Love Thy Neighbor ~ Part 1

Remember Black Elvis?

??: "Oh, aren't you a Sheba?"
Francine: "Spare me the apple sauce and get out of here."
??: "See you like baubles? I can buy you a few."
Francine slaps him. He just laughs.
Tommy: "Leave her alone."
He says going towards the man. Two men hold him back.
??: "Well, if you won't come with me, this will."
He snatches the locket. Tommy gets out of the guys' grip and knocks them down. Then he punches the guy with the locket while Francine hits him in the head with a bottle. Tommy picks up the locket.
Tommy: "I think this belongs to you."
Francine: "And so do you."
They kiss each other. Everyone gasps.
??: "Francine!"
Jade: "What happened to Francine and Tommy?"
We were now all laying at the foot of the bed while M'Dear was sitting on it.
M'Dear: "Oh, I don't wanna bore y'all. I know you've got your Xbox and your Facetimes and your
Insta-book."
Ami: "M'Dear, don't make me hurt you."
M'Dear: "Oh. Ha ha ha."
Shaka: "Come on, you can't tell us a cool story like that with gangsters and forbidden love, then leave out the ending."
M'Dear: "Oh, all right, I'll tell you."
We lean in.
M'Dear: "But first, I have to hit the bathroom. My new fiber snacks, they really work."
She gets up and leaves.
Jade: "Ugh."
Ami: "Ew."
Y/n: "Now THAT'S nasty."
~Time Skip~
M'Dear comes back in. She gasps.
M'Dear: "Popcorn in my bed? What is wrong with you children?"
Ami: "It's kettle corn."
M'Dear: "Why didn't you say so?"
She says sitting on the bed.
Jade: "M'Dear, come on. You have to tell us. What happened to Francine and Tommy?"
M'Dear: "They got married."
Francine and Tommy jump the broom.
M'Dear: "And even though a lot of people didn't like it, including Tommy's family, they were happy, but they never had kids. So Aunt Francine gave me the locket on my 16th birthday."
Mazzi: "Come on, we need drama."
Y/n: "Excitement."
Shaka: "We need sizzle.
M'Dear: "Well, the story isn't in how I got it. The story is in how I got it back."
Ami: "The woman's a born storyteller."
We all nod.
M'Dear: "Let's turn back the years to 1966. Malcolm was gone, but we still had Martin. Those were turbulent times, but Columbus, like now, was a good place to grow up. It was Saturday night, two weeks after Aunt Francine had given me the locket. I was at home, reading the Bible, minding my business. Jesus Business."
Young M'Dear was checking herself out in the mirror actually.
Maybelle: "Daddy fell asleep in his chair in the kitchen."
M'Dear: "Good, let's go."
Maybelle: "Girl, you know those stairs creak. He'll wake up and catch us."
M'Dear: "My hot-to-trot sister had her mind set on going to a basement party."
M'Dear: "Maybelle, we are going to that party. Let's go."
Maybelle: "Uh-uh, we gonna break our necks."
M'Dear: "Oh, no. I'm not dying until I get my first kiss. Come on."
Maybelle: "But I—aah!"
M'Dear pushed Maybelle out the window.
M'Dear: "Shh."
M'Dear stepped out the window.
~Time Skip~
They had just arrived at the basement party.
M'Dear: "It was a college party, so everyone there was older. I felt totally out of place."
M'Dear made it to the middle of the stairs.
All: "Hey, Amelia!"
M'Dear: "Hey, everybody! Hurry up, Maybelle."
Maybelle limped into the door.
Maybelle: "I think you broke my ankle."
M'Dear: "Well, you only need one to dance. Come on!"
M'Dear: "That's when Jebediah approached me."
M'Dear walks over to Jeb.
M'Dear: "Wanna dance?"
They started dancing.
Ami: "What happened to your Bible?"
M'Dear: "What happened to your homework?"
Ami: "Touché."
I laugh at M'Dear's point.
M'Dear: "Your grandpa couldn't dance a lick, but he was a handsome cup of hot chocolate."
Shaka: "Thanks for ruining hot chocolate."
M'Dear: "Oh, we were having so much fun, until..."
??: "Maybelle and Amelia Williams....GET YOUR NARROW HIND PARTS OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW, OR I'M GONNA TURN THIS SUCKER OUT!"
It was M'Dear's dad.
Maybelle pushed M'Dear and they both ran towards the stairs.
M'Dear: "To make matters worse, I lost my locket. I didn't think I'd ever see the locket or Jebediah again."
~Time Skip~
M'Dear: "Luckily, I was wrong about seeing Jebediah again."
Jeb knocks on the front door. M'Dear answers it.
M'Dear: "Jeb? What are you doing here?"
Jeb: "I think this belongs to you."
M'Dear: "You found my locket. Thank you so much."
Jeb: "Miss Amelia Williams, I have mind to court you. Will you receive me?"
G grandpa: "No, she won't. Now get off my porch."
He slams the door in his face.
Mazzi: "Your daddy was a hater."
M'Dear: "He just thought I was too young to date. And, of course, no little long-headed boy was good enough for his daughter. But your grandpa wouldn't give up."
Jeb knocked on the door with a present.
M'Dear: "Thank you. I love chocolates."
G grandpa: "These best not have nuts."
He slammed the door again.
The next day Jeb came with a picnic basket. He knocked and M'Dear answered.
M'Dear: "A hen?"
Jeb: "And eggs."
G grandpa: "You couldn't get a cow?"
He slammed the door once more.
M'Dear: "Jeb was in love, and nothing could stop him, not even my daddy."
He had opened the door for the newspaper and saw Jeb asleep on the bench. He hits him with the newspaper.
Jeb: "Huh?"
He stood up.
G grandpa: "Young man, what's it gonna take to get rid of you."
Jeb: "A pine box, sir."
G grandpa: "You'll end up in one if you ever hurt her, disrespect her...or drop her off late. Do we understand each other?"
Jeb: "Yes, sir."
They shake hands.
G grandpa: "Amelia!"
M'Dear opens the door with roller on and a face mask.
M'Dear: "Jeb?"
Jeb: "Amelia?"
M'Dear screams and shuts the door as Jeb turns around. Her dad points at him with wide eyes. He shows a thumbs up.
We all laugh.
Jade: "You slammed the door on Grandpa?"
M'Dear nods.
Shaka: "I understand. I've seen you in your rollers and face cream. Whoo! It's not pretty."
M'Dear: "Boy..."
Jade: "Run, Shaka, run!"