Big Joe's Funeral

Big Joe is popular on 145th Street, if you were down he would help you out as much as possible. He owns a Bar-B-Que and Burger Restaurant on 145th street. Big Joe has been paying for his insurance for 20 years, if he canceled he would get a check for eighteen thousand dollars. Big Joe canceled his insurance and recieved his check for 18 thousand dollars. He took the money and used it to plan him a funeral. Except he was still alive. Once Sandie, Big Joe's girlfriend, she didnt like it one bit. Sandie was a widow, which made his funeral personal. Sandie's feelings about his funeral was nothing compared to her daughter Peaches feelings. Peaches was going to get adopted by Big Joe once her mother and Big Joe got married. Big Joe's funeral was on the Fourth of July, one of the hottest days of the year. When the day of the funeral came, Peaches and her friends made BIG JOE IS NOT DIED signs. Once the limosine drove around 145th Street, Big Joe came out of the coffin and opened the restaurant to begin the party. The funeral came out just the way Big Joe wanted it and everyone had a blast.

Baddest Dog In Harlem

After Big Joe's "funeral" everyone went to his restaurant to party and eat. While everyone was chatting, cop cars raced down the street to a near by building and people started screaming trying to run away from whatever was going on. Everyone at the party hit the ground hoping not to get shot. Then a cop showed up at Big Joe's restaurant and asked how long they've been there. They said they've only been there for 2 hours. The officer then pointed to the building to warn the other cops that there was a guy with an automatic weapon. The officers in front of the building hide behind their cars. Meanwhile, Mary Brown, the lady who owned the apartment the officers were shotting at. She was furious, because they've destoryed her new drapes with their gun shots. They asked her if there was anyone in her apartment and she said no. The officers stopped shotting and Mary Brown, an officer, and an extra guy went up the building to her apartment. When they opened the door, Mary Brown found her dog bleeding with a number of gun shots fired at him. The officer was confused because he did not know how to report this. Mary Brown was left with a dead dog and a ruined house.

Fighter

Billy Giles was a boxer. His wife, Johnnie Mae did not approve of his decision to fight, so he would tell his wife he was off to the gym to workout but instead he would fight to get extra money for bills and money to do things as a family. Billy took the subway to get to the Broxn Gym, his match was not until 10 so he took his time. When he arrived at the gym his couch, Al, told him that he might be in the ring earlier then 10. Al started to wrap his hands with tape. After Al wraped his hands in tape he left the room to give him some privacy to change. Once he finished dressing he was next in the ring. Manny, the gym manager said the guy in the ring was a comer. A comer meaning he was groomed, he was brought together carefully and was only given fights he knew he could win. Billy knew he would take this comer. During the fight Billy would think about Johnnie Mae and his child, he was not focusing on the match. Billy lost his match, and was told to chill for a while before coming back to the ring. He was disappointed in himself, and when he arrived home his wife was there waiting for him. She knew he had been fighting and he had lost. She was understanding about his reason for fighting and she didnt give him a hard him. Billy loved Johnnie Mae and their child so much he would do anything for them.

Angela's Eyes

Angela Luz Colon's father just past away not too long ago. But she was in as much grief as her mother, Theresa. Angela would take walks in the park and go to school but that was before she started to get dreams about people on 145th street. Her first dream was about an old man who worked in Mr.Rodrigez Bodega, Poli. 

As the day passed by, Angela stopped by Mr.Rodrigez's bodega. She stopped in front of the window, she saw Poli sorting out the tomatoes. Her eyes started to become watery as she continued to stare at Poli. Mr.Rodrigez was curious of her watery eyes. So, Angela told him about her dream of Poli. She had a dream that she was at school when her father stepped into the classroom, expect it wasnt her father. It was Poli standing in front of her classmates. As Angela told her dream , Poli and a women stopped to listen Angela tell her dream. Once she was done, they looked in The Black Cat Book to see what numbers to play. The dream about the school was 3-5-6, Poli's house number. The next numbers was 2-3-7, Angela's house number. And the last numbers were 0-6-5, for Angela's father's recent death.

The next day, Poli played those numbers and forgot them. Mr.Rodrigez also played the same numbers but had no luck, and then Poli pasted away. Thats when people started talking. A man named Jorge Cruz said that when a man dies violently, they leave their eyes with their child. Angela was an only child, she her eyes are her fathers eyes. Jorge words got out quick, and people started avoiding Angela. People on 145th street feared Angela's ability to see people's death. Mr.Rodrigez did not like that fact that everyone only talked to Angela to her about her dreams. He thought she was a good girl, and her dreams had nothing to do with peoples death, it was coincidence. 

It was Christmas, and as usual, Mr.Rodrigez threw a party for his good friends, and best customers. During the party, Titi Sanchez gave Angela the biggest burden. She tells Angela to stop staring at her, Titi feared Angela's ability. She didn't want to be the next one to die. Mr.Rodrigez couldn't take people treating Angela the way they did, so he tried to find a way to prove peoples' death was a coincidence. He had Angela asked Consuela Ortiz to show Angela her pain, and to ask her if she saw anything. Angela did not see Consuela's future, she was so relieved. They solved the problem and said Angela was dreaming about a war, that explained the reason why deaths were happening. Angela was left alone, and went back to her daily routine. 

The Streak

Jamie  Farrell misses a shot during a big time basket ball game and it changes his reputation. His best friend, Froggy, believes his luck changed from good to bad but then switches around to bad to good. He called it a streak, the number of bad things that happened will be the number of good things that will happen before his luck goes back to normal. Jamie missed a shot and he couldn't see what he did wrong. Everyone started treating him differently, like he was a big failure. Froggy wasn't into sports, so he didn't really know how to relate to Jamie. Froggy's advice was to forget it and move on, but even worse things started happening. The second incident was when Jamie dropped his glass bottle of Wonder Ade on the locker room floor. Everyone in the locker room had to tip toe to get to their lockers.

On the next day, Jamie and Froggy walk to their biology class together and on their way to class they stop in front of a Junior Dance poster. As they were staring at the poster, Celia Evora slaps the back of Jamie's head. She was angry at him for missing the shot. In biology class, Jamie broke the slide he was suppose to use for his project, which counted for 25 percent of his grade. He tried to explain to his biology teacher, Mr.Willis, but he didn't believe any word that came out of his mouth. Mr.Willis put a big red 0 next to Jamie's name. He wanted to give up, he wanted to go home and hide under his bed until the year 3000. Froggy tried to convince Jamie about him being a Streaker, but Jamie kept institing that he did not believe in luck and "the streak". The bell rung for the next class and Jamie grabbed Froggy's milk carton and threw it at the center of the can, but it ended up on Maurice DuPre's lap instead. Maurice had a height of 6 feet, and he had more fingers and toes then his IQ number.  Once Maurice stood up, Jamie was out of that cafteria before he could touch him. 

Jamie ran home as fast as he could, but on his way home he stopped by a fast food place and ordered. His food was cooked, but when he was getting his wallet, he suddenly remembers putting it in his locker after lunch. He tried to argue with the lady, saying his food was no good, and ran. When he arrived home, he ran up to him room, and locked the door. As he was sitting in his room he receives a call from his english teacher, Mr.Bradley, but as he rushed to the phone he hit his ankle on a dumbbell. Mr.Bradley called to inform him that he failed his English test, big time. His luck was turning really bad.

Jamie went downstairs to the kitchen to get some ice for his ankle, when his sister, Ellen, came home. Ellen and Jamie fought all the time, but during their fight Jamie's luck turns backwards. He went to the fridge to get an egg to throw at his sister for being so annoying, but instead tosses it in the sink. The egg doesn't land in the sink, but in the egg carton. His luck suddenly went from bad to good, so he called Froggy and they counted how many bad things happened. They counted 7 minus the egg was 7. He had 7 good things coming his way, his priority was asking Celia to the dance before his luck ran out.  His luck was starting to go away, he had only one good luck left, and he used it on a basketball game to make the winning shot. He was so sad, because he wasn't able to ask Celia to the dance. But Celia shows up at the dance and asks Jamie to be her date. His luck was not going away after all. 

Monkeyman

Monkeyman was quiet, he liked reading books and he kept a lot of things to himself. He was called Monkeyman because he would go to the park, climb up trees and read. Monkeyman was the kind of person who didn't get in your business unless you were in his. On his way home, he saw one of the Tigros, a hood gang, and Peaches fighting. Peaches won the fight, but as he continued walking two of Lady Tigros came after Peaches and held a blade up to her. Monkeyman defended her, but he noticed that one of them went to his school. The Lady Tigros that went to the same school as him warned the entire Tigros gang and everyone knew he was in huge trouble.

At school the next day, there were signs all over the school, saying MONKEYMAN MUST DIE and MONKEYMAN GOT TO FALL! The Tigros gang was really upset, but they waited to make their move on Monkeyman. Everyone got together to talk about the situation of the Tigros gang, Peaches suggested they tell the police, but that was too dangerous. The only solution was for him to get a gun, they respected guns. Two weeks pasted since he saved Peaches from the Lady Tigros, within those 2 weeks a new guy comes into the Tigros gang. His name was Clean, his story was that he came from L.A and was with a gang called Crips. Fee, a friend of the Monkeyman, looked at his school record and found out Clean was really from a place in California called Lompoc. Clean was practically making up his story. He started hanging out with some people who introduced him to The Tigros. 

Before you can get into any gang, you'd have to prove yourself. Clean didn't know how to prove himself, until he heard of the Monkeyman. He brought a knife to school to get back at the Monkeyman but was caught and was suspended. Since he was suspended, he would just wait for Monkeyman in front of the school. He confronted him, and told him to bring his whole gang and they'd fight in Jackie Robinson Memorial Park at 11 o'clock. Monkeyman had called him out in front of everyone, his friends and the Tigros gang. Monkeyman's friends didn't know what to do. So, they showed up at the park without Monkeyman and went to defend him. Monkeyman showed up a couple of minutes later with his grandfather and his godmother. He didn't come with a gun or a knife or something to protect him. His plan was to stand up to Clean, his friends thought he was crazy. He could die if he lets them just attack him with no weapon. But Clean wasn't brave enough to ambush him, and just walked away. The Tigros never bothered Monkeyman, Peaches or any of his other friends.

Kitty & Mack : A Love Story

Mack was athletic, he played baseball and ran track in the winter. Most people on 145Th street played basketball, but he was into baseball and track. Mack played left field for Ralph Bunche Academy, the couch of the track team kept him on the team in case he wanted to show up for a meet. He was a star, the couches loved him, but his attitude wasn't the best. Teachers gave him C's when they would've given him P's for pitiful. He was smart, but he acted as if he didn't care about his grades. 

He was a senior at Ralph Bunche Academy, it was the first week of senior year when he met Kitty. She was the granddaughter of Duke Wilson, he owned the barbershop on 145Th street across from the church. Everyone expected her to be smart, since her grandfather was Mr.Wilson, but she wasn't just smart, she was a genius. She was just into books as Mack was into baseball, she was a 16 year old senior. During the first week of school, their English teacher had them write a poem to someone they admire. Kitty wrote her poem to Mack, and he was deadly in love with her after she recited her poem in front of the class. 

Kitty and Mack went out for a while but she was curious if he loved her. He did, and started planning his life. While she was getting her law degree, he was playing major league baseball. Until the day before Christmas, two guys were running down the street. The ran across Powell Avenue, almost got hit by a cab, the cab swerved but stopped before hitting a guy on a delivery path. A black mustang drove by and started shooting, someone screamed DRIVE BY and everyone hit the ground. The guy on the delivery path was Mack, the guys in the mustang injured him. He was rushed to the hospital in time to take the 2 bullet out of his ankle. The 2 bullets took his whole foot out, Mack was so devastated. His whole life plan went down the drain, he couldn't play ball anymore. 

After he was admitted home he didn't want to talk to anyone, even Kitty. He told his mom to not let her in the house.Kitty didn't know what to do, so she stayed at her grandfathers barbershop until Mack came down. She didn't care about school, she only wanted to take care of Mack. She was only 16 she still has more time to go to college and get her law degree. Mr.Wilson loved her and couldn't kick her out so he left her stay. 

Mack never came down until one day, his friend, Peewee, called and told him that Kitty was not going to school, he told her she needed his help. So, he finally went downstairs and talked to her. He didn't know what to do anymore, and neither did Kitty, but that didn't stop her from loving him.

A Christmas Story

On 145th Street, someone started a rumor about Mother Fletcher being over 90 years old. If someone wanted to know about the 20's they'd turn to Mother Fletcher with questions, she seemed to know everything. William Michael O'Brien, a patrolman, heard about her before meeting her three months later. O'Brien was patrolling by foot, and went to stop by the shopkeepers to share a few words when he was told by a little girl that Mother Fletcher was sick, she needed an ambulance. 

In 145th Street, its practically impossible to get a doctor who does house calls. He went with the girl who told him about Mother Fletcher to her apartment. It was small, but cleaner then clean. Mother Fletcher was sitting up-right in her bed, O'Brien has never seen a black person before. He asked her what the problem was, but she didn't know. Then he asked her age, she said, "Full grown", rather then her exact age. Mother Fletcher was mysterious. He called an ambulance and they carried her out of her apartment. 

After the incident, O'Brien received a package from Mother Fletcher. The package was a sweater, for him. The Lieutenant told him about Mother Fletcher, that she made sweaters for those who are kind to her. O'Brien took the sweater, and when he made his round on 145th Street he stopped by Mother Fletcher's apartment to thank her for the sweater she made for him. As he thanked her, he mentioned he had a wife and daughter, he was trying to get her to make them sweaters as well. 

Months passed and O'Brien started learning more about Mother Fletcher. He would run into her every now and then. He would write everything she said, trying to put together her exact age. Christmas was around the corner, and Mother Fletcher was throwing a little dinner and invited O'Brien and his family. When he went home that night he told his wife she invited them, but he didn't want to go. He thought Harlem was a bad city and didn't want anything bad to happen to them. But Kathy, his wife, and his daughter, Meaghan, convinced him to take them. They went to dinner at Mother Fletchers house, and had their Christmas dinner. 

A Story in Three Parts

Block Party -145 Street Style

Every block or neighborhood have their own style of a block party, they might have a carnival block party, or a regular block party. On 145Th street the block party was everyone getting out of their house and eating the food people provide. But during the party, Peaches isn't being herself and calls a neighbor out. While everyone is having fun and eating food, Peaches and J.T. get into a big fight, it results into violence.

It started when Sadie Jones told her daughter Peaches that Big Joe asked her to pick the date of the wedding, and Sadie tells her daughter. Peaches doesn't take it too well, and she stays angry during the party. Squeezie and Peaches have been best friends since they were born, thats about 15 years. She knew when something bugged Peaches without a word coming out of her mouth. But Peaches is in denial about there being a problem.

During the block party, a neighbor, J.T. comes to the party to get some free food. J.T. hung out with the wrong people, and he would always get into trouble. He was put in a Juvenile Detention Facility last christmas because he stole a lady's bag. Peaches started bad mouthing him when she saw him, her mood was getting out of hand. Peaches was getting louder, and really offended J.T. he walked away after she dissed him. Squeezie felt bad for J.T. but not for Peaches, she had no right to do what she did. 

Peaches lightens up, and takes some food up to where J.T. lived, or where she thought he lived. When she came up the stairs to give him the food, he knocked it right out of her hand. J.T. started getting violent, he grabbed Peaches as if they were going to start a fight. Squeezie gets Big Joe because J.T.'s mother was sick, once he got there he helped J.T.'s mother. J.T. started to feel like a failure, because he couldn't even help his own mother. Big Joe found a place on 141Th street for J.T. and his mother, and Peaches gave them the 200 dollars she was going to use for her mother's wedding gift.  

Resources

http://www.wikipedia.com - for descriptions

http://www.google.com - for photos

http://www.photobucket.com - for photos

the book - for stories

http://www.blogger.com - for blog entries