The Kick Back

Antonio speaks

It was another one of those hot summer days when I met her. I didn't expect anything special to happen that day, just the same old things. Me and my boys spent the whole day at the lounge, a little place where we could freestyle, play arcade games, and listen to all of the latest music. Once the sun went down, it was finally cool enough to hit the block and see the sights.

My boy Mike got some info from one of the girls who lived on the same block as him. She invited him to a kickback and told him that he could bring as many friends as he wanted. I was never the type that liked to go out and associate with people a lot, but that night, I had a change of heart. We had spent most of the day having fun, and I didn't wanna ruin it by ending my night sooner than they did. Once I agreed to go, he gave her word that we would be there.

In our neighborhood, there had been a racial divide for quite some time. Hispanics didn't get along with Blacks too well, and the blacks were equally as irritated with our existence. For the most part, we managed to avoid one another and keep the peace. No problems surfaced until one day, a heated rivalry between Marcus Gray and Luis Hernandez erupted. Marcus was a high roller, one of those dudes you see in the streets driving a Beamer with fat gold rope chains around his neck. He was a dope dealer and he liked to show off. Luis was into the same things only he didn't show off because he didn't feel the need to. Rumor has it that Marcus was sleeping with Luis' girl and when they saw each other on the strip, all hell broke loose. After that, things were pretty tense. Their friends would fight whenever they saw each other, which stirred something in the community. There were constant threats of retaliation. No one knew when they would strike and nobody knew when or if they would be hit by a stray bullet. Still, me and my boys did our best to enjoy the summer and avoid the bullshit.

The night of the kickback, we all got dressed at my place. All of us threw on our favorite Adidas sweats, kangos, and Adidas with the fat white laces. Most of the girls we would run into at those kind of parties liked a fresh, fly, flashy type of guy, so we did what we could to catch their attention.

Once we got to the party, it was obvious that it wasn't like the parties we had been to over the course of the summer. As soon as we got into the basement, we noticed a variety of people from Hispanic and Black backgrounds. Surprisingly, they were all getting along and laughing. It was obvious that the party was a middle ground, a peaceful place between the great racial divide where we all got along perfectly. I could tell that my boys weren't really interested but I was interested in having fun. I decided to leave them to their thoughts and walk around the room to see who I could see.

The DJ was spinning the latest hot records, the red light illuminated the room. I walked through and caught a couple of girl's eyes, but none that I was interested in. I was raised in a traditional home and it was unacceptable for me to bring a girl of any other race home. I had my eye out for a beautiful Hispanic girl, one who had just enough class to keep our freaky escapades to herself. I had it in my mind that I would get her number and have my way with her sometime after the party. But first, I had to meet her.

I walked over to the punch table to get a quick drink. As I poured the punch into my cup, I felt an arm brush against mine. I heard a voice say, "Excuse me, I'm sorry." I looked over to my right to see the most beautiful girl I had seen in a long time. She had a smile as bright as the sun and a body that made my knees weak. There was just one problem though...