Reyanna pulled up to her building as she arrived in her apartment complex. Even though it was far enough from the track that she had to drive from practice to home, it was about a 5-minute walk from campus and was really nice, yet affordable. Her, Riley, and Michelle had decided to move there after their last apartment got infested with roaches because their neighbor didn’t believe in killing anything, including bugs. He was very religious like that and they couldn’t force him to do anything, so the minute they were able to move out they packed up and were gone before the end of the day. The three-bedroom apartment also had granite countertops with an island in the kitchen, and a flat-top stove. All of the appliances were stainless steel and aside from the kitchen floor and bathrooms, which were tile, all the floors were carpeted. They had a small patio that overlooked the apartment complex’s pool and basketball courts. Living in the apartment they had access to a 24-hour gym, a sauna room, indoor basketball court, a 24-hour computer lab that consisted of two printers, and other useful amenities.
Reyanna walked up the stairs to get to her apartment on the second floor when she saw Myles across the hall from her apartment. “Hey Myles,” said Reyanna as she reached the top of the stairs. “You here to visit Courtney?” Courtney was Reyanna’s neighbor and Myles’ girlfriend. She was such a sweetheart but very territorial of Myles. Reyanna recalled back to the first time she and Michelle were moving their stuff in and they ran into Myles as they were carrying their stuff up the stairs. They were struggling a little getting the television up the stairs, and Myles offered to help them carry it up to the apartment, along with some other heavy items, since the boys hadn’t made it yet. Reyanna and Michelle, naturally being appreciative of the stranger’s help and wanting to be polite, offered him some bottles of chilled water they had stuck in the freezer, and allowed him to come in to cool off from the heat.
They all just began talking and getting to know each other and he mentioned how he was going to be on the baseball team with Michael, and how they would probably be seeing a lot of each other since his girlfriend lived across the hall. “Oh I would love to meet her,” said Michelle. Michelle was the kind of person who liked to know who her neighbors were. She had met all of them besides Courtney because she was never home when Michelle came around. “Actually I was on my way to her place when I decided to stop and help you guys,” Myles said standing up. “I’m sure she’d really like you girls. Come on I’ll introduce you all.” As they left the apartment they heard someone coming up to the top of the stairs. “Hey babe,” said Myles, “I thought you were already inside. What are you doing out here?”
“Well I was expecting you to be here already,” Courtney said placing her hands on her hips as she peeped Reyanna and Michelle. “You weren’t answering my texts, so I decided to come and see if you we’re at least in the neighborhood.” “Oh I’m so sorry babe,” Myles said lightly hitting himself on the forehead. “This is Reyanna and this is Michelle. I was on the way to your place and I saw them struggling with their stuff so I decided to help them out. I must have left my phone on the counter in their apartment when I sat it down and missed your texts. I’m sorry babe, let me go get it,” Myles said running into the apartment. “Uh-huh,” Courtney said, eyeing Reyanna and Michelle, “so why did you think it was okay to have my boyfriend in your apartment?”. Reyanna could tell that Courtney wasn’t too happy that her man was associating with two females that were complete strangers to her, and was in their apartment, and she could understand that. She would feel the same way if she were in Courtney’s position and this was Michael she was dealing with.
As she was trying to figure out a way to diffuse the situation, it was as if God had answered her prayers as she saw Michael and Austin bounding up the stairs. “Hey babe,” Michael said grabbing her waist and kissing her on the cheek. “Aww don’t tell me we missed all the action,” Austin said as he wrapped his arms around Michelle’s waist and gave Michael a wink. “Bro you really don’t like manual labor do you,” Michael said with a laugh. “Not after a full day of practice I don’t,” Austin said with a laugh. “Hey babe, I want to introduce you to somebody,” Reyanna said as she looked at Courtney who had a confused look on her face. “Courtney this is MY boyfriend Michael, who is also Michelle’s twin, and this is Austin, Michelle’s BOYFRIEND. Michael this is our neighbor across the hall Courtney,” Reyanna said as Myles returned from the apartment, “and her boyfriend,” “Myles right,” said Michael as he stretched out his hand with a smile. “Yeah we just saw each other at the meeting. How did you get here so fast?” “I drove man, didn’t you,” Myles asked as he met Michael’s hand for a handshake. “Nah our apartment is like five minutes from the football stadium and baseball diamond so we walked to practice,” Michael said. “And hello Courtney, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Hey I have an idea, let’s all go inside for some water and air conditioning,” said Austin heading for the door. “Great idea Austin,” Michelle said following suit, “And you’re just in time to help us unpack.” As everyone headed inside, Courtney pulled Reyanna to the side. “Hey I’m sorry if I came off rude earlier. I’m just really protective of my man you know? I’m sure you learned last year that these females can be messy and manipulative, especially if they see you have something that they want.” “It’s okay girl trust I understand,” Reyanna said with a smile. “And you don’t have to worry about me or Michelle, or our other roommate Riley. If anything you can count on us to make sure Myles stays in line. Hey we’re going to have a girl’s night Saturday when we get settled in. If you and Myles don’t already have plans, you should come by.” “I would love that thanks,” said Courtney. “And I’ll do the same concerning Austin and Michael and make sure the athletic life doesn’t get to their heads.”
Reyanna thought about how funny it was that they had gotten into a misunderstanding so quickly, but Courtney was right about the females at Brown. She and Michelle had definitely had their share of messy females coming after their men, but they had always been able to hold their own, and Michael and Austin already knew the kind of women they had in their corner and they did not play that. She brought her attention back to Myles who was standing in front of her at the moment as he said, “Yeah, she asked me to come by and I guess I beat her here so I’m just waiting on her to show up. Hey how’s Michael doing by the way? I know he’s had a rough day today.” “What do you mean,” Reyanna asked with concern, “What’s going on with Michael?” “Didn’t anybody tell you? Michael got suspended from the team. He’s not allowed at practice anymore, and it’s possible that the Director of Athletics could be taking away his scholarship.”
Reyanna’s heart dropped. This couldn’t be happening. The whole purpose of her breaking up with Michael last month was so that he wouldn’t get caught up in her mess. She thought she was protecting him from Randall and everything that was going on, but maybe keeping him in the dark about everything, maybe pushing him away was actually making things worse. She wasn’t sure about things anymore but she knew she needed to see and talk to him. “No I-I didn’t know,” Reyanna said. “Do you know if he’s home or not?” “Nah, last I heard he was being seen by the doctor for back pain. That was a while ago though so he might be home by now.” “Alright thanks Myles,” Reyanna said as she pulled out her phone. “No problem, and Rey,” Myles said, “I really hope you and Michael get back together. Seeing you guys where you are now it just…you don’t seem like yourself. I can tell that he really made you happy and it’s like when ya’ll broke up a part of you just…I don’t know; I just really hope everything works out.” “Thanks Myles,” Reyanna said, “I hope so too.”
As Reyanna got ready to dial Michael’s number, her mom’s number popped up on her phone. “Sorry Myles, it’s my mom. I have to take this,” Reyanna said. “No problem,” Myles said, “I see Courtney pulling up anyways so I’ll talk to you later. If you get the chance, tell Michael I said hey.” “Alright will do,” Reyanna said, as she answered the phone and walked inside. It was dark inside their apartment, except for the one lamp they kept on so everyone could see how to get to their rooms. Reyanna knew Michelle was more than likely with her study group for Anatomy & Physiologyy, and Riley had texted her saying she was going to be over at the guy’s house working on a project with Jason.
Reyanna: “Hey mom, is everything alright?
Mrs. Carter: “No Reyanna, everything is not alright.”
Reyanna could hear the pain behind her mother’s voice. It was apparent that she had been crying for some time now because her voice sounded raw and tired. Reyanna wondered if her mom had gotten any sleep these past few days, or when the last time it was that she had eaten.
Reyanna: “Well what’s going on then? Have you talked to dad at all?”
Mrs. Carter: “No Rey and that’s the problem. Every time I try to have a conversation with your father, he ignores me and won’t take my calls or messages. I don’t understand why he’s being so childish. I just want to have a conversation, not go Diary of a Mad Black Women on him. He’s making it more difficult than it needs to be.”
Reyanna: “Well mom, I can try and call dad and see what’s going on. I haven’t really spoken to him either but maybe he’ll be more receptive to my calls.”
Mrs. Carter: “Oh honey I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to get you involved or put you in the middle of all this. I’m just so frustrated with him, and I guess I just needed to vent with someone and Jessica is held up in a meeting and you were the only person I could think to call. I didn’t mean to drag you into this, I’ll find another way to get in contact with your father, I don’t want you worrying about anything except for school and track.”
Reyanna: “Well it’s kind of too late for that mom. Besides I want to help in any way I can. And you’re forgetting that I am a part of this family too, which makes this my business as much as yours. I’ll give dad a call and see if I can pick his mind, or at least convince him to call you back.”
Mrs. Carter: “Thank you sweetheart, you don’t know how much I appreciate this. Enough about me though how are things going with you.”
Reyanna: “Oh everything is great mom. So far looks like I’m going to get all A’s, and my open 400 time has dropped since last season. Coach is saying that I could possibly break the school record before I graduate.”
Mrs. Carter: “Well that’s great sweetheart! And how about you and Michael? How are things going between you two?”
Reyanna paused for a minute before answering. Of course her mom knew that she had broken up with him, but she didn’t really know why. Reyanna had told her that they were just on a break because she was really trying to focus on her grades and balance track, as was Michael, and she thought it best that they take some time to focus on that until the end of the semester. Of course Mrs. Carter knew it was something more than her daughter was sharing, but she knew not to push it, and that when Reyanna was ready to share, she would.
Reyanna: “Everything’s fine mom. In fact, I was just getting ready to go over and see him before you called.”
Mrs. Carter: “Oh well don’t let me hold you up dear. You go ahead, I’ll be alright over here, and tell Michael I said hello. Give him a big hug for me okay?”
Reyanna: “Alright mom, will do. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
Mrs. Carter: “Love you too, baby. Goodbye.”
Reyanna hung up the phone and sighed a breath of relief. She was glad that her mom hadn’t tried to push the subject and allowed her to have her space. She wasn’t ready to go into detail about things between her and Michael. Speaking of Michael, she needed to go over and see him and make sure everything was okay. She knew how important baseball was to him, and if he couldn’t play baseball anymore, it would be like losing a piece of him. Reyanna headed out the door towards her car when she received another phone call. She looked down at her phone and saw who it was from. “Samantha?” Reyanna thought to herself. She was the last person she ever expected to hear from. “What could she possibly want?” Reyanna thought. She really didn’t feel like dealing with her at the moment, and declined the call.
Instead she thought about what she told her mom and decided to go ahead and give her dad a call. She hadn’t spoken to him in weeks, which was relatively odd seeing that they had always been close, and talked at least every other day. At first Reyanna didn’t want to speak with him either after everything he was putting the family through, but she realized that she needed answers just as much as her mom did, and she was doing this for herself just as much as for her mom. Only difference was that she knew her dad would pick up for her. Reyanna got in the car and cut the radio down as she dialed her father’s number. She listened to the phone ring as she waited for him to pick up. Riiiing, riiiing. At least she hoped he would pick up for her. Riiiing, riiiing.
Caller: “Hello?”
Reyanna: “Hey dad, it’s me.”
YOU ARE READING
Through Thick & Thin
General FictionSix long time friends, six different stories, but one goal. To become successful adults and graduate college with their friendships and lives intact. This may prove to be challenging though as college is way more different than what they thought. As...
