Lethal

Chapter Four.

Sunday started off pleasantly for me, I'd woken up in a great mood and was hopeful of my new job prospect but wouldn't be sure until I got the confirmation call from Ms. Fox the next morning. However, I knew that it was only one job and that I would still need to find other ways to supplement my income. I decided that I would follow through with my idea from the day before and sell items of clothing and jewelry that I either didn't wear or didn't need; after all, what good would they be if I ended up homeless?

I had been hesitant to sell my things because they acted as a barrier between the Zana who had nothing and needed everyone and the Zana who had what she needed and depended on no one. In reality, holding onto them would have brought me closer to the version of myself that I no longer wanted to be. A huff of frustration left me as I sat at the edge of my bed and tried to think of my next move; I would separate my stuff into "keep" and "sell" piles then go from there.

The process was tedious and surprisingly exhausting, but I felt accomplished at the size of the "sell" pile. My Prada bag had taunted me the entire time, telling me to let go of my sentimental attachment to it but I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. I spent the rest of my morning putting together outfits with all of the clothing that I planned to sell, then took pictures in each one so that I could post the images to my Depop account, despite my general sadness at having to let go of things that I liked, it made me happy and excited to create a variety of looks with them and I hoped that their future owners would have fun with them.

Mari called me just as I was finishing up, "Hey Za! What are you doing?"

"Selling half my wardrobe, what about you babe?" I twirled a piece of hair and looked around at the mess that I'd made.

Mari hummed in understanding, "We just had lunch with Rico's parents and he's about to drop me off. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, I don't even wear most of that stuff. What about you babe? I thought that you were staying with Jericho for the week." I made myself comfortable on my bed and heard him in the background yelling "me too".

She groaned, "I've been there since Thursday and I could barely get any work done Za!" She chuckled, "I love him but I'm tryna graduate early and staying with him makes that impossible."

"I hear you Mari, this is why y'all never get into fights. You always stop that shit before it happens." I teased, "You gotta have a big blowout at least once man!"

Mari laughed, "We got time for that, just lemme graduate with as little stress as possible first! Plus, we argue, we just don't get carried away because it doesn't solve anything."

"If you say so, you know I like to fight." I looked at my chipped nail polish and sighed, "You're always so calm that it's scary."

"Not always Za, there's a time and place for everything. I actually called to ask if you would come to a party with me on Friday, Rico is going to Tampa with his brother and I don't like the people from my school." Mari's voice took on a sweeter tone, not that I ever needed much convincing to go to a party.

"So, you're saying that it's a law school party?" I paused, "Sure, but I'm inviting Aisha."

Mari squealed in excitement, "Yay! I like your sister, even if the feeling isn't mutual."

"She just doesn't know you guys well, hopefully that'll change on Friday." I knew that Aisha would go with me and I hoped that they would get along.

"I'm excited now, okay I'll text you the info. Rico wants to talk to you." Mari was interrupted before she could say anymore.

"Yo, I'm thinking that me and Mari can send you pictures of some outfits that you put together for us, then you can put them on your style page. It's gaining traction but we can turn it up a notch by showing that this ain't a random girl's finsta. Ask your sister too, it'll show that you got some clientele. Feel me?" Jericho rattled off, obviously in business mode.

I laughed, "Smart, I feel you. Thanks for all the help bro."

"No problem, aight we're at Mari's campus so I guess we'll talk later Zaza." Jericho told me.

"Bye! Tell Mari that I can't wait for Friday!" We said our goodbyes and ended the call, I texted Aisha as soon as the call ended and she reluctantly agreed to go to the party, which she referred to as the "young professionals snooze fest".

I tidied up my apartment when we finished our conversation, placing all of my for-sale items on a clothing rack that I'd bought during college and neatly putting away everything that I planned to keep. It was only five in the evening by the time that I'd finished, so I decided to rummage through my purse in search of Jibri's number. I wasn't completely sure what my intentions were with him but there was only one way to find out. I chewed on my bottom lip and waited for him to answer, wondering if he even remembered who I was, a smile graced my face as I thought about how many girls he must've given his number to throughout the week.

"Speak." His voice rumbled on the other line, music was playing lowly in the background of wherever he was.

I grinned at his gruff tone, "Hey, it's Zana." The music in the background was paused.

"Oh shit, wassup Miss Zana?" Jibri's voice was friendlier than when he first answered; I took it as a good sign.

"Nothing, I actually called to ask if you were going to be busy later." I twirled a piece of my hair as I awaited his response.

He released a light chuckle, "I'm at the shop but I ain't busy, you wanna come through?"

"The shop? Do you work on Sundays too?" I asked him, standing from my bed and pulling out a random outfit.

"Nah, just had some sketches to prep for tomorrow. So, you comin' or not?" Jibri's amused voice asked.

I nodded although he couldn't see me, "I'll text you when I'm outside. See you soon."

"Aight, later Zana." He ended the call and I got ready.

Do y'all think that our girl Zana should get the job?

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