1 CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

My name is Jesse Scott and I am 13 years old born to a Latino American dad and an African-American mum. My mom is 33 years old and my dad is five years older than her. My parents have two kids myself and my younger sister, Emily, who is 10 years old. We were born in New Jersey and moved to Queens, New York City about 8 months ago.

I once read that, a family is the first school in which a child receives the basic values of life. He learns good manners in the family, and the morals and values learned in the family become his guiding force, as well as make his character and lay the foundation of his thinking. I feel fortunate to be born in a family where values are inculcated in early childhood.

The Scott family is a middle-class family. My father is a Secretary in a private firm. He is a great disciplinarian, sincere and hardworking, while my mother works four different jobs. She is soft-natured, caring, and takes great care of us. She does not care for her comfort above ours and looks after her extended family in Cameroon.

Our family is known for discipline and values. We give great importance to values and morals in life. From our early childhood, we were taught to respect the elders and love everyone we come across. We also learned the lesson of punctuality and honesty from our father.

Despite all the wonderful things in my family, my parents lacked the knowledge to manage and improve our finances. Hence, our recent relocation from New Jersey to Queens.

Changing the environment was not easy for us, because we had some classmates, friends and had made some family in our neighborhood. Leaving all of that to cope with a new environment was one of the most difficult things we had to do.

For me, leaving my basketball team was the hardest. My team was the best in the Inter-State and having to start over in another school that may not have a good basketball program was daunting and scary.

Emily was in the spelling bee club and was a three times State Champion; as such it was disheartening for the School to her.

I knew it was not an easy decision for mum and dad to take, but the reality of the situation had to be faced, as a chance at living comes first before friends and other extra-school activities.

My sister Emily is a very social and friendly person. I on the other hand am very reserved and like to observe and know people from afar before I accept them into my life. This is because I hate being bullied, so I do not keep friends that could beat me up if any argument comes up.

Bullying was very common in New Jersey and I have tried my best to avoid beatings from friends who later turned into enemies. For instance, I can still remember the day; Liam who I had considered to be my best friend colluded with other boys in our street to beat me up because he failed to make the basketball team we both tried out for.

It also did not help that I became very popular after becoming the highest scorer for the team and Stacey; a girl he has wanted to ask to the school dance refused his request and asked me instead. As such, I do not keep many close friends, which makes me value the ones I keep.

Coming to Queens at first wasn't an idea we all agreed to. However, the financial constraints the family was facing due to my dads' low-paying job and the extreme financial burdens placed on my mother by her extended family, forced us to move to better our lot and have a better future.

Also, my dad resigned from his job because he was promised a better prospect in Queens. More so, despite the low population of New Jersey, the cost of living there is quite expensive. Housing costs in the city are among some of the highest in the nation. This may account for why my parents keep defaulting on the mortgage payment.

Queens from my research on the internet sounds like an interesting City. It is a borough of New York City and is the largest borough in New York City, bracketed by the borough of Brooklyn at the western end of Long Island to its west and Nassau County to the east.

The City also shares water borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island (via the Rockaways). It has a population of over two million people, is the most linguistically diverse place on Earth, and is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States.

Queen has the most diversified economy in New York City. Landmarks in Queens which support its economy include Flushing Meadows Corona Park; Citi Field, home to the New York Mets baseball team; the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, site of the U.S. Open tennis tournament; among others.

It is the home to the John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports and has diverse housing, ranging from high-rise buildings to neighborhoods with low-rise structures.

Although I was more interested in the economic viability of Queens, my sister Emily on the other hand was overly excited about the entertainment history of the City.

She explained that Queens has been the center of the punk rock movement, particularly in New York; and it has also been the home of such notable artists as Tony Bennett, Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Simon, and Robert Mapplethorpe.

Emily added that Queens has notably fostered African American culture, with establishments such as The Afrikan Poetry Theatre and the Black Spectrum Theater Company catering specifically to African Americans in Queens.

Whilst driving through the City Centre, Emily chatted excitedly; Jesse, do you know that, in the 1940s, Queens was an important center of jazz and famous luminaries like Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald took up residence in Queens, seeking refuge from the segregation they found elsewhere in New York?

Do you also know that, many notable hip-hop acts including Nas, Run-D.M.C., Kool G Rap, A Tribe Called Quest, LL Cool J, MC Shan, Mobb Deep, 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj, Tony Yayo, Tragedy Khadafi, N.O.R.E., Capone (rapper), Ja Rule, Heems of Das Racist and Action Bronson, all hail from Queens?.

Tuning out my sisters' voice as she gave a rundown documentary on the history of Queens, I noticed the number of beggars on the streets, a high number of pickpockets, and the seemingly high number of homeless persons compared to New Jersey.

Emily was quick to say that, "Queens was obviously the worse place to live in New York". It seems the physical appearance of the city had dulled the excitement she worked up while reading up on its history.

This notwithstanding, my quest to be financially free and stable did not weaken my resolve, rather, I tried to be optimistic and surround my thoughts with the opportunities Queen could bring to me even as a young boy. I know you might be wondering,

What I am actually saying"?

"Is he thinking of getting a job"?

I was not thinking of getting a job, but on ideas or solutions to help my parents to be financially stable. Also, the constant moving to different cities, just to be able to take care of our immediate needs is becoming exhausting.

Did I mention that Emilys 5th birthday was the 3rd time we relocated to a new city since I was born? This particular movement to Queens is the 4th time and Emily is only ten.

The repeated circle of meeting people, making friends, and leaving them after a while to the new locating to start the same process all over again, is tiring and heartbreaking. I doubt if I still remember the names of some friends or neighbors I have met in my lifetime.

I remember this particular time when I was six years old, we were in our house one Tuesday evening were some persons came to the house saying they were from the bank and had come for their money. My daddy and mummys countenance did not show any surprise, which gave me the idea that they were expecting the visit.

The bank officials and security men came into the sitting room and asked for Dad's car keys and dropped a notice asking us to vacate our home. This was the finest home; we have ever lived in as much as I can remember.

It was tough for my parents, as I remember I did not have any tasty meals during that period. It was like everything was crumbling despite my mums' assurances that everything was going to be fine.

I know I was six, but the memory is burned into my brain. I remember clearly she had Emily with her that evening and from everything happening, I deduced something was wrong, knowing that the men in our home were not criminals but law-abiding citizens.

There were tears dropping from my mums' eyes, upon looking at me, she did this pretentious attitude of her wiping it off before instructing me to take my sister to our home and stressing that everything was fine.

For the first time, I realized my parents could be lying to us, it sounds impossible for a six-year-old to comprehend, yes, but I knew daddy and mommy were up to something and they did not want to share it with us.

As I grew older, I understood the pattern and realize that my parents were not good at managing finance and they needed help which they were yet to realize.

We arrived at our new home at about 4:05 pm on Saturday evening. It was a bungalow building seated on the very spacious compound, which had some gardens to the left and right side and a very large parking space.

I like the fact that the compound was spacious and the house had gardens that were neatly dressed. Although, I was not sure of whose responsibility it was to maintain the gardens since we just moved in but I was scared of helping out with the gardening even though I admired the beauty the garden brings.

Meanwhile, the thought of having a big playground for football and other games was another factor that encouraged me that our settling in Queens will not be as difficult as we expected.

After offloading our bags from the car, my mom directed us into the dusty house, showing clearly that it has been deserted for a long time; possibly a couple of years.

Consequently, my dad instructed my mom to leave us in the car, as he went with her inside to remove some cobwebs, clean the house, arrange the sitting room, and move our luggage into the house.

The house had quite some home appliances which we never had in our previous house. At first, I did not understand how we managed to acquire such modern appliances, but it was fun to actually have such in the house.

However, my biggest fear that the possibility of some relocating to another location due to financial problems, creped in once more and I vowed in my heart not to allow that ever happen to my family again.

It was already 15 minutes past 8 pm at the time mom and dad finished and asked us to come into the house. Mom had to quickly rush to the closest fast-food drive-in, to get us something to eat before we had our bath and retired for the night.

The next day was a bright sunny Sunday morning; I woke up at the break of dawn but did not rise from bed till about 8 am that morning.

Mum and Dad woke up early and started discussing some critical issues like; the new house, getting a new school for I and Emily, how to pay the remaining montage left, and job options.

However, never for once did they discuss what modalities they will adopt to prevent us from moving again, or did they talk about what they can do to be more financially secured and stable.

I thought about joining the conversation and making them see their mistakes but on second thought, I asked myself "will they listen to me or I will receive the spanking of my life"? A lot of opinions ran through my head as they will for every young teenager in the world.

It dawned on me that, aside from my parents failing in money management, the financial troubles were not helping us to build a mutual relationship based on trust. I am my sister were always scared to speak plainly to our parents, because we have learned to be always careful what to tell them, so as not to add to their stress or seem ungrateful.

"What do I do"? At some point, I felt like "what if I am wrong with my thoughts"? Then I ask myself, "how would I know I am wrong when my opinions have never been heard"?.

It was a series of thoughts for me that Sunday morning and no one was talking about going to church as we were devoted Catholics. I managed to get down from the bed and walked towards the sitting room to meet dad and mum.

On entering the living room, mum came to me with a hug and a kiss and tried to cheer me up. I wasn't crying and her gesture painted only one picture to me, that there are some hidden struggles my family is facing.

After my mum shared a kiss and hug with me, I walked closer to the window to have a glimpse of the environment during the day and sighted for the first time in my life, a set of people jogging, from old to young, kids and teenagers were riding bikes.

The level of togetherness and excitement was too pronounced for one not to join them if invited. I didn't know when I came out with my nighties. As I walked out, I saw a young teenage male who was on a bike racing with his friends. He rode towards me, he said

Hello, I am Jerry Isaac Junior, and you?

I am Jesse, Jesse Scott and I am your new neighbor".

It is lovely to meet you. You can come over for a visit when you are settled in. That is my house over there.

When Junior pointed to his house, the sight of his homemade me dumbfounded and I vowed that I definitely want to be a friend of his. After showing me his house, he rode off and I was still at the same spot, surprised at everything that just happened.

I immediately ran off to my parents, announcing to them that I have found a new friend. Even if it didn't seem like we were already friends, I wasn't ready to be pessimistic about Junior.

The decision to be friends with Junior after seeing his house was premised on the fact that, in most cases, your net worth or financial standing mirrors your closest friends.

"Surprised how I knew that"?. I read it in a book.

I once read that, if one wants to make more money, then one should consider spending time and befriending people with more money.

The appearance of Junior's home depicts that his parents seem to be in the money and I hope to befriend him in hopes that, whichever of his parents makes the money, teaches me what they know about financial management and growth.

The reality is, millionaires think differently from the middle class about money and there is much to be gained being in their presence.

I am optimistic that an opportunity to be in the presence of Junior and his parents who seem to be very successful than my parents have the potential to expand my thinking and help me to catapult my familys' resources.

The wise man who said there is always light at the end of a tunnel was right after all.

Finally, for once since our movement to Queens, my heart beamed with a new ray of hope for my family. I felt strongly that a great change is on the way.