"𝖨'𝗆 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾, 𝖨'𝗆 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝖿𝗅𝗒, 𝖨'𝗆 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝖿𝖺𝗂𝗅, 𝖨'𝗆 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝖽𝗂𝖾"
MARINA - Oh No!
~
If there was one thing Tahiry kept in mind during this school year, it was that she had to prepare for high school. She, along with the other students in her grade, were in their last year of middle school, not only that, but Tahiry would be turning fifteen rather soon. Overall, she had to soon grow up, because the world wasn't going to wait for her to. Yes, this was not exactly the happiest outlook to have, but she'd rather think like that than live in a fantasy world like Deja did.
The brownskin girl sat by her desk, taking notes as her media lesson dragged on. She groaned, Tahiry hated media, it was too long and taught by a boring teacher, but it was either that or triple science, so she just accepted the boring lessons as a given and pushed herself through. Half way through the almost insultingly long lesson, her mind began drifting to how the day had went. She had attended her first day alongside Huey Freeman (her idol), gotten him into trouble, and potentially started some tension between him and one of her best friends. It was as if this day couldn't decide if it wanted to be a good or a bad day. She hated flip flop days like this, either be good or bad, don't be both, that's just confusing.
On the topic of Huey and Kiren, she began thinking of what Huey had said in the library. In the midst of her being joyful due to making him laugh, she seemed to gloss over the fact that he had flat out said that Kiren liked her. Did he? Tahiry wasn't sure if she believed it, like she said earlier Kiren was into fast girls, the type that had sex young and all that other stuff, Tahiry wasn't like that, so he couldn't be into her. However, what if he was? What if, regardless of her clear differences to his exes, Kiren liked her? Well, objectively he was rather attractive, and Tahiry would be lying if she said she never found herself looking over at him with intrigue during gym class, but other than that she was unsure if there were any actual romantic feelings there.
If he asked her out, what would she say?
She groaned, tugging on her two large puffs in agitation, why were boys so complicated!? First Huey and his caged metal padlock heart, then Kiren and his apparent feelings towards her! Tahiry couldn't wait for high school, maybe she'd finally be rid of all of this needless confusion and distraction.
Soon, the bell eventually rung, signifying it was time for the final lesson of the day, Gym. Tahiry got up, grabbed her bag and quickly beelined for the door. She was actually rather excited for gym, she heard they were doing soccer that day, which was her favorite sport. As she walked down, the hall, she was approached by a girl. This girl was really pretty, she was a biracial girl with her her dark brown hair braided in singles, she had dark brown eyes and a broad nose with average sized lips. Tahiry recognized her, it was Zonnique Samuels, one of the cheerleaders she hung out with occasionally.
"Oh, Hey Zonnie"
Zonnique grinned "aye Ti, why you goin' so damn fast? Yo' ass actin' like we finna get bombed or sumn, everythin' good?"
"Nah, I'm fine, just... stressed and allat, ya know?"
"I get it" she said with a shrug, walking beside her "yo' future baby daddy goes here now, so you wanna impress him and stuff"
Tahiry groaned "I'm gettin' sick of y'all actin' like I wanna get with Huey, I just respect him and stuff, it feels real condescending..."
"Sounds like denial, but anyway, you heard? Apparently an opp was spotted at lunch"
Tahiry turned to face Zonnique, her eyes lighting with sudden interest "an... opp?"
Zonnique stretched "yeah, some bum Downsent Middle School kid was spotted, errybody saw the uniform and what not"
The darker girl frowned, before exhaling heavily. The last time Downsent came to Tigerlily, shots were fired. Granted, they were all either BB Guns or water guns filled with sticky liquid, but still. Downsent and Tigerlily have had been beefing since forever, no one even knows why, they just do.
"Well, hopefully nothing comes from it, I ain't gon' wanna have to wash sticky juice from my hair again" she simply said, causing Zonnique to laugh. The two continued to talk, before finally reaching the girls' dressing room. Tahiry placed her bag down and immediately began undressing, as she changed into her gym clothes, she began listening in on conversations happening around her. Suddenly, she heard a name she recognized.
"Girl, I think his name Huey, the one with the 'fro?"
"Yes- lawd... he's already cute, what's he gon' look like when puberty really hits?"
"He gon' be like Dousey, just fine"
Tahiry rolled her eyes, to her Dousey wasn't that cute, he was only lightskin with green eyes, as for them mentioning Huey she... didn't care. She probably should have, but Huey wasn't her boyfriend, and she didn't have any romantic feelings towards him, so as far as she was concerned, these girls could swoon all they wanted.
"Poor Lakiesha, you know Kiren done played her like a fiddle"
Tahiry heard the other girl scoff "nah, she stupid, fuck is you givin yo' virginity to a bum like Kiren? Bro can't pick a race and you expect him to pick one girl?"
Okay, that was pretty funny.
"On God I think Tahiry is the only girl Kiren respects, and he ain't even tried to shoot his shot yet"
"Word! Maybe he testin' the waters, like, sampling other females first"
"Nah, she ain't seem like his type"
"Girl you right, she's so pretty though, she deserves better"
As she put in her shirt, Tahiry put a hand to her cheek, aw, they thought she was pretty? Well, that certainly felt nice to hear, especially after the complaining streak she was on today.
"I wanna see her and the new boy together, apparently they friends, and they both cute"
"Nah, you know that kid Cairo?"
"Ew! ain't he a first year? Ma that's gross, we basically high schoolers"
"Damn, I'm just playin' man! and nah he in our year"
"Yet he trynna get with Tahiry's sister, a first year? Ghetto, mad ghetto"
Before the girls could even finish, their gym teacher had ushered them all outside, giving Tahiry the time to think over what was said. Cairo wasn't really trying to get with Deja? Sure he was a little possessive, but it never looked or seemed romantic, if anything it was as if he didn't want his best friend to leave and or abandon him.
Sorta like Huey did?
Tahiry was about to go off on herself mentally for thinking that, but felt another emotion overtake her. Sure, she was upset about Kiren and Huey arguing, she was confused about all the he said she said and she was sort of annoyed with how complicated men were as a gender. However, she was happy knowing that through all of this she was right about one thing.
Today was soccer day.
~
"I really don't fuck with him"
It was gym, and whilst the girls were using the indoor basketball court to play soccer today, the boys were forced to run laps outside. Well, most of the boys. Kiren and his group were sitting by the bench in the field, refusing to take part in such peasantry. I mean, it was blazing hot and they were running? Hell no, absolutely not.
Kiren was sitting in the middle of his group, glaring as a certain large afro having boy ran around the field effortlessly, Huey seemed to he doing a lot better than the other boys, Tahiry had once told him that not only was the dude technically a whole terrorist, but he was apparently a martial arts prodigy, at first, Kiren didn't believe a word she was saying, but seeing he had ran about thirty six laps so far and had yet to even pause for a drink, maybe she was telling the truth.
The biracial boy then scoffed, resting his head on his hand "I really don't fuck with that nigga"
One of his boys, Joshua, scoffed "for real? He's only been here for a day big homie" Joshua was a pale skinned mixed boy with very loosely curled long hair, he had a face full of freckles, small features and grey eyes "what could he have done to make you hate him so much?"
"He's just annoyin' man, and his ass won't stop fuckin' wit' Ti, which is pissin' me off" he spat. Kiren didn't like how... brave Huey was, he was the only kid who didn't listen to him when he told him to back up, if anything, that musty nigga challenged him, the nerve! Kiren should have smacked his dumbass right there, but something told him to just be classy about it, and that he did by simply walking away, still, it annoyed him.
Another boy, a darkskin boy named Jaden, frowned "So, he trynna get buck? That's outta line" Jaden was a little shorter than Kiren, and had his hair in locs, similar to someone like Caesar.
"Hell yeah it's outta line! We gotta jump him!" yelled a boy with a short buzzcut hightop named Lucas.
The only ones who weren't on board were Joshua and the last boy. The last boy was around Jaden's shade, although he had small patches on his skin due to vitiligo. He had dark brown eyes, a decently sized afro and wore a sweater, jeans and sneakers. His name was also Lucas, Lucas N to be exact, and he didn't look amused "so you wanna jump the new kid over some bitch?"
Kiren twitched at the comment "Ti ain't no bitch nigga, and yeah, if he don't back up we might have to"
"Bet, but when she starts fuckin' with some random nigga you BOTH gon' look stupid"
The former glared, he hated Lucas N's level headed and cool bullshit sometimes, why couldn't he just be a dumb sheep like the rest of them, oh, and Joshua, but he was practically white so who cared?
With Huey, he continued to run his laps, many thoughts running through his mind with each lap he took. So far, Tigerlily had been okay, he met his two long lost friends, but he also apparently had beef with Cairo and Kiren, and also a detention, but he also made friends with Tahiry which was cool, however he also had to help her out of her shell, making her his second project since her. It had all just been so weird, but also somewhat boring at the same time.
Sadly, the more he pondered, the more he began remembering, until he eventually began thinking of Granddad. What would the old man think of him now? He'd probably be upset at him for getting into trouble on his first day, but at least he did it for a good cause! Then again, Granddad never really liked it when did 'too much' in the name of black liberation. Soon, a more sardonic thought crept into his mind, would Granddad be proud of him? Or would he be disappointed that Huey was still doing what he was doing?
He thought back to Tahiry. She still had her grandmother, and they all seemed really happy. he was happy for her, but also incredibly jealous. She got to go home back to her Grandma every single day, whilst Huey and Riley were left mourning theirs. It was upsetting that of all the things the two had in common, having living grandparents was not one of them.
It was bittersweet though, because at least Tahiry had time to appreciate her Grandma before she eventually passed.
Just as he thought that, the coach had gathered all the boys together, Huey had been so distracted by his own thoughts that he hadn't realized that he was the only boy who hadn't stopped jogging. It was typical shit you'd hear from a gym coach, "good work!" and info about upcoming sporting events, so when the boys were given the chance to go and get ready, it was no surprise they all ran away like their lives depended on it. Well, all except Huey.
Huey was pulled aside by the coach, a rather well built lightskin man with long hair tied into a low hanging ponytail, he was dressed in a red tracksuit and wore white sneakers and a grin "I saw yo work out there, you managed to keep going for almost an hour straight, do you know how crazy that is?"
"Yes sir, sorry for continuing, I didn't realize we stopped-"
"Are you crazy? That was amazing!" he said, giving him a pat on the back "aye, you have any interest in the track team? Someone with your stamina could be a huge advantage for us"
Huey thought about it for a few seconds, before shrugging "I dunno, never really been a club or team kinda guy..." he wasn't lying, Huey hated working with other people, unless they understood him, he preferred working on his own, he was the only person he could trust.
The coach, named Kevin, simply gave him a reassuring smile "well, you think about it, aight? And if you decide you wanna join, just come and meet me in my office, it's just to the left of the math classroom, okay?"
"Sure coach, I'll think about it"
"Good, now you go get dressed, I'm sure you need a break" he said, Huey then nodded, before turning around and walking away, the track team huh? Wasn't really his thing, but he needed something to distract himself from everything, so maybe this was the route to go.
~
Riley was bored.
He thought French with Deja would be lit, she was down, he was down, so all they had to do was team up and turn this snooze fest into a festival! Instead, she was laying on the desk, damn near asleep, whilst he stared at the teacher, bored and bored. It was actually something he noticed about Deja all day, she'd been, for lack of a better term, boring as fuck. She hadn't acted out, barely spoke in class, and hung in a tight circle at break and lunch. This wasn't what he expected, where was the fun, off the chain girl he met? Had she died and been replaced with a clone? He didn't understand it.
"Dejanaya Norwood, I suggest you wake up, lest I report you on the first day" the French teacher, a blonde white lady said, causing Deja to bring her head up.
"Urgh, whatever nigga" she muttered, sitting up finally. Riley looked over at her, she looked beyond uninterested, but she also didn't look to be in the mood to do anything fun.
He soon gathered up the courage to speak to her (not that he was scared, he was just... wary of pissing her off), he turned his head to her, and raised a brow "yo Deezy?"
"Sup" she responded blandly, almost as if she didn't want to talk, Riley wasn't going to let that stop him though.
"Fuck is up with you?" he finally said, when he saw the confused expression on her face, he continued "all you done today is sleep or be quiet, is you always this borin' in school?"
Despite his explanation of his point, Deja still looked confused, but answered "well, yeah? I don't do shit in school"
"Why not? Shit's hella lame"
"Nigga do I look like a clown by profession? Am I BooBoo the Fool? CoCo the Clown? I don't give a fuck about fuckin' around in school, shit's lame, and for what? So some lame ass niggas can get a laugh and I get a detention? Nah, I do all my shit after school"
Riley tilted his head "for real?"
"Yeah, that's when all the lit shit happens, don't nobody do shit in school, after school is when we have all our fun"
He watched as she began slowly drifting off, and looked forward. Was this true? So he did all of that assertion earlier for nothing? Riley didn't know how to feel knowing he got a detention, only to find out that all the cool kids did the fun stuff after school. It would have been great if she had told him this prior to him coming to this school, would have saved him a lot of time and energy. He decided to drop that topic, but just when he planned to ignore her for the rest of the day, he remembered something, he didn't look at her, but still spoke to her "Yo Deezy?"
"Yeah?"
"Who was that you was talkin' to at break?"
Deja froze, not even blinking for a second, before then letting out a sigh "this bitch from Downsent's man"
"Downsent?"
"Rival middle school, Tigerlily don't fuck with Downsent"
Alright, so Downsent were the opps, Riley would be sure to keep this in mind, soon, Deja continued "I got beef with this bird called Queen, and now her man wants smoke, as if I won't kick his ass too" she snorted, stretching a little bit "crazy, all this beef started all because the bitch said her Downsent hoes could fuck up the Tigerlily girls, when I told her to pull up she didn't, so I pulled up on her and whooped her, now the whole school mad at me"
"For real, the whole school?"
"Yeah, but ain't nobody scared of no blazer wearin' niggas"
The two shared a small laugh at the comment, before soon falling into silence. This time it wasn't an awkward silence though, it was a peaceful silence, a happy silence. They only had a few minutes of class left until the end of the day anyway, so they didn't even really need to talk. Soon enough, the bell rang and students began rushing out of class, once they left, Deja approached Riley with a grin "yo Esco! You free after school?"
Riley wanted to say yes, then groaned "nah, I gotta detention"
"On the first day nigga?" She said with exasperation, before snickering at his blasé shrug, the two continued to walk and chat, and by chat I mean Deja mocking him for getting a detention on the first day, soon however, the two reached the detention room, and Deja stepped back.
"Aye, that's my que to leave, I ain't waitin' for yo ass, see ya later Esco" she said with a small salute, before turning around to walk off. Riley soon met her with a wave, before turning to face the detention room, and with a sigh, he stepped inside.
~
"On your first day!?"
The boys both winced as Carrie yelled at them in the car, she was more than pissed when she actually received a phone call, and was extra pissed when she learned the boys had gone against her wishes and had both gotten detentions that day "what the hell did you do!?"
"I came for the teacher because she spouting some coonery, Riley wanted to be the class clown" Huey simply responded, just wanting to get home.
Carrie gritted her teeth, but chose not to go off on the two in the car. The rest of the car ride was in a tense silence, the boys not daring to speak, soon they had arrived back home, and Carrie parked and ordered the two to go inside of the house. Once inside, the woman sat on the couch, with the boys standing in front of her.
"Not only did y'all... misbehave on yo FIRST DAY, but I also got a phone call, the one I specifically told you should not happen..."
"But-" Riley began, only to be cut off.
"Shut yo ass up!" she snapped, the boy instantly going quiet. Carrie then sighed "however, because it's your first day, I don't wanna already stress you out for school, so all you'll get is a stern talking to today, but let this happen again and imma have to belt y'all, understood?"
"Yes auntie..."
"Good, now go to your room" when the boys left, Carrie sat back in her seat. Seeing as though they had already gotten into trouble on their first day, it didn't take a genius to figure out that these two were going to be trouble "daddy..." she said quietly to herself "you think I'm gon' do a good job? I hope I do a good job... I can't replace you though"
This was what scared her, she didn't want the boys to start acting out because they thought she was trying to replace Robert, she never could. He was basically their father, especially after they lost their... Carrie took in a breath, after Robert died, the boys were all she had left, so she wanted to do the best she could in raising them, if not for them, then at least for her own sanity and stability.
Carrie then chuckled, Huey looked... just like his father. It was crazy, her brother, Tariq Freeman was the complete opposite of Huey, if anything, Huey got the looks whilst Riley got the personality. Sadly, that behavior was what eventually took his life, he was always hanging around the wrong people and doing the wrong thing, and by the time he decided he wanted to settle down and change his ways, it was too late, his past had caught up to him, and killed him.
...
Carrie missed Tariq dearly. When he died, she felt like she had lost a part of herself, that was her baby brother, she swore to protect him, apparently that wasn't enough though, and she had to watch him be buried. As she thought about this, she growled, as memories of his bitch ass wife began flooding her mind.
Her name was Jatavia Freeman, formally Jatavia Williams. The two had met after she had moved to Chicago from New York. Jatavia was a very conventionally attractive woman, with a curvy figure, caramel skin, long and curly brown hair with hazel eyes, it was no wonder Tariq was attracted to her. Carrie wanted to like her, she really did, but she knew there was something off about Jatavia. She was so... vain and materialistic, seemingly not caring about anything but her looks and how much money was in her purse. She was mean, snappy, disrespectful, and probably colorist, she had no redeeming quality aside from being attractive, Carrie just couldn't see what Tariq saw.
Apparently, whatever he saw was good enough for him to marry her. Jatavia was also a piss poor mother, she drank within the first few months of her pregnancy with Huey, barely did what she was supposed to do, and eventually abandoned the boys for Robert to take care of. As angry as she was, Carrie wasn't shocked. She remembered both the day Jatavia found out about Tariq's death and the funeral, and despite looking and sounding sad, Carrie did not see a single tear fall from her eyes.
Now, she was left raising her kids, because the bitch decided to fuck off somewhere in the middle of the night, leaving a toddler and a baby home alone in an open door apartment in Chicago.
"I better never catch that hoe in the streets on god..." she soon let out. She then got up, there was no point wallowing, she had two kids to look after, so, she made her way to kitchen, planning to make some tea so she could calm herself down.
~
It was after school, and Deja was hanging out with Cairo, Dousey, and two girls. One was a lightskin girl with her hair in long braids, she had bright green contacts and wore a blue croptop and shorts with sky blue pumps, the second girl looked a lot like her, with the same hairstyle and contacts, except she wore a long sleeved white shirt and jeans with sneakers. Their names were Eleanor and Jessica, and they were sisters.
"That's crazy Dee, so Downsent still wylin'?" Jessica asked, still pulling at her sleeves.
"Yeah, I ain't trippin though, mad you can't experience it all" she snorted, causing the two girls to chuckle. The two of them went to Harrison Middle School, which, in comparison to Downsent and Tigerlily, was incredibly tame. That didn't mean they couldn't get down, it just meant they didn't really need too.
Ellie, who was being carried on Dousey's back, yawned "I can't believe Niani's cookout ended so early, I only got a hotdog!" she complained.
"Yo fatass don't need no more food" Dousey coughed, receiving a smack on the head from Ellie. Deja sighed, Niani was this nice lady from across the street who hosted cookouts occasionally, she had wanted to invite Riley, but that dumbass nigga decided to get a detention...
Cairo watched as the three talked, but didn't feel like joining. To be honest? He was a little mad at Deja, she just had to go and befriend the Freeman's huh? She couldn't befriend anyone else, it had to be Huey and Riley? However, he didn't wanna make her cut them off, he wasn't her nigga, and even if he was he didn't want to be the obsessive controlling type that ever let his girl do anything, so he knew it would look hella corny if he told her she had to stop being friends with them, plus, the way Deja's personality was set up she'd probably cuss his ass out for even implying she should do that.
So, although the Freeman's were fake and phoney backstabbers, he decided to be mature, he'd try not get mad when she hung out with them, he'd be as nice as possible when they were around. He'd do anything to stay on her good side, he'd already lost one friend, he didn't need to lose Deja too.
~
And that's it for the pre written chapters!!!!
Chapter six coming in fifty years-