Chapter 1 

 

    The summer sun sat high over the eastside of Detroit, baking the pavement until heat waves danced above the street. Music drifted from somebody’s open window down the block while a group of little kids chased each other with water guns in the middle of the road. A grill smoked on one of the porches, and somewhere a dog barked like it had something important to say.

Jream Kiser pedaled her bike slowly down the cracked sidewalk, the rubber handles warm under her palms. Her braids bounced lightly against her shoulders every time she pushed the pedals. Beside her, Alani Voss rode with one hand on the handlebars, the other holding a red Faygo she’d been sipping since they left the corner store.

“You think your dad gonna let you stay over my house tomorrow night?” Alani asked, glancing over.

Jream shrugged, her shoulders rising and falling. “I don’t know. He said my mom supposed to stop by this weekend.”

Alani turned her head so fast the beads in her braids clicked together.

“Girl… now she wanna come see you?”

Jream pressed her lips together, staring straight ahead at the stretch of block in front of them.

“I really don’t wanna do this with her,” she muttered. “But my dad keep saying, ‘That’s still your mom.’”

Alani rolled her eyes hard enough to almost lose control of the bike.

“With her crackhead ass.”

Jream laughed before she could stop herself, the sound bubbling out of her chest.

“Stop cussing,” she said.

But deep down, something twisted in her stomach. If it were anybody else talking about her mom like that, Jream would’ve swung first and asked questions later. Her mom wasn’t perfect. Everybody knew that. The drugs had messed a lot of things up. But she was trying to get clean. At least that’s what Jream kept telling herself.

Alani nudged her bike closer and bumped Jream’s tire.

“You good though?”

Jream nodded.

“Yeah.”

She didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“Come on,” she said, standing on her pedals. “Let’s go to the court before the boys take it over.”

They picked up speed, their bikes gliding down the sidewalk toward the neighborhood park two blocks away.

The sound of a basketball bouncing against concrete echoed before they even reached the gate.

Jream slowed her bike as the court came into view. Antonio Macon and his boys were already there.

Antonio dribbled the ball low between his legs while Rashad, everybody called him Shad, guarded him, arms spread wide. Marcellus, better known as Cello, stood near the hoop talking trash like usual.

“Man you ain’t making that,” Cello said, laughing.

Antonio ignored him. He drove toward the basket, jumped, and released the ball.

It bounced off the rim hard. The ball rolled across the court, slipping through the open gate and toward the sidewalk. Right toward Jream. She squeezed her brakes and hopped off her bike, the tires skidding lightly against the pavement.

The basketball rolled to a stop at her feet. Jream picked it up. By the time she looked up, Antonio was jogging toward her. He slowed as he got closer, breathing a little heavy from the game. Sweat ran down his temples and along the side of his face. 

“Appreciate you,” he said, reaching his hand out for the ball.

But Jream didn’t hand it over right away. Instead, she spun it on her finger like she’d seen boys do on TV. The ball wobbled but stayed balanced for a second.

“You can’t shoot anyway,” she teased.

Cello’s voice exploded from the court. “Antonio! Your girlfriend holding the ball hostage!”

Antonio rolled his eyes immediately. “Man shut up.”

Behind Jream, Alani burst out laughing.

Jream finally grabbed the ball and held it out to him.

“I’m not his girlfriend.”

Antonio took the ball from her hands. Then he smirked. “Not yet.”

Cello howled like that was the funniest thing he’d heard all day.

“Boy already claiming her!”

Shad shook his head, laughing under his breath.

Jream climbed back onto her bike, trying to ignore the warm feeling creeping into her cheeks.

“Come on, Lani,” she muttered.

Alani leaned closer as they started pedaling again.

“Ooooh,” she sang under her breath. “He like you.”

Jream shook her head quickly. “No he don’t.”

But when she glanced back over her shoulder… Antonio was watching her ride away. And for some reason… He couldn’t stop smiling.

They rolled their bikes over to the fence near the court and leaned them against the metal railing, the chains clinking lightly as they locked them together.

A few girls from the neighborhood were already sitting on the wooden bench nearby, their legs swinging and their voices loud enough to compete with the bouncing basketballs on the court.

“Heyyyy!” one of them called when she spotted Jream and Alani.

Jream recognized them immediately. Girls from school. Same grade.

“Y’all late,” one of them joked.

“We had to stop at the store,” Alani said, walking over and dropping down onto the bench.

Jream sat beside her, the warm wood pressing against the back of her legs.

The girls were already deep in conversation, their laughter spilling out across the park.

One girl was braiding another girl’s hair while someone else passed around a bag of Hot Cheetos.

“Did you see Keisha’s new shoes?” one girl asked.

“They fake,” another said immediately.

Everybody burst out laughing.

Across the court, the boys kept playing. Sneakers squeaked against the pavement while the ball smacked hard against the concrete.

One of the girls leaned forward, watching the game.

“Ooo,” she said, pointing. “Cello so cute.”

The girls turned to look.

Cello had just made a shot and started celebrating like he’d won the NBA finals.

“Look at him,” the girl giggled. “He think he somebody.”

“Girl go ask for his number,” Alani teased.

The girl’s eyes widened.

“Who I look like?”

“Scared,” another girl said, laughing.

“I ain’t scared!”

“Then go.”

The girl crossed her arms, pretending to be offended.

“I’m not about to chase no boy. He need to come ask me out.”

The bench erupted with laughter again.

“Girl please,” Alani said. “You been staring at him for ten minutes.”

“Have not!”

“You have too!”

The girls continued teasing each other, their voices mixing with the sounds of the park.

Jream sat there smiling along with them, nodding when she needed to, laughing when they laughed.

But her mind was somewhere else. Her dad’s words kept playing in her head. Your mom supposed to stop by this weekend.

She stared down at the ground, tracing the cracks in the pavement with her eyes.

What would life feel like if her mom wasn’t on drugs? If she was just… normal. If she came to school events. If she helped with homework. If she lived at home instead of showing up every now and then like a visitor.

Jream swallowed the tight feeling in her chest and forced herself to look up again.

The ball bounced hard against the pavement. Antonio had it now. He dribbled past Shad, quick and smooth, then drove toward the hoop.

For a second, Jream forgot about everything else. Her eyes followed him. He moved different than the other boys. More serious. More focused.

She didn’t understand the strange feeling that fluttered in her chest whenever he was around. But she liked it. A lot. Alani leaned over suddenly.

“You know Tasha already had her first kiss?”

Jream looked at her.

“She told everybody.”

Another girl chimed in proudly. “I had mine too.”

“With who?” someone asked.

“My cousin friend,” she said.

The girls started screaming and laughing. Jream listened quietly. Her eyes drifted back to the court.

Antonio wiped sweat from his forehead with the bottom of his shirt. For some reason, her stomach flipped. She wondered what it would feel like…Kissing him.

The thought made her smile without meaning to. Before she could think about it any longer, the sound of deeper voices cut through the court.

A group of older boys walked onto the park. High school boys. Everybody on the block knew them. The basketball stopped bouncing. One of the older boys clapped his hands.

“Aight little dudes, court ours now.”

Most of the younger kids immediately started gathering their stuff. But Antonio didn’t move. He stood there, the ball tucked under his arm.

Shad glanced at him. “Man let’s go,” he muttered.

Antonio shook his head. “We was here first.”

One of the older boys laughed. “You deaf?”

Antonio stepped forward. “We was here first.”

The air on the court shifted. Jream sat up straighter on the bench. Something about Antonio changed in that moment. He wasn’t smiling anymore. He looked… serious. Like he didn’t care that the other boys were bigger.

Cello walked over beside him. “Man we can just go,” he whispered.

But Antonio hated when people tried to bully him or his people just because they were younger.

He wasn’t built like that. For a few seconds, nobody moved. Then one of the older boys smirked.

“Man forget it. Let these little dudes finish.”

They stepped off the court, heading toward the bleachers. The game started again.

Jream didn’t even realize she’d been holding her breath until she exhaled. Her eyes stayed on Antonio. He dribbled the ball again like nothing had happened. But now she saw him differently. The strange feeling in her chest grew stronger.

Across the bench, the girls were still laughing and talking, but Jream barely heard them. She watched Antonio move across the court. And that same thought slipped into her head again.

What would it feel like… kissing him? She smiled softly to herself. Right then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Jream pulled it out. A text from her dad. Come home. Your mom here. The smile disappeared from her face.

Jream stared at the message for a few seconds before locking her phone. The noise of the court and the girls’ laughter faded into the background.

Her mom was already there. Her stomach twisted.

She stood up from the bench, brushing her hands against her shorts.

“I gotta go home,” she said quietly.

The girls immediately started whining.

“Already?” one of them said. 

“Girl it’s too early,” another added. “We just got here.”

Jream forced a small smile.

“My dad texted me.”

Alani looked at her, already knowing. She stood up too.

“We’ll catch y’all later,” she said, grabbing her bike.

Jream didn’t have to explain anything. Alani always knew. That was her best friend like that.

The girls waved them off, still teasing.

“Bye boring people!”

“Bring snacks next time!”

Jream and Alani laughed as they walked their bikes back toward the sidewalk.

Across the court, Antonio noticed immediately. He paused mid-dribble, watching them jump on their bikes.

Jream swung her leg over the seat, pushing off the ground. Antonio’s eyes stayed on her as she and Alani pedaled toward the street.

Cello caught him staring.

“Oh now you watching her leave,” he said, smirking.

Antonio rolled his eyes and tossed the ball to Shad.

“I’m ready to go.”

Cello burst out laughing. “Oh now you ready.”

Shad shook his head. “Man you ain’t slick.”

Antonio ignored them, grabbing his bike from the fence.

The three boys pushed off from the court, their bikes rolling down the sidewalk.

They all lived close enough that the ride home was part of their daily routine.

Shad stayed the furthest out on the block, near the end where the houses started getting spaced apart. Antonio lived around the corner from Alani. And Cello stayed on the opposite side of her street. Jream lived closer to Cello’s side of the neighborhood.

They rode in a loose line, their tires humming against the pavement while the evening sun started sinking lower over the block.

Ahead of them, Jream and Alani rode side by side.

Alani glanced over at her.

“I can just ask my mom if I can stay at your place tonight,” she said.

Jream shook her head immediately.

“Girl you know since my mom there my dad ain’t having that.”

Alani sighed.

“I can’t believe he still allow her in the house after she stole from him the last time.”

Jream let out a quiet breath.

“I know right,” she said softly. “But I guess he still got love for her.”

For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.

The wind pushed against their faces as they rode past familiar houses, past barking dogs and kids playing in front yards.

Alani nudged her bike a little closer.

“Well see if you can stay Saturday,” she said. “If she leave tomorrow.”

Jream nodded.

“Okay.”

They slowed as they reached the corner where their paths split. The streetlight pole stood between them like it always did. They both stopped their bikes.

Without even thinking about it, they leaned forward and hugged each other across the handlebars.

“Text me,” Alani said.

“I will. But my dad do be tripping about the text. So, just call me after 9:00pm when my minutes are free.”

“Okay, and don’t let your mom get to you.”

Jream nodded.

“I won’t.”

They pulled apart.

Alani pushed off first, riding down the street toward her house. Jream watched her go for a second before turning her bike toward the next block. As she pedaled forward, she didn’t notice that Antonio and his friends had slowed their bikes a little further back.

Cello looked over at him.

“You following her now?” he teased.

Antonio shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Nah.”

But his eyes stayed on Jream riding ahead of them. And for some reason… He didn’t mind the ride home taking a little longer.

Jream slowed her bike as she turned onto her block.

The sun was dipping lower now, stretching long shadows across the cracked pavement. The familiar brick house came into view, the small porch where her dad sometimes sat in the evenings.

Tonight the front door was cracked open. Her stomach tightened. She leaned her bike against the porch railing and quietly stepped inside. The air in the house felt heavy. Voices echoed from the living room. Her dad’s voice. Low, frustrated.

“You need to get your shit together for your daughter,” he said. “If you can’t do it for yourself, at least do it for her.”

Jream froze just inside the doorway, her hand still resting against the wall. Then she heard her mom. Her voice was sharper than Jream remembered.

“Oh now you care?” her mother snapped. “You just want me to get it together so I can take her full time and you can go play house with that bitch across town.”

Jream’s heart started pounding.

“What?” her dad said.

“Did you tell her?” her mom continued, her voice rising. “Did you tell your daughter you probably got a baby on the way?”

Silence filled the house for half a second. Jream’s breath caught in her throat.

“I can’t believe you went out and got another woman pregnant,” her mother said bitterly.

Her dad’s voice came back, louder now.

“You can’t be fucking serious.”

“What?” her mother shot back. “You thought I wouldn’t find out?”

“What you expect me to do?” he snapped. “Sit around waiting for you to figure your shit out?”

The words hit the walls like punches.

Jream stepped into the living room before the argument could explode any further.

“Hey.”

Both of them turned at the same time. Her mother stood near the couch. For a moment, Jream almost didn’t recognize her. But then she did. Despite everything… she was still beautiful.

Her skin was a warm caramel tone, though it looked a little dull now. Her long hair was pulled into a loose ponytail that had once been thick and glossy. Her cheekbones were high and sharp, the same ones Jream saw in the mirror every day.

They looked so much alike it sometimes scared her. But the drugs had left their marks.

Her mother’s frame was thinner than it used to be. Too thin. Her eyes were slightly sunken, though they still carried the same soft brown warmth Jream remembered from when she was little. Still… She was beautiful. Naturally beautiful. Her mother’s face softened the moment she saw her.

“Baby…”

Her voice cracked.

“Look at you.”

Jream stood there quietly, her backpack still hanging from one shoulder.

Her mom stepped closer, eyes scanning her face like she was trying to memorize it.

“You are so beautiful, baby,” she whispered. “Come here.”

Before Jream could react, her mother pulled her into a tight hug. Jream’s body stiffened for a moment. Then she slowly wrapped her arms around her.

Her mother smelled like cheap perfume trying to cover something else.

Jream closed her eyes briefly. What was she supposed to say? She hadn’t seen her mom in weeks. Sometimes months. When she did show up, it was always like this. A hug. Tears. Promises. Her mom pulled back, holding her face in both hands.

“Look how big you getting,” she said softly.

Jream forced a small smile.

“Hi, Mom.”

Her dad stood across the room, rubbing his hand over his face like he already knew this conversation was far from over. Jream looked at him. Then back at her mother. Something her mom said earlier replayed in her mind. A baby. Her chest tightened.

“Dad…” she said slowly.

Both of them looked at her.

“You got someone pregnant?”

The room went quiet.

Her dad looked uncomfortable for the first time.

“Jream—”

“You dating someone?” she asked.

Her voice wasn’t angry. Just confused. Because in her mind… Her parents were still supposed to be together. Yes, her mom messed up. Yes, the drugs had taken over. But Jream always believed one day her mom would get clean. And when that happened… They’d be a family again. Just like before. She looked between them.

“I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend.”

Her dad sighed deeply.

“Jream…”

Her mother let out a bitter laugh behind her.

“See?” she said quietly. “Even your daughter thought you’d wait.”

The words hung in the air like smoke.

Jream looked down at the floor, her heart feeling heavier than it ever had before.

Because for the first time… The picture she had always held in her head…her mom getting clean. Her dad waiting. All of them becoming a family again. That suddenly didn’t feel real anymore.