"Damn it, Riley! What did I tell you?" Huey shouted impatiently.
"How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?"
"Because it's common sense!"
It was cold in the house, and Riley tried to heat up his sheets by putting a candle under his blanket. Huey ran in the room with a extinguisher before it got too serious.
"Riley this is seriously borderline retarded behaviour."
"Fuck you, nigga. I could've handled it."
"No chance! You could've gotten killed. Instead of thanking me, you act like an asshole!"
"You always do this! Act you smarter than me, man! I'm sick of it!"
"I don't have to act to be smarter than you!"
Riley put his hands over his ears, while Huey lectured him. Huey couldn't wait for Grandad to get home! He just went to the store and had been gone for three hours. Huey didn't think he could take much more.
Huey was taken from his train of thought.
"You know what nigga? You might have intelligence, but I have something you will never have: friends. You're so danm isolated you have to make up shit. Like some bullshit agent is following you around."
"He is real."
"No he ain't."
"Riley I was being followed."
Grandad came home. He was tired, and was drenched with rain.
"Grandad! Finally you're home!" Huey said, exasperated.
"Yeah...what the hell is that stench?"
"Riley set his bed on fire."
"Damn it boy, what did I tell you about setting fires in the house?"
"Grandad, it was Huey's faut! He didn't want to turn up the heat! This nigga doesn't realize that human beings are warm blooded."
"Shut up Riley! I'm the one who told you that!"
"No you didn't! I looked that up!"
Grandad was tired. He was tired from the long line ups today, tired of the fights between middle aged woman over butternut squashes. Tired of nearly getting mugged in the parking lot, he was tired of asking a woman out to dinner and nearly getting beaten by her boyfriend. Then he got charged 500 dollars because he took a shopping cart out of the store.
Grandad was tired of all of that. But he hated that his two grandkids couldn't even behave like normal human beings while he was gone, for what? An hour? He was also sick and tired of beating them. He just wanted them to act civilized, but of course, they didn't listen.
"Why should I trust you? You make up imaginary friends?" Riley asked Huey. That questions brought Grandad back to the world.
"You still do that boy?" Grandad asked. Tired. He walked up the stairs. He was so exhausted that he had completely forgotten that Riley had set his bed on fire.
"Yeah, remember that secret agent Grandad?" Riley asked, he followed Grandad up the stairs, and laughed.
He didn't even understand his own Grandsons. They were both menaces to the community, and one of them still had an imaginary friend? He feared that he was raising two psychotic children. If he discouraged Huey's 'friend' maybe it would go away. Besides, Huey was way too old for imaginary friends like that. Wasn't he friends with Tom's girl, Jazmine?
"Boy, I don't want to hear about any imaginary friends."
"He is not imaginary! If you two listened to me for one goddamn minute you would understand, and know that he does exist! In fact if you listened to me about anything, you would see that I'm right! But you two are so self absorbed, you can't even listen when someone speaks to you! Is it because I'm young? Ten? are you both so ignorant that you dismiss knowledge because of age? Riley, I can see he does it because he wants to stay an idiot, since he thinks it's so damn gangsta!"
Yes, let them have it, let it all out. Remember during the Fried Chicken Flu, they didn't listen to your plan?
Remember when you told them about the White Shadow, they dismissed it?
Even during the heatwave, Jazmine didn't listen to you. But in her defense, the heat makes people crazy.
Your family doesn't listen. They don't care.
Grandad looked at him, furious. The old man looked at his Grandson, with rage. Riley had a blank expression on his face. Grandad was so upset, but so tired. He went to his room, and closed the door.
He'll deal with Huey 'll deal with the world later. But for now, the day had been bullshit, and you can't handle bullshit, without a good forty winks.
Huey opened the front door.
"Where are you going?" Riley asked. Surprisingly in such a small voice.
Huey turned. "Tell Grandad I'm...oh wait, real niggas don't follow instructions." He slammed the door.
Riley stood on the staircase feeling all of it. For the first time, in what felt like a long time, he flet hi stomach churning, and his throating closing. He would never admit it, but all of those things his brother said were true, and they were coming for a long time.
He felt a strange feeling of respect for his brother, and self pity. It was the feeling where you don't want to move, in case you get scrutinized even more. He finally did find it in him to walk up the stairs. He went to the closet, and got out a new blanket. He threw the old one in the trash, and jumped on his bed. His brother didn't need to tell him where he was going. Riley knew him well enough to know that.
Riley wondered if he had respect from anyone. He remembered when he painted all over people's houses, no one really believed it was him. They just saw him as a scrappy juvenile kid.
No one listened.
The rain had become just a drizzle, the sky was still that beautiful gray colour. He was walking on the sidewalk.
"Why do I even bother with them? They don't care what I have to say. No one really does, no one cares what I think. They see me as an ignorant kid,"
"Huey!" He recognized that sweet voice. The boy smiled before turning around. The one person who really cared, besides the White Shadow.
Jazmine.
She was so trusting, and understanding. She believed him. During the Fried Chicken flu, she actually read the manual. She applauded after the play. She helped him solve some of his problems.
She cared.
"Jazmine." He turned.
"Are you okay?" She asked. "You looked pretty upset, when you left the house."
"Yeah, it was just some family problems." Huey replied.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
He smiled, and told her everything.
"...Riley set the bed on fire because he thought that could warm it up."
"Oh my God!" Jazmine laughed. They had to stop walking, since she couldn't stand straight. Huey's face softened.
"J-Just give me a minute...ha hah ha!"
"And I told him it was borderline retarded behaviour."
Jazmine laughed harder. He laughed too.
"Oh, sorry. I should be serious about it too." She got up, and puffed up her chest. "GRRR! Let's start a robbery!" She grunted in a fake deep voice. Huey laughed.
He loved spending time with her. She could cheer him up after shit. she was so full of life.
After that he told her about the rant.
"Wow, that's very insightful. Is that how you feel?"
"Yeah. I thought about it, and they just never seem to listen to me. You're the only one that really takes what I say to heart."
"Of course Huey. you're really smart. I would be a fool to not listen." Jazmine said. "No offense to your family."
"None taken."
"From your perspective. I can see why that stings: You are so intelligent, and you feel as if, just because of your age, that what you say isn't valid."
"That's how I feel sometimes. But I can't cut my ties with them, but I just don't want to help them anymore."
"So you won't?"
"I don't know yet. Oh wait, I got it. I won't go out of my way, but if they do need it, I'll be there." Huey responded.
"Can you still help anyone else?"
"Anyone who deserves it...like you, Jazmine. You can always get my help."
"Thanks, Huey." Jazmine held his arm. She saw Huey as an intelligent person, who really did have a good heart deep down. Some people just didn't see it, and saw him as a crazy kid. She thought once you got to know him, trust him, listened to his opinions, and cared, you would see another side of him: the happier side, who was a more carefree, funny, and sweet person.
"Are you ready to go back?" She asked, still holding his arm.
"Yeah, I think they deserve an apology." He said. "Grandad will probably be pretty upset still."
"Well, if you really mean your apology, how mad could they be?" Jazmine asked, now walking in front of Huey.
"Huey, do you think that you're self absorbed?"
He thought about it. "i don't know. I do think about myself a lot, but I will lsiten to others. And I think about the ones I care about. I researched peaceful protestors, when Wuncler had you working fr him."
"I remember that! That was so sweet, I still can't thak you enough!" Jazmine beamed.
"It was the most I could do."
"I guess during that time, the pony really blurred my vision of what was going on." Jazmine said. "The heat can make people crazy."
"it really can."
"But if I could pick where to live, it would be a warm place. Maybe an island." She said. "Or a field! A nice beautiful field filed with ponies! Maybe Italy, what do you think?"
"Are you planning to move there?"
"Well, when I'm older, maybe. But I like Woodcrest too." "Would you stay if you had the choice?"
"Probably not. But really who knows? Maybe move to Canada."
"Canada! Didn't you want to move there after the inaguration?"
"Yeah, probably move to Toronto."
"What about Cuba? Or Trinidad and Tobago? What about Hawaii?"
They kept walking towards their houses, while Jazmine asked about all these different places to go to, and Huey responded to each one.
She listens.