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Subject: {ASSM} [rom fest] The White Knight  (Rom Fest, MF, Inter, voyeurism)
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 09:10:02 -0400
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<1st attachment, "The White Knight - ROM FEST.doc" begin>

{ASSM} The White Knight (Rom Fest, MF, Inter, voyeurism)





   The White Knight





   My Uncle Stephen is just about the most awesome guy in the world.  Just
don't tell him I said so because me and my sister Katie are always telling
him he's such a TOTAL geek.  It's kind of a running joke with us because
he's always on our cases to do good in school and donate our time to
charities.  Which makes sense I guess, because he's a minister and
everything.

   Now, don't get me wrong.  He's not some scary, "you're all going to burn
in hell" minister who hates EVERYONE that doesn't think or talk or act or
believe a certain way.  He's a real Man of God.  When I think of Jesus, I
can't help but think of him sometimes.  In fact, me and my sister Katie
have this joke when we have a problem.  We'll look at each other say "What
Would Uncle Stephen Do?"

   Uncle Stephen's not really our "uncle" either.  He's my dad's best
friend, and he's kind of our "godfather" in a way.  Since we're Catholic
and he's Protestant, I guess he couldn't be our REAL godfather, like in
church and everything.  But that's what we've always called him ever since
I can remember.  We'll say, if people ask us who he is, "That's Uncle
Stephen.  He's our godfather."

   My earliest memories of Uncle Stephen were on Friday nights when I was
REAL little and he'd come over take care of Katie and me.  He still takes
care of us every Friday, too, just like he did when we were little because
Friday is my mom's and dad's "date night." The way it works is like this.

   Mom and dad go out on a date, sometimes ALL NIGHT into the NEXT MORNING
even, and Uncle Stephen takes care of us.  Only now that we're older, we go
over to Uncle Stephen's house and he handles everything " dinner,
entertainment, bedtime, the whole nine yards " with our help, of course.

   Once again, don't tell him I said this, but he would make an AWESOME
dad. In fact, that's what me and Katie say to him ALL THE TIME.  He'll give
us some kind of advice or just help us take care of a problem, and we'll
say: "You are SUCH a dad."

   Of course, he'll pretend like it annoys him when we say that.  He's
like: "Don't call me that!  It makes me sound old." But we can tell he gets
a kick out of it, just like he's really laughing inside when we tell him
what a geek he is.  He'll dance around to this real atrocious music like
Billy Joel or Bruce Springsteen, and then he'll tell us we don't KNOW what
REAL music is.  Then we'll say: "You are SUCH a geek."

   That's just the way we communicate with him.  To us, he's not totally a
grown-up like mom and dad.  I mean they're our parents, and they're REALLY
REALLY great.  But Uncle Stephen's like this cool, goofy, fun guy who you
can hang out with and watch TV or just talk to for hours because he knows
EVERYTHING about everything.  And I don't mean in a bookworm way, either.
He can tell you about math or science or history or economics or ANYTHING
and make it interesting, like it actually matters to a kid my age.

   I sometimes think he'd make a real cool teacher, but then I realize he
already has a job he loves, which is being a minister and helping people.
He saves alcoholics and depressed people all the time, and he has this way
of making everybody feel better.  I sometimes think he should be president
or at least a diplomat or something.  I honestly think people like the
Israelis and Palestinians or the Irish and British would stop fighting if
they just listened to him for ONE HOUR.

   I kind of wonder why there aren't people like Uncle Stephen in politics,
you know, people who care about doing good instead getting votes.  He once
told me that KNOWING what's right is easy, that DOING what's right is
what's hard.  When I asked him why, he said: "Because doing the right thing
for everyone else is usually contrary to what we WANT for ourselves."

   I thought about that, and he's right.  We don't give money to the poor
because we want it for ourselves, or we don't give time to helping people
because we want it for ourselves.  Uncle Stephen says everyone's like this,
even him, but I've never seen him act that way.  Like I said before: "What
would Uncle Stephen do?"

   Sometimes, though, I think being so concerned with other people actually
hurts him sometimes.  He is so busy helping others that he doesn't help
himself.  Take women for example.

   Uncle Stephen's not a bad-looking guy (DON'T tell him I said that) and I
know plenty of ladies would love to date him, or marry him even.  When we
go to his church events, it's like women are swarming all over him.  It's
funny but kind of pathetic really.

   A lot of times, they'll see he's with me and Katie, and they'll try to
get all buddy-buddy with us.  Most of them are WAY beneath him, you know,
ugly or not very smart.

   Uncle Stephen needs a pretty, intelligent woman.  Kind of a female
version of him.  She also has to be the kind of woman who will grab him by
the collar sometimes and tell him to slow down and think of himself.  She
should want to GIVE all the time like him, but she should also want them to
take some time for themselves.

   Katie and I talk about Uncle Stephen finding someone all the time these
days, especially when we see or meet someone we think would be perfect for
him.  We once tried to fix him up with Miss Fowler, this WAY cool, WAY
pretty teacher at school.  They did go out for like a month or so, too. 
But then something happened, and they just stopped dating.

   My mom and dad said that sometimes stuff just doesn't work out with
people.  They can like each other as friends and be attracted to each
other, but still not fall in LOVE.  I still think Miss Fowler did
something, though, because a few weeks after they stopped dating she quit
teaching at our school and moved to another state.

   I even heard she's married now.  Katie says she probably loved another
guy more than Uncle Stephen, but I just find that hard to believe.  I think
she was dating Uncle Stephen and two-timing him with this other loser. 
Then she got pregnant and HAD to marry the guy.  I bet she REALLY loves
Uncle Stephen, though.  I bet she thinks of him every night when she's with
this other loser guy, wishing Uncle Stephen would have been the father of
her baby and not him.

   But Uncle Stephen wouldn't do that.  He'd never have sex with a woman
unless he was REALLY seriously in love with her.  And I KNOW he's not a
virgin because he counsels married people in his congregation, and I'm sure
a lot of that stuff has to do with sex, or as he calls it "intimacy."
Intimacy is probably a better word, too, because sex is what animals do,
you know -- NO emotions, just reproduction.  "Intimacy" is what people in
love share.

   He told Katie and me all this stuff about intimacy and sex when she
started dating this guy, Brad, who wanted to, you know, DO stuff with her.
I don't know how it all came up exactly, but one Friday night we just
started talking about boys with him.

   We asked him what boys wanted, and he told us the truth.  I mean he
wasn't gross or anything, but he was HONEST, a lot more honest than I've
ever heard another adult be, even mom and dad.  He just gave it to us
straight and didn't prevaricate at all (that was one of my vocabulary words
this week " "prevaricate: to act or speak evasively." Cool, huh?)

   I can understand, though, why it would be hard for mom and dad to talk
about that stuff with us.  I mean they're like our parents.  I know I DON'T
want to know what they do when they're "intimate," so I can imagine it's
probably the same gross-out factor for them hearing about our sex lives.

   Which is why it was SO COOL talking to Uncle Stephen.  He's just like:
"Listen, I won't lie.  Sex feels great, so great that boys and girls get
hungry for it all the time " like pizza or chocolate.  The problem is they
let the hunger take control of them, and then they start making bad
decisions.  It would be like deciding to eat triple-threat
chocolate-caramel-fudge cake for every single meal because it's your
favorite food.  No vegetables, no meat, just triple-threat
chocolate-caramel-fudge cake.  You would over-indulge .." I remember those
were his exact words.  Then he said: "The reason triple-threat
chocolate-caramel-fudge cake tastes so good is that we DON'T eat it all the
time.  We save it for special occasions so that it ALWAYS tastes good."

   I remember we teased him about his TOTALLY geeky explanation, but that
was because it made total sense to us.  Lots of times that's what we'll do,
you know, totally mock on something so adults don't know what they're
saying is really getting through.  We have to look cool, you know.  We
can't let adults think they have ALL the answers.

   So now you know about me and Katie and Uncle Stephen.  Which means I
guess I can start the story now, about how Uncle Stephen fell in love, and
how we helped, and how I think he's finally going to be really happy
forever.



   It all started on a Friday afternoon, and Uncle Stephen was picking up
Katie and me from Thomas Jefferson Middle School.  Katie's in 8th grade and
I'm in 6th if you need to know.  Katie and Kelly, the Miller girls " that's
how the teachers know us.

   Now, Katie can be a pain sometimes, especially when she wants to get all
bossy big sister on me, but honestly she's my all-time best friend.  I know
she feels the same way, too, which is probably why everyone thinks of us
together -- Katie and Kelly, the Miller girls.

   Mom and dad's "date nights" started beginning earlier the older we got.
That means Uncle Stephen started picking us up from school, and we'd hang
out with him the rest of the day.  You see, Dad's an engineer and mom's a
lawyer, and when he gets off work on Friday he drives to her office and
then they go out ALL NIGHT " sometimes out of town even.  These days, they
usually don't get home until Saturday morning, and then the whole rest of
the day they act just like dumb kids around each other, just like Katie and
her new boyfriend, Kenyon do.

   Of course, I HAVE to act like I think it's disgusting because I'm their
kid; and what kid doesn't act that way when their mom and dad are crunching
on each other?  But really, I think it is WAY cool having parents who are,
you know, still hot for each other (Don't EVER tell them I said that!).

   Sometimes, when I see mom and dad kiss, I get all warm and mushy inside,
and I feel REALLY safe, almost like I'm a little kid again.  Like I said, I
know they DO it, and that is REALLY gross when I think about it.  But when
I just see them kissing and ignore all that other stuff, it's like I know
what love is supposed to look like and how it's supposed to feel.

   That's why Friday Night "date night" is so important I guess.  If I ever
get married, I'm going to make my husband do the same exact thing.  I just
hope we have a friend like Uncle Stephen around to watch our bratty kids.

   On this particular Friday, Uncle Stephen has a lot planned for us.  He's
already promised us his famous angel-hair pasta for supper, and then WB-TV
afterward, followed by any video from Blockbuster that we choose.  Katie
and I have already decided on "She's All That" with Rachael Leigh Cooke
because it's our favorite movie, and we haven't seen it in over a month. 
After we go to bed, Uncle Stephen will probably just watch some dumb
documentary or something.

   So, we knew we were going to have a killer evening.  But it was still
afternoon, and we were a little curious what Uncle Stephen had planned in
the meantime.

   When he pulled up in his Dodge Caravan, we could barely see him through
the windshield wipers.  The weather had been miserable and disgusting all
day.  It was mid-November, a week before Thanksgiving, and the rain turned
most of yesterday's snow to slush.  The sky was this gross black and blue
color, like a big bruise or something, and it felt totally icky just BEING
outside.

   "Hey!" Uncle Stephen greeted us as we piled inside the mini-van, trying
to keep our hair from getting wet.

   "You're late!" I scolded him.  We'd been waiting outside the school for
almost ten minutes after the bell.

   "Sorry, traffic is bad with the rain," he explained.  "The roads are
pretty slick."

   "Then I say we go the video store, get our movie, and go back home for
some hot chocolate," Katie suggested.  "I have homework, too."

   "You just want to go on AOL Instant Message with Kenyon," I joked.

   "Oh, and like you don't want to go online and chat with Michelle and
Sarah?" Katie fired back.

   "Well you can quit bickering right now" Uncle Stephen interrupted. 
"BOTH of you.  Because we're not going back to my house to play with the
computer ..  at least not right away."

   "Where are we going then?" I asked.

   "On a mission," Uncle Stephen smiled.

   Now when Uncle Stephen says "going on a mission" he means "going on a
mission." And not just any kind of "mission," but a "mission from God."

   Uncle Stephen's missions are about helping people, saving people even.
Once, when we were driving to the mall, we saw this totally gross-looking
homeless woman crying by the side of the road, and he pulled over.  We
asked him what he was doing, and he told us he was "going on a mission." We
had no idea what he was talking about, but we followed him out of the van
and watched as he started talking to this woman, trying to find out was
wrong.

   It turned out that she'd had a pet stray cat that was hit by a car.  She
took us to the animal, who was barely still alive.  Uncle Stephen got down
on his knees over the cat and started praying for it.  The woman seemed
shocked.  We told her it was cool because Uncle Stephen was a minister. 
Then she said: "That won't help Scraps because he's a cat, and cats don't
have souls, do they ..?" Uncle Stephen looked up and told her that any
creature that loves has a soul, and since Scraps loved the woman he had a
soul.

   The cat died in a few minutes, but the woman was somehow cool with it. I
mean she was sad and everything, but kind of peaceful.  She asked Uncle
Stephen if Scraps would be in heaven when she got there, and he told her
that everyone she loved would be in heaven with her.

   Then he hugged her, gave her some money and asked if we could take her
anywhere.  She said she was fine, and she went away skipping ..  I mean
SKIPPING, really.  I don't think I've ever felt so much happiness coming
from another human being, before or since.

   That's what Uncle Stephen's missions are like.  They may seem kind of
lame if you just hear about them.  But when you're there and you see him do
these things, it's like, wow, people really can make a difference.  If only
they'd just try and put others above themselves.

   "What's our mission then?" I asked.  Part of me wanted to go back home
to our nice warm house, but a stronger part of me knew that Uncle Stephen's
mission was going to be another adventure we'd never forget.  Even Katie
seemed interested, and she had a boyfriend waiting online for her.

   "We're going to help someone who needs helping," he explained as he
drove.  "And you're going to choose the person."

   Now this did seem interesting, REALLY interesting.  "We can choose
anyone?" Katie asked.

   "Anyone," he answered.

   "You better let me choose," I told him.

   "Why?"

   "Because if Katie does, she'll just choose the first person she sees so
she can go home and chat with Kenyon," I answered.

   "I will not!" Katie protested, but she laughed, too, because she knew
I'd read her mind.

   "You both have to decide," he told us.  "That's my only stipulation.  It
can be anyone from anywhere ..  here or in the city ..  you just both have
to decide."

   "Then let's drive into the city," I requested.  "We can go into one of
the not-so-nice neighborhoods, you know ..?  I bet we can find someone who
really needs help there."

   "That sounds good," Uncle Stephen agreed.  "Katie?"

   "Sure, whatever," she shrugged her shoulders.  "Let's just make this
quick, okay.  I really do have homework."

   The rest of the way into the city, as Uncle Stephen drove, we talked
about the various people we could help and what we could do.  Katie and I
pooled our money together, and minus the four dollars we'd need for the
video we had $50 between us.

   Now, I have to admit.  Part of me figured how much we could get away
with spending on a meal for a hungry person, and then how much we would
still have left.  But then I heard Uncle Stephen's voice in my head saying:
"..  doing the right thing for everyone else is usually contrary to what we
WANT for ourselves."

   He was right, AS ALWAYS.  I looked down at the money again, then back at
Katie.  I knew she'd been having the same shallow thoughts as me, too.  We
kind of smiled at each other, and I whispered "What Would Uncle Stephen
Do?" to her.

   She nodded.  Somehow I knew we'd be doing A LOT of good today with all
that money.  Uncle Stephen just had that kind of effect on you.

   "Where are we?" I asked after we'd gotten off the highway and driven
into this pretty run-down neighborhood.

   "Yeah?" Katie chimed in.  "I don't think I've EVER been in this part of
town."

   "This place is known as the Tenderloin," Uncle Stephen explained.

   "That's a funny name for a neighborhood," I commented.

   "It was originally called the Tenderloin because geographically it's
shaped like a tenderloin of beef," Uncle Stephen began another one of his
geeky yet interesting explanations.  "Do you see the water down there?" he
pointed to this muddy river you could see between the buildings as you
drove by.  "It surrounds us on three sides down here.  Do you remember what
that's called?" "A peninsula, right?" I answered.

   "Brownie .." Katie accused me under her breath.  She didn't mean it. 
She was just ticked I got the answer first.

   "That's right," Uncle Stephen nodded.  "This is a natural peninsula. 
Since the neighborhood only had one entrance, it became separated from the
whole city.  That's when they started calling it the Tenderloin District.
This used to be where all the ore boats and other ships docked and unloaded
their goods.  There also used to be a big fish cannery down here.  When he
was young, my dad used to come down here and buy fresh fish right off the
boats, at least that's what he told me."

   "So how come there's no boats or anything down here anymore?" Katie
asked.

   "Yeah," I added.  "The only thing that's down here looks like homeless
people and run-down shops."

   "During World War II, the government decided the Tenderloin wasn't big
enough for the amount of shipping it wanted to come into the city.  So they
cleared out a bunch of land north of here and made North Harbor.  When they
did that, the Tenderloin started losing business.  Then the fishing boats
told the cannery they wouldn't sail into the Tenderloin anymore, and if
they wanted to stay open they would have to build a new factory up in North
Harbor or go out of business."

   "That's blackmail, isn't it?" I asked.

   "In a way, I guess it is," Uncle Stephen smiled.  "Anyway, once the
cannery pulled out of here, everything was adversely affected.  The closed
cannery meant no more jobs for the people who lived here, and all the
fresh-fish markets had to close, too.  The process was slow and gradual,
but this went from a pretty nice blue collar neighborhood to what it is
now."

   "Well, I feel bad for what happened and everything, but I really don't
like it down here," I kind of whined.  I couldn't help it.  Every corner we
passed, real creepy bums would look in our windows, or gangs of black men
would just peer at us like they REALLY hated us.  Which freaked me out, I
guess, because they had no reason to hate us.

   It's not like I'm some white person who doesn't like African Americans
or is afraid of them.  We go with Uncle Stephen all the time to visit The
Mount Zion church downtown.  They have pretty cool services down there with
this awesome music, and they do a lot of cool fund-raising carnivals for
inner-city youth.  In fact, that's where Katie and I met our real good
friends Latreesha and Mikia, and a lot of other cool kids like Damon and
Franklin and Elijah.

   "Why don't you like it down here, Kelly?" Uncle Stephen asked.

   Katie looked at me, too.  She was feeling exactly what I was feeling,
I'm sure.  But how do you put it into words, especially to Uncle Stephen?

   "I don't like the way the men on the corners keep looking at us when we
drive by them," I finally replied.  "It's like ..  they hate us or
something.  I mean we're down here to help someone, and they just look at
us like they ..  like they hate us ..  for no reason."

   "I see," Uncle Stephen nodded.  "Do you want to go somewhere else, then?
Somewhere it'll be easier to help someone."

   I wanted to say "YES!  Please!," and I'm sure Katie did, too.  But we
both knew what the right thing to do was, and how doing the right thing is
lots of times not what you want to do.

   "No," Katie answered for us.  Sometimes she is SUCH a big sister.  "I
mean this is where people really need help, right ..?"

   Uncle Stephen nodded.

   "Are those men ..  like drug dealers?" I asked the question I knew Katie
was dying to ask, too.

   "Probably," Uncle Stephen replied.  "Not all of them, I'm sure, but some
of them ..  yes," he nodded.  "That's probably why they are looking at us
so strangely.  The only white people they tend to see all day come down
here to buy drugs from them."

   "They might think we're police detectives, too," Katie offered.

   "I doubt that," Uncle Stephen grinned.  "They probably think we're just
lost."

   "So why are they angry at us, then?" I still didn't understand.

   "They aren't angry at us, really .." Uncle Stephen started.  "They're
angry in general ..  at everyone.  They direct a lot of that anger towards
people who don't have anything to do with their situation."

   "That's kind of dumb, isn't it ..?" I asked.  "To be angry at someone
when you're your problems aren't even their fault."

   "It's not dumb, Kelly," Uncle Stephen tried to explain.  "It may be
mistaken or misguided, but it isn't dumb.  Emotions aren't smart or dumb,
they just are."

   "So why don't they just stop being angry?" Katie asked.  "I mean I get
angry all the time, but I get over it."

   "Anger is an insidious emotion," Uncle Stephen answered.  "It works its
way into your identity " who you are, how you act " and you don't even know
it.  It gets so ingrained that you start rationalizing your behavior to
justify your anger."

   "So it kind of becomes a habit or something?" I was trying to
understand.

   Uncle Stephen nodded.  "Just imagine if you were poor and people treated
you badly because of the color of your skin.  Then, instead of going to
high school and college to get a good job, you had to become a criminal to
support your family so they could eat.  Wouldn't you be angry, too?"

   "Why don't they just stay in school and get good jobs, too?" I asked.

   "They do," Uncle Stephen responded.  "Many of the people who live and
grow up in this neighborhood work very hard, and they succeed against great
odds.  But there is still so much prejudice in our world that a lot of
these men and women will never even get a chance to interview for a good
job because of the color of their skin."

   "I guess that would make me pretty angry, too," Katie observed.  "But I
still don't think I'd become a criminal."

   "But what if your family was starving?" I asked her.  "Or like what if I
was real sick and needed money for medicine, and the only job you could get
was criminal?  What would you do then?"

   "I ..  I don't know," Katie stammered.  "Save you, I guess.  But that's
different."

   "Why?" Uncle Stephen asked.  "Why is it different, Katie?"

   "Because I'd be helping someone," Katie replied.

   "But it'd still be breaking the law," I pointed out.  "The judge
wouldn't care why you did something illegal, would he, Uncle Stephen ..?"

   "He's not supposed to," Uncle Stephen agreed.  "Justice is supposed to
be blind " especially color blind.  But you see, that's where a lot of the
problems started ..  with the judges." He paused.  "Katie, I bet if you
went into your school tomorrow and sold drugs, that you'd be treated far
differently if you were caught than one of these kids out here on the
streets.  You'd probably get a much lighter sentence, maybe no sentence at
all.  When these kids are caught, however, some of them are put in prisons
" adult prisons " and they're your age."

   "That isn't fair," I was angry now.  "That just isn't fair."

   "The world isn't fair, kiddo," Uncle Stephen agreed.  "That's why we all
need to do good, to offset the unfairness."

   "Are those ladies prostitutes?" Katie asked as we passed a corner. 
Three black women were standing around in tight spandex clothing, boots and
fur coats.  When they saw Uncle Stephen, they whistled to him, and one of
them blew him a kiss.

   "They might be prostitutes," Uncle Stephen answered.  "But why would you
say that?"

   "Because they look like prostitutes," Katie replied.  "I mean the way
prostitutes look in movies and TV."

   "You shouldn't judge people on how they look," Uncle Stephen reminded
us.

   "Why would ANYONE be a prostitute?" I asked.  "And, you know, sell
themselves like that ..?"

   "It's like the drug dealers, stupid," Katie scolded me.  "They don't
have a choice.  They're probably trying to help their families, too.  Maybe
even their babies."

   "Well, would YOU, you know ..  do that to help your family?" I
challenged.

   "To save my baby?" Katie fired back.  "Wouldn't you?"

   "I ..  I don't know .." I admitted.  "I don't think I could."

   "What if your baby was starving?" Katie kept at me.

   "I ..  I don't know," I repeated.  "Really .."

   "Let's just pray none of us ever have to make that kind of decision,"
Uncle Stephen interjected.

   "I want to help one of them!" I blurted out.  "One of the women ..  one
with a baby.  I want to help her so she doesn't have to do THAT to feed her
baby."

   "So you only want to help one of these women if they have a baby?" Uncle
Stephen asked.  "What about the others?  They don't need help?"

   "That's not what I meant," I felt stupid now.  "I mean ..  maybe that IS
what I meant when I said it, but I wasn't thinking."

   "I know," Uncle Stephen smiled.  "Helping one of these women would make
a good mission, though." He looked at me thoughtfully, and I beamed
proudly. THIS WAS MY MISSION.  "There are lots of young women out here who
need help.  Some of them aren't much older than you two."

   "But how do we pick who to help if they all need help?" Katie asked the
question I was thinking, too.

   "Let's just drive, and you two look out the window," Uncle Stephen
replied, turning the mini-van down a side street.  "If you trust in God,
He'll reveal an answer to you.  He'll guide you.  You just have to Trust
Him."

   We drove down the street, turned and went down another and then another
and then another.  We saw some more prostitute-looking women standing on
the corners or in doorways.  Lots of them were talking to white men who
just stopped their cars in the middle of the street.  We saw women get in
the cars, and we also saw cars on side streets where the women were sitting
with the white men inside parked cars.  When I saw one of the women duck
her head into a guy's lap and then start bobbing it up and down I thought I
was going to puke.

   I wanted to cry because this was SO WRONG.  I could tell Katie was
feeling the same way, too.  But she just bit her lip and kept looking.  I
huddled up next to her and looked out her window, too.  She held my hand
and whispered: "Just trust in God, okay ..?"

   As soon as she said that, I saw HER.  She was on a side street, standing
against the brick wall of a building.  She was tall and very beautiful. 
She had these long cornrows like Brandy used to have, and her skin was a
very deep, rich brown.  She was dressed in a purple Nike running suit,
which must have cost a fortune.  She looked young, too, like maybe she was
still even in high school.

   Katie saw her, too, at the same time I did, and we exchanged glances. 
"Her, Uncle Stephen," Katie pointed the black girl out.  "That's her.  I
can feel God telling us."

   Uncle Stephen smiled and pulled the mini-van down the side street.  The
black girl looked at us as we approached and parked across the street from
her.  When she saw Uncle Stephen, she smiled and reached in her jacket. 
She took out a box of candy and popped a couple of pieces in her voice. 
Then she started walking over, still smiling.  But when she saw me and
Katie, she stopped and just kind of stared, like she was scared of us or
something.

   "What do we do?" I asked, suddenly scared myself.  Talking about helping
someone is one thing.  Actually doing it is another.  I mean where do you
even start?

   "Yeah, Uncle Stephen, what do we do now?" Katie added.

   "Even the longest journey starts with the first step," was all he said
back to us.

   I got it.  I opened the mini-van door and stepped outside.  Katie was
right behind me.  We faced the black girl and walked over, holding hands ..
TIGHT.  I still couldn't judge the look in her eyes.

   She looked kind of scared, I guess.  But why the heck would she be
scared of us?  She was like living on the streets seeing all sorts of
REALLY scary stuff EVERY day.  Me and Katie were just two kids who wanted
to help her.  So why should she be scared of us at all?

   "What is this shit?" She looked right past us, directing her question to
Uncle Stephen who was standing outside the open driver's door of the
mini-van.  I thought he was right behind us, but he wasn't.  Then I
realized why.  This was OUR MISSION, not his.  COOL!

   "I SAID what is this SHIT?!" the black girl repeated, this time with
more hostility.

   I looked back to Uncle Stephen nervously.  He smiled.  "You really
should talk to them," he answered the black girl.

   "Listen, if this is some kind of sick shit here, I don't DO that shit,
all right ..?" she continued ignoring us.

   "We want to help you," Katie got up the courage to speak to the black
girl first.

   "Say what?" she looked at us, I mean REALLY looked at us for the first
time.

   "We want to help you," I spoke now.  "You look like you could use some
help.  God directed us here."

   "Listen, I don't need no help, all right ..?" she shot back. 
"Especially from you.  Now get out of here before you get hurt."

   "What's your name?" Katie asked, trying to ignore the girl's warning. 
My older sister was shivering, but she was standing her ground.

   "What the fuck business is that of yours?" the black girl replied.  The
"F" word made both me and Katie flinch.  But I was going to be just like
Katie and stand my ground, too.

   "My name's Kelly and this is my sister, Katie," I stated.  "That's my
Uncle Stephen.  He's a minister.  We want to help you."

   "And what makes you think I NEED your help?" the black girl snapped.

   "God told us," I half-whispered, not so sure now that God had made the
right choice.

   "Shiiiit," she sneered at us, turned around and started walking back to
where she'd been standing.

   I looked at Katie, who looked back at me, and then we both looked back
to Uncle Stephen as if waiting for him to do something.  But he just stood
there, looking at the girl as she walked away.

   "What would Uncle Stephen do?" I asked myself.

   Katie must have been asking herself the same question because suddenly
she grabbed my hand and pulled me after the black girl.  In a second, we
ran past her, then turned back around to face her.

   "Get OUT of my way!" she hissed at us.

   "Not until you tell us your name," Katie glared back.  This was going to
a battle of wills now between the girl and my older sister.  I just hoped
she didn't hit Katie because she was like a half-foot taller than both of
us put together.

   "I ain't going to tell you my name, girl," the black girl snapped back.
"Now just step off, all right ..?"

   "No," Katie answered.  "It's not all right.  We're not your enemies.  We
want to be your friends, and friends know each other's names, right ..? 
I'm Katie and this is Kelly, and you are ..?"

   "Yakeesha!" a man's voice suddenly called out from behind us, and we
spun around.

   An older black man walked towards us.  He was dressed in nice clothes, a
pin-stripe suit and a long leather raincoat.  He also had on a bunch of
gold chains like I see a lot of black baseball players wearing.  "What the
fuck you doing, ho'?"

   "These people is lost," she shouted back.  "I was just giving them some
directions."

   "What you think you are, ho' ..?  The mother-fucking triple-A ..?" He
speaks in short, clipped bursts as he nears us.  "You're supposed to be
pullin' that lazy black ass of yours out here and workin' me some green,
bitch!  Which brings me to my MOTIVATION for trackin' down your cheatin'
ho' ass.  Word is you gots you somethin' that belongs to me, bitch!  Give
it up now, and Ol' Pine'll take it easy on you, only beat your worthless
nigger ass unconscious 'stead cavin' in that empty black-eyed-pea-brain
skull's yours ..."

   "D..Don't talk to her like that," Katie suddenly stammered.  Her face
was beat red, and she was shaking.  I knew she was just as scared as I was,
but she was angry, too.  Me, I just wanted to run back to the van and get
the heck out of there, but not Katie.  She may have been just as scared as
me, but she was going to stand there and DO something about it.

   "What the fuck you say to me, girl?" the black man was now standing
there, like not even two feet away.  He stared at Katie and looked like he
might hit her or something.

   "She's just a kid, Pine," Yakeesha cut in.  "They were just going,
weren't you, girls?"

   "Yeah," I whispered, tugging on Katie's arm.  But she wouldn't budge,
not an inch.

   "You can go," she told me.  "But I'm going to stay here and help
Yakeesha ...  just like God wanted."

   "Crazy little cracker bitch .." Pine huffed.

   "They ain't crazy, Pine," Yakeesha protested.  "They just religious, all
right ..?" She turned back to Katie.  "Now you think you can find your way
out of here?" she asked, nodding towards the mini-van.  There was
definitely concern in her voice now, concern for me and Katie.

   I looked back to Uncle Stephen, and wanted to run to him.  But he was
walking up to us now, his hands in his pocket and a smile on his face. 
Then I knew this wasn't over, not by a long shot.  "Hi!" he called out,
extending his hand to black guy.  "I'm Stephen Kautz.  These are my nieces,
Katie and Kelly.  Is there a problem here?"

   The black man looked at Uncle Stephen's hand, then put out his own.  He
tried to do some kind of black handshake like I see black rap guys do on
MTV, but Uncle Stephen just held his hand out.  The black guy huffed,
shrugged his shoulders, then just shook Uncle Stephen's hand normal. 
"Cornelius," he said.  "They call me Pinecone.  You lost or something,
ofay?"

   "No," Uncle Stephen shook his head.  "We were thinking maybe she was
lost." He nodded to Yakeesha.  "That's why the girls wanted to help."

   "Well, she ain't lost, all right ..?" Cornelius Pinecone answered. 
"So's you all can just be on your way .."

   "We won't go until we help her," Katie cut in.

   "Ho' don't need your help, girl," Pinecone fired back, his voice rising.

   "Don't call her that," I jumped in now.  "She's not a whore."

   "Listen," Pinecone sounded like he was trying to keep from shouting.  "I
don't got no problem with you crazy crackers, all right ..?  You want to do
your Jesus stuff, that's cool.  Just take it up a few blocks, okay ..?  I
got business around here .."

   "Prostitution business?" Katie demanded to know.

   Pinecone's eyes flared, and then he suddenly broke out into a big,
chilling smile.  "I got me a lot of business enterprises down here,
blondie. And ain't none of them your concern." He turned back to Uncle
Stephen.  "Like I said, cream, I don't got no problem with you and yours.
Far as I'm concerned, you just got off the highway on the wrong exit, all
right ..?  Now, if you just get back in your mini-van over there and start
driving, old Pinecone'll be more than happy to just get on with his
business, and then we'll all be happy, all right ..?"

   "Do you want to be a prostitute?" Katie blurted out to Yakeesha.

   "What's your fucking problem, girl?" Yakeesha fired back.

   "Answer me," Katie demanded.  "And you'd better tell the truth, too,
because God is listening."

   "You're crazy?" Yakeesha tried to laugh, but she didn't sound too
amused.

   "Answer her question," Uncle Stephen stepped in.  "Answer truthfully. 
If you say that you like what you're doing, we'll leave you alone.  If you
don't and you our need help, we'll stay and help you." He looked at
Pinecone.

   The black man still had the chilling grin on his face.  "You heard the
man, ho'.  So go on, answer him."

   "Leave us alone," Yakeesha shivered as she whispered.

   "Answer the question," Katie demanded.

   "Who the fuck you think you are, girl?" Yakeesha spat back.

   "I want to be your friend," Katie held her ground.

   "Me, too," I added.

   "You're both crazy," Yakeesha turned around and started walking away.

   "I TOLD you to answer their question, ho'," Pinecone snarled.  He
gripped Yakeesha's arm and twisted her back around.

   "Let go of her!" Katie shrieked, pouncing on the black man's arm and
clawing at him.

   In a second, Pinecone raised his hand and was just about to hit Katie
when Yakeesha's leg lashed out.  She kicked him right in the ..  well, you
know.  I mean she KICKED him.  He went down on the ground spitting and
swearing his head off.

   Now it was our turn to grab Yakeesha's arm.  Suddenly we were all
running to the mini-van.  Uncle Stephen used his key-chain remote to open
the automatic doors, and we all piled inside the back while he hopped in
the front.  The last thing I saw as we raced down the street was Cornelius
Pinecone lying and rolling around on the street right where Yakeesha kicked
him.

   "FUCK!" Yakeesha exploded as we rounded the corner and turned onto the
main street that took us out of the Tenderloin.  "What the FUCK did you
just do to me?!" she glared at us all.

   "W..we helped you," Katie answered bravely.

   "You WHAT?!" Yakeesha shouted back.  "You almost got my ass capped is
what you did.  In fact, you just GOT my ass exterminated the second I step
one foot back there.  Do you understand that?  You just GOT my ass dead.  I
am now one mother-fucking dead ho'!"

   "You don't have to go back there," I responded.  "Never."

   "Who the FUCK do you all think you are?" Yakeesha roared.  "God damned
craziest bunch of cracker-Jesus freaks I ever fucking saw in my whole
entire life."

   Suddenly Uncle Stephen burst out laughing.  The sound caught all of us
by surprise " me, Katie and especially Yakeesha.

   "What the fuck you laughing at, Casper?" Yakeesha bellowed.

   "We're all alive," Uncle Stephen answered.  "Tell me, have you ever felt
so alive?"

   He was right.  My heart was racing like 200 beats a minute and my body
was like totally covered in sweat.  But I felt so ..  INCREDIBLE ..  like I
could perceive every single thing around me, and it was all equally
important.  It all mattered, every broken down car, trashcan, traffic
light, shop window and gray cloud in the sky.

   Then I started laughing, too, and without thinking I reached out to hug
Yakeesha.  She froze up as stiff as a board, but I just kept hugging her.
And so did Katie.  We were both hugging her, and as we did, we felt her
relax slowly, until she was kind of just limp in our arms.

   "Crazy-ass cracker Jesus freaks," she kept repeating until she finally
just let loose with a snort.  "That was the god-damn craziest fucking thing
I ever saw in my life," she began laughing uncontrollably, too, now.

   "Who's hungry?" Uncle Stephen suddenly asked.  "Because I am starved."

   "Do you like angel-hair pasta?" Katie asked Yakeesha.

   "I ..  I don't know .." Yakeesha stopped laughing for a moment.  "I
don't even know what the hell that is." She broke down into another fit of
laughter, and we all started laughing hysterically again, too, for what
seemed hours.

   "We're going to eat dinner and then watch TV and some movies," I told
Yakeesha after we got done laughing.  "What movie do you want to see?  It
can be anything you want.  You're the guest of honor."

   "You're crazy," Yakeesha shook her head, tears of joy in her eyes. 
Suddenly, she looked even more beautiful than she'd ever looked on the
street.  She was just shining.  I don't know how else to describe it.

   "We're serious," Katie insisted.  "We're going to the video store, so
pick a movie.  Your favorite movie in the world."

   "You're serious ..?" Yakeesha seemed shocked.

   "Of course we are.  Now come on and pick," I replied.  "We're almost
there."

   "You're crazy .."

   "Pick a MOVIE!" Katie and I demanded in unison, and then we all laughed
again.

   "How 'bout 'Romeo Must Die'?" Yakeesha offered.  "I always wanted to see
that."

   "We didn't see that one yet, cool." I clapped my hands.  "And Aliyaah
was like the coolest.  It's sooo sad what happened to her." I looked at
Katie, and I could tell she was remembering the day we both heard about
Aliyah's plane crash at school.  Poor Aliyah ...

   "What about Jet Li?" Uncle Stephen cut in from the front seat.  I could
tell he was trying to get our minds off Aliyah so we wouldn't start crying
again.  Like I said, Uncle Stephen is THE GREATEST!  "Martial arts and a
love story, too," he added.  "Good choice."

   "You all are really serious," Yakeesha suddenly stopped laughing.  "I
mean really serious ..?"

   "Yeah, so just relax, okay .." Katie reached out and hugged Yakeesha. 
"Nothing bad is going to happen now.  So just have fun."

   Before I could say anything, Yakeesha just broke down crying.  The rest
of the way to Blockbuster, she cried with her head in Katie's lap and we
hugged her.  When we pulled into the strip-mall where the Blockbuster was,
Uncle Stephen finally turned around.  "If you all want to stay in here, I
can go inside and get the movie."

   "No," Yakeesha shook her head.  "We should all go inside."

   Uncle Stephen paused and looked directly at Yakeesha, giving her a BIG
smile.  "Okay, then.  We'll all go inside together.  Don't say I didn't
warn you, though."

   Yakeesha grinned right back at him.  Then she reached down into her
pocket and took out the candy box again.  Ju-Ju Fruits.  Boy, that sounded
good right now.  She must have read my mind or caught me staring because
after she popped in a few she kind of looked at me and hesitated.  "You
want some?" she offered me and then Katie.

   "No thanks," Katie answered.  "Not before dinner."

   I didn't say anything, though.  I mean I REALLY wanted a Ju-Ju Fruit.

   "What about you, homegirl?" Yakeesha laughed.

   "No thank you," I smiled.  "Katie's right.  Not before dinner."

   "I only got one left," she observed.  She shook the almost-empty box,
and it sounded like there was a marble inside.  "How 'bout it, Reverend?"
she asked Uncle Stephen.  Obviously, she'd figured out by now that the "not
before dinner" rule was an adult thing.  "Can she have the last Ju-Ju?"

   Uncle Stephen looked at his watch.  "Okay," he nodded.  "But that's IT
before supper.  If I'm going to slave over a hot stove making you ladies
angel-hair pasta, I certainly expect you not to let it go to waste."

   "No problem," I agreed.  I stuck my hand out and let Yakeesha pour out
the last Ju-Ju into my hand.  Katie was glaring at me as I popped it into
my mouth.  "Ask and ye shall receive," I wanted to tell her so bad.  But I
knew Uncle Stephen wouldn't think that was so funny.

   Next we all got out and went into the Blockbuster.  I have to admit, a
lot of people stared at Yakeesha.  I think it wasn't so much that she was
black as she was so tall and beautiful.  Even after crying like that, she
looked so ..  AWESOME.  I mean it was like impossible to believe that she
was ..  you know ..  doing what she was doing when we found her.

   If you just saw her and didn't know where she'd come from, you would be
like: "Man, she is sooo classy and refined." I mean she looked like Iman or
Naomi or one of those models you always see on the covers of Vogue and
Glamour.

   Every eye in the place was on her, men and women, and it felt so cool
just hanging out with her, to be seen with her, like being with a movie
star.  It was a feeling me and Katie definitely wanted to last, which
wouldn't be hard in Blockbuster.  You see, even though we already knew what
movie we wanted, we still had to go over the whole wall of New Releases
just to make sure we hadn't missed anything.  And that ALWAYS took awhile.

   This was a tradition with me and Katie.  We looked at EVERY movie and
commented on EVERYTHING.  At first, Yakeesha just looked at us and stayed
quiet, but then we got to "Girl, Interrupted."

   "What is up with her lips?" I asked Katie, pointing to Angelina Jolie.

   "They are so huge!" Katie replied.

   "Did you ever notice they were chapped, too?" Yakeesha suddenly cut in.
We both turned to her, waiting for further explanation.  "Look," she
pointed to the box cover.  "The girl has these big freaky lips and there's
always all these bumps and kind of loose little patches and stuff hanging
off."

   I inspected the box and nodded.  "You are SO right.  Eeyck, it's like
she's never heard of Chap-Stick or something."

   "I like Winona better with short hair," Katie joined in.  "I'm going to
get mine like that."

   "I'm going to get cornrows," I added, then looked up to Yakeesha.  "Can
I do that, I mean with my hair?"

   "Jewel did it," Katie offered.

   "Yeah, but hers looked horrible," Yakeesha laughed.  "We'd have to work
on yours," she rubbed my hair affectionately.  "But, yeah, I can see that
.."

   "Maybe I could get mine done, too, before I cut it short," Katie jumped
in.

   "Copy cat," I snapped.

   "You girls look and act WAY too much alike," Yakeesha commented.  "I
think it would do good to get different 'do's, you know ..?  It'll give you
your own personal styles."

   Suddenly, I noticed something.  Yakeesha wasn't swearing anymore.  Not
at all!  I think sometimes I could hear her start to swear, but then she
would stop herself and kind of look around nervously.

   Uncle Stephen was occupied looking at boring old movies and
documentaries, so I knew we had some more time.  We kept walking down the
New Release wall commenting on EVERYTHING, but when we were into the "S's"
Yakeesha suddenly stopped.  "I'm going to go over and talk to your Uncle
for a minute, okay ..?" she asked.

   "Sure, but watch out," Katie laughed.  "He's looking at boring movies."

   "That's all right," she smiled, reaching out and caressing both our
shoulders before turning towards Uncle Stephen.

   Katie and I watched her as she walked over to him.  In a few seconds,
they started talking in hushed tones.  "I wonder what they're talking
about," Katie said after a minute.

   "I bet she's thanking him for rescuing her," I offered.

   "You think?"

   "Isn't she like totally the most beautiful woman you've EVER seen?" I
asked.

   "Totally," Katie agreed.  "But she's so not stuck up about it either."

   "I think that's because she's had a hard life," I observed.

   "Do you think she has any kids?" Katie wondered.  "I mean what if she
has a baby or something back there."

   "I don't think she does," I replied.  "Or else she would have had us get
the baby.  She wouldn't leave a baby like that.  She's way too nice."

   "How old do you think she is?"

   "I don't know," I answered.  "She could be like 19 or 20 or something,
don't you think ..?"

   "Do you think she's too young for Uncle Stephen?" Katie finally asked
what I'd been thinking ever since she walked over to talk to him.

   "Do you?"

   "He's like what ..  38?" Katie asked.

   "Yeah, he and dad are the same age."

   "So he'd definitely be an older man," Katie mused.  "But it's not like
he's OLD old or anything, not like dad.  I mean he still knows stuff that's
going on, even if he does listen to dorky music a lot."

   "I think he kind of likes her," I observed.  "Look at the way they're
talking."

   "Wouldn't that be SOO cool if they got together," Katie gushed.  "He
saves her and everything, and then they get married.  She could be our
aunt. That would rock."

   "Do you think Uncle Stephen would care because she was a ..  you know
..?"

   "Uncle Stephen?!" Katie was flabbergasted at the very idea.  "He is like
so totally cool about people.  You know he never judges anyone.  That would
like totally make no difference to him at all."

   "You're right," I agreed.  "Come on, let's see if we can eavesdrop." I
walked up to them with Katie following me.

   " ..  let's just take a few days so you can unwind .." Uncle Stephen's
voice came into focus as we drew closer.  "You've been through a lot.  I
think before you go out and try to solve all your problems and build a new
life for yourself that you need to know what kind of life it is you want to
build.  If you don't, if it's just about getting a job and some money, you
may just go back to where you were."

   "I don't get what you're saying," Yakeesha replied.

   "Basically," Uncle Stephen grinned, "I think you need to kick back and
have some fun.  I think you need to remember what it's like to enjoy life.
Then you'll be in the frame of mind to really affect positive change in
your life because you'll know what you're shooting for."

   "But I have to eat .." she seemed puzzled.  "I have to find some place
to stay .."

   "I have plenty to eat and a guest room at my house," Uncle Stephen
suggested.  "You can stay there as long as you need."

   "I ..  I can cook," Yakeesha offered, "and clean .."

   "So can I," Uncle Stephen smiled.  "Listen, you'll be living there, so
whatever you want to do is fine.  I don't want you to think you have to be
my maid, though, because I don't need a maid."

   "Not when he has us," Katie chimed in as we approached.  She hugged
Uncle Stephen, a big smile on her face.  Yakeesha looked like she needed a
hug, so I hugged her and she hugged me back.

   "Listen to Uncle Stephen," I told her.  "He's pretty smart for a geek."
I turned to him and playfully stuck out my tongue.  "I think you should
relax and have some fun," I turned to Yakeesha.  "You've been through a
lot, and I think you need to remember how cool life can be."

   Yakeesha shook her head.  "This is just too weird .."

   "Just go with it," I told her.  "Good things do happen if we let them.
Isn't that right, Uncle Stephen ..?"

   He nodded.  "Now who's hungry?"

   "Me!" Yakeesha burst out, as we walked up to the check-out counter. 
After Uncle Stephen paid for the video, Yakeesha picked up a box of Ju-Ju
Fruits and set them on the counter.  When Uncle Stephen started trying to
pay for them, Yakeesha shook her head and held up her hand.  "I can pay for
those," she told him, almost like she was suddenly ticked off or something.

   "I know," he nodded.  "But not today, okay ..?" He put a dollar on the
counter, and when the clerk handed him back his change he tossed the coins
into one of those charity donation cups.

   "Thanks," Yakeesha kind of whispered.  She had this weird look in her
eyes, too, almost like she was more suspicious than grateful.

   "All I ask is that you share them with the girls," Uncle Stephen joked.
"That's the rule in this family ..."

   "SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE!" Katie and I suddenly called out together.

   Yakeesha looked at us all, and then she just started laughing.  "Can't
figure out what I'm doing here," she muttered, shaking her head.  "I must
be crazy ..."

   "Welcome to the club!" Katie chimed in.

   Everyone was laughing now, and we laughed all the way home.



   Uncle Stephen was inside cooking and Katie was on the computer chatting
with Kenyon.  Yakeesha told us she wanted to take a walk, which seemed
weird because of the weather.  But she told us that she didn't get to take
walks where she lived, and she just wanted to walk.  So I agreed to go with
her.  It really wasn't that bad since I was with her and we were talking. I
hardly even noticed the rain and slush.

   "Can I ask you a question?" I finally spoke after a kind of awkward
silence.

   "Sure," she answered, but she didn't so sure.

   "Do you believe in love?" I asked.

   "That's a strange question."

   "I mean doing what you did," I tried to explain myself without sounding
too judgmental.  "That was like selling love, and .."

   "It wasn't anything like love," she interrupted me.  "I sold sex, not
love.  No one can sell love."

   "But you know what I mean, don't you?"

   "Mmm hmm," she nodded her head.  "I know what you mean.  And maybe you
are right.  Maybe I don't believe in love anymore, at least for myself. 
Not after what I've been through.  But that doesn't mean I don't believe in
love for everyone else.  Just not me."

   "You're lying," I told her.

   "What?"

   "You're lying," I repeated.  "You still believe in love for yourself,
you just don't want to admit it because you're afraid you'll get hurt.  You
don't have to lie to me, though.  I can tell you still believe in love for
yourself.  You have a strong heart.  I sensed that the minute I saw you. 
That's what God showed me."

   "Who are you people?" she laughed.

   "Your friends."

   "Why?  Why are you my friends?"

   "Because God pointed us to you and told us you needed friends."

   "And you really do believe that?"

   "Don't you?" I replied.  "Think about it.  A few hours ago you were .. a
.."

   "Prostitute," Yakeesha finished my thought.  "You can say it, Kelly. 
That's what I was.  I don't like it, but I'm not going to deny it and
pretend that's not where I came from."

   "You're right," I nodded.  "You were a prostitute, and now you're not
because of us.  That's kind of a miracle, don't you think ..?"

   "I guess .."

   "And who makes miracles?"

   She grinned.  "Well, you got me there."

   By this time we had turned around at the end of the street and started
back to Uncle Stephen's house.  As we walked, we passed the Garapeck's
house where Pete and Paul were outside shooting hoops.  The ball hit off
the backboard and came bouncing right at us.

   Suddenly, Yakeesha scooped up the ball.  Then she set, paused a second,
and put up this like awesome jump shot from the end of the Garapeck's
driveway.  I mean it was a total SWISH.  Pete and Paul just stood there
looking at her.

   "Wow!" I said, still shocked.

   "I used to play a little," she smiled, but I thought I saw a tear in her
eye maybe.  Looking away from me for a second, she reached in her pocket
and took out her box of Ju-Ju Fruits.  After she opened them, she offered
me some candy first.  "Don't worry, homegirl," she smiled.  "I won't tell
the Reverend."

   I smiled, stuck out my hand, got some Ju-Ju's, and popped them into my
mouth.  Yakeesha smiled then, too.  Then she tilted the box to her lips and
jiggled her wrist until a few Ju-Ju's slid into her mouth.

   "That was a nice shot!" Pete came walking up dribbling the ball.  "Hi,
Kell." Pete was a grade older than Katie, and everyone knew he had a BIG
CRUSH on her.  He always treated me like a pest, though.  "Who's this?" he
asked, eyeing Yakeesha oddly.  It wasn't every day that he saw some
six-foot tall, TOTALLY gorgeous, supermodel-type black woman in this
neighborhood.

   "This is my friend, Yakeesha," I told him.  "This is Pete, and that's
his brother, Paul," I told Yakeesha.

   "Hi Pete, hi Paul," she smiled.

   "Was that a lucky shot?" Paul asked from the driveway.  "Because Pete
said it was pure luck."

   "That was NOT luck, Pete," I snapped.  "You saw it.  RIGHT through. 
Nothing but net."

   "It was a good shot," Pete agreed.  "But lucky."

   "And what if we play you guys two-on-two and kick your butts," Yakeesha
laughed.  "Would that be luck, too?"

   "There's no way two girls are going to beat us," Pete challenged.  "I
don't care how old or how tall you are.  You're still a girl."

   "We challenge you!" I burst out before I knew what I was saying. 
"Two-on-two."

   "Get out .." Pete laughed.

   "Chicken," I sneered at him.

   "Okay," he nodded after reconsidering a moment.  "Two-on-two up to five
baskets."

   We walked to the driveway court, and Pete threw the ball to me.  "We'll
give you first in-bounds."

   I nodded and watched as Yakeesha set up a few feet away.  I tossed the
ball to her and she looked at the hoop.  Pete grinned and stepped back,
inviting her to sink a fifteen-foot shot with no defense.  Yakeesha smiled
back at him, set her shot, jumped and put it up.  A second later, the ball
ripped through the net.

   Paul glared at his brother, got the ball and started to take it to the
back of the driveway.  As he set himself to in-bound the ball, Yakeesha
called out.  "What rules are we playing here?"

   "Huh?" Pete asked.

   "Where I play, whoever makes the shot gets the ball back," Yakeesha
smirked.  "Those are street rules.  That is unless you all want to play
like a bunch of white boys."

   "Okay, then." Pete barked, totally embarrassed.  "Street rules then."

   "No way," Paul protested.

   "Give her the ball, Paul," Pete yelled at his brother.

   Paul flipped the ball to Yakeesha, and she in-bounded it to me.  I
dribbled up and stopped, feeding the ball back to her.  She started
dribbling like crazy until both boys started after her.  After she got them
all twisted up for a minute, she turned back to me.  I was just standing
there under the basket laughing my head off.  Then she passed the ball to
me.

   When the guys saw I was all alone under the basket, they screamed and
dove at me, trying to get to me before I shot.  But I just dribbled and
laid the ball up to the hoop.  "That's 2," I jeered at them as me and
Yakeesha exchanged high-fives.

   For the next five minutes we totally rocked on those guys.  Yakeesha was
awesome.  She could have beaten those guys all by herself, but she didn't.
She passed to me again, and I made another basket before Paul started
covering me, too.

   Then we actually played them two-on-two, and even though Yakeesha was
taking it easy on them, it was a lot of fun.  For the fifth and final
basket, however, she cut loose, driving right by them, jumping up in this
super-cool spin move, and then just laying the ball gently in the basket.

   "Are you like WNBA or something?" Pete asked as gasped for breath.

   Yakeesha just smiled and shook her head.  "You guys need to work on your
jump shots," she told the boys.  Then for like ten minutes she showed them
both how to coordinate their arms and legs together.  By the time, she was
done they were shooting a lot better.

   "You are like the best basketball player I have ever seen," I told her
as we walked back to Uncle Stephen's house.  "You could definitely be in
the WNBA."

   "Maybe once ..  yeah," she smiled.  "But that was a long time ago." She
stopped and looked in my eyes.  "Kelly," it was the first time she'd ever
used my name.  "Let's not talk about this for awhile, all right ..?"

   "Okay ..  sure .."

   When we got back inside, she went in the kitchen to talk to Uncle
Stephen, and I went into the study with Katie so she could help me look
something up on the computer.  As we booted up the system and opened
Internet Explorer, I told Katie everything that happened on our walk. 
Katie said she had an idea, and a minute later we were surfing the web and
running a search for the name "Yakeesha" and the word "basketball." In a
few seconds, about forty web pages popped up.

   Yakeesha was Yakeesha Thomas, and she was a high school basketball star
in our city about five years earlier.  She had a scholarship to the
University of Connecticut and everything.  Then she got injured in a game
during her senior year and lost everything.  The articles stopped after
that.

   "That's what happened to her," I whispered after we'd read all the
web-pages.

   "I wish we could have been there to help her back then," Katie added.

   "We're ready for dinner, girls," Uncle Stephen announced.  He entered
the dining room carrying this like super-huge vat of angel-hair pasta. 
Yakeesha was carrying a salad bowl.  They looked REALLY good together.

   "Oh, cool," I exclaimed as Katie backed up the web browser to our home
page.  When we all sat down, I looked up at Uncle Stephen.

   "Can Yakeesha say grace?" I asked.

   "Uh ..  " he was stunned.  "I ..  uh ..  Kelly," he began.

   "I'd be honored," Yakeesha cut him off.  "Really, Steve."

   STEVE!  I looked at Katie and we tried not to giggle.  Yakeesha looked
at us, too.  She's a woman, so she knows what we were thinking.  She looked
like she was trying not to giggle, too.  "Thank you, God," she began.  "It
feels really weird saying this after all these years, but thank you .." her
voice kind of got choked up a little at the end.

   "Amen!" me and Katie chorused.  "And DIG IN!"

   As we started eating, I couldn't help but notice Uncle Stephen's eyes.
He was like totally crunching on Yakeesha.  Katie noticed, too, and she
looked at me about a thousand times during dinner.

   "We'll clean up and everything when we're done," Katie offered as we
cleaned off the last bit of pasta from our plates.

   "Now that's a switch," Uncle Stephen remarked.  "It's usually like
pulling teeth to get you two to do the dishes."

   "You and Yakeesha have had a tough day," I jumped in.  "I'm sure you'd
like to relax in the living room and watch TV or something for a bit before
Sabrina comes on."

   "Sabrina?" Yakeesha asked.

   "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch," I explained.  "It's a TV show.  Then we
watch Maybe It's Me, Reba and Raising Dad."

   "I've never heard of any of them," Yakeeesha admitted.

   "You have a lot to learn about cool TV shows if you're going to hang out
with us," I grinned.  "Just wait until Tuesday night .."

   "BUFFY!" Katie and I said together.

   "And Wednesday ..?" Uncle Stephen baited us.

   "DAWSON'S!" we screamed gleefully.  "Pacey is THE cutest guy in the
world."

   "I see," Yakeesha laughed.

   "We'd better clear out of here fast, before they change their minds,"
Uncle Stephen chuckled.  He and Yakeesha went into the living room, and
Katie and me started clearing.

   "They are like so totally going to fall in love," I whispered to her. 
"This is going to be SO COOL."

   "Wait until mom and dad find out," Katie giggled.  "They are going to so
totally wig out."

   We tried to listen in as we cleaned, but Uncle Stephen and Yakeesha were
talking pretty quietly.  We decided to make popcorn, and then Katie found
this bottle of wine in Uncle Stephen's cupboard.  "Hey, mom and dad gave
this to him like two years ago at Christmas."

   "Well, I say we open it for them and make this a special occasion." So
we opened it and got out these nice wineglasses that he must have never
used before.  MEN!  Then Katie cut up some cheese, and we took it out to
the living room on this platter " popcorn, wine and cheese (and grape juice
for us).

   Uncle Stephen acted like he was annoyed at us opening his wine, but when
we all started laughing at him, he finally chilled out, too.  It was all an
act, too.  Like I said, that's just the way he is.

   Then we all started watching TV.  Katie and I got out our TV quilts and
plopped down in front of the TV.  That left Uncle Stephen sitting in his
chair and Yakeesha on the couch.

   "Can you get us more juice, Uncle Stephen?" Katie asked at the first
commercial break.

   "Sure," he got up and went into the kitchen.  Then Katie hopped up on
his chair with her quilt.  Yakeesha just eyed her and tried to hide her
smile.  When Uncle Stephen came back he looked at Katie as he handed her
the juice.

   "The floor is cold," Katie pouted, then went back to watching Maybe It's
Me.

   Shrugging his shoulders, Uncle Stephen gave me my juice then hesitantly
turned to the couch.  Yakeesha TOTALLY smiled and made room for him as he
sat down.

   I turned back to the TV.  I was dying to see what was happening on the
sofa, but I was determined not to look until the commercial break.  I mean
we'd set it all up for them, so now it was their turn.  I mean Katie and me
can't do EVERYTHING.

   At the commercial break between Maybe It's Me and Reba, I felt Katie's
toe nudge my ribs.  I looked up, and she moved her head slightly to the
side, in the direction of the couch.  I nodded and stole a quick peek back.

   Yakeesha was nuzzled against Uncle Stephen with her head on his
shoulder. At the next commercial break, I snuck another look, and saw that
his arm was now on her shoulder and she was totally being cuddled against
his chest.  I flashed a thumbs-up to Katie, and we went back to watching
TV. By the time Raising Dad ended and we were putting in "Romeo Must Die,"
Uncle Stephen and Yakeesha were SUCH a couple.

   Then we all sat there and watched the movie, which was WAY COOL, and I
think kind of romantic, too, for Uncle Stephen and Yakeesha.  Finally, it
was over, and Katie starts dragging me up to bed.

   "We could have watched TV some more," I complained.

   "Dummy," she teased me.  "If we didn't come up to the guest room right
now, Yakeesha would have taken it, and she and Uncle Stephen wouldn't have
any more time to be alone.  Now they're down there, and he'll offer to let
her sleep in his room while he takes the couch.  Which will show him what a
gentleman he is.  But she'll say no, which will tell him how unselfish she
is.  And they'll keep talking until, you know, something happens."

   "You're crazy," I shook my head.  "They just met.  Nothing's going to
happen."

   "I bet he kisses her," she insisted.

   "Uncle Stephen?  You're kidding, right ..?"

   "Bet!"

   I agreed, and we shook hands.  "Let's wait and sneak down in like
half-an-hour." She agreed, so we sat up there in the dark whispering about
boys and stuff, until Katie thought it'd be clear to sneak down.

   We had to be real quiet, too, because Uncle Stephen's wood floors creak
all the time.  From halfway down the stairs, you can look into his living
room.  The only light was the TV now, and we could see them together on the
couch.

   The jacket part of her Nike suit was off now, and she was in her red tee
shirt.  But Uncle Stephen had his shirt OFF, and they were totally KISSING!

   Katie jabbed me in the shoulder and gave a silent "I told you so." Then
we went back to watching them.

   She was on top of him, and they were rubbing their bodies together.  I
started to feel very sweaty, especially when she lifted her arms and let
Uncle Stephen slide his hands under her tee-shirt.

   I think Katie and I both knew we should have gone back to the room,
then, but we couldn't.  We just couldn't move.

   Yakeesha slid off her red tee shirt, and she was just in a bra.  Then
she unsnapped that, and let it fall on Uncle Stephen's chest.  Her body was
awesome, her breasts all dark and sleek.  She reminded me of a dark cat,
like a panther, slinking up and down Uncle Stephen's glistening white body.

   Uncle Stephen was really into her, too, I mean he must have been by the
way he was kissing and licking every part of her, especially her breasts.
She rubbed his shoulders while he sucked on her breasts.  Then he whispered
something to her, and she laughed.

   "Oh, my God," Katie whispered when we both watched Yakeesha slide off
her running pants, and then her panties.  Suddenly she was NAKED, and Uncle
Stephen was REALLY kissing her body ..  I mean ALL OVER " her privates, her
butt, her legs, her feet.  She kind of turned around and squatted down over
his face then, and he began kissing her ..  RIGHT THERE.

   "Oh my, God," This time it was my turn to be TOTALLY shocked.  She bent
down and began kissing Uncle Stephen TOTALLY down there.  They were talking
to each other, too, real soft and romantic.  I tried to hear what they were
saying, but the TV was just too loud.  They kept on whispering, and I saw
Yakeesha reach down to her jacket on the floor and get her Ju-Ju Fruits. 
She was so into it, though, that she dropped the box, and it spilled
everywhere on the floor.

   When Katie saw that, she started giggling.  Suddenly a cold chill shot
up my back.  I'd just die if they caught us there!  So I put my hand over
her mouth so they wouldn't hear her and catch us spying.  Katie just
couldn't stop giggling, though, no matter how tight I covered her mouth. 
She finally stopped, though, when she saw what was happening next.

   "God .." we both gasped together in shock as Yakeesha started pulling
down Uncle Stephen's pants.  Then we were silent, like our whole bodies
just became two big pairs of eyes.  Neither of us could even speak as we
watched her undress Uncle Stephen.

   I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I always wondered what Uncle
Stephen looked like down there.  One time when I was little, I ran into the
bathroom without knocking because I REALLY had to pee.  Dad was standing
there naked in front of the mirror, shaving.  I closed my eyes as I sat on
the toilet, but I peeked when he wasn't looking.  His penis was so
weird-looking, all soft like a little hose made out of skin.

   Uncle Stephen's penis didn't look anything like that, though.  It stuck
up from stomach like a hard white horn.  Now I knew why boys called them
"boners." I had no idea they looked like that, or that they could get that
big and swollen.

   "God .." Katie kept repeating.  I think she was wondering if Kenyon's
penis got that big when he was excited.  Or maybe she'd already seen
Kenyon's erection, and now she was amazed how much bigger Uncle Stephen's
was.

   I was amazed, too, but I was even more amazed when I saw what Yakeesha
did next.  She opened her mouth real wide, and then she ..  you know .. 
swallowed all of it all at once.  It just disappeared between her lips, and
then her cheeks started ..  you know ..  sucking ..  hard.  In a way, I was
totally grossed out.  But in another way, it was like the most TOTALLY
beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and I couldn't take my eyes off of them.

   Neither could Katie.  She was even more into it than me.  I know she was
thinking about Kenyon and her together.  I mean I've had boyfriends and
gone out with guys, but it's just kissing.  I know about all the other
stuff, but I figure that's for when I'm more grown-up.

   But Katie's different.  She probably feels she's grown-up enough now to
start getting more serious with guys.  I think her and Kenyon might have
even gone past first base ...  maybe.  Watching Yakeesha and Uncle Stephen,
then, was probably giving her some ideas.  But, still, I knew there was no
way she would EVER do what Yakeesha was doing.  Was there ..?

   I looked into Katie's eyes.  She saw me and looked away, like I'd
suddenly caught her doing something.  Then I knew the truth.  I knew
someday that Katie would do what Yakeesha and Uncle Stephen were doing.  I
looked back down into the living room, and I knew that someday I would do
it, too.  I knew that mom and dad did it, that everyone in love did it. 
For the first time, I guess I realized how important sex was, that it
wasn't just a joke.

   "Intimacy", that's what Uncle Stephen called it.  And he was right.  Sex
certainly was intimate and very private.  But now it wasn't dirty to me
anymore.  Sex was beautiful, like a sunrise, or the first snowfall, or the
night sky when you finally get out of the city and REALLY see the stars for
the first time.

   So I went back to watching, not because it was dirty, but because it was
so beautiful.  After they kissed each others' privates for a while,
Yakeesha spun back around, and then she sat on Uncle Stephan, and they made
love.  Their bodies moved real slow at first, and their breathing stabbed
into the air every time their bodies collided into each other.

   Then they picked up the rhythm, kind of like they were dancing, and the
music changed from Mariah Carey to Britney Spears.  Yakeesha kind of
wriggled around on him, sliding her hips back and forth while he was deep
inside her.  Then she leaned over and kissed him, and he began driving his
hips up into her while she moaned.

   "Yes .." I heard Uncle Stephen moan as he tensed up.

   "Yes .." she replied, collapsing into him just as his body suddenly went
limp, too.

   Then they just laid there in each others arms, kissing and giggling and
licking each others' sweaty bodies.

   Katie took my hand, and we looked into each other's eyes.  Without a
word, we silently crawled back into our room, shut the door, and went to
our separate beds.

   "I told her she still believed in love," I said to no one in particular.

   "What?" Katie asked.

   "Nothing."

   "That was the most beautiful thing I ever saw," Katie spoke again after
about a minute of quiet.

   "Me, too," I whispered.

   "Do you feel funny?" she asked.

   "Mmm hmm," I answered.  "But good ..  warm, you know .."

   "Mmm hmm .." She paused.  "I want to do that someday."

   "Me, too .."

   "But not with Kenyon," she spoke after another long pause.  "I don't
love him ..  not like that, I mean."

   "You don't ..?"

   "We're just kids.  We couldn't possibly be like that.  I mean I want to
do that so bad, but that's why I want to wait.  So it's just like that ..
JUST like that," she repeated for emphasis.

   "Me, too." I paused.  "Do you think mom and dad are like that?"

   "Yea," Katie giggled, and so did I.  "All except that ..  sucking stuff.
Mom and dad would NEVER do that."

   "Yeah, you're right," I agreed.  Only I knew we were both lying to each
other and ourselves.  Our parents loved each other, and they did EVERYTHING
together.  Just like Uncle Stephen and Yakeesha, and just like we'll both
do when we finally fall in love.

   "Did you see the way that Pinecone guy went down after Yakeesha kicked
him in the nuts?" Katie laughed.  "That was SO AWESOME!"

   "I bet he didn't think so," I quipped.

   "This may have been the best day EVER," Katie said after more giggling
and a moment of reflection.

   "God's always right," I added.

   "That's why he's God," Katie sighed.  "Night, Kel."

   "Night, Kate!" I knew that when we woke up our lives would never be the
same again.  And I LIKED that ..  A LOT!





   
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