The Come Up

Chapter 8 - Trevon's Release

Today is the day Trev decided to release his song to all of Brownsville. He told me of the party he planned months in advance and the day is finally here. The hood has been mumbling since this morning. Excitement found the streets, mainly because nobody even knew he was working on anything until last week. I am happy for him. More than anything though, I am happy he is now officially my boyfriend. The term is weird and I usually don't use it or care much for it. But everything was starting to change these days. I am his and he is mine. 

Trisha seems to be happier than both of us, even if it meant that she wouldn't get to spend all her time with me. We sent out her applications a few weeks ago and her grades were already improving, something I take credit for since I've been staying up late to help her study.

The party is to be held in Trev's basement. His mother, Kara who is young and one of the most beautiful women I have seen, works at Brookdale hospital, just outside of Brownsville, on Rockaway Parkway. She is a nurse but barely makes enough money to take care of Trev and his little sister Janice. Janice meant the world to him. I knew half the things he did was for them.

"What you wearing to ya man's party?" Trisha asks me.

We were  chillin in her room all day. Saturdays were always like this. We spent them together just talking and cracking jokes

"Do you have to say it like that? 'Ya man's party'"I mock in a deep voice

"Well that's ya man and he's havin a party. I don't know how you want me to say it." Trisha's elevated voice makes me chuckle. 

She open her closet and begins to examin all her clothes. After scanning briefly, she takes out skinny jeans and a blue top.  

"I'm bout to wear this and some heels with my hoop earrings and the gold necklace you bought me for my birthday. Bout to be the flyest girl in this party." She sticks out her tongue in the mirror.

"That's cute. The flyest girl after me? You meant the second flyest, right?I feel you girl, we all make mistakes." I retort, understandingly. 

"You don't even know what you wearing. Girl bah." Trisha had straightened her hair and added some new extensions that were purple at the tip. It looked fly on her. She had such a pretty face.

 "You think Pookie gon be there? I haven't seen my boo in so long."Trish adds.

"He's definitely gonna be at his boys song release."

It's true, we haven't seen Pookie in a while. I hoped he was okay. We would have heard if anything was up with him by now. Maybe he was doing good. Maybe he had found a distraction from it all, like me and Trev did. Either way it was odd for him not to visit Trisha for more than a week.

My phone vibrates and I am almost too eager to look. It's a text from Trev.

I open it up and smile automatically out of instinct. He randomly sent me kissy faces throughout the day. Especially if I didn't text him for hours on end.

"Oooo, i know that smile. Y'all be texting corney shit. You got him sprung cause I thought my boy Trev was a thug." Trisha never let me slide. I fan her off as I text back. 

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Trev's basement is crowded, sweaty and dark. This release had turned into a full out party.  Luckily Trisha and I are on the stage along with Trev and Pookie. All I can see below us are heads flashing in the many lights.  The mic is in front of Trev and the speakers are to the side along with Dj Dancehall and his equipment. A few of the guys on the block are staring at me like they've never seen me before, probably because I never dress up like this.