Everett Johnson

"Will "

It's been six years since I lost mother, and almost every night of those six years, I have a dream about that night. No matter how much I try to forget, i just can't. My dad left us when I was very little and I don't know why he had to leave me and my mom. So the only People left in my life now are the Smiths, who I live with and regard as my parents, and my two friends Jessie and Scott. I was never really good at making friends, and nobody really liked me that much anyways, except my friends and guardians of course.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I know Jessie, Scott and Will are going to make a fuss about it in school today. I was going to be 15. After maths class, on our way to the next class of the day, Jess and Scott kept announcing in the hallway that tomorrow was my birthday.(its not like anyone even cared).

Jessie and Scott have been really supportive and they've always been there for me. Unlike me, they were quite popular in school because they were both smart, and fun. Growing up, after getting to understand why my mama really died, I hated all white people, including Jess and Scott. I saw them all to be murderers. But I later realized that I was just being stupid, because not all white skinned people were like the men who murdered my mom. I couldn't hate all white people including my closest friends just because one of them had taken my mom away from me. If I had kept living with that mindset, then I would be no different from the racists who roam the communities of Detroit, looking for black people to hate on.

Jess was the sassy type, and she always had a reply for the students who didn't like me. She was wearing a black turtleneck shirt and a pair of white jeans. She wore a pair of black Balenciaga shoes. Scott wore a pair of black jeans and an olive green shirt. He also had a Celine jacket which I got to wear once. I kinda liked it. When they met Will and I in the hallway, they started talking about my big day tomorrow. Will told them that Becky and Marcus wanted to throw a party for me, but I refused. Scott made a face that read, "why am I not surprised".

Jess tried to convince me but I cut her midway and told them I had to get to class.

Later that day, during lunch, Will asked me what I wanted to do on my birthday, and I told them I just wanted the four of us to have fun together. After our last lesson, Will was in such a hurry to leave. He had told us he was going to participate in a black lives matter protest that was going to take place that day. None of us(Jess, Scott and I) liked the idea. But he argued that he wanted to do it, especially for me. " But you're a Kid Will, what's wrong with you?. That thing is for adults and you're definitely not one so let's go home. And no matter how you shout on the streets, we'll always be the violent, bad guys OK, so let's just go home", I said. "No Everett, like I said I'm doing this for you and my family OK. And I'm not a kid, I'm 16, and besides I'll be going along with a few other teens in the community. You think I should do it right, Jessie? Scott?"

"Well, I don't know, but if you're sure you wanna do this, then do this" Jess said. She was doing that thing again where she would speak like a grown up and flip her hair when she was done."

"You know what, I'm out of here" Scott said and pulled Jess away. They weren't siblings and neither did they live close to each other but Scott always wanted them to go home together.

"Don't worry, I'll be ok" Will said and let go of my hand reluctantly.

When I got home, I simply told Becky that Will went to Jessie's house along with Scott to study for a test we had the next day. "About your big day tomo.....", I cut her midway, " like I said, I don't want any party. I just wanna be home with you guys. That's enough for me mom". I called her mom on occasions, and I only did that if I wanted to convince her to do something. Not that I didn't see her as my mom. She loved it when I called her that, because she thought it meant I wasn't dwelling in the past any more. "Well, if you have a test tomorrow, why don't you go up to your room and study".

" OK mom. Where's Dad?" I asked. "Oh he'll be participating in the protest today" she replied.

As I was climbing upstairs I knew had to find a way to get Will to come back home because Dad wouldn't be too happy if he found out that his sixteen year old son was also protesting. When I went inside my room I put on a hoodie and found a way to slip outside without my mom (Becky) finding out.

I quickly ran to the street where the protest was supposed to start but I found out they had already started, so I decided to go after them, only hoping that Dad wouldn't find me first. I caught up with them after about 12 minutes of walking, but before I could try to find Will I heard a gunshot. The police were at the scene and they released tear gas into the atmosphere in a attempt to disrupt the protest. After hearing the gunshot, I started seeing flashbacks of that night. I started crying and I just couldn't move. I heard several more gunshots, and my head began to spin. Out of nowhere a hand held me and pulled me away from the commotion. We hid behind a food truck which had been parked along the road. It was after getting away from the commotion that I realized that it was Jessie's Dad who pulled me away from the scene. He was white but he was helping the black community protest against the racist attacks. He was a really good person, and his family had been extremely kind to me. He asked me what I was doing there but I just told him that we needed to find Will because he was there too."We can't Everett, its too dangerous. He's probably hiding somewhere. we'll find him when everything dies down, I promise". I just nodded and stood there waiting for the police to leave. After some time, Steve and I came out of our hiding spot and I began shouting Will's name. I screamed his name several times looking everywhere but I couldn't find him. I was turning my head to look in another direction, preparing to scream his name again when I saw a body a few steps away from me. I suddenly stopped moving. Whoever was on the floor was wearing the same Jeans Will had worn to school today. The body was not of an adult. Looked pretty much like the body of a sixteen year old black boy. My mind had already processed what I was seeing but I just didn't believe it. I couldn't. I went closer to the body and there he was. My friend; best friend, my brother, Will, Will Jordan smith. He couldn't move he just lay there. I knelt beside him and called him. I saw Steve try to check his pulse then looked at me. I looked away and it was then that I noticed the bullet wound in his stomach. I hadn't seen it because part of his jacket had covered it. There was blood, lots of it. I called him several times but he didn't answer. I slapped him hard and called him again but he wouldn't move. A few people around including Steve tried to console me but I wouldn't even look at them. Then I saw Marcus running towards us, he knelt beside his son and I saw tears running down his face. It was then that I noticed that I had tears on my face as well. Since the night my mom was shot, I hadn't shed a single tear. It hurt.....soo much to see my favourite person dead in front of me. I loved Will so much. We had an amazing bond between us. He was the brother I always wanted and the best one I could ever have. I felt two hands lifting me off the ground and pulling me away. It was Steve trying to get me away from the body so that I could stop weeping. I looked up and saw a policeman standing away from us, along the street. I knew the face. It was one of the policemen from that night. The one who was standing away from our car. He had a sad face and he was staring at me. I was too confused and distracted to wonder why he was

I saw Will being taken away. I stretched out my hand, and the only thing I could manage to say was, "Will"