act i

pg. i

𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒

' 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭,
𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 '

BRONX, '77

           THE POWER OF Mylene Cruz's beautiful voice rang through-out the Cruz's large family church as June opened the large doors and slipped inside, seemingly unnoticed by both mylene & one of her closest male companions ezekiel. it was early in the morning, almost too early for mylene's singing, but from what june understood it was for a reasonable cause.

"— but be that as it may, every night I pray .. for brighter stars and golden days , and to be taken far away.. be that as it may.." june smiled , nothing less than impressed by the sound of mylene's singing.

    even though the two girls were never really close, even a fool could see that she was going places with that voice. june grinned as she stood behind ezekiel watching his fingers as he effortlessly played the piano like his mother taught him long ago.

"i will not forget the love you gave.. " mylene sang softly into the microphone, gazing over at ezekiel, who grinned back in return. june looked anywhere but at the two, not wanting to feel awkward or interrupt the moment.

when the song was finally concluded, all three of the teens sat in silence before june  began clapping , almost startling ezekiel.

"that was amazing." june notes , clutching her binder & journal to her chest. ezekiel gazed up at her for a split second, wondering when she'd even arrived, before turning his attention back over to mylene.

"really? you guys think that was the one?" mylene inquired nervously. june only nods her head while ezekiel was somewhat speechless.

"mylene, that was .." he took a dramatic pause, getting up and taking the tape they'd been recording the song on, out the cassette player.

"what?" she anxiously urged, preparing herself for criticism. june stood silently, curious as to what would come out his mouth too.

probably something sweet.

     — june thought. she knew he had a thing for mylene , and sometimes he'd get to talking all sweet. it was cute to her, corny, but sweet. all she ever attracted was thugs who could care less about a females feelings; so to june, mylene was lucky.

"that was superflicious!" he suddenly shouts. both girls exchange looks of confusion with one another.

"what is that?" mylene finally asks.

"super plus official plus delicious." ezekiel extended the tape out to mylene , but before she could grab it , he quickly jerks it back.

"boy, that is not a word." june chuckles watching mylene try to get the tape from him.

"it is if I say it is." he smirks , glancing at june, who in return stuck her middle finger out at him — despite them being in a church. ezekiel only laughed at this bestfriend, before returning his attention to mylene. "so , we're taking this to markeesh records after school?" ezekiel questions mylene, still hoarding the tape.

"it don't work like that." she replies, still trying to capture the tape from the boy. "they don't accept submissions. i looked it up."

before ezekiel could even respond, moment was heard from the pews as a head poked out , startling all three of the kids.

"caught red handed! you know papi doesn't allow anything but church music in here!" they all turn their attention to mylene's little sister who'd been hiding behind the pews.

mylene quickly gets the tape in her grasp and hides it behind her back.

"please don't tell papi!" she pleads. the young girl folds her arms in a sinister way, thinking of a proposal to make this fair.

"only if you hand out the pamphlets." the child mischievously forms a grin. mylene doesn't hesitate for a second before walking off the stage & running towards her sister, both of them exiting shortly after.

"well so much for that." june laughs, causing ezekiel to chuckle also.

    the two of them walk out into the alleyway next to the church, and stood there. june opened her binder, digging around in the pockets for a particular item. once found , she held it up for him to see.

a neatly rolled joint.

she stole it from her brother, like she did all her weed. he always had a supply. although carter never told her, she knew he had to be dealing; it was the only thing that made sense to her.

"damn i wish i had a voice like hers." june sighed as he ignited the small flame and lit the drug. "i'd probably actually have a chance getting out of this hell hole. Singing on records and shit."

she smiled lightly, seeming as if she were making a joke but she was serious. june wanted nothing more than to fleet from the bronx as soon as she could. the city held too much weight on her, she felt trapped in a way.
ezekiel knew how she felt. their situations may have been different, but they both understood eachother in a way others didn't. that's what made them so close & their bond so tight — it was different.

"j, have you not heard your voice?" he chuckles. she took a long inhalation of the joint before passing to him & exhaling.

"yeah, but it's not good enough." june scoffs, leaning her back against the brick wall. he watched her, studying her like a test. she didn't notice his eyes, she was too busy dusting off the light dust on her journal.

"can I tell you something?" he asks , causing
her to internally panic , but on the outside she kept a straight face; nonchalantly nodding, not taking her eyes off of the binder.

"when you sing , it's like how red velvet feel. thats how you sing.. tender , like crying tears tender. " he smoothly adds. june looks up at him , trying her hardest to refrain from smiling hard. "- and right at the end, damn! shit, your roar is a motherfucker girl!" he exclaimed. june bursts into laughter taking the joint from him.

"you're all talk." she smirks, exhaling the thick smoke.

"isn't all talk when it's true." he steps closer to her as she inhaled, making her crack a smile and almost choke.

"do you have any plans tonight? we could go see star wars.." he began , looking down at her with anticipation.

    the sun directly hit his eyes , making his iris look like large pools of honey. her gaze went from his eyes to his lips — she wondered how they felt. june took a deep breath, chuckling at her own thoughts.

"i don't know yet, but .. maybe." june foretold , still studying him with that same crooked smirk.

"maybe?" he questions, cocking an eyebrow. she takes the nearly finished joint from his fingers and quickly puts it out, only because she knows they'll be late if they don't leave soon.

"maybe." june repeats, this time smiling and picking up her binder and journal she threw down. "let's go before we're late." she continued , walking past him.

    ezekiel stayed for a moment , watching her walk away, confused as to what just happened — shortly before running to catch up to her.

      both approach the pavement in front of mylene's parents soup kitchen they owned, once they heard yelling coming from that direction.

"oh! should I ask them which hymn you were singing!? cause that's not what your sister told me!" her father yelled, while motioning towards ezekiel and june. zeke put his hands up in defense while june pretended like she wasn't just staring.

"june bug!" she heard two familiar voices call, causing her to turn her head, seeing both her friends, regina & yolanda walking towards her.

"hey honey's." she greets them both as they approached.

"damn, it looks bad this time." regina mumbled, seeing mylene & her father arguing back and forth.

"yo j, i'll see you after school." ezekiel says before jogging across the street to where rara and boo stood waiting for him. she watched him quietly , until the sound of Mr. cruz's shouting shook her away from her thoughts.

"and you will not be sleeping at yolanda's tonight!" he shouted, causing the three girls on the pavement to flinch a bit.

once mylene angrily stomps her way to where they all stood, signaling that the heated discussion was now over, the four began their journey to school.

"what's wrong with your pops this time?" yolanda asks the distressed girl, the other two looking for answers too — even though june had an idea.

"he's just mad I was singing things other than gospel at the church!" she exclaimed , filled with fury and frustration. "now how am I gonna get my tape to malibu?"

"those holy rollers will be in bed by 8. trust me, we're getting that tape to dj malibu tonight." yolanda reassured.

"wait, did I miss something? who's dj malibu?" june queries. The three girls looked between eachother , then back at June who waited for an answer.

"I didn't tell you?" regina bit her lips. june folded her arms , astonished at the fact that regina neglected to tell her anything. she was always the one to tell her stuff that went on, regardless if june cared about it or not.

"shoot, you were probably too busy hanging with the boys!" yolanda alleged. "you barely have time for us j." she jested, making june giggle.

"now you know y'all are my girls. so what's going on?"

"tonight we're getting mylene's tape of her singing to dj malibu, the hottest dj in the bronx." yolanda confesses, nearly squealing. june narrows her eyes.

"how are y'all doing that?"

"we're going to that disco joint , les inferno." she replied. june nearly chokes.

"oh man! I heard that place was the shit, for real."

"you wanna come along?" mylene started. "I mean, if anybody knows how to work their way through a crowd, it'd be you." She complimented.

"hmm, thanks for the offer but, I don't know." june shrugged, thinking of ezekiel's offer earlier. she'd be kidding herself if she said she wouldn't rather be with zeke than anyone else.

"oh come on you have to go. it's gonna be off the roof."

"and guess what else girls?" regina started, getting all of their attention. "i'm getting some dick tonight, and the feelings all right cause my pussy is tight!" regina sings aloud, causing the girls to burst out into laughter, and the people walking along the sidewalk with them to look at them funny.

_____________________

june sat in her desk behind rara , doodling down things in her flimsy journal she always kept with her. wether she was drawing or writing poetry. it was something she'd always do, yet she never really shared it with anyone. anyone who's seen it , it was by accident. it was like a prized possession; she had so many thoughts running rampant in her mind her journal saw it all.

    the class was rowdy as usual, except today they were extra loud. music was playing, paper was being thrown, students were dancing on desks and everyone was talking over mrs.green. usually june would participate in the shenanigans, but she was zoned out in her own little world.

"hey, monroe.." she heard one of the loudest boys in the entire classroom whisper her last name , only for her to ignore him — all he did was mess with people & she wasn't in the mood to be bothered. once he caught the drift that she was ignoring him, he spoke a little louder. "i know you hear me."

     june rolled her eyes, looking up from her place in the book to acknowledge him just so he could leave her alone. "what?"

    rara & ezekiel held their own conversation, & mylene was reading, so there was nobody to possibly save her from the conversation — not that june monroe ever needed saving.

"when are you gonna let me come over?" e asks, as his two friends in the desks front of them begin to snicker. june narrowed her eyes, wondering if she'd heard him correctly.

"excuse me?" she was genuinely confused. she rarely spoke to anyone other than zeke or rara in that specific class unless it involved a group project where she had to speak, but other than that she stayed to herself.

"when you tryna get down girl? I've been waiting to ask you since september." he smirked, scooting his desk closer. the people surrounded around them stared at her intently , as if they were waiting for a reaction. "i heard them quiet girls are the wildest."

"i heard that too!" another boy shouted from a row away. june sat silently, wondering why they decided to pick on her on that day of all days.

"so what's up? you down?" the boy continued, studying the side of her face intently. "it can be our little secret."

     june's stomach dropped, as she felt her blood begin to boil. she was ready to get out of character. one thing she never tolerated was anyone disrespecting her, and he was about to learn that in an instant. her temper wasn't short, she was never quick to get offended or go off, however since he had a crowd around them — she was going to give them what they all wanted.

"boy , fuck you." she cut her eyes , nearly wanting to pick up the nearest textbook and beat his head in. "never in your life or mine would I want to fuck with a big stupid ass, can't even read a sentence let alone a paragraph , irrelevant, shrimp dick having little boy such a yourself. now all of y'all , can stop staring and get out my face so I can write — something all of your illiterate asses need to be doing cause I know your failing nearly all your classes with them low ass I.Q's." june looked around at all the faces that were staring at her with surprised expressions. "laugh now! y'all thought it was funny before!"

june shrugged still looking around her, not caring who's feelings she hurt or who was ready to fight. It was rare for her to get out of character — she was so happy go lucky, but on few occasions people would test her and she'd have to show them who she really was.

      ezekiel snapped his head in her direction mid conversation with rara, causing him to shift his attention also. most of everyone in the classroom turned toward the back to hear what the girl had to say.

"it wasn't even that serious." A girl mumbled loud enough for june to hear. quickly looking in her direction, june stood up.

"and who asked you!?" she shouted. "if anybody has a problem, take it up with ya mama cause i ain't got not a damn thing to help with that — should've minded your business and as a matter of a fact — I'll tell your mama my damn self." sitting back down & opening her journal, she scanned the page, looking for where'd she left off.

those who heard the small , heated discussion made juvenile 'oo' sounds , even laughed, making the boy roll his eyes. ezekiel held back his laughter , watching the guy have an internal fit while june began to read her book once again — feeling a sense of accomplishment.

"bitch." the boy mumbled under his breath, turning his attention to the front, catching june's  attention.

"class settle down." mrs.green states, receiving zero attention what's so ever. usually june would listen, she was to the point of no return.

"yo bald headed grandma a bitch, bitch!and everybody knows ms.jefferson has alopecia so don't even argue with me."june retaliated, making a couple of kids laugh harder, including ezekiel, rara & now mylene.

"I said settle down! Now I got plenty of detention slips and I am not afraid to use them!" mrs.green threatened , this time getting everyone to sit properly in their seats and be quiet. "now as promised, I will be announcing this weeks poetry contest winner."

    june sunk down in her seat, feeling a sudden loss of confidence once she announced the last part. for one, june didn't even apply herself in that essay; the objective was to write about something deep and expressive to yourself. june wrote about politics.
the problem wasn't opening up, she just didn't know what to open up about. she didn't feel anything toward life. there was so zest, no adventure. she had no clue what her peers wrote, so there's no telling who could win.

"and the winner is .. ezekiel figuero." the teacher finally says, majority of the class upset they didn't win. june glanced over at him, smiling hard.

"come on everybody applaud!" The teacher exclaimed, causing half the class to forcefully clap in non-excitement.

"aw, my friend is a new age langston hughes." june jokes, making the people who heard the comment snicker, including ezekiel.

"faggot." Someone hissed from the back. june quickly turns to face whoever said it with complete seriousness.

"shut yo non writing ass up." june demanded, causing the annoyed boy to shoot her the middle finger.

" class that's enough!" mrs.green refers to june, who only slowly turns around to face the front. she mentally decided that would be her last interaction with any of the students, the last thing she felt like hearing was her aunt or brothers mouth if she were to get in trouble.

"ezekiel, come up here to get your prize , and recite your poem."

"uh I can't , I hurt my back." the boy lied with a smile. june, mylene & rara all gave him different looks of confusion, knowing he wasn't telling the truth.

"is that right? fine , i'll just come to you." the class made juvenile noises as the teacher approached the boys desk.

"thanks mrs.green." he murmured, accepting the candy.

"thanks mrs.green." someone mocked, this time catching rara's attention before anyone else.

"aye mock him again and I'm going lady macbeth on your ass." rara warned, making june let out a loud contagious laugh.

"i'd like for you to read your poem ezekiel." mrs.green requests once again. june leans on her desk, ready to hear what he had written. he rarely ever shared his true writing with her; he'd say a rhyme every now & then but that was it.

"i'd rather not." he denies, sliding the sheet of notebook paper away from him.

"why not?" she sighs.

"cause I didn't write it, I'm sorry. Here's your candy back." he hands her the candy bar as the bell rung, releasing everyone from the class.

june stared at the boy in disbelief, before gathering her things. without notice she manages to leave her journal as she followed mylene & rara out the front door, stopping to talk to mrs.green.

"you know he probably really did write that, he's just not man enough to admit it." june retorts , purposely loud enough for ezekiel to hear.

"june!" he whined, sort of like a gasp as if she'd told a secret.

"zeke!" she mimics , shaking her head. "have a good summer mrs.green."

"you too baby." she replies as june walks out the room to catch up with the girls that waited for her outside the building.

southmore high was a large highschool in size, but not nearly as big in population — nearly everyone knew eachother. from people of color to the white folks, although the school separated their neighborhoods, once they entered those doors they all came together.

    june leaned against the large rock along with yolanda , bobbing her head to the radio as regina & mylene danced to the radio. most of everyone had left, only a few students remained outside, gathered in their small groups.

"what if malibu will only listen to your tape if you get down with him? what are you gonna do then?" regina inquires. all heads shift to mylene who stood confused.

"listen, he's not like that." mylene states, as if to reassure herself more than anyone. june scoffed , letting out a small laugh.

"oh my goddess, mylene you know nothing about the world." june laughs, with yolanda.

little did the four girls know, above them rara & ezekiel stood, listening closely to what they were saying. although the plan wasn't originally to eavesdrop, they thought this information would somehow work in their favor.

"these are men mylé! like last time I was there , I met this dude little wolf , he's cadillac's main man — and he was fine." regina smirked. "and he had gap! I'm talking g-money!!"

"shit I might be able to meet me a man at les inferno!" june blurted jokingly. " if I go.."

"j you got to! what else you gonna do tonight!?" yolanda exclaimed. june shrugged, now approaching the stiffly dancing mylene.

"look, mylene i'm gonna give you some advise." june began, smiling mischievously. "let malibu take you to the hotel ,"

"oh shit." ezekiel mumbled from above them, watching as his june began to give mylene poor advise, wondering to take her serious or not.

"you sing a sexy song for him in your lingerie and shit." mylene's jaw dropped , in astonishment. "shake your little culo!" june shouted making a small demonstration and smacking her own backside. the girls burst into laughter.

"culo?" ezekiel whispers , surprised. he didn't know if he were more upset about the fact that june said all that or that mylene was probably going to do it.

both he & rara steppes away from the scene before they could hear anything else pertaining to the girls going to les inferno.

"thats how you get a record deal." june confidently states.

"okay you need to calm down, all of y'all need to calm down." mylene chuckled "i'm not planning on getting down with nobody tonight, aight?"

    june giggled a bit before hearing cadillac by an artist named miguel began to play on the radio.

"ooh turn that up!" she shouts beginning to dance in sync with regina.

"and you're telling me you don't know about going to les inferno?" yolanda giggled. "and just look at that body! I'm telling you , your stealing someone's man tonight, you know if you come." she adds.

"girl I ain't interested in nobody , unless it's — " she started , but ended up laughing at herself before finishing the statement , "nevermind. but yeah , you're right. i should go."

"ain't I always?" yolanda laughs, "you're still coming over for dinner right?"

"of course , I just have to run home first." june smiled , continuing to dance to the rhythm of the music.

______________________

june happily skipped through the front door of her families nicely decorated apartment. the air smelt like vanilla, with a hint of something else sweet. while the living rooms stereo played i say a little prayer by aretha franklin. it took .5 seconds for june to realize what the occasion was.

her aunt was going on a date.

"i'm home!" she alerted anyone who would listen, hoping to receive some sort of response.

june carelessly dropped her items onto the couch, going straight into the kitchen, only to see if anyone was around.

"oh june! i am so glad you're here." her aunt & legal guardian, iris , greets happier than the normal. "does this look tight?" the woman asks , doing a full spin in a short, skimpy , red dress.

iris wasn't close enough to where she was in june's face, however she smelt the whiskey on her from a mile away.

"can you breathe?" june sarcastically remarks. iris's smile fades as she rolls her eyes.

"i need you to watch maya tonight. carter is out workin'."

june smacks her lips, looking over at the fireplace as if answers were plastered onto it.

"i got plans tonight, and I'm always watching maya. why don't you?"

iris barely paid attention to a word coming out her nieces mouth , per usual. she was too busy adjusting her hair in the mirror.

"honey i got things to do." june rolled her eyes in annoyance. iris always did this, she'd make last minute plans thinking of nobody but herself — but you couldn't blame her. in her mind, iris was still young, so when her mother died and left her custody of her fleeted sisters three kids 3 years ago, iris had no choice.

"it ain't like you got a job." june mumbled under her breath. luckily iris didn't hear her. those two fought so often, that even the neighbors knew.

"what did you have planed anyways? hanging out with them boys." iris glanced at june from the corner of her eye.

"i'm having dinner with the kipling's and later I was going to go out with yolanda & regina."

"you can go to the little dinner, but be back by 8." she demands. june sighs, secretly loathing the fact that she had no say.

I refuse to push my life aside , just so she can date and dash every dude in town.

june formed a smirk, thinking of a plan to where she could do what she wanted but not get caught.

"fine." she stated. "i'll be back by 8 on the dot."

i'm definitely going out tonight.

because if everyone else got to do whatever they wanted , she thought why not? rarely did june ever go out to 'parties' & have actual fun like a normal teenager. however, this summer was going to be different. today marked the day of a new era; and june knew that.

___________________

      once taking a shower, & changing into comfort clothes, june found herself at the kipling residence along with the rest of her friends, all sitting at the rectangular dinner table. she sat in silence, listening to the conversations around her, sitting between dizzie & regina and directly in front of ezekiel.

"so all you kids going to the movies tonight?" mrs.adele asked the group of teens.

"regina & i are going to go see that new horror flick, satan's cheerleaders." yolanda replied.

"you boys going with them?"

    june looked across from herself at ezekiel, to see him staring at her already. he'd been acting weird ever since she had gotten there, yet they haven't had the chance to speak.

"we're gonna go see that new meta-galactic movie , mars wars." Dizzie mistakingly messes up the name.

"it's star wars fool!" rara shouts. june wanted to laugh , but ezekiel was making her nervous and slightly uncomfortable. she didn't know what to do.

"and what about you two , mylene and june?" adele turns to the two silent ones. both exchanged looks.

"i have to be home soon." mylene stated. 

"oh you do?" ezekiel retorted, turning to her.

"yep. my chariot turns into a pumpkin at 9:45."

" — and june is coming with us, isn't that right j?" Yolanda smiles.

    june looks at her for a second , before replying, knowing she had to be home even sooner than mylene.

"yep." she shrugs, giggling at yolanda and regina's surprised faces of excitement. june turned to her plate , beginning to take another bite of food as mrs.adele walked away. ezekiel started at the girl in front of him, trying to figure out how to confront her about what he'd heard earlier that day.

"can i talk to you for a second?" ezekiel asks june. the entire table got quiet as she slowly looked up at him, it made her nervous.

"uh.. yeah.." she started , getting up from the table along with him.

"oooo." boo juvenilely adds as she walks past him, causing her to roll her eyes at the boy.

    she followed zeke into dizzie's bedroom, plopping herself on his bed as he closed the door behind her.

"whats up?" she asks , watching him as he began pacing back and forth. june tilted her head, wondering whether to take him seriously or not.

"okay man you're acting weird. what's wrong?" she asks again , after getting no answer. ezekiel stopped pacing and stares at her with a nonchalant expression.

"so you're going to les inferno now?" he interrogated, catching her by surprise. june bit her lip, not knowing what exactly to tell him. she knew that place had a rep,& also knew it was a secret.

"okay , let me explain —" she began , But was quickly cut off.

"there's are gangsters there and shit! you're gonna fuck around and get turned out!" he shouted , beginning to pace again. he looked like someone's father, which made june chuckle softly.

"zeke i'll be fine. i literally have nothing to lose." june sighs as she came to the sad realization. ezekiel stopped pacing, before sitting down next to her on the bed.

"but I do , and that's you." he professes. june shook her head with a sheepish grin. he always did that; made her feel things she couldn't put into words.

she hated it.

she stared at her nails, lost for words. ezekiel loves her and she knew that, she loved him too, however her type of love differed from what she showed. it was deep, so deep she didn't know how to show it. to her , he wasn't just a friend.

she loved him with every ounce of her, & she'll never even tell him.

"it'll be fine. i'll make sure we make it out safely.. besides , shouldn't mylene be the one in here with you having this conversation? that is your girl and all." she murmured the last part, rolling her eyes. ezekiel noticed & smacked his lips.

"you're my best friend. you know what me and you got is different.. it's special. if something happens to you, i don't know how i'd be able to even live with myself. who else is gonna give me lectures about saving the youth & staying focused in class?" he smiled, making her smile also.

"i promise i won't let anything bad happen to any of us zeke, you have my word." she extended out her pinky, a solid contract of any promise for them ever since they were kids. unhesitatingly, he intertwined his pinky finger with hers.

"and what about all that stuff you were talking about earlier? let him take you to a hotel room." ezekiel mimicked in her voice , making her laugh.

"oh my goodness , you were eavesdropping!?" she playfully slapped his shoulder in shock, but wasn't upset. she would've done the same.

"maybe."

"well i was just joking. you know good and damn well mylene ain't going to nobody's hotel room." june reassured him, however mylene wasn't exactly the one he was worried about.

"what about you?" he asks, "you have to promise me you won't do anything crazy like that."

jokingly, june thought about it for a second, before hearing ezekiel gasp. she laughed.

"fine , you got it."

"and who's to say I won't make an appearance." he smiles standing up. june looked at him confused, yet slightly amused.

"what's that supposed to mean?"

"you'll see." he says before exiting the room, leaving her there wondering what he had up his sleeve.

_____________________

Feedback is always accepted & appreciated.