Lysander

6 Years Later

Six years later, I'm 12 years old now. I'm in 6th grade and I attend Ralph J. Bunche Middle School. While I was getting ready for school, I was counting my money from selling lemonades. So far, I only made 80 dollars. My mom open up door to see if I was getting ready. 

"Lysander, what are you doing?" Katherine barged in as I pretend I was praying on my bed.

"You saying your prayers?" Katherine said.

"Praying that god teaches you how to doc." I joked.

"Boy, please, don't you mocked your prayers." Katherine said.

"You don't think Jehovah has a sense of humor?" I asked.

"He must have. If he made you." Katherine laughed.

"Why does grandma start listen to this corny old country music, lately?" I asked.

"Well, I kinda liked this 'corny old country' music. It tells good story. So who been yapping on the phone last night?" Katherine said.

"Janey." I said as my mom rolled her eyes.

"Its perfectly normal for a mother to feel jealous. When her son cares about another female." I said.

"Oh for crying out loud, Ly." Katherine exclaimed.

"Hey, ma." I said.

"What?" Katherine said.

"How much does the garbage man, make?" I asked.

"I think about $28,000 a year, why?" Katherine said.

"No reason, just asking a question." I said as I put my backpack on.

"Would you hurry up. You're gonna make us both late for class." Katherine said.

At school, my math teacher, Mr. Lansky, called me up to solve a math equation. I always act up in his class and cut classes.

"Come on up, Mr. Cawthron." Mr. Lansky called me as I walked up to the chalkboard.

I solved for 7x = 84 and 12 = x and I got the answers right.

"Impressive. You're actually smarter than you look." Mr. Lansky said as the class went "oooh."

"Mr. Lansky. Yesterday you said, I'm gonna grow up and end up like a garbage man." I said.

"That's right. If you keep cutting class. That's exactly what you become." Mr. Lansky said.

So I started to school him.

"Well, I found out that a teacher makes $24,000 a year and a garbage man makes $28,000, a year." I subtracted the year salaries and said, "I'm gonna make $4,000 more than his dumbass." I said as the whole class laughed.

"That's good math, dawg." said a student.

"In-House. Hey! In-House, now!" Mr. Lansky order me to go to In-House.

After school, Janey, my only female friend at school, ask me to meet me behind the school. It was very important.

"Thanks for meeting me up." Janey said.

"You know you got it like that." I said.

"Um.. My parents are making me move to Florida with my grandparents." Janey told me.

"Damn.." I was saddened that my friend was moving away.

"I know, but hey we can still email each other, right?" Janey said.

"Yeah.. so when are you leaving?" I asked.

"First thing in the morning." Janey said.

"Oh man.." I said looking down.

"We'll see each other again soon." Janey said as she planted a kiss on my cheek.

As I was walking home from school, I saw Marcus who is now sixteen years old and driving a Cadillac. 

"Yo, L!" Marcus called out my name.

"Marcus!" I yelled.

"Come in, let me give you a ride." Marcus said as I hop in his Cadillac and took me home.

"Yo, Marcus. Why haven't we seen you around anymore, lately?" I asked him.

"If I tell you, you gotta promise me you don't tell grandma or ya nosey ass momma." Marcus said.

"Cool." I said.

"I'm working as a dope dealer, now in Cascade Heights." Marcus said.

"I didn't you were about that life." I said.

"Yeah, we'll when you from the hood you gotta hustle to make it out." Marcus said.

"I understand, you'll make it out." I said.

"You got a lot of confidence to be a little shorty." Marcus said.

"I get it from Grandma, they say." I said.

"Hey hand me my weed in the glove compartment." Marcus said.

I went to get his weed in the glove compartment and I saw his gun in it. I look at him and he got his weed out and close it back up.

"You know, my momma is with dude right. All he does is hit her and treating her like shit. Even he tries to whoop my ass." Marcus said.

"Why don't y'all just leave him then?" I said.

"Its not like that. She won't leave him. I don't understand what she see's in that nigga. Except for his money. I think that what she loves about him and why she won't leave him." Marcus said.

"Well, mama always said you gotta love yourself, before you start loving others. Maybe she should try that." I said.

"My man." Marcus said as he lit his weed and smoke it.

"You wanna it?" he asked.

"Um.. yeah." I said as I took the weed and smoke it. I coughed heavily on my first hit.

"Yo, yo, yo. Let it out, bro. It's always rough on the first try. You got to inhale it slowly. You gotta keep practicing." Marcus said.

"I'll remember that. Damn." I coughed.

"Oh you might wanna mouth wash that out so you mom won't know." Marcus told me as he pulled me up to grandma house.

"See you around, L." Marcus said.

"See ya." I said as I closed the door.

I walked into the bathroom and put mouth wash in my mouth and swooshing it around my mouth and spit it out. So my mom won't smell the marijuana under my breathe. At night, my mom, Katherine walk into my room in her nightgown and she saw me, rapping along with Tupac with my headphones on and saw my drawing picture of a young man with a black and white mask called, Maxx Misfit. 

"Hey, Ly." Katherine touched my shoulder to get my attention.

"Ma." I said as I took my headphones off.

"Baby, what are you still doing up? Did you have a nightmare?" she asked.

"I couldn't sleep." I said.

"Something bothering you?" Katherine said.

"No... It's just... Janey leaving." I said.

"Oh... It's that's what bothering you." she said.

"Oh, honey. Don't worry. You'll find some knew friends. It'll take sometime. You just gotta be patient." Katherine said.

"I don't know. She was my only friend I had." I said.

"That's a good drawing there. You know you can make a lot of money by drawing and doing art and sell them." Katherine said.

"I can?" I said.

"Honey, you can do anything and you can be somebody. All you got to do is believe in yourself, put your mind into it and you can do anything." Katherine said as I smile.

"Thanks ma." I said.

"Its getting late. Why don't you put this away and go to bed." Katherine said.

"Goodnight, ma." I said as she close the door.