Free It's Complicated by Sophia Latriece Page A

from
complications with sickle cell anemia. My daddy was a workaholic so Kyle and I
spent a lot of time home alone. Kyle learned to cook by watching those shows on
television. Most of the time, I didn’t know what it was going to be like, but
it always turned out well. So well that he opened up his own restaurant when he
graduated college.

 
          Kyle was very
overprotective, so, dating for me was out of the question; though I still
managed to sneak a few past him. I didn’t have a lot of friends because I’m not
all that fond of people and girls keep up too much drama. I did have this one
friend; Jacob Boykin. He was a couple years older than me and he lived right
down the street from us. He was more like a brother. An only child, with senior
citizen parents, and too much time on his hands. He liked basketball and since
we happened to have a court in our backyard, he spent a lot of time at our
house.  

 
          I had never really
paid attention to Jake in an affectionate type way. That is until one day I was
eavesdropping on them while they were playing basketball. It was Jake, Kyle and
my cousin Brock. I was on the window seat in my upstairs bedroom reading a
book. I kept getting thrown off because their conversations about the
neighborhood freaks, were much more intriguing. I learned that day that men
were just as bad, if not worse, than women when it came to gossiping. I nearly
broke my face when I heard Brock ask Jake about a particular girl. I don’t
remember if he asked would he or if he but from his reply, ‘Man, I wouldn’t hit
that girl if you let me use your d---’, I drew the conclusion that he hadn’t.
          I laughed so hard
that my face hit the window and I dropped my book on the floor.   Jake saw me and yelled out, “We know you up
there listening Kam. Come on down here so I can dunk on you”. I looked down at
him and for the first time he looked different. His rich caramel skin covered
in tattoos and sweat. His thick, curly black hair and light brown eyes. I was
in a daze. I had to snap out of it. I put up my middle finger and stuck out my
tongue, teasing him. “Naw, you don’t wanna do that”, he teased back. I got
myself together went downstairs. Just as my foot hit the bottom of the
staircase, I saw them all running through the door going straight for the
kitchen. “Y’all are some vultures”, I said to them rolling my eyes.
    “Hush girl”, Kyle replied.
    “What you bout to do, Kammie”, Jake asked.
    “Not a thing”, I replied. “It’s too hot to do anything. And
stop calling me that.”
    “Let’s go to the movies. I’ll drive”,  
    “You’ll pay too”.
    “Whatever, I’ll be back in an hour. Be ready in an hour Kam”.
    “She not gone be ready”, Brock said stuffing his mouth with
Doritos.
    “Shut up punk”, I snapped back running upstairs to my bedroom.

 
          I jumped in the
shower, put my hair in a ponytail, and threw on the first thing that I saw. Cut
off blue jean shorts, an oversized Bulls jersey and red and white Air Max. A
ponytail was my go to hairstyle. It took forever to try to do anything fancy
with my hair, being that it was so thick and curly, so ponytail it was.

 
          Jake was back in
exactly an hour; sitting in the living room talking with Kyle when I came down
the stairs.
    “Why didn’t you say you were here, bighead”, I asked.
    “Because I knew you wouldn’t be ready when I got back”, he
replied.
    “Man, let’s go”, I demanded grabbing my house key off the
counter.
          There appeared to
be some type of accident on the interstate on the way to the movies, because
traffic was backed up for miles.
    “What time does the movie start”, I asked concerned.
    “Seven thirty”, Jake replied agitated.
    “Well, doesn’t look like we’re gonna make it, so, let’s just
get something from Blockbuster instead. We can watch it at your house”.
    “What about your popcorn and