white-passing- jamal turner

one

We ran to Ruby's house as fast as we could after someone pulled a gun at a party. No, we weren't exactly at the party, more like peering over the wall waiting for Cesar to get us beers while we watched everyone. My older sister, Izabel, was there, so I had to make sure she didn't see me or she'd kill me and tell our parents. My sister and Cesar's older brother, Spooky, were kind of a thing too. They didn't really date, though. They just fucked on and off. 

While Monse sat down on the couch, the rest of us watched through the window as Ruby's brother, Mario, was getting yelled at by his girl, Angelica. Angelica was my sister's really good friend, so I always saw her. She was practically family. 

"Angelica's pissed!" Jamal said.

"She's always pissed," Ruby said.

"You would be too if you had a dangler," Jamal said.

"Shut up!" I said, smacking Jamal's head, which made Cesar laugh, "Oh, shit. Mario's crying."

"My brother doesn't cry."

"Is that not crying?" I said, watching as Mario wiped his eyes. 

We continued to watch from the window until Mario walked toward the house, and we all ran toward the couch.

"Were you guys spying on me?"

We all shook our heads except for Jamal, but Ruby and I elbowed him. Mario started crying again.

"You ok, homie?"

"Yes," he said, "No. I don't know! Look at you. On the verge of high school! All the excitement. All the firsts. First parties, first football games, first love. Want me to drop some knowledge?"

I did not want to hear Mario yap on and on and on, but he did. 

"High school is the foundation for the rest of your life," he said, "Any false starts could lead to your own dead end. Now sure, you guys are smart, setting curves and all that, but you still have to go hard because there's only one chance at a first impression."

Blah blah blah, getting your heart broken, blah blah blah.

"Don't go into high school without backup," Mario said, "You guys need to stick together to survive. Got it?"

We nodded slowly.

"I'm going to college, Mofos! WOO! Now kiss my class ring!"

Ruby slowly bent over and kissed Mario's knuckle. As he walked away, we all started speaking at once about how crazy Mario was. There's no way he wasn't high as a kite. 

"Oh, damn. I almost forgot," Mario said, coming back, "One last thing. Don't bone Monse or AJ."

We all started laughing like hyenas. The idea of me having sex with ANY of the guys was hilarious to me.

Ten Weeks Later

Summer had come to a close, and so much had changed. For starters, my sister took me to get a belly button piercing and highlights. The piercing didn't hurt, but the healing sucked. Second, Ruby, Jamal, and I dumped Cesar. 

I don't care what you meant or what you were trying to prove to us, saying that you "Smashed Monse like really hard" is disgusting, and he wouldn't even take it back either. Monse was still at writing camp when he said it, and she wouldn't be back for another couple of weeks.

Mario was about to move away to college which means Ruby finally got his own room. Izabel wasn't going to college, though. She had no desire to go and my parents weren't going to spend their life savings on beauty school. She'd been doing people's hair, nails, and makeup for years, and even pierced a few of her friend's ears, so it's not like going to school would help her that much anyway.