Destined

7.

A knock is on my door after hours of awkward silence in the house. I knew it was Deon but I still didn't feel like talking to him. I was so bothered by what my Mother had said it brought me to tears. Non-stop tears. I didn't know if she meant what she said or not, and that was the thing that scared me the most.

"Go away," I tell him loudly.

He knocks again. After he realizes I'm ignoring him he begins to jiggle my door knob. "It's locked," I say, rubbing my eyes.

"Dj open the door dude," he demands, jiggling my door knob again.

"What do you want?" I ask him.

"To say sorry. I feel bad for snitching but I honestly was worried about you the whole time you were gone," his voice is muffled through the door but I can still understand him clearly.

"I already said it was whatever Deon. Just leave me alone."

"Can you please open the door, I don't wanna talk to you like this," he says irritably.

I get up and unlock my door. "It's unlocked," I say, watching him come in looking like a sad puppy. He sits on the edge of my bed. "Dj, you're just more vulnerable now I feel like. I want to protect you as best as I can but you never listen to me. It's why I go to Mom because I know you'll listen to her."

"You go to Mom because you want me in trouble. She just threatened for me to stay out of her house if I ever tried to sneak out again and you're trying to protect me? What if I decide to sneak out again Deon? Then what? You won't ever see me again."

"You won't sneak out again, that's the point she was trying to make. You won't lie to her anymore either."

"Yeah well, no promises." I sniff.

"Mom loves you, you know that. She was just upset and confused about why you had to lie to her. You barely lie Dj,"

"I lie when it's needed," I tell him.

"It's never needed." Deon shakes his head.

"Deon I'm the oldest sibling. If anyone's gonna be protective between us it should be. You really just need to start trusting me, even though last night you were right."

"Right about what?" Deon asks. He looks concerned.

"When you told me I shouldn't have went to the party, I should have listened to you. Sometimes you do know what's best for me," I tell him.

"What happened at the party?"

"A lot of unnecessary things. It was crazy, I was mad and I actually wanted to come home earlier, but Amber was drunk so we had to get a ride from this guy I met."

"Wow, that's wild. What guy?"

"His name is Jayon," the sound of his name leaving my mouth made me smile.

"Oooh, sis you're blushing," Deon jokes. He seemed so interested.

"No I'm not," I lie, knowing only he brought this giddy influence on me.

"Mhm," Deon rolls his eyes. How old is he?"

"17,"

"Nice, he better treat you right," Deon pushes my shoulder. I push him back and watch as he dramatically falls to the floor. I laughed as I helped him up. "Now get out of my room," I grin.

He opens my door with a frivolous grin. "I love you Deej," he tells me.

"Love you more D," I say. He leaves, locking the door behind him.

I'm glad we were okay now. I didn't like being into it with my brother despite him being so overbearing. He was just looking out for me and I should have been grateful for that. I still wanted to be there for him how he was for me, but it was difficult. We had completely different lives and he had much more time on his hands than I did.

***

The rest of the day felt tedious. I had nothing to do but watch old re-runs of Spongebob or Bad Girls Club. My Mom had still been giving me the silent treatment even when I tried to make small talk with her. I knew she wouldn't just let this go so easily. I had to show her that I wouldn't make the same mistakes again. I clearly had lost some of the trust she had in me and all I knew was that I had to get it back, I just didn't know how. All I could do was give her the space she wanted until she cooled off, then we could talk about it more.

I get another phone call from Amber around 7:30. "I found something for us to do tonight. Come over?" She chimes through the phone.

"Amber what the hell? You said you be over here by 7. My Mom isn't dropping me off over there any time soon," I tell her.

"What do you mean?" She asks, I hear a bag being hastily opened through the phone while I sat up against my head board. "I would pick you up but I haven't went to get my car yet and my Dad's still annoyed with me. Mom's working so she can't drop me off either. You're right around the corner just walk,"

"I don't know Amber. I got cussed out today by my Mom so I wasn't planning on leaving under these conditions. My brother had told her I came in after 12, but did you get in trouble for leaving your car in that neighborhood? Why are you just now telling me this?"

"No way he snitched! I kind of did, but you know my Dad played it cool. He gave me the same old "You know I was once your age too," speech. He basically told me to be more responsible and that I'd have to find my own way to get it. My Mom on the other hand—doesn't have a clue, and I thought you knew I didn't have my car when I said I'd try to be at your house by 7. Since when have I ever needed to try? I always just pull up,"

"Your Mom's always been laid back though. I feel like even if she did know she wouldn't trip," I say. "But that's true. Not sure why I didn't catch that,"

"Right," she says stuffing whatever she was eating into her mouth. "But seriously, we gotta figure out a way to get you here with no issues. Maybe I should have my Dad call your Mom,"

"No, no. I'll try talking to her one more time. If she lets me come I'll be on my way in a bit. I'll call you back if she says no," I tell her. I hang up the phone, looking around for my slides.

I begin to walk across the hall way from my room to my Mother's, knocking on her door slightly. When I realize that she isn't about to open it for me, I turn the knob to miraculously find that it was unlocked. I peaked my head through the door, making exaggerated eye contact with her.

"Is it okay if I go to Amber's?" I ask.

"You got clothes?" She asks me, turning the volume down to her tv.

"Um, no Mom. I'll be back by 11," I tell her.

"10 Dj,"

"But Mom you said 11 yesterday," I complain.

"That was before you lied. Now go, you only got a few hours to be over there."

She shoos me out of her room quickly before putting her attention back onto whatever show she was watching. I rushed to my room to grab my bag before I made my way downstairs. I didn't like the fact that my Mom took an hour from me but I guess I had to learn to deal with the consequences of my actions sooner or later.