URBAN LULLABIES, VOLUME 2:
TAUNIA CRENSHAW
...but here's a preview to hold you for now 
CHAPTER ONE
THE MOVIE LET OUT at about 9:30 Saturday evening. Taunia and Prince held each other’s hands as they walked from the movie theatre exit door to the metro station. It was only about a ten minute walk to the
Lately, however, he had been. Taunia attempted to break the silence by saying, “Ya know, I normally don’t go to those violent, action movies, but since you wanted to see it…” She waited for a sign that he was about to respond, a sign she never received. Just before they walked into the train station, she stepped in front of him and said, “Darnell, what’s goin’ on wit’ you lately?”
“What you talkin’ about?”
“I mean, usually, I feel different from everyone else. I feel special ’cause you act a lil’ different wit’ me then you do wit’ everybody else—”
“Different like what?”
“Different like you always talk to me. You never run outta things to say wit’ me. The last few days, you seem like you got no words for me. You seem like you wit’ me because you supposed to be, not because you wanna be. Wassup wit’ that?”
At first, Prince thought to deny her accusation. Before he did, however, he thought about it and realized that she was right. To be honest, he knew it all along. He just didn’t want to admit it. Then she asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
That set off a little spark within Prince. He knew she hadn’t said or done anything wrong. She was the perfect girlfriend. She was always there for him. She did anything she could for him. Anything she had was his if he wanted it. She was never too busy for him. She couldn’t have been a better girlfriend if he created her himself. “Naw,” said Prince. “You ain’t did nothin’ wrong by me.”
“Then what’s goin’ on wit’ you then?” asked Taunia in a tone that was more concerned than angry. “I’m worried about you.”
“You don’t need to be worried about me.” He paused for a second to collect his thoughts before he continued. “The truth is… what’s been botherin’ me lately is that… I guess I just been a lil’ sad ’cause… ‘’cause I been thinkin’ ’bout you goin’ back to
“Awwwwwww, my baby gon’ miss me. I feel special again.”
“You always special to me,” said Prince right before he leaned in to kiss her. They walked into the train station and sat on the platform waiting for the next train to come, which was supposed to be in about three minutes. While they waited, Prince sat on a bench, and Taunia sat across his lap.
“Well, how ’bout instead of us focusing on what’s gon’ happen after school lets out, we focus on how we gon’ spend the next two weeks before I go?”
“Okay,” answered Prince.
“And besides,” she continued. “I’m not movin’ back down there or nothin’ like that. I’m just goin’ to see my dad and my girlfriends… And it’s not like I’m not gon’ be down there thinkin’ ’bout you the whole time.”
“Oh you gon’ be doin’ more than just thinkin’ ’bout me while you gone. You got a cell phone. I better hear from you while you down there.”
“Baby, I promise, I’ll call you every night before I go to sleep. Okay?”
“Aight,” he said. Taunia laid her head into Prince’s chest until the train arrived. As soon as they exited the platform at Brookland station, Prince saw his father’s truck waiting in the Kiss-and-Ride section of the parking lot. They walked over to the truck, and Prince opened the door to let Taunia get in first and slide to the middle.
“Mr. Hawkins, you raised such a little gentleman.”
“Yeah, I’d like to think my son knows how to carry himself around women.”
“Hey dad… What you do tonight?”
“I was wit’ Sarah,” he replied. “She was helping me make a new résumé.”
“For real?” asked Prince. “What for?”
“I went to the doctor the other day to get some pain killers ’cause my back was hurtin’ me. He ran a couple tests, came back and told me that I need to take a couple days off. He told me that manual labor was takin’ it’s toll on my body, my back specifically.”
A concerned Prince replied, “So why you ain’t took off yet?”
“Well for one, when I don’t go to work, I don’t get paid. And two, I talked to Sarah about it. Then today, she told me to come by the house after I dropped y’all off at the metro station. When I got there, she started showing me jobs that I qualify for, jobs that would allow me to sit at a desk and stop breakin’ my back everyday.”
“Payin’ the same thing you makin’ now?” asked Prince.
“Payin’ better actually.”
“Well that’s good,” said Taunia. “So you were applyin’ for jobs on the internet tonight?”
“Naw, not yet,” replied Mr. Hawkins. “Your mom was jus’ showin’ me the types o’ options that I have if I’m interested in ’em. Then after we looked at those, we started workin’ on makin’ me a résumé. We were still workin’ on that when I looked up and saw what time it was. I said I would come pick y’all up, and she said she would try to finish the résumé up without me.”
“So does that mean y’all gon’ stay for a while when we get to my house?” asked Taunia.
“Maybe just for a little bit,” said Mr. Hawkins. Shortly thereafter, they arrived in front of Taunia’s building.
Taunia unlocked the door, and they followed her into the apartment. She walked over to her mother, kissed her on her cheek and asked her how her evening went. Her mom was still sitting at the computer, just as Mr. Hawkins had implied she would be. The computer was in the den, which was closer to the bedrooms than it was to the living room, which is where Taunia and Prince were.
The two teenagers had set themselves up on the living room sofa and conveniently ignored the fact that none of the lamps in the room were turned on. Mr. Hawkins was with Ms. Crenshaw in the den. Taunia’s baby sister, Shanita, was spending the weekend at her Aunt Dana’s house, as she often did. Dana’s house was more fun for Shanita because there were other kids her age there. Usually, Ms. Crenshaw had no problem with Shanita spending the weekends over there, as long as she wasn’t on punishment. According to Taunia, Shanita never got in trouble for anything, so that rule was really null and void.
Prince turned on ESPN to see if SportsCenter was still on. Taunia took the remote control from him and reminded him that she had just sat in a movie theatre for two hours watching something that he wanted to see. It was her turn to choose what they watch.
She changed the station to the soap opera channel. “Okay, that’s not fair,” said Prince. “You gon’ turn on the channel you know I absolutely hate more than anything else on television!”
A smiling Taunia responded by putting down the remote and laying her head on his shoulder. “I wanted to turn on something that I knew would not take your attention away from me at all.”
“Well if that’s the case, you could’ve just cut the tv off altogether.”
A few minutes passed. They accidentally cut off the television. Prince motioned to put his arm around Taunia and knocked the remote control off of the sofa. Upon impact with the floor, the television cut off. Either the sound of the television turning off or the remote control crashing into the floor grabbed the attention of their parents. Ms. Crenshaw and Mr. Hawkins came from the den into the living room and found their kids in the dark enthralled in one another. They acted as if they were responding to a noise, but they were really just checking up on the young lovebirds.
If you like what you read, keep on the lookout for the release of
Urban Lullabies, Volume 2: Taunia Crenshaw.
