“Best friend. You look so pretty,” Nandi said as she rounded the corner.
I looked at her, and she looked just as pretty as I did. While the majority of the girls wore short, cocktail dresses, my best friend and I had to do the absolute most with our long dresses, looking like this was our senior prom. We hugged each other tightly as if we hadn’t just seen each other last weekend.
“I’m going to go get us some punch. I’ll be back,” Milton said and kissed my cheek before he walked off.
Nandi grabbed my hand and pulled the two of us to a table.
“See, that’s what you need! Someone in your age category. Not someone like Raheem. Please tell me that you’ve cut all communication off with him,” Nandi said and rolled her eyes.
She hated Raheem and made sure to let me know every chance she got.
“Yes, I haven’t talked to him in months,” I let her know.
“He hasn’t been trying to get in contact with you or anything? You know how crazy and obsessive he can be,” she said.
“If he has, I wouldn’t know because he’s blocked on everything. I didn’t want to think too much into it, but the other day when my mom picked me up from school, I could have sworn I saw his car parked across the street. My mom drove off so fast that I really didn’t have time to get a good look. I’m fine, though. I don’t see him doing anything crazy. This man has a daughter, and a son on the way. I would hope that he wouldn’t do anything crazy since he has kids to raise,” I let Nandi know.
She was about to respond, but Milton came back to the table. It would have been rude as hell to sit there and talk about my ex in front of him, so we quickly changed the subject.
All night, Milton was the perfect gentleman. I knew that my mom didn’t want me to have a boyfriend right now, but I knew that she would approve of him. He was all the things she talked about that a man should be when it came to me. Respectful, treating me like I deserved, handsome, the list goes on and on.
“So, what’s your plans after middle school? What high school are you looking into,” Milton asked me as we slow danced.
“I’m not sure yet, honestly. I want to get back into dance, so whatever school has the best dance program. What about you?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but my mom got a promotion at her job, and the position is in Houston, Texas. I was pissed when I found out because Miami is all I know, but this was one of those things where I didn’t have a choice. You know it’s just me, my mom, and my little sister, so it’s not like I have any family members down here that I would be able to stay with. On the bright side, the high school that I’ll be attending specializes in sports, so I get to play basketball. It’s my dream to make it to the NBA, and when I do, I promise I’m going to come back for you, Journey. I’m going to get you the biggest ring, we going to have the biggest mansion, and have some beautiful ass kids. In the meantime, I want you to enjoy your life. You don’t have to wait for me, but just know that I’m coming back for you, I promise,” he assured me.
I wasn’t a cry baby by a long shot, but I found myself crying because Milton was getting ready to leave for Houston. Just when I found myself liking him, he was pushed right out of my life. He removed one of his hands from my waist and placed it on my face, so he could wipe away the tears that had fallen. We danced and kissed as much as we could until the teachers come over and pulled us apart. We enjoyed our prom, and before we knew it, the night was over. We were back inside the limousine and on our way to drop me back at home.
“You okay?” he asked me.
All I could do was nod my head yes. I was so hurt behind him leaving.
“It’s going to be alright, Journey. I’m just going to be gone physically from you. You can still call me or text me whenever you want to. I’m not going nowhere, alright?” he asked.
POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!
Bullets ripped through the window of the limousine. The first shot, I screamed to the top of my lungs because it reminded me of the night that my little brother was shot right in front of me. Milton threw my body to the floor after the first shot, and he tried to get down as well, but it was too late. I watched as a single bullet pierced the side of his head, followed by more going into his side, chest, and more in his head.
“Noooo! Milton, get up! Get up,” I cried, shaking him, but it was too late.
This wasn’t one of those situations that I had to question if he was dead because I just knew. Pieces of his brain matter were on the seats of the car and on the window.
“That’s that nigga’s blood on your hands!” a deep voice said from the car that was parked on the side of us where the bullets ripped from.
I knew that voice from anywhere. I didn’t even have time to respond because by the time I opened my mouth to speak, the car had pulled off. With shaky and bloody hands, I held Milton’s dead body in my arms. His eyes were wide open, and even though he was dead, I could see the fear that was still in his eyes. I cried because this should have been me. I should have been the one dead. I was the one who kept Raheem around for this long, not knowing when to leave well enough alone, yet Milton was the one who had to lose his life behind it.
I thought about Milton’s mother. How the hell was I going to explain this to her? Her one and only son had been murdered, and it was because of me!