seasons | killmonger

21 | G R O W T H

We are what our thinking makes us.
~ Nigerian Proverb

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N'Jadaka

"Say it slower."

"No." I shook my head at Mbali. We were sitting in her 'study' that was kept off from every other part of the house. I found her here a few weeks ago, and finally realized where she would go. It was big and had book everywhere with a few couches around the room that were the same color as everything else in the house. Blue. "Nah, you're not about to have me doing this with you all day, again."

For the past three days; she's been making me help her improve on her American slang. And she was failing horribly. What I didn't understand is that when she needed to; she could pull off a perfect American accent; but slang was hard for her. The whole time I would try to help her, she would frown and look directly at my mouth to try and form the syllables correctly. The current word I was trying to teach her? Nigga.

"Please? I'm close!" She laughed and covered her eyes. "I'm getting better."

It was the simplest thing ever. Instead of saying Nigga, she would say negga. She realized that she was saying it wrong when she heard me yelling at the tv and hasn't stopped bothering me about it. "Mbali... I've been through this with you for so damn long that I'm about to start seeing stars. I swear." I huffed and put my elbows on my knees. "Last time, alright? Look at my mouth and listed: Nigga." I raised my eyebrow and she nodded, telling me she got it.

"Nigga." She said clear with a smile; sounding like a typical american.

"Damn. See? You got it. Was it really that hard?"

"No." She shook her head and I frowned at her. "Honestly? I had it perfectly for a day now; I just wanted to see how much patience you had to actually work with me." She laughed at the look I had on my face.

"You know what? You play too much." I stood up to walk out of the room until she grabbed my arm.

"It was funny seeing you get frustrated, I'll relax this time I swear."

Ever since what happened a few days ago, we've been trying to get on the same page with everything, including each other. She figured it would be the best way to understand each other so I just went along with it.

"I'm not helping you with shit else." I sat back down and shook my head. "Childish."

"First, fuck you." She pointed and stood up, walking out the room only for me to follow her. "Second, like I said. It was funny to see you get frustrated. Now come with me." Mbali grabbed a basket and slid on sandals, walking towards the front door. "My baby should be back by now."

"Baby?" I scoffed. "What baby?"

"Zina. She's my pet. She should be making her way back soon. She leaves frequently but comes back. She's been gone for a long time now." She mumbled and the sun from outside hit our skin instantly. Everything here was different than America. It was like the sun even hit your skin different here. I followed her out and actually took in that she wasn't wearing any tribal colors like she normally would.

She was dressed down in a long peach colored skirt that dragged slightly against the ground and a strapless white top that only covered her breast. She was finally getting comfortable enough to let her keloids show around the palace as long as no one else was here. We got to a wooden fence that had nothing behind it and she wouldn't stop smiling. "Ain't shit... here." I said slowly and looked around.