Before These Trials

Tw.ty Four

I woke up the next morning, and everyone that slept in my room was gone. Jay was gone from the bed, and Candince and Breezy were gone from the mattresses lying on the floor. I started to get skeptical when I walked into my bathroom, catching sight of a Nerf water gun. Oh, so they wanted to play this game? I silently filled it up with water. I heard giggling and whispering coming from my room, so I quickly hid away in the closet.

" Oh shit, he's not in his bed. " Candice whispered loudly.

" Bitch, keep your eyes open. I have yet to meet someone as sneaky as my brother. " Tia added.

I slowly cracked the door, seeing that their backs were faced to me. I opened fire, squriting them with water while running out of the room. I was hit in the face with water, seeing that Jay was hiding outside. I ran to the kitchen, seeing my mother. I dramatically slid through her legs as she got Jay. I hid behind the kitchen counter, silently catching my breath.

" Oh, Tre? " I heard Breezy sing from beside me. I slowly turned to him as we went back and forth.

" Bombs away! " my father yelled, throwing water balloons at everybody. We all laughed, running and trying to dodge his hits. Tia and I managed to steal some of his balloons, distributing them amongst everyone and getting him back. All of the other family members that were staying with us quickly ran downstairs, thinking something was wrong.

" Shit, I'm tired. Y'all want some breakfast? " my mother caught her breath, walking into the kitchen.

Everyone in the house pitched in to cook breakfast, and then we all sat down at the table.

" When are you leaving, baby? " my mother asked Jay.

" Tomorrow. I have a game to get back to. " he replied and she nodded.

" Well it was fun having you here, I know Tre misses you. " my father added.

" I missed Tre, too, and you guys. Today reminded me of how much fun we used to have back in Cali. " he reminisced.

" So, what's the move for today? " Candice asked and Breezy agreed.

" I don't know, what is there to do? " I asked.

" I have an idea. " Jay grinned. From the look in his eyes, I could tell that he was up to something. He walked to my room grabbing his car keys and walking outside. He returned with a box that looked familiar. I looked over to my mother, and knew that she recognized it because she was crying. " It was a risk, but I went back and collected what I could. I had some of them restored, but for the most part, they're as good as new. "

" Joseph, I swear you're a gift from God. " Candice cooed.

He handed my mother the box, and she hugged him tightly. He nodded at my father as she sat back down at the table, looking through the box. The first picture she took out was a picture of Tia, Drew and I. I looked about one, Tia had to have been four, and Drew was five. He and Tia were a year apart.

" Weirdly, I remember this day. " I smiled, nodding my head.

" Tragically, so do I. Mama burnt my scalp, trying to get those ugly curls in my head. " Tia rolled her eyes and we laughed.

" Yeah, and Glady's and I got a whooping because Tre had too much milk, and threw it up. " Drew added.

" And he had the nerve to laugh about it. " Tia chuckled, side eyeing me. The next picture my mother pulled out was a picture of me at my first birthday, crying. Tia was standing by my mother with her arms folded.

" You know, I'm surprised that debating only stuck with one. When this girl was little, that's all she did. Complain, whine, argue. " my dad told us, and she smacked her lips.

" Spoiled daddy's girl, she always gets what she wants. " she grinned.

" And still does. " I mumbled and she glared at me. " Check me, boo? " The next picture that she held out of us were all of us hugged up with my dad. We were older, and I could remember the house. " Ma', you remember the day Dank broke your vase? "

" Hell yeah, and I'm still mad. That was an expensive piece of furniture. " my mother said, making faces that caused all of us to laugh. " Oh, would you look at this? " she pulled out a picture of Jay and I, posing. I looked at him, and you could see the embarrassment all over his face. He had braces, and the shirt he wore was too big.

" Damn, you were fine all of your life, huh? " Candice examined the picture before gasping. " Sorry about my mouth. "

" It's okay. " my mother said, laughing.

" How long have you guys been friends? " Breezy asked, pointing to something on the picture and sharing a laugh with Candice.

" Since my seventh grade year, and his sixth, so six years. " Jay recalled. I smiled at him, I didn't even know he remembered.

" So I have a question? When did you start liking my brother? " Drew asked. As Jay answered him, I felt my phone vibrate. I looked at the text message from Flex.

Flex : Meet me at the pier at six, and wear something cute for me.