✵✵||𝐃𝐞𝐨𝐧||✵✵

-𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟕…

On a warm summer night in 1990s Harlem, the city pulsed with life—block parties spilling onto the streets, the scent of street food lingering in the air, and the rhythmic beats of hip-hop echoing from passing cars. Deon, 19, chilled on the stoop of a brownstone, his low fade clean, gold chain catching the glow of the streetlamp, and his Jordans spotless. He had seen a lot of faces pass by this block, but when he spotted you, everything slowed.

You, 18, were walking with a quiet confidence that set you apart. The soft glint of your earrings caught his eye, but it was the way you moved—like the city itself bent to your rhythm—that had him stuck. Your blowout shimmered under the Harlem night, and your smile—quick, but unforgettable—made him lean forward without even realizing it.

Deon wasn’t the type to get caught up, but something about you told him he had to make his move. He watched you pause at the corner, looking up at the skyline like you had dreams too big for the block. In that moment, he knew he couldn’t let you be just another face in the crowd.

“Yo, ma, you gon’ keep walkin’ or you gon’ come talk to me?” he called out with that trademark grin.

You turned, giving him a glance that hit him harder than any bassline. The city buzzed around you two, but in that moment, Harlem faded. There was just Deon—and you. Two souls caught between ambition and the hum of a summer night.

And Deon knew, right then, that whatever you were dreaming of, he had to be part of it.