The Mob Boss's Son (Revised)

1. Kenzie

Sixteen year old Kenzie Clearwater sat in her Literature class eagerly listening to Mrs Goody read a poem from Lyrics of Lowly Life by Paul Dunbar. This was apart of the Negro History Week awareness, a movement that was taking the black community by storm. Kenzie loved reading poems and literature of the present society, especially from authors of her own skin color. She dreamed that she too would publish beautiful pieces of work that would have the same effects on the young as Paul Dunbar and every other talented black writer did with their poems and mesmerizing writing.

Kenzie was in her final year at Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Academy. The first black Senior High School of its kind on the coast of California. It was a very prestigious private school, designed to give black youths the same opportunity for a proper education as everyone else. And in just six months she will be on her way to college.

Mrs Goody continued to read,

"'....A crust and a corner that love makes precious,

With a smile to warm and the tears to refresh us;

And joy seems sweeter when cares come after,

And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;

And that is life!'"

Mrs Goody finished the poem and closed the book.

Hearing the deep echo of the pages meeting each other made Kenzie feel very sad as well as the other 15 students in her class. The class let out a small groan, they were enjoying it as much as she was.

"Not to worry ladies," Mrs Goody began soothingly. She was putting the poetry book away in a bookcase. "We will continue our poetic readings on Monday. And don't forget your own poems are due at the beginning of class."

Once the bell sounded Kenzie gathered her books and left the class before everyone else. She was surprised to find the hallways crowded so quickly. All the girls were excited to get home and enjoy the weekend. Kenzie couldn't blame them, The Los Angeles spring weather was always perfect. It was even perfect enough to spend time at the beach with her friends. She broke into a smile thinking about her friends.

Kenzie had been friends with Gladys and Loretta since she was seven years old. She had always been a shy child, so when she went from being homeschooled to actually attending school, she didn't have a single friend. One day in class Gladys asked Kenzie if she wanted to play with them at recess and they had been inseparable ever since. They always had every class together until three years ago when one of Kenzie's middle school teachers suggested she be skipped ahead a grade because of her academic advancements. Kenzie was nervous of starting High School without her best friends. After All, they did pretty much everything together. But they were so happy for her and admitted to slight envy, but nothing too serious.

Kenzie laughed to herself thinking about Gladys's lecture/prep of how to blend in with the older students. Even though she herself never stepped foot on a high school campus at the time. Now they were almost professionals at campus life. Loretta, smart in her own way, was on the student union. Kenzie played tennis for the school. And Gladys, well, she was rather trendy.

Though the students had to wear uniforms and had a very strict dress code, Gladys always found a way to bend the rules a bit. Full figured and bold, she was the first to cut off all her hair in a similar style worn by Gladys's favorite entertainer, Josephine Baker. Once she cut two inches from the bottom of her uniform skirt exposing her ankles, she wasn't even on campus for 10 minutes before the Headmistress marched up to her with pure anger on her face. Gladys received a week of detention where she had to write lines for an hour straight. But Kenzies friend was not bothered by it. Gladys would always say. "Why can't a woman show a little skin? It's not like we still live in a time of Slavery."