A New Block

Back to School

Monse's POV:
I kiss Mateo's forehead before I tip toe out of Cesar's room. "Are you sure you can watch him until I get home from my internship?" I ask Oscar for the hundredth time. "I have a kid, I can handle him." Oscar laughs. "Call me if anything happens... text me every couple of hours just so I know he's ok." I tell him as I walk out the door. I've never felt so guilty in my life. My poor baby is going to spend the day with his gang member uncle. "Should we really be doing this? I'm sure Ruby's mom could watch him." I tell Cesar before I get into his car. "She said she could take him Thursday and Friday but Oscar can handle the rest." Cesar says calmly. "Ok... it'll be fine right?" I ask him as I sit down. "Of course it will. Besides I offered to drop out and you said no." He laughs. "Baby, I swear if you even joke about dropping out!" I say seriously and he keeps laughing. "Just drive." I roll my eyes. "Is Jamal still coming today?" Cesar asks. "Yeah, he's just been busy at work and with that girl he's always with." We haven't seen Jamal since after Eva died and he's been pretty distant. "I'm sure everything's fine. Jamal's grown he wouldn't fuck up his chance to go to NYU in December." Cesar squeezes my thigh and I take a deep breath and calm down. "I know." I nod. We park and I have to force myself out of the car. "One more year." He whispers. Cesar grabs my hand and we go meet up with Ruby and Jasmine. "You ready for this bull shit?" Jasmine asks. "No but this one's forcing me." Cesar raises his eyebrows at me. "Jamal?" I say when I look to my right and see him with his arms rapped around a girl who's obviously a prophet. "So this is why you disappeared?" I walk away from Cesar and ask Jamal. "You must be Monse." She smiles. "What? You really think I went five minutes without talking about you guys?" Jamal asks after I look at them, confused. "All of you." He looks back at Cesar, Ruby and Jasmine while they watch from a distance. "This is Aden, she helped take my mind off everything." He explains. "What, did she fuck Eva out of your memory?" I ask him with my arms crossed. "Wow she really is over protective. We started dating like two weeks ago and it isn't really a thing." She shrugs. "Yeah, since I'm leaving soon we've decided to keep it casual." Jamal adds. "Casually wrapping your arms around her in front of the school?" I ask. "Doesn't matter who sees as long as we know." She shrugs. "Is this really how you want to spend- Is that a tattoo?!" I scream when I look back at Jamal. "We took a short trip to Vegas and I got Eva's birthday on my arm." He shrugs. I want to be mad but that's sweet. "Monse, I swear nothing's changed. I just need to figure myself out and trust me I'm more than ready to pack up and leave." He assures me. The bell rings before I can keep grilling him and Cesar pulls me into the school. "Trust him." He tells me before he walks into his first period. "Hi Ms. James!" I give my freshman English teacher a hug. "Finally they gave me a TA that I like!" She laughs. "I've never assisted a teacher before but I'm sure I'll figure it out." I laugh. "Don't worry as long as you make one freshman cry you're doing a good job." She says before turning to a basically empty class. "It's the first day, they never know where they're going. Only the smart one's can figure out." She shrugs. "Ok everyone, obviously since you were smart enough to get here on time you will be my favorites! This is Monse, you should kiss the ground she walks on because she will be grading all of your work... make sure she likes you." Ms. James doesn't hesitate to make an impression. Throughout the rest of the period students start to fill the seats. Oscar sends me constant pictures of Mateo and they both seem happy. Next thing I know the bell rings. I have to stay behind and help get ready for the next class. "So how's that adorable baby of yours?" She asks. "He's good, he never stops talking." I smile while I pick up scrap paper off the ground. "Yeah my son just turned four so I remember that stage well." She laughs. Sometimes I forget most people with kids around Mateo's age are way older than me. "Listen Monse, do not let having a kid slow you down. I may have put in a good word for you with a few people from UCLA and... well they're interested." Ms. James says.  "Interested in what?" I ask her. "You! You're writing." She says excitedly. "Thanks but I have to figure it out with my boyfriend." I tell her when I throw my bag over my shoulder. "Piece of advice, Cesar isn't good for you." She says bluntly. "That does not sound like advice." I shrug. "If you want to be successful, leave him." She says seriously. "I'll have to think about that." I say before I leave.
*** 5th period ***
Cesar's POV:
We have a free study period and I make Ruby and Jamal meet me in the library. "Listen I gotta make this quick because we all know Jasmine can't keep a secret." I tell them and Ruby nods quickly. I pull a ring out of my pocket. "Are you going to propose?!" Jamal screams. "Shut up!" Ruby hisses. "Yeah, we've been together for a while and we have a kid, why not?" I shrug. "You do not go into a marriage because 'why not'!" Jamal says. I look over to the library doors and see Monse walk in. "That's the only reason I need to go into any of this." I smile at her.