Spectrum

Chapter 5

Almost a week later, I found myself walking to the corner store as my car hadn't arrived yet and I needed a few things for myself.

The corner store, or much rather Andy's was a small building in the centre of the community, it's parking lot spanning over a block was a hotspot for up and coming d**g dealers and errand boys, it was really a notorious place from what I had been overhearing in the house.

The parking lot was full as I walked into it, cars ranging from Hondas to BMWs lined the parking lot as the people around were avidly talking and on instinct, I pulled the two string of my hoodie further encasing me and it had almost helped me in being inconspicuous until I was roughly grabbed by a female figure.

" Aye, Ace, this the trick that was tryna snatch me up at yo shorty crib. " She said pulling down my hood.

Not long after, a taller male walked over to us not looking in the slightest way pleased " And whatchu want me ta do bout that Azariah, these rich folks and we don't get in they space. " he said pulling me from her grasp, the people around us discreetly trying to listen in.

Azariah immediately started grinding her teeth together before brushing past us. ' Ace ' turned to me smiling " Sorry bout that, she got issues, I'm Jamal but people call me Ace. " he said before holding his hand out which I cautiously shook.

" We having a kickback Friday at Oaks, you can hit it up with yo siblings. " He said shoving his hands in his pockets.

Ace was tall, but not too tall but tall enough to bend when walking through a door. He was dark skinned with short hair and braced straight white teeth. He had the most eye-catching smile which complimented his unnaturally real hazel eyes, he was stunning, to say the least.

He scratched the back of his lowly cut hair before giving me one last smile and disappearing to wherever he was coming from.

That was Monday and after what had gone down, I had got what I had gone to the store for and had returned to my mother's house safely. Today was Friday and I was currently walking to ' The Oaks ' which I had learnt was code for their not so trap, trap house.

Apparently, Ace had specifically asked Riana to make sure that I came to the kickback and here I was, taking note of landmarks as we walked to wherever Riana was leading me to. Mason had immediately shut down the idea of attending said 'kickback' as he had expressed the importance of the activities he had lined for the night to which he refused to disclose on so I had simply gotten ready and left out with Riana.

Riana was dressed casually in a plain blue cropped hoodie and black ripped jeans with her infamous vans as it seemed to be all she wore since I had gotten here almost two weeks ago.

I tried to dress casually but I had soon come to realize that I was overall not a casual dresser so I had gone with a plain black mini skirt and a white tube top with thin straps with white sneakers that I had managed to sneak in my suitcase, though somewhat still managing to look plain, I had still garnered stares from the people we passed on the road.

My grandmother, my father's mother was big on elegance and I couldn't blame her, it was what the Knox women were known for and she wanted to maintain that image, she would have a stroke at the ensemble that I pulled together. This was stepping a bit out of my comfort zone but I was open to change, wasn't that what this whole trip was about.

We had made one last turn before we were at the foot of a driveway, the driveway to the house I assumed was ' the oaks '. The house was impressive in size for the area that we were in as the community had, from what I had seen, had a similar housing plan but this one was the odd one out.

It was a two-storey house painted in white with a large porch and somewhat lengthy driveway. The music was loud as it could be heard from where we were currently standing which was on the sidewalk. I followed Riana's lead as she walked up onto the porch opening the front door before walking in without knocking.

" Close that for me please, " She said before walking off leaving me to close the door.

The inside of the house was modest as it was littered with beige and white furniture which gave out a homey feeling. I was left to wander until someone pointed me in the direction of the backyard where there seemed to be a full-blown party going on.

Bottles of beer and various sodas were scattered in the yard and people had formed their little groups and were seemingly having the time of their lives whereas I was leaning onto the back wall of the house with my arms crossed with a bored look on my face instantly regretting coming.

Just as I thought the night couldn't get any more boring, a fight broke out causing a big uproar among everyone at the party, people were videoing screaming for either male and running towards the scene and somewhere in the middle of all of it, I got lost in the crowd.

People were bumping into me, brushing past me and stepping on my shoes but nothing could trump what came after all of that, male number one pulled out a g*n and started shooting around randomly as he seemed to lack aim but he seemed to not disappoint as he shoved the barrel of the g*n into male number two's face. All I could hear from then on were screams of horror, wails from the younger teenagers and pummeling feet as everyone stayed put.

Me, I was too shocked to move, not from fear, but more from disbelief initially, I couldn't believe someone would do that in a space filled with younger people and on the other hand, it made no sense to me to run towards the gate where everyone was pushing to get through.

I turned my head from left to right looking for Riana who was nowhere in sight and the only people who were now left in the backyard not forcing their way through the gate were Riana's friends and another group of people who seemed to be having some sort of showdown.

" Man, the s**t y'all fighting in the yard? pack that s**t up- " Jamal said angrily, the words dying on his lips as he turned to stare at me and in turn, everyone else followed suit.

I shifted on my feet, a bit uncomfortable from all the stares on me. Most of them seemed a bit shocked while others looked unimpressed while I maintained a look of indifference on my face but I wasn't the first one to speak up.

" This ain't no place for you ta be. " Male number one said rudely to the other.

Before anything else could be said Jamal looked towards me motioning to the house and from there I took the queue walking inside, most of the partygoers had left through the back gate which was now locked so inside the house was empty and though I marked the landmarks on the way here, I would more than likely get lost on my way back to the house so at this moment I needed someone to bring me home and I honestly didn't know who to call.

I sat on the couch for what it seemed like hours before the group of five walked in stiffly not minding me at first as they talked lowly to each other seemingly bothered at the before situation.

Jamal raised his hand to one of the other male's chest shoving him roughly " Bruh, what if somebody called the cops, ya can't just go round fighting people bruh, that s**t ain't cool. " He seemed to get angrier by the moment, the other male not daring to speak up.

It was quite amusing, to say the least, things like this didn't typically happen where I was from, sure, there were physical fights but weapons were a no-no for us, so typically I didn't know how to reach, obvious, I had seen a g*n before but it was intriguing to me how the male that the g*n was pointed at didn't even flinch as the barrel was forced into his face and that was what had kept me watching, it left me wondering what would have gone down if male number one had fired at him.

One of the females turned her head to look at me briefly her eyes widening a bit before bringing the others' attention to me as I was watching intently.

Jamal sighed running his hand over his face before making his way over to me.

" You good? " He asked seemingly trying to contain his anger from before.

I nodded which gave him the signal to continue " Ya sister left, ya probly don't really remember the way so I'ma get someone ta walk witchu. "

That was partially where that night ended, Jamal going back to converse with his group.