Time:4:27 PM
Date:May 12th,2016
Both Jai and Eli turn around and stare at the door for a second before looking back at each other,they both hesitate to get up and then Eli walks towards the door.
He opened it and was greeted by his aunt who had a bath and bodywork's bag in her left hand. She hugged Eli tightly before walking into their house. "Oh Markus is getting stuff outta the car so it'd be helpful if you two went out there."
Both Jai and Eli put on their slides and walk outside,they're both greeted by the blazing hot sun and the sound of gravel coming in contact with their shoes.
They both squint their eyes and look into the distance,their eyes then pop up out as they begin to run towards the blue challenger. "MARKUS!" They both yelled as they hugged him tightly.
"Damn y'all getting big." Markus said as he laughed with bags in his hands,he then proceeded to hug back as he looked down at them. "Y'all ma in the house?" He asked as Jai and Eli began to pick up bags and follow him into their own house. "Yeah but she's upstairs getting ready." Eli said as they all walked into the house.
"I love how spacious your house feels." Their aunt says as she walks around.
Jade walked down the stairs with a dark emerald green robe on,once she made it down she looked up at Markus and smiled. "You've gotten so big since the last time I've seen you." She said as they hugged.
Hope then walked up to her and hugged her tighter "it's so good to see you." Jade said as they stopped hugging.
"You guys can make yourself at home and feel free to take anything from the snack cabinet,I have to get on the phone with my boss and discuss the tissue accident." Jade laughs.
"Thanks auntie." Markus says as he ties his shoes. He then looks up at Jai and Eli "I almost forgot to tell you that I got a gift for you both." He said as he got up.
He opened the door and walked out towards the car,he then pulled out a small box and an even smaller Nike box along with a basketball.
Once he walked back he looked at Eli and Jai and then looked upstairs. "We should probably head upstairs so you can open it in your room." Markus said.
They all head up the stairs and walk into the room,Jai closes the door and Markus looks around. "Still the same I remember it." He said as he looked around.
He then sat down on the bed and laid the gifts on the carpet,Jai looked at the one that had his name labeled on it and then ripped it open revealing a shoe box.
Once he opened the shoe box he was meant with a pair of Air Force ones which also had a note in them. "Sorry I got them late but here ya go love you Jai." Jai took them out of the box and examined them,the AF1 sign was replaced with a diamond symbol and the laces appeared different.
He got up and smiled brightly. "Thanks man." Jai said while wiping the tears from his face. "No problem Jai,Eli, your gift is in the other shoe box." Markus said with a smile on his face.
Eli opened the box and was greeted with a pair of green and white Jordan 3's,he got up and hugged Markus.
"Oh and the last one I wanted to open myself." Markus said as he got up and picked up a giant box. "I call this one childhood." He unboxes it revealing a PS3 along with a Sonic generations and Lego Batman one game disc.
"How did you get that?" Eli asked as he looked at the PlayStation. "I got it while I was packing up,it was Under my bed all these years."He said
Jai and Eli look at each other and then look back at him "what do you mean moving?" Jai asked as they placed the PS3 on the shelf.
"Oh I forgot to tell you guys I was moving to philly this summer. My bad." Markus said
"What!? Why are you moving I thought you wanted to stay here in San Francisco."Eli asked
"I'm working on something down in Philly and my people really need my help…I'm sorry but I have to go." Markus said sadly.
"So then let's enjoy today." Eli says quietly. "I agree,I brought the PlayStation so we can have a trip down memory lane before dinner." Markus said as he took out the controllers.
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"I was wondering if you wanted some lemonade while I was up." Jade asked her sister-in-law. "I would enjoy some, yes,but I can get it myself; you don't always have to overwork yourself." Hope responded.
"I know I'm just making sure you're alright." Jade responded. When they both stopped communicating,classical jazz music played in the background at a low volume which broke the silence and tension in the room.A loud collection of beeps came from the microwave as she took out a bag of potatoes from it. She sat the bag down and carried two classes of lemonade over to the table and sat down in a leather chair.
"So uh…how are you and the kids doing ever since my brother has been gone?." Hope asked
Jade clutched her drink in her hand and laid it down gently, her nose began to burn and her fingers became stiff.
"They've been uh…they've been fine." She said as her voice cracked.
"If I'm being completely honest Jade…it's time to move on and find someone else,my brother has been gone for more than a year it's time to let him go." Hope said to Jade.
"I've seen miracles happen before so no I won't just let go,that man is the love of my life and I refuse to believe that he's gone plus the evidence doesn't add up,he just magically disappeared one day?" Jade said in an angry tone.
Hope sighed and took a sip from her cup "whatever makes you happy." She said as she laid back and looked at the Bible.
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After Jai,Eli and Markus finished dusting and turning on the PS3 they all sat and waited patiently for it to boot up.
The screen lit up and so did their faces as Eli picked up a controller and scrolled over to a specific account. The name of the account was "Flakes Flakes" and had the profile picture of a tin man. They all took turns staring at each other and smiling.
Jai clicked the X button and a sudden rush of nostalgia hit them all as they heard the music. "You guys remember the first time we got this?" Eli asked.
"It was at Uncle Andre's house on Christmas a couple years ago." Jai said as he stared at the screen.
Markus loaded up Lego Batman and then put down his controller which allowed Jai and Eli to play,as they heard the load up music they all smiled again and felt a rush of euphoria.
Jai immediately chooses Batman and they begin the first level,they continue through the level and then make it to the boss where Jai heavily relied on communication and Eli heavily relied on logic and timing,while Markus stood there and watched as he got a text on his phone from his mom.
"It's time for dinner so I think we should wrap it up here,but before we leave I need to show you guys something." Markus said as he looked at his phone.
"U.V inc and Blume are pretty big corporations and you know Blume is located in Philly right? Ok so basically Blume posts bullshit on their social media promoting internet security but in reality all they're doing is just sending your information to somewhere else to be used for other purposes." Markus explains as he begins to load up an app.
"So I work for this group that's planning on taking them down and in order to do that we must take down the main place of operations so I wanted to show you guys this cool drone I've been working on." Markus takes off a drone with a turret on it. He tosses out the drone and it begins to fly around. "This thing is gonna be the downfall of Blume." Markus says.
"So once you take down Blume won't they come for you?" Eli asked. "No…ok so Blume handles internet security and once they're taken down so will my felony records but I'll have to do that manually." Markus explained as the drone flew back in.
He grabbed the drone and then tossed it in his backpack before they all began going down the steps. "What the hell took you so long?" Hope asked Markus.
"We were checking out our presents." Jai says in an effort to cover up for Markus. Markus and Jai wink at each other as they all made their way to the dinner table.
"Eli and Jai, can you get the two pans and put them on the stove please?" Jade asked as she placed the plates on the table.
"Yeah of course." Eli said as he and Jai got the two pans and placed them on the stove carefully. Once they all sat down there was an awkward silence "so how are you two's grades looking like?" Markus asked as everyone began to eat. "I have A's and B's." Jaiden responded.
"Uh all A's the last time I checked." Eli said.
"Are you two excited for high school?" Hope asked as she used a napkin to wipe the grease off her lips.
Both Jai and Eli looked at each other and then began to ponder on how to answer because both of them didn't want to come off as pessimistic. "Yeahhhh." Both of them said at the same time as they dragged out their H's.
"When's the last time you talked to Andre?" Jai asked Markus. "I talked to him about a month ago and he said he was moving to Harlem and aiming for a new career." Markus said in a tone that meant he didn't care about whether or not his father was progressing in life.
"You know it's actually funny that you bring that up because I think I want to move to New York as well." Jade said as she sipped her wine. "WHAT!?" Jai yelled out. "Honestly I'm glad to hear that." Eli said as he grinned. "Why would we move? That literally makes no sense at all." Jai kept yelling.
"Honey please lower your tone and let me explain,you have to understand that these last two years have been very stressful for you,me and your brother so I'm thinking of moving because it can be a fresh start away from here and also I have more opportunities in New York." Jade explained as she kept sipping her wine.
Jai's facial expression was a mix between comprehension and anger but he didn't want to go against his mom's word." "Ok…whatever you say." Jai said silently.
"Oh did Markus tell you that he's moving to Philadelphia on the 18th?" Hope asked Jade.
"Really…that's amazing Markus!" Jade said ecstatically. "I hope you have a good time there but also stay safe. I know there's a lot of criminal activity." Jade kept talking as she began to cut her steak.
"I would say the same to you auntie…have you heard about the society's present in Harlem?" Markus asked her. "What's the society?" Eli asked.
"This group of people hell bent on taking down others for notoriety which means that they need to grow their following." Markus says.
"Thank you so much for the heads up." Jade said.
They all kept talking,laughing and sharing memories until the clock hit 10:30 and Hope got up. "It's been so fun catching up but I'm afraid we have to go." Hope kisses Jade's check and then does the same to Eli and Jai. Markus dapped both Eli and Jai up and then began walking upstairs. "Eli and Jai,come help with this." Markus said.
Jaiden and Elijah both walked up the stairs and then made it into their room. "Well…this is it." Markus said as he stared at the Lebron poster on their wall. "We'll miss you man." Elijah said as he looked at the poster with him.
"I'll miss you too…you and that stone ass forehead." Markus said as he laughed. "You got jokes huh?" Eli said as they laughed together. "You both are gonna be great at whatever you do in life as long as you stick together and I promise you that isn't a lie,just keep doing what you're doing and I promise you'll be fine."
"I hope you deal with Blume." Jai said as he rubbed the PS3.
"Thanks and to be honest I need all the support I can get so make sure to follow me." Markus said as he got his backpack. "I have to go help mom, I'll be back." Eli said as he left the room.
Markus flashed his flashlight on Jai's face which revealed his tears. "I know when you're about to cry because it sounds like you got something caught in your throat." Markus says as he walks over to Jai.
"What's wrong?" Markus asked as he put his hand on Jai's hair. "I'm fine it's just…your leaving and that means I won't see you for a while and that's kinda upsetting." Jai said as he began to break down.
"I promise I'll see you by the end of the summer and you also have my number so you can call or text whenever I'm not at work." Markus said as he wiped the tears from his face. "You have reminded me of a bunch of different things like Rain and then Clouds and lighting. You're so calm one second and then boom." Markus said.
They both walked out of the house and then Markus got in the car and left.
"You were crying weren't you?" Jade said as she walked in front of Jai and looked at his red eyes. "Me and you share the same type of cry when our cheeks get all red and puffy so that's how I know." Jade said as she kneeled.
"He's gonna be back." Jade said as she got up.
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Time:12:36
Date:May 13th,2016
Jai looked around his dark room trying to readjust his eyes to the darkness. He then looked at the note and got up from bed,he stared at Eli and then saw him sweating.
He pulled his cover down and then opened the window. He slipped out and then stood on top of the roof. It was oddly hot outside for it to be dark out and the orange street lights were the only thing illuminating the street. He slid off the roof and onto the grass. He began to make his way to the playground and saw a dark figure.
Rai jumped down and looked at him. "Hey special." She said as she took her gloves off. He paused and then looked at her "it's hot as hell outside why are you wearing gloves?" Jai asked her and he kicked the wood chips.
"I want to show you something I can do." Rai says as her knuckles begin to turn red. Fire forms from her hands and takes the shape of an arm blade.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Jai screamed out and he backed away. "Don't freak out!" She exclaimed as the fire disappeared. "I just wanted to show you that supernatural people exist." Rai said.
"I want to just see if you have powers so let me." Fire began to form in her hand again as she was on the verge of touching him.
Jai clenched up and then hid his face from her,an electric came as an act of defense and blasted her back.
Rai fell on the ground and then looked up "Bio-Electric powers?" She said with a bit of shock in her voice.
"What the heck just happened to me?" He asked as he looked at his stomach which was glowing. As Rai got closer he looked up at her "don't get close to me lady." He said.
"I'M NOT SPECIAL." Jai yelled
"Jai…yes you are can't you see." Rai said.
Jai ran away and then made it to his house,he climbed onto the roof and slid upon his window and then fell into the house. He hopped in the bed and then covered himself completely with his covers.
Chapter End.