Chapter Fourteen: Happy Birthday

Ayanda woke me up with Bhad Bhabie's "Bestie" when I answered her video call. I'm 18 years old bitches!

"Go bitch, go bitch, go bestie!" we sang to each other over the phone, jumping on our beds, my heart filled with joy. I have been waiting for this day for as long as I could remember. I'm finally legal to do anything. But the only thing I want from my legal age is a license and a car baby!

"Go bestie, that my muhfucking best friend," she sang to me, her face covered with a clay mask.

"That my what? That my muhfucking best friend!" I sang back to her, happy to have a friend to sing with over video call first thing in the morning. The volume from my speaker was on high, making the room feel like it was vibrating. My dad was probably going to be mad, but it's my birthday.

"She gon twerk twerk twerk twerk twerk that ass!" she rapped, and I twerked at my camera, and rapped the next line with her, "like it's her fucking birthday, bitch twerk that ass!" laughing, I fell back on my bed, watching her dance around in her room on my screen. I love her so much.

My door burst open, my dad's tired and puzzled face poking through. He split into a smile when he saw that I was on video call with Ayanda, shaking his head in laughter. Ayanda was still rapping on the other side of my phone, oblivious to my dad's presence. He walked further into my room, decreasing the volume on my speaker, and then came to join me on my bed. Ayanda shrieked in surprise when she saw him, and then started laughing hysterically. He laughed with her. If it were up to my dad, Ayanda would be his daughter too.

"Molo, tata!" Ayanda said to him, waving rapidly.

"Molo mntanam, I'm surprised to see you awake so early in the morning." He replied with a fond smile on his face. I wrapped my arm around his neck.

"It's my best friend's birthday!" she screamed, shaking the phone as she did. My dad laughed and turned to look at me, his eyes wrinkling in the corners. He pulled me closer and kissed my temple, making me squeal. I said goodbye to Ayanda, who made my dad promise to let me do whatever I wanted today and hung up.

"And poof, she's 18." He teased and threw his arms in the air, making me laugh.

"Happy birthday pumpkin." He said softly and planted another kiss on my forehead.

"Alright, maybe we can ease up on the kisses. I'm 18 now, not 8." I said with a slight grimace as I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

"Nonsense! I don't care how old you get; you will always be my little girl." The love in his voice stung my eyes with tears.

"You're going to make me cry tata; not cool!" I sniffled, making him laugh and wrap his arms around me, enveloping me in the warm embrace I have known and loved for the past 17 years.

"Maybe you need to cry. I haven't seen you cry since before your mom left. I was starting to feel like she ruined things for you. But here you are, 18 years old, still standing." He looked at me fondly and grasped my hand. I looked down at our joined hands and frowned, thinking about what he said.

"You know, for the longest time I waited to hear that something bad had happened to her. It took me forever to accept that she just left. I didn't understand why my own mother would leave me. I still don't." my voice was small, my frown getting deeper. Dad sighed.

"Azania, your mother loves you very much," I cut in, "she has a very funny way of showing it."

"You're old enough to handle the truth now. Your mother cheated on me with her boss, yes. And then proceeded to commit crimes with this same boss. Your mother didn't leave Azania. I chased her out. She was involved in some hectic stuff and I didn't want that anywhere around you." His voice was strained when he finished. I sat there quietly, reeling from this information.

"I ... I thought ... she left because she was tired of having a black man and a black baby." I whispered, trying to blink away the tears that were stinging the back of my eyeballs.

"Why on earth would you think that? Katherine may be a lot of things, but racist and shallow isn't one of them." He squeezed my hand again, rubbing my knuckles with his thumb.

"Then ... where is she? If you're the one who chased her away, why hasn't she reached out?" I wasn't angry at my dad. If what he is saying is true, I understand. I would have wanted him to do the same if I had known. I think.

He paused and looked at me, searching for something on my face. He sighed and squeezed my hand again, "your mother is in jail sweetheart. That is where she has been ever since she left." My eyes widened in shock. Out of all the answers I was expecting, this was not one of them.

"In jail? As in with the orange and the fences and the cops? That jail?" I couldn't believe it.

My dad chuckled. "What other jail is there? Yes, in jail with the orange and the fences and the cops." He shook his head and put his hand in his blazer. How had I not noticed that he was completely dressed for work? I haven't even showered yet. He pulled out a small white envelope from the inside pocket of his blazer, hesitated for a moment and handed it over to me. It had my name written on it.

"What's this?" I asked him quietly, although something in me told me what it was.

"Your mother wrote you a letter." I froze, eyeing the envelope in my hand suspiciously.

"Where did you get it?" I turned the envelope over in my hands, inspecting it.

"From her. I went to visit her a couple of days ago." My dad whispered next to me, looking at the envelope in my hands too. What?

"Can we have this conversation some other day? It's my birthday and I ... want to be happy." I put the envelope on my bedside table and eyed it like I expected it to combust into flames.

"Your wish is my command honey. Do you want your present right now, or later?" the excitement was back in his voice. I hugged him.

"You can give it to me later. Although I already have an awesome present. A pretty awesome dad." He choked up at that and hugged me back even tighter.

"Get ready for school or else you'll be late. And then Anth- I mean, Principal Jackass would be forced to give you another detention. And we don't want that, now do we?" he mocked, making me laugh as I stood up. I gave him one last hug before he left my room, closing the door behind him.

I laid a hand over my racing heart and took a deep breath. It had been 5 days since I stupidly kissed my principal, and my stomach still dropped and my heart still beat faster every time his name was mentioned, or every time I thought about him. We hadn't really spoken at all since that day. After the kiss that had ended as abruptly as it begun, we were silent until he dropped me off at the gymnasium for Ayanda's meet, speaking only to tell me to call my dad when I was done. I had heard him and Gia going at it later that night when I was in the gym and had stayed away from the main house ever since. I didn't have breakfast with them, or lunch and dinner. I took an Uber to school in the mornings and Ayanda would drop me off after school, and that was due to the fact that Kevin and I were still in the middle of a fight that was caused by everything that happened on our date last week. Everything was just so complicated, making me wish I could kick myself for being so stupid. But the kiss, as short as it was, was lovely. His plump lips felt amazing against mine. They had awoken every nerve and fiber in my body, sent me into a cloud of frenzy, even though it was rejected. He didn't even hesitate to pull me off him, mortifying me in the process. He didn't ask why, nor did he scold me for jumping on him. Instead, he said nothing, his face red.

I hopped out of the shower after I was done shaving, my face feeling hot from the memories. I stared at my reflection in the mirror for a short while, analyzing every bump, curve and scar that colored my body. My breasts were still plump and firm, perky at 32B. My stomach was well toned and flat. I ran a hand over my navel, contemplating getting a belly ring. I tilted my head and examined the thin silver lines on my shoulders, absentmindedly running my fingers over them. I turned sideways and scrutinized the stretch marks on my apple bum, only to bring the attention back to my face. There I was: Azania Wyatt, with my big hazel eyes staring back at me. I smiled a little, just so I could see the indents of my dimples. I got those from my mother.

"Happy birthday Azania." I said to myself with a huge grin, before proceeding to brush my teeth.