The Cutscene Chronicles

By Airis Thomas

Behind every story are scenes that weren't mentioned. Hey, if a movie has deleted scenes, a book can too!

If you remember, "Writer's Block," then you remember Ebony Thompson, the girl who wrote a story that highlighted her days as a curious adolescent growing up in a suburban Maryland city. Yeah, you remember her. Well, I would love to tell you that Ebony is now an accomplished writer making a lot of money but life isn’t that easy and this is not a sequel.

However, when she told us her journey, she left out some things that took place with a few very special people in her life. Tiffany, Jessica, Tasha, Shanice, and Jinel... do those names ring a bell? They should; they are her best friends and her story would be nothing without them.

Take another ride with Ebony back through Silver Spring as she fills you in on all the antics, all the tears, and all the laughs she shared among her crazy, loving best friends. I‘m warning you; this story may cause you to remember your teenage years where drama and having fun was all you knew how to do.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Airis Thomas
• Release date: Nov 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370652679

Airis Thomas

Born in Rockville and raised in Burtonsville, Airis Thomas is a proud Montgomery County, Maryland native. After relocating to Laurel, Maryland as a teenager, she began writing stories in the eighth grade. After graduating from high school in 2011, she attended Howard Community College ultimately receiving an Associate's Degree in General Studies. Airis then transferred to Bowie State University where she received a Bachelor's Degree in Broadcast Journalism in May of 2017. "Writer's Block," is her very first published work and looks forward to publishing many more.

Book preview

1

DON’T CALL IT A SEQUEL

Somedays I wish your imagination could be real life. If your imagination could be how your life plays out, I would already be an established writer with a few prestigious awards and living some place hot like Georgia or Florida. Maybe even California.

Unfortunately, dreaming is half the battle; the other half is putting in effort. Every time I look out the window in class, I feel like life is different out there, than it is in here. Maybe it’s because there is so much more to worry about once you leave school. I mean you get the education yes but just solely an education won’t get you a job. Education might as well be a sport because it’s so competitive now.

My written words are in a competition against someone else’s words; if their words seem to relate to readers better, they’ll land a writing deal and I’ll be stuck reverting back to square one. Outside of the window in the classroom is actuality; the boringness of this class however is my current reality.

Miss Thompson? says Mrs. Richards who was standing up at the board trying to get my attention.

I can hear her call my name but I’m not paying her any mind. What does she want? I’m thinking about other important things right now than this class I am trapped in. I’m stuck in my Career Research class and it’s sixth period, which means my focus is on seventh period coming quickly so I can go home.

After Mrs. Richards said, Good afternoon class, I haven’t tuned in to hear a word else, she said since. The class is easy, but it’s not engaging to say the least. This is probably why Jessica can never attempt to do her homework for this class at home ‘cause she bores her too bad when she has her fourth period.

Maybe if Mrs. Richards taught us with some stronger enthusiasm, Jessica would care enough to remember to do her homework and I would stop daydreaming in her class. Then again, nothing could stop that. I’m always daydreaming.

Miss Thompson! she shouted louder.

I turned to look at her with my face leaning on my fist and snapping out of my imagination. Huh?

Are you daydreaming again?

No ma’am, I responded quickly.

Mrs. Richards never took her eyes off me as she turned the page of the textbook and walked to the chalkboard. Mm-hmm, she says unconvinced as the class began to snicker.

Melissa turned to look at me giggling softly. "Damn Ebz’," she whispered.

I shook my head and giggled with her. Obviously, I’m a repeat offender when it comes to tuning Mrs. Richards out and she knows it. I wish she would consider that when coming up with her lesson plans. My zoning out is a direct result of her boring class.

That’s not my fault. It’s been happening since the second day of her class and if it weren’t for the, Getting to know everybody, exercises you’re given every first class of the school year, the boredom probably would’ve began on the first day too. I need her to do better.

Seventh period came and flew fast just like I prayed it would. I damn near ran to my locker so I could get my things and go home. As I walked to my locker, Jessica, Tiffany, Jinel, Niecy, and Tasha were already waiting there. I’m always the last one to arrive.

Jessie, I can’t believe you actually decorate your locker, Niecy says as she closed her locker and threw her backpack over one of her shoulders.

Jessie lowered her hand mirror and looked at Niecy as if she was crazy. Shoot, why not? A locker is one of the few things they give us to express ourselves while we are here for almost eight hours daily. Wouldn’t you?

Hell no! All you do is throw your stuff in there and bounce to class. What’s the point? she asked shrugging.

"The point is its freedom of expression chica."

Niecy giggled loudly. Yeah right, she says as I walked up to my locker during their conversation.

As usual, here comes the late bird, says Jinel grinning.

What’s new about that? Tiffany shrugged giggling.

I opened my locker with a smirk as Tasha said, Girl, I swear you gonna’ be late to your own funeral.

My smirk turned into a full smile. Damn right! Tell the pastor to hold off for an extra twenty minutes.

You a trip, she says laughing.

Jessica began grinning, which meant I knew she was getting ready to ask me how Mrs. Richards class went. The usual question, she always asked me because she knew that I always get caught not paying that woman any attention in that class.

Hey, how was Mrs. Richards’ class?

I rolled my eyes as I shook my head. She caught me daydreaming, I said before looking down to pack up my backpack.

Again? Tiffany asks as Jessica began cracking up.

Hell yeah, again! Maybe if she made the class interesting, I’d pay attention more.

Jinel giggles as she pulled a lollipop out of her pocket and removed the wrapper. Damn, you daydream in her class like every day.

Every day? I sucked my teeth. Try every minute! Shit, that heifer is boring. I can’t help it. Y’all know I’m not lying either.

"Nah you right chica. Now y’all see why I can’t remember to do her homework," says Jessica shaking her head.

Yeah, that’s why, I said smirking as I closed my locker.

Niecy started chuckling as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. Right! You do almost all your homework at school. I don’t think Mrs. Richards being boring makes any difference.

Tasha hit Niecy’s shoulder. Her pen must be outta’ ink again. At least that’s what you said last time, right? she asked as we giggled.

Jessica smiled as she snapped her fingers. Either way, at least it’s an effort, she said as we headed for the bus.

Yeah right, Jinel chuckles as we continued laughing.

Wait a minute…

Let me rewind ‘cause I’m pretty sure you guys are confused. Now I know you guys thought I was done. Nope! Not at all. For me, or shall I say us, our story is always to be continued.

Since I’m giving you guys a full rewind, let me remind y’all about our neighborhood just in case you forgot. We live on the lower part of Bradford Road in Silver Spring, Maryland. Montgomery County. The suburbs. Not the hood. We don’t live in the hood, but we are surrounded by traffic if that means anything. Guess not.

We have the old school air conditioning units hanging out of our windows and many homes on our block are made of brick. Hey, at least if the big bad wolf comes to blow down our houses, they’ll still be standing.

Anyways, you have met all five of my crazy best friends; Tasha who like myself wants to be a writer and happens to be the most levelheaded of the bunch. Tiffany, who aspires to be a beautician just like her mama and become the owner of her mother’s hair salon one day.

There is Jessica who is the fun-loving party girl that always has your back and has a response for everything in Spanish. Shanice aka Niecy who is the boy crazy, double dutch fanatic of the crew and of course, I can’t forget Jinel also known as the crew hater who honestly has a big heart.

I never fully told you how they look appearance wise other than their ethnicity. I didn’t want to take away from the story because it doesn’t matter what your eye color is, how long your hair is, what skin complexion you are, or how pretty you look. Appearance doesn’t matter if the situations are relatable.

Besides, I want you to see us as any person you see when you’re walking up or down the street, at least until someone from a huge movie production company falls in love with my story and turns it into a movie. I know y’all are like, Girl! You just put out a book and already lookin’ for a film adaptation. Calm down, but hey, it never hurt to dream.

As you can see, dreaming gets me in trouble sometimes at least with my teachers. Either way, we could be any of your friends, family, even acquaintances. We could even be you. I may describe their hair color but I’m mostly leaving their looks up to your imagination.

Now of course I’m not the biggest fan of sequels, especially because most of the time it’s hard to live up to the original. However, I decided to give y’all the stuff I didn’t bore you with in the other book.

That’s right; more boring stories of the crazy interactions that I shared with my best friends. You get to see more of their crazy lives. After what you read last time, you should be sick of my shit and had enough of my life. To be honest, I think I wrote a little stronger this go round.

Look, I can’t entertain all by myself but let me warn y’all. You just don’t know the half of our craziness and I doubt reading about it will give you the full scoop. I pray that it does entertain you or at least take you down your own memory lane. Oh well, it’s worth a try. Just consider this the deleted scenes of, Writer’s Block.

2

DOUBLE DUTCH

The sun is shining bright today hopefully to make up for the rainy weather we had yesterday. Although the tall trees make the sun seem like it’s merely echoing through the leaves, it’s still shinning and that’s good enough for me. Today is just a regular day; nothing special planned and nothing we could think of to do. One thing for sure, it was too nice of a day to remain indoors.

I walked out of the house looking up at the sky looking for the hiding sun. Once I found it, I began smiling. That was my reassurance that today was going to be a good day.

As I started heading towards the box, I watched as Tiffany walked across a hopscotch game while she opened her bag of Cheetos. Tasha sat on the box just writing as Niecy jumped up and down in between the jump ropes.

Jessica hopped off the handlebars of Rico’s bike and stood near Tiffany at the box. Jinel was standing beside Joy being her usual self, which was loud, as Andrea and Kiara turned the ropes for Niecy. This is typical behavior for us.

Keep on riding on Rico’s handlebars. You’re goin’ to end up breakin’ your neck foolin’ with him, says Tiffany as she reached into her bag of Cheetos.

"What chica? It’s fun besides, your little brother insisted on me doing it."

That’s ‘cause he likes you. Duh!

Tiff please! I am too old for your little brother, Jessie insists.

And? Do you think Rico cares?

Jessica stopped and turned back around to see Rico blowing kisses at her as he began to peddle off on his bike to catch up to his friends. She grinned and looked back at Tiffany who was still looking at her as if she was crazy. Yeah no, she says beginning to giggle.

Girl, I was about to say! You know how my little brother is. No means yes to him and yes means yes.

Tasha smiles without looking up at them. Ha! Even I know that, she says as she continued writing.

Exactly! It’s not a secret. The boy is bad. If only I had a quarter for every time he gets into trouble with my mom; I would be able to go to Beauty School and a University.

Jessica and Tasha began giggling with Tiffany as I walked up to the box.

Rico still tryna’ spit game. Why you bluffin’ on him Jessie? I asked messing with her.

Real funny, you should be a comedian.

I laughed and popped my collar. Hey, it could happen. "One day you’ll see me on Def Jam Comedy."

"More like Def Jam Dreamin’," Tiffany adds giggling.

"Hey chica," Jessie says still grinning as we did our handshake.

Tiffany gives me a hug. Hey Ebbie.

Hey, what’s up? I said after I greeted them and took a seat next to Tasha on the box.

I knew Tasha was in the zone, so I didn’t want to distract her too much. Once she finished her thought, she said hi. I am just like Tasha; when I get a thought in my head, I’ll ignore you to make sure I jot it down quickly before I forget.

I think all writers do that honestly ‘cause I promise once you lose your train of thought, it’s like your mind goes blank and you’ll forget what you were saying; your thoughts end up disappearing in a thick cloud of smoke and even once the smoke clears, you still won’t remember. Wow. I’m sure I just described a form of writer’s block.

Tasha finally takes her eyes off her notebook. Hey best friend, she says giving me a hug.

Hey best friend! What are you over here writing? I asked looking down at her notebook.

I decided to write a poem today, she says refocusing her attention on her notebook.

I started to smile as I leaned back in shock. Oh, just a poem?

Tasha looked at me and giggled at my reaction. Yeah, just a poem. I’m keeping it brief today ya’ know so I can enjoy this weather before the rain comes back.

I hear you, I said looking at Niecy whose foot got caught in the rope.

I could tell Niecy was agitated with the way Kiara and Andrea were turning the ropes, so she decided to ask Tiffany to replace one of them. I can’t blame her though ‘cause Niecy’s foot rarely, actually never gets caught in the rope. That was the second time that happened today and for Niecy, that was one too many times.

Tiff, can you come and turn the ropes, please? Niecy asks as she shakes her head.

Yeah, I got you, she says rolling up her Cheetos bag and handing it to me to hold for her as she wiped her fingertips that had orange crumbs on it.

You and these Cheetos girl, I said laughing.

I can’t live without ‘em! she says loudly walking towards Niecy.

Tasha laughed as she continued writing. Ol’ girl is going to turn into one of those Cheetos one day.

For the first time, we had two long jump ropes. Well, thanks to Niecy. She was able to give us these ropes because her Coach bought brand new ones for them to use to compete.

Yeah, there’s a reason behind Niecy’s borderline obsessive-compulsive disorder when it comes to double dutch. She’s a professional jumper. We usually had one long rope that we would wrap around our waists and we would pull the two rope handles together to make sure it was even. It felt good not worrying about a rope pulling at our waist.

Tiffany took the ropes from Andrea because she knew Niecy was going to say that she’s turning the ropes as if she’s double-handed. Niecy knew that this also meant that Andrea was going to want to jump in.

I want to jump in, Andrea says.

Niecy cuts her eyes but she agrees as she takes the ropes from Kiara. Alright fine but you better jump!

She took the ropes from Kiara because she knows that she’s going to have to coach Andrea as she jumps and Kiara don’t have the patience to do all that. Kiara is like an advanced course in school that has prerequisites; you better know what you’re doing before you get to her ‘cause she is not finna’ teach you what you should already know.

Andrea swore she was so good at jumping so Kiara felt like, If she’s so good, then she don’t need my help. Either way, Kiara moves to the side smirking because she knows the struggle is about to be real.

Tiffany and Niecy began to turn the ropes waiting for Andrea to jump in. Once she does, it was evident that she was struggling hard.

Andrea, get your feet up! yells Niecy as she and Tiffany turn the jump ropes.

Girl I am! says Andrea jumping until her foot gets caught in the rope.

Niecy shook her head as she hands Andrea the two ropes. Apparently not ‘cause your foot keeps getting caught, she says as she proceeds to get ready to show her how to jump the right way.

That wasn’t even a good minute, Kiara, says laughing.

Andrea cut her eyes as she stepped out of the ropes. Shut up!

Niecy shook her head and adjusted her shoelaces. Let the pro do her thang, she says, as she stands beside Tiffany ready to jump.

Fine, show us how it’s done then, says Andrea taking the jump ropes.

Duh! What do you think I handed you the ropes for? says Niecy pinning her hair up with a hair tie.

Show ‘em how you’re supposed to jump Niecy! says Jinel slapping her a high-five.

Way ahead of you Nellie. Niecy paused and looked over at Andrea. Don’t turn the ropes like you’re double-handed either Andrea, she says before she starts to grasp the rhythm of the ropes.

Bet she will, says Kiara snickering.

Andrea cuts her eyes and sucks her teeth. Shit, I’m not. Go ‘head!

Niecy catches the rhythm of the ropes, as she rocks back n’ forth, then she jumps in the turning ropes. Usually, Niecy jumps in the moment the ropes start turning. Since Andrea has issues, Niecy knows she has to catch her rhythm first.

Niecy is a hard-ass when it comes to double-dutching. She did not play around and wasted no time telling you that you are messing up. I guess if you were a pro at it like she is, you’d have the same attitude.

As Niecy continued to keep her rhythm in the jump ropes, we heard the melody to, Do Your Ears Hang Low, getting closer, which only meant that the ice cream truck was about to be on our block.

About a minute later, the ice cream man turned the corner and of course, my siblings came, flying towards me to ask for some money.

Ebbie, can we get some ice cream? Tatiana asks using her smile to win me over.

Of course, I said handing her three dollars; one for her, one for Shannon, and one for Amir.

Tatiana began smiling hard. Thank you Ebbie!

I told you she’d give money to Tati, Amir says to Shannon smirking as he took the dollar.

Funny ‘cause if you asked nicely, I would’ve gave you a dollar.

Okay fine. I’m going to ask you for a dollar next time and see what happens.

Okay then, I said grinning back at him.

Shannon smiled and said, Thanks Ebbie.

Yeah, thanks, added Amir.

You’re welcome, I said smiling.

They looked both ways before running across the street. Jinel, who had moved to sit beside Tasha on the box, got up, as the ice cream man emerged closer to see if we wanted something. She also agreed to buy this time.

Oh snap, y’all want some ice cream?

Hell yeah! says Jessica.

You know it, I said nodding my head.

Yeah. Kiara began reaching in her pocket. You buying?

Jinel nodded. Yeah don’t trip. I’ll buy this time.

Get my usual please, said Tasha.

Me too! Matter of fact, you know our usual snacks, Tiffany says as she held both jump ropes in her hand.

Jinel pulled out some money. Of course but I’m gettin’ your ass a Popsicle. God knows you don’t need no more damn Cheetos Chester! she said as we began giggling. I got you though.

You know what I want! Niecy says loudly.

Jinel ran towards the truck. Yeah, yeah. I’m hip, she yells out as she turned to look at us.

Get me a pickle too! screams Joy.

Alright, she said looking at the ice cream menu as she waited for her turn to order.

While Jinel was buying our ice cream and snacks, we refocused on who wanted to jump in next.

Niecy takes the ropes from Andrea. Who wanna’ jump? she asks.

Me, I said raising my hand.

Alright, go ‘head Ebbie, Niecy says as her and Tiffany began turning the ropes.

I tied my shoes while Tasha put her notebook down. I stood back up and started moving to catch the rhythm. Once I think I caught it, I jumped in. I actually kept up with the ropes longer than Andrea did. Then again, that was to be expected. Tasha ran up and was able to jump in with me without messing up the ropes. We started getting bold ‘cause we told Jessica to try and jump in.

Come on Jessie, says Tasha as she bounced up and down underneath the jump ropes.

Jessica giggled. You know the moment I jump in, those ropes are gonna’ stop.

Nah, you jump better than Andrea, Tiffany says as we chuckled while Andrea rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

Oh, why not? Jessica says shrugging.

Catch the rhythm girl, Niecy says smiling.

Jessica ran and jumped in the ropes. I was shocked that all three of us were able to stay steady in the ropes and not mess up. Well, at least we kept it up for almost a minute. Either way, it was still longer than anything Andrea could do.

Aye, y’all did that, especially for all three of y’all to be in the ropes at the same time, Niecy said slapping each of us a high-five.

Andrea rolled her eyes and grinned. It was okay.

Kiara smacked her lips. Okay? Girl, all three of ‘em lasted longer than you, she says.

Whatever. That’s them but can you last that long?

I can last longer than you!

Prove it then big mouth, Andrea says unconvinced that Kiara would do it.

Tiffany and Niecy decided to turn the ropes so that Kiara can shut Andrea up.

Jump Kiara, Tiffany says as her and Niecy began turning.

Kiara jumped in and continued jumping for almost a minute and a half. That beat Andrea by a long shot and that wasn’t even long enough in Niecy’s book. Still, Kiara broke a record.

And just like that, you still lasted longer than Andrea, Niecy says as we all laughed.

Ha-ha, very funny, Andrea said refolding her arms as she stood their unamused.

Niecy continued giggling as she went to put her hand on Andrea’s shoulder. Don’t trip. I’ll help you to do better.

Good lookin’ out, says Andrea smiling at Niecy.

Well…at least help you to stay in the ropes for more than twenty-five seconds.

Andrea cut her eyes and joined us as we fell out laughing again. Jinel came running back across the street with our popsicles and snacks out of breath. Took her long enough!

Damn, you breathin’ all over our popsicles and shit! Niecy says quickly grabbing her Strawberry Shortcake out of her hand.

Girl please, it’s not even opened yet.

So what? she asked before taking a bite.

Tasha took her ice cream from Jinel. Besides, why are you out of breath? The ice cream man was across the street not across town, she giggled.

‘Cause Melissa just told me it’s about to go down!

I opened my Cotton Candy Swirl Popsicle before looking at Jinel. What’s about to go down?

Some fight around the way. Let’s roll! says Jinel bouncing around impatiently.

What? Where at? asks Joy.

Yeah, who’s fighting? adds Tiffany as she began eating her Bubble Gum Swirl Popsicle.

Well, Chantel and Kira have problems with some girls who stay up in the Warwick Apartments and they’re talkin’ about handlin’ that shit today like right now.

Tiffany took the Popsicle out of her mouth. Ain’t that around Northwood?

Uh…yeah Tiff! Jinel said giving her an obvious stare.

Girl, that’s not around the way, I said.

Right. That’s Northwood territory as you say, Jessica said making quotations with her hands.

Jinel shrugged her shoulders. Well, I mean it is.

I’m game! says Joy walking to stand beside Jinel.

Niecy smirked at her as she took a bite of her ice cream. I bet you are.

Shit, let’s go! Andrea said dropping the jump ropes.

I don’t know about y’all but I wanna’ see this! says Jinel.

Jessica looked at us and sighed. Come on y’all.

We agree to tag along because we have a golden role; never split up. If one of us is going to leave, we’re all leaving, especially with us going around Northwood High School. We might watch people fight but we try our very best not to instigate and create one. Besides, we don’t want Jinel fighting or trying to start any trouble. We damn sure don’t want her getting jumped and we’re not there either. Jinel can be a pain but the only people who can beat her down is us and since we don’t, we’ll be damned if we let someone we don’t know do it.

As we decided to go and see what was going on, Shannon ran over to me still eating her Popsicle. Since she saw Andrea abandon the ropes on the ground, she knew we were done for now and she wanted to borrow the jump ropes to play with her friends.

Ebony, can we play with the jump ropes since you guys are done? asked Shannon.

Yeah go ‘head but don’t lose ‘em, I said handing the ropes to her.

We won’t sis, I promise, she said as she took the ropes and ran to her group of friends.

Honestly, I’m glad Shannon is playing with them ‘cause I didn’t want to leave the ropes on any of our front porches. Somebody would try to take ‘em I’ll bet. It has happened before.

Anyways, we decided to go see what’s poppin’ with this fight. I remember the one time I got into a fight with this girl name Tricia. It was my eighth-grade year at Eastern Middle and we had barely been in school a whole week. She put her foot out purposely to trip me up when I was walking from my locker towards my next class. I didn’t fall but I was mad as hell! I turned around and called her a few names before walking away.

She followed me and when I turned around to confront her, she called herself tryna’ kick me. I grabbed her leg before she could try and yanked her to the ground. I punched her about four good times, although I thought my punches could’ve been harder. However, they were hard enough to shut her up.

Tricia clearly couldn’t fight. No surprise. She was the opposite of Joy and Andrea; she started fights but couldn’t fight. The two of them ran their mouths but knew better than to start a fight.

All Tricia could do was slap. Luckily, no teachers happened to be there when it went down but they managed to run up when it was all over. They couldn’t get me ‘cause they didn’t see anything.

Two classes later after the fight, this girl name Vicki, one of her friends, came up to me saying, Tricia said y’all was fightin’.

I knew what that meant. It meant Tricia wanted to fight again but this time with more people. Leave it up to her non-fighting ass to wanna’ jump somebody. Tricia and some girl name Melanie stood in tow ready for part two.

What was even funnier, Niecy, Jinel, and Tiffany emerged right next to them waiting to tap in. I just met Niecy and Jinel on my first day, right after school. The fact that they already had my back spoke volumes in my opinion.

I’ve known Tiffany since I was twelve so I wasn’t surprised that she was right there waiting for something to jump off. I’m sure Joy and Andrea alerted them ‘cause I damn sure didn’t have a chance to; I saw Andrea the moment I took a swing on the girl.

After she asked that, I looked Vicki dead in the face and said, We were fighting and it’s done. I walked away.

Other kids who were there, Melanie included, were like, She didn’t even snitch about what happened. Oh, she real as hell!

Just like that, I never fought again. I had earned extra respect for not voicing the situation as Tricia did. By the time I reached Jinel, Niecy, and Tiffany, they were checking to make sure everything was good.

Niecy held her arms out. What’s up Ebz’? You good? she asked keeping her eyes on Tricia and Vicki, making sure they saw her staring them down.

Yeah. You know we got you, said Jinel cracking her knuckles.

I turned my head to look at Tricia and Vicki still standing there. Nah, I said shaking my head as I looked back at them. I’m straight. How did y’all find out anyway?

Andrea and Joy told us, Tiffany chuckled. Are you sure you’re good?

Everything is peaches. Let’s go, I said as we walked away.

I remember Jessica and Tasha were so mad that they couldn’t get there in time but I told them they didn’t miss anything.

I wish I could’ve got to that side of the hallway in time, Jessica said stomping her foot with every word she said.

Hell yeah! Tasha agreed as she stared at Jessica before looking over at me. The second Andrea and Joy said you punched the hell outta’ Tricia and that Tricia had Vicki confront you, that hallway turned into a mad house! It looked like the MVA on a Saturday, she said shaking her head.

I started laughing as I smiled. Like I told them earlier, it’s cool but good lookin’ out y’all.

You already know we got you girl, said Niecy.

Always! Besides, I don’t even know why Tricia keeps tryna’ start shit. She gets her ass whooped every time, Tiffany said cutting her eyes.

She just wanted to test Ebony ‘cause she’s new. She wanted to see if she was sweet for it but she’s trying the wrong one, Jinel said.

Damn right! Jessica shouted. She better test somebody else before she gets her ass hurt!

That was the only time I ever lifted my fist up to attack someone. I think people figured out quick that if I’m threatened, I’m going to defend myself but that’s to be expected by anyone in that situation. At least that’s what my mama taught me. She would always say, Never start a fight but you bet’ not back down from one either or else you’re gonna’ have to deal with me. I damn sure don’t wanna’ deal with her ‘cause that’s one fight that I’ll never win so I’m gonna’ defend myself at all times.

We walked up to Franklin Avenue to meet up with Kira, Chantel, Melissa, and a huge group of kids wanting to see this fight. It’s too many of us, which means I know we’re not taking the bus. At least I will definitely be getting my exercise for the day.

3

THE FIGHT

We took the lengthy hike to the Warwick buildings that were right off Arcola Avenue and University Boulevard. The only time you’d get any of my friends to walk from our side of University Boulevard to the other side is if a fight was about to go down. Hell, we even took the bus to get to Wheaton Mall, which is on that side of the boulevard closer to these apartments, so you know a fight must be a big deal if we’re walking.

You knew it was about to be a fight if you saw a gang of people heading in the same direction crowding the sidewalk to the point where some have to walk on the grass. Chantel and Kira led the pack of course with nothing on their minds other than whoopin’ ass.

Apparently, this drama kicked off at Wheaton Mall. Kira and Chantel were hanging out with some other folks when some group of girls began mean muggin’ Kira. Once that happened, there were words exchanged, and the fight almost kicked off right there. However, they didn’t wanna’ be kicked out of the mall seeing how they frequently shop there so they decided to fight somewhere else.

Those girls were so bold they even told Kira and Chantel to fight them where they live. These two are Quebec Terrace finest and they damn sure were up for a fight. I’ll bet this fight began either because they knew Kira and Chantel go to Blair or because they were jealous of the male attention that Kira was getting at the mall. Girl fights are usually over the pettiest things. Then again, most of the fights around here had no real rhyme or reason.

I’ll guarantee you that these Northwood kids are going to be pretty deep and if they caught word that this fight was between two girls who are allegedly from Blair, it will seem like a school vs. school fight. Nothing is unusual about that. I know you’ve heard of rival gangs but we’re much different; we’re rival schools trying to prove a point that doesn’t exist at all. I won’t even say it’s a suburban thing.

Maybe if Northwood never reopened, we would’ve just had regular fights with one another based on violated principals rather than what school we learn at for eight hours a day. However, Silver Spring is too big so they needed to reopen Northwood to avoid overcrowding at Blair.

This fight may have another real reason for going down but trust me when I say that I have seen dozens of other fights that simply only happened because of what school someone attended. Then to cover up that factor, they would come up with phony excuses like, She was looking at me hard, or He bumped me, even when the boy who bumped them said sorry and the girl who stared at them didn’t mean no harm. Some people just look for an excuse to fight that’s why we stay on our side and they stayed on theirs ‘cause as strong as our rivalry is, we look at each other like sworn enemies.

Now let me be clear; not every single person at Blair or Northwood felt like this beef was that serious. Honestly, it’s not even a beef. In fact, there are plenty of kids from both Northwood and Blair who simply do not care about this whole territorial bullshit. I mean after all, it is childish.

However, some people enjoy seeing a fight whether they think the reason behind it was childish or not. Although my friends and I think it’s stupid, we’re not going to turn down watching the fight. This could be good. Lord, I am a complicit to this unnecessary drama.

Who do you think’s gonna’ win? Melissa asked Jinel.

Shoot, you already know Kira and Chantel are about to give them the works.

Hell yeah! Joy yells as cars fly by us on University Boulevard. Teach ‘em not to mess with a Blair chick.

Right! Right! Kira says snapping her fingers.

Tasha looked at Niecy, Jessica, Tiffany, and I like this whole thing was a joke. All we could do was give her the, You know how they are, look. Even Kiara shook her head. I mean everything they just said went through one of our ears but rather than come out the other, it went out of our noses. This isn’t new nor is it a shock. Tasha eventually brushed it off and just let it go because she knows how they are but I get it. Sometimes it just seems unbelievable.

We arrived at the Warwick where a gang of people was there ready to watch a fight. I guess word got out to those who care too much that we go to Blair High School.

The two girls Kira and Chantel wanted to fight stood in front of the big crowd of Northwood kids. When they spotted us, they chuckled as one of the girls passed her cigarette to someone behind her. We stopped as the girls walked in our direction. They got within arm’s reach of Chantel and Kira smirking as they stared them down.

The girl who passed off her cigarette released the smoke right in Chantel’s face. Chantel didn’t flinch. Let’s do this shit at Wheaton Forest Park, she says as her friend agreed.

That’s all the way up the street! Kira shouts.

Your point? the other girl asked with an attitude.

First you said y’all wanted to get embarrassed in front of your house now you wanna’ take this shit to the park? Chantel reminds them, as she started growing aggravated with the whole thing.

First off! the girl said shouting as the smell of her cigarette she once had creeped from her mouth directly into Chantel’s face. Ain’t nobody on this end gettin’ embarrassed and secondly, yes so that the neighbors don’t call the cops.

Nick looked at Zach and began to laugh loudly. Somebody’s scared!

No bullshit! Besides, five-o is known to frequent parks around here so what are you saying? says Kira.

Look you wanna’ fight, right? the girl asks them both.

Hell yeah I wanna’ fight since y’all were the ones who started it!

Alright then, let’s fight at the park so no one will break it up, says the other girl tying her hair back.

Fine, Chantel says looking both of them up and down.

Both Kira and Chantel wore hoodies, pinned their hair up, and wore no jewelry; this way there wouldn’t be any ripped-out hair, torn up shirts or bleeding earlobes.

To be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing a fistfight any day, especially because now more than ever people are resorting to weapons to solve their issues. My grandma always said that back in the day, people used their fists to settle disputes and if they lost, they would simply pick another day to fight again.

Nowadays people use their fists but the one who loses comes back to get even or in other words, make themselves the undefeated champion by ending their opponent’s life.

We walk across the street to the park and to be honest, we are bringing attention to ourselves no matter where we fight. We’re out here deep; hell, it looks like we are on our way to a concert. Chantel and Kira stand in the middle, as did the other two girls who started shit with them at the mall.

Within that short walk, we figured out that the two girls they’re fighting actually had names and it wasn’t, The Northwood girls. The girl who had the cigarette is Nikki and her friend’s name is Rhonda. Evidently, they were just as anxious as Kira and Chantel are when it comes to fights so now it’s time to see who really has the hands.

All of us stood around them huddled in a circle that wasn’t touching; Blair on the right and Northwood on the left. Again, any cop that drives on the boulevard is going to stop and come right over here because at this point I’m sure even people who are driving past this park in their cars know that we’re some dumb teenagers who are fighting.

The Northwood girls…I’m sorry Rhonda took the first punch and all hell broke loose. Kira caught a fist to her cheek while Chantel took a hard punch in the nose. Those fist punches just looked like they were hard. They gained adrenaline from those hits and began punching away.

Rhonda tried to uppercut Kira in the jaw but she missed, and Kira knocked her dead in her eye. Chantel was getting the best of Nikki; she grabbed her hair as she used her right fist to punch Nikki as hard as she could. Among all the punching and hair pulling, the crowd was screaming, including Joy, Melissa, and Jinel.

Beat her ass Kira! Beat her ass, yells Joy.

Chantel, you better show ‘em you mean business, added Melissa.

The kids from Northwood began cheering on the girls fighting Chantel and Kira. To make sure no one jumped in, a few boys on their side held out their arms to keep other anxious girls back. Lawrence, Zach, and Nick did the same on our side.

Don’t let them do y’all like that! Beat their ass, screamed some girl from Northwood.

Whoop her ass Rhonda! Northwood baby, another girl yelled out.

The girl Nikki, that Chantel had a grip on, managed to get her hair out of her hand and twirl around to take another swing at Chantel. Nikki seemed like she was now trying to get the best of Chantel, but she wasn’t having it. They ended up on the ground with Chantel over top of her punching with all her might.

Meanwhile Rhonda, the girl fighting with Kira, was getting a few licks in before Kira overpowered her again. This fight was actually worth watching. I mean both sides were giving all they had but unfortunately, the real reason behind this fight is still unknown.

As far as we’re concerned, Kira, Chantel, and the other two girls probably don’t even remember why they’re fighting. Just another unnecessary dispute or an unofficial award for having, Registered hands, so people know not to mess with you.

That’s how you do it baby! Get ‘em, Jinel says punching her fist into her hand in excitement.

Man, show her she don’t want it Nikki! screams a girl on Northwood’s side.

I’m just glad nobody jumped in ‘cause that’s a common thing with fights these days. As neither side gave up, the fists continued flying and the sirens grew closer. I expected the cops to show up eventually. Once two squad cars pulled up, everyone took notice and began to start running away.

Aye y’all, five-o! yells Lawrence as he and Nick stepped in to break up the fight.

Let’s bounce! says one of the guys from Northwood as we spotted the cops running in our direction.

Once Lawrence and Nick pulled Chantel and Kira off the girls, we all began running as fast as we could. However, you know they couldn’t walk away without each side throwing slurs at the other.

Feel free to schedule another day to get your ass re-whooped, shouted Kira straightening up her hoodie.

Bitch please! Rhonda screamed out as she bucked at them while one of the boys she was with pushed her away.

The Northwood kids decided to run up on the westside of the boulevard seeing how the cops are blocking them from running to the stoplight to cross the street. We took off going to the east of the boulevard cutting through a neighborhood.

The cops still gave chase to both groups hoping to catch at least one of us. I’m not sure if they were successful but our group managed to get away. As we turned onto Dennis Avenue, we decided to break up to decrease any attention because the cops might still be looking.

If they see a huge group of kids, they’ll assume we were the ones at the fight, even though we were. One group cut through Sligo Creek Parkway; another group took Lanark Way. Our bold asses got back on University Boulevard and continued walking as if nothing happened.

Man, that fight was everything! yelled Andrea.

Right! Y’all kicked their ass, Joy said dapping them up.

Nick lifts up both Chantel and Kira’s arms. And Blair is still the undefeated champions, he shouts.

Shit, you already know, says Chantel confidently.

Kira began grinning as she fixed her hoodie. I’m ready for a round two.

Niecy began looking both ways to see if a cop is nearby. Y’all making shit hot. Wait until we get back to our side to celebrate.

You right, adds Melissa as we all agreed.

Yet you’re looking both ways. That’s hot, says Jinel shaking her head at Niecy.

Niecy cut her eyes and said, Shut up loud mouth!

We gotta’ hide up these cuts and shit though ‘cause I guarantee you that Mrs. Johnson is gonna’ hear about this, says Chantel.

Hell yeah! If she sees these scars, she’s gonna’ instantly know that it was us fighting, Kira says agreeing with her.

Chantel began smiling as she removed her hair tie and shook her hair out. I’ll bet those cops caught one of those bitches and if we get busted at school, I say Kira we should go right back up there to whoop their ass again for snitchin’.

Kira hit Chantel a high-five. You know I’m down for that!

How would you know that they snitched on you? Lawrence asked them.

Chantel thought about it. You’re right. I just wanted to beat their ass again, she said doing her handshake with Kira as they laughed.

Besides, we needa’ be worried about inside snitches rather than Northwood, Kira says looking over at Andrea and Joy.

We not sayin’ shit! shouts Joy.

Kira snickered. Yeah, we’ll see.

That ass whoopin’ for snitchin’ applies to anyone, Chantel said staring them down.

Andrea cut her eyes. We’re not gonna’ say nothin’.

We all began chuckling because we knew that it was a huge possibility that they would. The two of them should become government informants because they can’t keep any damn secrets except their own. Real shocker there. My grandmother always said, People have the best memory when it comes to your business but have Alzheimer’s when it comes to their own. When I look at Andrea and Joy, I know my grandma ain’t lyin’.

We finally got back to our block where the coast was clear. As we turned the corner, Tiffany checked the time. It was about four-o’clock and Tiff had to help her mom at the shop.

Well, I gotta go to the shop before my mama comes looking for me. I’ll get with y’all later, says Tiffany saying bye as she headed towards her mom’s shop.

I’ll walk with you ‘cause I gotta’ meet my mom, says Jessica.

A’ight cool.

Bye! we said to them as we continued up the street.

We all decided to kick back in the same spot we were at before Jinel led us on about the fight.

• • •

Tiffany and Jessica said bye to us and headed up the street. They took the short cut on Hartwell and Geren where the park is, to walk to the salon in the shopping center on Piney Branch Road. It beat walking all the way around. Besides, it was quicker, and Tiffany was not tryna’ get in no trouble for running late.

Where are you meeting up with your mom at? she asked Jessie.

She’s supposed to be getting her hair done by your mom.

Oh, that’s what’s up, Tiffany says as they cross the street to get to the salon.

Hey, I’ve been thinking about dyeing my hair blonde. Can you hook me up like next week?

Tiffany began playing with Jessie’s hair. Yeah, of course.

Cool. I was thinking about dyeing it and getting it braided with curls at the end.

Cornrows or French Braids? Like how I curl my little sister’s hair or something different?

Yeah, except I want it to be like French braided halfway and spirally curled at the end.

Oh, I know exactly what you want. I’ll do Inez hair like that for school Monday and let you see how you like it. I got this, she says snapping her fingers as Jessica laughs.

Tiffany is always doing Inez hair. Honestly, Tiffany tests all her styles on Inez before she retries on us. Inez hairstyles kept the girls at her school always fascinated. Girls would always ask her who did her hair and she would simply say, My sister. They knew she was talking about Tiffany. Tiffany had a nice hustle around the way.

Girls would ask her to do their hair all the time. Tiffany could’ve easily done it free, but Ms. Stephanie and her aunts taught her better than that.

"If you’re doing someone’s hair, you’re providing a service and no service is for free," said her Aunt Jolene.

Although Ms. Stephanie felt the same way, she wanted Tiffany to keep a humbler attitude to what her aunt said. Let your heart evaluate the price. Don’t do everything for free but don’t obsess over the money either.

Even her Aunt Valerie had a modest tune. Reputation comes before the money. Reputation is everything, money is material and if you allow yourself to put a price on your talent, it won’t be genuine. You won’t even do a good job because you’ll be too concerned about getting paid.

With that being said, Tiffany wouldn’t charge you if it were something simple like a wash and curl or a wash and wet set. Now if you wanted braids, color, extreme haircuts or any other specialty, she did charge but trust me, it wasn’t much. Regardless, people she received money from handed her tips too.

She charged this girl, Daphne, ten dollars to braid her hair into two buns. Daphne was so amazed with what Tiffany did that she gave her thirty bucks instead.

Wait…that’s too much, Tiffany says tryna’ hand her back twenty dollars.

Keep it! I’m not taking it back. You do hair real good.

Are you sure? I can’t take this.

Take the money Tiffany! You earned it.

Thanks, she said holding the thirty bucks in her hand as if she never seen money before.

Just like that, Daphne always looked for Tiffany to hook her up. However, Tiffany never charged us and if we mentioned it, she would harshly tell us, No, my best friends always get their hair done for free.

Can you afford that? asks Jinel.

Jinel, I’ll have more than enough clients that doing you guys for free wouldn’t matter. You don’t charge the ones who always have your back.

Inez always felt like a superstar every time Tiffany did her hair. Even if it was just getting it straightened with curls at the end, she was so proud to rock her hairstyles. Tiffany had her little sister sporting a new hairdo every week. She always said, My baby sister isn’t going to school lookin’ a mess! She’s gonna’ look like a model every day. Isn’t she lucky?

Some may have been jealous of how fly Inez would look with her hair done, which was on a daily basis, but Tiffany always said, Don’t sweat ‘em. If they really want it done to their heads, they could come find me. I don’t discriminate. Some days, I think Tiffany saw Inez as a Barbie doll that she could dress up and down whenever she wanted. Inez didn’t care though; she was crazy about her big sister and the affection she consistently showered her with all the time. She looked up to Tiffany just as Tiffany looked up to Ms. Stephanie.

As Tiffany holds the salon door open for Jessica, her little brother yells out, Tiffany’s here! before walking over to the front desk to drool over Jessie.

By Rico announcing her arrival, Tiff knew that meant her mother has been looking for her. Ms. Stephanie turns the salon chair, with Mrs. Ramos in it, around to look at Tiffany as if she lost her head.

I thought I was going to have to come find you, Ms. Stephanie says as Tiffany places a kiss on her cheek.

No ma’am. Hi Mommy Beatriz, Tiffany says giving both her mom and Mrs. Beatriz a kiss on the cheek.

Hi baby, Mrs. Beatriz, says placing a kiss on Tiffany’s cheek.

Jessica smiles at both her mom and Ms. Stephanie. Hi mommies!

"Hi mi hija," Mrs. Beatriz says smirking at Jessica.

Hi sweetheart, Ms. Stephanie says giving her a hug.

Your hair’s lookin’ all pretty mommy, Jessica says as she watched Ms. Stephanie continue to style it.

Mrs. Beatriz smiled. Thank you, baby.

Jessica looked at Ms. Stephanie and grinned extra hard. Yours is looking good too Mommy Stephanie.

"¡Oh, gracias, cariño! Tiffany curls it for me," she says smiling at Tiffany who at this point was blushin’.

What? You’re kidding? Mrs. Beatriz asked looking over at Tiffany.

Ms. Stephanie giggled. I’m not! She curls it for me every morning. I used to do it, but she insisted on doing it for me. She’s the beautician of the house.

"You mean she’s mini Stephanie in the making. ¡Estoy orgulloso de ti, mi bebé!"

Tiffany smiled. "Gracias mami."

I am so surprised but I’m proud! Those curls are perfect. You’re gonna’ have a chair in this shop real soon! says Mrs. Beatriz.

"Doesn’t surprise me. My chica got skills!" Jessica says as her and Tiffany wiggled their fingers against each other’s to do their handshake.

That chair right beside my mom’s will be mine right after high school.

You mean right after Cosmetology School, Ms. Stephanie says correcting her as they giggled.

Ms. Stephanie wore a bad haircut and I mean b-a-a-a-d! Have you ever seen Omahyra Mota? She’s a dope fashion model who does all those Rock-A-Wear and Baby Phat fashion shows. Tiffany had a few posters of her on her bedroom wall and worshipped anything she was involved in because she claimed Omahyra was the boss of those runways. In fact, the only reason why Tiffany even paid attention to any fashion show that wasn’t focused on hair was because of her.

Ms. Stephanie looks just like her, at least to me. Only difference is Ms. Stephanie ain’t a model, but she does style hair models if that counts for anything. Okay, so maybe I’m a little off with the Omahyra Mota reference but they’re both beautiful Dominican ladies who rock their short haircuts.

Ms. Stephanie has the best damn curls I’ve ever seen. Tiffany said they’re called pin curls. Either way, they are gorgeous! They’re curled perfectly because Ms. Stephanie wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tiffany said when her mom was teaching her how to do it, the dumbest thing she ever asked her was, What if I mess up?

She said her mother turned around and gripped her arms tightly to the point it made her more nervous than failing a test. Don’t you ever let me hear you say that! You are one of my children. You are my legacy. There ain’t nothin’ but success in your blood my baby.

Tiffany nodded, and she never asked that again. Saying words like, Can’t, mess up, or anything negative was like saying a bad word and it could get you grounded in Tiffany’s household.

Tiff said when she first began curling it, her mother was on her like white on rice. She would get up almost two hours before school because she knew curling her mom’s hair was not going to be a quick process.

Ms. Stephanie wouldn’t take her eyes off the mirror. She looked closely and said, I see a small piece sticking up. Tiffany had to fix it. No questions asked.

Ms. Stephanie looked at the model in the magazine that she had in her hand and said, I don’t think my hair is curled perfectly like this lady right here. Again, Tiffany had to fix it.

Tiffany said her mom did this because she wanted her to be able to give a client any style they envision the same way they see it on someone else. If they want their hair to look exactly like a model in some magazine, she wants Tiffany to make their wish come true.

If Tiffany can do that, then she will be just as good as her mom. Ms. Stephanie always said, We’re not a salon that just does people’s hair for money. If that’s how you feel, go and get a 9-5 job. Here, we specialize in customer satisfaction. They tell us what they want, and we make their visions come true. ¡Período! No one leaves unhappy or else you’re leaving with ‘em!

Yeah, Ms. Stephanie was a militant when it came to doing hair, but this is why she never wanted for customers.

Jessica and her mom began their own conversation as Tiffany watched how her mom does Mrs. Ramos hair. She smiles and asks her mom what she needs from her.

So, what you need me to do mommy? Tiffany asks leaning on her station.

Be careful of those curlers; don’t burn yourself, she says looking at Tiffany’s arm that was close to her plugged up curling iron.

Tiffany glances back to see where the curlers were. I am ma’, she said refocusing her attention to her mother awaiting her task.

Can you start sweeping up this hair first ‘cause we’re going to be closing in about two hours.

Okay, Tiffany says shrugging as she walked to grab the broom; Jessica grabbed the dustpan to help her sweep the floor.

Usually, Ms. Stephanie would have Tiffany help in the shop every day after school at different times. For instance, if Tiff asked Ms. Stephanie if she could hang out with us, she would let her go but at say six-o’clock, she had to be at the shop until closing. Some days Tiffany would go straight to the shop after school and then meet up with us later in the day; at least before the streetlights came on. She usually goes to the shop first on Fridays before hanging with us, so she could enjoy her Friday nights with her best friends.

On Saturdays, she usually was supposed to be there, sometimes all day if her mother needed her but again, Ms. Stephanie tried to let Tiffany enjoy her teenage years with us. She was grooming her to be next in line to carry the torch in the shop just like a Pharaoh in Egypt who groomed his son to be the next king. Ms. Stephanie wanted her to learn but she did not want to pressure her either. However, to Tiffany it’s no pressure; it’s simply passion. If Tiffany had no plans, she usually was to be at the shop with her mom, but she was cool with it ‘cause being there was fun for her.

On Sundays, she had no choice but to be there. That was the one day her mother didn’t let her get away with not being there but at least they closed at three every Sunday. Monday was her one day off because her mother didn’t open the shop on Mondays. However, this arrangement was great for Tiffany because she was learning how to become a beautician just like her mom.

Until she graduates and goes to Beauty School, she is still satisfied with sweeping hair throughout the shop because she knows that soon she’ll be the reason why hair is on the floor of her own salon chair. Believe it or not, sweeping up hair that she has on her station is her dream.

4

THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE

The next Monday at school, our principal made the entire student body cram into the gym for an assembly. I’m pretty sure she must’ve heard about the fight with Northwood ‘cause I could tell this wasn’t planned.

I’ll tell you one thing for sure; Chantel and Kira made sure they cleaned themselves up covering any scratch or bruise they had with makeup. If Mrs. Johnson was gonna’ figure out that they were the reasons behind this assembly, she