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  “Woah! Ninety-four?! I wasn’t even thought of during that year.”

  “Yeah, something terrible happened back in Wittington. A girl named Tanya Clark went mad and killed almost all the student body at the old football house.”

  “What?!”

  “That’s one of the stains on our community. Poor Tanya was bullied because of the dark complexion of her skin by this girl named Charlotte. Charlotte even thought of a horrible prank to humiliate Tanya.”

  “What kind of prank was it?”

  “Charlotte had a football star by the name of Shane, drug and rape Tanya to make it look like she cheated on her boyfriend, Ray. They even videotaped it and played it for the whole party-goers to watch!”

  “That’s messed up!”

  “Tell me about it and when Ray went to pick her up, she jumped out of his car and jumped off the overpass by the highway, and killed herself.”

  “What the hell? How did she kill the kids?”

  Mia lowered her head and looked Tareeq in the eyes again.

  “She was summoned back as a zombie by her mother and Baron Samedi.” She whispered. Tareeq’s eyes widened; he wanted to believe Mia, but her story was just so farfetched.

  “Don’t play with me like that. How did she really do it?” He asked.

  “I’m telling you the truth! She was brought back as a zombie by her mother. She came back and killed the kids making it one of the bloodiest massacres in our town’s history. Besides, Black Hallow of course. No one ever believed this story though, not even when Ray told it. You know what they did to him?”

  “Tell me.”

  “Because they couldn’t find any trace of Tanya Clark and her mother, Jesula, they put all of the blame on Ray. The police said that he wanted revenge for what they did to his girlfriend. So now, twenty-three years later, he’s prison way upstate. So, because of that, the kids aren’t too friendly to newcomers except us. We’re nice and they hate that.”

  “Maybe he did do it.”

  “No, what did I tell you? This town is loopy.”

  “If it’s so loopy then, can I trust you?”

  Mia gave him a look of disdain, she wasn’t expecting for him to ask a question so harsh like that. She didn’t want him to notice that she was knocked off her game because of it either.

  “Here are your orders.” Cassie said as she placed the plates in front of them. Cassie shot Mia a look that could have killed he,r but Mia didn’t back down neither. With the standoff getting tense, Tareeq had to act fast.

  “Thanks, Cassie.” He said, grabbing her arm. Cassie smiled and left the pair alone.

  “You saved that girl from a beat down.” Mia smirked.

  “Seems so.” He mumbled. “So, you’re not going to answer my question?”

  “You can trust me.” She answered taking a bite out of her pizza. Tareeq smiled at her, hoping that what she was saying to him was true. He was starting to like his mysterious new friend.

  Chapter 9.

  It was Monday morning and Tareeq was on his way out the door to school as always. His father was home working on the finishing touches on his new novel. He had been up all night punching away at the keyboard like his life depended on it. In his case, it did. Derek had to make this novel the best follow-up to his other one before it. By the looks of it, he was on his way to doing just that.

  “Before I go, can I go to the football game tonight with my friends? King is playing against Mayberry.” Tareeq asked. Derek’s fingers were dancing onto the keyboard as he stared at the screen.

  “Yeah, of course. Just make sure you text me to let me know that I have to pick you up.” He said not looking away from his story.

  “Nah, I’ll walk home.”

  “Still text me, kid. I can’t have you going missing and make sure that you walk home with someone.”

  “Fine. I won’t go missing though; you’re tripping.”

  “Just do what I say, okay? Your mother will kill me if something happens to you.” He mumbled.

  “I’m sure she’ll kill you from beyond the grave, pops. I gotta go.”

  “Alright, son. Don’t forget your umbrella; it’s going to pour later on.” Derek warned. Tareeq sucked his teeth at his father’s overprotectiveness. He pulled out a long green colored umbrella from the umbrella stand that was at the front door. Waving to his father, he opened the door and headed outside. Like always, he was accompanied by Mia whom he felt comfortable enough to walk to school with. She met him with her usual bright smile. Her long curly, coarse hair bounced as she walked with the blue streaks in it peeking through.

  “What’s up, girl?” Tareeq asked smiling back. He was indeed happy to see her.

  “Hey, Brooklyn Boy. Thanks for the date.” She giggled. Tareeq stopped in his tracks and contorted his face.

  “What date?” He asked. “You’re bugging; that wasn’t a date.”

  Mia continued to laugh, almost hysterically. She grabbed his pinky and clasped it with her own, then kissed it.

  “You’d promised not to be a douche to me. Don’t forget that.” She grinned slyly. She let go of his hand and walked ahead of him, humming a song that he never heard before. Tareeq couldn’t help it; he smiled behind her back, thinking of how her soft lips felt against his hand.

  This girl better stop before I have to make her mine. He thought to himself. The thought of them being together kind of excited him, but scared him at the same time.

  The bleachers in the football field were packed with everyone that attended Wittington High. They cheered and chanted the team name while Mayberry’s side of the field was stuffed with their student, spectators and eager parents. The Wittington Wolves were playing against the Mayberry Majors.

  Tareeq, Jamir, and Gary found a good spot on the bleachers. Mason didn’t join the football game because he was deeply depressed by his brother’s disappearance. The friends understood and decided that they would tell him all about it when they speak to him.

  The game was minutes away from starting. The cheerleading team was already doing their routine on the field while the band played.

  “You ready to see a master at work?” Jamir boomed over the cheering audience.

  “Yeah let’s see if he’s as good as they say he is.” Tareeq answered back with a grin. Everyone quieted down when the announcer came on.

  “Please welcome our opponent, the Mayberry Majors!” He announced. The Wittington audience booed while the Mayberry audience cheered. Tareeq watched as Mayberry’s team ran onto the football field sporting their colors of Red and black. The Mayberry cheerleaders all cheered and danced as their team made themselves known.

  “Wittington High are you ready to be entertained?!” He boomed over the intercom. Everyone cheered. “Let’s welcome your five time state champions….the Wittington Wolves!”

  Tareeq looked over to his left and saw a large inflated grey wolf’s head wearing a football helmet with the school’s color on them. The audience started drumming stomping their feet and howled like wolves. Fog encased the field where the inflatable wolf sat.

  Suddenly, one of Future’s newest songs started to play and that’s when a wolf mascot came out of the mouth of the inflatable head and started dancing. Soon after, the team came out running and the crowd went wild! Jamir and Gary stood and started cheering and Tareeq followed suit. King came out last and the audience yelled so loud that Tareeq thought his ear drum might burst.

  The team huddled to in a circle around their coach; the game was about to start. Tareeq looked around and saw that the Blue Crew, minus Mia, was sitting in the bleachers watching with hawk like eyes.

  “King’s girl is here.” Gary mentioned, pointing to Tammy. “She’s always at his games.”

  Tareeq observed Tammy; her eyes were fixed onto King. When he moved around, her head moved, following him.

  “Is she always like that?” Tareeq asked.

  “Man, she was born like that. Ever since kindergarten, she’d watch King like something from
a horror movie.” Jamir replied. They laughed but Tareeq didn’t. Now that he knew the story behind the Blue Crew, he wasn’t in the business of teasing them like his peers.

  The game started and it was the first inning. King played like a pro; he scored touch down after touch down. It was like Tareeq was watching an NFL game. He was impressed with King’s abilities on the field.

  However, Mayberry was just as good. One player kept up with King’s fast running, stopping at least two of his touchdowns in the second quarter which brought them up to a tie. It was halftime now and the cheerleaders ran onto the field and performed their routines. Tareeq eyed King whom seemed to be enthralled in the cheerleaders’ routine, especially a specific cheerleader on Mayberry’s side. His eyes then shot over to Tammy who, still watched King’s every move, threw down her cup of juice onto the field in a fit of rage. Crystal and Brittany tried to calm her down and stop her from walking out.

  “Looks like someone is tight.” Gary laughed, pointing in the Blue Crew’s direction.

  “King Kyle can’t keep it in his pants sometimes, knowing that he has a girl.” Jamir chuckled. Tareeq looked at the debacle that was unfolding and it seems that everyone on the bleachers did too. Tammy was shouting at King calling him everything under the sun as if she were his wife and caught him cheating.

  The coach blew his whistle at King who was off the field trying to calm Tammy down. He obeyed the coach and ran back onto the field for the third quarter that was about to start. Tammy sat down on the bleachers with her friends again and continued to watch King with her gazing eyes.

  The rest of the game went on with Mayberry losing to Wittington by one point. To Tareeq, the game was exceptional and he was looking forward to the rest of the football games that his friend was to play during the season.

  King waved to his friends with his football helmet in his hand and a bottle of water in the other. Tareeq, Jamir and Gary all walked down the bleachers and patted him on the back.

  “Good game as always, Kyle!” Gary said.

  “Man, you were a boss on the field!” Tareeq blurted.

  “That’s why we’re state champions.” King grinned. “No one can defeat us; not even those major losers.”

  All of the friends chuckled. From the corner of his eye, Tareeq saw the Blue Crew coming toward them with Tammy looking as if she were going to kill King.

  “Uh oh, girlfriend alert.” Jamir warned.

  “King, we need to talk.” Tammy said with her hands on her hip. King groaned and rolled his eyes; he mouthed the words “help me” to his friends, but they all just snickered.

  “We’ll see you later, bro.” Tareeq replied, patting his back. Thunder started to blast into the night sky and he could feel a drop of rain falling onto his nose.

  “Some friends.” King grumbled. He turned to Tammy and walked back to the field alone with her to talk. Brittany and Crystal stood for a moment, looking at Tareeq, Jamir and Gary.

  “You guys found Josh, yet?” Crystal giggled.

  “Shut up, Crystal.” Jamir snapped.

  “Don’t you feel a bit bad that he is missing?” Gary chimed in with an angry look on his face.

  “For a dude that’s laughed at us so many times, let me think. NO.” She giggled. Brittany laughed as well giving her friend a high five.

  “That’s just cruel.” Tareeq said.

  “It’s not cruel!” Crystal yelled. “Your missing friend broke my best friend’s heart and humiliated her in front of everyone at Wittington. Your friends didn’t tell you?”

  “Just shut up, Crystal! That has nothing to do with this now.” Gary yelled back.

  Brittany’s smile quickly changed to a frown as if she remembered the time that Josh hurt her. Crystal rolled her eyes and walked away along with Brittany.

  “I don’t know why she talks so much!” Jamir stated.

  “Exactly, always griping about something.” Gary added. Tareeq didn’t say anything; the words that Crystal said to him stuck with him for a reason. He was starting to feel like he was hanging out with the wrong crowd. Everyone showed their disdain towards the Blue Crew and that wasn’t who he was. However, he had grown fond of his friends which to his dismay, would make it harder for him to get closer to Mia.

  Tareeq’s phone vibrated, interrupting his thoughts. In fact, all of his friends were looking at their phones simultaneously when he did. They were in a group text with Mason.

  Yo! Mason texted. They found my brother’s car in the lake, but no body.

  All three friends looked up at each other and with fear in their eyes.

  It was midnight and Tareeq was up re-reading the text message from Mason. He didn’t want to believe that Josh was dead, but there was a possibility that he was still alive. The grim news, reminded him of his mother and the accident that took her life.

  Tareeq buried his face in his pillow, hoping that his worries would disappear and sleep would replace them.

  In about ten minutes, he drifted off to sleep. Dreaming of a person that was slowly taking over his mind, Mia. Chapter Text

  Chapter 10.

  Fifth period ended like usual making Tareeq excited that his day was halfway over. He bolted out of the classroom into the busy hallway towards his locker. He put his books inside and took out his wallet for lunch. When he looked up, he noticed that King was on his way toward him waving his arms.

  “Hey bro, check this out!” King blurted. He flashed a dark red stone that adorned his neck, hanging from a black necklace.

  “Where did you get that?” Tareeq asked in bewilderment.

  “My granny was visiting from Trinidad and she brought some gifts back for me. It’s some sort of lucky charm to ward off evil.”

  “It looks really cool.”

  “It does. It better work because I feel all types of negative vibes around me.”

  “Boy, if you don’t!” Tareeq laughed. “You really believe in all of that junk?”

  “Hell yeah, bro! My family is from the Caribbean so I grew up hearing all kinds of stories—’’King stopped talking once he saw the Blue Crew. Tammy smiled at him and blew a kiss. He blushed, but scowled as she did this.

  “Hey Brooklyn Boy.” Mia waved. Tareeq did the opposite of King and smiled back. As he watched Mia walk down the hallway, he could feel his stomach rise with butterflies. His palms started to get sweaty along with his brow.

  She sure is looking pretty today. He thought to himself. He made sure to watch her walk all the way down the hall towards the cafeteria. As if she could feel him watching, she waved back to him.

  “Um, what are you doing?” King asked, snapping him out of his trance.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Tareeq replied. He gave his friend a look of confusion as they headed towards the cafeteria.

  “Don’t tell me that you actually like Mia Wayne!”

  “What makes you think I like her?”

  “Negro, you was just making ‘love eyes’ at her; waving like a little school boy.”

  King impersonated Tareeq by waving and making kissing sounds.

  “No I wasn’t.” Tareeq chuckled. “You must’ve seen someone else do that.”

  “Nah, it was you. You like her!”

  “Stop saying that because I don’t.”

  “If you say so, bro.”

  “Well, what about you and Tammy. She acts as if you and her are together; married even.”

  “Heck no! That girl is stalking me.” King blushed. Tareeq knew better though; he recalled the way that King looked at Tammy every time they were around each other.

  He laughed at his friend as they made it to the cafeteria to meet up with the rest of the gang.

  School was finally over and Tareeq headed out of the door and into the cold air. He buttoned up his jacket, put in his headphones and started on the path home. King stayed after for football practice while Jamir, and Gary stayed afterschool for chemistry club. Still, there was no sign of Mason. He hadn’t been to school in day
s, making their group incomplete. He was concerned about Mason’s well-being. Tareeq had missed Mason’s witty comebacks against the group’s jokes along with his overall presence and dynamic that he brought to the group of friends. Tareeq prayed every night for the Hamlins and for Josh’s safe return home. As Tareeq turned the corner on Main street and Dandelion Way, he got an annoying tap on his shoulder. He could only imagine it being one person in the whole world whom did that to him on purpose. Mia.

  “Hey!” She greeted with a bright smile. “Mind if I walk with you home?”

  All of his annoyance melted away when he saw Mia’s face. Her smile could wipe away any aggravation that he had.

  “Of course.” He replied with a grin. “I could use the company.”

  “Great. I missed you today.”

  “Stop skipping class and maybe you’ll see more of me.”

  “You’re right I should go to class more, but skipping is even more fun.”

  “It’s not fun when your grades slip and you can’t graduate on time.”

  “True. You seem studious, why don’t you tutor me?”

  Tareeq started to laugh at Mia’s request. He never seen her show up to class much less study in study hall.

  “You’re joking right?”

  “No! I’m serious.” She frowned. “I really could use your help.”

  “Alright, that’ll cost you though.”

  “How much?” She sighed, pulling out her crumbled money from her pocket.

  “I’m just joking; look at you, can’t even take a joke.”

  “Whatever, just tutor me.”

  “Sure. Let’s start today at my place.”

  “Okay.”

  Before they knew it, they had arrived at his house. He noticed that his father’s car was gone which meant that he wasn’t home. They walked onto the porch and Tareeq pulled out the keys, opening the front door.

  “Your house is really nice.” Mia said looking around.

  “Thanks. My dad decorated it”

  “He has a good eye.”

  Tareeq unzipped his jacket and hung it up on the coatrack. Mia followed suit taking off her jacket and shoes. She followed Tareeq to the dining room table and laid her books on the large tabletop.