New Native Land (The Blossoming)

Chapter 18 (Old School Leisure's)

I was on my way to school, actually on time today not barely making the cut. I turned the corner down this street and I saw Ahm's crew still there. If they didn't change clothes, I'd think that they stayed there all night and all day. I sighed because I saw Ahm there, and I knew I was going to get stopped. I approached the guys and Scrap walked up to me and I stopped and looked at him.

          "Texas! I'm going to walk you to the bus stop, let's go, I gotta talk to you about something important." I looked at him weird but knew better than to protest. "Wait, here I come too." Shad shouted at me and I kept walking. "Wait." All three of us stopped and I turned and saw Ahm motioned for me to come near him. Ahm and I haven't had a full conversation since that night after the football game. Mostly just a hey, or bye and a "How was school? Did you learn something?" He was shocked when I would come back from school and say I didn't learn because I already knew the stuff.

          I walked up to him and he looked at me "Why did you have a bad day yesterday?" He asked me and I replied "It's in the past. It doesn't matter." I answered philosophically. He nodded, "Hope you have a better day." That shocked me a little. I confusingly nodded my head and I turned on my heels. I began walking with two "puppies" following behind me.

          "You got any white girls on yo team with you?" Scrap asked me and I looked at him like he was strange. "Yes." He grinned, "You think they got jungle fever?" Shad pushed him playfully, "Scrap, you a fool man." Chuckling at his foolishness. "I want a white girl; I'm tired of getting yelled at by the sistas." Scrap explained and I scoffed. "Stop doing stuff to get yelled at for." I told him and he shrugged his shoulders.

          "Texas, what is utopian ideologies?" Shad asked me and I looked up to think about how to explain it. "It's just, how humans imagine a perfect world." I simply put and he nodded his head, "That was interesting to you huh?" I nodded. "Man, you smart." Scrap chimed in. I shrugged my shoulders with indifference, "Ahm said you lack common sense and street knowledge though. So you book smart but when it comes to reality you ain't got it all together." Scrap told me and I narrowed my eyes at him.

          "What makes you think I don't have street knowledge?" I asked him curiously. He seemed amused, "You jokin' right? You are too proper and if you tell me back in Houston you ran the streets or sum like that I'm going to laugh." I shook my head, "I didn't run the streets. I didn't have it like that, but I have street knowledge." I explained and he shook his head no. "Ahm has a good sense of character and he can understand a person by how they act in a certain place. If he say you ain't got it, then you probably don't." Shad explained.

          I rolled my eyes, "Ahm isn't the end all be all. He doesn't know everything." I said thinking about the stuff I caused back at home and one of the main reasons I had to move out of the state. "Hey when's your next game?" Scrap asked me and I sighed, "I'm not telling you." I saw the bus approaching. I popped my gum and stood up. "Reagan don't be like that." Scrap plead. "My own family doesn't come to my games, it's not that big of a deal, I barely play anyways." The bus stopped in front of us and I saw the same driver who drives this route every day.

          "Hey Mr. Luke." I greeted the driver. I paid and got on he smiled at me. I heard Scrap and Shad say, "Have a good day Texas." I waved at them and Mr. Luke drove off.

~~~~~~

          "Ladies, tomorrow is the game that determines if we make it into the playoffs or not. Do you want to win?" My coach tried to get us hype "Yeah!" We yelled back and we put our hands in the pile "Lady Jags on three. One, two, three-" "Lady Jags!" We exclaimed and Coach Tillman let us out of practice.

          We walked back to the locker rooms and showered and I put on my lotion and my uniform. "We need to go to the spa." Draya said to me while we walked out the locker room. "Random." I said to her and she sighed "I need my nails done and I need a wax. I wear spandex." She reminded me and I nodded. "You can't neglect that. I am bald all over my body." I bragged and she glared "Yeah, especially on your head!" She mushed my head playfully and I laughed.

          "This is all home grown and real sweetheart." I boasted like I was a big shot and she nodded, "Yes, girl! What are you mixed with anyway?" She asked me and I sighed "A lot of stuff and black." I told her and she chuckled a bit. We looked up and saw Drew standing at the usual spot he meets us in however, today Chuck right next to him. My eyes opened wide and so did Dray's.

          "What do I do?" I asked her. "Let's see if we can walk away before they notice us." Draya suggested but right before we could, both of Drew and Chuck looked up and made eye contact with us. We sighed and said, "Damn." Under our breath. We all began walking towards one another. Finally reaching each other, Drew sighed and said begrudgingly, "Hey." I looked at him, tilted my head and opened my eyes wide, mentally asking him 'What are you doing?' He repeated my movements answering me 'He asked about you and waited for you here.' We both exhaled tiredly because telepathy can wear you out.

          "Hey Dray, hey Reagan." Chuck said and I turned and smiled awkwardly "Hey Chuck." I said as sweetly as I could. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Chuck asked and I looked at Draya who encouraged it. "Well, I might miss the subway..." I said but he wasn't going for it "Just let me have your attention for five minutes is all I ask." He said and I nodded to agree.

          Drew and Draya walked off just a bit and Chuck looked me in my eyes. "What happened? I thought we had something going for us and then Drew said you had a crazy ex-boyfriend coming back into your life." He told me what Drew's excuse was for me not talking to him. I looked down embarrassed "He's not crazy, and he's not exactly an ex." Chuck sighed "So you were going out with him while we were talking?" He asked and I shook my head no.

          "That's not it either. This guy and I, have a weird relationship and he's more comfortable with me not dating anyone to keep his peace." I poorly explained. "Are you in trouble? Is the guy threatening you?" He asked in concern and I wondered that myself. "No, I'm fine. He's not malicious towards me, I just don't want him to do anything to you is all, so I stopped talking to you." I admitted and he looked distressed. "Lemme tell you ma, no man is going to strike fear in my heart. I really don't care who it is, even if it's Ahm." My eyes got wide.

          "He doesn't run all of Crown Heights and he doesn't scare me at all. I just wish you could've told me instead of not talking to me. We could've already handled this." He told me and I felt a sigh of relief but then again I was conflicted because let's be real, I have feelings for Ahm, I really do. So I was really confused on what to do next here.

          "I can handle it Chuck." I smiled at him but he looked uneasy. He got closer to me and he leaned down next to me "Let's forget this ever happened and go back to how we were."