When me and Tray get home, I collapse onto the couch. Its been a long ass week but knowing that Auntie Zeth is ok makes me feel a lot better and Tray is finally smiling again. My phone starts to ring. "Hello?" "Come to the mall. Now!" Santos says. "What's up?" "Just get over here!" He yells and hangs up. "Mr. Wright! We gotta go!" I yell and run out to my car. "What's going on?" Tray asks. "I don't know but it better be good." I say and pull off.
*20 minutes later*
When we pull up, there's like 3 police officers surrounding Cole. "Excuse me, what happened?" I ask. "Who are you?" One officer asks. "I'm his girlfriend." I respond, pointing to Cole. "Well, Cole and another young man were supposedly in a fight. We're waiting for his guardian. Do you know who that is?" The officer says. "Yea, it's his older brother. Can I talk to him?" I ask and he nods. I walk over to Cole and say, "Thuggin' at the mall? I feel it?" "Hahaha. Yea. He had it coming, though. If I was girl, she'd be fucked up too." "Who?" "Joanie." He says. "Wait! Who did you fight?" "Truce and get this shit! He's dating Joanie." "Fuck?" Me and Tray say in unison. "Ugh! School is finna be drama filled." I say and he nods just as the police officer comes over to us. "Son, can you tell us how the fight began one more time?" The officer says. "Me and my friend were walking out the mall when we ran into Truce. I apologized for bumping into him and tried to walk away but he pushed me and said that I should beat his ass like I tried to do in school. Then he punched me and we started fighting." Cole says. The officer nods before going to his car. "Truce is a bitch." Santos says and we all agree. "Tray's mom is alright. I don't know if that makes y'all feel any better." I say. "Hell yeah it does. I can't wait to properly meet her." Santos says. We stand there, talking for like another 10 minutes when the officer says, "Cole, we have good news and bad news." "Ok." "Well, good news is that you won't be going to the JDC because this is your first offense. However, you have to do 3 days in CAP." "What is that?" "It's a program at ALC. You have to go to Tech and then a bus will pick you up and take you over there. It sucks!" I say. "How long do I have to do it?" Cole asks. "Three days. Other than that, you are free to go." The officer says and walks away. Cole sighs and hugs me. "So, what now?" Tray says as we walk back to the parking lot. "When was the last time you guys saw each other?" I ask Tray. "Last Wednesday, I think." "Then go be with each other." I say and rush them off. "See y'all later!" Santos yells. "What are we gonna do?" Cole asks. "We're at the mall. Lunch date?" "Sure." He replies as we entwined our fingers and walked in.
*2 hours later*
"What do you do at CAP?" Cole asks. "They make you sit in this group with a bunch of kids who are nothing like you and talk about why you did what you did to get there. And then, they'll make you write a fucking novel on why your behavior is unacceptable. If I didn't have anger problems before I went, I damn sure had them when I left." I say and he laughs. "That bad?" "You don't know the half of it." "Hahaha. So how's Ms. Wright?" "She's doing great. The doctor said that she can come home in a couple days." "That's good. I've never seen you or Tray break down like that." He says. "Yea. If my aunt hadn't made it, I don't know what would've happened. Tray lost his father when he was 9. So, what worried me was how he would react if he lost his mom. It's been a really hard week and keeping Tray optimistic was a challenge. But Lizeth pulled through and that's all that matters." I say and he looks at me. I avert his gaze. It's always too intense. "Can we go to Target, real quick? I need some more paper." I say. "Yea, come on." Cole says and grabs my hand. As soon as we get to the door, someone bumps THE hell outta my shoulder. I look to my side and the bitch Joanie is smirking and shit! "Excuse you." She says and snickers. I know y'all may think I'm scared to fight her but I'm not. I'm trying so damn hard not to fight anyone because that's not me (and I told my parents I wouldn't over little things) but that female is pushing it. "I don't even wanna go anymore. Let's go home." I say to Cole and turn around. "You aight?" He asks. "I choose not to answer that." I say and pick up my pace. "I'll meet you at your house." Cole says when we make it to the parking lot. I nod and get in my car and drive off.
*30 minutes later*
"But mom! I just need to punch her one good time." I say. "I'm not gonna condone that. If she puts her hands on you, then by all means whoop her ass. But not until then." My mom replies. "This is why I have anger issues." I say and my mom slaps me in the back of my head. "Ow, mother!" "Next time, it'll be this hot ass spoon. And get the door." She says. I rub my head as I go to living room and swing open the door. "Hey, beautiful." Cole says and kisses my cheek. "Hey, baby." I say and step aside for him to come in. "Is that my son in law?" My dad yells. "Nah. It's the mailman." I mumble. "I heard that shit, niggah!" My dad replies and I start laughing and go to the kitchen. "Come on with the chicken." My mom says. I put the chicken in the grease. Then music starts playing. "With so much drama in the LBC it's kinda hard being Snoop D-O- double G. But I, somehow, some way, seem to come up with funky ass shit like every day." 'Gin and Juice' by Snoop Dogg was playing. "Baby, get the door." My mom says to my dad. A few minutes later, Tray, Santos and Raven come strolling in. "Hey, y'all. Ray, can you hold the sides of this pan?" I say and she comes over while I mix macaroni and cheese. As me and my mom cooked and everybody hung around the house, I had that 90s summer feeling. It was great. And when my dad played 'Notorious Thugs', we was in that bihh turnt!
