Chapter 4 Meeting Jazmine Pt 1

It was Saturday, around 1PM. Riley strolled over to the McIntosh's residence. He banged on the door several times and the door open to reveal Arnez, looking as if he was about to leave.

"Ay Arnez." Riley gave him dap.

"What up kid? I'm about to head out and hang with Huey and Caesar."

"Ahh, you ain't gonna stick around then? Well ok, is yo sister around?" Riley asked.

"Yep, she's around."

Arnez made an announcement to his parents, who were upstairs still unpacking the last of their items.

"Mommy! Daddy! Riley's here but I'm gonna leave now!"

"Ok, that's fine! Arnez be back here by 5!" His father responded.

"Ok!" He agreed then bid goodbye to the Freeman boy as he walked out the house.

A few seconds later, Troy descended from up the stairs and greeted Riley.

"Hey Riley, how are you?"

Riley got into his b-boy stance.

"Yo, what's up Mr. McIntosh? I came over to beat Marian in videos games, I wanna win!"

The man laughed and patted the boy's head.

"Ok, she's in the playroom, if you need me or Mrs. McIntosh, just holler."

The boy nodded and ran to the playroom.

Riley saw how immersed the girl was in the video game she was playing. The sound being heard other than the game, was the button smashing. Her eyes were so fixated on the screen that she didn't even know Riley had walked in.

"Marian!" Riley shouted which made the girl flinch and drop her controller onto the floor. Riley fell into a heap of giggles.

"Man I got you good!"

"Uhh, it's just you Riley." She rolled her eyes in disgust. "So, you're here to get your ass kicked in video games again?"

"Girl please, I'm ready to kick yo ass this time around cause we gonna play my NBA game on yo PlayStation!" Riley challenged her as he took out the disc from his large pants pocket and put the game in.

"Well, look who's bold today." Marian was a little impressed by his confidence which she was ready to stomp in the ground.

"Ok, we'll play NBA and whoever loses has to bow down to the winner, even in public." She shoved the second controlled in the boy's hands as she made that bet to him.

"Oh yeah? Aiight girl, I'll take you up on that. Be ready to call me Riley the Don of PlayStation."

"Boy stop, that's not gonna happen in this lifetime." She pressed start and the two of them pick their teams and they were ready to outdo each other.

In the meantime, Arnez was already approaching Huey and Caesar by the large tree on the hill, not far from their neighborhood. The two boys were sitting underneath it, speaking amongst themselves when they saw the McIntosh boy.

"Hey Huey and Caesar what's going on?" Arnez gave each of them dap and sat in front of them.

"Yo, Yo, Yonkers is in the building!" Caesar bellowed and waved his hand in the air. He was hype.

Caesar, full name Michael Caesar, was also a New Yorker but his hometown was Brooklyn. His mother was African-American and his father was Jamaican who immigrated to the States in his late teens. Caesar had been living in WoodCrest since October and it was a huge adjustment like his peers. He was glad to befriend Huey and Riley, it was now even better that he had become acquainted with Arnez since they both came from New York.

"Man, Spring Break is coming to an end." Caesar groaned as he pulled blades of grass out of the ground.

"I know right, I'm not even looking forward to going to school on Monday." Arnez put his hands on his face and pouted.

"I bet that school is wack as hell."

"What do you expect from a school called J. Edgar Hoover?" Huey impassively uttered. He saw that his shoes laces were loose and began tying them.

"J. Edgar Hoover?! I didn't know that was the name of the school! There are no other schools around here?"

Both Huey and Caesar shook their heads.

"I tried convincing Granddad to have me homeschooled, didn't work."

"I was practically dragged into the building by my Dad the first day." Caesar recalled.

"Well, shit I'm screwed." Arnez looked up and watched the puffy white clouds sail the sky.

"If you think that's bad enough, just wait until you meet the teachers." Huey leaned back against the tree trunk.

"Oh yeah, let's not forget the principal, that man is so clueless about black folks, I swear." Caesar said.

"I bet you the only time that fool ever been around niggas was when they were maids and butlers." Huey bitterly stated.

"Yessur Massa I's be a good negro." Caesar mocked in a fake Southern twang.

Arenz laughed.

"Look here nigga, I need you to be picking that cotton before sunset before I whip the black off you!" Arnez joined using a fake accent also.

"Oh please Massa, don't beat me, Imma be a good negro!" The Brooklyn kid pretended to beg.

The two New York boys giggled while the Chicago boy shook his head.

Their fun was interrupted when they heard the shrieking feminine voice Huey and Caesar knew all too well.

"HUUUUEEEEEYYYYYY!" The voice dragged the afro boy's name out.

"Oh no." Huey was not looking forward to this.

"Who's that?" Arnez asked as he stood up to find where the voice came from.

"Ahhh snap, is that who I think it is?" Caesar jumped up and was cheesing like the Cheshire cat.

"Who's coming?" Arnez kept asking.

"You'll see." Huey answered.

A young girl with kinky strawberry blond hair and beige colored skin tone. She bolted to the Freeman boy with open arms and took him into her embrace. The impact was so great that the two of them crashed onto the ground, with the girl on top of Huey.

"I MISSED YOU SSSSSOOOO MUCH!" The light skinned girl exclaimed.

The other boys pointed and laughed heartily at the boy and girl.

Huey felt his face heated up in bashfulness and aggravation. He did the best he could to gently push her off of him and picked himself up off the ground. He dusted the bits of grass and dirt off his pants and glared at her, not even cracking a smile at her childish antics. Not that he ever smiled.

"Jazmine, for as long as you and I live on this Earth, never do that again."

Jazmine giggled and bounced around the apathetic revolutionary. Huey placed his palm on his face.

"I'm sorry but I just missed you lots and lots!"

Huey growled and closed his eyes.

"So, you go on a trip to Canada and come back acting like you don't know a brotha?"

The boy with the dreads acted as if he was offended.

"Of course I will never forget you! I missed you too Caesar!" She greeted and gave him a hug.

"Unlike Huey, I wouldn't mind you pouncing on me." He joked as Huey rolled his eyes.

Afterwards, the girl noticed the other boy in her presence. Arnez's eyes met hers. Her big emerald eyes were captivating.

"So this was the girl Huey spoke of the other day." He thought.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Jazmine Dubois." She graced him with a friendly smile and stuck her hand out.

The boy stared down at her hand and slowly took it; she clumsily shook his hand and then clasped her arms around his torso.

"My name is Arnez McIntosh." He replied.

"He's new to the neighborhood." Caesar explained.

"He'll be going to school with us on Monday."

Jazmine roared excitedly.

"That's wonderful! Where are you from Arnez?"

"I'm from Yonkers, that's in New York." He said.

"Wow, that's great! Who do you live with Arnez?" She was genuinely curious about the new boy.

"Uhh…I live with my mother and father and my twin sister."

"OH MY GOD YOU HAVE A SISTER?!" She practically screamed in his ear. Arnez thought he'd go deaf.

Caesar couldn't contain his laughter, whereas Huey stood there uninterested.

"Finally! A girl around my age I can play with. Can you please introduce me to her?! Pretty, pretty, pretty pleeeeeeaaasssse?!"

She grasped his arm and desperately implored.

"Well, ok…you can come over to my house…I guess." He didn't know why he said that. The girl was started to annoy him but he didn't have the heart to be rude to her.

"HOORAY! HOORAY!" She cheered and raised her hands up and grinned widely.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him to walk.

Arnez looked at the other boys, as if he was pleading for help. Huey simply shrugged and Caesar thought all of this was funny.

"Gee, thanks a lot you guys." Arnez thought as he frowned at them.

Before Huey and Caesar knew it, Jazmine and Arnez disappeared.

"Aww man, your girl Jazzy got a love thing for Yonkers. You better watch out!" Caesar teased when he nudged his friend in the ribs.

Huey wasn't moved by this.

"First off, Jazmine is not my girl. Secondly, I couldn't care less if she has a "love thing" for Arnez, which I doubt it. Anyway, I have to go home I have some important issues to attend. Later Ceez."

He strolled off but not without hearing his dreadlocked friend having the last word.

"Yeah, yeah, you know you like Jazzy. Don't act like you don't know. But, I'll catch you later!"

Huey grumbled and kicked a rock that was in his path.

Caesar had to be out of his mind. It was one thing for his brother Riley to do it, but now his friend suddenly got into it. It wasn't as if Caesar didn't like to joke around and stuff but until now, he never made mention of anything going on between him and the mixed race girl.

So, why now?

He had no competition with the McIntosh boy because there wasn't. However, if Jazmine had some interest in the kid, it was no problem with Huey. The less of her, the better off Huey was.

A/N- Hey everyone, sorry it took so long Will Arnez and Marian like Jazmine? We'll Find out in Part 2 which will be posted soon, not sure when but soon. Thanks and leave a comment.