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From the time that Sonnet stepped foot out onto the pavement to survive she thought about her family. Royce mentioned how prideful she was, and how much of a fool she was for not reaching out to them before it had gotten to that point. What she failed to tell him was that she’d burned bridges with practically everyone she knew. And she couldn’t go to the people who didn’t know the type of person she was because she needed to still put on a front for them. Just as she hid her situation from her family, she also had to hide from anyone who remembered her from her past and the lavish life style she once led.
Now that she was somewhat back on her feet she decided to try and find Aviare. She hadn’t seen anyone in her family since Granny’s funeral. And quite frankly, the way they blamed her passing on her she couldn’t care less if she saw any of them ever again.
However Aviare was different. She knew that he was just lashing out at her because he was hurt. And most likely was listening to the foolishness that Aintee Maven was spitting in his ear. Regardless of how angry he was the last time he’d seen her she knew that he still loved her. And despite how selfish she could be at times, she loved him also. He was her only sibling and the closest person to her besides Derrick. Now that she no longer had her friends in her corner she figured she should at least try and reconnect with him. Maybe Derrick was right. Maybe they could actually heal old wounds.
She decided that today would be the day that she would visit him. She knew that Aintee Maven wanted nothing more to do with her so she most likely was going to have him come out to the car instead of going in. Once she finally reach Aintee Maven’s block she slowed down to a cruise. Aside from Derrick she hadn’t seen anyone who knew her in over a year. Needless to say she was nervous. She decided that she wouldn’t tell them about her being homeless. It’s not like it was going to change anything. She gave herself a quick once over in the rearview mirror and fluffed her hair. When she got in front of Aintee Maven’s house she got the shock of her life. The house was boarded up.
“What the hell?” Sonnet said to herself.
She parked the car and jumped out. As she walked up the side walk she noticed that the grass was cut and that the property had been maintained. Once she was on the porch she peeked into a crack between the boards on the front window. The house was completely empty. Where the hell was her family? Aintee Maven had been in that house for over thirty years. There’s no way she would give it up unless she was forced out. It dawned on Sonnet that maybe she fell on hard times herself and she lost the house to the bank. It was the only logical explanation. But where the hell would they have moved too?
“Damn, and here I was thinking I was doing bad. I done fell way off my game and they still doing worse than me,” Sonnet said to herself.
After looking up and down the block a few times her eyes fixated on the neighbor’s home three doors down. Mrs. Jacobs was one of the elders on the street who didn’t miss anything. If anyone knew where they moved to it would be her.
“Who is it?” The old woman yelled through the double bolted door. She saw a young woman on her porch when she peeped though the peek hole but she didn’t recognize her.
“Hello Mrs. Jacobs, its Sonnet, Maven’s niece.”
The old woman slowly cracked open the door, and spoke to her through the security gate.
“Sonnet? Baby how you doing? I haven’t seen you around in a long time,” she announced, greeting her with a warm smile.”
“Yes, ma’am, it’s been too long obviously. I went to visit my Aintee Maven and lil bro and I see that the house is empty. Do you know what happened?”
“You just missed them, They moved a few days ago.”
“Any idea why? Or where they went?”
“Naw chile, All I know is One day I looked up and they had three moving trucks over there. Seems to me she didn’t want to make more than one trip, They got out of that house so fast Maven didn’t even have time to tell us where she was going. I know she didn’t talk to many folks over here, but I at least thought she would tell me. She say she had to make a move, and that she would tell me about it later.”
“Dang! Just like that?” Sonnet asked.
“Yep, just like that. They was here one minute, and gone the next. You really haven’t been in the loop huh?”
“Huh? Oh naw.... It’s been a while since we talked. Here, take my number. If she or my little brother stops by can you see that they get it?”
“I sure can. And it was good seeing you again.”
“Thanks so much. It was good seeing you too Mrs. Jacobs, take care.”
Once Sonnet pulled away from Aintee Maven’s street she plotted her next move. Her family had moved on and she had no way of contacting them. The only other idea she could come up with would be to visit Aviare’s school, in hopes that she would run into him.
She was about to get into route when it suddenly dawned on her that Lexi lived near Aintee Maven. She hadn’t seen her since they had fallen out at Target.
“I wonder if she’s still with that bum ass nigga Darrius.”
Sonnet knew that Lexi wanted nothing more to do with her after that day. And she couldn’t much blame her. After all she practically threw herself at her man. Even still, they were friends long before Darrius came into the picture. That should count for something. The odds of Lexi speaking to her again were zero to none. But that didn’t stop her from wanting to drive by her house and trying to catch a glimpse of anything she could see. Curiosity had gotten the best of her and she decided to go for it.
When she turned down Lexi’s street she pulled into the spot across the street from her house and parked. It wasn’t long before she got another surprise that day. The car that pulled into Lexi’s driveway was not hers. When the doors opened a man and woman with three children got out and went into Lexi’s house.
“What the hell?” Sonnet said to herself. She was beyond shocked.
She knew that she’d been away for a while but she had no idea that the things that were once familiar to her would now be gone. Lexi had moved on as well. She for sure had to head up to Aviare’s school now.
Once Sonnet was at the campus of Long Beach State she parked her car near the bus transit and got out. If memory served her correctly it was just about the time Aviare usually left his last class, maybe she could spot him catching the bus. It was a nice day so she decided to have a seat on one of the nearby benches and wait.
After sitting for almost 45 minutes she decided that it was a waste of time. She was going to give him about 15 more minutes to show up then she was out of there. A few moments later she noticed a handsome young man walking in her direction. From the distance that they were apart she didn’t recognize that it was Aviare.
“Damn, these little young niggas got it going in,” she said to herself. The boy wasn’t yet close to her, but from what she could see he had strong, broad shoulders and a sexy limp that added a certain swag to his walk. “Hell I’m still fine enough to pull one of these young bucks. I might need to sign up for me a few classes.”
Little to her knowledge, Aviare actually recognized her. “Is that Sonnet?” he asked himself as he made his way closer to the bench where the woman was sitting. He normally didn’t leave from that direction but his car was parked near the bus stop just in case he ran into one of his buddies that needed a lift.
Aww shit, this little young boy done spotted my fine ass, Sonnet thought as she sat up straight and tousled her hair.
“That is her!” Aviare said to himself. “Sonnet!” he called out as he speeded up his pace.
“Huh? How the hell does he know my name? Wait a minute, is that Aviare?”
Once he was standing in front of her, Sonnet saw that the handsome boy she was about to flirt with was indeed Aviare. She hardly recognized him. The last time she’d seen him he was her scrawny little brother. Not only had he picked up his grown man weight, his shoulders were wide and he was several inches taller than the last time she’d seen him. He looked like a grown man.
“Aviare!” She yelled out, jumping up to greet him.
They shared a warm embrace, then looked each other up and down. Although they missed each other and had a ton of questions for one another, they were both surprised by the other person’s appearance.
Just as Sonnet didn’t recognized Aviare, he was shocked as well. She looked totally different than big sis he remembered. She actually looked, dare he say, low budget. It was the look of a normal girl from the hood, a look Sonnet would have never been caught dead in the past. She had on an outfit that looked like it came from Wet Seal, a pair of jelly sandals, and her hair was slicked back in a bun. This was a stark contrast from the blinged out diva he was used to seeing. Needless to say, he was ecstatic to see his big sister.
“I knew that was you, I almost didn’t recognize you. Where you been?” he asked.
In contrast to Sonnet’s look being dialed all the way down, Aviare looked like an extra on Empire. Not only did his voice have mad bass when he spoke; he was clean and spit shined from head to toe. Despites Sonnet’s downfall she still had an eye for labels, and Aviare was serving hood royalty realness. His normal dusty outfit of a white tee and beat up Levi’s were replaced with True Religion jeans and a Prada button up. He sported a tight fade and one carat rocks in each ear. A gold Cartier Tank watch completed his look.
“DAMN! Lil bro! You done came up!” Sonnet squealed, totally ignoring his question.
They had a seat back on the bench and she popped him in the back of his head.
“I know I haven’t been around, but that wasn’t no reason for you to start trappin’.”
“Ouch! Damn! I ain’t in these streets. Been there, done that. That’s how I ended up with this limp.”
Sonnet half listened to his response. She was still in shock over how different he looked. When he crossed his leg over the other one she couldn’t help but notice his Giuseppe sneakers.
“So what you doing? How did you get geared up like this?” she asked, dismissing the part about his limp.
“Damn! I miss you too?” he joked.
“I’m sorry lil’ bro. I missed you too. I just ain’t use to seeing you like this.”
“Well if you must know, I’m legit. Aintee Maven hooked me up,” he replied.
“Aintee Maven?” Sonnet’s neck snapped back in amazement. “What she do, hit the lotto?”
“Almost, she was part of a law suit for the peeps in South Central who lost family members due to slow ambulances.”
“Really now? So she got paid on the very thing she was blaming on me?”
“I guess you could say that. I mean we were both hurt when granny died and said some things we shouldn’t have. Even though you weren’t around we shouldn’t have blamed you. Aintee Maven even said so herself,” he replied.
“Damn right! That was some foul shit.”
“Well none of that matters now. I’m just glad to see you. What made you stop up here?”
“Shit, I couldn’t find y’all asses. I lost my phone, so I didn’t have anyone’s number. And when I went by the house I saw that y’all had moved.”
“Yeah, the new spot we in is pretty dope. You need to come by. I know Aintee Maven would be glad to see you.”
“I doubt that...”
“Man, all that mess is over with, we still family. I missed you Sonnet. You were the first person I was asking for when I woke up from surgery.”
“Surgery?” Sonnet asked, her brows knitted in confusion.
“Yeah, I got caught up in the streets for a minute and got popped a few times. They thought I wasn’t gon’ be able to walk for a minute.”
“That’s messed up. So where did you say y’all moved too?”
“I didn’t..., but anyway, I’ve been going through a shitload of physical therapy. I’m much better than I was. The docs say with enough work I may even get rid of this limp.”
By now Sonnet’s mind was switching gears a thousand miles per second. If Aintee Maven came into some loot that meant that she cashed Aviare out. This was her chance to ask him for a share of the wealth. As far as she was concerned it was the least they could do with all the running she used to do for them. If she played her cards right not only could she get the money she needed for the abortion; she could secure herself a nice little nest egg without Derrick’s knowledge.
“So you gon’ hook big sis up with some loot right? How much did she get?” She asked playfully.
This immediately pissed Aviare off. Despite his high hopes; Sonnet hadn’t changed one bit. She was as still as selfish and greedy as she always was, with concern for no one else but herself.
“I’m sitting here trying to open up to you about all the shit I’ve been through and all you can worry about is money? Do you know how bad I missed you while I was laid up in that hospital bed? After I got shot I was scared as hell. I didn’t know whether I was going to live or die. All I knew was, I didn’t want to leave this earth without seeing my sister again. And you don’t even give a damn,” he snapped, jumping up from the bench.
“I do care Aviare. You see I’m here don’t you? I’m just saying, you ain’t gotta get all dramatic and sentimental. You healthy now right?”
“You pathetic?” he replied as he pulled out his car keys.
“What you mean I’m pathetic? You mean to tell me you done got so high and mighty that you can’t help your own sister out? After all the money I done loaned y’all broke asses in the past? As you can see I done fell on hard times myself.”
Sonnet knew that Aviare most likely noticed that she wasn’t dressed to the nines like she normally was, but she after seeing what he was working with, she didn’t dare tell him that she’d been homeless. She wasn’t about to give him or Aintee Maven the satisfaction.
“I ain’t got no loot to give away. Aintee bought me some gifts, but any money I have is tied up in a trust. I can’t touch it till I’m twenty five.”
Not that he owed her an explanation, but she needed to know that she wasn’t getting a dime out of him. And to think, he had been planning to give Sonnet some money when he finally ran into her. Aside from his trust Aintee maven had also set up a savings account for his day to day needs. He realized that she had cut Sonnet off and might not give her any money, for this reason he planned on sharing what he had with her but she blew that by showing her true colors.
“Oh I see you trying to act all funny and shit?” she spat. “I helped raised yo little ungrateful ass and this is the thanks I get? I know you can get your hands on something. How much is that watch worth?”
“You crazy as hell if you think I’m giving you my watch. You ain’t never did shit for me! Aintee Maven was the one who always had my back. I didn’t need your ass then, and I damn sure don’t need you now. I see why she cut your miserable ass off. Bye Sonny.”
With that he walked away leaving her yelling at his back.
“Boy you better watch your damn mouth! I know you don’t want to feel my wrath!”
Before she could continue her rant he jumped into his tangerine orange Jaguar and peeled out. That would be the last time she saw him.