Black Boy

V.

The Party

The bass from the loud music echoed through the skate park as the sun began to set. Malik paced back and forth behind the DJ booth, mentally preparing himself for his first performance. More people showed up than expected thanks to Andre posting the flyer on his social media.

"Chill out. You got this. It's only three songs. What would Nas do?" Malik thought to himself.

Andre and his best friend Chase stood off to the side surveying the area.

"There she goes," Chase pointed in the direction of three girls, "Go talk to her," he nudged Andre who barely moved as he admired the girl with golden chestnut skin, long eyelashes, and curly dark brown hair.

"I can't just go over there. What do I even say?" Andre asked.

"You've had a crush on Ravyn since ninth grade. Go make it known before you lose your chance," Chase pointed at Rashad who was approaching the group of girls.

"This guy is always popping up," Andre thought then took a deep breath.

"Come with me," he looked at Chase with pleading eyes.

"You are Andre Brown. Since when did you get nervous around girls?"

"Ravyn isn't like other girls. It's like my charm and sexiness don't work on her. I think she's allergic to me."

Chase laughed at his friend then walked away from him.

"You need to get out of my face before I tase you," Ravyn snapped at Rashad after he told her she couldn't be a queen without him as her king then attempted to grab her hand.

"A queen is still a queen without a king you dumbass," Shayla spoke.

"You--" Rashad started only to be cut off by Andre.

"Is he bothering you?" Andre asked.

"Here you go trying to play Captain Save-a-Hoe again. Nobody is here to stop me from finally beating your ass," Rashad said.

"Then what's up?" Andre stepped towards Rashad while pulling up his jeans.

"Guys stop," Shayla stood between the two, "Don't ruin Malik's party."

Ravyn pulled Andre's arm when she noticed he wasn't going to back down and he instantly relaxed. Rashad sucked his teeth then walked away.

"What's wrong with him?" Joey approached the group.

"The usual," Andre spoke, "So now that you're speaking, why do you paint stuff around school?" he turned to Shayla.

"To protest institutional oppression," she replied.

"I gotta get to know her," Joey made a mental note.

"The food fight yall started was epic but I ended up with pizza sauce on my face and I don't appreciate that," Alice joked.

"Tell me about it," Joey said and the group chuckled.

"I love this song!" Shayla yelled as soon as Lil Kim's deep New York accent filled the park. She grabbed Joey and Andre's hands and ran over to where other people were dancing. Ravyn and Alice followed.

"Chillin in a Benz with my amigos, tryna stick a nigga for his pesos," the girls yelled along to the song.

Andre and Joey looked at each other with raised eyebrows then started laughing.

"There goes Demetrius," Andre spoke over the music and pointed to where Demetrius stood by himself with a confused face.

"Call him over," Joey said while dancing with Alice.