Bullets In A Cold Winter Breeze

Chapter Nine Valedictorian Speech

**Trent POV** 05/26/2006 (Friday, 5:38 P.M, CTZ)

"Oooooo! Haaaaa! Yep! My lil schola baby done graduated! You did it just like I knew you would, yes Lawd!" Ms. Baker gushes. Tears of mixed emotion pave the way for new ones as Ms. Baker finally lets go of the overbearing grasp she's had on her daughter for the last two minutes. "I'm soooooo proud of youuuu!" She continues, finally letting her daughter get a breath of air that doesn't smell of medium-priced perfume.

Per usual, when she's around big crowds or men she's shooting her shot at, Ms. Baker allows every letter to pop louder than the last one. Which allows her to display the eight-ball tongue ring that all the men she sees love. The fact that at her age, she hasn't grown up enough to take that out of her mouth just doesn't sit right with me. Her daughter just graduated, and here she is, being extra as hell.

Maybe it's hard for me to accept these things because I'm not a Chicago native. Cause all these other niggas act like that shit is the most lovely sight on earth. Meanwhile, the blood of Johnson County, Kansas City in me is thoroughly appalled with her. Nonetheless, I say nothing. I should be used to it all by now.

"Thanks, mom," Melanie chirps, attempting to move out of the way for the other parents, ready to intercept their children and take pictures. However, AJ and I are here, and since we're in the middle of the doorway, no one says a thing to us. They all find a completely different way out of the auditorium. Most of them are smart enough to know if we're out in the open like this, we've secured all of our bases as far as security goes.

Despite nearly everyone here being killers of some sort, none are in the position we're in to get away and have an entire family murdered within the hour. It's one of the only reasons I'm halfway okay with being around this many people. I know we've got our best shooters mingled in the crowd as well as acting as snipers.

"Congratulations, Melanie!" AJ and Michelle coo in unison. Like Ms. Baker, they quickly swallow her up in a group bear hug. Nonetheless, unlike Melanie's mother, AJ and Michelle promptly let Melanie go.

"Thank you all for coming," Melanie sings with one of the brightest smiles I've seen from her in a few weeks. However, since the dark brown headlights she exhibits don't meet the same shine, the look betrays her. Nonetheless, Melanie is a great performer when she wants to be. It seems I'm the only one who can tell the smile is only half genuine. The other half harbors her pinned-up anger with me.

"It's not a problem! Wouldn't have missed it for the world!" The adults affirm, finally walking away from the doorway and plunging through the mob of happy families. I envy them. Real smiles, genuine excitement, and happy families. All the things it seems Melanie and I are struggling to have in our relationship.

"Where's Nae-Nae and your grandma, Trent? Nae looked so beautiful in her dress!" Ms. Baker cheers, flipping her head around to see if she can spot either of the two from the emerging crowd. Thankfully I can't see them. I've purposely avoided them since the day I got kicked out of the house. Ms. Baker knows this, and the fact that she's got the nerve to ask me makes no sense.

"Don't know," I explain without any effort in not sounding dry. If this ghetto mothafucka really wanted to track them down, she wouldn't have asked me. She'd have just hollered out for her.

"You ain't gon tell yo cousin congratulations? Even though you missed Russ's annual birthday candlelight? You ain't gon at least apologize for not making it?"

If AJ wasn't right here, I'd say, I know yo nose big but get that shit out my business. However, I respect the man enough to not make a fool of myself. "No."