WINTER 1984

Nicole stood next to Franklin at the New Year's party nodding her head to the beat. They stood off to the side away from the crowd, people watching. Her bruises from her interaction with her old friend, Drew, began to fade slightly. 

"You know Manboy ain't checking for you?" Nicole asked sipping her spiked eggnog.

Franklin chuckled, "Yeah. He how them bruises got on your neck?"

She nodded, "He wouldn't take the damn bag. And neither would Leon."

"He's stubborn. I like that. He'll come around." Franklin said surveying the party.

It had been one season and Nicole could already see the influence this drug was having on her community. She could feel the tension building in her stomach the more she stayed by Franklin's side. 

She put her cup down, "You talking about Manboy or Leon?"

"Both."

Nicole chuckled, "I'm not handling your dirty work anymore. Get somebody else to do it." 

She watched as Franklin turned to her, "What?"

"I think I wanna go back to school next fall, you know? Finish out the new year strong." Nicole told him feeling the guilt creep back in. 

"You're parents still don't know you dropped out huh?"

Nicole clenched her jaw, "No. What's it to you?"

Franklin grabbed onto her arm and tugged her close. Her breath hitched at the lack of space she had. Her brown eyes darted around the party but everyone was too high or drunk to notice her distress. 

"Listen, I'm not about to have some college dropout tell me how to run my business. I already have enough on my plate with Kevin and now Leon wants to go play captain save a hoe-"

Nicole let out a sigh of relief when her beeper went off. She unhooked it from her waistband and read the numbers. 919. That was her younger sister Bethany. 

Franklin shut his mouth trying to calm his nerves seeing her beeper go off. He let go of Nicole and smiled, "Cola, go ahead and head home, okay? We'll talk tomorrow. We got business to handle."

***

Nicole pulled into the busy street. It was late in South LA and the only thing that was open was legs and wallets. She honked the horn seeing Bethany standing at the burger joint with Mel. Getting out of the car she smiled, "You called?"

Beth turned around with a milkshake in her hand, "I wanted to see my sister one last time before the new year."

Nicole eyed the bag on her shoulder, "What you mean?"

Beth handed Nicole the bag with teary eyes, "Dad found it the other day."

The warm LA air seemed to dry on Nicole's skin at her sister's words, "Okay. What did you say?"

"That it wasn't mine. I had to tell him I was hanging out with Mel. But he knows, Cola."

Nicole nodded taking the bag, "I get it. I won't ask you to hold anything again."

Nicole turned her head seeing Mel leaning against the dark booth. Her hair was messier than usual and her skin was dull. Mel smiled at Nicole and scratched her arm. With hesitant eyes, Nicole warned her sister, "Come on. I'll take you home."

"Go home, Mel. It ain't safe out here on New Year's." Nicole shouted at the girl wanting her to get back to her father's safe. 

Nicole hooked her arm around Beth, "You aren't doing that crack are you?"

Bethany's eyes widened, "No! I'd never."

Nicole stopped at the curb holding onto her sister's shoulders, "Promise me. Promise me you won't ever do it. Mel is on it, I don't know how or why, but you should never ever do it."

"I promise, Nicole."

Before Nicole could respond she saw Leon and his crew approach the burger stand. She rolled her eyes, "Go wait by my car, okay? I gotta handle something real quick."

Leon turned hearing her voice, "Nicole."

She threw the bag at his feet and pointed to it, "Take it."

Leon shook his head, "I told Franklin, I'm on my own now."

Nicole shook her head, "What is up with y'all? And Kevin? I haven't even heard from him. Franklin is tweaking. Did he tell you about the new distro, Teddy? He's something else. I haven't seen you in months..."

Nicole took in his appearance. His afro had grown a bit bigger. He was more flashy with his gold on and his Adidas tracksuit. This wasn't the Leon she was used to.

"Well, now you see how I felt when you left all of them years ago. Happy New Year Nicole."

"Everything is just falling apart. Leon, please." Her face fell as he turned to walk away.

She grabbed his arm stopping him in his tracks, "What about us?"

Leon seemed to be looking everywhere but her face. She watched as his eyes widened at something in the distance. And that's when it hit her.

Nicole gasped at the sound of a car speeding by. And then the gunshots. She yelped when Leon pushed her to the ground covering her body as they hid behind a car. Her body shook as the noise subsided. 

"You okay? Are you hit? Look at me." Leon shouted pulling Nicole to her feet.

But her mind was blank. She looked at her shaky hands and then back to the car, "Bethany!"

Authors Note:

sorry I've been away, I had some important things to take care of

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NOT PROOF READ

you may feel like there's some loop holes but we just did a time jump!