Running Ends in Death.

[Aubs]

“The cry of the ghetto is being heard by a nation with its fingers in its ears.”

- Barbra Sizemore [Educator].

“My mama always used to tell me: 'If you can't find somethin' to live for, you best find somethin' to die for.”

- Tupac Shakur [Rapper].

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” ; “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.”

- Maya Angelou [Poet].

“If you think you’ve seen and heard it all about Compton before, take yo ass off that pedestal you’re on and see life for what it really is. Most likely, you haven’t even seen the half of what goes down here. The stories you’ve heard may be real, but they’re nothing compared to mine.”

- Andre Webb [Teen].

___________________________________________________________________________

“What’s up, I’m Andre. And for the next couple of months I’m going to need your help. I don’t usually ask for shit like this, but- I... I really need it.” The young boy looks down toward the ground, before sighing some to himself. “I need some advice on a decision I have to make in a couple of weeks. It’s a matter of days left and with the time winding down, I don’t know what to do. I need to know what you think I should do and I gotta know quick.” Andre’s eyes penetrate through you as he continues to speak. “Like asap. I’m asking you-" His lips begin to quiver some "From the bottom of my empty heart, to be one hundred with me ‘cause I’m gonna do nothing but the same with you, bro. It’s the decision of choosing left or right-” begins to act out in motions as he speaks. “the money and the protection or empty pockets and safety. It’s the decision of staying up with clean hands, or getting’ down to scrub ‘em in dirt-” He pauses some, before looking away for a second. “I mean, I want both but I can only decide on one at the end of the day. It’s not as simple as I’m making it though. Deciding on one and not the other could end in some dramatic incident that I may or may not be ready for." He sighs. "That’s why I’m callin’ on you. Be a homie and let me know what’s real.” He tosses out a red rag from his left pants pocket, that hits the ground in no time. Staring at the rag, he continues to speak. “Do I want risk getting blood on my hands, or does the old saying hold true to its word-”

Running Ends in Death.

__________________________________________________________________________

[Aubs]

“Man, Andre, what the fuck you talkin’ ‘bout, nigga?” a loud voice spoke out.
“What?” Andre questioned, his memory feeling extremely fuzzy as he sat on the stoop of his porch, his best friend Calvin accompanying him. He had little thought of what was happening and it wasn’t helping with his friend in his ear. It was a complete mindfuck if he’d ever known one. Trying to recuperate from the blankness in his mind, Andre attempted to remember what he last said. ‘Nothing..’
“You said some deep shit and starting spewing out quotes like you was Malcolm X or somethin’.” Calvin spoke. “Now you acting like you don’t even know what happened, like the lil’bitch you are.” He laughed, taking a seat down on the stoop.
“Why would I need to act if I don’t really remember? I don’t remember saying nothing, bro. My mind went blank for a second.” He stood up, and stared up to the sunny skies of Compton. It was quite the beautiful day outside. All around the neighborhood children ran from block to block with joyous laughter. There seemed to be no commotion outside. There’d been no sign of gang activity or the cops, which could have meant a good thing or bad, depending on the stances of both. But overall, everything was rather calm. Glancing back down to Calvin, Andre grunted.
“See, and that’s the reason why I told yo ass you was a crack baby when you were born! Shit like right now. There is no way yo moms wasn’t a crackhead when she had you, cous. No way in hell.” He scratched his scalp with his left hand, while reaching the right one in his pocket to reveal an orange lighter. Flicking the lighter playfully, he continued to speak. “Nah, but I’m just playin’ with you brah. You know you’re cool peeps, homeboy.”
“You’re a fucking bitch, man! I hope you know that? And my Moms wasn’t- a crackhead.” His voice grew weak mentioning his mother. He hardly ever spoke of the woman who abandoned him over thirteen years ago in the restroom of a Wal-Mart. He didn’t remember much about the day, but what he did recall was his constant shouting for the woman he would never see in his life again. He almost had gone years blocking as much of his childhood with her out of his head until more recently he couldn’t stop thinking about her. As much as he wanted to move on with his life though, he couldn’t. He couldn’t fully forget her if he wanted to. She had been forever enrooted into his mind for the rest of his life.
As Andre sat in silence, Calvin nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and continued to play with his lighter. Glancing over, he noticed a few of their friends “White” Mike and Ree walking through Andre’s front gate to where the two boys sat.

“Yo-” Mike called out, as he approached. “What’s good my nigs?” He inquired, casually using the term. No one ever complained about him using the word, so he assumed it was safe ground, although it was a positive bet he’d get his ass beat using it around strangers. In a way, his friends thought of him as one of them. They weren't worrying about the color of his skin. He was just glad he had somewhere to fit in, as most everyone else in the group had as well.
“Nothing much man, Andre here is actin’ like a punk bitch. I’m looking to get faded later on though. Got a new shipment of green in last night, tryna get a little paper.”
“I feel you, I feel you,” Mike responded happily, a smirk plastered across his face. “You already know I’m in there like swim wear, bro.”
“Not if you ain’t paying, nigga!”
Andre, feeling agitated, stood up from his seat on the stoop. He muttered something unable to be heard, probably along the lines of, “Stupid asses..” before walking out from his yard into the quiet neighborhood.
Mike’s expression turned curious. “What’s wrong with him?”
“I don’t know man, I told you he been on punk bitch mode.” Calvin shifted his eyes over at Ree, who hadn’t spoken since arriving on the scene. “Go talk to him, Ree.” He suggested, looking at the girl. “I’m sure he’ll probably tell you and shit. I will warn you though, lil’nigga gotta an attitude on ‘em today.”

[Eva]

Ree glared at Calvin, and then at Mike. "What did I tell you foo's about using the word 'nigga'? That is dee-mean-eng and ignorant." she said. Ree pointed her finger at both of them. "Shit, no wonder ain't nobody respect a black president, muh'fuckers like y'all caint learn how to talk without talkin' like you ain't got sense." she snapped. Ree would've gone on longer, as she often did, but Calvin was right. Andre was giving attitude, and she was pretty good at calming him down. She gave Mike and Calvin one last look. "Think about that, you ignorant NEE-GROES." she shouted as she jogged off in the direction that Andre had gone off in.

When she caught up with him, which didn't take long, Ree gave Andre a soft slap on the back. "Hey. What's on your mind, boy?" she asked quietly. Ree had long since perfected her 'talk to me' voice, and she enjoyed putting it to good use now and again. "You know, I heard that Bianca Sims is comin' to town. Maybe that's what you're thinkin' bout? Her music ain't my thing, but I think Calvin once said you got one of her CDs..."

[Aubs]

Andre walked out onto the roughly cracked sidewalk, out into the neighborhood. He didn’t know what was up with him lately. Not only had he begun to think more of this mother but he worried for his own life. Andre hadn’t revealed it to anyone but late at night, when he was in his bed asleep, he would dream about death. His death. The weirdest thing about it had been that the same dream kept occurring over and over in his sleep, night after night. I would be chilling on the steps and from nowhere a red Cadillac shows up. He recalled in his mind, as he continued to walk further down the sidewalk. The window don’t even open all the way, not even half, before bullets fly out. I keep havin’ the same fucking reoccurrin’ dream and no matter what I do to save myself it does nothin’. Nothin’ In the back of his mind, Andre feared that the dream he was having was no ordinary dream but rather a prediction of his own death. I just don’t- His thoughts came to an utter halt as he heard a voice and felt the touch of someone on his back.

“Hey, what’s on your mind, boy?” the voice spoke, releasing Andre from himself. Turning around, he realized it had been Ree, one of his closest friends. He wasn’t quite so sure if he was ready to talk about things, so he simply shrugged and replied, “I don’t know.” The two walked further down the block, passing by many houses bumping loud music, one of the loudest playing “Run This Town” by Jay-Z.

“You know, I heard that Bianca Sims is comin’ to town. Maybe that’s what you’re thinkin’ about? Her music ain’t my thing, but I think Calvin once said you got one of her CDs. . .”
Andre didn’t know why, but that comment made him burst out in laughter. He immediately began chuckling. So much for being uneasy. “Nah, I ain’t even trippin’ off her no more,” He admitted, feeling a little more comfortable to talk to Ree now. “A nigga buys one CD ‘cause he likes a couple of the songs and all of the sudden that makes him a fan?” He smirked. “Calvin’s a hater bitch. Anyway, he told you to come talk to me, didn’t he?” While Andre loved the dedication his friends showed him, he sometimes felt as though they didn’t give him the privacy to think, not that he had anything to deeply think about until lately anyway. He knew they constantly worried about him and while that was a good thing, Andre didn’t know what to think about it. Where they worrying about him because they truly cared for him, or was it because they felt he was liable to make destructive decisions on his own?

They probably think more shit about me that I wouldn’t even figure. Andre thought, assuming the worst his friends. He knew he was a loose cannon, just under wraps for all these years, but what his friends didn’t fully know was just how lethal he could be. They didn’t know he’d robbed old women at gun point, that he’d slang dope, coke, and any other drug you could think of not to mention dabbling in some. They didn’t know how much of a fighter he was and he knew that that side of him was to remain under wraps. For the safety of everyone. He sighed some to himself as Ree and him made it to the end of the block. He began to say something when out of the corner of his eye, across the street on Josen Avenue, a red Cadillac stopped at the stop sign.

Flashing back to his many dreams before, Andre winced. This couldn’t end up like he thought it would. Could it? He couldn't admit it, but he was afraid. Andre Webb was deathly afraid.

[Eva]

Ree listened to Andre and stayed silent. "Yea, he told me to come talk to you. But even then I wanted to anyway." she said with a shrug. Whether or not that was true didn't matter, not to Ree anyway, and if she had her way it wouldn't matter to Andre. But she could tell that something was bothering him, something more than Calvin had hinted at. She wasn't one to pry, but she could tell this meant something. She traced her friend's eyes to a red Cadillac at a stop sign and almost instantly figured it out.

She walked over and stood in front of him. She grabbed his head and pulled it down so that they were at eye level. "Hey. That ain't you." she said, her voice dead serious. "That ain't your life. That ain't the life you're gonna make for yourself." Ree gulped. "Baby boy, tell me. Ain't no reason to be stressin' the Bloods more than usual right now. Rochelle says they less around than usual..." Ree thought for a moment. "Did they say somethin' to you? Tell me, Andre. I want to know." she demanded.

[Gafe]

From the front passenger seat of the red Cadillac, a man climbed down. Albeit he did not wear the uniform yet, everyone knew him to be a cop. Yet he was not notorious for being a law enforcer. Quietly, the thrity-one year-old opened one of the back doors in the car and let out a young black man whose face shone with fright hile his hands trembled ever so slightly.
"You think 'bout that, okay, Jesse? There ain't no need for no one to git hurt. Aight?" Keagan told the boy, his words sweeter than his motives. The boy slowly nodded and, with this, the older man let him go.
Now, he turned toward the driver and the two other guys still inside the car. "I ain't got no job for ya'lls today, do whatever. Just don't git messy."

As he left the red Cadillac behind, Keagan Ray walked the rest of Josen Avenue, past the stop sign, and crossed the street. He was headed towards his day'job', but when he looked at the people that occupied the sidewalk he was walking in, he forgot a little about it.
"Hello there nigga, sugarface." He said, looking at Andre and Ree. He didn't recognize Andre, though that barely ever stopped him. "You two been working hard? Bein' good?" He grinned. "Tell that sweet, old Mama Brown I said hello, will ya, Reena?" With a smirk, he kept walking, leaving both of them behind and approaching another pair of teenagers. His attitude, however, was different from what it had just been. He ignored the white one completely and, instead, locked his gaze on Calvin. Now that face he did recognize. His greeting was summed up in just slapping the latter upside the head and whispering, "You owe me, fool."

Keagan Ray tsked as he realized the time. He was late again and, mind you, there was a need to pass unnoticed by his superiors. Once more, he walked away from both teenagers. Soon enough he was well away from earshot and on his way.

[Aubs]

“You I’m tellin’ you now, bro, either you with us or you against us!” A man spoke, as he held Andre up by the collar of his shirt. “I suggest yo ass do what you’re supposed to and play along, otherwise yo ass is a target, got me? And believe me, it won’t be hard catching you. I’ve been able to out run you every day for the past five years.” Throwing the hardest punch he could, the man jabbed Andre in his chest, blowing the wind out of the boy. He was taken by surprise. As he lay on the ground, completely tensed up, he watched as the man and his group of compatriots walked off down the side walk.
____________________________________________________________________________

That was three weeks back exactly.

Andre saw the same face through the lightly dimmed tinted windows of the red Cadillac. De’Juan. He thought, remembering the incident weeks ago. Andre had grown up with De’Juan, or Juan as he was calling himself these days. He was one of Andre’s closest friends up until the death of Carlos, some months back, the event that had caused De’Juan to punk out and join the bloods for much needed protection. The moment he’d joined, he had completely changed. Getting a body full of body art, garnering a much tougher personality, and leaving his old life behind everyone could see the difference a few months could make. He’s a fucking bitch, Andre thought, as he glared at the man. He was more than positive De’Juan could see him, as he wasn’t that far away from the car. The boy continued to eye down the car, when Ree had stopped him.

“Hey. That ain’t you.” She exclaimed, her voice serious. “That ain’t your life. That ain’t the life you’re gonna make for yourself.” She was right. That wasn’t the life he wanted to make for himself, but he was a afraid. There could be only so much running he could do before they would finally get him. He didn’t want to run for his whole life. He couldn’t run for his whole life. “Baby boy, tell me. Ain’t no reason to be stressin’ the Bloods more than usual right now. Rochelle says they’re around less than usual. . . .” Most of her last sentence had gone through one ear and out the other with Andre. His eyes shifted back up to the car, to get one last sight of the car before the car had driven off. Ree could see in his expression and the emotion exuding from his eyes that something had gone down. “Did they say somethin’ to you? Tell me, Andre. I want to know.”

Andre glanced back over at Ree. He could tell that she had cared. But he just couldn’t tell her. Not now. Shaking his head, Andre spoke. “Nah, they ain’t said nothin’ to me.” He just wasn’t able to express his fears. “I’m cool, I just- I dunno man. But I’m-”

“Hey there nigga, sugarface.” A husky voice greeted, walking up to the two teens on the sidewalk. Andre didn’t know the man’s name, but he had certainly seen him around the block a few times before. He knew something wasn’t right about this man, but he couldn’t put his finger on it exactly. “You two been working hard Bein’ good?” He inquired, grinning. “Tell that sweet, old Mama Brown I said hello, will ya, Reena?” It was more than obvious to Andre that by that statement, the man hadn’t known who Andre was. More than likely, that was a good thing. Andre didn’t want everyone knowing of his existence as it kept him on safe footing. As Andre and Ree watched the man walk off, Andre leaned in to Ree’s body. “Who is that dude? What’s his name?”

[Eva]

Ree smiled at the man and nodded. "I'll tell her." she said, her face now its angelic mask. The second he was gone, Ree looked at Andre. "Tha's Keagan. He's 5-0. Nigga don't do no good." she said bluntly. "Think he better than everyone cause he's the law. Ain't never followed a law once in his life." Ree tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Let's go to Carolyne's. We should talk to Mama about this." Ree said.

[Fallendire]

Chen-Chen hugged her purse more tightly against her side as she walked quickly down the street, the clicking of her high heels echoing as she neatly sidestepped a pile of garbage. She didn't like it here, but it was better than being back at the bar. Though she knew her uncle wouldn't be happy if she was late again . . .

But she had more important things to do. She wouldn't come to this side of town without a definite reason - contrary to popular belief, Chen-Chen wasn't dumb. Her brisk walk slowed as she passed a pair of kids on the sidewalk, and she tilted her head slightly, giving them a swift, impassive glance. She almost kept walking, but against her better instincts stopped and walked back to them.

Ree and Andre. Yes, she knew of them, but she didn't know them. As far as she knew, Andre had never been a customer, but she was so drugged up during some of her tricks that maybe she'd missed something.

"You know a James Wu?" No introduction, no pleasantries. Chen-Chen stiffened, pushing her long hair over her shoulder and hugging her purse tightly. They'd know who she was, of course. Everyone knew Chen-Chen, either by reputation or because they'd gotten a piece. Her slender, nicotine-stained fingers tightened on the strap of her purse as she waited for the stares to turn judgmental. "I hear he live here, or nearby. Don't know where, but I need to talk to him . . . or anybody." She swallowed thickly, her jewel-toned nail polish flashing as she fussed with the high collar of her silk dress. She would have preferred to wear Western-style clothing, but all the girls at Uncle's bar had to look, as he put it, "like good Chinese whore."

[Aubs]

“I’m tellin’ you my nig,” Calvin spoke to Mike, as he casually puffed on a cigarette. “My babymama is trippin’ though. She talkin’ shit about puttin’ ch-” He completely stopped talking as he saw a figure walking up the block. Not only had he gone silent, the life from his eyes grew dimmer by the second. He dropped the cigarette on the ground, leaving it sizzling in the hot sun.
Mike was confused. He wasn’t used to seeing this side of Calvin at all. The two were possibly two of the most vocal people either had known so it was new to see the usual jokester Calvin quiet. “Yo, what’s wrong, man?” Mike too turned toward the sidewalk to see just what or who had caused his best friend to act so weird. He saw a black man, possibly older than he appeared, walking up the block and even closer to the house. He was even more confused now. Was this what was triggering something in Calvin? He didn’t know what to do, so when the man finally turned and entered into Andre’s yard Mike tensed up himself and got nervous. He wasn’t even aid he was of suddenly being capped. As a white man, nothing feared him more than a black man walking down the street with ill intention. He liked to think he was as much as a 'brotha' as any other black guy he knew, but deep down he still was White Mike, the whitest dude on Josen Avenue. Mike continued to eye the man down, observing him intently, as he walked from the end of Andre’s yard. He made sure to keep himself from staring, or even any contact at all. He moved from his position on the steps, to hovering over Calvin. Who the hell is this dude?

The man locked eyes on Calvin in an intense gaze. He didn’t immediately speak upon walking up to the two, but the first thing to come out of his mouth and his actions brought up tons of questions. “You owe me, fool.” He gruffly announced, taking his hand back and slapping Calvin upside his head as hard as he could. He surely gave not only Calvin a migraine but Mike as well.
“Wha-wh-whatchu talking about man? I- I paid you all the money back, didn’t I?” Calvin replied, trying to ignore giving the man as much eye contact as possible.

Luckily for Calvin, the man glanced at his watch and seemed to be late for something as he’d quickly left the yard and continued on his way down the block.

“What was that man? Who was that?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t act stupid bro, what just happened?”
Calvin shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He glanced down the street to see if he could see Andre and Ree, both of which were out of sight. Avoiding the topic at hand, once again, Calvin moved forward. “Come on, we should go find ‘Dre and Ree.”
“So you’re just gon’ ignore everything I asked?”
“I’m doing it now, right?”

[Eva]

Fresh air. Wind in her hair.

Milan Veers wasn't a hedonist, but sometimes she felt like it was a good idea.

Drugs, sex, all that shit wasn't her thing but she could get fucked up on some wind in her hair. That was where the action was at. It was like...magic. Like some Disney Princess shit she used to watch. The red rose, or wanting 'more'. Yeah. That was it. More. Hedonism. She learned that the other day. It meant more, at least that's what Milan thought, and she wanted more. Of everything. But right now, at this moment, she wanted more wind.

It almost upset her when she had to park her care and get out, but she did it. Milan opened the door of her little hoopty and stepped out at the all-too familiar place where she knew he would be. "That's really nice, you little bitch. You didn't tell me where you were going! One of your fucking tweakers came to the house and tried to break in, dumbass! I had to tell Grandmama it was just a dog!" she shouted. Milan marched up to her older brother and got right in his face as she yelled at him. Once she was done, Milan stepped back and looked at Calvin.

"Hey Cal, baby. Where's Ree? We have work in a couple minutes." she said, with a wink. At the moment, Milan couldn't remember whether the two had been together before. It was hard to keep track of the guys she teased. But Cal...eh, probably not.

[Aubs]

“Girl, let me tell you-”
“No, let me tell it!”
“But you wasn’t even dere!”
“You don’ already tol’ me the story though, so I wanted to tell Naomi ‘cause I could prolly tell the story better than you can anyway!”
The two girls stopped and silently stared at each other, obviously mind reading in the code only the two of them could understand.

Naomi Sutton stared at her two best friends. She never understood them at all, but she assumed that it was for the best. No one ever wanted to get Sasha and Malia going because once they did, the twins never stopped. It was a given that you never said anything gossip worthy to the two. The moment you did, the whole world knew. “You know what,” Naomi began, stopping in mid-step to end the bickering. “Why don’t the both of you just tell me the story then? How’s that sound?” She pursed her lips together in a slight grimacing motion, while sassily hooking her left hand and arm against her hip.
The twins rolled their eyes and sighed in unison.
“Don’t be actin’ all smug, bitch-” Malia retorted.
“I know, right!? You straight got that front up and shit. I’m like damn, what’s da problem with this bitch?” The twins laughed together, causing Naomi to fold her arms across her chest nonchalantly.

“Just tell the story already,”
“Aiight, so it was like this, I seen Stayshion at Peculiar last night, right?”
You mean we both did?”
“Bitch, we already been through this already. You wasn't there!”
"But you saw her, so in a way I saw her ass too."
"You is dumb. And by dumb, I mean you retarded."
“So?”
"My point, exactly!" Scoffing Sasha continued, “Any-ti-way, so I saw Stayshion at Peculiar last night and you would not guess who she was wit?”
Before Naomi could respond, let alone think up a response, the two girls in front of her answered the question.
“De’Juan!”
Having heard the name said twice, Naomi felt her stomach turn. If there was anyone’s name she hadn’t wanted to hear, say, or even know it was De’Jaun’s. The two had an explosive past almost everyone in the neighborhood knew about. Naomi just wished she could forget about it.

[Aubs]

Andre watched as the man slowly walked away down the street. There was something sketchy with him, but Andre figured he’d leave his head out of shit that didn’t involve him. He was curious to know some more about the man though. Just for mental record. “Who’s that dude, what’s his name?” Andre asked, only to get a quick reply from Ree.
“Tha’s Keagan. He’s 5-0. Nigga don’t do no good.”
“Figured that,” Andre shrugged, turning in the other direction to continue down Josen Avenue.
“Think he better than everyone cause he’s the law. Ain’t never followed a law once in his life.” Ree responded, following close to Andre. The two crossed the street over to Letterman and walked further down the sidewalk.
Nigga's is shiesty whether they wear a badge or not. You can't trust nobody out here. Anybody would be stupid to think that because that dude is the law, that he got their back. You’re basically writing your own will doing so, you know?” Andre glanced across the street at what looked to be some druglords slinging dope. He shook his head. Pitiful. . . He thought, staring directly into their eyes. No one intimidated him, especially not some dumbass who ruined their lives by joining the drug game.
“Let’s go to Carolyne’s,” Ree proposed, as they stopped at another stop sign. “We should talk to Mama about this.”
“There ain’t too much to talk about, but okay.. I need to ask her to hold a few bucks, so I guess the trip won’t be wasteful.”

Andre and Ree walked down a few more blocks when they slowly walked past the loveable Asian prostitute, Chen-Chen. Andre didn’t think anything as he walked past her. They were associates, well maybe not even to that level of acquaintance yet, so he just thought of her as another face in a heavily populated city. She wasn’t anyone he really needed to have known. He didn’t associate much with her kind anyway. No, he had plenty of Asian friends. He didn’t cohere with drug addicted [allegedly, as he didn’t know her to assume anything but it was pretty obvious by looking at her that she was well.. a druggie] prostitutes.

“You know a James Wu?” an abrupt question risen as Chen-Chen approached Andre and Ree.

While Andre would have responded with a, “The hell is that?” he did know James. He knew James too well. At least he did at some point in his life. “I know him, why?” Andre wasn’t going to say anything else. He didn’t know Chen-Chen or even trust her enough to tell nothing. He wasn’t a snitch.

“I hear he live here, or nearby. Don’t know where, but I need to talk to him. . or anybody.”


“He ain't no doctor or anything. But you know, there’s a clinic down the street, for that. It ain’t too far from here.” Andre sarcastically joked, turning toward Ree, knowing she’d either scold him or laugh along with him. While he was hoping for the latter, he was ready for her to jab him in the arm as well.

[Eva]

Ree rolled her eyes at Andre. "Sorry, dumbass here doesn't know shit." she said apologetically. "But I do. He live here. " Ree pulled Andre's sleeve and gave the girl a smile. "Talk to you later, boo." With that, Ree dragged Andre along behind her. "Let's go talk to Dumb and Dumber before we go see Mama. I bet those fools got the munchies, as always."

When they got back to where the boys had been hanging out before, Ree saw her friend and let out a squeal. "Hey boo!" she shouted, spreading her arms wide. Milan sprinted over and gave Ree a hug. "How you doin' sweetie?" Milan asked. "I'm doin' good, I'm livin'. We're bout to go to Carolyne's." Ree replied. Milan nodded. "Me too. My DUMBASS brother almost made me late, but it's- oh, hey baby!" Milan saw Andre behind Ree and immediately turned her attention towards him. "Aren't you gonna give me a hug? Why you gotta be a stranger? I thought we was cool." Milan whined.

[Eva]

In a small, but well-maintained, building, a black old-school phone rang. It sat on a serving counter, near the cash register, where the owner of the establishment, or one of her employees, could easily reach it. Of course, neither of Phylicia 'Mama' Brown's employees were there at the moment, so she shuffled over to it. She was an old girl, not as fast as she used to be, but Mama could handle her own affairs just fine. Still, the restaurant was about to open, and she needed her girls. Mama made it to the phone in time, and put the receiver to her ear. "Who this?" she asked.


On the other line, a woman put her cigarette in an ashtray and cleared her throat. "Mrs. Brown? It's Jessica Stern, from Child Services." The woman was in her thirties, and her voice was evidence of her smoking habit. She had an unflattering hairstyle and didn't wear much makeup, and thus looked less attractive than she probably was. "Ms. Stern, hello, it's nice to hear from you." Mama replied, immediately tense. "How are you?" she asked. "I'm fine, Phylicia, thank you. I was just calling to check on Andre." Ms. Stern replied. "He's doin' great, he's hangin' out with his friends right now." Mama said. "That's great. Listen, I need to have a meeting with him, in private. It's about that time." Ms. Stern said. Mama sighed. "I'll talk to him, Ms. Stern." she said. "Thank you, Phylicia, it's been great talking to you again. Call me back when he gets home and we'll set up an appointment."