Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 16:33:07 EST
From: Madasonaysha@aol.com
Subject: AROUND MY WAY chapter 3 Gay/HighSchool and Gay/ Interacial

Disclaimer: Okay, so if you're on Chapter 3 than you already know that
this is a love story in an urban setting between two teenage boys one
Black and one Latino.  If you don't like it than don't read it.  This is
my first story to Nifty and comments or criticism are helpful.  Please
send any responses to Madasonaysha@aol.com or Madisonaysha@yahoo.com But
use the AOL address first.

Author's note: You guy's really know how to stroke my ego.  Thank you all
for the kind words and please keep sending them.  KISS KISS to all of
ya!  This is the last of the short chapters and they will get a little
longer from here now that the main story is beginning.  I planned on at
least 15 but might have to do more if you guys stay interested. In this
chapter you will finally meet the guy who will change Chris's life. UMM
do you guy's and gals smell that? I think someone's making a sandwich of
love at the corner store.  If you read this than you will get my corny
joke later.  The seeds of young love are about to be planted, be there
from the beginning.(okay I am not always that cheesy, I'm just so glad
people like this story)  Now go on and read, it's almost time for "One
Tree Hill."

CHAPTER THREE

Aunt Mickey was right.  The part of Newark we moved to was nothing like
the neighborhood that I had remembered.  All my assumptions of Newark
being one big ghetto were proved wrong.  Our block was lined with nice
homes and neat lawns.  It was still a far cry form Montclair but it
wasn't so bad.  I was amazed that such a nice area remained.  Newark had
at one time been a thriving community filled with nice homes and
businesses but sometime during the 1960's rioting occurred leaving
the city in almost ruin.  Now over thirty years later some parts still
remain dilapidated  but others, such as my neighborhood had long
recovered.

It was now mid July and I was bored out of my mind. Mickey had been busy
with her new assignment so I rarely saw her.  She would often be gone
before I awoke in the mornings and wouldn't return until I had gone to
bed. Mickey's best friend Tammy had leased us her house.  She was
moving to Florida and thought it would be the perfect size for us.  This
house was HUGE.  There was way too much room for just the two of us but I
wasn't complaining.  We had been living there for almost a month. My
days were spent reading books.  I loved to read horror books and modern
fiction. I really wanted to read books dealing with my sexual orientation
but I was always afraid to be seen purchasing one.  On one exceedingly
blistering afternoon when I grew tired of reading, I decided to explore
my new neighborhood.  Despite living here for almost a month, I had yet
to go beyond the limits of my block.

My neighborhood was predominately Hispanic.  Mostly populated by Puerto
Ricans.  I made my way over to the next street and I noticed that the
further away from my block I got, the worse the area's became.  As I
passed a group of girls I noticed them watching me.   It was four of them
and three were rough looking black girls.  One girl caught my eye.  Now I
am not into girls but she was beautiful.  She stood out amongst the
others. The other girls faces were covered with scowls and the look of
having hard lives but hers wore a pleasant calmness to it.  She looked
part black but you could tell she had to be mixed with something else. I
thought maybe  White or Hispanic.  She was a slightly shorter than me and
about two shades darker.  She had long hair that flowed down her back in
wavy cascades.  It had the color that only midnight could capture.  She
was on the chubby side but would not be considered fat by anyone's
standards.  As I walked passed her she gave me a slight smile and I
returned it. One of her scowl ridden friends made a comment about hating
pretty boys.  I personally would never consider my self a pretty boy but
that seems to be the insult that people used when trying  demean me.
People always assume just because I am light skin that I think I
am better than everyone else.  If people only knew just how low I
sometimes thought about myself, they wouldn't assume that.  I ignored her
comment and made my way into the bodega that I saw.  Bodegas are small
grocery stores that seem to be on every corner on every street around
here.

As I walked into the store the sound of Spanish music filled my ears.
This place was on the small side but was filled with foods and an
assortment of other amenities. I was hungry so I went to the back to
order a sub sandwich.  The man who prepared it was a handsome man with a
big smile. His eyes were crystal blue and he had light brown hair that
was a mass of short curls and a small beard and mustache to match.  I
would have thought that he was a white if he didn't speak with an
accent.  It was a slight trace but still detectable.  As I was bringing
my food to the counter I  roughly bumped into someone.  They fell, as I
stumbled backwards.  I was preparing to help them up but their words
stopped me.

"Shit you fucking ASSHOLE why don't you watch where DA FUCK YOU
GOING!"  I was stunned by his out burst.  He was still on the floor with
his head down looking at nothing in particular.  I could address him in
the same manner that he did to me but today I wasn't in the mood to.

"Sorry it was an accident man."

"Accident...huh? You better watch were your go-" As he got up and we
made eye contact I was rendered speechless.  He was the most beautiful
person that I ever saw. God I sound soooo Gay.  He had to be about four
or five inches taller than me.  He looked to be about my age or maybe
 one or two years older.  I could see that he was lean but he didn't
seem to be very skinny. His baggy white T-shirt and baggy denim shorts
hide his true physique.  He had light blue eyes and his curly light brown
hair was a mass of soft gentle waves that ran slowly to his neck.  It
wasn't short or medium length but some where in between.  I felt an
instant attraction.  For a second he paused and looked into my eyes.  If
I didn't know any better I would swear that he felt it to.  But I
knew better.  This guy was a thug and everyone knows that there is no
such things as gay thugs.  We stood there staring at each other for a few
seconds before I heard the man who made my sandwich address this mystery
boy.

"Mijo  what are you doing? Don't be so rude to the customers." What
ever moment I shared with him was over.  He took one last look at me and
walked to the back to speak to the man.  I noticed that they resembled
each other remarkably and had to have been father and son.  Our eyes met
again as I watched him talk to his father.  Our eyes locked for a moment
but he turned away.  I  turned back around and almost bumped into some
one else.  Except this time I was greeted with a smile. It was the same
pretty girl that I saw outside.

"Hi. I'm Amanda but everyone calls me Mandy you new around here?" She
spoke with tough tone to her voice but it didn't sound half as
intimidating as she was trying to make it.  I was instantly drawn to her.
Maybe it was her out going personality.  I smiled and replied.

"Yeah we moved here about a month ago form Seaside.  I'm Chris."

"Seaside? How da hell you wind up here?"

"My Aunt's job". We stood around and talked for a couple of minutes
about nothing in particular.  She was so funny.  She kept me in laughter
with every other word that came out her mouth.  As we were getting ready
to leave the store, the guy I bumped passed us.  He and Mandy exchanged a
cautious glance and looked around the store before greeting each other in
a hug and smile.

"What's up dude! I haven't seen you all summer where you been
at?" Amanda said to him.

"Dad made me go to Cuba to stay with family.  I wasn't supposed to be
back until August but I couldn't take it down there.  Its whack as
hell down there.  Nothing but old people." Amanda and him shared a
laugh.  I stood there unsure if I should leave or introduce myself. I was
just about to introduce myself when a tall brown skin boy walked in. He
was really cute but something about his presence bothered me. A look of
fear washed over Amanda's face and the mystery boys face hardened.  The
brown skin boy walked over to us and I immediately  became intimidated as
he spoke.

"YO! AMANDA.  WHERE YOU BEEN?" Amanda's cool presences became panicky.
It was easy to see that she was on edge as she addressed him.

"Hey...hey  Baby.  I just been chilling with the girls "

"What girls was you wit."

"Just Jordan, Amelia and Toni."

"Well tell them bye cause we gotta bounce."

"Okay baby." She said good-bye to me and the two of them began to walk
away.  When they got to the door the brown skin boy turned around at shot
an evil glare at the mystery guy.  He through up some sort of sign with
his hand and whispered.

"Westie Mutha Fucker!"  The mystery boy's face twisted into a
contortion of revulsion and he heatedly countered.

"Naw! Eastie's BITCH!"  The brown skin boy was about to walk back
towards him but Amanda whispered something in his ear and he left
smiling.  Amanda throwing an apologetic look our way and followed him
out.  Before I could say anything to the mystery guy his father called
him back again and they had a heated conversation in Spanish.  I paid for
my sandwich and went back home.  That night I couldn't fall asleep.
Every time I closed my eyes I saw his.  Just imagining  him left me with
this incessant need to find release.  After the pressure had left, I
slept peacefully with visions of crystal blue eyes filling my dreams. It
had been almost two weeks since I saw Amanda or the mystery boy.  I went
into the bodega a couple of times in hope of just a glimpse of him but he
was never there.  I was taking out the garbage one afternoon when Amanda
came up behind me starling me.  She had a small dark bluish bruise at the
bottom of her eye.

"Hey girl how you doing? What happened to your eye?"  She became
flustered as she tried to find the right words to say to me.  I could
tell that the next words she were about to say were going to be lies.

"Oh this?? I got into an argument with my sister and she throws
things...so you know. But hey, how the hell are you?"

"I'm good.  You want to come in"?  We made ourselves comfortable.  It
usually takes me a while before I become comfortable around someone but
with Amanda it came easy.  She was going to be a junior at East High
School that fall.  I told her that I wasn't sure if I would still be
living here in the fall but if I was I would be going there to. I was
amazed that she was taking six college prep courses.  There was no doubt
in my mind that if I attended East High we would share a couple of
classes.

"So do you want to watch a movie or go for a walk?"

"Well what movies do you have?" I was somewhat reluctant to admit to her
what was in my movie collection.  But I felt so at ease with her I
decided to take the chance of her pegging me as a complete loser.

"Well don't laugh but I just got "Willow" and "The Goonies" on DVD".

"GOONIES! I love that movie.  It's my all time favorite movie!"

"Yeah I know.  You are the first person who didn't call me a geek for
loving it"

"I understand you exactly. No one appreciates the finer points of that
movie or the questions you have to ask yourself after you watch it."

"What questions?" As excited as I was to find a fellow Gooney , I had no
idea where this conversation was going.

"Well I personally think, that movie speaks in volumes about the quality
of our prison system and terms.  It also raises questions regarding
mental health , obesity and ethics."  How she maintained a straight face
was a mystery to me.  I on the other hand couldn't contain the humor
that I found in her statement and laughed hysterically.

"Oh yeah? How so?" I asked her through my laughter.

"Well lets look at the Fratelli's. It's obvious that our prison
system failed them.  I am sure that Momma Fratelli had a hard life and
probably had to raise her boys on her own.  Probably not having enough
money to survive, turned to a life of crime.  Here, this sweet little
Italian woman just trying to make a way for kids, gets sentenced to
prison for probably stealing food for her poor starving children-" I had
to interject.

"Actually, she wasn't the one in prison.  They busted out one of her
sons and I don't think you got their name right." She shot  me a mock
hatred glare and playfully screamed at me.

"WHO ASKED YOU ANY WAY! DO THE CHUNK SHUFFLE!"  We both fell back on the
couch.  Our stomachs burning from the laughter we shared.  I knew in that
moment that she was going to be a great friend.  I wanted to ask her
about the mystery boy but I didn't want her to question me as to why
I was asking.  So I opted for putting on the DVD.  As the weeks went by
Amanda and I grew closer.  It was safe to say that we had become best
friends.  She introduced me around to her family and a few of her
friends.  Her mother is Black and her father was Cuban.  He died when she
was six but she doesn't like to talk about it.  When I met her friends I
was scared shitless to put it mildly.  Her friends looked like hard core
gang bangers.  I got the feeling she didn't want me to meet them but
during a surprise visit to her house, I did.

She lived in an apartment building that from the outside looked a little
rundown.  But her apartment was far from it.  Her mother decorated it
with a Victorian  theme.  Something I did not expect to find in a
tenement apartment in the middle of East Newark. We were watching
television in her house when a knock came at the door.  As she opened it
I could see her body tense andI felt her nervousness.  She glanced at me
and back to the door and her shoulders slumped in defeat.  As they walked
in I recognized one guy as being her boyfriend and two of the scowl
ridden girls that I saw with her the day we met. Her boyfriend was
attractive.  He was well over six feet tall, a medium brown complexion
that matched his medium brown eyes.  He wore his hear in tight intricate
cornrows that formed a swirl pattern.  His face was as smooth as river
water.  Despite his attractiveness he made me uneasy.  I don't know
what was about him but something about him just screamed trouble.  I had
met him on two previous occasions but he ignored my presence both times,
which was fine by me.  He had a friend with him who was a dark skin
Spanish guy who looked more on the Asian side.  He was attractive too.
He was a little taller than me with a faded shaved head.  A tattoo of
Jesus adorned the side of his neck. His arms were a sea of dark blue and
red ink. He had too many tattoos on his arms for me to figure out what
they all were.  Despite his hardcore exterior his face maintained a
boyish charm to it.  The nervous feeling he gave me was more intense than
the one Nate gave.  With the two of them together the only word that came
to mind was trouble. Trouble , trouble and more trouble.

They all shot me a suspicious look as they sat down.  Nate and his friend
sat on either side of me, leaving me sandwiched in between the two of
them.  This made me panicky.  Although I am not an emotional person, I do
a horrible job trying to mask my feelings.  They must have sensed my
nervousness and decided to pray on it. Nate roughly shook my shoulder
causing me to jump a little.  He and his friend laughed at my reaction.
My first thought was to just run out of there but looking over at
Amanda's pleading face I stayed.

"Chill Nigga.  Why the fuck you so jumpy you making me nervous." Nate
said through a sneer. " This my boy Jay. Jay this Mandy's friend
Chris."  Jay stuck out his hand to give the what's up hand shake. I
knew that I would fail at it so I did a wave.  This caused them to laugh
at me again.  The two scowl ridden girls were introduced as Jordan and
Amelia. I would have thought that they were sisters if I hadn't known
that they weren't.  They were both the color of maple syrup but there
was nothing sweet about them.  Streaks of green dye adorned their
hair. It did'nt look all that bad.   It was almost nice in a black girl
punk rocker sort of way but they did'nt strike me as the types to listen
to that kind of music. As a matter of fact all four were wearing green
bandanas, wrapped around their wrists. They shared in on the laughter.
Amanda sensing my discomfort offered me an out.

"Hey C don't you gotta bounce and take care da shit you was stressing
today?"  She caught me off guard with the way she spoke.  She never
talked like that around me.  The only time she used her tough accent was
the first time we met but after that she just talked "normal"to me.  And
what was up with the "C" thing? If I hadn't been in a hurry to leave
I would have asked.

"Yeah. You're right Amanda I gotta go. I'll call you later." I
replied.

"Aye yo Nasty. You  gonna let another Nigga call your girl and shit?" Jay
said in between obnoxious chuckles.  Nate shot me a smile that had a
hidden meaning that I couldn't decipher. All I knew is that it sent
chills down my spine.

"Naw it's cool. C is cool.  He REAL cool. Ain't dat right bro?"
Nate addressed me.
The way he stated "real cool" made my body go cold.  I would have to
watch my back around him.  I gave him a hesitant response.

"Yeah sure. Uh Amanda I got to go. Bye."  She gave me smile to say sorry
and walked me to the door.  As we were walking Nate called out to me
again.

"Hey C why you call Mandy, Amanda?

"Because that's her name." The aggravation my words caused him were
noticed in his response.

"Well Nigga we all call her Mandy, So your pretty boy ass need to call
her dat too. Shit son you ain't special." My fear of him took over
and made sure he heard me.

"UM okay.  Yeah so I'll talk to you later MANDY. Bye".  I left her
apartment knowing three things.  One being I didn't like her friends
much. Two,  being she acted different around them and I had to wonder
just which one was the real Amanda.  And three, stay steer clear of
Nate.  Something about him just wasn't right. I felt anxious and
nervous around him and not in a good way.  I hadn't felt like that
since I was five...

    More to Come

Copyright 2004