No Doubt About It (Jamal Lyon Love Story)

Prologue

It was a cold, windy day in the middle of September. Two young children was playing around a playground that was not far from where they lived. Their neighborhood was not all perfect like a normal street to live on, and it was where poor and struggling people were dealing drugs, alcohol, you name it. But it didn't matter to the two younglings, as long as they had each other to have their backs. The brunette-haired little girl ran as fast as she could from the caramel-skinned boy, giggling from the playfulness. "Catch me if you can, Jamal!" She hollered. The boy, Jamal, smiled at her as he got closer to her and grabbed her by the back. "Gotcha! Tag, you're it, Ne'veah!" Jamal claimed. The girl, Ne'veah, pouted when he turned and ran. "No fair, Jamal! You cheated cause you went faster than me!" She accused. Jamal stopped running and turned to her walking backwards at the same time,"I didn't cheat. You were the one who didn't give me a fair start." He replied. Ne'veah rolled her eyes and sat on the bench of the playground. "I don't want to play anymore, it's boring." She said. Jamal sat by her, looked at the ground, and back at her,"Well, what do you want to do?" He asked. She looked at him, "I don't know, maybe we should go back home or just sit here and talk." She concluded. Jamal shrugged, even though he didn't want to go back home quickly to be with his father and brothers. He liked spending time with Ne'veah because she was there for him when his father didn't give him time or when his mother was sentenced to prison, and when he had no one to be his friend. Ne'veah was like apart of him that he always wished for and he was glad to call her his best friend. Ne'veah pulled something out of her pants pocket and put it behind her. "Jamal, can you promise me something?" She questioned. Jamal nodded. She smiled and put whatever she had behind her back in front of her. In her hand, was a ring. Jamal looked confused and looked at her. "This is a promise ring. This ring tells us no matter what happens in our lives, whether we are mad with one other or far apart, we will always be there for each other and stay together. I want you to have this." She firmly said. Jamal smiled a little and grabbed the ring and put it on his index finger. Jamal looked at it, seeing it was a plain golden ring with the carving 'J+N' around it. Jamal looked at her, "I promise. What about your ring?" Ne'veah showed him her ring. "Oh." Then, Jamal looked up and saw his father, Lucious, stand at the entrance at the playground, staring at them in silence. Jamal sighed, "I have to go. See you later?" He hoped. She nodded. Jamal smiled in excitement and hugged her. She hugged back and whispered, "Best friends forever, no doubt about it."