The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly for Amila, she was able to shower, dress in comfy clothes then crashed in her bed. Not even a few hours later she's woken by laughter and cheers. She got out of bed being careful of her leg, looking out her window to see Luca, Chris and Street at the little courts. She was in high shorts and a t-shirt. She looked down at her thigh to see a bruise forming around the wound. She could see some inflammation,
"Crap...", she muttered. Picking up a fresh wrap, she gently wrapped her thigh before sliding the brace with ease, grabbing her crutches, she limped out. She shivered at the cold air and slowly limped across the street. She smiled gently at Timo's mother as well as ruffling up Timo's hair who giggled.
"Hey guys", Amila limped up to the table being greeted with hugs. She looked over at Shorty and his friends who were eyeing them yet keeping to themselves. She took a seat in the bench, placing her crutches beside her,
"Oh, hey Timo. You want to play?", Luca asked when he notices Timo at the gate.
"Can I play?", Timo asked his mom who softly looks at her son,
"Five minutes, then straight home!"
"Yeah! Okay, we got a game going", Luca cheered, joined by the others.
Amila cheered for Timo as he dunked the ball into the basket. She heard loud Spanish hip hop music, turning slightly, she sees Marcos and his boys step out of the car. By the look on his face, he meant business. Amila whistled to the boys who stopped,
"Hang on", Luca tells them. Marcos and his boys approach,
"Heard you want to talk", he stared Luca straight in the eyes.
"I figured we could set some ground rules", Luca suggested but Marcos cuts him off,
"What you even doing here? Huh? No place left to gentrify?", he says.
Street spoke up from beside Luca,
"I mean, if he wanted to gentrify the neighborhood, he would've turned it into a dog park", he stated but grunted when he was hit with Amila's crutches.
"Look, we live here now, so all we want to do after work is come home, hang out with our buddies and play some ball. We're not looking to hassle anybody on our off time", Luca explained.
Amila smacked her forehead knowing Marcos won't nudge,
"You think you can fix up the court, change a few light bulbs and now we all good? Hmm? It don't work like that", Marcos snapped. Amila stood up with her crutches limping to walk up beside Luca which Marcos looked at her his attention on her, eyes trailing her outfit, frowning slightly with a shake of his head.
"Look, I'm just telling you we're not looking for trouble. But we also can't ignore what we see on the corner...", Luca paused staring at Marcos who had yet to take his eyes off Amila,
"You know what I mean?", he says to which Marcos looked back at Luca directly in the eye,
"There's nothing to see", he brushed it off staring them down. Amila shivered rubbing her hands together.
"So we all understand each other, then?", Street questioned.
Marcos nodded feeling fed up,
"Yeah, we understand. You want us out of here. But you see, we were here first. This is our neighborhood. You hear me?", he says to Luca, "my family's been on this block since 1969, and we roll deep...we belong here. You don't...you'll figure that out soon enough", he eyed them before signaling his boys to roll out.
Amila sighed, "so much for wanting to keep the peace", she mumbled but they watched as Marcos turned back, walking up to Amila who eyed him curiously,
"Here", he takes off his jacket placing it around her shoulder. She smiled up at him as she placed her hands in the sleeves,
"Thank you", she softly says knowing the others are watching; shocked at their interaction.
Marcos leaned his head forward,
"Don't need no one looking at you!", he muttered looking into her eyes, glaring at Luca them before leaving. Amila blushed turning to see the questionable looks on her friends faces.
Amila took a seat on the bench seeing the judgement on Lucas face,
"What?", she looked at him.
Luca shrugged,
"What was that?".
Amila took a sip of her water bottle,
"Well...we're on mutual grounds, Luca. We respect one another and he trusts me a little and I trust him", she tells him seeing him shake his head,
"Mils...this guy..", he was cut off from Amila who stood up with her crutches,
"Enough! I've always supported each and every one of you and the choices you made whether they were good or bad. You don't have to like it but I'm only going to say this once; don't ever judge someone you don't know", she argued as Street stepped up but her glare told him to back down,
"You may have checked his background and what's on his rep sheet, but you don't know him. And if I want to get to know him...that's my choice. I don't need you or anyone else's permission. So please, back off!", she turned limping away.
Amila smiled at Timo's mom before continuing to cross the street. She was upset with her friends, they should never judge someone based on their past without getting to know them. Amila was raised that way and it'll never change.
