by Mic Shannon
“Shut up, I’m not fat,” she snapped, “and stop scaring me like that I didn’t even know you were here yet!”
“Yeah, dad asked me to come put the weights and the weight bench in the garage for him.”
He paused for a moment, standing in the doorway.
“Oh okay,” she said, staring at him with her eyebrows raised as if to dismiss him and his annoying presence, “go away…”
“I heard everything,” said Derek, “how come you always lie to papi like that?”
“What do you mean, I don’t lie to papi!”
“Yes, you do, always telling him, ‘oh, I talk to this boy I talk to that boy’ when you don’t. And you know you only wear those clothes because he doesn’t like it.”
“Shut up, Derek,” she said, upset that he had called her bluff, “you don’t care anyway, so go away!”
“Yeah, love you too,” he replied, smiling, “You know, you always so feisty, you never find a boy that way.”
His statement made her giggle. He always had a way with her. She always played tough and hard, like a woman trapped among men, and he would come catch her off guard by saying something to make her smile.
“Ya know,” he continued, “it’s a good thing you don’t got a boyfriend, because I would have to tell him, like, ya know, you hurt my sister and I gotta whoop your ass.”
She giggled with embarrassment, “Shut up!”
“You always telling me to shut up. When did my little sister get so mean?”
“Oh stop,” she said, softening her tone, “you’re strong, you can take it.”
He smiled.
“Oh,” he said, patting his pockets, “I’ve got something for you, chica.”
He pulled out some light green nail polish and tossed it onto her bed.
“It’s the same color as your dress.”
She picked it up and looked at it, grinning from ear to ear. She was over the top excited. When she was a preteen, their dad had always banned Cynthia from using nail polish or makeup, fearing that she was acting too grown. She constantly got in trouble for it, always hiding her bottles from her father. When he found them, he would throw them away and punish her from going out. But she always ended up with another bottle. That is, for the price of a few chores.
“Oh my God!” she said, ecstatic, “I couldn’t find this color at all! Oh my God, thank you!”
He smirked, satisfied in his attempts to see his little sister giddy like the child she once was. She was his flesh and blood, and he only wanted to see her smile. As much as he would never admit it, he missed living in the house with her.
“Anyway, are you gonna get ready or what? I gotta head back to school after I drop you off.”
“Umm, yeah,” she replied sarcastically with a huge smile, “I gotta change, but you won’t get out!”
--- 8:09 pm ---
Michael laid down on his bed in thought, wondering if Cynthia ever thought about him just as he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He wondered what Mom would say. He would have most certainly told her about Cynthia, and the fact that he couldn’t share his excitement with her started to bring his mood down.
Thinking about his mother, he figured he would crack open the diary and read a few entries. He rather enjoyed reading it by now. It was as if his mother was speaking to him from beyond the grave. She had much to say to him in the diary; a collection of lessons that she could teach long after she had gone. He retrieved the book, then zipped his book bag back up and threw it at the foot of the bed before lying flat on his back.
In my DREAMS, I am far away from the chaos of the world
Here, I hope, peace can be found
What I see is…unexplainable
I look around, and I see possibilities
I see a future for our children
Our viewpoint in life is what determines our attitude
I am seeing things from a different viewpoint now
My purpose is just beginning
*Knock* *Knock*
Ms. Tanya swung the door open. Another teenage boy followed in behind her, bags in hand.
“Hey Michael,” she said cheerfully, “This is Tim. Tim, this is Michael.”
The teenager sat his bag down and extended his hand, “Call me Tee.”
“What’s up Tee,” said Michael as he shook his hand. Tee had a firm grip.
“Well,” said Ms. Tanya as she clasped her hands together, “there’s the bed Tim. The closet is behind that door, but I should warn you, it’s not very big. Anyway, I’ll be back in a few with some sheets.”
She exited the room and left the door open. Michael hid his face behind the book, holding his hand over top of the medal pinned to the back cover while trying to ignore the new kid. He didn’t really have anything to say to him. He always tried to observe people first.
“So,” said Tee as he threw his bag onto the bed, “what do you guys do around here for fun?”
Michael looked over the top of the book at him, “There’s a park and a basketball court on the next block. Other than that, I dunno. Play cards, watch TV. I think there might be a chess board downstairs.”
“Chess is cool,” said Tee almost immediately, “you play?”
Michael, distracted, closed the book and slid it underneath his blanket.
“Yeah, a little. I mean, I used to play as a kid. My mom made me join a club.”
Tee unzipped his bag and pulled his clothes out. His sneakers were clean. He had three pair; more than Michael had, although he had never been jealous or concerned with things like that before.
“Are those the new Nike Knockouts?” he asked.
“Yeah, man. I only wear ‘em every now and then. Don’t wanna get ‘em dirty, ya know?”
“Yeah, those are nice. Can I see?”
Tee handed him one of the sneakers. Michael looked at it, examining it inside and out, and smiled. They were the newest wave in urban fashion. A lot of drug dealers wore them imitating the musicians in the music videos, and vice versa.
“How much did you pay for those?” he asked, handing the sneaker back.
“Aw man, they ran me about…five -fifty.”
“Five hundred and fifty dollars?!” Michael replied, amazed.
“Yup,” replied Tee, almost smirking, “pretty groovy, huh?
“How’d you get those though, I mean,” he switched up his tone, “how’d you get the money for those?”
“Oh, I work man. My uncle, he’s got a shop off 64. I help him with shipping and receiving.”
“Oh, ok. That’s cool.”
“Yeah man,” he said, excited, “I’ve worked there for like, three years now. It’s kind of tough, like when I have a ton of orders and stuff, but the pay is groovy. I like it.”
“That’s not bad,” he replied. He thought for a moment, “Wait, so why are you here?”
“Oh…well umm,” Tee started unfolding his clothes and walked toward the closet grabbing a hangar, “I’m still seventeen for a few more months so,” he paused, “the state has to retain custody or whatever. My mom got really bad on pills after I was born, so they took me from her back when I was a kid. I don’t really talk to her.”
“What about your uncle?” he inquired.
“Well, he took care of me for a while, until I was about twelve, but then they took me away and put me in foster care. There were too many kids in the house after my aunt had twins. But it’s cool, I guess, I mean the babies needed to be with them more than I did.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said. It was as if everyone in that group home was broken in some way.
“Hey, once I put this away you wanna play chess?” said Tee with a warm smile that prematurely anticipated a ‘yes’.
“Yeah, sure, that’s cool. We can do that.”
SAT, MAY 6th, 2034
Alexandria, VA, USA
9:48 am
T he next morning, Michael woke up to Tim walking around the room and almost jumped. He felt underneath his pillow for the book.
It was still in the spot where he had put it the night before. He flopped his head back down on the pillow, almost forgetting that he had a new roommate. Then he thought about the money.
“Yo,” said Tee, “I’m about to roll to the store. You wanna come with me? I’ll buy you something.”
Michael rolled around and paused for a second, “Yeah, sure.”
“Alright, well get dressed then.”
Michael got up lazily and went over to his backpack in the corner. He picked it up and felt the outside of the bag for the contents, grabbing each stack of money to make sure it was still there. He felt each one individually, counting six in total, so it was all there. He didn’t think Tee had stolen any, especially with him not knowing that the money was there in the first place. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him about the money either. After they got dressed, they made their way out to the street and started walking toward the store.
“Hey Tee,” said Michael, deep in thought.
“What’s up?”
“You ever thought about where you’ll be a year from now?”
Tee paused for a moment and smiled.
“Me,” he said, “I’m trying to own something. I wanna get a shop just like my uncle. He makes so much cash. It’s like, if I could just get my hands on some cash like he does, I’d be straight.”
Michael thought for a moment. I mean, why couldn’t Tee do it? He admired his passion. He didn’t know many kids at seventeen with a job, let alone the drive to get one.
“What about you?” said Tee.
He wasn’t expecting the question to reciprocate.
“Me? I dunno…college maybe?”
“Oh yeah? College boy. Check you out!” Tee laughed, “I think you can do it, man. My older brother used to go to Norfolk State before he was killed. You should check it out.”
“Nah,” he said almost immediately, “I wanna go to Florida.”
“Well, look, I think you can do pretty much anything. That’s like, the American Dream, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter who you are, anyone can make it type of thing, right?”
As they rounded the corner, they saw Manny standing at the front of the store eating a bag of chips. He was by himself, most likely on his way to the ball courts to play a pickup game.
“What’s up Man Man?” said Michael.
“Yo, Mikey, what’s up?”
The two shook hands.
“Where you headed?” asked Michael.
“To the courts baby!” he replied with excitement, “You know me, I’m about to go school these bums!”
They both laughed.
“Oh yeah,” said Michael, turning toward Tee, “this is my little brother Manny.”
Tee extended his hand, “Tee.”
Manny shook his hand with a smile on his face, “What’s up Tee.”
--- 1:38 pm ---
Washington, DC, USA
The President took a sip of her brandy on the rocks as her wristphone vibrated during the nearly four-hour flight to Laredo. It had been nearly a week since the blast, and she was headed to ground zero to give a speech to law enforcement at a memorial service. She looked at her wristphone to see who was calling. CIA Director Horn. She pulled a small ear piece from her pocket, about the size and shape of a hearing aid, and placed it in her ear, being careful that no one else on Air Force One would be able to hear her conversation.
“Talk to me,” she said as his face appeared on the screen of her wristphone.
“I have some updates ma’am,” he said, pausing for her reply.
“Go ahead,” she said, sitting her glass in the cup holder.
“Can I have you bounce the call over to your encrypted device ma’am?”
She pulled her PDA from her pocket and picked up the call on her secured line.
“Ok, go ahead.”
“So, we snatched some intel from a foreign source about the unidentified objects,” he began.
“And…?”
“We found out what it is…or rather, what we think it is…”
“And how many sources can BHT confirm this with?”
“It didn’t come from the Black Hat Team ma’am,” he replied.
She shook her head, puzzled, “Well where did it come from?”
“It was given to us,” he continued, “by a few of my sources in British Intelligence. I guess there’s still the old-fashioned way of doing things.”
“So, what did they say?” she asked, curiosity building.
“Well, when I originally sent the images out to my contacts, they had no idea what it was. But, apparently one of them knows a retired intelligence officer who was able to point them in the right direction. He said he had seen the symbol once in his thirty years with British Intelligence…in their communications archives – records division.”
“And we’ve got the files?” she asked.
“About an hour ago…” he paused again, “Listen, ma’am. It’s a little bit more complicated than you think…”
“Well, I’ve got a long flight,” she remarked, reclining in her seat and activating the leg rest as she picked up her brandy.
“Let’s wait…” he replied in a stern tone, “Until you get back. I’m still reading through all the intelligence reports. Besides, you’re gonna wanna see this for yourself…”
FRI, MAY 12th, 2034
Alexandria, VA, USA
6:56 pm
I t was finally the night of prom, and Michael stood in the mirror straightening his bow tie. He was as nervous as ever, trying to calm himself. This was his moment, and he didn’t want to blow it.
He and Cynthia were catching a ride with one of her girlfriends and their date. She had planned to pick him up at 7:00. Michael looked at his wristphone. 6:58.
“You ready champ?” said Tee from the doorway, Manny right behind him.
“He better get those cheeks tonight!” remarked Manny, his usual joking self.
The bell for the front door chimed its tune.
“Michael,” yelled Ms. Tanya from the doorway, “your date’s here.”
Michael made his way down the stairs and saw Cynthia standing next to an overly excited Tanya who, for all intents and purposes, was watching a ‘son’ go to his prom. He smiled in awe at her beauty. She was absolutely stunning.
“Hey Mike,” she said with a warm smile, admiring his handsomeness, “Are you ready?”
Michael stood in front of her and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a beautiful white and green corsage. Her eyes lit up immediately.
“Oh my God! It’s, like, beautiful,” she uttered, her eyes sparkling with delight.
“She’s hot!” whispered Tee to Manny from the top of the stairway, looking down.
“I told you!” replied Manny, giggling with immaturity.
The atmosphere in the room was warm and comforting. To Michael, he felt as if he had found the woman of his dreams. His mother would have been proud. Longing to live in that moment forever, he snapped out of his boyish gaze at her perfection.
“I see you wore the white heels,” he said with a smile, taking a step back to admire her outfit, “they look nice.”
“Yeah,” said Cynthia, looking down and modeling them, “they were your idea. I just listened.”
--- 7:26 pm ---
The high school was lit with prom decorations streaming throughout the hallways. The DJ was a popular radio host from the local station, playing a mix of old school and new school with chart-topping singles. Cynthia danced with her friends for most of the night, occasionally pulling Michael onto the dance floor and making him a little uncomfortable. But, once he saw that she didn’t care too much how well he could dance, he loosened up.
He spent most his time staring at her. Almost too much, he thought. She had a dainty way about her. Something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. A vibe. Everything she did was cute, and every fun thing she did made him smile. He was having the best night of his life. Every now and then, the other students would sta
re, especially the boys, wondering how he had ever made his most memorable night a night with Cynthia Ramirez.
“Now, for all the lovers out there,” said the DJ in his smooth, seducing tone, “this one’s for you.”
The song began with a familiar melody. Michael recognized it immediately, his mother used to be a huge fan. “Here and Now” – Luther Vandross.
Students on the dance floor began to pair up together. Michael stood at the edge of the floor; the last song had been one for the ladies, and so he had stood off by himself while she joined her friends, dancing together with huge smiles on her faces. As the light began to dim, Cynthia approached him and put her arms around his neck. Surprised at her vulnerability and obvious attraction, he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and felt comfortable.
They danced for the entire song in absolute peace. About halfway through, Cynthia leaned in and laid her head on Michael’s shoulder, closing her eyes. Off to his right, a kid that he had seen around in the halls a few times gave him a thumbs-up. He smiled.
--- 10:11 pm ---
When the prom finally ended, Michael saw the other students beginning to file out of the gymnasium, going to cars or limousines. Michael clicked his wristphone and looked at the time. It was 9:30. Ms. Tanya had told him to enjoy his night, and gave him thirty dollars for a cab home. It was embarrassing, but considerably less embarrassing than being picked up in the St. Christopher Group Home Van. And so, he walked away from Cynthia for a moment to make his embarrassing call in peace, holding the side button of his wristphone until he heard a beep.
“Roxy, find me taxis.”
Cynthia noticed him walking away from her and huddling over his wristphone. She knew that things were different for him; that he had no mother to pick him up. She had a great time, but it was at that moment that she wanted the same for him.
Cynthia’s best friend Gianna was Bucky’s girlfriend, a skinny girl with a party attitude and an addictive personality. She was pretty; the type of girl who would change her hair color every week and spent more money on makeup than most. Psychologically, she needed Bucky. She needed a man with a little drama and excitement. A man who appeared tough and would keep her in line, something she didn’t get at home. She approached Cynthia with Bucky, laughing and flipping her hair.