In the middle of it all

May 7th '54

It was May 7 22'54. Aneesa, Asad, Quann and I were 12, well only Quann, our birthdays were coming up and were close to finishing Grade 6. Finishing Grade 6 meant only two more years until highschool* !

*The schools in Naire go from daycare to Grade 4 (primary-elementary), Grade 5 to Grade 8 (middle school) and Grade 9 to Grade 12 (highschool). Yet in the Southern part of Naire, there were only two schools both going from daycare to Grade 12. It was a large building with four departments. Department 1: South Naire Primary (S.N.P). Department 2: South Naire Elementary School (S.N.E.S). Department 3: Naire Middle School South (N.M.S.S). Department 4: Naire Graduate Secondary High (N.G.S.H).

"Where are Baby Iz, Tyrell and Nate ?" asks JJ. She came to pick us up but we told her that Blu came before her and picked them off. "Damn, I took the van for nothing then..." She states. Quann shrugs and Aneesa gives her a sympathetic smile. Jessie takes out her phone from her pocket and puts it against her ear.

"Who're you calling ?" I ask, trying to take a peek at the screen.

"Jordan. I'll tell him to come here with Sha." She says. We climb into the car and wait for them to arrive. Tanisha and Jordan arrive together 5 minutes later.

"You're driving us to the crib ?" asks Tanisha as she enters the car. Jordan and her sit in the far back of the vehicle.

"I had other plans before that, to be honest.." says JJ. We drove for 30 minutes before she stopped the car. She got off and naturally we followed. I looked around but I was unable to pinpoint our whereabouts yet somehow it felt familiar.

"Welcome to the West side y'all." announced Jessie.

"Why are we here ?" asked Quann.

"Y'all haven't been out of the south side, so I thought I'd give y'all a tour." explains Jessie while walking in front of us.

"We've been around here before..." avowed Aneesa.

"Yeah, our grandmother lives around here-" continued Asad. Walking next to them I noticed that we were around the same height: Asad is 164 cm (5'4ft), Jordan, 1,65m (5'5),Quannell, 161cm (5'3ft), Aneesa, 162cm (5'4) and me being 1,63m (5'4ft). JJ and Tanisha were 169 cm and 170 cm (5'7ft) tall.

"What's a Rox doing here ?" interrupts Tanisha, putting her arms in front of Asad and I as she glares at the people walking in our direction.

"What's a Rox ?" asks Quannell.

"The gang that rules the North side. They're despicable. They ruin whatever, whenever it pleases them." informed Aneesa in a serious tone. Her eyes were fixated on the two people walking towards us.

"How you know about them ?" wondered Jordan.

"What..." utters Quann. I observe him as he takes a few stumbling steps forward.

"What are you doing, Quann ? Don't get close to them." advised Tanisha. My head turns in the direction Quann was headed and I instantly freeze. Jessie walks up to one of the people and tightly hugs her.

"This is my friend Alpha." she explains, letting go of the woman. My eyes were still glued to the person next to her, so I couldn't pay attention to her appearance. The person on Alpha's left was a girl. A younger black girl. She had round hazel eyes, medium soft angled high arched brows and a heavy lower lip. She was about 5'7ft ( 1,70m) and she was wearing waist-length brown passion twists.

"And I brought my friend." says Alpha referring to the girl beside her. "I think you'll like her, Jordan. Her name is.."

"Renee." uttered Quannell. His face lit up. He took more steps towards her.

"Riri..." Corrected Alpha.

"Renee..." said Jordan. He murmured it but it was loud enough for Tanisha to hear it. She turned her head towards him. The corner of her mouth turned downward. She then glanced back at Alpha.

"Renee..." repeated Jordan. "Isn't she the girl who left the orphanage with you two ?" All eyes turn to Renee. 

"I heard y'all had a search party for me... Do you know how hard my life became ?" Joked Renee. Without much thought, Quannell and I ran into her arms.

"Careful, you two, I almost fell." laughs Renee. She wraps us both in her arms. I let go of her to get a good look at her appearance. Compared to her, I was still shorter by 8cm (3inches).

"Is it really you ?" I ask, still shocked to see her after over 2 years apart.

"Yes, Belladonna. It's really me..." she replied with a warm smile. Quannell was still attached to her and he didn't seem to want to let go anytime soon. "You alright, Keshawn ?" she then asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"I..I thought..." Quann began to speak. He didn't need to finish his sentence because we all knew what he was tryna say.

"I'm here now. Wow you two may have grown taller but y'all still be acting like lil' kids." She commented. We walked back to the others.

"So this is Renee y'all told us about ?" guessed Tanisha.

"Yeah . I suppose Bella already told you how she dragged Keshawn and I out of the orphanage." joked Renee while rolling her eyes.

"Who's Bella ?" asked Aneesa.

"Who's Keshawn ?" asked Asad.

Renee looked at them then shifted her eyes on us perplexed. " Keshawn ? Belladonna ? Ain't that y'alls name ?" she asked.

"They don't go by those names no more." pointed out Sha. Quann elaborated on the situation to her. After greeting JJ and the rest of our crew, Renee took us aside to talk.

"Y'all joined the Silvers Gang..." She began to talk in a more serene tone. I took a glimpse at Quann to see if he picked up on the difference in atmosphere. "I'm glad to know that you two were safe during our years apart." She paused.

Please don't say it Renee.

"But- Now that we're together we don't have to be separated once again. We from different gangs, I know, but it don't have to continue that way." admitted Renee.

"I don't know..." I lie.

They took care of us, helped us find you. We can't abandon them like this. We actually feel at home with them.

"We're pretty comfortable where we're at." I add jokingly. I wait for Quann's answer to back me up.

"How's the Rox's gang like ?" he asked.

"They're like the family I never had. I learned so much from them, they're amazing." Renee's face brightens up as she explains.

Don't make me lose you too, Quann.

"I can't Ri, I'm sorry." I say. "The Silvers are also like family to me, I can't let them go so easily."

"I understand. What about you, Shawn ?"

I nervously stare at him, hoping that he'll answer like me.