Sugarville

"Shamaal run or we'll be late for the ice cream party," screamed Jermaine. The two teens ran down 125 street in the snow and almost slipped once or twice. As they ran, they passed Kobe, the usual sweets vendor that sells candy bars for 50 cents. "Why you aint buying notin' from me today?" yelled Kobe, as the Jermaine and Shamaal passed him. "We gotta get to our ice cream party in two minutes. But we'll buy some on the way home," screamed Jermaine.

Shamaal and Jermaine opened the door to the Dunkin Donuts/ Baskin Robbins. Everyone was already there. Karim was already on his seconds when the two friends ran to get on line, but Jessica's first portion was enough for her as she sat at a table. She was quieter than most teens and she sat and listened to her IPod.

Jermaine asked for 4 scoops with sprinkles and whipped cream and he ate it all in 2 bites. Shamaal and Jermaine both got seconds, but Shamaal was a bit hesitant. Jermaine told him, "Yo, you gotta gain some pounds. That way a girl might actually look at you. And while you're at it, dye your hair black."

"Shut up! Stop making fun of me you idiot. Sure, I want to fit in, but look, I do not want to get diabetes like most other teens," screamed Shamaal.

"Chill, chill. Why are you so concerned?" Jermaine asked.

Shamaal answered, "My mom was probably my best friend and last year she passed away. The doctor said it was a very big case of diabetes and she had also developed cancer from eating too much hydrogenated and saturated oil. Because she died of this, I do not want to follow in her footsteps and die at age 20."

Karim walks over as if he was part of the conversation and says, "Everyone has diabetes. It's the gangster thing to have. SoÐ'...every one will eventually die. Why should you be healthy as a teen, just to live longer. It's nonsensical."

"No it is not. 12 ounces of soda or 2 scoops of ice cream gives us as much sugar as we need in a day. I don't want to weight more than 225 pounds for 5 foot 2 inches. Sorry I am not ruining my life just so I can be Ð''cool'. I also do want to live to be more than 30 years old. If they had Splenda ice cream I would eat 10 portions because Splenda, also known as sucralose, is the only healthy artificial sweetener. That would not make me fat and it would make me healthier."

Karim and Jermaine exchanged glances and smirked, which became a giggle.

Karim and Jermaine walked out together leaving Shamaal sitting in the corner, as the owner was in the process of closing his store. They went and bought a few candy bars to eat for dinner. Their ice cream packed supper was not enough to fill them. Jermaine and Karim silently parted and Shamaal walked slowly and sadly behind Jermaine. Tears were running from Shamaal's eyes and he went home.

Shamaal entered his home and threw his jacket off. He kicked off his shoes and jumped into bed. He put a pillow over his head and wept. He wept and wept until he fell asleep. During the night he woke up screaming. "Ahhh! What just happened? The devils in my dream were trying to kill me. They were forcing me to do drugs and other horrible things." And then he fell back asleep.

In the morning, Shamaal had no recollection of his dream from the past night. He got up and yelled, "Jesus, why do you make me suffer? " He started crying and walked outside. He went in to the deli around the corner and bought two packs of cigarettes. He smoked for the whole day and when he had finished his packs, he went back to the deli to buy more.

Knowing that he was a great basketball player, he went over to Ruckers Park and tried to overcome his depressiveness. He got a basketball and started to shoot around. He could not play as well as he had been able to a few months earlier. He played a game with another teen, but had to take breaks every few minutes. His lungs were hurting him. His opponent said, "You smoke?"

Shamaal answered, "Yes, I have been smoking for less than a week and my lungs are hurting. I have no endurance when I play sports now. But I am addicted and so I can't stop smoking. I have had around 50 packs in the last 6 days."

The finished their game and the other player said, "You should really go to a doctor about your smoking problem. Smoking can kill you!" Shamaal walked home and started crying. He was crying for two reasons. One reason was that he had no friends and was very unpopular and the other was that his mom, his only real friend died. On his way home he bought 10 candy bars from Kobe and ate them to try to keep him happy. When he got home, he weighed himself as he usually did to make sure that he wasn't becoming fat.

"Noooooooooooo! I weigh 230 pounds. I am becoming fat. My life is horrible!" yelped Shamaal. He went to