Breathe.

16

Nafessa Williams

I sat in a jail cell, surrounded by half my damn classmates. We were all mad as hell and everyone was ready to get the fuck out of here. I hadn't spoken to nobody, not even Zendaya who was sitting next to me. Toni was across the room and we would make eye contact but that's it.

"So we just spend the night here?"

Everyone's head turned to Kelly. She'd been talking our asses up every wall in America. Did I mention her and Shawn's ass was in here but there was no sign of their 'badass' leader?

The entire room groaned as Zendaya mumbled. "Bitch, we gone say it one more time. Once our parents pick us up, we're free to go. There's no records. No pictures. No fingerprints. You don't cause more problems and you go. Simple. Now shut up."

"Please and damn thank you." Ricky muttered. "I'm sick of hearing her ass."

"Shit same." Someone else added.

"Well, I'm sorry..." She replied as it got silent before she spoke again. "I'm sorry that I care about our records." Everyone smacked their lips. "I seem to be the only one here worried. My parents are strict!"

My head snapped her way as I snapped. "Shut up. You are not the only one. Everyone in here is worried and anxious. Everyone in here is probably scared as hell to face our parents. People deal with shit differently so instead of talking our damn heads off, sit there, talk to yourself in your head and mind your business. Shit."

It went silent as everyone stared at me. After a minute they began looking away. My nerves were bad. These cuffs were still hurting my wrist and quite frankly it just wasn't the damn time to be talking too damn much.

The officer came to the cell, and I knew it was to call a name but he wasn't alone this time. My mother was behind him. She pointed at Toni and Zendaya. "Them as well."

"Alright. You three. Time to go." He mumbled.

We stood and walked to the sliding door of the cell. He undid Toni's handcuffs first, then Z's and lastly mines. As we walked towards the front, my mother spoke to the officer. "Thanks for calling me Tim."

"No problem. Anytime Janila." They hugged briefly before she caught up with us.

We got into the car and she headed towards our neighborhood which was a good drive away. It was silent until she spoke. "Oh, so no one has anything to say?"

"Thanks for picking us up Mama J." Toni mumbled softly.

"You're definitely not welcome." My mom replied. "Girls, jail? Seriously?"

"It wasn't our faults—." Zendaya tried but was cut off.

"No. Nobody gets to excuse their actions right now. What happened? I expect better. If you're going to go to a protest, fine, but the law enforcement is where you draw a line. Something more serious could have happened to you girls." She continued scolding us.

Toni responded softly. "Things were going good but suddenly everything went haywire."

"And that's when you girls leave. I can't take another loss Nafessa. You know that. Make better decisions. You know that I trust you but if you continue getting into trouble with the police, I'll have to take—."

"My car." I finished for her. "Yeah. Got it."

My mom glanced at me before her tone hardened some. "Excuse me? Lose the attitude."

"No mom, because you claim you aren't strict but honestly you are. You want to know my whereabouts every thirty minutes. I'm 18! Everyone isn't dad alright? And if I did go out like him, I'd be happy because at least I went out with some damn dignity and pride and not a fucking nobo—." My words were cut short as a slap hit the left side of my face.