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enough to see that. It is the first time in my life I ever wished my body would act its age. I have come to the point, at long last, where I have seen too much.

 
    MELODY
    Miss Rosalita tucks me against her and we walk. Shh , she whispers. I can’t help crying, though. T was something special. I can’t help but remember that my first kiss came from him. Back when we were thirteen. It wasn’t ever gonna be serious, though. I mean, it wasn’t ever gonna be me and T, sitting in a tree or nothing, but we got some of the k-i-s-s-i-n-g done all the same.
    Someone’s got to be your first, and T was a good choice. Not scary or nothing. Not the type to try and get his freak on if you just even act a tiny bit like you might like him. So it was good practice. Maybe for him too. I wonder that from time to time. If he thought I was a good choice too. I mean, we knew each other forever. It happened easy.
    How it happened was, we was walking home from school together one day. We weren’t alone or nothing. There was other people with us, but we ended up kinda hanging back. No real reason. No plan. Least, I didn’t have a plan, and if T had one he was being real bad about bringing it to happen. So, anyway, we was walking. Not saying nothing. I figured he looked good, so I said something dumb, like, “You look good.” I just blurted it out, right in the middle of trying to think of something better to say.
    Tariq was all like, “What?”
    So I said, “Never mind.”
    A minute or two passed, while I was feeling like a dumbass.
    Then T says, “You look good, too.”
    Then we was walking even slower, until the people we was with disappeared around the next corner. Then we wasn’t walking anymore, and T goes, “So…”
    And I say, “Yeah…”
    And then it just kinda happened. He kissed me, or I kissed him, or something in the middle of that, where we just kinda came together and it was perfect for a few moments. We kissed on the lips, and then we kissed with tongue. I never did it before. I don’t know if he had, but it seemed to go okay. He put his arms all up around me, real gentle. It was nice. I woulda done it again with him later, but the time just never seemed right. We would look at each other, kinda secret-like, from time to time, and I would think maybe … but there was always people around. It just never happened. I always thought, someday, it would again. But not now …
    So that was it. A couple minutes, maybe. Then we kept on walking.
    We was on Peach Street that day, down past the shops a little. It happened kinda close to where he died, I figure. That’s a little bit weird to think about. We was down in front of that old brick wall, so maybe it was even on the very same spot. You don’t stop to measure when you’re too busy worrying about how your breath smells. It coulda been the same exact spot. Now I got that to wonder about too.
    Hard to stop wondering it. ’Cause T’s gone now, and I kissed him on the mouth one time, and his lips felt warm.

 
    WILL (AKA EMZEE)
    I slap hands with my homies. “Gotta jet.” If I’m not home in time for dinner, Mom will have it out for me.
    “Jet? Bet you keep it in your garage,” one of them says. I roll my eyes. They’re forever razzing me about Steve being so rich.
    “Naw, that’s where we keep the chopper,” I answer, slugging him in the arm.
    We all laugh. “Catch you later, dog,” they chorus as I make my way away.
    I don’t know what it means when they tease me. We’re supposed to be tight, but I’ve never had any of them over to Steve’s place. They ain’t asked, either. I don’t know if they would want to come, or if it’d be like showing off. I mean, you push a button and ice cubes jump out of the door on the fridge. You can get crushed ice or shaved ice, even, if you have that kind of preference when it comes to ice. What the heck is that about? And six TVs? It’s embarrassing.
    I guess I’m not quite one of the guys anymore, which isn’t