Free Black Sheep by Na'ima B. Robert Page B

ain’t the same.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘I don’t know, they’re just different. Kinda like white people... I can’t explain it. All I know is, yeah, there ain’t no teachers at my school who believe that
any of us are even gonna pass our exams, let alone go to college or university. It just ain’t gonna happen, blud.’
    ‘Says who?’
    ‘Everyone knows that.’
    ‘Everyone?’
    ‘Yeah... no.’
    Silence.
    ‘Not everyone.’
    ‘So what do
you
know?’
    ‘I know you need to get the hell out of my head, that’s what I know!’
    Silence.
    ‘So that’s it?’
    Silence.
    ‘Really?’
    ‘I’ll say one last thing...’
    ‘Ha, I knew you was still there!’
    ‘I’m out, mate, I’m just gonna say one last thing: you need to check this beef with Trigger and Larkside mans. Before it’s too late.’
    ‘That’s it?’
    Silence.
    ‘OK.’
    We had reached the bowling alley. We bounced off the bus and on to the curb but, as we walked towards the large yellow building I slowed down, my heart hammering in my chest. I caught sight of a
green bandanna under a hood and, as if in slow motion, the boy wearing the hood turned towards me and I saw the scowling face and the scar running like a silver ribbon across his forehead.
    My heart stopped dead in my chest.
    It was Lockjaw, head of the Larkside Crew.
    Straight away, I looked around and saw four, five, six of them, bopping towards the bowling alley. And I knew then that there would be no bowling for me and Jay that day. I didn’t know
what Larkside mans were doing down Streatham sides, but I wasn’t about to hang around and find out. With all the beef that was going on, I couldn’t risk it, not after what had happened
to Lightning and Spoonz.
    I flipped up my hood.
    “Come on, bro,” I muttered, my hands like steel on Jay’s shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.” Ignoring his squeals, I pushed him on to the bus that had just
pulled up and marched him up the stairs to sit at the back. I looked out of the window to see whether they had followed us but I could see that the last of them were going into the bowling
alley.
    But I didn’t see Lockjaw. Had he seen me? Had he followed us on to the bus?
    Seconds dragged like nails on a blackboard as I kept looking towards the bus stairs, expecting Lockjaw to come bounding up. But then the bus began to move and I sat back in the chair,
relieved.
    But I had to look out of the window one last time – and that was when I saw Lockjaw standing at the bus stop, staring right up at me, a hard, cold look in his eye, like he wanted to smoke
me right then and there. He reached towards his back pocket and pulled something from it.
    Instinctively I ducked down, pulling Jay with me.
    But when I looked again through the back window, when the bus was a safe distance away, I saw Lockjaw’s empty hands swinging free.
    “Sorry about that, Jay,” I muttered, closing my eyes. “Let’s go get some McDonald’s down our sides.”
    I could feel everything closing in on me. How the hell was this beef with Larkside ever going to end?

Wrong Side Of The Tracks
    MISHA
    “Why don’t you invite your boyfriend Dwayne to a barbecue this weekend?” asked Mum, watching the weather forecast. “We could invite Auntie Loretta...
oh, and Auntie Dionnex- and Uncle Sam – I owe them an invitation actually.”
    I groaned, audibly for once. “Do we have to invite Uncle Sam, Mum? It’s just that he’s so... difficult.”
    “Hey, young lady, watch it. That’s family you’re talking about.” She thought for a minute, then said, “Why don’t you ask Effie to come too? That way Dwayne
won’t feel like he’s being put on the spot.”
    I thought about that: Effie might be a good choice. She had met Dwayne before and liked him (well, she thought he was hot, anyway). And she knew how to charm adults, no doubt about that. Maybe
her being there
would
make it easier for Dwayne....
    But Dwayne wasn’t too keen on the idea of coming to my