217 replies to this topic

[Beks]

Maybe, but I have to finish them first. And that will take a loooong time! :wacko:

[jeh517]

That's ok Beks. I can wait.

[jeh517]

So is chapter 7 parts 2 and 3 of We're Curious Black And White almost ready for me to look at?

[jeh517]

What kind of clothes will Jamal's mom and Jamal's little sister Christina will wear? BTW how old will Christina be?

[jeh517]

Coffee,Beks said that there's going to be 3 parts of Chapter 7.

[jeh517]

So Beks is going to start working on chapter 7 part 2 after lunch.

[jeh517]

Beks just told me she'll be going on vacation to Florida on Saturday. So she'll put up chapter 7 part 2 of We're Curious Black And White ASAP.

[Beks]

Ok, here's the next part!

Chapter 7: Jamal and the Real Turnersville (part 2)


"We're almost there, Cindy," Jamal called to her as they came to another stair landing. He turned to see Cindy stopped on the stairs below him, breathing heavily.

"How...high up...are we?" she asked in between gasps for breath.

"We're on the tenth floor, I think," he answered.

"Don't you guys have an elevator, or something?" Cindy asked, climbing up to stand beside him.

"Well, we used to, but it hasn't worked in years," he said, pointing at a pair of rusting metal doors that obviously led into the out-of-order elevator.

"Oh," she replied, blushing.

After a few more flights of stairs, they finally came to the apartment.

"Mom! I'm home!" Jamal called into the house.

"In the kitchen, baby!" a voice yelled back.

"Come on," Jamal said. They squeezed into the tiny kitchen where a woman wearing a worn calico dress stood at the counter, facing away from them.

"Jamal, honey. Help yourself to the cookies on the tab..." the lady said, turning to face them and stopping when she saw Cindy.

"Oh! Hello there, sweety! It's not often Jamal brings home a lady friend!"

"Mom!" Jamal said, embarrassed. "She's not a 'lady friend'."

"Then, what kind of friend is she?"

"This is Cindy. She's doing this newspaper article about Turnersville, and I'm helping her."

"Newspaper article? Is it some kind of summer assignment?"

"Kind of," Cindy replied.

"I'll be right back. I'm just gonna drop my basketball in my room and use the bathroom," Jamal said, rushing out the room.

"Such a good boy," his mom commented, half to herself. "Well," she said to Cindy. "Help yourself to some cookies while we wait. Do you want some milk to wash them down?"

"Sure," Cindy agreed, biting into a tasty chocolate chip cookie.

"Here ya are, sweety." She handed her a small glass of pure white milk.

"Thank you." She took a sip and set it on the table. "So," she said, filling the silence. "How long has the elevator been broken?"

"That death trap?" she replied. "That thing's been out-of-order since I was your age."

Cindy heard something splash, and looking down at her cup, saw a jagged piece of grey plaster floating in the milk. Looking slowly up at the ceiling, she gasped as she gazed at the spiderweb of cracks in the discolored plaster, like the many branches of a decaying tree.

"Yeah, I keep telling the landlord he needs to repaint the ceiling, but he never seems to listen." Jamal's mom sighed, taking Cindy's cup and dumping the milk into the sink.

Suddenly, a shrill cry sounded in another room.

"'Scuse me, honey," she said, grabbing a broom that lay in the corner and running out of the room. Cindy followed her and stopped to look cautiously into the room Jamal's mom had disappeared into.

Adjusting to the dim light, she finally was a small crib, where a toddler in bright yellow clothes stood up against the rail, crying. Jamal's mom angrily swatted at a huge rat that crouched on the floor, bearing its long teeth at her.

"Get...away...from...my...baby!" she screamed, swatting at the rat with each word. It finally retreated into a small hole in the corner.

"Shh," she whispered, dropping the broom and rushing to the baby girl who was still crying. "It's ok, sweety. Shh. It's alright. It's gone now, baby."

Bright eyed, the baby stopped crying at last, and her mom bounced her on her hip.

"Oh," she said, seeing Cindy at the door. "I forgot to mention, if you need any help with your paper, just ask."

She lives like this," Cindy thought to herself, eyes shining with tears. "She lives in this miserable place, but she asks if I need any help."

Suddenly, Jamal came up beside Cindy. "Ok, let's go Cindy," he said. "Bye, mom!"

"Bye sweety!" she called after them. "Be back my supper time!"

Back on the landing, Cindy stared at the rusting elevator, still in a daze.

"You ok, Cindy?" Jamal asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I'm just still tired from climbing those stairs," she replied.

"Well," he said. "There's a better way to get down 'em." He came to the top of the stairs and swung a leg over the railing. "See ya downstairs," he said, grinning at her.

Cindy gave a small smile, and followed him.

[Neros Urameshi]

Another great part of the chapter! I love it!

Please continue!

[Beks]

Thanks Piggy and Neros Urameshi! This is my last update till after my cruise. It's only 4 days, but I'll be gone more than that.

[RocksmySocks]

Great update, Writer Woman! This story really has been an interesting adventure. Seeing life from different perspectives is something EVERYONE should try, at least once.

*slips the sneaky rat a bit of fruit* Er...I mean...bad rat! *cough*

-Katie :ahoy:

[Beks]

Rat Lady! :lol: This is an untrained, flea infested rat! Not Ratty! :rolleyes:

[RocksmySocks]

Hehe, sorry Beks. Couldn't help myself. ;)

-Katie :ahoy:

[Beks]

Ok, here's the last part of chapter 7! I wanted to get this up here before I got to my theater camp, which is 3 WEEKS LONG!!!! I'll be away for sooo long! It's too much to bear! :'( So, here it is! (BTW, I will try to work on Llama Heaven while I'm there)


Chapter 7: Jamal and the Real Turnersville (part 3)


Panting slightly after their ride down the stair railing, both smiling from the excitement, Cindy and Jamal stopped to catch their breath as soon as they reached the street again.

“So, how much more do you need for your paper?” Jamal asked.

“Well,” Cindy answered, taking out her notepad. “I have pretty much everything, I think. I just need…” She was interrupted when a group of teenage boys ran past them, bumping into them as they sprinted away.

“What’s their problem?” Cindy spat irritably.

“Hold on a minute, Cindy,” Jamal said, looking down the street past the running boys. “I think something’s going on down there. Come on.” He pulled at her arm gently, leading the way.

They turned into the dim alleyway that the boys had sprinted into. Through the gloom, Cindy could see what looked like two gangs of boys, facing each other in two lines across the alley, sizing each other up silently, glaring with an intensity that Cindy couldn’t even muster. Jamal and Cindy snuck closer, peaking out from behind a dirty trash can.

“I knew I recognized them,” Jamal whispered to Cindy. “That’s Sammy’s gang.” He pointed to a boy who stood in the middle of one of the lines.

“He’s my best friend’s big brother. Looks like they’re having a fight. Wonder why?”

“Shh,” Cindy hushed as Sammy spoke.

“What’s this then, Damean?” he asked, spitting out the other boy’s name like a bad taste in his mouth. “Tired of being banished?”

The boy who stood opposite Sammy smirked wickedly. “Just a little, yeah. Me and some of the boys have been talking, Sammy, and we think it’s time you stepped down.” The boys on either side of him cracked their knuckles, grinning.

Sammy crossed his muscular arms. “Oh really? Why do you say that?”

“You’re too soft for us,” Damean replied. “We need a bit more fire power, if you know what I mean.” He smiled not too kindly.

“I’ve told you, Damean!” Sammy yelled, a little fear in his eyes. “We don’t use that!”

“What, you mean this?” Damean suddenly pulled out a small, silver gun, pointing it at Sammy’s chest. There was a collective gasp from Sammy’s gang, the fear apparent in their eyes.

“Where did you get that?” one of the boys asked shakily.

“I ‘borrowed’ it from some rich whitie’s house uptown. Took out a punk kid who tried to stop me on the way back. Now…” His finger tightened on the trigger. “here’s how it’s gonna be. You step down or I make you step down. Your choice.”

Sammy stood his ground, boring his eyes into Damean’s.

“That’s just fine,” Damean murmured with a wicked smile, the muscles in his arm tensing with anticipation.

Cindy was just about to get Jamal and go for help, but he wasn’t beside her anymore. Looking up, she saw him standing suddenly in between the teenagers, facing Damean with no fear in his eyes.

“Run, Sammy! I’ll hold him off!” he yelled.

“Jamal!” Sammy said in surprise. “Get out of here!” Jamal didn’t budge. Damean glared down at him.

“Idiot kid,” he growled.

There was a bang. The boys scattered. The dust settled, and suddenly, there was only Sammy, standing over Jamal’s limp body.

“Jamal!” Cindy screamed, tears streaming from her eyes as she stumbled in her haste to get to him. Kneeling, she lifted his head onto her lap as he fluttered his eyes open.

“Cindy…I’m…” he managed to whisper.

“Shh,” Cindy said, putting a finger on his lips. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out. You just rest.”

She looked up to see Sammy staring at the end of the alleyway, where Damean stood casually, his face emotionless.

“Damean!” Sammy screamed, tears collecting in his eyes. The other teenager merely tucked the gun into his belt, smiled, and walked away. Sammy stood silent a moment more, then knelt down to examine Jamal.

“Looks like he only got ‘em in the leg, thank goodness,” he told Cindy, who was nervously playing with Jamal’s curly, black hair.

“I’ll call an ambulance,” Sammy said, reaching into his pocket for his cell-phone.

“Wait!” Cindy said after a sudden thought. “I have something faster.” She pressed a button on her long forgotten ear communicator, and without waiting to see if it worked, she started talking rapidly, ignoring the look on Sammy’s face.

“Neutron! We have an emergency here! I know you have a tracker in this ear piece somewhere! I need you to get your butt down here, pronto! A kid’s been shot! Hurry!”
_________________________

Oh! I forgot to mention, I left you with an unbelievable cliffhanger! :P See you in three weeks! ^_^

[Neros Urameshi]

Oh dear! Damean has been shout! Jimmy must get there quickly!

Please continue! That is, once you're back from camp.

[Beks]

Oh, well, Jamal was the one that was shot. Damean's the one that shot him. Maybe that was a bit confusing, and I should edit it a little? :huh:

[CraazyOne]

ACK! How could you leave us with such a cliffie?!!!!! :'( :'( :'(

*sniffletearsobgaspdie* OK, OK, I'll cut the melodrama. :P Beks, that was great! I can't believe Damean shot down an innocent boy like that. So CARELESSLY.

And now it's Jimmy to the rescue, eh? :D But he's WHITE, coming to save a black kid in a black neighborhood. Oh, dear, I smell some trouble here... But if he saves Jamal's life, that could really kill the prejudice in the neighborhood... Oooh, coool...

Anyway, whatever happens, I'm sure you'll do an awesome job with it, Writer Woman. ^_^ I can't wait to see what happens next!

Have fun in theater camp; it sounds like it'll be awesome! < 3




~Rachel~