Pac's POV
December, 1988.
"Look, look, look." Raheem said as he gazed at the T.V screen, watching a Lakers game.
When one of the players hit the shot, Raheem & Q jumped up screaming.
"Ay, that's my boy! You feel me?" Q hysterically said as he dapped Raheem.
I gazed at my food in disappointment as Raheem and Q were jumping up and down in excitement.
"What's up with you, man?" Q solicitously asked as he sat next to me.
"Nothing, man. It's just, Jada you know?" I responded back.
"What happened with y'all?" Raheem questioned. "We separated." I remarked as their faces fell into shock.
"Shit, man." Q cursed under his breath as Raheem sat next to Q.
"So the science project is off?" Raheem randomly questioned as Q smacked the back of his head.
"What? If she ain't a part of this project, this nigga is gonna fail science and have a good chance of my scholarship being seized." Raheem explained as I rolled my eyes.
"Y'all can work with her if you want, I'm out of this shit anyways." I muttered as I placed my food on the table.
"But tell us why y'all cutted each other off?" Q continue to question.
"That fast though?" Raheem commented. Q gave him a death glare and Raheem just gave a confused face.
"Nah, y'all don't get it." I said as I stood up.
"See, what happened was that I had Liyah over to my house yesterday, I called her to talk about the problems we were having with each other while Liyah was still here, and then Jada heard her voice in the background, got pissed and broke up with me." I explained as I paced back and forth.
"So.......this is technically Aaliyah's fault?" Raheem said as tried to understand the conclusions.
"It's all of our faults, aight? I mean, Me and Aaliyah has been together since freshman year, she moved in June and came back just last month. Me and Jada, we've been together since September, and we just called it off yesterday." I continue to explain as Raheem still looked confused.
"So, who do you really want to be with? Jada or Aaliyah?" Q questioned.
"Man, see I don't know, which is the major problem in this case. I mean, I don't want Jada and Li boxing each other, it'll just cause more trouble, you know what I'm saying?" I explained.
"Then whatever you do, don't let Aaliyah get close to Jada and don't get Jada close to Aaliyah." Q responded.
"I don't think it'll work that way, to be exact, Aaliyah doesn't know that Jada doesn't like her. Watch when Aaliyah is gonna be all over Jada's face be all smiling and shit." Raheem stated as I nodded my head.
"Then that's when Worldstar gotta take cover." Q commented as we all chuckled.
"But on some real shit, I don't even know who or what to choose, they're both important to me, and-"
"Nigga quit ranting and hit Aaliyah up so y'all can talk about what happened yesterday cause them Lakers are killing it right now!" Raheem commented as he went back gazing at the T.V. screen.
"Nigga, really?" Q commented.
"Nah, Raheem right. I'll hit Aaliyah up, now." I agreed as I walked inside my room, getting my pager.
"Ooh, let us hear y'all convo to see how it goes out." Q said.
"Fine, but none of y'all niggas better not be talking shit as I talk to her." I warned as they both mumbled a "yeah, whatever."
I dialed Aaliyah's number as Raheem lowered the t.v volume down.
"Hello?" She answered. "Yeah, Li, I wanna talk to you about something, and I need you to listen, aight?"
"Uh, huh what's up with you?" She replied as Q and Raheem focused on our conversation.
"Um, you remember what happened yesterday right?" I reminded her. "Yeah. You still didn't tell me who were you popping off at on the phone." Aaliyah said.
"Oh, well it was my ex, Jada." I replied to her as Q dropped his jaw and Raheem's face scrunched up.
"Ex?" Raheem questioned in a whisper tone.
"Oh, y'all were dating when I was gone?" She questioned. "Yeah, but it was for a sporadic period of time, you know?"
"Ah, I see. So what are you really calling me for, Pac?" Aaliyah questioned as I hummed in a questionable tone.
"Tell her you rather date jada!" Q yelled in a whisper tone.
"Tell her if she's a dyke!" Raheem yelled in whisper tone. I shot him a mean glare then focused back on the phone.
"What? She dresses like a boy so much, she obviously is eating some pussy." Raheem rudely commented.
"How is she eating pussy if she- you know what, I'm gonna leave you." Q responded as Raheem rose an eyebrow.
"Pac, what is it?" She questioned again. "I wanna be with you. Again." I avowed as Raheem threw himself back on the couch in disappointment.
"Oh, um, really?" Aaliyah suprisingly responded.
"Yeah, I wanna ride with you." I said as Raheem gave me a disgusted stare.
"Well, I wanna be with you too. Wow, this was so unexpected because we broke up back in June and-"
"Forget June, that was a long time ago." I expressed as Q cursed under his breath.
"I'm not taking this no more, let's go back watching the game." Raheem said as he turned the volume all the way up.
"True, true. Well, let's see how this turns out." Aaliyah said as I nodded my head. "Aight, hit you up later." I hanged up.
I grabbed a pillow and promptly threw the pillow at Raheem and Q.
"That's for y'all niggas from keep on interrupting our conversation." I shouted as Q and Raheem snickered.
"Man, fuck you. Now you got yourself dating a dyke, again." Q remarked.
"She ain't no dyke, she just likes to dress like that for some reason. It's her own style, aight?" I defended as they continued to snicker.
"Fuck y'all niggas." I mumbled as they bursted out laughing.
******
Nia's POV
Dear Diary,
It's been a long time since I wrote back to you, a lot of things occurred in a couple of days. Well, let me start off by yesterday. Me and Eric went to a college trip, which was kinda fun except for the girls trying to jump on his dick, who were mostly senior college students. Which was really gross.
But a few days before the trip, Larenz's friend, Tyrin came over with his grandparents, and I tell you, Jada was already in love.
Speaking of Jada, she never paged since yesterday, which was weird because yesterday I called her and she automatically cancelled out of the trip just to be with Caine.
I still feel like she's bitter about Aaliyah and all, because she just came back to school and she was already on Pac's jock.
But anyways, the science project is due next week and I don't think anybody is finished with anything at all, and this really doesn't put a glamorous look on my science grade.
On the other hand, my head is full of thoughts about choosing between Berkeley or NYU as my first college choice. I just don't know, and the worst thing is that the applications are coming in mail today. I just don't know. Well, I'll write you back soon to see what happens.
I sighed as I threw my diary to the table and laid down on the couch. Larenz and his friends were upstairs making noise, which was really a nuisance.
I heard some papers shoved under the front door's bottom peek hole. I walked over to it and it was mail from the education department.
It was our college applications. By our, it had Larenz's application also.
I walked upstairs to where Larenz was and knocked on the door. "Renz, you have important mail!"
The laughter still continued, I grabbed on the knob and open the door, never knew it was not locked all along.
I saw Renz and his friends with a female included in the pack laughing at a VHS tape.
It was the tape of his robbery he pulled 3 years ago. "Renz, are you serious?"
"Damn, the fuck do you want?" Larenz barked at me.
"Tone that down a bit, and here." I told him as I impetuously threw his application form on his lap.
"Fuck is this?" He muttered as he looked at the envelope.
"It's your college application. Remember that you're in 12th grade, too." I reminded him as I leaned on the door.
"So? I ain't going to no damn college, fuck outta here." He responded as some of his friends laughed.
"Only lame fool's go to college, anyways how you finna go to college when you don't have the money?" A female commented.
"Exactly." One of his friends, Stacy, agreed.
Larenz shot me a "I was right" look.
"Well, there is a benefit called a scholarship. If you good at sports, arts or academics then you can get the scholarship and go to college for free." I explained as some of his friends nodded their heads in agreement.
"So I gotta join a basketball team or something?" Larenz questioned as I sighed.
"Fuck a scholarship, nigga." One of his friends, A-Wax, said.
"Wax, a scholarship is extremely important and it's a significant benefit for his education and his chance to go to college. I mean, nobody wants live around Compton for the rest of their lives." I explained as Wax gave small chuckles.
"Man......fine, whatever." Larenz carelessly said as he opened the envelope.
"Fool, you ain't gonna listen to your cuz, are you?" Stacy prevented as I shook my head.
"I'm only doing this shit so she can hop off my dick." Larenz commented as I rolled my eyes.
"Bye, Renz. And if you need any help, I'm next door. And quit watching that video, it's been 3 yea-"
"Yeah, yeah, get the fuck out." Larenz remarked as he gazed at his application.
I walked next door to my room with my mail and opened up my college directory book.
I adjusted my glasses and put them on as I flipped through pages of college choices.
My thoughts is telling me NYU, but another case of my thoughts is telling me Berkeley aka UOC.
I heard the phone ring. "Shoot." I mumbled as I picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Nia." I heard a sqeaky high pitched voice say.
"Sup, Michel'le." I answered as I laid on the bed. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Me and Dre broke up."
"I can tell." I replied as she laughed.
"Yeah, he's kickin' it with some bitch from the north. Founded out that he has a baby and another one coming soon." Michel'le explained.
"Oh, that's some bull. Well, you want me to come over?" I asked.
"If you wanna, we can look over these college applications together." Michel'le replied as I gave a small chuckle.
"Alright, cool. I'll be there in 15." I told her as I hanged up.
I got my papers and the directory book on my other hand as I put on my shoes and made my way out the door.
"Renz, I'm going to Lay's house, I'll catch you later!" I opened the door and notified him.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Renz carelessly replied as he gazed at his application in confusion.
"Man, the fuck is this?" Renz muttered to Stacy.
I closed the door and made my way out the door. The rays of the hot sun shined in my face, but it doesn't contradict the cold that still remains around this area.
There was a group of Kelly Crips sitting around a 1989 Mercedes Benz.
I tried my best to ignore them, they already know that my cousin is a blood so I'm pretty fucked.
"Aye, come here!" I heard one of them yell for me.
I ignored them and started to pick up my pace faster until I felt a hard grip on my arm, making me drop all my stuff.
"I called you and didn't answer?" The goon said in front of my face as I tried to ignore his face.
"Look, you bothered me last time and this time is not now. Let me guess: you still looking for Eric?" I brought up as he gave me a silly stare.
"Well, you done read my mind." He replied as I rolled my eyes.
I kneed down and picked my stuff up as the park member tried to help.
"Don't touch my shit." I sternly warned as he stood up with two hands up.
"Well, don't be acting like a bitch when a nigga is just tryna help." He insulted as I picked my stuff up and started walking.
"This ain't gonna be the last time you see me around here, copy?" He yelled as I ignored his warning.
A few minutes later, I was over at Michel'le's crib upstairs in her room.
It was tiny unfortunately, but it was still pretty. Kind of.
"So, how's you and Eric?"
"We're straight. We just went on a trip yesterday to Berkeley." I explained as Michel'le nodded her head.
"Berkeley?" Michel'le questioned in shock.
"Yeah, but I don't think it'll be my first choice." I told her as Michel'le played with her nails.
"So you choosing USC?" Michel'le questioned.
"No, I think for my choice is NYU." I decided. "NYU? Where in the hell you getting these choices from?" Michel'le questioned suspiciously.
"Lay listen, I want to go somewhere more sophisticated and more knowledgeable. I'm not gonna stay in southern california for the rest my life to deal with these thugs, hoodlums and these dopeheads walking around the block and shit." I defended as Michele continued to nod her head.
"You right, but the thing is that it's NYU. You're gonna be like 48 hours away from here." Michel'le replied.
"Yeah it's 48 hours but it's still a good college. I'm gonna be bumpin' hard in Manhattan." I said as she laughed.
"But I wanna tell you something about last night." I remarked.
"Tell me."
"Me and Eric nearly did it last night, by nearl-"
"Ohhh, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!" Michel'le reacted by jumping up and down on the bed.
"Girl, quit jumping up and down, you knocking the things down on the bed."
"But back to what I said, I said nearly. He wasn't grinding up on me, trying to kiss my neck, he wasn't doing the freak shit." I explained.
"But he did placed his hand on my thigh." I continued to explain.
"Oh wow. That's such a turn on." Michel'le sartastically said as I hit her shoulder.
"Man, shut up. But you single now?"
"Yep, and so far, so good. Well, except the times I feel horny." She ruthlessly commented as I bursted out laughing.
"But do you know them Kelly Park niggas? You know, the gang that Eric used to be back in the day?" I questioned.
"And how do you know that?" Michel'le questioned with her arms crossed together.
"Cube told me." I answered. Michel'le scoffed and uncrossed her arms.
"Nigga telling everybody everything." Michel'le commented as I chuckled.
"Eh, but he told me a lot of hot tea, you know what I'm saying? He told me a lot of stuff I never knew or thought about eric." I elucidated as Michel'le stood up to comb her hair.
"Gangbanging, pulling 187's, and ganking people. That's what all he did during freshman and sophmore year." Michel'le revealed as she combed her hair.
I looked at my college directory book. "Man, look. I gotta get an interview for NYU." I said as I looked at the overview section.
"So does that mean you have to fly to New York? Already?" Michel'le questioned.
"I don't know, but I guess an offical from the University is gonna come and interview me."
"Oh, shit. You better get ready because this college is private and private colleges don't play." Michel'le informed me as I gazed at the overview section.
I stayed at Michel'le's for the whole entire afternoon, unfinishing my application form, until it the time striked at 6pm. And the worst thing is, it's extremely dark outside.
"Well, thanks for coming over here and have you heard from Jada?" Michel'le questioned as we were standing on the porch.
"I didn't hear from hear from her since yesterday, it's obviously from Caine."
"Who's Caine?" Michel'le questioned.
"An old friend of mine that Jada's been messing with since thanksgiving. Anyways, I'll catch later."
"Bye and get home safe Nia!" Michel'le yelled as I walked in the dark shivering cold.
A million thoughts went through my head as I walked. NYU was my definite first choice, but then I thought about Berkeley, USC, Stanford, Pepperdine, Spellman, Columbia, Fordham, Maynard, etc.
Over 12 years of my life span of academics and this is my final stage: choosing a university that can be good for me and my education.
If choose a wrong college for a first choice, then it's gonna be a lifetime full of regrets and guilt.
I heard faint footsteps right behind me as I heard thunder claps in the sky.
I looked behind me, and the figure was gone. I turned back around and the next thing I knew, my mouth was covered and I heard all of my material drop to the floor.
"Help, help!" I shrieked as the figure carried me somewhere to a dark alley.
"Bitch, quit screaming before I smoke your ass!" The figure yelled as he dragged me to the alley. I realized that it was that Kelly Crip.
I was inside a dark alley and I felt a cold touch near my forehead. "Please, don't kill me." I whimpered as the rain fell heavily on my face.
He gave me one more death glare, then let me go. "Kelly Park, motherfucker." He cursed at me then aiming at punch at my stomach as I groaned loudly in pain.
He then walked away, leaving me in the pouring rain. I crawled over where my college material was, as I streamed some tears down my eyes.
I picked them all up and I stood up in pain. I groaned as I continued to make my way back home.
I opened the door to the house and saw Larenz, Stacy, A-Wax and that same female sitting around the living room.
I groaned in pain as I dropped my material again and held my hands to my stomach.
"Ay, Nia! I need help with my college application." I heard Larenz say to me as my face srunched up in pain.
"Nia, you cool?" A-Wax solicitously said to me.
"Y-y-yeah, I'm, I'm coo-" Before I finished my sentence, I immediately started throwing up blood.
"Shit, Nia!" Larenz yelled as he ran up to me and held me.
"Is she alright? Nia you okay?" The female said with concern in her voice.
"I'm finna bring her upstairs, y'all bring up some ice packs, c'mon go!" Renz yelled as he and Stacy carried me upstairs.
A great way to end the day.