Black to the Past

Chapter 1

On Compton Road, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, two weeks before February 1, kids all over the city were getting ready for school. Wilson woke up to the blaring alarm of the iPhone X he'd gotten for Christmas. He'd wanted the XMax but his parents told him to be happy with what he'd gotten since it was an upgrade to the 6 Plus he'd been previously carrying. They couldn't ever just keep him outfitted in the current model, he thought to himself, he always had to be a model behind!

Rolling out of the queen-size sleigh bed his parents had handed down to him when they'd upgraded to a king, he sat on the side of the bed, feet planted to the floor. At 6'2" and over 200lbs Wilson was not a small sixteen year old. He was growing so fast that his mother threatened him weekly he would have to get a job soon just to buy his own pants if he didn't stop growing taller and gaining weight. I can't help it, Wilson complained to her just as often, I'm hungry all the time! Wilson thought of how his stomach was already rumbling and wondered if he'd have enough time to eat. He hoped someone had made breakfast because if they hadn't, he'd be stuck with a Belvita which his mother seemed to think gave him four hours of energy! More like four minutes, he grumbled to himself under his breath.

Wilson cocked his ear, why do I hear water running? If my little brat of a sister is in the bathroom before me again I'll throttle her, he thought. Standing up and crossing his room, trying to avoid tripping over the chair to his desk which was holding his clothes from yesterday, he opened his door. Sure enough, the bathroom door was partly closed, water was running and his eight-year old bratty sister was splashing water pretending to brush her teeth while she took selfies in the mirror.

"Why can't you ever close the door?" he asked her disgustedly.

She never closed the door not in all of her eight years of life. "Ma! She's getting too old not to close the door," Wilson yelled as he made his way up the four stairs leading to his parent's suite.

"Winnie, close the door," her mother yelled.

"I can't, I'm scared," Winnie whined. She pouted in the mirror as she took another selfie.

"And she's in there taking selfies! I've gotta get ready for school. Why is she even in there before me?"

"Because she woke up before you did," his mother calmly explained. Although he was yelling at her first thing in the morning she tried, hard, not to yell back. It was terrible having to be punished or disciplined before school and she tried not to but dealing with a sixteen year old boy wasn't making that easy. "You need to shower," she told him matter-of-factly smelling his teenage body from her bed although he was still standing in her doorway.

"I don't have time, now," he said grumpily, which was the only way he communicated recently.

"Make time. Grab your things and use my bathroom. I'll get her out of there before you need to brush your teeth," she advised him.

"My things are in my bathroom," he told her sarcastically as he walked back to his room.

Rolling her eyes, Mrs. Bullock shook her head and decided to let the sarcasm slide, "just bring your underwear and robe, Wil. You can use our soaps and towels." Anything to get you smelling decent again, she said under her breath.

Already up and dressed for the day, Brenda headed to the kids shared bathroom. Since the door was cracked she peeked in and saw just what Wilson was talking about. Winnie was taking selfies with her iPod.

"Winnie?"

Winnie jumped at the sound of her mother's voice so close to her. She knew she was in trouble. The iPod wasn't supposed to be in the bathroom. "Sorry, mom. I promise it won't happen again," Winnie said with her 'I know I'm guilty but forgive me because I'm cute,' voice.