Leo

I woke up the next morning when my older sister, Amari, furiously shook me awake.

“Come on man!”, urged Amari ,”I’m going to take you and Stella walking around Chicago!” I rolled onto my side and stared at her with a scolding on my face.

“Seriously Amari?”, I asked bitterly.

“Yes seriously, Leo”, Amari said ,”I know that you’re a sophomore now and you think that you're so grown up. Believe me, I know what sophomore’s are like. Seniors aren’t any different. But don’t you want to do something productive before you start school tomorrow?”

“Amari, I'm not starting school until next week. And no, not really”, I replied, then rolled over. Amari clearly wouldn’t take no for an answer. She pulled my covers off and rolled me onto my back.

“Well, you don’t have a choice kid”, Amari said, pulling me to sit up ,”Go put on some clothes. We’ll leave in 10 minutes”. I groaned and got up, then walked to the box that had my clothes in it. I picked out my Mariano Rivera baseball jersey, black blue jeans, and white Air Forces. When I was done changing, I met Stella and Amari at the front door. My mom wasn’t there because she was at her new job as a secretary to the president of some company.

“Finally”, Stella groaned ,”And I thought girls took a long time to change”. I rolled my eyes and ruffled her brown hair. She bent down and crouched behind Amari.

“Come on you two”, coaxed Amari ,”Let’s go. We can walk for a little while, then we’ll stop for lunch”. I shrugged

“Sounds good to me”, I replied.

“Okay then, let’s go”, Amari repeated, pointing towards the door. She opened the door, then walked out. Stella followed her, then I followed behind. Once we were down in the lobby, Amari pulled out her phone to try and find places to go see.

“So, we have Wrigley Field, and…”, Amari listed. I stopped listening when a boy with messy black hair, dark eyes, and black clothes covered with different kinds of food walked into the lobby.

“Israel?”, I asked out loud. When he heard his name, Israel looked in my direction. A smile broke onto his face. Then he walked over in our direction.

“Hey Leo!”, Israel called as he was walking towards us.

“Why aren’t you in school?”, I asked. Israel looked down at his clothes then back to me.

“Food fight”, he replied ,”Suspended for 4 days”.

“That sucks”, I said ,”We were about to go walk around and see Chicago. Maybe you could…I don’t know, show us around since you’ve lived here longer than us? But I mean you’ve probably got stuff to do or…”

“Leo”, Israel interrupted ,”Number 1, you talk way to much. And 2, I would love to show you guys around. Just let me go change first”.

“Umm, okay”, I replied with a smile. Then Israel started walking towards the elevator.

“Who was that?”, Amari asked. I turned my head to see Amari staring at me.

“Just a friend of mine”, I responded. Amari pressed her lips together.

“Well, why don’t you want me to show you around?”, Amari questioned.

“Because last time you were our GPS, we took 6 wrong subways and ended up in The Bronx”, I explained.

“So?”, Amari reasoned.

“We were in Brooklyn and trying to go home. We lived in Staten Island!”, I snapped. Amari put her palms up in the air.

“Okay, okay, I’m not the best with directions. But you barely know that kid”, she reasoned. I stared outside of the lobby. She did have a point. But still, I trusted Israel, and loved him. I would take any opportunity that shows itself to be with him.

Then the elevator door opened and out walked Israel, wearing an Anthony Rizzo jersey, a Chicago Cubs baseball hat, black pants, and black combat boots.

“Sorry man”, Israel said, smiling ,”Gotta represent”.

“Yeah right”, I scoffed, rolling my eyes ,”Let’s just get going”.

“Leo, are you really mad at?”, Israel asked ,”Cause, I mean I can go change if you don’t want me to wear my jersey or…”

“Israel”, I interrupted ,”Number 1, you talk way to much. And 2, I’m not mad at the you or the shirt. Anthony Rizzo plays for the Yankees now anyway”.

“Oka…”, Israel’s face went red. “Hey!” I started to laugh, then walked towards the door.

“Come on, let’s go”, I said through laughter, motioning towards the front doors.