I wanted to write about a younger Annie and slightly older Smoke. I wanted to capture the experience of finding your first true love as an adult. I am pulling from my own experience as well as a lot of my friends. We had so much fun back in the day. 🥴😂😭 Whew! A time was definitely had.
The title of the series is called
Inspired by the remake that Avant and Keke made.
It’s August of 2004 in South Kansas City, Missouri.
Annie is starting her first job at Red Lobster.
She’s a senior in high school, freshly eighteen years old. Her mom and dad made it clear that if she wanted senior pictures, prom, graduation fees, class dues, yearbooks, and all the other expenses that came with being a senior, she would have to pay for them herself.
There were too many kids in the house.
Growing up between Grandview and Raytown, Annie had lived a sheltered life. She rarely spent time in the inner city. Her dad kept her busy with school, church, chores, and helping raise her younger siblings. Most weekends were spent babysitting or cleaning instead of hanging out with friends.
At eighteen, she was still a virgin while most of her friends had already crossed that bridge years ago.
Now that she was officially an adult, her father had finally loosened the ropes a little.
As Annie walks through the front doors of Red Lobster, her stomach twisted with nerves and excitement.
The blast of cold air conditioning immediately hits her face.
The restaurant smells like cheddar bay biscuits, fried shrimp, butter, lemon, and seafood. A large lobster tank filled with lobsters sits in the lobby.
Glasses clink. Silverware rattles.
Servers hurry through the dining room carrying trays balance high on their shoulders.
Customers laugh from booths.
A baby cries somewhere near the front windows.
Annie smooths her uniform shirt and wraps her blue apron around her waist.
Her fresh wrap hangs past her shoulders, bouncing when she moves. Her lips are coated in clear gloss and her chocolate skin glows beneath the bright restaurant lights.
She was finally making her own money.
That thought alone makes her smile.
Near the host stand stands two girls wearing the same uniform.
Both looking just as nervous.
“You starting today too?”
The girl extends her hand.
“My name is Lindsey and this is Melissa.”
Before they can say much else, a voice calls out behind them.
Standing there is a middle-aged, skinny pale woman with tired eyes and smoker’s wrinkles around her mouth.
She looks like she drank every weekend and maybe a few weekdays too.
“I’m Michelle,” she says. “Let me show you around and introduce you to everybody. Follow me.”
The girls fall in line behind her.
Michelle leads them through the dining room.
As they walk, she introduces managers, hosts, bartenders, and bus boys.
The farther they walk, the louder things become.
Then they reach the kitchen.
The moment Annie steps through the swinging doors she nearly stops in her tracks.
The heat hits her instantly.
The smell of grease and seasoning fill the air.
Orders are being shouted from every direction.
The galley sits in the middle of it all.
One side belongs to the servers and food dressers.
The other belongs to the cooks.
A narrow window separates them where finished plates slide through.
Four cooks stand on the line.
All young. All Black. All handsome.
But one stands out immediately.
Muscles stretching beneath his black t-shirt.
Looked to be twenty one or twenty two.
He’s talking to another cook when he turns his head.
The second he does, his eyes land on Annie.
His entire expression changes.
Like something had caught his attention.
Goes right back to whatever conversation he was having.
And for some reason, her stomach flips.
Before she can think too much about it Michelle calls out.
“Fellas! We got some new servers starting today!”
Michelle points down the line.
“This one here is Jesse. He works the fryers.”
Jesse grins. Light skinned.
Curly hair—a product of when races mix.
Looking every bit of nineteen.
All three girls greet him back.
“This is Brandon. He’s one of our grill cooks.”
He’s slightly chubby with a perfectly trimmed beard, cornrows.
His lips are dark from years of smoking blunts.
The way Brandon looks at the new girls makes it obvious he considers them fresh fish.
“This is Jessie and he garnishes all the food.”
“Yeah, but I’m the better one.”
This Jessie is dark skinned and shorter than the rest.
The entire line laughs—except Smoke.
Finally Michelle points to the last cook.
“This one here is Elijah. He can do it all. Grill, fryers, whatever’s needed.”
The cook immediately corrects her.
“Sorry. He goes by Smoke. Which I really don’t want us calling out in the kitchen, but whatever.”
He just looks directly at her.
The boldness of it nearly makes her look away immediately.
For several seconds they simply stare at each other.
The noise of the kitchen fading.
The voices. The fryers. Everything.
Then Smoke finally breaks eye contact.
And Annie finds herself breathing again.
After introductions Michelle brings the girls back into the galley.
They are paired with veteran servers.
Annie ends up with a girl named Meagan.
Meagan couldn’t have been more than twenty.
Petite. Brown skin. Pretty face.
A short ponytail swinging behind her head.
Small but loud. Very loud.
“Come on,” Meagan says immediately.
“We moving fast around here.”
Meagan walks so quickly Annie almost has to jog.
“This where you get your salads.”
“This where the biscuits go.”
“This the drink station. We get free drinks.”
“Girl, don’t worry. Everybody lost their first day.”
As they walk she continues talking.
“If somebody asks you for ranch, bring two. Trust me.”
“If somebody asks for extra biscuits, bring six.”
“Yes six. White folks love these damn biscuits.”
“And stay out the managers’ faces.”
By the time they return to the kitchen, Meagan has already shifted gears.
She grabs a plate from the window.
“Aye! Where the fuck is my steak?!”
The entire kitchen looks up.
“I already got fucking fries on this plate getting cold! Hurry the fuck up!”
“Shut the fuck up! It says well done on the ticket! You’ll get it when it’s done!”
He points toward the fryer.
“Blame Jessie ass for dropping the fries too early!”
They immediately start arguing.
Back and forth. Like siblings.
Annie stands there watching in disbelief.
She glances toward Smoke.
He’s reading tickets hanging above the line.
Then his eyes flicker toward her.
The look wasn’t accidental.
Annie immediately looks away.
Heat rising in her cheeks.
As Meagan loads food onto her tray she smirks.
“Don’t think I don’t see you.”
“Move the fuck out my way!”
Annie nearly jumps and everyone in the galley parts.
Once they hit the dining room though…
Plays peek-a-boo with babies.
Calls elderly couples sweetheart.
Asks people about birthdays.
It’s like watching two completely different people.
When they return to the kitchen Annie finally says it.
“I just saw a different person out there.”
Meagan clicks her tongue.
“I do what I need to do for money.”
She points toward the biscuit station.
“Now go get me some biscuits.”
And suddenly hours disappear.
The restaurant grows louder.
The cooks move like machines.
Servers dart around each other.
Managers yell table numbers.
By closing time Annie’s feet hurt.
At the end of the night she and Meagan sit rolling silverware.
“You gotta roll it tight like this.”
“And always tip out the bar.”
“Whatever you wanna give.”
They roll two entire tubs.
When they finish, Meagan shoves forty dollars toward Annie.
“You don’t have to do that.”
Annie smiles and stuffs it into her apron.
Outside, she pulls out her Nokia phone to call her dad.
Meagan stays behind talking to a male server named Saul.
A few minutes later the front doors open.
Saul immediately calls out.
“Aye bro. I need that good shit from you. I know you got some.”
“I’m gettin’ ready to bring my truck up.”
Smoke glances toward Annie.
A chill crawls down her spine.
Trying to act unaffected.
There was something about him.
Like he works a regular job but belongs somewhere else after hours.
Places Annie had only heard stories about.
She was intrigued despite herself.
Eventually she gets bored waiting.
She starts playing the Snake game on her phone.
A dark blue candy-painted 1988 Chevy Silverado rolls toward them.
Chrome twenty-fours gleam beneath the lights.
Tint too dark to see through.
Bass rattles the pavement.
The truck looks expensive.
It pulls directly in front of the restaurant.
Looking straight at Annie.
Like he wants her to notice.
Like he knows she’s watching.
His non-slip shoes are gone.
Confidence dripping off him.
Smoke finally looks away and walks over to Saul.
Leaving the truck door wide open.
Annie can’t help herself.
Leather seats painted Superman colors.
A giant S stitched into the center.
TV screens built into the headrests.
J-Kwon’s “Hood Hop” blasts from expensive speakers.
The truck looks like something straight out of a music video.
She watches Smoke hand Saul something.
Starts walking back toward his truck.
His eyes never leaving Annie.
Not until he climbs inside.
The corner of his mouth lifts slightly.
Lindsey and Melissa busts out laughing behind her.
“He so damn sexy,” Lindsey said.
Melissa nods immediately.
“Mhmm. I was making sure I kept my eyes on him all day.”
“Now that I seen his car, I gotta try and talk to him.”
“You wouldn’t even know what to do with a man like that.”
“Maybe not. But I’m sure he can teach me.”
Annie smiles and shakes her head.
“How was your first day?” Melissa asks.
“Girl I made good money. Keisha gave me a hundred dollars.”
Lindsey’s mouth drops open.
“Cortez ain’t give me nothing.”
Just then Annie’s dad pulls into the parking lot.
By the time Annie gets home, her siblings were asleep.
She slips her Nivea CD into her Walkman.
“25 Reasons” fills her headphones.
The room glows softly from the moonlight coming through the blinds.
Annie stares at the ceiling.
The way he looked at her.
The way he held eye contact.
Everything about him felt different from the boys she’d grown up around in South Kansas City.
Made her want to know more.
Her heart skips just thinking about the way he’d stared a hole through her before leaving.
Eventually her eyes grow heavy.
And somewhere between thoughts of Smoke and dreams of tomorrow, Annie finally drifts off to sleep.
Smoke rides through Kansas City with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the console.
Rich The Factor thumps through the speakers.
Streetlights blur across his windshield as he cuts through the city.
Normally he doesn’t think about work once he’s off the clock.
Once he’s done cooking, he’s done.
But tonight his mind won’t stay where it’s supposed to.
It keeps drifting back to the same person.
The truck rolls through Prospect.
Dropping off what his customers need.
But every time he finds himself alone again, his mind circles right back to her.
He sees her standing in the kitchen.
Fresh wrap, hair bouncing whenever she moved.
Chocolate skin glowing under those fluorescent lights.
And that’s exactly what caught his attention.
Most girls would’ve been giggling.
Showing off, like the other two who started with her.
She barely looked anybody in the eye.
When Michelle introduced them, Smoke noticed the way Annie stood with her hands folded in front of her.
Almost nervous. Almost innocent.
Like she wasn’t used to being around people like him.
And she definitely wasn’t.
Smoke knew the difference immediately.
He’d met girls from every part of Kansas City.
Annie wasn’t from his world.
The way she carried herself.
The way she blushed when he looked at her.
The girl was green. Fresh.
That made her ass even prettier.
Smoke pulls into a gas station on Troost.
One of his regular customers walks out.
Then he’s back on the road.
The city glows around him.
Neon signs. Liquor stores.
People hanging outside apartment buildings.
Cars rolling through intersections.
“You hittin the club tonight?”
“Ain’t really feelin it.”
“You thinkin’ about that new girl.”
“I don’t know what the hell you talkin about.”
Smoke hears Brandon sparking a blunt.
“You ain’t slick. The whole line saw you starin’ at her ass.”
“Nah. Whatever my ass. You was looking at her like she was the last biscuit in that muthafucka.”
Smoke laughs despite himself.
“Nigga shut the fuck up.”
“And she was lookin’ at yo ass too.”
Then she’d immediately look away.
Like she’d gotten caught.
The memory makes him smirk
“You smiling right now ain’t you?”
“Man get the fuck off my phone.”
“You got it bad already my nigga.”
He drums his fingers against the steering wheel.
He doesn’t get nervous around women.
But there was something different about Annie.
She didn’t seem impressed by his truck.
Didn’t know about his reputation
Or the fact that half the city knew his name.
Hell, she seemed like she barely talked.
But every time she’d looked at him today, Smoke felt something strange settle in his chest.
Something he couldn’t quite explain.
The truck slows at a red light.
Smoke glances at the passenger seat.
Then he thinks about Annie sitting there.
The image appears so clearly that it catches him off guard.
For the first time all night, he realizes he’s smiling like a fool and he hardly ever smiles.
The rest of the night passes in a blur of business.
Eventually he pulls into his apartment complex sometime after midnight.
For a moment he just sits there.
Looking through the windshield.
The way her eyes got wide every time he caught her staring.
Then he remembers the way she nodded back when he pulled off.
Yet it’s the thing he remembers most.
Smoke climbs out and locks the truck.
As he heads toward his apartment he laughs softly to himself.
Because for the first time in a long time…
He’s actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow.
And he already knows exactly why.
The next day at school, Annie is sitting in the cafeteria at lunch with her best friends Ebony, Devin, and Rhonda.
The cafeteria is loud as always.
Trays slam against tables.
Kids yell across the room.
A group of football players are crowded around two tables arguing about who won a game of Madden the night before.
The smell of pizza, french fries, and cafeteria tacos hangs in the air.
A teacher blows a whistle somewhere near the vending machines.
Annie picks at her fries while her friends crowd around the table.
“So how was your first day of work?”
“It was okay. It’s fast paced but I can handle it.”
Devin immediately perks up.
“Shit, I can’t wait until you in there good. I need the hook up, girl.”
“Here you go. Stay tryin’ to get free food. We don’t even get free food. We only get half off.”
“Oh wow,” Devin says. “They can’t even give y’all free food?”
“Uh no. We get free drinks though.”
“Shit, I’d take that. Free is free,” Ebony says.
“Anyway, we goin to Bannister Mall Saturday or what?”
Rhonda immediately shakes her head.
“Nah. Let’s go to The Landing Mall. That’s where all the fine niggas at. Don’t nobody wanna see the same niggas we see at school every day.”
Devin points across the table.
“Yo fast ass always tryna go down in the city.”
“So?” Rhonda shoots back. “Them niggas ain’t boring. I love ridin wit em while they buss serves.”
The girls busts out laughing.
“I can’t. I gotta babysit and I haven’t even gotten paid yet.”
Devin groans dramatically.
“You always gotta watch them damn crumb snatchers.”
“Yeah,” Rhonda adds. “They bad as hell.”
“I know y’all,” Annie says. “Butttt what can I do? They my siblings.”
Annie tries to laugh it off, but the familiar frustration creeps in.
She doesn’t want to babysit.
Not every time her friends are doing something fun.
She loves her brothers and sisters.
Would do anything for them.
But sometimes it feels like she’s helping raise them instead of just being their sister.
Meanwhile everybody else gets to be teenagers.
Everybody else gets to go to the movies.
Annie feels like she’s constantly missing something.
She stares down at her tray.
Ready for the day she can finally get away from home.
Ready for the day she doesn’t have to ask permission for every little thing.
At this rate she doesn’t even want kids.
Ebony pulls her from her thoughts.
“Ryan was looking for you earlier.”
Annie immediately rolls her eyes.
“I don’t know why. That’s been over.”
“I don’t know,” Ebony says. “He told me to give you this letter.”
She slides the folded paper across the table.
“Don’t do him like that. Y’all was so cute together.” Devin says
Ryan was Annie’s ex-boyfriend.
If that’s what you wanted to call him.
Most of their relationship happened at school.
The rest happened through whispered late-night phone calls that Annie had to sneak to make.
Then she found out he loved attention way more than he loved her.
Especially attention from girls.
When he got caught kissing another girl on a football trip, Annie was devastated.
Not because she lost Ryan.
But because she trusted him.
Then when she confronted him, he tried to make it her fault.
Told her she didn’t spend enough time with him.
Told her she cared more about following her parents’ rules than being his girlfriend.
Annie broke that shit off immediately.
Even though he was talking to another girl now—the same girl he was caught kissing.
It was like he couldn’t handle the fact that Annie left him first.
And everybody at school knew it.
Annie stuffs the letter into her pocket.
“That little long paragraph he wrote on your guestbook on BlackPlanet was too cute.”
“It was not. I cussed him out too because who does that? You just supposed to put your name in there. Not write whole paragraphs for the whole world to see.”
“Ryan don’t know shit about love. I blame Kevion for setting me up with his ass.”
“That’s who you should’ve gotten wit.”
Annie immediately knits her brows.
“Hell no. That’s like my brother. He’s annoying as hell. I don’t see how any girl can put up wit him.”
Annie throws a fry at her.
“Anywayyyy let’s change the subject.”
The bell rings moments later.
Everybody starts standing.
Chairs scrape across the floor.
Teachers begin ushering students toward class.
The four girls gather their things and head toward the hallway laughing.
♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️
A little later, Annie is sitting in her last period.
The teacher is at the front of the room droning on about something written across the chalkboard.
Most of the students aren’t paying attention.
Others are listening to CDs through headphones hidden beneath their hoodies.
Sunlight streams through the classroom windows.
Annie reaches into her pocket and pulls out Ryan’s letter.
She unfolds it carefully beneath her desk.
Immediately she recognizes his handwriting.
Trying too hard to be cool.
Nothin much this way just chillin like a muthafuckin villain.’
Annie rolls her eyes so hard they almost hurt.
She shakes her head and keeps reading.
‘Anyway, you really not returning my calls? That shit crazy. I told you I ain’t mean for it to happen. I know you probably heard about me and Dana but she don’t mean shit to me. She ain’t you. I’m only wit her now cause you won’t take me back. I miss you and I know I blamed you for yo parents being so strict but it ain’t yo fault and that’s my bad. If you can meet me at my locker at the end of the day. Just give me another chance Annie. Please. I hope to see you later.’
This is my sorry for 2004...
Annie stares at the paper for a few seconds after she finishes. She holds in a laugh at the song reference.
Ryan really had some audacity.
Dana don’t mean shit to you?
Then why was your tongue in her mouth?
Annie immediately feels her blood pressure rise.
The memory comes back clear as day.
Then Ryan standing in front of her trying to explain it away.
Trying to make her feel guilty.
Trying to convince her that somehow his cheating was connected to her parents being strict.
That part probably irritated her more than the actual kiss.
Because Ryan knew her situation.
He knew how hard it was for her to do anything.
He knew she couldn’t just leave whenever she wanted.
Knew she had younger siblings to help with.
Knew her father wasn’t playing that sneaking out shit.
Yet somehow he still tried to make her feel responsible for his choices.
Annie sucks her teeth quietly.
The girl beside her glances over.
Annie immediately looks back toward the board.
But her mind keeps drifting.
A small part of her wonders if she should meet him.
Maybe he really was sorry.
Maybe he meant what he wrote.
She cuts the thought off immediately.
Because if he was really sorry, he wouldn’t have done it.
And even if she forgave him…
Ryan still liked attention.
Still thought apologies fixed everything.
The truth was she didn’t trust him anymore.
Annie folds the letter one final time.
Until it’s just a tiny square.
Then she shoves it into her backpack.
She isn’t meeting him after school.
Now he could go be with Dana.
The final bell eventually rings.
Students immediately jump up from their desks.
Chairs scrape across the floor.
The hallway fills with noise.
Annie gathers her things and heads toward the door.
As she walks down the hallway, she spots Ryan leaning against his locker exactly where he said he’d be.
Searching every face that passes by.
Annie slows for half a second.
Just long enough to see the hopeful look on his face.
Without even turning her head.
A few moments later she hears him call her name.
Her grip tightens around her backpack strap.
But she never looks back.
Eventually his voice disappears behind her.
And for the first time since they broke up…
She feels completely sure she made the right decision.
By the time she reaches the parking lot, Ryan is already fading into the background.
The person occupying her thoughts isn’t him at all.
It’s a quiet cook from Red Lobster who hadn’t even said one word to her.
And that realization makes Annie shake her head at herself.
Because she doesn’t even know that man.
Yet somehow she’s smiling on the ride home.
♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️♾️
When Annie makes it home, the house is quiet for all of five minutes before the phone rings.
The loud ring echoes through the house.
Annie drops her backpack by the couch and picks up the cordless phone.
“Hey baby,” her mother says.
Annie smiles automatically.
“I need you to feed your siblings before you go to work.”
Annie’s shoulders immediately slump.
“But Mama…” she groans. “I don’t have much time. Where’s Edward at? He can feed them.”
“Annie, don’t question me.”
Her mother’s tone isn’t harsh, but it leaves little room for debate.
“He’s at theater practice.”
Edward was the second oldest—16, but he was hardly ever home.
Between theater, choir, band, and whatever school activity he had signed up for that month, he managed to stay busy.
Meanwhile Annie somehow always ended up being the one available.
“Your dad will be home shortly to take you to work. Watch your baby sister closely. She had to stay home from daycare today. Your auntie just dropped her off, so make sure her pull up is dry please.”
Annie glances at the clock.
She really doesn’t have much time.
After hanging up, Annie drops the phone back onto its charger and heads into the kitchen.
The house smells faintly like laundry detergent and whatever cleaning products her mother used that morning.
Her six year old twin siblings are somewhere throughout the house.
The twelve and fourteen year old are watching 106th and Park.
The youngest who is two years old is playing with toys on the floor.
Nobody seems remotely concerned about dinner.
“Y’all know y’all gotta eat, right?”
A chorus of the twelve and fourteen year old groans follows.
“We tryna go outside and hoop in a minute.”
Opening the freezer, she pulls out french fries.
Then grabs the ground beef from the refrigerator.
Before long the smell of sloppy joes fills the kitchen.
The meat sizzles in the skillet.
The fries crisp up in the oven.
The twins and the two year old begin wandering into the kitchen one by one, drawn by the smell.
Annie points toward the living room.
“If y’all don’t get out this kitchen.”
The kids scatter, laughing.
Eventually dinner is ready.
Annie fixes everyone’s plates and lines them up on the table.
Nobody moves fast enough.
Chairs scrape against the floor.
Annie watches them start eating before grabbing her own plate.
For a few minutes the only sounds are kids smacking and the television playing in the next room.
Then, as soon as they’re done, Annie starts gathering homework folders.
The complaints begin immediately.
The child suddenly grows quiet.
Sometimes she felt more like a third parent than a big sister.
She sits at the table helping one sibling with spelling words while another struggles through multiplication.
She holds her baby sister in her lap.
Outside, she hears her father’s truck pull into the driveway.
Relief instantly washes over her.
Because as much as she loved her family…
She was more than ready to get out of the house and head to work.
Even if it was only for a few hours.
It was the one place lately that felt like it belonged to her….
