Deborah: My very first best friend was Deborah Haffner, we were friends from 8 till about 13 years. Deborah and I had an incredible connection, my foray into her life opened my eyes to a lot of things about life, family and how its imperfections work.

Raymond: Raymond Scott was my playmate from next door; we spent an awful lot of time together in my house. Raymond lived with his grandparents while his (very young) mother was away in college. All he ever wanted was to have a mom, dad, brothers and a sister just like me; he said.

Aisha She was our landlord’s granddaughter; I was older than her so she followed me everywhere. One day she died suddenly, my first encounter with death. I still remember how the men carried her body in the tiny coffin past our house during the traditional Moslem burial.

Lovelace: Lovelace Buck lived two blocks from me, I thought she was so cool and mature and a slut but I just wanted to be her! I now realize that she just had an overactive imagination, most of the things she told me were utter lies… I mean what 10 year old sleeps with 4 men in one day, gets pregnant and gives the baby up for adoption because she doesn’t know who the father is??

Akua: After my parents break-up, my dad and I went to live with his old friend from the army. Akua Afriyie was the friend’s daughter; she brought out a side of me I didn’t know even existed. We shoplifted; asked boys out, snuck out at night, lied to our parents incessantly, got into catfights, got death threats and whatnot … we were wild kids! Eventually her dad said I was a bad influence on her so we had to move.

Baby: Becky was my cousin whom I didn’t meet till my mid-teens when I spent one Christmas with them. She was basically like my sister, we did almost everything together. Years later, the stepmonster practically barred her from our lives when she asked for my father’s help. I’ve always felt guilty about that.

Mercy: She’s probably my longest and oldest best friend. We shared a great love for teen movies and music. I spent the best part of my teenage years at her house because mine was so unbearable, we were so different yet we accepted each other for what we were. I thought we’d be best friends for ever but things didn’t quite work out that way.

Pedro: He was one of my few males friends who never tried to hit on me. We’d spend hours talking on his front porch; we were so young and had such great dreams.

So these are some of MY friends, those that I remember anyway….

PLAYING: Don’t tell me – Avril Lavigne

READING: How to meet cute boys – Deanna Kizis

WATCHING: Friends

QUOTE: “Get out of my head get off of my bed yeah that’s what I said”