in the ends // jaq

03

I walked through the street market near Summerhouse, on my way over to Lauryn's. The street market was dirty and dangerous, if I'm being honest. It wasn't dangerous for me, but it was still a dirty place to be. It was full of crackheads (or 'zombies'), youngers riding around on scooters and people conducting a side hustle with a stall. The ground was full of cigarette butts, rubbish, old food and shit. Like I said, it was dirty.

I had my hands shoved in my pockets with a plastic bag hanging from my wrist. "Wagwan, Aaliyah?" Someone asked, I turned around and noticed Dushane and Dris stood together. It was Dushane who called at me.

I ignored him and looked over to Dris, "Was good," I said and I could feel Dushane looking at me, his lips were twisted into a smirk.

"What's with the attitude? Won't even say wagwan?" He asked and I continued to ignore him, "Ay, come, lemme chat to you," He said, I looked at him and he motioned to the side. "Walk with me," He said and we began to walk, slowly, down the street.

"What's this about? Got places to be, ya'know," I told him and he chuckled slightly.

He stopped walking and turned to me, "Jaq sorted you out, didn't she?" He asked, looking at the plaster on my face.

"What do you think?" I said, rudely, causing him to chuckle some more.

"Your pissed now, too, innit?" He said and I didn't reply, just kept glaring, "Now you know what happens, right? Tell me fake shit again, you'll have me to deal with, understand?" He said, firmly.

"Yeah, understood," I said, I didn't want to get on the wrong side of this guy. I know I said that Summerhouse stuck together but Dushane wasn't to mess with.

"Good to know," He said, "Are we good?" I was slightly hesitant but I nodded. "Say no more,"

The nerve of Dushane. I respect him and all, I knew he wasn't to mess with and shit but does he always have to claim dominance around here? Whatever.

I ignored that interaction for the rest of the day and went to Lauryn's yard. She wanted to go out again tonight and Shelley was around doing her hair, "Come on, then, spill," I urged Shelley, who had been pretty quiet so far.

"What the fuck, girl? We need some
give-and-take here, ya'know," Lauryn said, "Look, if you want Aaliyah or me to babysit Tish again, you have to give us sumtin'."

"What? I thought you lot liked spendin' time with Tish," Shelley said, confused.

"We do, we do. That girl's our little diva, man." I replied,"But, look,  we are entitled to some gossip, ya'know,"

"There is no gossip, Liyah, his mum was in a hospital bed literally three feet away," Shelley said and I sighed. Her and Dushane had been getting closer recently and she wasn't giving us no tea or nothing. "I mean, we talked, but... Actually, I talked, he wasn't really saying much to be honest,"

"Do you actually like him?" Lauryn asked her.

Shelley stayed quiet for a second, "Well, he's a good-looking man," She said and took another pause, "And he's a man, you know, not a boy." She paused again, "He's kind."

"Kind?" I double-checked to see if I heard that right.

"Yeah," Shelley said.