Worlds Divided | j. baker

thirty nine

The next morning at 9am, Alondra walked into Spencer's house without knocking with Armando and her three half-siblings behind her.  "Alo, you came!"  Dillon cheered and ran at her to engulf her in a hug. Grace wasn't too far behind her and hugged Alondra once Dillon moved away. "Where's Jaime and Evelyn? Spencer said they're coming to help."

"They're meeting us at the park. This is my... uh, my dad. And my siblings."

Dillon perked up and tried to see through everyone. "Marcos and Antonio came back?!" He asked excitedly.

Grace understood immediately, since Alondra had talked to her about how her dad was living a whole second life, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Baby, they won't be back for a while. Why don't you go tell Spence Alo's here."  Dillon looked confused but then went down the hallway to get Spencer.  "So, welcome to Crenshaw."

"I didn't want to come."  Madison rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone to sit on the couch.  Grace's eyes widened, then she looked between Alondra and Armando.  Alondra just shook her head and it was kinda like they were having a silent conversation because they both knew that if Alondra ever acted like that, Teresa would drag her to the bathroom and then send her out to apologize, tears and snot all over her face.

That silent conversation ended when Lily tapped Grace's leg.  "Miss, do you have any juice?"

"We do have juice.  Do you guys want anything?"  Grace asked.  Ruben asked for a water, Armando shook his head, Grace was just going to get Alondra her usual and Madison just stayed silent.  Grace turned to walk to the kitchen and Lily followed her to help her carry the drinks.  "What's your name?"

"I'm Lily.  I was named after my mom's favorite flower, but I don't like lilies.  I think camellias are prettier."  As they disappeared into the kitchen, Lily continued talking to Grace as if she's always known her.

While they were gone, Armando went to stand in front of Madison and cleared his throat.  "Could you be anymore disrespectful?"

"You're the one that dragged me out of bed to do charity work."

Armando walked away and said nothing else, taking a seat on the opposite couch.  "Se merece la chancla."

"No golpeo a mis hijos."

"Pues mírame y mira a ella."

Armando didn't want to admit it, but she had a point. Ruben stood in the same spot, looking between both of them with his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm proud of myself for understanding half of that."

× × ×

Alondra had told Armando to take her to her house because she knew there was a bunch of cleaning supplies they could use.  And Teresa would probably throw a fit if she found out Alondra let stuff they spent money on expire.  Lily and Ruben were more than happy to see where Alondra grew up and ran in once the door was opened, and Madison only came in because she heard a gunshot.  And Armando just took his time looking at the first house he had in America, and it still looked the same as it did 20 years ago.

Alondra brought in all the buckets, hoses, and gloves from the backyard, and stopped to look at area to the side where Teresa was planning to have her garden.  The week before the cookout, Antonio and Marcos had finally finished setting up the borders and soil.

"Alo, should we bring these soaps?" 

Coming out of her thoughts, Alondra looked to Ruben who was holding up the dishsoaps, still full.  "Yeah, we can find some way to use them."  She replied walking back into the house, passing by the broken-in boxing set up that she grew up using. 

The James and Cisneros family showed up to Essence Park at about 11:30 and started setting the posters and cleaning equipment. Layla was in her car when they showed up and got out to help unload everything. Armando decided to show up in his 2019 Escalade, which was real bold, so there was a lot of stuff packed into the back.

"Jesus, did you bring something for everyone in the neighborhood?"

"Kinda. Look, I grabbed these pictures from my house too." Alondra reached into her little backpack and pulled out a picture frame that had a family picture of her, Antonio, Marcos and her mom at a waterpark. And right in the center was 6 year old Alondra in her purple one piece bathing suit. It was her birthday party and all her cheer and football friends came, including Coop and Spencer, who were right beside her in the other picture.

"Is that the day I was running and busted my lip because I slipped?"

"Yes.  What dumbass runs 2 feet away from a pool when it's wet?"

Spencer shook his head and walked away, pretending to be offended as he started unloading the Escalade so Armando could finally lock his car. From there, everyone had split up and more people started flooding in. Some guys had already painted the walls by the entrance, and started the second coat of paint. Alondra was rinsing off the playground after Lily had swept out all of the wood chips so she could paint over the gang tags on the side. "Alo, these paint cans are some bitches." Serenity grunted, dropping the cans full of blue and orange paint into the wood chips with a pant. "Damn it, I forgot the brushes. I'll be back."

"Alondra Cisneros? Girl where have you been?"

"Kia! I missed you!" Dropping the hose, Alondra turned around to run at her best friend's ex and hug her tightly. "I'm surprised you're helping with the whole uncle thing."

Kia, humble as ever shrugged with a small smile on her face. "Well, this playground and the kids are more important than some gang beefing. But I came over here to get your signature." Alondra already knew the purpose of the petition so signed it without asking questions before handing back the clipboard and pen. "Thank you, gorgeous. I don't know it Spencer told you, but there's supposed to be a food truck and like 30 boxes of pizza in a couple of hours to give everybody a break, but I'm telling you now so you can get some before everything's gone."

"See, this is why I love you. You get me." Alondra put her hand over her chest with a pout and Kia blew a kiss before turning around to find new people to sign the petition.

Serenity came back just a few seconds later with another paint can and a tray of paint brushes. "You can put the primer on. I need to catch my breath, making me do all the heavy lifting."

"Ren, you literally lift people above your head for sport."

"I can't hear you, I closed my eyes."

i was waiting for yall to hit the voting goal so i could update tehe 🛌 anywhore i got my whole house to watch all american 😌 also someone made a JJ story (in my reading list) and then i saw it's like the only one... very much thinkinggggg 💭

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