looked up at the clock next to her dorm’s door and realized that it was around the time breakfast was supposed to be served.

“So how come you’re not down there?” I asked her, looking for an excuse not to go to breakfast.

“When you’re a bad girl, they punish you. No breakfast for me today,” said the evidently drunk girl. I walked a little closer to her, breathing in more of the alcohol stench that lingered around her. I backed politely away from her and gave a subtle smile.

“Well, I’ll be down there. I’m Ajahni, by the way.” I outstretched my hand for the girl to shake. She stared at it a while, as if she had no intention of shaking it. When I pulled away, she grabbed my hand back and smothered me with the sweat of her palms.

“I’m Qi.” She replied. Her name sounded like ‘key’. Then I took a closer look at her, and saw that she had the classic characteristic of an oriental Asian—those slanted eyes. She was probably Filipino.

“Bye, Qi.”

I smiled once more before going to Staircase D. The smile was still plastered to my face as I went down the steep stairs. The staircase was rather dark. I didn’t focus on it, though. I was content with the way my plan was unfolding. This might be the first time I’ve actually done something like this successfully.

And it’s all for you, Christopher.

Soon enough, a faint light shined at the end of the staircase. I pushed the heavy gray door that the light was leaking through. I had invited myself to a place certainly didn’t look like a cafeteria, or a place appropriate for eating.

Adriana and Anastasia were there, along with another girl. This girl had platinum blonde hair and potent blue eyes. Anastasia was puffing on a roach while the other two eagerly stared at her, probably wanting to take some of the last puffs also. When I arrived, it took a while for them to notice me.

“What are you guys doing back here?” I asked when they looked at me. Staircase D led to the back of the building, in the parking lot. The girls were hidden by thick bushes. Even if the bushes weren’t there, the lot was surprisingly empty this morning.

“What are you doing here?” Anastasia mocked. It was so tempting to just snap at her…but that would ruin everything.

“I wanted breakfast. But I guess I came the wrong way.” I briefly explained.

“Oh. Well, breakfast is almost over anyway,” Platinum Blond said as she checked her watch and reached for the roach. Anastasia handed it to her and breathed out the remainder of smoke from her nose. I looked at them with innocent eyes. My act was certainly working on Adriana. I could tell she was taking a liking to me. Platinum Blond just saw me as a new girl, but soon she and Anastasia would see me as much more.

“Okay. I guess I’ll just wait until later to eat.” I said. Truthfully, I didn’t know what to make of this incident.

“Wait, Ajahni! Come chill with us.” Adriana called me back. I was grateful for Adriana’s intervention. I turned back willingly and conversed with the girls for a while, ignoring Anastasia’s annoyed expression. She didn’t like me…for now.

“So, what’s your name again?” I asked the blond girl. She smiled, disclosing pale yellow teeth.

“Barbara. I go by Barbie.” She said. Her voice was strange, much like that of a boy going through puberty. I forced a smile.

“I can see why you call yourself Barbie,” I said, running a finger through her hair. Barbie giggled and blushed when I touched her hair. Was I already making that good of an impression?

“Yeah. She doesn’t act like a Barbie though.” Anastasia, to my surprise, said. I wasn’t expecting her to speak while I was there.

Just as quickly as I had come, we were leaving. We made our way back into the building and Adriana told me that Staircase A was the one I had to take to get to the cafeteria. We agreed to relax in my dorm. But when we got there, someone had already joined the party.

“Hey, Ajahni.” Qi purred. Something about her was strange. Firstly, I’d never seen an albino Asian before. And she’d dyed her hair a rust color, so you almost couldn’t tell she was albino or Asian. And she had an annoying but interesting aura about her.

“Hi.” I muttered, looking at the faces of the other girls. They all seemed irritated. I could tell Qi wasn’t very liked in the Cedar Gardens community.

“I just came in since I was growing tired of my old, plain dorm.” Qi said as Anastasia marched over to her. Anastasia lifted an arm to slap Qi right across the face, but Barbie stopped her.

“Come on, just leave her alone.” I said to Anastasia. “She’s just another addition to our party.”

And just like that, the girls were all over Qi. They obeyed me so well that they’d like someone who I told them to like. I couldn’t get the smile off of my face as I thought of this.

We sat in the dorm and talked. When Barbie turned on the TV, it went straight to a club’s channel. The club was called Reagan Manor; it was a pop club, seemingly popular. The television station was hyping up their next event, which was taking place tomorrow night. The best of the best will be there, according to the brunette girl who was exciting her viewers.

“I mean, if you’re not going to the club tomorrow night, who are you? Better yet, what are you?!” She screamed at the TV. Qi chuckled at her.

“You know who else will be there? Yes, the hottest guy you know. The boyfriend of Britney Spears’ hairdresser, Ryan Safari!”

Then a picture of a hairdresser came up. The girl looked awfully familiar. But when the brunette said Ryan Safari’s name, a picture that made me gasp came up. It was him…it was Roshon. He was going to be there tomorrow night.

“We’re going to that party.” I announced confidently, still staring at the picture as it faded away for a commercial break.

“How?”  Adriana asked.

“Tomorrow if our free-day; we have two hours to be outdoors at any time before midnight. We can go.” Anastasia said, looking at me in agreement.

“And you know what else we’re going to do?” I asked the girls. They were my girls. “We’re going to meet Ryan Safari.”