Minecraft:Minecraft: Battle of the Block/2CHP
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Chapter 9
That evening, after dinner, Nzinga asks her grandma if she can have a turn on the computer, and grandma allows her as herself and Mir have a ritual of sorts where they watch cartoons from the 1980s. Satisfied, Nzinga carefully walks down the steps to the basement, turns on the computer, and logs into Minecraft. She thinks about ignoring Jannah and going onto the Honeysuckle server to continue the project, but purchases aside the urge to avoid Jannah and instead joins The Sanctuary. Spawning back in bed with an empty inventory, Nzinga picks up a crafting table before heading out of the house, feeling shocked noticing a cobblestone wall wrapped around the house, with torches on the walls and a single redstone torch atop an arch. This makes Nzinga believe that Jannah built it as a sign that she is still the same person she once was. Nzinga then works on expanding it to a house, completing it with a sign saying that Jannah is a boss architect. As night falls, Nzinga starts heading toward her home, with redstone torches lighting the way.
Chapter 10
The next morning, Nzinga wakes up in her old bedroom at grandma’s house, cuddling Sid, one of Grandmom’s cats, beside her. However, this makes her realize that Mir is looking after the other cats, so she rushes to Mir’s old bedroom. Upon opening the door, Nzinga sighs in relief as grandma is already helping Mir with a Minecraft sticker book. Grandmom has Nzinga look over the rest of the cats, which are down in the basement. Nzinga eventually has Mama Bell lay down so the other kittens can be nursed, and then goes back on the computer, logging back into Minecraft and rejoining The Sanctuary. About an hour later, Nzinga now has a stone pickaxe and stone sword in her inventory, and is currently exploring a cave. Eventually, she comes across some iron ore as she runs out of torches. Turning around to head back up to the surface, Nzinga believes that she sees Jannah on the server, but as arrows fly by, her avatar disappears like a mirage, and after being distracted by a snarl from Mama Bell, Nzinga’s avatar falls off the ledge and dies. Nzinga then sits on the floor of the basement as she thinks to herself, and then decides to go out of the house for a breather. She heads up to the bedroom and changes her clothes before heading out, deciding not to tell Grandmom out of fear that she would be scolded. Opening and closing the front door slowly, Nzinga takes in the morning breeze as construction continues along the street, and she notices Kayla and Jalil speeding by on their bikes. Nzinga joins in by speeding around on her Heelys as she notices that the Melvins are still here, and Ms. Maria growing vegetables in front of her house. Kayla and Jalil then pop wheelies, and Nzinga twirls in a circle. Nzinga then attempts to do a backward figure-eight, but her left foot catches on something and she falls down on her right knee. Kayla and Jalil rush over to check on her.
Chapter 11
Kayla and Jalil help Nzinga up, asking her if she is okay. Nzinga says that she is fine, but then says shrilly that she can’t walk. The two help Nzinga back to Grandmom’s house, with Kayla adding that the left foot would need to be iced down and propped up by pillows. She and Jalil then leave, saying that if Ms. Bashirah catches them (referring to Nzinga’s grandma), that Nzinga would be scolded. Nzinga then hobbles up the steps and through the front door, and then gets an ice pack from the freezer. She thinks about going upstairs, but instead decides to lay down on the couch in the living room, propping up the foot with pillows and using a quilt to cover the ice pack. Nzinga then turns the TV on a low volume and then falls asleep.
Notes from EnderMirr
Mir logs that it has been three days since he arrived in the "city biome", and then heads downstairs to the basement, logging into Minecraft and joining The Sanctuary to show Nzinga what she missed, looking over the pumpkin and wheat farms, and the pens set up for the cows and chickens. Mir then removes the wooden planks nearby to reveal a ladder, which goes down into a mineshaft. He chops down some planks with his axe and kills a skeleton and a zombie villager before finding a minecart chest with iron ingots, diamonds, torches, and a golden apple.
Chapter 12
Four days later, it was Friday, the Muslim day of prayer known as Jum’ah. Nzinga, Ms. Bashirah, and Mir start walking over to Masjid Jamia, the mosque that Nzinga used to visit a lot when she was younger. Nzinga asks Ms. Bashirah as to why they didn’t drive, and Ms. Bashirah says that she needs to get her steps in, in addition to parking at the mosque being cumbersome. Along the way, the three see Jannah up ahead with Aunt Maryam, and Nzinga says to Jannah that she had been trying to reach her. Aunt Maryam quickly scolds Jannah for forgetting to talk to her cousins, but Jannah replies that she took her phone. Aunt Maryam admits to such, adding that it was just for two days because she was up with it too late. Nzinga looks at Jannah to see her expression, and upon seeing her smiling, she feels like the old Jannah is returning. Later, after service, the five start walking back home, with Nzinga thinking back to the speech that Imam Malik made joking about a spider before going into detail about how a spider used its web to save the Prophet Muhammad. The five also had some sweet potatoe pies, and are currently eating them as they walk.
Eating her last bit of pie, Nzinga says to Jannah that they need her as a tiebreaker for ideas for Phantasy Philly, noting that Mir couldn’t stand her suggestion for flying cars. Jannah begins to talk, but as the group arrives at Honeysuckle Street, the noise from construction overwhelms Mir that he tries to get away from it, but Jannah quickly catches him and puts her hands and his hands up like birthday candles to calm him down. Ms. Bashirah then gives Mir his tablet and they read a social story about when sounds get too loud. Jannah then tries to explain to the workers to pause for five minutes to no avail. The group then quickly get Mir back into Ms. Bashirah’s house and down into the basement so he can play Minecraft as a distraction. As Nzinga goes back up to the living room, she says to Jannah thet they won’t be able to start on Honeysuckle Dreams today, but could at least talk about it. Jannah then says that she doesn’t know how to talk about Phantasy Philly with all the noise going on outside, and decides to go outside for a walk. Stopping at the door, she once again says to Nzinga that she and Mir don’t have to stay here, but Nzinga insists on staying. Jannah then sheepishly says that she doesn’t know what she is saying and then leaves, adding that Phantasy Philly feels impossible to do.
Notes from EnderMirr
Mir jots down that he is okay after reading a social story, adding that Ms. Bashirah asked him if he needed to leave and go back to Great Valley. Mir says to her that he is okay, but deep down he feels like he isn’t okay and goes back to reading the social story. After some hesitation, Mir eventually logs back into Minecraft, stating that he can control himself, not his autism. Mir is back in his mansion on The Sanctuary, and crafts a composter and places it at the edge of his farm, and then grabs some beds from a nearby village as Jannah joins the server, asking Mir as to what he is up to. Mir types in chat that he is getting farmers for a village near his mansion, and takes away a stonecutter and a brewing stand as those won’t be needed for his village. Heading back to the farm, Mir notices some sheds made for his farmers by Jannah, and thanks her for doing so.
Chapter 13
Meanwhile, Nzinga is pacing in her room, wondering about how it would be fair to live in an area with a lot of noise. This brings her back to when her mom told her about a neighbor in Great Valley who painted their fence a bright shade of tangerine, but after some angry comments from Ms. Greenlee, the fence color was changed to blue. Nzinga then searches up the mayor of Philadelphia, leading to information about the mayor, the city managers, and members of the City Council. She hops that she can get a group of them convinced to fight against the construction as she visualizes her government class from sixth-grade: with the desks arranged in a U-shape and Mr. Shapiro at his podium telling the class to introduce themselves, compliment the other person, describe the problem, suggest a solution, and ask for a follow-up. Feeling as the mayor and the city managers would be too busy, Nzinga starts with Councilwoman Cassie Hughes, the president of the City Council. She dials her office, which is answered by a secretary. Nzinga introduces herself and goes over the issue with Honeysuckle Street, and the secretary logs it as a noise complaint and says that he’ll pass it on to the councilwoman. Nzinga then asks as to how she will know when she decides, but the secretary has already hung up. Nzinga continues with nine other councilwoman throughout the afternoon, and the secretary for Councilwoman DeSouza notes that Honeysuckle Street is part of the councilwoman’s district and will pass it along. Nzinga then asks as to how to do a follow-up, but is once again hung up on. She attempts another call, but the answering machine says that it is after business hours. Nzinga checks her phone and notices that it is 4PM, and asks herself if her calls had changed anything. Just then, Ms. Bashirah says to her that it probably didn’t, but thanks her for trying.
Chapter 14
Nzinga says to Ms. Bashirah that trying isn’t going to be good enough, and to her surprise, Ms. Bashirah concurs, adding that she means to work smarter, not harder. Nzinga considers sending emails to the City Council, but Ms. Bashirah says that there is a City Council meeting set for next week, insisting that Nzinga go there and talk to them, adding that if the developers have their way, it would make Honeysuckle Street unrecognizable. Ms. Bashirah then adds that the developers need to know that they mean business, needing to be polite and firm instead of rude. She and Nzinga head to the front door before Aunt Maryam exclaims that Mama Bell’s kittens have been crying for the past hour. Ms. Bashirah heads downstairs to comfort them as Nzinga walks out the front door.
Chapter 15
As soon as Nzinga opens the front door, she is overwhelmed with the smell of smoke and burning concrete despite the machines being off. She notices a man sitting in a digger at the edge of the sidewalk and rehearses what to say in her head, but then she imagines the man snickering at her. Nzinga is about to turn around and go back into the house when a peace blazer catches her eye, worn by a blond woman across the street next to the empty pharmacy lot standing by two co-workers. Nzinga kicks her legs into gear and walks over to talk to the woman, commenting about her blazer. The woman replies that peach is her favorite color, and Nzinga says that it is her favorite color as well before she asks her a question about the noise with the teardown going on. The woman then interrupts her and says that they are building up, and the co-workers mention that they are part of a company known as Beautiful Urban Developments that are building a six-floor apartment complex complete with patios, a gym, and rooftop seating. Nzinga’s jaw figuratively drops to the floor before asking a question about how people like her grandma wanting things to stay the same. The woman says that all she sees around her are old houses falling apart, and then asks her the same question. Nzinga is unable to respond as her mom and dad did mention that the houses were a bit old. The woman continues, saying that people don’t understand change even when it would be good for them, noting that some people fought against the demolition of the abandoned pharmacy, but concurs that every building on this block will be updated with the addition of the apartment complex, adding that beauty is pain with the noise and construction. Nzinga thinks it over before heading back to the house, now having her idea for Phantasy Philly.