Dark coffee

Chapter Twenty nine

A school year later

Summer holidays have passed as quickly as within a blink. Compared to other summers, this one had a different sensation. A lot of change has happened in my life. First, Jamal moved with Estephania to their new luxurious house last July. A few days after he moved, my family, Hakim's family, the girls, Darell and I accompanied him with Hakim to the airport as they were due to travel to Maryland as their football season was about to begin.

Following that, Jamal and Hakim, therefore, began their contract with the Baltimore Ravens, a team of the American National Football League. Thanks to their scholarship, obtained through football, they were now studying at the private university of Jons-Hopkins also located in the city of Baltimore.

A few weeks later, my brother came back to Toronto to attend his daughter's birth. Katalehya was born on August 2nd. He stayed a few days to spend time with them but had to leave again.

Then there was another change in my life. Lens was eventually hired as a private athletic trainer for several NFL teams. He was still living with us but was constantly on the move between Toronto and the United States. He was planning to quit soon according to his words.

As for Malik, he had started training in a private boxing club and doing junior fights with other boxers. He won all his matches what started to attract more and more attention from the recruiters of the professional boxing federation. Malik had changed a lot since he was dating Brittany and for the better. I know that she had introduced him to her friends. They even went together with Brittany's girlfriends for a weekend at a cottage. She told me that she had to beg him to accept, because he and everything that is nature, camping and cottage isn't his cup of tea.

Brittany and I became close. She was super chill! One day, she told me that, during the stay at the cottage, her friends told her that they found Malik really handsome and couldn't believe his beautiful brown- green eyes. Some of them were even jealous that she was dating "a handsome black man". I laughed my life away when I heard this story. However, Malik had not yet introduced her to his friends for a few reasons that I discovered during this year...

One of the last changes was the evolution of my relationship with Darell. We loved each other more and more every day and lived our love at 100 miles an hour like there was no tomorrow. This evolution in our relationship was created because a few months into the summer holidays, Darell finally dared to gather Hassan's belongings and donate them to charity. With Lens and Malik, we went to help him repaint Hassan's room to make it a study and sports room. He only kept photos and school reports belonging to him. What benefited our relationship the most was our trip to Newport Beach, California. With all that had happened to us over the past year, Darell suggested we go on a trip. So, we decided to go to Newport Beach for a week. The hotel where we stayed had a breathtaking view of the beach. It was magical to alone with him in a city where we knew no one and no one knew us. The intimacy that we shared and the memories that we were able to create will remain forever engraved in my memory. During our stay, I even had the chance to visit Jamal's loft and meet his team members.

The only problem between Darell and me was Salmiya. They became very good friends. She had been present for him after Hassan's death. I didn't appreciate their friendship. Actually, I hated the way she talked to him, touched him subtly, texted him and sometimes even at inappropriate hours when I was in bed with him. I wanted to talk to Darell about it, but I didn't want him to think I didn't trust him. So I tried to control the anger that rose in me every time she was near him.

Suddenly, I heard Lens' voice which brought me back to the present moment, "Dahila did you hear what I said?"

"What?" I said confused.