"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I yelled as Isabel stood in front of me. She had her arms crossed, attitude all over her face. "What the fuck was I supposed to say Jose? No? That shit would have looked sketch as fuck."

"So you invite her over? Show her where the fuck you stay?"

"Jose you're overreacting, like she's not even like that, she's not thinking like that. She don't want shit to do with all this shit going on."

I thought about how she ironically got a flat in this neighborhood, then she shows up at Isabel's house, they could be on the same shit we were on and that shit didn't sit right with me. "How you know she not doing the same shit you doing?"

She rolled her eyes, "she tells me too much for that to be the case Jose."

"What's going on?" Roberto asked as he walked up to the table we were at outside.

I pointed at Isabel, "dummy right here had this black girl at her house today."

"Her name is Johanna" she corrected with attitude.

"No bueno," Roberto said as he scoffed down the granola bar he had in his hand.

Isabel rolled her eyes, "wait, is that your connect to what they're doing?" Roberto asked.

She nodded her head, "in a way."

"Clearly that shit isn't working" I chimed in.

"You need to be fucking with one of the dudes Izzy. You need to hear what those niggas talking bout. I doubt she dishing out what they dishing out. Unless she dealing with one of them. Is she?"

She shook her head, "nahh, I don't think so. She hasn't really talked about any dudes."

"Then why the fuck you ain't fucking with the dudes?" Roberto asked as he took a seat.

"Same reason y'all ain't fucking with no black girls."

"We never do," Roberto blurted causing both of us to laugh. I dapped him up for the accuracy. "But," he continued, "they men love them some Latinas. What the fuck is you waiting on?"

She rolled her eyes, "they don't trust me. Think shit shady, which is accurate as fuck when you think about it."

"Move smarter," I stated as Roberto nodded his head. "I'm not about to come off thirsty." She easily shot back. I looked at her like she was stupid, "you shouldn't, that's the opposite of moving smarter. Looking like you want it too much makes is suspect. How you approaching them?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I mean, I flirt."

"Clearly not enough," Roberto added, "you cute as hell Izzy, a dude gon' want you. You ain't really trying. Pick a guy then reel him in."

She bit her lip like she was thinking, "okay, I'll try a little harder. Anyways," she began as she changed the subject. "I invited Johanna to my party next week, so expect to see her."

"Un-invite her" I voiced with no hesitation.

"Johanna the black girl you had over here?" Roberto asked. She nodded her head. "What she look like?" He asked as he licked his lips.

I rolled my eyes, completely not with the shits. Isabel smiled, "brown skin, short, pretty as hell. I really fuck with her, beyond this ears open shit."

"Shitttt," Roberto said with a smile, "let her come, she might be some help." He justified as he looked at me.

"I doubt it," I voiced as I checked my messages.

"It's my party anyways," Isabel started, emphasizing the word my "I can have whoever I want there. I'm just letting you know she'll be with me."

"She the only black person you invite?" Roberto questioned. She nodded her head. I chuckled, "she definitely isn't coming then" I added.

Roberto nodded his head in agreement, "I was going to invite her friend, but I know that bitch don't like me. I think I'm going to invite her anyways." She continued.

I shook my head as a text came through from my little sister asking me to stop by. "I'm going to head out, I'll catch y'all later," I dapped up Roberto then made my way to my car as they continued talking.

--

"Jose!" my little sister ran to me with excitement as a big smile spread across her face. She would forever be my baby, she was thirteen in her last year of middle school and I wasn't looking forward to her going to high school. She was pretty as hell and I'd gladly fuck some little boys up for even looking her way. I smiled as my dimples pulled in as I embraced her.

"How's school?" I asked as I took her in. Her hair was getting longer. She shrugged her shoulders as her smile dropped, "it's school. I don't like it."

My smiled dropped as well as I looked at her seriously, "how your grades?"

"I'm passing." She replied nonchalantly.

"What's passing Maria?" I knew she hadn't been doing too great from what my mother had told me last time.

"Not failing." She looked up at me as a smile started to play on her face, her smart ass mouth. "You know what I mean," I light pushed her head.

"C's and D's." She pulled out her phone, her way of showing she was trying to leave the conversation.

"That's not acceptable Maria. I'm damn sure not about to buy you no new phone with those kind of grades."

That quickly grabbed her attention as she looked up at me, "Jose, chill. You got D's and C's in school."

That she was right about and I barely made it out of high school because of how deep I was into this gang shit, I ain't give a fuck about school but I didn't want her going down the path that I went down. I wanted better for her. 

"And if I knew then what I know now I would have pulled that shit up, you ain't stupid. Get them grades up."

"Okay," she said with a pout and a roll of her eyes.

"Where mama?" She shrugged her shoulders, "work maybe? I haven't saw her in a while."

I scrunched in my eyebrows, "what you mean in a while?"

Her not seeing my mother in a while worried me, at one point my mother was badly hooked on drugs and it was the only time she went missing, she'd been clean for a while so I'd hate for that to be the case I did everything in my power to keep them straight. I was ten years older than my little sister so she wouldn't remember how bad shit was, it was the reason I turned to the streets.

"Like a couple of days, but you know she has a new boyfriend and her shift at work changed."

"Nahh, I ain't know none of that."

Just as I said that she walked through the door, smile on her face as she saw me with groceries in her hand. She quickly sat them down as she ran over towards me with her arms open for a hug, "hijo."

I gave a small smile as I hugged her, every fear of her being back on drugs melting. Me and her had a love hate relationship. When she was on drugs the shit made me angry so we clashed for a while after she got back clean, and I felt like she wasn't always the parent my sister needed, like the fact that my sister said she hadn't saw her in a while. She's thirteen, shit like that shouldn't be happening.

"Where you been?" I asked quickly cutting to the case at hand.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she kissed my sister on the forehead and started unloading groceries.

"Maria said she hasn't saw you in a while."

She gave Maria a look, that Maria completely missed since her head was down in her phone. "My schedule changed."

"To where you're not here when she leaves or comes from school?" She sighed, stopping and looking at me, "I'm working twelve hour shifts."

"What's the hours?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"Jose, you are my son. Stop clocking me like I'm your child." By this point my sister walked out, head still in her phone as she headed to her room.

"Then stop acting like one."

"Excuse me?" she said with attitude. She lowered her voice before continuing "I am no longer on drugs Jose so stop treating me like it, I have to be in at seven am she doesn't have to be at school until nine so she doesn't wake up until after I leave, I get off at seven pm and yes I spend time with my man sometimes. So sometimes when I get in she's sleep. But she is very self-sufficient. I make sure there is food in this house and clothes on her back."

"We" I said as I looked her in her eyes, "we make sure there is food in this house and clothes on her back."

I laid $500 dollars on the counter as I always did at least twice a month, one thing I didn't want was them struggling. I started walking towards the door as she gave me a low thank you.