Forsaken of Federal Hill

The Beshilu Routed and no longer a threat to the Territory, Rashid and Luke felt it was appropriate to host a social get together to celebrate.

Luke grinned broadly as he took the ice chest out of Rose’s hands and headed over to the main picnic area. Just because she was strong enough to rip a hybrid beshilu apart didn't mean he could let her carry a heavy load. She was still a lady and his mama had taught him better manners than that.

Everyone was busy setting up tables, booths and shade tents for the upcoming crowd and from what Rory had said about sign ups, there was going to be a big turn out. People from all over the neighborhood were already filtering in, and even though Luke wouldn't admit it to any of his packmates, he was looking forward to a good old fashioned neighborhood BBQ like they used to have at home. Almost more than he had looked forward to one of his Hollywood parties if he was honest with himself and that's something he wasn't ready to be.

After delivering the chest full of ice to the refreshment stand, he snagged a couple of cold beers from one of the volunteers and headed over to the makeshift stage Cho had set up.

”Hey man, did you bring my guitar over and get it all set up?” he said passing a beer over to the DJ and looking over the setup.

Cho looked up from what he was doing, a half-eaten blue otter pop hanging from his mouth, and noticed Luke was handing him a beer. He quickly plugged the cables together and dropped them so he could take the offered beverage. He then used his other free hand to first give his pack make some appropriate palm slapping and then hold his Popsicle so he could answer.
"Oh uh yo... Sup Luke? Shit. Yea man, uh, I mean, it's still in the case o-over there and such. But the uh, the shit's good to go. J-just plug that bad boy in and uh, you know, start playin'. Shit." he beamed, proud of himself for getting all that shit set up for his friend. He reached into his back pocket and offered Luke some licorice. Red Vines were an essential BBQ snack in Cho's opinion.
"Yo uh, man, Rory s-says there's gunna be all kinds of people comin' h-hope you got a couple pens. I mean, uh... you know, to sign shit." he grinned sheepishly. He honestly had never seen a Luke Mason film before he'd joined the oack, and only like one or two with Rose since then.
But he looked him up online and the girls were crazy for dude. He'd seen a little of it at the party, but then Luke had been on the hunt. Cho was still learning about his Uratha kin, but he was a quick enough study to know that they weren't the same people on the hunt. They may look the same, talk the same and sound the same... but it was all an act.
This time Luke would be partying as himself, not the hunter. And Cho was both excited and anxious about partying with him. People caught word a star was here and man the cute girlies would be all about. But so would be the people who wanted to... wanted to make sure the star had whatever he needed.

The park was bustling with all sorts of people by the time Becca arrived on foot, since driving seemed silly when her apartment was conveniently located across the street. When one of her contacts at the police department had called to ask if she would do some publicity photos for a community event, she had jumped at the opportunity in hopes that she could expand her clientele. Becca had even offered to do them for half her regular rate because Rose had told her it was for a nonprofit group, however what she neglected to tell her was that it was for the Federal Hill Outreach Center. When she saw the banner over the main entrance, she nearly let her nerves turn her around and head straight home. Instead, she told herself that just because Rashid “Gigas” Mosley was the spokesman for the center, didn't mean someone that famous was going to show up to an inner city barbecue. She was also quite sure that his behavior at the party was a fluke, he was likely drunk and it was dark so she was sure he would not remember her. This self-reassurance did little for the butterflies that gathered in her stomach as she made her way to the center of the gathering, figuring that was where she would fine Rose so she could let the woman know that she was there and ready to take whatever photos she needed.

Pulling her nice professional grade SLR camera out of her messenger bag, she concentrated on adjusting it for the natural light as she made her way through the crowd, not really paying attention to the people moving around her.

Riley caught his breath. He and O-Train had been helping set up for a few hours now, and it turned out ex-junkies and middle-aged women weren't the best volunteers when booths and tables had to be carried long distances and set up.
Well, except May, who might actually be in better shape than either of them despite having a good half decade on them. Girl could work.
"Nuh uh... Ki Lan what the fuck gurl? How you carry all that shit? You like ninety pounds wet!" Randy complained as May dropped down two stacks of metal folding chairs.
"I don't eat pizza, King Kong." Riley burst in laughter at the stunned expression on Randy's face. They continued shooting back insults a good while as they set up the booth. Then Randy stopped and pointed at a limousine that pulled up.
A middle aged man in a grey suit and sunglasses got out of the driver's seat and opened the door for the passenger. The passengers got out through the same side, a woman first, then...
"Holy shit nigga, is that Roland Freeman?" he got out of the car with a cute blonde girl Riley'd never seen before, not that dude didn't have a reputation for that. But what the fuck was an investor like Roland doing here?
"Someone should get Rashid."

Echo smelled of spring flowers. She had picked out a light summer dress for the party and it felt great in this heat, especially whenever a breeze blew by. She hummed a little tune to herself as she finished stacking the coals in a tinderbox and got the fire started. The little flame growing and feeding off the tinder and spreading amongst the coals. She had spent the better part of the day yesterday making some hardwood charcoal for the event so they wouldn’t have to use that chemically infused store bought stuff. She did a mental checklist as she looked over the coolers.
Burgers and hot dogs, check. Lets see, condiments and buns are over there. Ok, this one has ears of corn and the vegan patties and gluten-free buns she had made.
Opening the next one, Ohh this one had the produce. She’d have to get to slicing the tomatoes and onions and shredding the lettuce once she made sure the flame took.
Next Ice. Ice is good. Wait we’ve got ice but no drinks.
She looked around to make sure she hadn’t missed a cooler. No the drinks hadn’t shown up yet. Who was bringing them again?

Rose couldn't help rolling her eyes as Luke took her burden from her, smiling at her expression. She thought about running after him and demanding it back but then she spotted a blond head, bent over and fussing with something in their bag. Rebecca? Rose approached her with a smile and an outstretched hand...right before she pulled it back, remembering that the woman did not like being touched. "Ms. Voss! I'm so glad you agreed to do this. The publicity is going to mean so much to the center. It will really help the kids too! Rose realized she was looking around and seemed distracted, so she changed the subject. "Are you...looking for someone? Did you arrange to meet someone here?"

The old pickup pulled into a parking spot across the street and Price jumped out so he could go around to hell Alicia get Lacy out of the back seat. He felt that this outing would be good for the two of them, especially his sister to help get her mind off that worthless man she called her boyfriend. Price led the two of them across the lawn to the main area where he spotted a young dark haired lady setting up some food.

”Hello Ms., I'm Thomas Price, and this is my sister Alicia. I told O’Keefe.. er.. Rose that I'd come and help out today. Is there anything I can do or would you happen to know where she is?” he inquired as politely as possibly. After the incident in the alley, Price alhad realised how little he knew about his partner so when she had mentioned a BBQ fundraiser, he had volunteered to come help our.

Lacy was impatiently pulling her mother's hand towards the playground, he had hoped to be able to introduce her to O’Keefe so she could put a face to a name. ”I'll catch up with you two later, go ahead and take her to go play.” His sister smiled as she nodded and wandered off with her daughter in tow.

You’re one of Rose’s friends?! It is nice to meet you Mr. Price, or can I call you Thomas? Anyway I’m super glad you’re here, it is going to be so much fun, and so much more fun with you and your family here! Any friend of Rose is a friend of mine, so if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask. Rose is over there Rose stood on her tip toes and pointed Rose is over there, but since you asked, if there is anything you can help with I could totally use some positive thoughts coming this way to help with the grilling. Oh and have fun! Echo gave Price a big smile that went ear to ear and up to her eyes. She brushed a bit of hair out of her face leaving a charcoal streak from her black hands across her nose and forehead without noticing.

”I would be more than happy to offer my skills at grilling, it’s about the only kind of cooking I know how to do,” Price smiled kindly, he was worried that there wouldn’t be much for him to help out with but he knew he could definitely help out with this. ”Do you have another apron?” he asked looking around until he could find one and tie it on. He figured he could catch up with O’Keefe later since she seemed busy, he was here to help out after all and there was no need for him running around and getting in the way if he didn’t have to. That and the young lady was rather striking looking, even with the charcoal on her face. He didn’t spend much time in the company of women besides his partner and sister so he figured it’d be a
nice change.

”I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?” Price said as he broke open a box of frozen burgers and checked the heat of the flame. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was one of the recovering addicts or if she was simply a volunteer and concluded that it must be the latter, because she was too healthy looking to be a druggie.

Mr. Price, my name is Afareen, but everyone calls me Echo she smiled. Floating over and finishing the knot of his apron for him. Your help is more than welcome. A girl always appreciates a guy who knows his way around a kitchen...or I guess in this case a patch of grass she winked We've got three grills to tend to here so I appreciate it. Burgers are over there, veggies on this one over here, and the middle one for whatever has a high demand!

Becca beamed up from her camera screen at the approaching woman. Detective O’Keefe seemed like a really nice lady to her and she was always getting her freelance work at the station. Sure, it was a lot of boring trailing and snapping shots of drug deals or people meeting up with others but it helped pay her bills. If Becca had been the type to make friends, she thought she could really get along with the detective and she even considered taking her women’s self defense class when she had offered it. I should be signing up for those classes, especially with the kinds of jobs I’ve been taking on lately she thought to herself, so she made a mental note to ask about signing up later, unaware the location of it was at the center.

”Oh, hello detective, or should I call you Rose because we aren't at the station?” Becca flushed a little, not sure what the etiquette was dealing with off duty police officers. Her wandering eyes darted back onto the woman, she hadn’t even realised that she was so obviously looking around. ”Nope, just looking for good shots that’s all,” she smiled almost sheepishly Yup, shots of burly ex-boxers to put up on your wall she mocked herself before she hushed her inner dialog. ”Is there anything specific you want me to concentrate on?”

”Nice to meet you Ms. Echo,” he said turning around after she had tied him into his apron. ”Uh, you have a bit of charcoal here,” he indicated on his face where the smug was, and when she missed it when trying to wipe it off he went ahead and used the corner of his apron to get it for her, which living with a five year old seemed to be the natural thing that came to him. ”Hold still, there you go.” Price grinned and went back to arranging the burgers and veggies on the heated surfaces as she had instructed, making small talk. “It seems that you guys are having a really good turnout. Rose tells me you have two celebrities on staff now, that’s pretty interesting.”

Luke passed politely at the red vine offer and looked over the mix of cables and boxes. There was no way he would ever be able to figure out such a complicated setup as this, the most he’d ever accomplished was plugging his guitar into an amp, and truthfully he much rather would play acoustic than anything else. The setup would be necessary because they were planning on showcasing some of their students who had picked up his guitar lessons, ones who’d replaced crime and drugs in their lives for a love a music. Luke had actually found himself with a feeling of accomplishment and was proud of them, he understood it was a struggle for some of them, one he’d never understand but it felt good to know he helped in some way.

”Actually, my agent told me to pre-sign a bunch and set them up at a booth so that’s what I did,” Luke shrugged, to him it felt a lot more impersonal than signing them himself but his agent was right, he’d have more free time to mingle and show off his 'mellower' side. He really didn’t want to think about work or Hollywood for the moment, which was strange since it had been on his mind ever since the day he had left but he wasn’t going to look into that too much. ”Think you can queue up some pop music or top charts to get people in the mood? Family friendly stuff, you know what I mean. Personally I’d like some country, so maybe get some of that mixed in,” he grinned at Cho before looking around to find something else to help out with for the moment.

He was late. Not terribly late, but he was late.

Rashid noticed the day of the barbecue that they were missing something important to their party. They had food, they had music, but games and favors? Not to mention he had to pick up the dry cleaning he put out a few days ago, since Luke had insisted on him getting a couple new outfits for casual days out. Family, what a pain in the ass.

He pulled up to the Outreach in his rebuilt 1972 Dodge Charger and parked the machine in his "personal" spot. Reaching into the back, he grabbed a rich red button down and swung his arms into the sleeves over his black muscle-shirt before practically leaping out of the car.

Rashid stopped for a moment to collect himself before moving on, he hated being rushed, and it always got to him. He keyed open the trunk and started pulling out some park activities he grew up enjoying; a set of lawn darts, the heavy black case of Bocci, and some collapsible poles and net for some volleyball.

Arms laden, he headed across the street to the growing assembly, looking around and shouting out to be heard over the music starting up, Anyone with empty arms, come over and grab the rest of the stuff from my trunk!

Luke looked over the playlist that Cho was showing him, mostly top 40 and pop hits, he was surprised that the guy had so many but he told him that he had downloaded most of them online. When he heard Rashid's voice over the crowd, he looked over at his pack mate walking across the street with his arms full. Being in a good mood, Luke popped up and headed over to Rashid's car to grab the rest of the items. ”Wow, what did you do, clean out the entire outdoor activities aisle?” he said closing the trunk before hauling his load over to place it in a pile next to the rest if it. ”Looking good man, what's the plan for events?”

Honestly? Rashid shrugged while he looked around. No idea. Thought this would be more fun with less organization and more spontaneous fun. Sure, we might have some team events, but I figure, if someone wants it to happen, they can make it happen. We have the supplies, and the people.

Rashid sat down at one of the old concrete park benches. This whole thing was a tiring mess, one that he was happy to have finished, he felt like if he lay down, he would pass out for a week. Pointing across the way at a few boxes, he got Luke's attention to some colorful buckets at the stoop. For later when it warms up a bit, the kids went out and bought several hundred water balloons. Figured we might want to surprise everyone with them. I know it's not the wet t-shirt contest you wanted, A predatory smile creeped onto his face. but hey, results in the same thing, right? So, who all's here?

Luke walked over to where his friend was sitting down and crossed his arms over his chest. At the mention of the water balloons, he glanced down at the form fitting designer tshirt that he had worn, white with only a little design on it, then back at the other man's dark attire. ”You're not even trying are you? Fine, I'll just wow all the girls with my physique but don't think that is going to get you out if being pegged with a balloon later.”

Rashid flashed a smile at the movie star. I'll make it fair, I just had to pick everything up today. You think that light blue satin I got last week would work?

With a groan, the big man heaved himself from the table and started towards the food. Looking over his shoulder, he winked suggestively. Someone here interest you yet? Oh! Where are the drinks?

Luke just shook his head laughing, ”Don't you own anything more casual than button downs? You accuse me of being too into what I wear, but nothing beats good old jeans and a tshirt. Or a pearl snap, but those don't fit my image anymore I guess.” Having nothing better to do at the moment, Luke trailed him towards the food, nodding towards some ice chests behind a table. ”Drinks are over there, grab me another while you're at it.” he said as he tossed his empty can into a recycle bin. ”I invited a couple girls I met at the club the other night, hopefully at least one of them will show but I just want to relax and enjoy a good old fashioned barbecue like at home, ya know? What about you?”