Lifestyle

Prologue

"Mr. and Mrs. Adams I must say, your son is a remarkable young boy."
The couple looked to their 9 year old son. He was playing with an arubjx cube, and was close to figuring out its confusing pattern.
"He makes straight A's and help other students as if he's the teacher." Mrs. Tucker joked.
Mrs. Tucker was a small white woman with light brown hair that was cut into a bob. She looked to be in her 50s and it was her last year teaching. Her last class would be her 4th grade class at Mary B. Austin elementary school.
"Well what do you suggest we do?" Asked Naomi, his mother.
"I suggest you send him to a school for the gifted. There's one in Germany-"
"Germany?!" Both parents exclaimed.
"Yes."
"I'm not sending my baby to Germany! Our life and careers are here in Atlanta."
"I understand, but sometimes you have to consider what's best for your son."
Naomi looked to her husband Trent. "She's right baby." He said.
Naomi didn't like when her husband went against her. "I think you should think it over." Mrs. Tucker said as she slid a brochure to the parents.
"Mommy I'm done!" The young child exclaimed. Naomi looked over to her son Rodney.
"Good job baby!"
Naomi stood, giving the signal that this Parent-Teacher conference was over. Her husband stood next to her and the teacher stood too.
"Hopefully you'll take what I said into consideration."
"We'll think about it." Trent said. "Come on son."
***
"Hey girl!" Nicole said welcoming the Adams into her home.
"Hey Rodney!" Nicole scooped the little boy up in her arms and smothered his face with kisses.
"Mommy let him go! That's my friend." Little Jessica came running and hitting on her legs.
Nicole sat him down. "You're too young for him anyway." Nicole stuck her tongue out at the young child. She was just six years old with the cutest little crush on Rodney.
"Trent you better get your son." Brandon joked as he walked into the room. "Baby girl, Daddy isn't ready for you to have guy friends. They have cooties remember." Nicole playfully hit his chest.
"I can't stop em bruh." Trent said stepping forward. "It runs in the family." The men shared a laugh as they greeted eachother with a hand shake and hug.
Nicole pulled Naomi into the kitchen so they could start cooking. It was usual for the families to have dinner together since they stayed in the same neighborhood. Brandon and Trent went out back to shoot hoops and catch up. Little Jessica ran about to play with her dolls and Rodney went up the steps to the first door on the right where he knew Jamal would be.
Jamal was the same age as Rodney, but only a month younger than him. Rodney and Jamal were two peas in a pod. Blood couldn't make them closer. They were only cousins, but raised and thought of as brothers.
Jamal was focused in on the T.V. and didn't notice his cousin had came into the room. Rodney slipped in next to him and grabbed the extra controller and added himself into the Halo Reach game he was playing.
Jamal looked over at his cousin for a slight second to see who he was. "Wassup Rod." Jamal was too cool. To be such a young dude he was pretty smooth and flirtatious, quite like his father.
"Nothin man. I think I'm going away."
"What?" Jamal had to pause the game and look at his cousin to make sure he was hearing him right. "What do you mean?"
"I heard my parents talking to my teacher about sending me to Germany."
"For what?!"
"School."
"It's school here!"
"School for smart people." Rodney explained. "It's like, for the gifted or somethin like that."
"Man how are they gonna do that too us?! We're about to be in the 5th grade!"
Rodney laughed at his cousin. Jamal is very dramatic. "I know,I know, but I don't know. It sounds like a good school."
"A good school?! Rodney!" Jamal placed his hands on Rodney's shoulders. "We'll be separated!" He said shaking his cousin.
Rodney had to regroup before he could respond. "I'll be back."
"No you won't. They're gonna take you. They're gonna take you like the beast took Belle!" He exclaimed, referring to Beauty and the Beast.
"Jamal, Belle gave herself up to save her father."
"Exactly! And that's what you're doing! You're not fighting it! You gave up like, like the Ninja Turtles against The Shredder!"
"The turtles had no choice but to leave. They're going back though." Rodney made a mental note to watch the new episode that's coming on Sunday morning at 10.
"You're not getting the point." Jamal said while falling back on his bed.
"I get it. I do,I just think I can do really, really good there."
Jamal sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. He sat back down on the floor and faced his cousin. "Since there's no way of gettin you out of this, fine." Rodney smiled at his cousin's approval. "But promise me something."
"Anything."
"You gotta come back. At least spend one last school year with me." Rodney thought it over and nodded his head. "I promise."
The boys locked pinkys and then did their secret handshake.
:
"I'm sorry, Darnell. We just can't keep you."
Darnell looked into the eyes of his 5th foster mother. He had grown to love the woman so much. She was tall and slim. Her hair was jet back and molded into a neat bun. She had brought him to his favorite ice cream shop, Old Dutch.
"But why?" The young child asked. He had recently turned 10. The family threw him a birthday party and all. He thought everything was going great until this.
"Well sweetie, I'm pregnant." She stated. "And it'll be too much to take care of you and the child."
"I'll help you." Darnell pleaded.
"I'm sorry honey. We just can't."
Darnell's eyes started to water. He hated the foster home he was once in. The rooms were crowded, the workers had bad attitudes, and it smelt like piss. He was not lookin forward to going back there. His foster mother pulled him into her chest to hug him. He turned his head and locked eyes with a light skin girl about his age. She was beautiful. For him to think such a thing at this age, most adults would call him fresh, but this girl was truly a beauty to him.
"Come on. Let's go pack your things."
Darnell nodded his head. He looked back at girl as if saying goodbye to the last thing that made him happy. Little did he know, that girl was Essence Bryant.
Essence is the daughter of Joseph and Laura Bryant, two of the best magazine editors in the south. The girl was full of life and personality. She wanted to be a writer like her parents, but not for a magazine. She wanted to be an author of her own book series.
"Here you go sweet pea." Joseph said handing his little princess a cup of Tye dye vanilla ice cream.
"Thank you daddy!" She took the cup and dove right in.
"Slow down!" Joseph laughed. "It's not going anywhere." He patted the little girl on her back and walked to an open table. She followed behind him and got in the seat.
Off too her right was a man. He was tall, wearing all black with a silver chain. His pants sagged and his slugs were silver. The little girl was intrigued by this.
"Daddy, how did he get all that shiny stuff?"
"Uh um." Joseph sighed. He could tell by the man's appearance that he was indeed a drug dealer,but how was he going to tell his 9 year old daughter that?!
"Sweetie, he's a bad guy. And I don't ever wanna see you with those type of boys. Ok?"
"Okay."
"Pinky promise?"
The girl laughed at her dad. She stuck her pinky out to meet his and they locked fingers. "Pinky promise."
Although Essence had made this promise to her dad, she couldn't help but to think about the man she saw. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know his daily routine, what he does in the city, she wanted to know about his lifestyle.