Erykah walked up to her front door with a deep breath

"E, do you want me to stay over?" Mia asked her making her shake her head

"No not tonight Mia" she said making Mia nod her head and walk towards the main gate

Mia and Erykah have been neighbours since they were 12 years old

Mia moved next door and would always see Erykah playing outside with her brothers and with Mia being the outgoing person she is, pushed Erykah to be her friend

Erykah being Erykah would always decline Mia's offers, claiming that she had enough friends

She lied, the only friends she had were her brothers, but Mia never gave up, she was intrigued by the girl that was always in her house

She wondered why she'd never see Erykah at school or at any fundraising parties that her parents would host

One day Mia saw Erykah playing again as she peered over her wall

She kept interrogating Erykah hoping for a response, Erykah was annoyed by the girl constantly nagging her, so she gave in hoping that Mia would stop bothering her

That's how the two became friends

Erykah's shaky hand drew closer to the door knob silently hoping her mother was asleep

As she pushed it open she could hear the TV playing making her heart beat race

She stepped into the house, carefully closing the door

As she walked further into the house she could see her mother sitting on the sofa watching TV, she cursed under her breath trying to quickly make her way up the stairs

"Erykah!" She heard making her shut her eyes close and mentally cuss herself

She turned around walking towards the living room "yes" she said below a whisper

"You're over an hour late" her mother Channy said with her eyes still focused on the screen in front of her

"I'm sorry, I lost track of time"

"You lost track of time?" Channy asked chuckling

"Yea and I'm sorry" Erykah replied

"Where did you go Erykah?"

"Out with Mia" she simply replied, hoping that her mother would drop the topic

"Where?" Channy sternly asked turning her head to look at her daughter

"The park near elves" Erykah nervously said knowing how her mother felt about that park

"What did I tell you about that place Erykah!"

"I know and I'm sorry"

"You're sorry?!" Channy scoffed as she shook her head

"Did I not tell you how I almost got raped at that park Erykah, Did I not tell you how my brother got murdered at that park Erykah, Did I not tell you?!" Channy yelled making Erykah's head drop

She understood where her mother was coming from and knew that she was wrong for going to the park with Mia knowing the history behind it

"I'm sorry, I know-

Before she could finish her sentence she got cut off by her mom

"Yea that's all you've saying Erykah, you're sorry" Channy said standing up from her spot

"You're grounded, give me your phone and best believe you won't be seeing Mia" she said sticking out her hand waiting for Erykah to hand over her phone

With a sigh Erykah took her phone out of her back pocket and put it on her mother's palm

She turned around to make her way towards the stairs and to her bedroom

She quietly shut her bedroom door, walking towards her bed and plopping face down

She hated when her mother would yell at her, she felt as if she was a disappointment never being able to do the right thing to impress her

After a few minutes she felt her eyes get heavy and soon fell asleep with a heaviness weighing on her mind

Erykah PoV

I woke up remembering the events of last night and the look on my mother's face

I just know she told my dad everything and that I was about to get another lecture the moment I step foot out of my room

With a heavy sigh I got out of bed and walked towards my bathroom to get freshen up for the day

I brushed my teeth and tongue thoroughly before rinsing it out with mouth wash and flossing them after

I washed my face and rinsed it off with warm water trying to suppress the headache I could feel slowly forming

I wiped my face down and walked towards my shower turning it on the perfect temperature before making my way towards my closet pulling out a pair of grey sweatpants with a grey crop top

I dropped everything I needed on my bed and walked back into my bathroom undressing and getting into the shower making sure to scrub

Once I was done I dried myself off and moisturised myself with my cocoa butter lotion

I got dressed and sprayed on some of my perfume mixing a few scents and tied my hair into a messy bun

Making my way downstairs I could hear my parents conversing in the kitchen making me throw my head back mentally preparing myself

"Morning" I said catching their attention as my mom muttered a ' good morning' back

My dad made his way over to me placing a kiss on my forehead "Morning pumpkin, how'd you sleep?"

"Good" I said with a shrug making my way towards the breakfast set out on the table and fixing myself a plate

"That's good, you wanna tell me about what you did last night" my dad asked making me sigh

"I went out with Mia to Elves" I told him making him nod his head as he cut into his pancakes

"You know the history behind that place right?" He questioned making me nod my head and hum

"So why would you got there when you know exactly how our family feels about that place?" He sternly asked as I made my way towards one of the island chairs sitting down

"I don't know, Mia wanted to hang out with her boy-

Before I could finish my sentence my mom cut me off

"Oh so now it's Mia's fault?" She asked making me scrunch up my face

"I never said that" I told her with a dry laugh

"I said that Mia wanted to hang out with her boyfriend and asked if I could come with, so I did. I shouldn't have went there and I know I was wrong and I'm so sorry" I said as I looked back down to continue eating my breakfast

"Ohhhh so now you think you're grown enough to talk back" my mom said making me squint my eyes at her

"Babe calm down, it's not that serious. It was a mistake okay? I'm sure she wasn't thinking" my dad tried to reason with her making me shoot him a small grateful smile

She let out a huff as she turned around to walk out of the kitchen

I shook my head turning back to my breakfast

"What punishment did she give you?" He asked

"She grounded and took my phone away, told me that I can't see Mia again" I said letting out a small scoff

"Ok the grounding part is reasonable but the phone and Mia this is kind of unnecessary" he said while nodding his head

"You can get your phone back but you are grounded for a week alright and I better not see or hear about you at that place ever again you hear" he said making me smile and nod my head

"Yess, thank you" I said getting up to give him a small hug as he chuckled

"Aight now go say sorry to your mama" he said making me slightly roll my eyes

"I did tho, several times and it's clear she doesn't want my apologies" I told him making him sigh

"Give her time, the whole incident is still a hard topic for her" he said making me nod my head with a small frown

"I know"