18 years ago seemed pretty far away to think about her prom.  She was too quiet and innocent for me to even imagine her in a bodycon sequins dress with a high split up the thigh.  

But those premature years were over. Ya had blossomed into a beautiful young woman and was preparing for the most anticipated day for a teenage girl-Senior Prom.

Everyone was running around the house trying to get dress before Ya did and before her date arrived. Kailahse, her younger sister, was in the room doing a friend’s make-up for prom while my sister and I struggled to do our own face.  “I’m confused. Are you going to prom?” their daddy sarcastically asked my sister.

I meannnn, she was  looking pretty sexy. It was THEIR daughter’s prom, not hers.  AND we weren’t leaving the house to go anywhere.

But that’s my sister.  I had to stick up for her. If she wanted to get fancy, so what?  Who cares if we were only going to the front yard and to the middle of the street just to take pictures? Somebody had to look good posing next to Ya.

“MA!” Ya screamed from across the hall. We paused our make-up session to rush to her. We figured she was ready to get dress. To my surprise, Ya was fully dressed.  She stood there in her beautiful emerald-green gown, blushing, and looking as pretty as she want to be.

She would definitely look back on her prom night 10 years from now and be proud of her classic look. Me, on the other hand, I can’t say the same. I was a mess.  A ghetto tacky mess. A clown!

The crazy thing is, I seriously thought I was looking good though. As a matter of fact, I knew it.  Now, I am asking myself unanswered questions, “You thought that shit was cute? Where were your friends? Jada, Gaye, Shante, Sheila, Dante. What the hell? Why?!”

I’ve heard someone say before, when you try hard, you die-hard. Well! I clearly killed myself that year.

Once Ya’s date came, we spent the rest of our time taking countless pictures before seeing them off. I could tell she was enjoying every moment of the attention because she posed effortlessly for each shot.  All we could do is snap our cameras and shower her with compliments.

She was so gorgeous that I had to get into her for a minute. I needed to read that ass up and down and from side to side.  She was giving me life. Her gown was squeezing every inch of her itty bitty curves.   She was so beautiful. “Yasssss girl!! You look good!” I dramatically shouted.

Little did she know, she was getting ready to experience one of the best days of her life with the friends she love and was going to create memories with the people she will never forget.  And it was just for one night only– Senior Prom.

Oh! Yeah!

How could I forget?…Her brother was going to prom AGAIN. And he acted as if it was his first time going AGAIN. So, we had to get a few shots with him just to show him some love AGAIN.

A few weeks after her Prom, I texted Ya and asked “Give me one word to describe your night.”  She simply replied, “I’m not sure. It really wasn’t all that.”

Well damn! Maybe she will forget prom night after all.