"Bwoy Missa Joseph, yuh know weh yuh a talk bout man!" Mr Brown said speaking to the building contractor supervising work on his house. "This new 'prentice weh yuh cyarry fi werk pon di house a gwaan man! Him finish paint one side a di outside wall aready!" Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Joseph Black, affectionately called Mas Joe, watched as Jason quickly but efficiently used the paint roller to neatly deposit the fuchsia colored paint onto the wall. He was finished with the front and was now doing the wall closest to a side gate that led to the backyard. He smiled to himself, at least he could thank his dad for passing on the trade to him. Ever since he was twelve years old, to get extra money out of his dad, he would follow him to private homes and help his dad paint folks' houses. It was hard but rewarding work and his dad made sure to teach him the skills he needed to do a good job, for if he didn't, his dad couldn't charge the home owner a wage fit
Marsha sat at the edge of Jason's bed and watched him sleep. He was assigned to Taylor Hall on campus and received a scholarship in track but this man decided to board at a house in a nearby community called Mona Commons. She had "borrowed" the spare key the last time she visited him and would pop in to see him unannounced anytime she felt like it. Now, as she sat on the edge of his bed and watched him sleep, she remembered the time when she was sixteen and snuck into his room hoping to lay beside him and maybe even have him kiss her. She had to admit when he first came home to live with them, she never wanted him there. She never liked him. It was only after he took the blame for her antics that she grew to admire him and developed a crush on him. She remembered everything vividly. It was the first weekend after going back to school in September, her mother had asked her to clean her room and also do a small load of laundry. She did the chores begrudgingly but also rol