Magic

Chapter 1

I was in the 4th grade when my mama moved us to Atlanta. Her and my dad were together for a long time but decided to call it quits the summer before I started the 4th grade. My grandma called it growing pain; she said they been together since they was kids, but they ain't kids no more, and the people they are now are too different to be happy together. They were never married or nothin', so when they split, my mom packed up me and my sister and moved us clear to the other side of the country to be close to my aunt and my cousins, and when I say close, I do mean close. She bought a house two doors down from my aunty Kathrine and my cousins Jamira and Cameron.

Honestly, I don't know why my mama did it cause she don't even like Aunt Kat. Hell, nobody likes aunt Kat. She always leaves Jam and Cam alone in the house to go out on dates and take trips with old rich men she meets on the computer. One time she almost went to jail cause her neighbor, old miss Haddie, called the cops saying they were in the house alone, and my mama had to fly out here to come and get them so they wouldn't get taken away. When I asked my mama about it, she said that's why we came. My cousins were getting older and needed to be raised by somebody who gave a damn and not a parent that's only around sometimes.

As far as my cousins go, I don't really like them either, but they're family, so I'm stuck with them. Jam and Cam are twins, the only ones in our whole family, and they think that makes them so special. Jamira is the older one, but she doesn't like to act like it at all. She's loud and whines about everything, and she's always walking around with her thumb in her mouth like it's cute or somethin'. My grandma said one time that Jam caught her mama's ffliction for sucking on things; I don't know what that means, but she was telling it to her friend Miss Gina, so I don't think that I was supposed to hear that anyways. Cameron is the opposite of his sister. He acts like he's the older one. He's always looking out for everybody and making sure we don't get in trouble and that nobody messes with us. When their mama used to leave them by they selves, he would make sure that they ate and that they went to school when they were supposed to. Everybody says he got an old soul because he cared for them like he knew what he was doing.

After we moved, they stayed at our house because Aunt Kat was still out doing the same thing she was doing before. My mom said she's a good example of a person who shouldn't be allowed to have kids, but she'd never say that to her face cause aunt Kat likes to fight and would try to fight if mama said that to her. She liked to fight for all kinds of stuff, but when it came to the twins, she didn't fight. My mama asked her for them, and she gave them up without much fight. My mama moved them into the spare bedroom at our house. It didn't take long for us to settle into living that way. It was kind of like my mama had four kids instead of two; we played together, went to school together, all slept in the same room, and we made sure that we always had each other's back.

I don't know why trouble always followed me, but I always kept to myself. I minded my own business, but every time I went outside, I found my way into a mess I had no part in.

"Why are you here!?"

At first, I ignored the question. I was at the park, and last I checked, the park was public and free, so whoever wanted to play there could do that. I rolled my eyes and went on about what I was doing. I had basketball tryouts in two weeks and everything had to be perfect. I asked my daddy, and he said that if I made the team, he would come out and watch me play in one of my games, so I had to make sure I did well and made the team.

I dribbled my ball to the free-throw line and got ready to take my shot. I dribbled twice, planted my feet, and threw the ball up, but as soon as it left my hand, it was smacked out of the air and flew into the grass.

"Man, What's your problem!?"I turned around, and when I did, I got the answer to my question before he even opened his mouth to speak. Standing right behind me was what had to be the biggest bully in the entire neighborhood. He claimed that this was 'his hood' and he 'ran things' just like his older cousins ran the older kids. He thought he was tough cause outta everyone our age, he was bigger, but that didn't scare me at all.