Timezones

Memories of the kitchen in the back of mama's cafe

Sweaty fingers, long hair, I'm droppin' off the entree

Fifteen, all my friends abroad are prolly sleeping

Cannot wait to clock out and log into my Skype now

It's 10 PM in Indo'

Boutta talk to homies and I met 'em through the signals

I been on the internet since ten

I don't mean the time, I mean my age

And that is how my little friendships would begin

Met one at twelve and his name was Pete

When my English was kinda off, he'd make fun of me

But then he'd teach me how to say it right after

Day after day I start to mirror all his manners

He was thirteen, had a Call of Duty channel

Liked to smoke grass and would talk about his favorite rappers

Asked me who was mine, and at the time, man, I ain't had one yet

He said "Listen to Childish Gambino, he dropped a project" and so I did

Sat there as the 808's hit me

Never loved music, but this one just really fit me

Then I met a girl that go by the name of Whitney

Yeah, we met on Vine, I was fifteen at the time

She was seventeen and, boy, it was hard not to cross the line, uh

Homeschooled kid, nothin' but titties on his mind

She was cool, though, turns out she was into me too, so

We start to date, "I cannot wait to meet you"

The first person I could say "I love you" to then said it back

The opposite of my internet speed, we movin' fast

Skype every single day

My brother in the room sick of hearin' two children call each other lover names

My brother, five years older

Rebellious cat, yeah, he's a cigarette smoker

Little brother Brian would complain about the odor

In reality, I didn't wanna see him smoking

He's always the first one in my family to try things

He got tattoos, smokin', now he's going clubbin'

Daddy was upset and my mama's unimpressed

Fights in the family would break, and I was stressed

I was always honest with him, A.K.A. gave him shit

"Mama's heart is lookin' fragile, so why you breakin' it?"

Man, you trippin', man, I'm just livin'

Parents had a higher standard 'cause they was religious

He's getting tired of the lectures I was giving

One Friday night, he told me I should come with him

(Just come to the club, pussy)

"No, thanks, I don't wanna drink, or smoke a cig

and do no cocaine or whatever y'all do, man"

Truthfully my heart was beating fast

In my mind, the club was scary and the hoes are shakin' ass, but I was tempted

My brother wanted me to go, so he was not the only one that was rebelling

Then he stopped trying and he skrrt off with his friend-ses

Then Whitney graduated, then she got accepted (Yay)

Red cups, red cups, kissin' on the lens while she schedulin' her classes

We were just some kids, man, we didn't have the answers

Lovin' in the summer but what are we doin' after, after?

Couple weeks out before the summer ends

Then she go to her dorm and get to moving in

Skip to the day that changed everything

She texted me and said that she been cryin'

And I asked her why, but all I saw was Whitney's still typing

Long paragraph, I read that shit in silence

She broke it off, broke it off

Our anniversary, erased it from the calendars, big deal

I was feeling fine, surprisingly

I told her, "If you feel this way, then it's just meant to be," uh

Next day, lookin' through her Snapchat

Nothin' weird about it, just checkin' where my ex at

All I saw was red cups, red cups

How she go and party just a day after the break up?

Start to feel the water slowly falling out my tear ducts

Zoomed in every single fuckin' face up in the pixels, I'm good

I'm at the cafe, we just closed down, lights out, tables flipped

Then I heard my phone sound, it's Whitney

She texted, man, I wonder if she'll try to patch shit up or say she miss me

"Hey Brian, how you doing?

I just wanna talk about something that's kind of stupid

I know that we broke up, but you're still my best friend

I just wanna tell you something, that is why I'm texting, so"

She don't even know where to start

I'm just texting back dry, feeling awkward as fuck

Then she told me "I was with my friends and we were drunk, so, um

Last night I went to a party and fucked someone"

Stop, stop, stop, stop, please

My stomach dropping fifty feet, I feel like vomiting

Just a week ago, you was my baby, didn't you call me that?

Boutta to fly to Maryland and beat his ass, don't hold me back

I didn't say that

I tried my hardest not to give this bitch a text back

I text my brother, told him "Need to call me ASAP"

I can't believe this bullshit

She caught a body first week of college, and I haven't even tasted no lips

I was fifteen

Always livin' life behind a screen, but I got big dreams

Now I'm on a mission

My brother finally called me back like "What is up?"

I told him, bitch, "I wanna go and hit the club"

He said, "Cool, get ready, I'ma pick you up"

We in Jakarta, give no fucks if I'm not old enough

Skrrt-skrrt, pulled up to the club

My brother lightin' up a cig first

Went up to the bouncer, slid a hunnid thou' to enter

Walkin' in, I feel the music thumpin'

See these bitches dry humpin', now I'm feeling like a sinner

I'm takin' shots after shots after shots

Even though there ain't no red Solo cups

Uh, lookin' all around me, hella girls, it's time to plot

I just wanna kiss somebody, I don't wanna fuck

Finally met this girl named Melanie

Pretty face and, boy, her chest is big, she got Yosemites

Lookin' like the one that really could fulfill my fantasy

She puffin' on a stoge, but I don't mind, I'm kinda into it

Then she grab my hand and start walking to the bar

I follow her, we put our drinks down and start kissing

I didn't see no fireworks, but I saw everything that I've been missing

Her lipstick was like strawberry and whiskey

Belligerent, but I remembered it so vivid

My brother proud, he saw me from a distance

That night, the stars aligned and all the crowd was cheering

Don't know what I woulda done if I stayed in the house

Our noses touching while her tongue is in my mouth

Now lookin' back and I'm just sitting here and laughing

Twenty-three, feelin' like I skipped a couple chapters

Finally made it to the US and met my friends that I used to call

When I was too scared to leave my nest

Whitney, to this day, I don't know why you texted me what you did

If you listening, I hope you know I'm not even pissed

'Cause if you didn't send that text, I wouldn't've gone out to the club

And got my very first kiss, so thank you

You let me out my shell and I ain't even met you

I hope one day we cross our paths in our adventures

And to my other friends up on the net

We don't talk as much, but I'd be down to reconnect

'Cause when I was at home

Hoppin' on them Skype calls made me feel less alone

2 AM Call of Duty, thoughts of Pete hittin' doobies

As I'm on the stage now, holding my microphone

Y'all the reason I walked on that plane on my own

'Cause back then you helped a boy feel like he belonged

And now his country loves it when he singin' these songs

telling these stories, provin' all of his opponents they wrong

Man, I been killin' shit so far since I was sixteen

And I'ma just keep doin' that extravagantly

Chasing all my dreams on my iPhone (iPhone)

Career is lookin' longer than some pythons (pythons)

Now they waiting every time I fly home

Thanks to all my friends in different timezones