act i

pg. xii

𝐁𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐘

' 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭
𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞
𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 '

________________

          IT WAS THE DAY, ed koch would be giving his campaign speech for all of the youth of the bronx to hear. he'd been running for mayor for months now, and since ezekiel is interning for mr.gunns, he got to give a speech himself. not only that, but the get down brothers had a battle that day.
             june found herself able to sing with mylene, yolanda & regina , like she promised. it was only the national anthem, but it was the thought that counted.

             she viewed the dress ,she was told to wear, on her body in her vanity mirror. june tried her hardest to look extra presentable, her thick curls reaching past her shoulders in a half up half down style. her golden chain shimmering in the light with every twist and turn she'd make.

          the folded paper she had been debating on shipping away sat on the dresser in front of her , almost as if it were begging her to finish it. june sighed heavily, unfolding the letter she'd written for her mother. she'd been procrastinating for so long, out of fear, but now that she had the time — she decided right at that second, it was time for her to flick this chip off her shoulder.

           june quickly found a pen, reading lowly to herself where she left off. she had so much to say, so much to ask.

     i'm not going to pretend anymore.
mama, the more i try to get you out my mind, the more you get deeper inside. i don't hate you, i never will. i just act like i do because it's easier than admitting that i miss you.

even at this point , i don't know what i'm more afraid of ; to see you again, or never seeing you again.

           june bit her lip, her stomach beginning to do that turning thing it'd do whenever she got nervous as she quickly scribbled away.

      either you come close, or just stay away. this in between thing is confusing for all of us.

i wouldn't even be trying to write you if it weren't for my own piece of mind. i just need to know why. why did you leave? was it so bad that you couldn't take us too? was it my fault?

cause you didn't even say goodbye..

she stopped , taking a breath and exhaling. this was the bad part about getting it all out. it was ugly. the emotions were overwhelming, but she knew she needed it done. it was starting to feel lighter in her chest, and she didn't seem so confused anymore. even if she never gave her the letter, that paper held all her demons, and she no longer needed to keep them contained within her.

i know you regret giving up on us. atleast that's what carter used to tell maya and i when we was kids.

is it true ?

         before june could finish writing, her bedroom door swings open , making her instantly snatch the paper out of sight. iris stood with maya beside her. iris looked nice, wearing one of her old dresses from back when junes grandmother would drag her to church. maya however, looked frustrated with a big puffy cloud of hair on top of her head.

"do maya's hair while i finish getting ready."  iris demands, pushing the girl foward as if she needed her help. june smacks her lips.

"you don't know how to knock?" june retorts , ignoring her demand.

"just do your damn sisters hair, and hurry up!" iris repeats, closing her room door once again. scoffing, june looks at the door then at her little sister — who she never let in her room.

           maya twisted and fiddled, looking around at everything with a grin.

"i want pigtails." maya requests.

"i didn't ask."june grimaces, "sit down." she allows her sister to take her spot in her chair.

   
       after fussing with maya for nearly fifteen minutes, june was done constructing two long braids in her sisters hair. quickly sending her on her way, she makes sure she was well presentable herself, once again.

"oo zeke gonna wanna .. mmm mmm." she hummed to herself , laughing shortly after.

        once she left her room, the first place she stopped by was her brothers room. it's been a few days since she last saw him, which wasn't that out of the ordinary, she once went a week without seeing him. he just comes and goes, but usually he'd notify her first.

        she knocked several times, receiving no response each time. it felt strange, but she shrugged it off, assuming he was out and would be back by the time she got home that evening.

"alright girls!" iris shouted, entering the living room, fluffing out her fresh curls. "how do i look?" she did a full 360, as if they hadn't seen her outfit already. only difference was her make up and hair.

"you actually look good." june compliments, surprising both iris and maya. iris smiled.

".. why thankyou june." she says dramatically. "now let's go girls, before we're late."

"okay, okay, ed koch is running a little late, but sit tight cause you're not gonna want to miss this." papa fuerté spoke to the murmuring crowd.

           the four girls stood behind the curtains, waiting to sing the national anthem once the ceremony began , right after ezekiel said his speech.

        june kept peeking through the curtain at him sitting there, looking all handsome in his suit. she still hadn't told yolanda or mylene  about them two being together , but she figured they'd find out sooner or later. regina only found out by accident, but since her and regina were closer — she knew everything first.

"wow, look at all of our people.." regina drifts, looking through the small opening as well. "it's beautiful man." she referred to the large group of people of color.

"ya'll are going to get us caught. i'm pretty sure someone's caught y'all staring by now." mylene says from behind regina & june.

"nah, they're too busy listening to your uncle."

"anyone need some lipstick?" yolanda whispered, now all four of them looking through the curtains.

"i do. " mylene says, being the first to take some, " gotta stay fresh."

         june stood quietly, feeling the material of her dress as she listened to ed koch speak after he finally arrived. a lot of the things he were saying was a bunch of nonsense, and she didn't really agree with anything coming out his mouth at all. she wasn't big on political things, but for one she was very much aware.

"y'all really want ed to be mayor?" she finally spoke up, scrunching up het face.

"he said he's gonna make a change." regina shrugs , taking the lipstick from mylene so she could use some as well.

"girl that's what they all say. he just said he's banning graffiti from all the 'hoodlums'. that means he's taking away our street art. our stories." june rolled her eyes. "i don't know man, he seems sketchy and phony as hell. he don't know shit about the bronx."

"preach girl." yolanda agreed, raising her hand to add onto effect.

"my uncle don't mess with sketchy. trust and believe, he'll do what's best for us." mylene concludes, playing around in her hair while staring through the mini makeup mirror.

            june shrugged her shoulders, still thinking of the future of the bronx. despite her planning on eventually leaving & never ever looking back, that was her home. that's  all she knew. some white man wasn't gonna just show up and mess everything up.

"and i promise you, there will be no more lawless , vile , graffiti animals to worry about!" ed's voice echoed. "and i promise to put those vandals behind bars!"

"dizzie better watch out." regina whispered, looking at yolanda.

"yo, forget this dude." yolanda snarled, both her and june glaring at ed. ezekiel glances behind him, over at jun, as he heard the whispers of the girls.

"If i could get up there and put an end to this, i swear i would." she mumbled purposely loud enough for zeke to hear, looking over at him as well.

     he knew the words coming out of ed's mouth was beyond ignorant. ezekiel agreed to stand for ed , persuade the youth to vote for him, but with the stuff that came out his mouth it was hard to stan.

"friends, you all know that some of our brightest hopes for the future reside right here in the south bronx!" ed states. "and here's one of them.." he motions toward ezekiel. the girls eyes shifted in his direction.

"this is ezekiel figuero." he announced as zeke walked over to the podium. "ezekiel you're not one of these graffiti bums right?"

          he thought for a moment, looking out at the disappointing faces written on some of the people's faces in the crowd before answering.

"no sir." he finally answered.

"and he's certainly not one of those noisy delinquents making all of that racket over there!" ed pointed toward the area where the sound of bass thumping appeared to have been coming from.

       the girls a knew it was the dj battle that the boys had been spending all their time preparing for that was making all the noise.
june smiled a little, almost wanting to laugh. they knew nothing about the boy , all they knew was that he was a smart minority that grew up in the projects.

"give ezekiel a hand!" ed says before moving out his way so zeke could speak.

              as the loud music continued, it seemed to be calling out to him. ezekiel couldn't help but to continue to stare in the direction, wishing he were there instead.

"i wrote a speech.." he began, taking a long pause after. "but whose got time for that? imma just riff this."

         the girls each exchanged confused looks with one another , as did papa fuerté & ed — all hoped he knew what he was doing.

"the great persian  poet rumi once said; where there is ruin, there is treasure.." ezekiel starts. "now the other day i was up on 183rd , and this rich lady called it taki man."

           all the young people in the crowd made disapproving noises, listening to his words, knowing what he was talking about. meanwhile the adults just listened; trying to piece together what he was saying.

"but i talked to my man tracy from 168th, and he said ; listen for the voice of the ghetto." the people of the crowd began to clap. "cause it crashes down on you when you least expect it."

          by the way june was studying him, you wouldve thought he was a star , and she was his biggest fan. she grinned slightly, consumed with everything about him in that moment as he shared his wisdom.

"even for the cats that stay high on 149th street." small chuckles came from the crowd as some repped where they came from. as zeke continued on, he got more and more engagement from the crowd , making everything ed said forgettable.

"and for the rest of you , let me just say this." he stated, "the young people aren't the problem .. we're the solution."

           the girls instantly began to clap as did everyone else who understood where he was coming from. june & mylene both admired him from afar, seeming in awe.

"that's what my mama used to say; shes dead now. my pops too." he began, wrapping up his speech. " but i'm gonna do my best to show you, moms was right. which is why I'm honored to be here, thanks for this opportunity.. and uh.. vote ed koch for mayor."

      the crowd cheered loudly, hooting and hollering for him cause he deserved it. ezekiel looked off at the battle in the distance.

"i gotta go, but the battle for the south bronx has just begun!" he shouts shortly before ed stepped back up to the podium to take back over.

"lets hear it for the voice of the ghetto!" ed hoots, as everyone cheers for ezekiel, who disappeared behind the curtain shortly after.

            june and the girls stood in a circle , whispering amongst eachother as ezekiel slipped behind the curtain, rushing toward the battle.

"voice of the ghetto huh?" june asks as he slips by them. her voice catches his attention, and he turns back to face her. "stay high 149, i think i seen that before." she grins, breaking away from the girls as he met her at the top of the steps he'd just raced down.

"yeah, keep it to ya self." he smiled. june glanced back at the girls, then back to him, stepping closer.

"that was really amazing zeke." she admits, before hearing ed announce ' mylene & the soul madonnas' , signaling for them to go on to sing.

"yo, that's our que." mylene said, signaling for june to hurry up. june looked back at her , nodding her head.

     ezekiel stood , admiring her for a minute without her even noticing , before she turned back to look at him & made direct eye contact.

"go before you miss the battle!" she chuckled, shooing him off. ezekiel smiled, hesitating for a second before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and running off. she paused, watching him as he got farther and farther away.

"did i miss something?" yolanda asks with a grin, "or is something i don't know about going on?" june chuckled shrugging.

"that's her man now, duh." regina smirks, nudging june's arm. "i ain't tell you?"

"what? and i'm the last to know? that's cold."

"you and me both." mylene adds, studying june. she didn't like her and zeke being together one bit, but what could she do? It was obvious he loved her. "let's go sing this anthem."

      as soon as the campaign was over, the girls quickly made their way over to the notorious 3 vs. the get down brothers showdown. the crowd was hype , and the bass was booming harder than ever. the entire area was live.

"oh snap!" june shouted in amusement watching as the five boys rhymed so effortlessly. it were like they practiced 24/7, which they nearly did. june was just glad she got to watch this happen.

"that's our joint!" mylene rejoiced, realizing they used their song set me free for a short second.

       the girls stood there, watching in awe as they tore the stage apart. the crowd was going wild, and the notorious 3 ain't know what to do. the get down brothers showed up and showed out.

"june girl, what you thinking?" yolanda curiously asks with laughter, seeing june's  facial expression. she stood there, in complete shock, just staring at Ezekiel.

"zeke! he's so fine, my goodness. look at him." she professed , not caring who heard or what they thought. "i swear if he weren't on that stage.." she mumbled lowly.

"let's go dance!!" regina shouted as she dragged mylene & yolanda off to the middle of the crowd. june was stood there , biting her lip. she wanted to be nowhere in that moment other than there.

"shaolins the dj that we call conductor, cause shaolin fantastic's a bad mother—" the boys spat in unison as shaolin quickly began to scratch the record, ending the battle that they clearly won.

       the crowd screamed at the top of their lungs , cheering. ezekiel looked through the cheering crowd for the one person that really mattered , only to lock eyes with her seconds prior. an uncontrolled smile came across both he & junes faces.

LATER THAT NIGHT

           the night sky was pitch black with a few stars stringing along. the wind blew softly , and the summer air was mild. it was quiet, which was odd for the bronx , but it was peaceful.

"its like another planet, this city.." ezekiel began. he and june stood beside one another, the two gazed at the lights of manhattan across the river.

"you think we can keep one foot in each world?" june questions, "you know, me keep my family happy & work on becoming something in manhattan?"

"and me being with the get down brothers and at the internship?" ezekiel grabbed her hand, pulling her closer.

"yeah." she smiled , hugging him. he wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer. "i wanna live there zeke , it's so beautiful." she refers to manhattan. ezekiel thought.

"the bronx is better. we got everything they got in manhattan."

"okay.." she starts, waiting for him to elaborate.

"we have everything they got. plus we can sit here and enjoy the beautiful view of them; and they ain't got nothing to look at but the fucked up, burnt out , totally not beautiful view of us." june giggled.

"but if i moved there ... you'd visit me, right?" she gazed up at him.

"june, you'd arrive, open your suitcase and i'd pop out." ezekiel seriously notes, making june laugh.

"forreal?"

"forreal." he replies back, intertwining his fingers with hers.

"manhattan, the bronx. careers, the get down. movin up, movin out.." he starts. "we made it this far.. just keep loving me and i promise, it'll be alright, cause all we gotta do is love eachother .. right?"

     june exhaled slowly, looking up at him, captivated by his words and his presence as a whole. she was completely enamored, and all she could hope is that he was too.

"right." she agrees, right before he leans over and kisses her lips.

"no matter what goes down, all we need is eachother." he adds , once they came up for air.

"no matter what." she repeats

    after talking with ezekiel, he eventually went home, & she was forced to go back inside. june walked through the front door of her apartment, only to be greeted with the sound of mylene & the girls singing set me free on the radio.

"you hear mylé!?" maya shouts, prancing around the room. junes eyes widen as she  gasped in astonishment.

"oh shit, they really made it!" june rejoiced, "they're on the radio!" she was genuinely happy for her two best friends making it to the public airway, she was even happy for mylene.

        june & maya both danced around the living room as june recited nearly every lyric. iris sat back on the couch, watching the show with a smirk as she sipped on whatever was in her red solo cup.

"yo, carter has got to get in on this!" june laughed, beginning to walk to the dark hall, as a knock came from the front door.

"i'll get it!" maya shouts, running over toward it , turning down the music.

        june knocked on the door atleast 5 times, hearing nothing each time. she finally twists the doorknob, expecting to see him sleep, but nothing. just an empty room, with a messy bed, and clothes on the floor. frowning up, june closed the door.

she was starting to get worried.

        walking back out into the living room, she saw maya with her ear to the door & iris had disappeared.

"whats up?" she questioned. "where iris?"

        maya shrugged, "two policemen  just showed up , asking if she were dana jones."

          junes heart sank. she immediately knew something was wrong.

"what'd she say?"

"no but she was head of the household.. now shh, i'm trying to listen."

           the whole situation gave june an eerie feeling. she sensed trouble.

       carter should be back by now, and now police are showing up to the house. it wasn't adding up.

her heart rate sped up, and it felt like she were about to vomit. june sat down on the arm of the sofa in hopes she'd calm down her insides.

i'm trippin, everything's fine.

         then iris came back in, slowly closing the door behind her, seemingly in the state of shock. her face looked cold, but she weren't about to cry — she looked lost. june kept her eyes on her, waiting for an explanation. noway was carter arrested again, he promised he'd be good. maybe it had nothing to do with him; but june had an intense feeling it did.

everything's gotta be okay.

"well.." june drifts, implying for her to speak. iris's face softens, almost as if she didn't want to tell them the information she received.

"maya go to your room." iris spoke softly. june sighed deeply, sitting normally on the sofa. it couldn't be good if she sent maya away.

          iris sat next to june, making sure maya went were she was told before speaking. she couldn't find the words to say. june just forced a smile, trying to be positive.

"june .. they want me to identify a dead body." she admits lowly. june looked at her weird, trying to piece it all together.

"ok.." she murmured, not catching on to what iris was saying , making it harder. iris's eyes glistened a little; and that's when june knew —

"they think it's carter." she choked up a bit saying his name.

                it was like a wave of sickness hit junes body in that second. her eyes began to burn and her legs felt numb. she couldn't have possibly heard her correctly. she couldn't be talking about her brother.

"that can't be right." june scoffed, scooting away from her.

"they found the body outside of an abandoned building. they think it was an armed robbery." iris continued. "they found his license on him.. honey i think it's him." she confesses. june shook her head.

"nah it can't be him." june tried to reassure herself more than anyone. "nah , no , my brother , h-he's gonna waltz right through that door, and..  i'll be right here when he does."  she began to stutter, shifting in her seat.

        iris scoffed in disbelief, wiping away a tear. though she didn't show it ever, she cared. carter was the sweetest and he never gave her trouble. he was just a baby.

"june .. he's no-"

"i said what i said." she asserted, avoiding all eye contact, not wanting to hear anything else from her aunts mouth. iris knew she was in the state of denial, and she didn't know what to do to help her.

"i'll be back.. they're waiting." iris states quietly, standing up.

"let me come."

"you and i both know that's not a good idea." she denies. "i'll be back."

            once iris left, it was like all the feelings she felt began to hit her as a wave of tears began to flood through her hazel eyes, but she was silent. she refused to move until iris walked through that door with carter by her side.

"he'll be back.. won't he?" maya can't from beside her. june nodded, not taking her eyes off the door.

deep in her heart though, she knew. june knew, that he wasn't alive anymore and she knew she'd never see him again.

but she still waited ..

and waited..

and he never came home.

_______________