Lesson Learned *An urban story*

Chapter 12

"You what?" Karlina looked at me like I was crazy.

My whole body was shaking, my mind was going blank. I didn't know why but I was so scared on what was to come next.

"My friend Aliyah... the one I was telling you about. You know- The one that sung at granny funeral" I tried to stay calm as Karlina walked to the kitchen placing the rest of the McDonald bags on the counter. I followed, hoping that she wasn't going to scream and hoping that if she did, Aliyah wasn't going to hear. 

Karlina turned to me, placing her hand on her hip, "I don't care who she is...  What is wrong with you?"

"Whatchu mean?" I was slightly surprised how calm she was.

"What do you think I mean? Beeker, punishment means you're not allowed to do anything except for chores and school work. But for some reason, I can always count on you to do what you're not supposed to do" she rolled her eyes grabbing herself a burger out of one of the bags. "Tell her to come downstairs" she said.

"Huh?" My mouth was practically to the ground. Oh goodness, please don't let her curse Aliyah out!

"I said, tell her to come downstairs. I want to meet her"

"Why" I said, placing my bag on the counter.

She turned to me and gave me a hard stare.

"Okay, okay" I said, extending my palms out in her direction, right before I ran upstairs to get Aliyah.

I walked into my room and I can tell Aliyah was nervous. She was standing beside the bed holding her cell phone and purse, "My dad is on his way so... tell your sister she doesn't have to worry about me much longer."

My heart was beating fast. I licked my lips, "Uhh, my sister want to meet you"

Her eyes widened, "Why?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, she just do" I said, right before going back downstairs with her right behind me. We walked into the kitchen and all Karlina did was smile. Aliyah and I looked at each other surprised.

"What?"  I asked, looking at Karlina confused.

"So y'all together?" She said, pointing back and forth at us.

We looked at each other and smiled, "Uhh" we said in unison then chuckled.

"Yeah, this my girl" I said.

Karlina sighed, "Well, you look like a nice girl. I think I'm gonna like you"

That was a relief. My whole worry was that Kalrina was going to flip out on Aliyah, curse her out then kick her out of the house. Surprisingly, she was pretty nice to her and was even nicer to me once Aliyah left. I was glad that they seemed to get along and I was excited that Karlina agreed to let Aliyah come over whenever she liked. That was one thing I didn't have to worry about and I was pretty happy. The only thing now I had to do was work on was my behavior. And I was really going to try, not only for my well being but so that every one around can see that I'm trying to get back on the track I was on before my grandmother passed away. I really wanted to try to avoid the 'bad boy' type person that Aliayh thought I was trying to be.

*** 

A few months had passed, and I can tell my life was beginning to change. I was finally making money on my own since Leonard had hit me up with a little bit of work, Aliyah and was going strong, and of course the Downtown versus Uptown beef had worstened. Mike and I still hadn't talked but since we both were from Uptown and we had a lot of mutual friends, we were able to be in the same vicinity without any problems. 

The beginning of May was here and the smell of spring gave me nothing but bad vibes. My anger seemed to be taking control over my body and my mind. My behavior didn't change but I usually tried to hide my ways when I was around Aliyah. I wanted to be in charge at all times, I wanted people  to know I wasn't somebody to play with, and most of all, I wanted downtown to fear me.