"What do you mean you won't take me? I'll take a fucking bike if I have to. I'm not letting my family leave without saying goodbye, unlike you." Alondra stood up from the couch, making Armando and Rachel look up at her. "Actually, I don't know why I bothered with asking, because I'm going whether you want me to or not."
"You think your little Crenshaw friends can afford to take you that far? It's almost a 3 hour a drive, it's not worth it."
"First of all, my family is worth it. Second, unlike you, I know how to live in Beverly and Crenshaw without leaving people behind. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a block party to get to."
"Alondra, we're not done here."
"Funny, because I'm done, and now I'm going to Crenshaw." She picked up her phone and wallet, then walked to the front door. In the driveway was Olivia, Jordan's sister who recently became a good friend of Alondra's. Olivia was going to volunteer at the block party, but Alondra was just going to go. It's what she's done every year of her life and she wasn't going to stop. "I'm warning you right now, some of those kids are ruthless."
Keeping her eyes focused on the road, Olivia laughed, thinking Alondra was joking. "What, are they going to bully me into leaving?"
"Maybe, depends on how they're feeling. It's usually the younger ones, but if they don't like your shoes, hair, make up, or even the way that you're breathing, they'll let you know. One time, I was minding my business and some girl ran up and made fun of my shoes." She pouted.
The rest of the drive was filled with them singing to the music on the radio and Alondra pointing out things to make Olivia laugh. Most people just walked to the park for the party, so the parking lot wasn't that packed, but the crowd was already huge by the time they got there. The girls split up, Olivia going to her volunteer stand and Alondra going to find her friends. First, she found Patience and decided to just hang with her because at some point, they'll all meet up.
Like she predicted, Spencer came. He greeted Alondra like he hasn't seen her in a week, and then asked if either one of them had seen Coop yet because she was the MC for the entire party. It was kind of weird how when one friend found a friend, someone else would pop up. Alondra found Patience, then Spencer found them both, and a few seconds later, Coop was walking up with Shawn.
At the sight of Shawn, Alondra got excited and before Spencer could say anything, Alondra went forward and hugged him tightly. "I missed you, ice cream buddy." She smiled, making Spencer pretty confused. Ever since she left, they have talked on the phone every single day; for 5 days since she left Sunday afternoon.
"Yo, you lost?"
The second Spencer opened his mouth, Alondra could physically feel Shawn tensing up before he let go of her. "Man, I ain't here to start nothing. It's Coop's big day. She wanted her boy by her side, that's all."
All defensively, Spencer asked, "Why's that?"
"The same reason you wanted me here— to meet the record dude, right? You say he's crazy connected. Maybe he could help the both of us."
"Nah, this ain't for him. Look, you gotta go, bro."
"Spence, it's a public event. Shawn can stay if he wants." Alondra said, shaking her head at Spencer's attitude towards Shawn.
In surprise, Spencer looked at Alondra, because he honestly expected her to be on his side. "So what, he got you running for him too?"
Alondra shook her head in disbelief, tired of this anger that Spencer has had against Shawn for years. "No, he's my friend and I see past the red he wears. Man, you know what it's like to grow up here."
"Exactly, and you said it yourself— chances like this don't ever come around. You really gonna stand in his way?" Coop asked, getting worked up herself over Spencer's behavior.
"Yo, the only person standing in Shawn's way is Shawn, all right? Always has been."
It was like the fact that Shawn's older brother dragged him into this gang mess was completely forgotten by Spencer. "If he goes, then we all go." Coop took a step back, placing herself closer to Shawn to make it clear that she was on her side. Alondra nodded her head and went to stand right beside him like Coop did. Spencer shake his head, not really believing that his friends were choosing to stand with a gang member, but he needed Coop at this event.
Shawn had spent about ten minutes talking with the producer Spencer invited and ended up getting his contact information because of a potential job position. He felt like his life is beginning to turn around for the better, so he decided to get the money out of Alvins. After a quick talk with Coop and Alondra on stage, he left to do just that because the barbershop was just around the corner.
Alondra felt a little famous, being at the side of the stage rather than in the crowd. When it came time for Chyna to come out and perform, a drum beat started and Coop started hyping up the crowd. "Say, 'Go Chyna, go Chyna, go!'" The crowd was really loving Coop and her energy, so when Chyna finally walked out and started performing her song, everyone was really excited.
For an artist that didn't have any songs out, Alondra was surprised by how catchy the song was. Everyone was dancing along, cheering Chyna on, when a whole bunch of gunshots echoed down the street. Everyone ducted, but Alondra went down the steps to help the kids out of the bouncy house and make sure they were okay.
"Stay low and go find your parents." She ushered them, making sure none of them were hit before they ran off. "Coop! Where are you going?!"
"To find Shawn!" Alondra watched her, looked back to Spencer, then ran after Coop, ignoring Spencer yelling their names behind them.
They ran to the barbershop, since that's where Shawn told them he was going, and on the floor was Bonez, the crip that's had problems with Shawn for a while now. His body got covered up with a yellow sheet, and both Alondra and Coop walked off. "You think he'll be at home?"
"I don't know where else he'll go, but he'll be there eventually. Come on."
They continued to walk down the alley because the street it led to also led to Shawn's apartment building. "Alo, Coop! Where y'all going?"
"To look for Shawn. He could be hurt or some thing and we need to make sure that he's okay." Alondra responded with Coop nodding in agreement.
Spencer didn't like that answer and scoffed at them. "He ain't cool. There's a dead body over there at Alvin's shop."
"Look, Shawn was trying to do the right thing. Bonez and his boys is responsible for this." Coop stated, and she was right.
Right before he left the party to go to Alvin shop, he told them that he was going to move the money to keep innocent people safe. "Spencer, you don't know Shawn like we do. And you don't know what this hood is going through."
"Look, Shawn shouldn't have been messing with Alvin's in the first place. Why are you doing this?" Spencer asked, but the last part was more directed to Coop seeing as how she got caught up with the gangs. "You told me to go to Beverly, alright."
"I told Alo too, alright? Because that's what I do, I look out for my people. And despite what you think of Shawn, I believe in him like I believe in you."
"He's a thug, alright! He's a thug!"
Alondra, already getting stressed out by Spencer from the past minute, got annoyed and responded with, "Not by choice! You know damn well that if it wasn't for his brother dragging him into this mess when he was a kid, Shawn would've never been in this to begin with!"
"Regardless, he's in that life now. Whatever is coming for him is coming after you, Coop. And it's just a matter of time before they show up at my house putting my family in danger in that can't happen."
"I know that. I'll be gone by tonight." Coop left it at that and pat Spencer's shoulder before walking past him and continuing to walk down the alley.
However, as usual, Spencer wasn't done. "So that's it? You're both choosing him over me?"
Alondra shook her head and walked forward with Coop. "Spence, it ain't like that. Your life is good now. You're living it up in Beverly, you're leading the football team to the first playoff game in almost a decade, and you're safe from all the shit that happens here. Shawn's not, and he needs us."
"Exactly. We're not going to turn our back on him, and we never did on you." With that, both girls walked down the alleyway and started making their way to Shawn's apartment building. It might've been hard for him to hear, but Spencer needed it. His life was as close to perfect as it could possibly get for a teenager, and Shawn was on a completely other side of the spectrum. Outside the gang, Shawn didn't really have any true friends except for Coop and Alondra, and right now of all times is when he needed them the most.
the way this was 1.6k words 🙂😳 also, if u like on my block, outer banks or cnco, i have stories for them on my account 🙈🥰
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