Hey guys!
This is a story that I've been brainstorming to write for a little while. I had wanted to begin this after ending No Boundaries or Smoke and Shadows, but I've continuously have had writers block for both those stories and I don't want to forget this story in the process. This is gonna be a little different than my other stories, and I don't know how long it'll be between wait times for this story to be updated. I hope y'all like this story, I have a pretty good idea as to what I wanna do with it.
Woodcrest had always been a white-washed, rich city. It just always had been. The mayor, a Mr. Wuncler, was a pompous, rich white man with one grandson, Ed the third, and he ran Woodcrest with an iron fist. He was a manipulative, egotistical, greedy man that did everything for the benefit of himself. His grandson was less of a businessman and more of a wanna-be, self-proclaimed thug.
But this was where a Mr. Robert Freeman decided to home himself and his newly orphaned grandsons. Against their wishes, Robert Freeman had moved the trio to the suburbs of Woodcrest just one year after the sudden death of their parents. Robert had seen this as a chance to start fresh, to die in peace, but his grandsons were not too enthralled about the thought of leaving their comfy home in the Southside of Chicago to the suburbs of a racist Woodcrest in Maryland.
Robert had two grandsons, who were two years apart. The eldest was Huey Freeman, a supposed domestic terrorist and black rights activist. Huey had a large, unmanageable black afro and dark, mocha colored skin. His eyes were the color of a deep red wine, and his brows were always furrowed into a scowl. He rarely smiled, and when he did, it was only a hint of one. Huey was extremely serious and extremely smart to the point of annoyance. Polar opposite of him was his younger brother, Riley Freeman, who was eight. Riley was a wannabe gangster and graffiti artist that hung out with the bad kids and picked a fight with anyone. To a stranger, Riley was mistaken as Huey's twin brother, and there was no surprise in that; Riley shared his brothers dark skin and wine colored eyes, but he kept his smaller afro pulled back into sturdy cornrows. Riley was street-smart rather than book smart, and although he could never outdo his older brother, he liked to think that he could.
Upon arriving in Woodcrest, the two met two young girls that would, unknowingly, forever be a part of their lives.
Huey was the first to meet his destined soulmate; the sweet, friendly, outgoing, yet naïve Jazmine Dubois, who was his age. As fate would have it, the two were neighbors and lived on the same street. Jazmine was a biracial young girl; her father, a lawyer named Tom Dubois, was black, while her mother, a housewife named Sarah Dubois, was white. Jazmine herself was a cute kid; she had a large, strawberry blonde afro and skin that was too dark to mistake her for being white, but too light to be mistaken as black. Her eyes were the biggest emerald green eyes Huey had ever seen in his life. Jazmine met Huey and was stuck to him like glue; she followed him everywhere, and seemingly had a crush on him.
Meanwhile, Riley had befriended a Cindy McPhearson over basketball. Cindy was polar opposite to Jazmine; Cindy was a white girl: both her parents were white, and lived closer to the heart of Woodcrest. Cindy was a year older than Riley, and was a tough, no nonsense kind of girl with long blonde hair, fair skin, and the biggest, bluest eyes Riley had ever seen. She was a tomboy, no doubt about that, and played a mean game of basketball. Despite the obvious similarities between the two, they never even realized the attraction they shared until high school.
Huey and Riley went on many misadventures in Woodcrest for the next couple of years; in and out of trouble with the law, their grandfather, and each other. Both brothers had each other's backs regardless, and they never let the other fall down alone.
As they matured, so did their outlooks on other things that seemed trivial to them as children; one such thing was their love life.
The hardened Huey was the first to admit his feelings for Jazmine, who had begun to like him in their middle school years. By their sophomore year, Huey had finally gained up the gall to ask her out, and of course, Jazmine said yes. Riley was next to ask out Cindy his freshman year of high school, to which Cindy happily obliged.
The two girls also unknowingly became the best of friends; while they had no idea who the other was in middle school, once Cindy had entered high school a year after Jazmine, the two became inseparable. As they matured, they began to outgrow their childish, old looks for their newly embraced ones; Cindy was becoming less of a tomboy, and Jazmine was becoming less naïve. They embraced these changes together, and quickly became lifelong friends.
Freshman year quickly went into sophomore year, then junior year, and before they knew it, Huey and Jazmine had entered their senior year as a couple. Over the years, Huey had befriended only a few more close friends; the first was Michael Caesar, a young man from Brooklyn who was his age, and Hiro Otomo, a native of Woodcrest who was also Huey's age. Riley had actually befriended Ed the third and his friend, Rummy, at a young age, but in high school became close friends with a Tyrone Banks, a young man who was his age.
Senior year was a whirlwind of preparing for college for the friends, and Huey and Jazmine were getting ready to enter the real world together. They had applied for colleges, scholarships, and were even talking about moving in together over the summer before they entered college.
But one day, something changed. And it would forever alter the lives of everyone in Woodcrest.
Jazmine Dubois trudged along the sidewalk, her body slouched over. The sky overhead was dark and cloudy, threatening rain. It was only three in the afternoon, but it felt later. She wore a pair of shorts and a tank top with some old, beat up sandals, and her afro was poofed up like never before. The mascara that was once on her eyelashes was now running down her cheeks as she sniffled and hiccuped and sneezed. The air outside was warm and humid, like a usual Woodcrest summer day. Cars barreled down the street to and fro, but Jazmine paid no mind to the tired screeching, the horns honking, and the chatter of people around her.
Her destination was somewhere private, almost secretive; a place she now loathed to find.
It was a week after graduation; Huey and Jazmine had just graduated from Wuncler High School, but there was no need for celebration at this point, not now. So Jazmine forced herself to make the journey, carrying nothing with her but her phone and a crumpled up letter in her right hand.
She diverted off of the sidewalk and began to ascend upwards. The ground was uneven, and it took everything she had to not pitch over and fall into the dirt. She made her way over a hill, and found herself ambling towards a large oak tree that overlooked a part of the bustling city. This was her tree, their tree; hers and Huey's.
However, instead of uniting with a large afro, she sat down shakily next to a sobbing blonde. Cindy McPhearson choked back another loud sob as Jazmine sat down next to her. She turned her head to gaze at her with reddened blue eyes. Jazmine's green eyes were just as red and hardened.
"Did you get one, t-too? "Cindy stammered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Jazmine nodded stiffly, producing her crumpled up piece of paper. Cindy pulled out her own from the back pocket of her blue jean shorts, and unfolded it, trying to smooth out the wrinkles she had made.
"I tried calling him, "Cindy went on absently, "b-but he didn't answer. "
"No luck here, "Jazmine murmured hoarsely, "I left him five messages and he hasn't answered any of them. "
Cindy sighed, annoyed, "Is this some kinda joke? "she asked, "I mean seriously, wh-who does this? "tears began falling down her cheeks as she spoke, "This isn't right, this isn't the way you do things. "
"They just didn't have the balls to do it in person, "Jazmine said icily. She stared down at her letter, and read the first few words: 'Dear Jazmine, I'm sorry to tell you like this, but I have to break up with you…'
Jazmine closed her eyes as tears threatened to fall down, and a few did. They stained the paper and made the black ink smear messily. Jazmine then folded the letter back up and tore it in half. She then began to rip the pieces into shreds, the tears flowing down her cheeks rapidly and her breathing becoming heavy. She shook her head and opened her eyes, and she watched the pieces of the letter fly off with a cool breeze.
"There has to be a reason…, "Cindy looked down at her own letter. Jazmine glared at her, "What other reason could there be? "she then asked sharply, "They broke up with us at the same time by writing a fucking letter, Cindy, a fucking letter. "her blood began to boil, "They didn't have the guts to break up with us in person, so wrote out their sob stories on a piece of paper and left them in our mailboxes. They didn't even say goodbye! "
Cindy balled up her fists and propped up her drooping head with them, "I-I can't believe it, "she whispered, "They're gone. "
"They better stay gone now, "Jazmine then said. She took Cindy's letter from her and stood up. Cindy looked up at her from the ground, "Jaz, wait—! "but before she could do anything, Jazmine had ripped up Cindy's break up letter, too, and let the piece fall to the ground. Angrily, Cindy stood up, "What the hell was that for Jazmine? "she demanded, "Just because you wanted to rip up your letter doesn't mean I wanted to! "
"No, we needed to, "Jazmine shot back. Cindy had never known Jazmine to be like this; Jazmine was a sweet, soft-spoken, friendly girl. This Jazmine was full of anger and…hate. Hatred for Huey.
"We needed to destroy those letters, "Jazmine went on. Cindy arched a brow, "Why? "she then asked. Jazmine stared out over the horizon at the city, "Because they don't deserve our tears, Cindy. They left us, not the other way around. They didn't even have the decency to tell us anything. "
"Why do you think they did it? "Cindy sniffed. Jazmine shrugged, "I don't know, but does it really matter anymore? "she turned to her best friend, "They're gone, Cindy. They're gone, and they're never coming back. "
Jazmine turned on her heel and began marching down the hill, away from the tree, for the last time. Cindy followed her, and the fell into step side by side on the sidewalk, "Where are we going? "Cindy inquired, but Jazmine didn't answer. Instead, she led Cindy to the one place they had never planned on visiting: the old Freeman residence.
It loomed over them spookily. There were no cars in the driveway, and the front door was locked. To Cindy's surprise, Jazmine was able to pick the lock with a loose bobby pin, "What are we doing? "Cindy asked. Jazmine shrugged, "We're going inside. "
Inside, it was dark. Jazmine tried to turn on a light, but they were out. She walked through a familiar hallway and into the living room, which was bare except for a few chairs off to the side. Everything had been stripped from the house that had made it a home. She walked into the kitchen and tried to turn on the sink, but that was out, too.
Cindy had made her way up the stairs and into the one room she needed to be in; Riley's room. There was nothing in the room except for the bed frame and the mattress, which was slumped on a wall off to the side. She searched the room for anything that had belonged to Riley, but found nothing. Jazmine had no luck either in Huey's barren and dark room.
They reunited at the bottom of the stairs. Jazmine had gotten there first and sat on the last step, her body leaned against the wall. Cindy joined her, sitting down next to her quietly. She could tell that Jazmine was agitated and angry.
"What do we do now? "Cindy asked. Jazmine sighed, "I hate to say that they broke our hearts, but I think they did. "she admitted, rubbing her cheeks to clean off the dried mascara and tears. Cindy nodded, "Yeah, I do too. "she agreed. She ran a hand through her blonde hair, trying to detangle it some, "But what are we gonna do now? They're not answering, they're not replying to us…, "
Jazmine was silent for a moment, but she finally spoke: "Fuck them, "she said. She then stood up, "Fuck them! "she screamed into the empty house. She marched towards the front door and exited the house, Cindy behind her. Angrily, Jazmine kicked the garage door as they made their way to the sidewalk, "Fuck Huey, fuck Riley, and fuck this house! "she said it so confidently that it scared Cindy, but then Cindy's eyes narrowed.
"Fuck those two dumbass brothers! "she yelled alongside Jazmine. She grabbed a discarded piece of wood that had been left outside and threw it against the house. Cindy kicked at the planted flowers, pulling them out from the ground. Jazmine joined her, and they soon littered the cement with destroyed, wilting flower petals and stems. Jazmine looked down at her finger; she wore a promise ring that Huey had given her after they'd been together for a year. It was a rose gold band that had a small, circular diamond on it; it was beautiful. Jazmine had half the mind to throw it into the abyss of nothingness that was the Freeman house, but she instead slipped it off of her finger and pocketed it, making sure Cindy didn't catch her. With their anger having been released, the two girls linked arms and barreled down the sidewalk, away from the Freeman home. They had never intended to release their anger at a house, but what was done was done. They hadn't even bothered to close the door again.
A tired and worn out Riley Freeman sat down next to his brother, Huey Freeman, on a plane headed out of Woodcrest. They had just boarded and had been waiting for their grandfather, who was trying to sit down comfortably across from them. He had been fussing the whole way there, the whole time they'd been waiting, and even as they were boarding the plane. Now, Riley rejoined his brother as he stared out of the window, never once turning around.
"What did we just do? "Riley asked absently. It wasn't meant to be answered, but Huey answered anyways, "I don't even know, "he admitted. He leaned back in his seat, staring at the ground. After a few minutes, a flight attendant came by and began helping the passengers buckle into their seats. There were only a few others on the plane besides the three family members, and shortly after this, the two brothers felt the plane begin to move.
"Please do not get up at this time, "someone said over the intercom, "stay seated and wait for the okay from our pilot, thank you. "
Riley released some air and slouched down into his seat some. The plane left the ground, and the two bounced around slightly as the plane began to ascend further into the sky. After a little bit, they were adjusted into their seats and the bumping stopped, and Riley turned to his brother, "Now what? "he asked. He needed his brother to tell him something, anything, that would ease his mind about what had just transpired.
Huey didn't answer for a moment, and Riley was about to ask again when Huey finally spoke: "We just have to survive right now, "his eyes never turned to meet with Riley's, "we have to keep going. "
"I just broke up with my girlfriend man, "Riley shot back angrily, "I may never see her again! "Huey now turned around, his eyes trimmed red, "I just did too, "he retorted, "we both had to, remember? "Riley rolled his eyes, "This is all your fault, Huey, "he mumbled, and Huey sighed, "Maybe it is, but you're partly to blame, too. "he didn't get a reply.
They sat together, quietly, watching the clouds drift by as Woodcrest soon became out of view. Huey turned his head forwards and leaned back into his seat, "We'll fix this one day, "he then stated, but he knew that it was unbelievable.
"You know you can't promise that, "Riley sighed quietly, "That one day isn't today homie. "
"No, but it's the best I can do for now, "Huey replied, "We'll figure something out. We always do. "
"Correction: you always do, "Riley admitted, "I just roll with the punches. "
Huey smirked sadly, "That's really all we're doing right now, "he commented. They stopped talking, and Huey continued to stare out of the window. Riley pulled out his phone and nearly choked at a picture of him and Cindy on his lock screen. Huey didn't hear, he was too busy with his own thoughts. His mind was on Jazmine, his mind was on her because he loved her, and he never got to tell her goodbye.
So this was just a little into intro into what's to come, that'a why it's rather short. I tried to make it as suspenseful as I could, because this is going to be a story full of drama most likely lol. As always, Read and Review, and check out my other stories if you'd like.
xoxo, Queen