TAKASHI WALKED INTO THE HOUSE after Laura. She headed straight to the kitchen, angrily grumbling things to herself. His mom had very strict rules which was no walking on the floor with shoes on. Even though all the rooms in the house had hardwood floor including the bedrooms, that was something Laura didn't play.

"Laura?" The heavy and deep baritone of her boyfriend questioned, coming from the living room. Takashi peeked his head inside and saw the man sitting on the couch.

"Yeah I'm here," Laura said, roughly opening the garbage can to throw some old food out.

"What's the matter?" Lance questioned, his voice holding no room for discussion. He had an aura about him that commanded attention.

"Had to go pick this little boy up from school today...always fucking something. I'm tired of these little black boys, I'm telling you they don't fucking listen. These people don't see anything except that you're boisterous and crazy." Laura ranted. She was mad that she had to go down to the school to defend her son's ratchetness which made her look even more ratchet than him.

He had gotten into a fight at school over Toryn.

Takashi peeled his shoes off by the door, standing in his white ankle socks. Lance turned around with a blank face, greeting the teenager with a head nod. Takashi's frown immediately fell but he greeted Lance back with a head nod. He felt his stomach twist a little bit. Takashi was a little scared of Lance to be honest. He's been dating his mom for years, but Takashi had never really gotten use to him.

Takashi didn't know why, but his mom had suddenly got this obsession with dating thugs. And Lance was definitely a thug. There was something about him so sinister that took the fifteen year old out of comfort in his own home. Lance was actually very quiet. Or at least around him. He wasn't loud, he didn't put his hands on his mother and they never argued either. But his eyes were like black coals that gave off the impression he had did some fucked up things in his life. Lance made Takashi feel uneasy. Like he was someone that shouldn't ever be crossed. So he prayed if Lance and his mother ever broke up, it would be peaceful.

Laura came into the living room, tossing a frozen ice pack at Takashi he easily caught. "Now take your behind upstairs. Your father called the house earlier looking for you. So go upstairs and make sure you call him back, and tell him how you in school fighting."

"Yeah aight," Takashi mumbled, turning to walk away.

"No TV, no video games, no computer. All you have is your phone, but enjoy playing those boring games on it because I'm turning off that damn wifi. Catch yourself sitting in this damn house on a week's suspension and think you gonna be in here running up my cable bill an' shit...please!"

Takashi so badly wanted to say something crazy, but he knew better. His father would probably knock him out. Even though his parents were no longer together, his father would never let anyone disrespect the mother of his child, especially their son.

"I made some spaghetti and meatballs earlier. It's here on the stove if your hungry. That's the only thing your ass in allowed to come down here and do, eat."

Takashi nodded his head, he wanted to punch something. Someone. Anything. Instead he cleared his throat. "Remember I have to go pick Toryn up from work at four-thirty." He reminded.

"Mm hm." Laura said. She was actually working late tonight and had to rush back out to work. Takashi was the reason she had to take a break early. To come up and speak to the principle and bring him home. On the days she was at work and couldn't pick Toryn up, Takashi had to walk her home.

Takashi walked past Lance and up the stairs making sure to keep his head straight. The man was hardly ever at their house because he was always out. That was one thing Takashi could say he respected about Lance. He didn't sit in their house all day eating out all the food or sleeping. When he came around it was for like a day or two and then for weeks and damn near even months sometimes he wouldn't be seen back. That's how Takashi knew he was a really dangerous man. He was always on the move.

He opened the door to his room to the smell of fresh laundry. He always made sure his clothes were washed and put away in the draws. Taking his book bag off, he tossed himself back on the bed and just stared up at the ceiling. The fight he had gotten into had really fucked him up. Not physically, because he only had a really red eye; but it had messed him up mentally because it was really bothering him. Not only did he just fight, he fought one of his closest friends, Thomas.

It was always Thomas, Jamal, Dupree and Takashi. And now Takashi had lost one of his closest friends. He wouldn't act like he didn't care because he did. It's not like he's known him as long as Toryn; but they met in middle school. They had been the best of friends ever since, so the fight had really muted Takashi for the day and had him low key sad. But he would never say it out loud.

The fact Thomas had disrespected Toryn is what caught Takashi off guard, because he knew Toryn. They weren't friends but he knew who she was to Takashi. So the random comment he had made about her was strange. They had just been chilling in the lunchroom when Thomas had asked him why he hung out with that 'ugly bitch.' All it took was for Takashi to confirm Thomas was talking about Toryn to start swinging.

According to the kids, Takashi had lost the fight but didn't get beat up. Most people said it was a good fight—a close call, but that he lost still. Takashi didn't care about any of that though. The one thing that was really bothering him was what Thomas said after the fight had been broken up. The words they exchanged, played in his mind over and over again as he laid on his bed, looking up at the ceiling.

A few students held Thomas back. His shirt was ripped and he was breathing heavily, talking to an angry Takashi who was wildly trying to break free from the other kids who were holding him back in a corner.

"Don't worry pussy, you still gotta walk outside this building though." Takashi yelled, since he couldn't get past the three boys blocking him.

Thomas laughed, "Why you so mad though? Now you wanna fight? You be the main one disrespecting that girl all the time."

When he said that, it had plagued Takashi's mind for the rest of the day. That was all he could keep thinking about, was what Thomas said. Not even Laura coming up and spazzing on him in the principle's office moved him. Neither did any of the punishments she told him he was under on the way back home in the ride in the car. All he could think about was what Thomas had said. Disrespecting Toryn?

Takashi knew he had to lose his mind by saying that. They did have little arguments, but he never played her or put her down. Especially not in front of other people. Everyone knew that. So why would Thomas say that? The remark had been bothering him, because he was really starting to ask himself, did he? Did he belittle Toryn? He honestly didn't think he did, but if he did, that would break his heart. Toryn was his baby...his nerd...his dork. Disrespecting her was the last thing he wanted to do. This was a schizophrenic girl who was losing her memory. He didn't want her only memories of him being a horrible friend. That would kill him.

Oh yeah, Takashi said to himself, remembering his mother had said his dad called. He pulled his phone out and put it to his ear, while he had the the ice pack resting on his eye. The phone rang all of four times before a voice came over on the other end.

"Yes...hello?"

"Whassup old man, mom said you were looking for me."

"Yeah, whassup," Florence said, he was a trucker that worked for the city. He'd been on the job for more than twenty years so his pay was solid and he got great health care benefits since it was a city owned and not private job. His job required him to be on the road for months at a time, so he was never really present in Takashi's life steadily. Florence was much older than Laura. Ten years to her Senior. Where Laura was 34, Florence was 44. "I called earlier but forgot you were in school."

Takashi smiled, "That old age getting to you huh?"

Florence laughed making his son laugh as well.

"Aye, I'm thinking about going to see this new movie. I know you not into all that but it's a great anime—"

"Nah I don't think mom's gon' let me slide on this one," He said.

He really was in trouble and knew Laura wouldn't let him off the hook, but it was a great excuse for why he couldn't go. Florence was a big anime fan back when he was younger and he still was; he was the one who gave Takashi his name. It was a Japanese name, inspired by all the animated Japanese shows he loved watching and the Japanese culture he loved so much. He said he was tired of hearing all the 'De'juan, Raheem's and Ty'shawn's,' and wanted to name his son something different. Laura didn't mind the name he chose because she thought the name was cute when she heard it. Florence was into all that Japanese cartoon shit, but Takashi never picked up on it. His dad was wildin'.

"What you mean your mom not gonna let you slide?"

The bedroom door opened and Laura walked in to keep ranting about his fighting, but she saw he was on the phone so she gently shut the door behind her to come back later.

"I got into a fight," He mumbled.

"Again?" Florence said in disbelief.

"It wasn't my fault pop's." Takashi said, his fingertips starting to sting from holding the block of ice for so long. Water dripped off the bag, running down the back of his hand and his face.

He sighed. "Lemme guess...fighting over that damn nutty girl again."

Takashi immediately sucked his teeth. "Come on pop's, chill out..."

Florence chuckled, "Yeah okay, how's your mom's boyfriend?"

"Still creepy, don't really say anything." Takashi said. He told his dad he thought Lance was a drug dealer. Florence had met Lance once and thought the exact same thing; but they never asked Laura about it.

"What about your mom, is she good?"

"Yeah she's cool, just buggin' out right now."

The line was quiet for a while but it was a normal silence. Takashi and his dad had a great relationship. They were very close so it was never any kind of awkward pausing. Before long Florence cleared his throat. "You need any money or anything? Shoes? Clothes?"

"Uh...nah, I'm good." Takashi said. His dad made good money, and was always sending him checks, but Takashi was never quick to take extra money from him unless he really needed it.

"Okay man, talk to you later, I love you."

"Love you too dad." Takashi hung up and rested his phone next to him.

He had two more hours before he had to go collect Toryn from work. Since he was on lockdown for now, he figured the best thing he could do was sleep until four-thirty hit.

*******

TORYN SMILED EXTRA HARD at the woman who stood a few feet away from the counter waiting to be called. She was glad her shift was over. All she wanted to do was go home and text Samir. They had been speaking for a while. Three months exactly and she really liked him. "Next in line."

The heavyset white woman stepped up, placing several books down as Toryn quickly rang her up. "We have a fifty percent discount off all Science Fiction this week. If you would like—"

"No thank you."

Toryn nodded as she finished ringing the woman up, neatly putting her items in a bag. "You're total will be fifty dollars and forty six cents."

The woman handed her three twenty dollar bills and Toryn punched a few numbers into the cash register before it flew open. She put the bills in and received the woman's change, handing it over to her along with her bag. "Thank you for shopping at Renown."

Toryn looked at the time on the cash register machine and smiled when she saw 4:30PM. "I'm off now," she said, turning her attention to the manager who was at the other cash register, texting on his phone. "Lenard, I'm off."

"Okay, make sure you clock out."

Toryn walked from behind the counter, already knowing the drill. She had to go and get her stuff from the locker rooms in the back and clock out. Toryn went upstairs and entered her locker combination and grabbed her sweater out, putting it on and zipping it up. She then grabbed her backpack and put it on. It was okay out today in the early seventies, so the weather was not that glamorous.

Toryn made her way back downstairs and to the front of the store. She typed a few things into a small square box, clocking out before leaving the store. Instantly her stomach began to grumble. Toryn knew she should wait for Takashi. He was probably on his way. But she was super hungry. She hadn't even taken lunch today because the store was so busy. She was hungry to the point she was feeling gas building in her stomach.

Just some chips or something. She told herself, she would make it quick and come right back in front of the store to wait to go home.

Toryn rounded a corner coming up on a corner store. She hated this corner store because she felt it was ghetto. There were always a bunch of guys that loved hanging out in there and it stayed smelling of cigarettes and weed. She usually went to the next one which was one block up, but she couldn't do all of that today.

Walking into the store, Toryn had to maneuver her way through the crowd. Geez, she thought. She felt like she was in a supermarket with how full it was in here. She couldn't even count the number of people who crowded the small bodega. This place was like a hangout spot. She ignored some of the men laughing about her "big ass glasses" as she walked down the chip aisle.

She was hype the racks were full which meant they probably just restocked, but then again she couldn't go crazy with the snacks either because she only had $30 dollars on her until next week when she got paid. Takashi's mom would never make it an issue to make sure her pockets were full until paycheck time and Toryn knew that; but she never liked asking her for money. Even sometimes when she was dead broke she still said she had something. She felt bad because that was not her family and taking money from Laura made her feel like a burden sometimes.

Toryn walked toward where she saw the bags of Doritos sitting, but was startled when someone abruptly flew out from another aisle, almost causing them to bump into each other. She looked up to say sorry and paused when she saw a tall dark skin boy with twists in his hair. She felt a heart string burst in her chest as both of them stared each other down.

She locked eyes with him feeling like she had a slight case of paralysis. He had a dark chocolate complexion, his round shaped eyes showing not a trace of emotion. He seemed to have a scowl on his face but it showed more through his eyes then on his expression.

Toryn gulped, she was scared watching the way he watched her. He wasn't even trying to be discreet or quick as he assessed her. He openly made it known he was looking at her. She felt really uncomfortable.

"Excuse me," she said, basically squeezing past him. She left the aisle and went into the one he just came from, too intimidated to be around him.

Toryn definitely recognized him. From the party at that house. He was with Samir. The boy that didn't like her.

Toryn just opted for a pack of BBQ potato chips and some Cheetos. She walked to the front of the store, back toward the crowd as she waited for the dozens of people who lined the counter just talking, playing lotto or asking for cigarettes.

She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, knowing she was being watched. She knew it was the boy with the twists, but she just didn't know where he was and she definitely wasn't gonna look. After about three minutes Toryn finally made it up to the counter and dug into her back pocket, pulling out her dark blue wallet. It was decorated with flowers on it. She only had one twenty dollar bill and one ten. She pulled out the ten dollar bill and handed it to the man behind the counter.

"And a pack of Sunflower seeds too, please." She said eyeing the 99¢ packet of cheese sunflower seeds at the counter. The man put her items in the bag and returned her change as she struggled to push it back in her wallet.

On her way to the exit Toryn finally got her money back inside her wallet. She stuffed it back into her pocket and looked up, surprised to see twists boy standing in front of the door. He stared down at her, his intense look resembling one of a killer's. He cut his eyes at her and moved out the way and Toryn took that opportunity to floor it.

He's so weird. She thought to herself.

"Yo'!"

Toryn's eyes widened and her hands turned into fists as she continued to speed walk. She already knew who it was, but she didn't bother to turn around. She wished she would have just waited for Takashi.

"Yo' girl!"

Toryn ignored the loud voice and continued up the block. Seconds later a tight calloused hand wrapped around her wrist, causing her to turn around in alarm. She was surprised to see Tink standing there. His tall stature standing over her, blocking the sun.

"You ain't hear me calling you?"

Toryn felt her mouth go dry and her little heart start to pound in her chest. "H-huh?"

"I was calling you. Didn't you hear me?"

Toryn wanted to say something slick but it stayed a fantasy in her mind.

"I know you heard me. You was just ignoring me." Tink continued, "I was just calling you to tell you, you dropped your money." He said holding out a twenty dollar bill to her.

Toryn quickly pat herself down and went into her back pocket. She searched around and was surprised when she realized it was her money. She never zipped the wallet back. She gasped and put her hand out, knowing she would have been assed out for the rest of the week once she realized she lost it. "Oh my gosh, thank you so much!"

"Nah, now it's my shit." He said pulling it back and stuffing her money in his back pocket. "Next time turn the fuck around and see what I might want first. I'on like that shit, I was just trying to help you and you wanna be rude."

Toryn completely caught off guard, put her hand down. She looked around not sure if cameras were suppose to pop out and tell her he was just joking. But as her eyes roamed the streets, it was just him and her. She turned back to him, confused. Was he playing? She hesitantly put her hand back up to ask for her money again but he already beat her too it.

"Next time when I call you, you fuckin' answer. Thanks for the money...bitch." He said cutting his eyes at her as he walked back toward the store.