Focus on You

Chapter Two

"She gave me homework on a Friday!" Cori whined.

"What? How dare she!" I responded dramatically. "We gotta do something bout that!"

"Yeah!"

"Well, you still have to do it, Coco. Come on." I pulled out a chair at the dinner table for her to sit. I don't understand why she didn't do this yesterday after school.

"But I don't want to! I want to go to the park!" She demanded.

"Do your homework first. I'll take you if you do your homework," I bribed. She pouted and trudged over to the table. "Let's do it together."

She had to trace the letter of the week M about ten times, and she had to do her addition and subtraction. It all took about fifteen minutes. She did all that whining for nothing. "Go put some shoes on, Coco," I ordered. She quickly grabbed some shoes and put them on. I had on a white t shirt and gray sweatpants, so I put on my Converse sneakers. "I'm taking Coco to the park," I told Ms. Frankie. I slipped into my jacket and I grabbed my Canon Powershot SX60 HS 16.1 Megapixel Digital Camera. It was a gift from Ms. Frankie when I turned 15. I take it everywhere just in case I see something that should be photographed. I hung the camera strap around my neck as when headed out the door.

*

"I'm not tall enough to move with my feet," Coco cried. She sat on the swing with her feet dangling off. I went up behind her and gave her a push.

"Make sure you move your feet back and forth."

I sat at the bench and looked around. I snapped a few photos of the Cori swinging and of the birds flying in the sky. It wasn't much going on today.

"Eliza!" I turned around to see Kendrick walking by himself with a basketball in his hands.

"Hey," I greeted him.

"I was bout to play basketball, wanna play with me?"

"I suck at sports. Plus I have to watch Cori." I pointed at Cori on the swings.

"I wanna play, Lili!" She yelled from the swings. I rushed up to her and pulled the swing back so she could stop. She hopped off and quickly made it to Kendrick. "I wanna play!"

I looked at Kendrick and he shrugged his shoulders. "Why not," he said with a smile.

The three of us went on to the court. It was empty, due to the fact that it's only nine in the morning. Barely anyone comes out to the park this early. I placed my camera down safely next to the gate.

"Two against one?" I asked.

"I want her," Kendrick said, referring to Cori. I shrugged and he threw me the ball.

*

"Where'd you learn to play like that, little one?" Kendrick asked Cori.

"Nowhere. I was born this good." She made an attempt to dribble the ball.

"Well, you can only get better," Kendrick said with a laugh. I smiled at Cori. I was leaning against the gate that surrounded the basketball court. I stood, looking straight ahead, while Kendrick stood next to me and Coco was in front of me.

"So what's up witcha, E?"

"Nothin much. Just living life.." I said, shaking my head. "You?" I looked his way, but not at him. I was too nervous to.

"You stay just living life." He mocked me. "What else do you do?"

"I don't do much of anything." I laughed to myself, covering my mouth. "You know that I do photography, so it's not much for me to tell you."