Too Far Gone (Urban)

45| Roommates

Three months later…

“And 'arrows’ means…?” Chenelle glanced up at Raul from her composition notebook, twiddling her pen between her fingers. Raul laid on his back besides her facing the ceiling, his hand resting over his eyes to shield him from the afternoon sun. A light grey cloud passed over the sun, dimming down the atmosphere. Shaundi sat on the couch above them flicking through channels whilst taking a hit from her blunt.

“Arroz, mija, and it means 'rice’,” Raul replied. “The ending sounds like 'os’.”

“So arroz...”

“Roll your r's.”

“I can't.”

Raul shifted to his side, peering at her through his thick inky black curls. “Yes you can.”

“No, I can't,” Chenelle repeated, scribbling down the definition for arroz. “We try it everyday and every time I sound like a spitting baby.”

Raul let out an intoxicating chuckle, his curls bouncing and giggling along with him. He rolled back onto his back, stretching out his arms over his head. One of Shaundi’s feet hung off the couch, and he reached out and tickled it. Shaundi gasped, inhaling too strongly, hysterically coughing as a result. She kicked at Raul as she patted her chest, missing his hand entirely. “It's easy. All you do it relax your tongue on your teeth and…” A soft purring came from his mouth as he demonstrated for her. “Like that.”

Chenelle stared at her paper blankly. “I'm not even gonna try that…”

“It's part of the alphabet, babe.”

“Your alphabet. We don't have double r’s in ours.”

Raul let out another chuckle. “Okay, so if you go to Freckle Bitches and you want to order something, what would you say?”

Chenelle scanned her paper for a brief moment before replying, “Puedo tener una hamburguesa con queso y unas papas fritas grande.”

“No drink, ma’am?”

“...Y agua.”

Raul glanced at her again and poked her in the side. “You’re doing great, mija. You might as well consider yourself Hispanic at this point.”

Chenelle rolled her eyes and shook her head, a small smile forming on her face. She clicked her pen to retract its point, then closed her book and clipped the pen to its cover. “What else are we gonna do today, Raul?”

Raul bit his lip and sighed. “I don't know… Are you hungry? We can go to that Chinese place you like.”

“Nah, I'm still full from breakfast.”

“Well… you wanna hit the gym earlier then and go grab some lunch after?”

Chenelle thought it over before nodding. “Sure.”

At her confirmation, he rose up and fished his keys from his pocket. Chenelle got up as well and placed her book on the end table next to the couch. Raul looked at Shaundi and snatched three blunt out her hand, taking a hit from it. He handed it back to her. “You coming, Shaun?”

“Nah,” she replied, “My boyfriend asked for me to come over like an hour ago and I haven't left yet because I didn't feel like driving.”

“Is this boyfriend number four fifty-nine?” Raul smirked. Shaundi shot him a glare.

“Four hundred and fifty-eighth, actually. Can you give me a ride to his place first?”

“Sure… Where does it live?”