Destined

1

"Girl, everybody is suppose to be at this party! What the hell do you mean you're not going? You're going even if I have to drag your ass there myself," my friend Amber hollers at me through the phone. She knew I was the anti-social type so I didn't understand why she was forcing me to go somewhere I didn't want to go. Parties weren't my thing.

Anything could happen. A gun could go off, a fight could pop off, the police could show up, some one's parents could have even pulled up to shut the whole thing down for all we knew.

But even after all of the negative thoughts I had running around through my brain about going to this hype alcoholic teenage party, I still found myself putting on shoes to be picked up by Amber in a matter of minutes. I pushed my braids back, to the side, even attempting to style them on the top of my head.  Nothing seemed to look good to me, so I went to the God of hair to help me figure it out.

As I walked out of my room, I tripped over my younger brother. I caught myself on the nearest thing in our hallway. It was dark, so I hadn't seen him laying on the floor in front of my door.

"Deon! What are you doing? Get away from my door," I tell him.

"Where do you think your going at 8:30 at night? If you think Mom's gonna let you go to a party with Amber this late you're crazy," he laughs in an attempt to shoulder budge me as he stands to his feet.

I push him off. "You were eavesdropping on my conversation? For what?" I continued to walk the hall to my Mother's room, rolling my eyes in annoyance.

For him to be 14, he was extremely annoying. Teenage boys usually had their own lives to worry about. They weren't suppose to care about their sister's lives as much. I thought the older siblings get the less nosey they were, but nah, not mine. Deon was a complete different story. It was so backwards because when he was younger he barely talked to me, hell, he barely looked at me. Now, I swear I'm the center of his attention 80% percent of the time and it bothers me because I deserved to have my own privacy.

"Mom, I have a concern," I casually play it off with her. I sat on her bed and took the remote from her hands, clicking off her T.V.

"Yes Dj?" She says irritably.  The show she had been watching before I turned it off was Love and Hip-Hop: Atlanta. One of her favorites.

"I don't know how to wear my braids. They're getting old and I'm starting to get bored of the same 'Keep them all down' hairstyle,"

"Oh, okay," she lights up a bit and admires my face for a second."You know who you remind me of?" She asks, casually beginning to play with my braids. I hand her my ponytail holder.

"Yes Mom. You when you were my age."

"How'd you know I was gonna say me?" She smirks and pulls some braids from my face.

"You tell me I looked like you at this age at least twice a month," I grin.

The laughing stops and she rubs the back of my head. "Go look in the mirror, I hope you like that. It's something new for you."

I get up and make my way to her bathroom mirror. I ran my fingers through my braids and smiled. She was right, this hairstyle was very new for me but it was also extremely cute. I usually always wore my hair down when I had braids. She put them in a wide ponytail that positioned them away from my face completely.

"Thanks Mom," I tell her. "I knew I could count on you to bring some umph to my look."

"Mhm, now where are you going?" She asks just as I'm exiting from her room.

"Oh yeah...Amber wanted to pick me up tonight. We were gonna go to the...movies! Yeah, there's a new movie coming out that we've been dying to see."

"At almost 9 pm y'all decide y'all wanna go to the movies? What movie is even out?" The more questions she asks the more I start to get anxiety.

"Kevin Hart," I blurt out loud. "Um, his new movie." Not sure why I was thinking about Kevin Hart but it seemed believable enough in my head.

"Captain Underpants? The movie your brother has been wanting to see? Why don't you take him with you then?" She smiles, turning her T.V back on.

Damn it.

"Mom I dont think-"

"You're taking him with you and that's that. He's been dying to see it and I haven't been wanting to take him alone. I'm not interested in seeing some underpants movie with Kevin Hart but since his sister is, I think that would be a lovely idea. Is Amber bringing her brother too?" My Mother completely cuts me off.

"Mom! No, this was suppose to be a me and Amber night," I complain.

"And now it can be a Amber, DJ, and Deon night..including Adrian if Amber brings him. Go get the extra 20 dollars for Deon out of my purse please. It's on the counter in the kitchen downstairs. Be back here by 11."

"Mom I'm 17 years old," I whine.

"DJ you're 16."

"My birthday is coming up Mom."

"In 7 months. Mines is in 1, do you think I'm trying to grow up? You need to stop. You're barely 16. Be a child while you can; after all, you are seeing a child's movie."

I groan loudly and stomp out of my Mother's room, rushing back to my room to call Amber. She answers on the 3rd beep.

"Hey I'm running late I know girl, don't worry I picked up a little something for us on the way to your house. You'll love it."

"Amber no, I'm not even in a rush. I have to bring my brother...You wouldn't have Adrian with you huh?"

"Girl what! He's at home where yours should stay. We're going to an actual teenage PARTY, they're barely out of middle school. How did you end up having to bring Deon?" Amber's tone changes drastically.

"Amber I know, listen. I lied to my Mom. It was the only way she was going to let me leave the house after 8. I kind of told her we were going to see the new Captain Underpants movie and she insisted I bring Deon."

"The what movie?" She squeaks.

"Let's just take him to your house and he can hang out with Adrian till we come back from the party. I want to go, my hair is cute and I've been dressed."

I can practically hear her rolling her eyes over the phone. "Fine, but DJ you better get him to cooperate. Your brother has a big ass mouth and I can't afford to get grounded over a lie you told."

"Okay," I understood.

The phone hangs up and I jump when I see Deon standing in my doorway. "You scared me," I tell him.

"Dj I heard your entire conversation. I'm not going to Amber's house. Me and Adrian just hung out yesterday," he says angrily.

"Deon please. Amber really wants me to go to this party with her and I barely leave the house. Just tell Mom you went to see the movie if she asks in the morning."

"Right, I'm just suppose to go along with the little lie you told her. I should really just tell her what you're really up too."

"Why are you such a punk? You can't let me slide this ONE time? What I do is honestly none of your business!" I yell, pushing passed him.

"DJ I dont think you should go to that party."

"You never think I should do anything Deon. Every since Dad left you've gotten so worried about what I do. You need to understand that you're my baby brother! I don't need you trying to take his place," I tell him, watching his face turn.

I realize what I say and immediately regret it. I knew how he felt about our Dad leaving. I was such a bad sister to even say that to him.

"Okay DJ. Fine. You wanna go to the party you can, but I'm not going along with your lie, so you better hope Mom doesn't ask me why I didn't go with you tonight."

"Deon.." I say just before he goes in his room. He slams his door and it gets silent again until
I hear my phone vibrate. I open the message quickly realizing it's Amber:

Outside. Come on.