Black Pearl

Chapter 1: Boe's Funeral (Part 1)

"Please...don't do this. I'm begging you please!!!"

*BANG* *BANG*

*gasp*

I shot up from a nightmare I couldn't forget even if I tried. Out of breath, I laid upright against my headboard trying to get myself together. As I remembered more and more from that night I could feel tears going down my Face. I wiped them away as I got up and went into my bathroom. I turned on the warm water and threw a handful into my face so I could wake up more. I looked into the mirror so I could look at myself. My face wasn't the same. I looked drained. More tears ran down my face as I was staring at someone I didn't know anymore. Suddenly, I saw something shuffle around in the tub behind me. I looked in the mirror behind me to see a little girl. I quickly turned to see if anything was really there and there was nothing.

I fell to the floor sobbing. I knew it was her. This is the second time I've seen her since she died. Part of me feels like it's the guilt making me see her. I just knew her dying was all my fault. All she wanted to do was be around me. I love her so much. "Im so sorry Boe..."

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The Next Day

*knock* *knock*

"Hey Nikki? Are you dressed?" I heard someone say from the other side of the door. I sat by my window. "Yeah.." I answered. The door opened and I looked over to see Rizzy. My best friend since 3rd grade. Boe loved her. Rizzy was the laid back chill time. Was all about peace, love, and smoking weed but my mother wasn't having that in her house. So me and Boe would go to her house and chill so I could smoke with her in her room. Boe would just sit in the living room and watched tv and ate all of Rizzy's snacks until we were done. Then we'd take her to the skate park and me and Boe would watch Rizzy do all kinds of tricks. Rizzy would even teach Boe how to skate and do her own tricks. After that we'd go to Zoey's house and chill over there until it was time to go back home. Zoey didn't really like when Boe would hang because she was just a kid. But I brought her anyways because I knew she always wanted to come. I never thought it would be a big deal until now.

"You hanging in there?" She asked as she sat on the edge of my bed by me. "I don't know Rizzy..I don't know." I said making her looked down as she tried to stop herself from crying. She lifted her head back up and looked back over at me.

"This shit isn't right...she didn't do anything wrong. She didn't deserve to go out like that Nikki. We gotta do something. We ca-"

"What can we do Rizzy? We just some niggas that rob and kill people right? Just cuz we standing around having fun, minding our own business, we automatically did something wrong. No questions asked. I didn't even know she had followed me the whole way there." I said interrupting her as I sat up from the window seal.

"Im the reason Boe is in a fucking casket as we speak Rizzy! Me!!! Not the fucking cops, not you, Zoey, Mike, or Jordan! I gotta live with this shit Rizzy!" I yelled as tears filled my eyes.

"Nikki stop! This is not your fault. We gotta do something about the shit that's going on in L.A. That Rodney King shit got these people thinking they invincible and that they can do whatever they want to us. Fuck that! Now come here.." Rizzy grabbed me and pulled me into her. I hugged her back as I cried in her arms. "We have to be strong for Boe. They are gonna pay Nikki. Believe that!"

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Boe's Funeral

"My sweet Boe..if only they knew how it felt to be us. I remember one time you asked me to take you somewhere special. At the time I didn't know what special meant to you. Only how it meant to me. So I took you to this alley where pretty flowers bloomed. Purples and yellows and reds. The sun rays made their colors shine bright just like you. We stayed there all day and picked all kinds. You said to me... "this place is amazing Nikki..it's like what I imagine heaven would be." I hope it's your heaven now Boe..I will always love you." I picked up the piece of paper and walked away from the podium. I went over to Boe's casket looked at her one last time. I then bent over to kiss her cheek and place the piece of paper on the side of her with her tape player.

As I walked back to my seat by Rizzy and Jordan, my mother stopped me and grabbed my arm. I looked at her to see tears in her eyes. The look on her face expressed so much anger she had inside for me. I ripped my arm away from her and continued to walk away. She blames me for what happen to Boe. She never wanted Boe outside with me and my friends because we were always up to no good.

As I was sitting with Rizzy, I was looking down fiddling with my fingers until someone walked over to me making me look up. It was my father. He nodded his head and walked out of the church. I knew that was a way of him wanting to talk to me. So left out the church behind him.

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