𝒮𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒮𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎: Chapter One
City Summer
“Everybody think love gotta start with fireworks, but sometimes it start with a little spark.”
Malia
Chicago heat had a way of sticking to you. It didn’t just sit on your skin—it settled in. The air carried the smell of barbecue smoke, bus brakes, and somebody’s perfume floating through the crowd.
It was a Saturday in July, and Malia stood at a block party on 47th Street with a paper plate full of jerk chicken and baked beans that had gone cold a long time ago.
Somewhere behind her, Reina laughed loud enough to compete with the DJ. Malia heard her before she saw her. That was Reina. You always knew she was around before she came into view.
Truth be told, Malia hadn’t even wanted to come.
She’d worked a double shift at the clinic the day before and was on call the next morning. But Reina had insisted she needed “a little sunshine and a little somebody new to look at.”
Then she said.
“Girl, it’s been forever since you even looked at a man. You spend all day fixing everybody else, but your own heart still broken since Jordan passed.”
That one had landed.
Malia hadn’t said anything.
She’d just let Reina keep talking.
That was how their friendship had always worked. Reina did most of the talking, Malia did most of the listening, and somehow, by the end of every conversation, Malia always felt a little lighter.
She stood watching kids weave through rows of folding chairs while the older men argued—again—about LeBron and Jordan like they hadn’t been having the same debate for years. Off to the side, somebody’s auntie was selling slices of pound cake from a cooler.
“Aye, Malia!” Reina called over the music. “Come dance, girl!”
“I’m good right here!” Malia shouted back with a smile.
That’s when she noticed him.
He stood near the DJ, nodding his head to the music like he didn’t have a care in the world. A faded White Sox hat sat low on his head. Black T-shirt. Jeans.
Nothing flashy.
Just...one of those men who didn’t have to do too much.
He looked over.
Their eyes met for a split second.
Malia looked away, pretending to check her phone.
Nobody had texted her.
When she glanced back up, he was looking again.
This time...
He smiled.
It had been a long time since somebody smiled at her like that.
There was something about it.
The slow, almost shy way his lips curved made her stomach flutter in a way it hadn’t in years.
She rolled her eyes at herself.
Girl, please.
We don’t do this no more.
She’d worked too hard to protect her peace to let some fine stranger come along and shake it up.
People always looked good from across the street anyway.
Still...
When Reina grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the music, Malia noticed he was walking their way.
Funny how the whole mood seemed to shift.
He stopped in front of them.
“’Scuse me,” he said, his voice low and easy.
“You mind if I cut in?”
Before Malia could answer, Reina grinned.
“Oh, she don’t mind,” she said. “She been over here acting like she allergic to having a good time.”
“Reina...”
Too late.
Reina was already backing away, waving over her shoulder.
“You’re welcome!”
He laughed, shaking his head.
“Your friend don’t waste no time, huh?”
Malia let out a quiet laugh.
“Nope. She been in my business since college.”
He smiled.
“So...”
“Was she telling the truth?”
Malia folded her arms, trying not to smile.
“She think so at least.”
“I’m Malik.”
“Malia.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Malia and Malik?”
She shrugged.
“Guess it’s kinda cute... or whatever.”
That made him laugh.
He nodded toward the crowd.
“You dance?”
“Not really.”
He smile.
“Then we ain’t gotta dance. We can just sway.”
Malia looked at him for a second.
For reasons she couldn’t explain...
She didn’t say no.
They moved slow, rocking back and forth with the music.
The DJ had switched to some old-school D’Angelo, and the whole block seemed to settle into the song.
People sang along.
Couples danced.
Kids ran through the crowd laughing.
Even the breeze felt different.
Malik smelled good, too.
Not like he’d drowned himself in cologne.
Just enough.
What surprised Malia most was how comfortable the silence felt.
Malik wasn't one of them men who felt like they gotta fill every second with talking.
Most of the song, he just nodded along to the music.
When it ended, he looked over at her.
“So...you from around here?”
“Yeah.”
“Born and raised.”
“Bronzeville.”
He nodded.
“South Shore.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I just moved back.”
“What brought you home?”
Malik got quiet for a moment.
Like he was deciding how much of the story to tell.
Finally, he looked back at her.
“Life.”
She waited.
“And my grandma.”
“Somebody gotta make sure she alright.”
Before Malia could ask anything else, Reina came bouncing back over, fanning herself with a paper plate.
“Whew! It’s hot as I don’t know what.”
Malik laughed.
“I should probably get going.”
“But I’m glad I ran into you, Malia from Bronzeville.”
She smiled.
“Ran into?”
“You walked up on me, Malik from South Shore.”
He laughed.
“Yeah...”
“You got me there.”
For a second, he hesitated.
“So...”
“Can I see you again?”
Malia laughed softly.
“I barely know you.”
He smiled.
“That’s kinda the point.”
She shook her head.
“You got jokes.”
“Nah.”
“Just a little persistent.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I’d love to take you out next weekend.”
“Coffee.”
“Lunch.”
“Dinner.”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
Malia didn’t answer right away.
Instead, she looked over at Reina.
Reina wasn’t even pretending not to listen.
The moment their eyes met, Reina started mouthing the words:
“Girl...say yes.”
Malia rolled her eyes.
That girl had no shame.
She let out a quiet sigh.
“Alright.”
Malik’s whole face lit up.
“So...next weekend?”
She nodded.
“Next weekend.”
A pair of dimples appeared when he smiled.
“Bet.”
Malia folded her arms.
“‘Bet?’”
He laughed.
“Yeah...bet.”
She smiled.
“You do know you don’t have my number.”
“I know.”
“So how exactly were you planning to text me?”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“I was kinda hoping you’d help me out with that.”
She laughed before she could stop herself.
“You real smooth, Malik from South Shore.”
He shrugged.
“I have my moments.”
Malia pulled her phone from her purse.
“Go ahead.”
His smile widened.
He typed his name and number into her phone before handing it back.
A second later, his own phone buzzed.
“There,” she said.
“Now you got it.”
He looked down at the screen and smiled.
“Yeah.”
“Now I got it.”
He looked back at her.
“I’ll text you later.”
“Just so you know I didn’t give you a fake number.”
Malia laughed.
“I would’ve figured that out eventually.”
He took a couple of steps backward.
“Have a good night, Malia.”
“You too, Malik.”
She watched him disappear into the crowd, his faded Sox hat becoming harder to spot with every step.
She didn’t realize she was still watching until Reina bumped her shoulder.
“Mmhmm,” Reina said with a grin.
“Look at you...”
Malik
Chicago hit different after you’d been gone for a while.
The air felt heavier. The streets sounded louder.
When Malik left at twenty-three, he was convinced Atlanta was where his dreams would take off. He was going to become one of those producers everybody wanted to work with.
Life had other plans.
He’d done alright. He’d made enough beats to keep the lights on and food in the fridge. Just...not enough to build the life he thought he was gon have.
Then, a month ago, his grandmother called.
“Mal, I sho’ do miss you. This house too quiet.”
That was all it took.
Truth was... He missed her just as much.
So he packed up and came home.
Same city. Just a different version of him walking through it.
Then he met Malia.
He wasn’t about to call it love at first sight. He didn’t believe in all that.
It was something else.
He’d looked up...
...and there she was.
Like he was supposed to notice her.
Malik wasn’t the type to walk up to women at block parties. Never had been.
But something about her kept catching his eye.
She looked like she was there...but not all the way there. Like her body was at the party, but her mind was somewhere else.
It made him wanna know what she was thinking.
Now he sat in his car on 47th Street with the AC on full blast, her number saved in his phone...
...grinning like a fool.
If any of his boys could see him now, they’d clown him for the next six months.
Malia
By the time Malia made it home, the city had started settling down.
Lights from the apartment building across the street stretched through her living room window, casting long shadows across the floor.
She’d been in the apartment almost a year, and it still didn’t look like someone lived there.
A couch.
A TV.
A couple of framed pictures still sitting in the same box she’d promised herself she’d unpack months ago.
Work always seemed to come first.
The apartment was quiet except for the hum of the refrigerator and the distant rumble of the Green Line passing by.
She kicked off her shoes, tossed her purse on the counter, and pulled out her phone.
One new text.
Malik from South Shore 😊
Malik: Did you make it home safe? Appreciate the dance, Ms. Malia from Bronzeville.
She smiled before she even realized it.
Her thumbs hovered over the screen for a second before she typed back.
Malia: I did, thank you. Glad you didn’t melt out there. It had to be at least ninety degrees.
A few seconds later...
Malik: Yeah, the way the sun was staring me down, I thought we had beef. Summer my season, but today was disrespectful.
Malia shook her head and laughed.
Leave it to him to have her smiling over something so silly.
The smile didn’t last long though.
Cause underneath it...
Was something she’d spent years trying to bury.
It’s been almost four years since Jordan got killed.
Four years since she promised herself she wasn’t going to let nobody get close enough to hurt her like that again.
She’d spent years putting herself back together.
Therapy.
Prayer.
Fighting to stay strong and keep going
And now...
One conversation at a block party had her sitting on her couch smiling at her phone.
That scared her more than she cared to admit.
The truth was...
Some mornings she still woke up waiting for the phone call that already came.
Maybe that’s why she was scared to let anyone new in.
Because loving somebody meant giving life another chance to hurt her.
Still...
When she closed her eyes that night, Malik’s laugh found its way back into her thoughts.
She smiled. Then she caught herself. “Girl, It’s just one conversation,” she whispered.
She rolled over, pulled the covers up, and closed her eyes.
Malik
The next morning, Grandma Etta was already in the kitchen, stirring her coffee like she had all the time in the world.
“Morning, baby,” she said without looking up.
“Morning.”
Malik grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured himself a cup of coffee.
“You was out kinda late.”
“Yeah.”
He took a sip.
“Went to that block party.”
“Mmm.”
She nodded to herself.
“Have a good time?”
“Yeah. It was cool. Ran into some people.”
Grandma Etta didn’t say nothing right away. She just took another sip of her coffee before peeking over the rim of her mug.
“So...”
Malik smiled.
He already knew that tone.
“You meet somebody?”
He looked over at her.
“Now why you jump straight to that?”
She chuckled.
“’Cause you been humming ever since you got up. Ain’t heard you do that in forever”
He laughed and shook his head.
“You turned into a detective or something?”
She pointed her spoon at him.
“Baby, I don’t need to investigate nothing. I know my grandson.”
Malik smiled into his coffee.
She studied him for a second before her smile softened.
“Now if there is somebody...”
He looked up.
“...make sure she’s got more than a pretty face.”
“Alright Grandma.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
“I raised you to look deeper than that. Find somebody that love the Lord, know who she is, and got something she working toward.”
Malik nodded.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
Later that afternoon, Malik headed to his studio.
Same setup he dragged all the way back from Atlanta.
Malik leaned back in his chair. A small smile crossed his face.
His eyes wandered around the room.
Everything he’d prayed for was sitting right in front of him.
It made him think back to the first day he got the keys.
He remembered unlocking the door and just standing there.
The room was empty.
No furniture.
No equipment.
Just bare walls and a dream he been carrying since he was a teenager.
He smiled to himself.
“Lord...I really got a studio.”
He could still remember walking across that empty floor, already picturing where everything would go.
The desk over there.
The keyboard by the window.
A couch for artists to kick back on.
Back then, it didn’t look like much.
But he never saw what it was.
He always saw what it could become.
It hadn’t happened overnight, either.
Every speaker.
Every cable.
Every microphone.
He’d bought a little at a time.
He thought about all those overnight shifts at FedEx, loading trucks until his back ached, just so he could afford rent and equipment.
Some months he could only afford one piece of equipment.
Other months, he couldn’t buy anything at all.
Still...
God kept making a way.
It wasn’t the biggest studio in the city.
Wasn’t the fanciest either.
But every time somebody walked through those doors and left smiling because they finally heard their vision come to life...
It reminded him why he started.
Malik looked around the room one more time.
“I still can’t believe this is mine.”
He smiled.
Then shook his head.
“Nah...”
He looked up toward the ceiling.
“Thank You.”
The room fell quiet again except for the beat playing softly through the speakers.
For a second...
He just sat there, grateful.
Then he reached for the keyboard.
“Alright...”
“Back to work.”
Malia
The next morning, Malia’s phone started ringing before she’d even finished her first cup of coffee.
She didn’t even have to look.
Reina.
She answered anyway.
“What?”
“Girl!”
Reina practically screamed into the phone.
“Did he text you?”
Malia laughed.
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“And...he asked me to breakfast this weekend.”
Reina let out the loudest squeal.
Malia pulled the phone away from her ear.
“Malia Carter!”
“Look at you!”
You finally letting somebody take you out.
“It is one breakfast.”
“Mhm.”
“I mean it.”
“Yeah right”
“You was over there smiling so hard yesterday.”
“I was not.”
“Girl...”
“Yes, you was.”
Malia rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh.
“You so dramatic.”
“And you like him.”
“I barely know that man.”
“But you wanna.”
Malia laughed.
“You need help.”
“I probably do.”
Reina laughed with her.
“Just promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Have fun.”
“I’m gonna try.”
“There you go.”
“See? That’s your problem.”
“You already overthinking it.”
Malia smiled to herself.
“I can’t help it.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Just get to know him.”
“That’s all.”
Malia nodded even though Reina couldn’t see her.
“Okay.”
A few minutes later, they hung up.
Malia sat quietly, her coffee still warm in her hands.
Maybe Reina was right.
She didn’t have to think of all the possible outcomes.
Maybe... She could just enjoy getting to know him.
One conversation. One date. One step at a time.
And see where God led her.
Malik
Saturday took its sweet time getting here.
Malik pulled into Sip & Savor about ten minutes early. He walked in, found a table by the window, and tried his best not to look like he was waiting on somebody.
Then she walked in.
Jeans. A soft white top. Her curls pinned up.
Simple. Beautiful.
She spotted him across the café and smiled.
For a second, everything else seemed to fade into the background.
Maybe it didn’t. Maybe it was just him. He stood as she walked over.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” she said with a smile.
“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”
“Nah.”
He slid back into his chair.
“I just got here.”
She gave him a look.
“You lying already?”
He laughed.
“Maybe a little.”
She shook her head, smiling as she sat down.
A waitress stopped by a minute later to take their order.
Malia ordered an iced banana caramel latte and a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese.
Malik kept it simple—a turkey, egg, and cheese sandwich with a medium coffee, a little cream, and two sugars.
She looked at him.
“That’s the plainest coffee order I ever heard.”
He shrugged. “Coffee supposed to taste like coffee.”
She laughed. “See, that’s your problem.”
“My problem?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You missing out.”
“Nah,” he said with a grin. “Y’all be turning coffee into dessert.”
She took another sip of her drink. “And it’s good, too.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
She laughed again.
Before either of them realized it, the conversation had taken off.
They talked about music.
The city.
Their families.
Favorite restaurants.
Growing up in Chicago.
At one point, Malik looked at her.
“So...what exactly does a physical therapist do?”
Malia smiled.
“I help people get their lives back.”
“One step at a time.”
He nodded slowly.
“That’s gotta feel good.”
“It does.”
“The long days be worth it.”
She looked down at her cup for a second before taking another sip.
Malik couldn’t help watching her.
The way her eyes lit up whenever she talked about her patients.
The smile that came so easy when she spoke about helping people.
He could tell it ain’t just a job to her. She really cares.
And somehow...
He found himself smiling too.
The hours slipped by without either of them noticing.
One conversation rolled into the next.
Dreams.
Faith.
Travel.
What they hoped life would look like five or ten years from now.
Talking to Malia felt easy. She actually listened.
Not just waiting for her turn to talk...
She listened. That was rare.
By the time they looked around, employees were wiping down tables and stacking chairs.
Malia laughed.
“Dang.”
“We really been sitting here all morning.”
Malik laughed too.
“I guess we have.”
They walked outside together.
A warm breeze drifted down the sidewalk.
Malia tucked one of her curls behind her ear and looked over at him.
“I had a good time.”
He smiled.
“So did I.”
And he meant every word.
They stood there for a second, neither one of them in a hurry to leave.
Finally, Malik cleared his throat.
“So...”
She looked at him.
“Think I can see you again?”
She smiled, but there was something thoughtful in her expression.
“I think that can be arranged.”
“I’ll take that.”
She laughed softly.
“But, Malik...”
“Yeah?”
“I just want to take things slow.”
He nodded, listening.
“I like getting to know you,” she continued. “But I don’t want either of us to feel like we have to rush into anything. I just want us to spend time together, talk, see where this goes. You know... actually get to know each other.”
Malik smiled.
“I can do that.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Honestly, I think I’d rather do it that way too.”
Her smile grew.
“Good.”
“Besides,” he added, “I kinda like getting to know you.”
She shook her head, trying not to smile too hard.
“I’ll see you soon, Malik.”
“See you soon, Malia.”
He stood there and watched her walk to her car.
Right before she got in, she turned around and gave him one small wave.
He smiled and waved back.
Even after she pulled away, he was still standing there.
He shook his head and laughed to himself.
“Man...”
He didn’t know exactly what this was yet.
But for the first time in a long time...
He was looking forward to taking his time and finding out.
