New Beginnings

Angel surveyed the apartment that he and Sophie were renting from Jerry. It was spacious and he knew that his brother could get a lot more money for it than he was charging them. He had quickly signed the lease before he could change his mind.

Angel had returned to Philadelphia to get his things there. He had been living with a friend and his stuff was in storage…the little stuff he had. He had to admit that moving in with Sophie was an improvement in his living conditions. His mother was right. He needed to settle down. He wasn't a teenager any more.

Even though he had been a hustler most of his life, his mother had forced him to learn a trade and he had to admit that it did come in handy when he was short of money. Construction work was hard, but the money was good. He would do it for a while, just until he could get on his feet. He had even worked hard for his electrician's license. The pay was good and the work was hard. That was the problem, Angel didn't really like hard work, but he did what he had to do. It was just that hustling was so much more easy...and fun!

Sophie had already moved most of her stuff into the apartment by the time he got back and he now was trying to figure out where he was going to put the things he had brought back from Philly. He rented a small U-Haul truck and drove it back to the apartment with his things.

He found Theresa in the apartment helping when he arrived and asked her and Sophie to help him unload his few belongings which were mostly his clothes.

"Hey Theresa" Angel said setting down his things. She was unusually quiet which he picked up on immediately.

"Hi" she replied not looking up. Angel knew immediately something was wrong and looked over at Sophie who shrugged her shoulders at his questioning gaze. She then went upstairs to their bedroom leaving him with the moody teenager.

"I've been gone for a week and a half and all I can get from you is a hi?" he asked grinning. "Can I at least get a hug?"

She gave him a sad smile and quickly gave him a hug. She then went back to putting the DVD's on the shelf.

After a while Angel went over and sat down on the sofa watching her.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong? I asked Sophie and she says you wouldn't tell her. Can you talk to your Uncle Angel?"

Theresa was quite a moment and then turned to him. "It won't do any good. I've made a total mess of things."

Angel grabbed her and pulled her down beside him on the sofa. "Tell me. I may be able to help you."

"JuJu hates me" she replied and began to cry. "She was my only friend, and now she hates me!"

Angel was surprised. "Friends have disagreements all the time Tee, but they make up if they are real friends."

"Not this time" she sobbed. It was as if a dam burst and the tears flowed freely down her face. "No one else likes me. Now I don't have anybody."

"What happened?" Angel asked putting his arm around her. Where was Sophie? Didn't she care that her niece was so upset? Why hadn't she tried to talk to her? He looked at Theresa who by now was sobbing uncontrollably; her eyes and nose were running. Angel searched for the box of tissues he had just seen.

"I told her that I have a crush on Justin. Now she won't even talk to me!" Theresa sobbed as Angel handed her the box of tissues.

Angel looked at her sympathetically. "Is that it? When did all this happen?"

"Before you went back to Philly" she said wiping her eyes.

"Maybe I should talk to her-"

"No! Don't!" Theresa said jumping up. "It will only make things worse!" She turned to him pleading. "Please don't say anything to her Uncle Angel!"

Angel sighed. He didn't know how to deal with teenage girls. Maybe he should just stay out of it.

"Alright, Tee. I won't say anything to her. Maybe you should try to talk to Justin instead. They're close. Maybe he can reason with her and find out why she's so upset about you liking him."

Theresa wouldn't look at him. "I'll think about it." She said finally.

"Look, if you two are really friends, she'll come around." Angel reassured her. "Just give her some time. I'm sure she's missing you as much as you're missing her. I don't know what this is really all about, but you need to think about what happened, and if you did mess up, apologize to her. If she's truly your friend, she'll forgive you. Now let's see that smile I love so much."

Theresa gave him a weak smile and stood up. Angel noticed that she still looked somewhat sad.

Angel smiled and then pulled her close to him. "One thing you should always remember. Brothers and Sisters have a bond. You should never try to come in between that! Now if you like Justin, then just tell him. If he's happy, then his sister will be happy for him. If he doesn't like you like that, then back off. You can't win trying to come between family. Don't ever try to do that, OK?"

"Alright, Uncle Angel" she said.

"Good!" he said laughing. "Now let's go find my lazy wife and go out and get some pizza!"

Later, Angel thought about the conversation he had with Theresa and wondered what was going on. He would keep his word to Theresa and not tell JuJu about their conversation, but he decided to keep his eyes and ears open. The truth always had a way of coming out. Most likely though, like all children who fought, he felt that they would most likely make up and forget all about it

He took the U-Haul and drove it to his mother's house. He had promised to get some of his things that she was still holding there. He had already made up his mind to ask her if she had anything that needed to go to the dump. He might as well get all the use out of the truck that he could before he had to turn it in.

He called Jeremiah and asked him to meet him so that he could have a ride when he turned the truck back in.

He walked into his mother's house and was surprised to find her baking. The aroma met him at the door and his mouth began to water.

"Hey, Ma! I see I came at the right time!" he said walking into the kitchen.

Evelyn turned to him and gave him a quick hug. "These are for a fundraiser for Justin!" she replied pointing to the pies. "Don't you dare touch them. You know he's performing with the dance troupe tonight! You and Sophie should come!"

Angel sniffed the pies. "Ah, Ma! Can't I have a slice of something? It's not fair that you have the whole house lit up and I can't even get a taste. Jeremiah is coming over here to follow me back to the U-Haul! How can you cook all this stuff for Justin and not have anything for your own starving children?"

Evelyn laughed. "Starving indeed!" She pointed to a pie on the counter. "That one stays, but you can't cut it yet!"

"Why not?" Angel said eying the pie.

Evelyn crossed her arms across her chest. "I asked Robert to come over-"

"What? You're going to share a pie with him and leave us out?" Angel snapped.

"You can have some. Don't be so jealous Mr. Newlywed!"

Angel rolled his eyes. "I don't even want to think about what else you're giving him besides this pie. Really, Ma!"

"Do you really want to know" she asked giving him her most innocent look.

"Nope!"

"I didn't think so." she replied laughing.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Angel opened it. He was surprised to see JuJu.

"Hey there Angel" she said grinning walking in. She looked at Evelyn. "Nana, Ma's outside. I came by to pick up the pies you have for Justin's fundraiser."

She walked over giving Evelyn a hug.

"I need to speak to your mother" Evelyn said wiping her hands on her apron. "The pies should be ready in a couple of minutes." She pointed to a cardboard box. "Angel put those pies on the stove in that box. I have two more in the oven that will be ready in a couple of minutes. The buzzer will go off when they are done. I'll be right back."

She walked out the door and JuJu peeped in the oven.

"So, how have things been going since I've been gone?" Angel asked.

JuJu shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I talked to my Daddy last night. He's going to be back in a couple of weeks. We're graduating and going to high school next year you know."

"So I hear." Angel replied. "I just moved to my new place. Theresa and Sophie are getting everything straight. I guess Theresa told you about that."

JuJu paused as if choosing her words carefully. "Well, I've been busy. I haven't really talked to her."

"What? As close as you two are? I find that hard to believe."

JuJu peeked in the oven again.

"Is there something wrong?" Angel asked.

"What did she tell you" JuJu asked looking at him.

"Nothing" he lied. "I was so busy moving, I didn't have time to talk to her. Why did you ask that? Have you two had a falling out or something?"

"Sort of" JuJu replied.

"Well you two are friends. True friends don't come by every day."

She looked at him, her face serious. "How do you know that someone is really a true friend? I mean... suppose they're not the person you thought they were?"

Angel pulled out a chair and sat down. He then pulled out another and patted it for her to sit down. "People will disappoint you and you will disappoint them from time to time. If something has happened between the two of you, is it worth ending the friendship?"

She was quiet a moment. "I don't know."

"Do you miss her?" he asked looking at her.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well I'm sure she misses you too." He grabbed her hand. "Is it fixable?"

"I don't know." JuJu confessed.

"Does she like a boy that you like?" he asked smiling.

"No!" JuJu said giggling. "We promised ourselves that would never happen!"

Her face grew serious for a moment. "She likes Justin."

"So? I know he's your brother...does that bother you? Do you think that her liking him will mess with your friendship?"

"That's not it...but I don't think that it's a good idea." she said not looking at him directly.

Angel stood up. "Well, you should talk to her about it. Tell her what bothers you about the whole situation."

"What if she wants...I mean, what if...never mind" she stood up. "I've got to go."

Angel grabbed her arm. "JuJu you can tell me anything. I'll keep it between us."

She studied him a moment. "Promise."

"Promise" he replied. "However, if it's something that you need to tell your father, I'm going to encourage you strongly to do so. OK?"

"Alright."

She moved closer. "I don't want her to have sex with Justin."

Angel's eyes grew big. "Sex? She's having sex with your brother?"

"No she wants to" JuJu said observing his shocked expression. "Remember your promise!"

Angel sat back down. "I'm a keeper of promises...but she told you that she wants to do this. "

He was quiet for a moment. "Maybe she wants Justin to be her first because you're her best friend. I don't know. Maybe I should talk to her."

"No! Remember your promise!" JuJu reminded him. "Besides, she told me that he wasn't her first."

Angel was speechless.

"Look, JuJu if you all are having sex, you need to tell your mother and your father. It's not safe-"

"I'm not having sex and neither is Justin!" she snapped. "Theresa was the one trying to get me show my body so that I can be more popular with the boys. She's the one who's had sex already and thinks that I should too, but I told her that I'm not ready!"

Angel stared at her. "Well, I'm floored, JuJu. I am going to have to have a serious talk with her. I won't involve you and she won't know that we talked. I have to think about this."

Just then the buzzer went off on the oven. "The pies are ready" JuJu replied.

Angel took the mitts and got the pies out of the oven and sat them in the box with the other two Evelyn had made.

"I'll help you carry them to the car" he said.

She opened the door and they walked outside. He turned to her before they got in earshot of the car. Angel looked over and saw Evelyn was still talking to Charity.

"Look, JuJu. I appreciate you talking to me. I have to handle this situation, you know. I can do it without getting you involved. She won't know that we talked, I promise you that so don't you worry, OK?"

"Alright Angel" she replied.

"Uncle Angel to you, Missy" he said laughing. His face then turned serious. "I'm proud of you for standing up for your beliefs. Sex is something that can wait. You don't have to rush into that. I can understand why you would question her friendship. No friend would try to make you do something you didn't want to do. I can tell you though that right now she's miserable and moping around. I think she's sorry for what she did. I wouldn't be surprised if she came back and begged your forgiveness. The question is though, can you forgive her?"

Evelyn had turned from the car and was now watching them.

"Come on. " Angel replied walking to the car. "Just think about what I said."

JuJu nodded.

"Hey Charity!" Angel said grinning. "Pop the trunk and I'll put these in. I hear there's a program tonight."

"That's right" Charity replied getting out of the car. "And it's ten dollars at the door. I just so happen to have some tickets on me. You can get in for eight if you pay in advance. I have to turn these in when I leave here, so it's now or never."

"Give me three" Angel replied. He looked at his mother. "Do you have yours?"

"Of course" she said smiling.

Angel put the pies in the trunk and turned to JuJu.

"See you tonight then, Missy."

He gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Bye, Nana. Bye Uncle Angel" she replied grinning.

Angel shut the door and watched as Charity pulled off. He could see that this job as Uncle required him to hit the ground running. He knew that he had his work cut out for him but felt that he was up to the task. He couldn't believe that Theresa was having sex. He would have to think of a way to talk to both Sophie and Theresa without breaking his word with JuJu.

He sighed and turned and walked back into the house. He didn't even want to consider what Bobby would say and do about this whole situation. He was glad that his brother was in Chicago. He knew that this situation needed to be handled delicately and he felt that he was just the man for the job.