Rashard Freeman Teenage Entrepreneur (Chapter #1)

Chapter #1 - The pen is mightier than the car wash

Chapter 1 -

"It's not that serious!" wailed the young lady wearing the indigo blue and white cheerleader outfit. She stood with her arms folded underneath a decal of a small brown bird at the top of her uniform and stared at the young man that appeared to be around her same age.

"No, Jaymesha, you don't understand. It is that serious! They shouldn't be able to do this to y'all even if it is for the 'team,'" he said, making air quotes with his hands at the word "team."

Jaymesha sighed a deep sigh of exasperation and stared in his direction. After several seconds of deliberation, she began shaking her head in the direction of her opponent.

"What?" her onlooker replied with a chuckle.

"The most," she murmured.

"Excuse me?! I can't hear you," he said, leaning in her direction.

"The..." She began with cocking her head and widening her eyes. She finished by overenunciating, "...Mooost! You and your cousin Yout! Both of y'all do the most!"

"Ohhh, I guess by 'most' you mean we are the most likely to succeed! Most imitated but never duplicated! Most likely to get a couple of them ol' Nobel prizes! Maybe a MacArthur or two before we turn twenty-five!" he said as his smile radiated as bright as the beaming sun that shone on their glistening foreheads.

"See, see, see!" he pointed at him with assurance. "You are doing it right now! You can't help it! Rashard, you are doing the most!" Her kinky locked hair bounced in step with her reply.

"Eh, I guess." Rashard shrugged as he held onto the handlebars of his custom bicycle. The handlebars had a small handcrafted cylindrical sign which read R.F.O. in the middle. The two were at the edge of the driveway of a Tudor-style house located on a suburban street near the business district. The house was constructed out of multilayered bricks and on the mahogany front door were the gold-encrusted numbers 1730. Near them was the street sign that read Township Plan Way.

"Well, if I'm doing the most then what is she doing?" he said as he used his head to point in the direction of another cheerleader that was several paces away from the conversation.

The cheerleader was directing three other cheer mates who seemed to be following her every move. They overheard the cheerleader instructing her followers to "Jump, jump, step back, back. Jump, jump, step back, back!" she conducted as she held out her phone to record herself dancing for the screen on her camera phone.

One of her copycats said, "What dance is this again, Hamartia? I have done all of the TikTok challenges and I have never heard of this one."

"You have never heard of it because I just made it up!" reassured the group's leader. She continued, "It's called the 'Hamartia Hop.' Now keep up!"

Rashard raised his eyebrow, looked back in the direction of Jaymesha, and spoke to her by talking out of the side of his mouth. "The Hamartia Hop?! I have never been one to lack confidence but wow. Interesting naming a dance after yourself. What do you think it's like to have the confidence of a Legacy Twin?" Rashard said, loud enough for Jaymesha to hear but not loud enough to disrupt the street corner choreography.

"Well, she is kind of popular and she is definitely one of a kind," Jaymesha responded with a shrug. "And don't even try to change the subject, Ray-shard!" she said, stretching out his name. "I asked you for something really simple. Our team is trying to be a travel team this year. In order to do that, we have to raise money..."

"I am all for that," he interjected. "I just think they are taking advantage of y'all."

"It's not that serious!"