white-passing- jamal turner

twelve (end of s1)

"You might wanna wait outside," Jamal said, "This could get ugly."

Jamal and I were at the hospital because he wanted to give Chivo a piece of his mind, so like a good friend, I went for moral support. Yes, friend. I wasn't even sure if we should have a what are we talk given the circumstances, but I hadn't been able to get that kiss out of my mind. 

We went back to Jamal's place where he put Lil Ricky's record on, and we brainstormed. I thought he'd given up on it, but something about that visit made him want to try one last time. 

"I got nothing," I said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Jamal said, kissing me on the cheek.

"Wait," I said, "So, about last night, and the kiss, and what Monse said-

Jamal waved his hand at me, "Can't talk, I'm- wait. WAIT!"

"What?" I said.

"AJ, these are nursery rhymes!!" he said, "The hospital! We need to go back!"

"Why?!"

"Because of the nursery rhyme!" Jamal said, "I dumped it in the trash, and I need to see it in front of me."

"Or- I could just write it down?" I said.

"You remember it?"

I scoffed, "Jamal, anyone can remember it."

I pulled out one of his notebooks and a pen.

"Ring around the Rosie. Pocket full of posies. Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down!"

"Rosie," he said, "Rosé!"

He continued to whisper and pace around the room until he looked at me.

"AJ! This rhyme is the map!" he said, "Ring-a-round the Rosie is Frankie. Because Rosé and the class ring! Pocket full of posies is Lil Ricky, and ashes to ashes is Benito."

"Benito?"

"Long story," he said, "But this was a way for them and only them to decode where the money was buried. So, the last line is the jackpot. It's where the money was buried."

"We all fall down?" I said, thinking about it until, "WAIT!! All fall down!!"

"I don't get it," Jamal said, grabbing the football on his dresser.

I grabbed it from him, "We all fall down?!"

His eyes widened as he realized. 

_____________________________________________________________

We waited until the night to go to the football field, and then, we started digging. An hour later, we were covered in dirt, and my arms were starting to hurt from how much I'd been digging. 

"WHERE THE HELL IS IT?!" I yelled as Jamal turned around.

"AJ," he said quietly.

"What?"

"Don't kill me."

I lowered my eyes, "It's on the other side, isn't it?"

"MMMHMMMMM."

"OF COURSE!" I yelled, "Because why in the hell would it have been this easy?!"

We went to the other side and continued digging, only to hit a dead end there. And then, Jamal's shovel broke, and so did mine. Jamal started laughing hysterically, and I just sat there in silence as tears rolled down my face. 

Jamal continued having a breakdown while I sat there, trying to recollect whatever sanity I had. As Jamal yelled at Lil Ricky and announced he was giving up, I looked down at my hands and back at the pile. I did what I least wanted to do, but I knew I had to. I started digging with my hands. 

"AJ, let's go," he said, turning around,  "AJ?"

I didn't answer him. I just kept digging like my life depended on it.

Jamal walked over to me and looked down at me, "You're really doing this?"

I continued to not answer him, and then after a few seconds of anticipation, Jamal joined me and we dug with our bare hands.

And then, after what felt like years, we found something. We continued digging, and there was a bag. A bag filled with real money.

I screamed like a little girl. 

"WE DID IT!" I said, "HOLY SHIT!"

I hugged Jamal as tightly as I could and kissed him. All that hard work. It finally paid off.

With that, Jamal grabbed the bag, and we biked home. We ran into an ambulance on the way back too, and I wondered who it was for. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jamal," I said, biking home, "I gotta wash all this off."

"See ya!" he said, "And thank you!!"

I locked my bike out front and went inside. The house was empty as expected, so I took a shower and changed into my PJs. After I got changed, I heard the front door open, meaning my family was back from the Quince.

"Hey! How was the party?" I said,  "Sorry, I couldn't make-

I stopped talking when I saw my mom and sister crying.

"Que paso?" I said.

"Mija," my dad said, "Sit down. We have some very bad news."