MORGAN
My body felt light as my pointe shoes dribbled across the stage.
I let my arms softly flow while I spun, lowering my body into a curtsey-like motion.
As I came up, I smiled when Alyse glided my way, leaping across the stage.
I met her as we interlocked arms and performed a duet routine.
Her crisp bun and makeup gave her the perfect ballerina look.
Our matching tutus and bodysuits rolled out and came back together.
The stage lights beamed on us as we neared the end of our performance.
I smiled as my newfound friends set out in the crowd, watching us.
Samara, Dio, Peanut, Kareem, Paige, and to my surprise, Beans.
It felt good to be a part of a circle that not only had my back but was just as crazy as I was.
I truly felt like Princess Shira, who had found her tribe outside of her home.
It wasn’t about not going back to Stone Castle, but more about being free inside and out.
I learned that although different parts of the game seemed hard, instead of focusing on the creatures around me, I needed to focus on how to get to where I needed to be.
When I encountered unexpected obstacles, whether good or bad, I needed to face them.
Like with Kareem, I came across him, and although things were good for the most part, I took his obstacles as my own rather than letting him meet me on the other end.
Alyse and I finished as we gracefully bowed, and the crowd cheered. Roses were tossed onto the stage, and the sound of Kareem’s whistling and howling made me giggle. “That’s my girl!” he shouted. “I see you, baby!”
We slowly rose, waved, and rushed off stage. It was the perfect performance that I would do with my best friend all over again.
***
I sat in the studio while Kareem was on the other side of the glass.
I bobbed my head to the beat while he got ready to rap.
He sparked up a blunt as he, too, moved to the beat.
Beans sat in the chair in front of me, messing with knobs and buttons on his mixing board.
Dio came into the room. “How long is this going to take?”
Beans looked at him and laughed. “As long as it needs to. We don’t rush perfection.”
Dio shook his head as he tossed his hands up. “Man, I don’t know about this managing shit. I was talking to some people and—”
Beans turned toward him. “Nigga, relax. We have until after the semester, remember?”
Dio crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you here? You need to be trying to get your girl back. Spend less time in this muhfucka and more time chasing her. I saw both of you at Shorty’s little ballet shit.
I’ll make sure this nigga is straight. You do what you have to do.
To be honest, Paige is Samara’s friend. We can’t have her around if y’all aren’t comfortable, so you need to fix it. ”
Beans didn’t say anything because bringing up Paige was sensitive. We all knew he tried to play it cool, but it was eating him up. I leaned forward. “Let us help you get her back,” I said to him.
He ran his hand through his hair. “Aight,” he mumbled.
“Are y’all niggas ready because I am,” Kareem said into the mic.
Beans turned toward him. “Yeah, I’m going to start the track over, and when that muhfucka drop, you do what you do best.”
I sat back as I watched Kareem shine in his element. As soon as the beat dropped, he let go. I sat there as a proud girlfriend, looking beyond the material things and accepting a man for who he was, and that made me proud.