Beneath

by Chanel Harry

  Even though it drizzled on his head, it wasn’t as cold as he expected. He made it Beech Street and took a left toward Aberdeen Terrace and that’s when the rain started to get heavier. Putting his back pack above his head, he started to run home to escape the rain. Squinting through the heavy water droplets; that sounded like pellets hitting his backpack, he could see his father’s car in the driveway. He ran faster, hoping that he wouldn’t soak his sneakers.

  I hate this. He thought to himself. His feet touched the red bricked driveway and he was finally home free. He reached into his jeans pocket and with slippery, wet fingers, pulled the house keys out and opened the front door. Tareeq sighed to himself counting the number of times that his sneakers made a squeaking sound on the wood flooring. He dropped his soggy backpack onto the floor and kicked off his shoes in the living room where his father was sitting, hammering at his laptop keyboard. Derek didn’t look up at him which made Tareeq a bit irritable.

  “Pops…” Tareeq said clearing his throat. Derek looked up from his laptop and smiled.

  “Hey, son!” He greeted cheerfully. “How was school?”

  Tareeq sat on the couch next to his father and exhaled. He spread both arms on the top of the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

  “Side note; your mother wouldn’t have let you get away with sitting on her couch in wet clothes.”

  Tareeq furrowed his brow at his father and smirked. He envisioned his mother scolding him before he even set foot in her living room soaking wet from the rain.

  “School was alright, I guess.”

  “You guess? Did you make any friends?”

  “Well, one.”

  “That’s good is he cool?”

  “For the time being, but he won’t ever replace my best friends back home.”

  “Of course not. Did you meet any young ladies?” His father nudged him.

  “Well…I met one girl named Tammy. She was pretty, but my friend likes her already. There was this blond girl in one my classes and she was pretty lit too.”

  “Looks like you have the pick of the litter.” Derek chuckled.

  “But there was this one girl…she had blue in her hair and she was staring at me…” Tareeq drifted.

  “Well, talk to her.” Derek replied.

  “Nah, I’d rather not.”

  “Why?”

  Tareeq took another big sigh and looked his father in the eye. He didn’t want what he was about to say to disappoint his father, but it had to be said.

  “I have to be honest, Pops. I don’t really see myself liking it here.”

  Derek shuffled in his seat a bit, as if the words that his son uttered were hard blows to his body.

  “Explain.” He said flatly.

  “Well, the kids at my school are kind of boring, the principal is way too nice and this strange raining all the time is not gonna work. I miss my friends, I miss the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn, I miss Malcolm X Tech, I miss…I miss being in the same apartment where mom walked and lived.”

  Derek shook his head and smiled at his son. He figured that this was going to happen, but he wasn’t about to give into his son. The move they made was for the better.

  “I understand all of that, Tareeq.” Derek replied calmly. “This is our home now and we have to just adjust to the changes. Trust me, if your mother was alive, we would have still made this change. She was the one who picked out this house.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. Felicia picked this house out a month before she died. When we were about to start the process…well…”

  Tareeq took another sigh and gritted his teeth. He balled up his fists and thought of the way that he was acting.

  I’m seventeen years old and acting like a cry-baby. He thought to himself. He stood, feeling cold from the wet clothes that he’d still was in. He started up the stairs, then turned to his father.

  “You promised me that you’ll give this a shot.” Derek said to him. Tareeq nodded his head in agreement. As he walked up the stairs, he vowed to his mother that he’d grin and bear it and keep his promise.

  Chapter 4.

  Tareeq awoke to another day in his new room. Lying in bed for a while, he grabbed his cell phone and checked all of his social media accounts. He read messages from his old friends back home. They missed him terribly as he did them, but he was starting a new life and had to adjust no matter what. He lazily got out of bed, showered, brushed his teeth and got dressed in a blue polo sweater, blue sneakers and light blue jeans. He made sure to grab his jacket from the closet for the rain that was already beating down his window pane. He could hear his father playing music downstairs, and the scent of the breakfast that he was cooking tickled his nostrils. He made his way downstairs and into the kitchen. Derek was humming a Keith Sweat song and doing a 2-step. Tareeq laughed and grabbed a piece of turkey bacon and toast.

  “Mornin’, champ.” Derek said with a grin.

  “Mornin’, old man.” Tareeq joked, taking a bite of the bacon and toast. “I see you’re in a good mood today.”

  “You bet I am. I was up all night writing my next best seller.”

  “Good for you. I can’t wait to read it.” Tareeq was now heading out of the back door.

  “Walking to school today?” Derek asked.

  “Yeah, I know the way. I’ll see you later, Pops.”

  He waved to his father and Derek waved back. Tareeq made his way outside and was immediately met with the autumn, crisp air. He put on his jacket and zipped it up, then put the hood over his head. The drizzle that fell felt icy against his head. Scoffing, he put on his hood and turned up the volume on his music that came through his phone.

  He started down Main Street towards Wittington, mouthing the words to the song that was playing in his ears. As the loud Hip-Hop music blared through his head phones, Tareeq didn’t hear or notice that someone was walking behind him. As if they were stalking him, they stayed on his trail at an almost cat like pace.

  The rain was pouring down harder now, making him sigh from the cold wetness. He still didn’t notice the person behind him who watched him like a hawk. As the person got closer, they made it their duty to make him notice them. The person wanted to make a lasting impression.

  Tareeq felt that hair raising feeling; as if someone were watching him. He turned around and saw the girl from yesterday standing behind him. Seeing her up-close, Tareeq finally got to observe her features. Her hair was coarse and curly mane that brushed her shoulders lightly. Her hair was jet black all except for the long curly blue streak that intermingled with her hair strands.

  Her skin was a smooth deep brown complexion with a darker melanated mole just above her plump lips on the right side. Tareeq noticed that just above her almond shaped eyes, she had a zit on her brow line. Her eyebrows were perfectly shaped though. The girl looked to be about 5’6, but was still short compared to Tareeq’s tall stature. She wore a black long-sleeved shirt with the caption “Black Girls are Magic” in gold block letters on it. She wore a pair of black high waisted, skinny jeans that accentuated her budding curves. On her feet were a pair of gray Converses that looked a bit abused.

  “Hi there.” The girl said in an almost raspy yet soft voice. “You’re the new boy, aren’t, ya?”

  Tareeq looked around to see if anyone else was around them, but he only saw cars driving past. He backed up a little bit and took out his headphones.

  “Huh?” He asked.

  “I said ‘hi, you’re the new boy, aren’t ya?’” She repeated. Tareeq nodded his head and stood up straight.

  “What’s your name, new boy?” She asked, this time starting to walk ahead. Tareeq hesitated a bit but followed her towards Wittington.

  “My name is Tareeq Cooper.” He replied. Tareeq admired her boldness, but didn’t like the fact that she disturbed him from his music.

  “That’s a nice name. Wanna know mine?” She asked, turning to him with a sly smile.

  “Yeah…I guess.” He stammered.

/>   “I’m Mia Wayne.” She replied with a huge grin. “I’m a junior. I noticed that you were in my Biology class.”

  “Oh, I didn’t see you in there.”

  “That’s because I skipped. One of the ladies told me though.”

  “Ladies?”

  “You’ll know about us soon enough, Tareeq.”

  The pair neared the school and Mia waved to the group of three girls that she was with yesterday. They all waved back. As she walked over to them, nearest the flag pole, Tareeq couldn’t help but follow her. Mia looked back at him and smiled coyly this time. Tareeq noticed that among group of girls included Tammy, who was beaming sweetly at him.

  “Ladies…” Mia said glaring at them. All three of the girls stared at her with the same warm smirks on their faces.

  “Look who I ran into this morning.” She continued turning to Tareeq. He waved at the girls specifically Tammy who waved back.

  “Tareeq, this is Brittany Macon.” Mia said pointing to a light brown skinned girl with her hair in blue and black box braids that hit her back. She grinned showing her braces that were also blue in color.

  “And this is Crystal Rodriguez.” Mia said pointing to another girl that was also light skinned, but with long curly black hair and blue tips dyed into her hair ends. Tareeq noticed that she had eyes as big as a doe’s with a fat nose and large lips. She didn’t smile at Tareeq; only waved.

  “And you already know Tammy.” Mia added.

  “What’s good?” Tareeq asked them. Before they could answer him, the school bell pinged for first period.

  “Uh oh, looks like class is starting.” Brittany mentioned. The girls all stood still as if they were waiting for Tareeq to leave. He stared at them, confused, then proceeded to walk inside of the school’s entrance doors.

  As he walked inside of the busy hallways, he could feel eyes on him. He turned around and saw that the girls were behind him. Mia stared intently at him; like she was peering into his soul. Walking, looking back at them, Tareeq bumped into someone.

  “Ouch!” He said rubbing his arm. He noticed that King, Jamir, Gary and Mason were all standing in front of him.

  “Yo, man!” Tareeq shouted. “Why y’all in my way?”

  “Sorry, bro! But we just had to make sure that the ‘Blue Crew’ wasn’t trying to hypnotize you.” King replied. “I’ll see you later boys.” Jamir, Gary and Mason all nodded and walked down the hallway, eventually separating to their own classes. King put his arm around Tareeq’s neck and proceeded down the hall.

  “You said something about a ‘Blue Crew.’ Do you mean Mia and her friends?” Tareeq finally asked. He looked over his shoulder, but the girls where no longer in sight.

  “Yep, that’s exactly who I mean.” King chortled. “I see that you finally met Mia Wayne.”

  “We kind of walked to school together. When I turned around, coming from my block, she was behind me.” Tareeq said. They stopped at Tareeq’s locker and he started to twist the lock knob, concentrating on the combination.

  “You can’t be serious, bro! You walked to school with the most unpopular chick in school.”

  “Why is she unpopular?”

  “Like I said yesterday, her and her band of blue chicks are strange. All they do is skip class, flirt with mad dudes, and get this…some say that they do voodoo or something weird at night.” King revealed.

  “Come on, King.” Tareeq laughed. “They’re not so bad.”

  “You don’t know them, bro. Look I gotta get to class.”

  King and Tareeq dapped each other up and went on their separate ways. Tareeq went to his first period class and soaked in all of the information that he could on the lesson. There was a quiz coming up and he didn’t want to fail. His grades had suffered tremendously and he wanted to pull himself from out of the failing rut and graduate on time.

  After his first period class was over, he found himself in the second period class and then in the third class. He was focused. Lunch time came around after his fifth class. He grabbed a sandwich and juice from the lunch line, then went to join King and his friends at their usual table.

  “What’s up, y’all?” Tareeq greeted them.

  “Hey!” King said patting his back. The rest of the gang all said hello, but talked amongst themselves.

  “How you liking your second day of school, Brooklyn boy?” King asked with an opened grin.

  “It’s good so, far I guess.” Tareeq said flatly. He thought of his father’s words in the back of his mind telling him to give the town a chance.

  “Good because you’re coming to with us to the pep rally tonight.” King chortled with a grin.

  “That sounds lit. I’ll text my dad to let him know.”

  Tareeq pulled out his phone, sending Derek a quick text. He was actually excited that he was going to do something fun tonight with the new friends he made. After a minute or so, his father texted him back telling him to come home first so that he could give him a ride there.

  “Looks like I can go. My pops is gonna give me a ride.” Tareeq explained.

  “That’s cool, bro. You’re gonna have fun and get to see some fine cheerleaders!” King simpered. Before he could revel in the thought of seeing pretty girls his age, Tareeq got a hard tap on his shoulder. Annoyed, he looked back and saw that it was Mia, Tammy, Brittany and Crystal standing behind him. King, Jamir, Gary and Mason all stopped what they were doing and stared at the girls in slight terror. In fact, the whole cafeteria became quiet.

  “Um, is there a problem?” Tareeq asked Mia. He didn’t like how she tapped him so fiercely.

  “No, there isn’t. I just wanted to feel you again.” She boasted. The Blue Crew all giggled like it was the funniest thing they heard all day. Tareeq furrowed his brow and turned back to face his friends. To much of his surprise, Mia hugged his neck from behind and brought her lips to his ear. Tareeq sat there frozen as did King who almost cowered in his seat. He could smell her scent but it was a strange scent for a girl her age to have. To him, she smelled like salt water. Her soft, coarse curls brushed against his face and her brown skin was smooth around his neck. Mia then proceeded to whisper in to his ear.

  “You make my mouth water.” She breathed. Letting him go, she joined her crew and walked away leaving Tareeq with growing goose bumps on his neck.

  Chapter 5.

  Derek jingled his car keys while sipping on a cup of hot cocoa in the kitchen. He was re-reading the chapter that he had worked on that day making sure that he was pleased with the way that his characters were coming together on the page. He looked up from the computer screen as soon as he heard Tareeq enter the front door. He watched as his son dropped his back pack onto the couch and enter the kitchen.

  “So, what time does this pep rally start?” Derek asked.

  “I think at seven.” Tareeq informed. “I’m going to start on some homework before we go.”

  Derek nodded his head and took another sip of his hot cocoa.

  “Dad?” Tareeq asked. He had a drifting look on his face.

  “What’s up?”

  “I-uh. Met another person at school today.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, a-a girl.”

  “A girl? Atta boy! What’s her name?”

  “Don’t think that I like her or anything. I just want to know something, that’s all.”

  “Alright, tell me then.”

  “Well, it was mad weird.” He started. “So, boom. I’m walking to school and all of a sudden, she’s walking behind me and then talks to me like she knows me. Then, she introduced me to her Blue Crew—’’

  “Blue Crew?” Derek asked with his arms folded. His interest was piqued now.

  “That’s what they call themselves because they all have blue streaks in their hair.”

  “I see. I haven’t seen that since I was in school.” Derek chuckled.

  “Hold on it gets weirder. Then at lunch, she taps me mad hard on my arm and then when I asked her what she wants, she t
ells me that she wanted to feel me again.”

  “Woah!” Derek laughed.

  “Yeah, dad. Then, she has the audacity to hug my neck like she was my girl!”

  “Wait, she hugged you?”

  “Yeah, but what she said to me took the cake.”

  “What did she say, son?”

  Tareeq fell quiet, debating with himself whether to tell his father the exact words that Mia said to him.

  He didn’t want him to take it in a way that any parent would take it. He just didn’t know how his father would react. So he came up with a quick lie.

  “She said ‘you wanna sit with me at the pep rally?’”

  “Oh, so that’s why you’re going?” Derek teased.

  “NO! Definitely not, Dad. I don’t like that girl at all. She’s too much.” Tareeq gawked.

  “If you say so.”

  “What should I do to get that girl off my back, though?”

  Derek put his right hand on his beard and rubbed it. He remembered the time when he was younger and how he’d asked his father how to approach girls his age. But from the look on his son’s face, he could see that Tareeq didn’t want to be bothered.

  “Just tell her, gently, to slow down. This isn’t a Twilight novel.” Derek joked.

  “Come on, Dad.” Tareeq scoffed.

  “Avoid her.” He replied seriously. “If you really don’t like her. She’s sure to leave you alone, then.”

  “I will try and see what happens.” Tareeq sighed. He put his hands in his pockets and went back into the living room, leaving his father in the kitchen.

  He opened his backpack, took out his homework, and started to work on it. When he looked at his phone, he realized that it was 6:30pm. He was already done with much of his homework and decided that he would get ready for the pep rally. He got ran upstairs, showered and put on a gray and black track suit and a pair of sneakers that matched. He went back downstairs and found his father waiting for him in the living room.

  “Don’t you look sharp? Is this for your girlfriend?” Derek teased. Tareeq rolled his eyes at his father and chuckled. Under his smile, he was silently prayed that Mia wouldn’t be there. He looked at the time and noticed that it was 7:15pm. Derek and Tareeq got into the car and headed to Wittington. Tareeq looked out of the window and saw that all of the students and faculty were already filing into the school. He scoped out the crowd and noticed that King, Jamir, Gary and Mason all huddled together on the front lawn, laughing and joking.