I know that it's wrong. It's against my morals.
Huey walked through the apartment lobby. His steps filled the sleeping halls.
At least, it should be. He thought.
He waited patiently as the elevator doors split. He walked through into the cold closet, and pushed the far too familiar button. 4.
The dreaded number sent a chill up his spine, and a pang of guilt resonated in his heart.
When it started out, I didn't feel any guilt.
He exhaled, and closed his eyes. He thought about what happened that day. Then as if by magic, he was there.
It was the era of university. Huey was 20 years old, and the days seemed brighter. He escaped the ignorance of his community, and was embraced by those who analyzed the insanity in society. Even so he still lived at home. Huey walked through the door.
"Is anyone home?" He called. There was no answer.
"Hah hah hah!"
"Huh?" He thought. Then with a sudden rush of clarity, he recognized the spring of laughter as Jazmine's. The sound was coming from the basement.
Huey walked downstairs, planning to solve the mystery.
He walked down the first steps of the basement.
"I told you!" Riley said. He laughed deviously.
"I know!" Jazmine exclaimed, still laughing. They sat on the basement floor, shaking from laughter, and shared a bottle between them.
"What the hell are y'all doing?" Huey called, standing on the stairs. Jazmine and Riley turned to face the Freeman standing on the stairs. "Is that...liquor?"
"Oh, here he comes! Huey McHater again!" Riley said, in a knowing tone.
"Riley, he's not a hater." Jazmine said. "Hi Huey. You want to join us?" Jazmine asked. The care free shine still danced in her eyes.
"I'll join you. But I'm not drinking that." He said, walking down to the basement floor. "Where did you get that anyway...Riley?"
"Oh. don't worry, man. I got niggas."
"Oh yeah? What niggas?"
"'Ay. I got niggas. So don't be worrying like 'Aye where did Riley get that shit? It ain't his.' You know, don't snitch Huey."
Huey scowled at his brothers non sense. "Whatever." He responded.
"I think it's great! It's sweeter than I thought. I remember the first time I drank, it was at a camping site. And it was so bitter! I don't even remember what it was called. Have you drank, Huey?"
"Oh occasion. Jazmine, are you drunk?" Huey asked.
"Uh...I don't think so. Am I drunk, Riley?"
"How am I supposed to know? I'm not clairvoyant. What's that thing they do? Oh yeah. Uh...say the alphabet backwards."
"Um...okay. Let's see Z Y X..."
Jazmine continued reciting the reversed alphabet. Huey turned to Riley. "Is this what you've been doing all day? Drinking with Jazmine?"
"Not all day with her. She showed up like 20 minutes ago..."
"I see. You know, Jazmine looks pretty nice today."
Riley shrugged. "Hmm.I didn't notice."
"Are you sure? Riley whatever you're planning, it's not happening."
Riley looked over at his brother. "What are you talking 'bout?"
"Didn't you hear me? Whatever you're planning...it ain't happening. As long as I'm here."
"What? Nigga you think that I was gon' get Jazmine drunk, and we'd...? Pfff, naw man!" Riley started to laugh. "Nigga is you crazy? You crazy man?"
Huey continued to look down at his brother, scowling.
Riley stopped laughing. "I wasn't planning that."
"Good. 'Cause it's not happening." Huey didn't want his igorant brother to get a girl pregnant. Especially if she was someone close to the family. He wouldn't let his brother ruin the mutual relationship, and give their family an excuse to be ostracized in the already foreign community.
"Pfff. Whatever, nigga."
Huey exhaled. Jazmine continued to recite the alphabet, oblivious to their conversation His phone buzzed. Huey quickly pulled it out of his pocket. He quietly read the text to himself.
"Dear Huey...I'm seeing another man. Sorry! - Yoneera."
What?
Huey was seeing a woman he met at university for about a week. His eyes widened, and his mouth collapsed from the stinging words.
"Man, this bullshit." He said under his breath.
"What?" Riley asked, now completley calm.
"Yoneera's seeing someone else."
"Man I knew that hoe was a hoe!"
"Riley, she isn't a h...never mind, she's a hoe."
Riley laughed. "Sorry, my nigga, but that bitch had to go! It's 'bout time, man! I'mma glad she's gone. or else I would've had to toss her lying ass outside the window!"
Huey looked down at his enthusiastic brother. His legs started to fold.
"Mind if I have some of that liquor?" He asked. Now sitting on the floor.
"Here, Huey." Riley said, handing his brother the bottle.
"C, B, A! I'm done! Officially not drunk!" Jazmine said, happily. She turned her head to Huey. "Huh?" Her eyes widened, as she saw him chugging from the bottle. His eyes were clenched shut.
Huey finally took the bottle from his lips. "Uhhh..." He groaned, now in a drunken daze. The room started to spin, Riley and Jazmine started floating.
"Huey? You alright, how many fingers am I holding up?" Riley asked, now concerned, he stuck out two fingers.
Huey breathed, and looked at his brother through half closed eyes.
"Two my nigga!" Huey eventually shouted, let his buzz envelop him "Hah hah hah!" He laughed.
Jazmine gasped, and laughed. "Huey! What happened?" She asked, laughing.
"I took this bottle...I put to my mouth...and I let that bug up my ass die!" Huey exclaimed, laughing, as he did so.
"I think I'mma like the new Huey!" Riley said.
"Riley, put something on! It's too quiet up in here!" Huey said, enthusiastically. His liberation broke through the surface. Jazmine saw this side of him before, but she never thought of provoking him with alcohol. Seems so obvious now. She thought.
Riley turned on his iPod, they all got up, and started to dance, Huey grabbed Jazmine, and swung her around.
"Huey?" Jazmine laughed. "I feel like I'm flying!" She said.
"So do I!" Huey said. They both laughed.
"You just mad 'cause your ass is old, first thing you do is just pick up the phone. Lethal Interjection liging next to your home!" Riley called out the lyrics to the song.
"Is your Grandad here?" Jazmine asked, now back on her own feet.
"He's out with some new hoe!" Riley shouted over the music.
"Hey Jazmine." Huey called. "Grandad's just like 'Nigga did you leave this fork on the table? I'mma fill the dishwasher with water, and stab you with your own fork! What am I doing turning the dishwasher on? I don't need no dishes washed! What is this bullshit with the water bill? Boy!" Huey imitated.
Riley fell on the floor. "Damn Huey! You ripped Grandad apart. Just like that blind man!"
"Yeah, that one who's all like 'This some bullshit' to a rainbow! You ever seen anything stupid like that?"
Jazmine laughed, and landed on the couch. Huey laughed, and landed next to her. The song ended, and changed to 'Thuggin' love.'
"I got that Thuggin' love..." The women harmonized. Jazmine started to stretch on the couch.
"This is really fun." Jazmine said.
"This is off the chain! Damn Huey, you're not such a hater anymore. You a real nigga! I'm gon' get some more liqour to top us off!" Riley said. He ran up the basement stairs, "Dishwasher! Hah hah hah!" He laughed.
Jazmine started to get tired. She yawned peacefully. "Huey, I'm having a great time."
Huey smiled. "Me too. I just hope I can remember this tomorrow." He picked up a piece of paper, and started writing down everything that happened. "Danced, picked up Jazmine..." He wrote.
Jazmine laughed. "That's clever thinking." Jazmine said.
"Foresight." He responded. "You know this might sound stupid, but at first, I thought Riley brought you over here to get you drunk, and, you know, have his way with you. But now, I don't think so."
Jazmine looked at him, and grinned. "Riley? Never in a million YEARS would Riley want to do that with me! Come on, the guy thinks I have no spine! You can't do that with someone like that, it's weird!" Jazmine said, in a high pitched, elated tone.
"Well, he doesn't think that literally." Huey said, dryly. Jazmine laughed.
"Good one." She responded. "Besides, I'm sober anyway."
"Oh right. That whole alphabet thing. You know, I think I'm starting to clear up."
"You could always try the alphabet backwards." Jazmine said.
Huey shrugged. "Alright. Z, Y, X..." While he said the letters, Jazmine nudged closer to him, and smiled.
"W, V, U..." He said. He got closer to her, until their hands slowly touched. They looked at each other. Jazmine brushed her ringlet back, while Huey continued saying the letters, he was almost through.
" D..." Huey and Jazmine closed their eyes, slowly moving their heads forward.
"C B A..." They kissed softly. The kiss became more heated, and their tongues twisted. Moans escaped Jazmine's lips. Huey slipped her out of her sweater, and Jazmine unbuttoned his shirt.
"We're doing this..." Jazmine said. "We're finally doing this..."
"Yeah yeah...okay, man. Good talking to you. Okay, sure. No no, Riley Freeman, not Kiley, Riley." Riley was on the phone as he walked through the kitchen. The bottle in his hand. He felt like he had been on the phone for an eternity. "Okay BYE!" He said, the last part with an irritated twang. He checked the time on the phone. "1 hour." He mumbled. "A nigga doen;t have time for that! Damn, now the ice melted. Bullshit!"
"Yes! Oh YES!" Riley heard Jazmine scream.
"What the fuck?" Riley asked himself. He stood in the kitchen, and couldn't help but listen.
Jazmine was moaning from elation. Her nipples were swollen, and her anus invaded. She grabbed onto the arm rest, and held on for dear life.
"Jazmine..." Huey moaned. Thrusting into her entrance. He was ready to burst.
"Huey!" Jazmine shouted. He shot his load in between her legs, as she called his name.
Jazmine and Huey came down from their high, feeling incredible.
"That was amazing." Jazmine said.
Huey smiled. "You're beautiful." He said.
Jazmine laughed. They clasped their hands together, both of them felt perfect.
"You'll remember this, won't you?" Jazmine asked, referring to the sheet on the coffee table.
"I'm not drunk." Huey said, he rubbed his nose against Jazmine's.
"That feels pretty funny, since I know where it's been!" Jazmine laughed. They both laughed for sometime.
"Hey, I know it's not my business, but why y'all niggas got to do it in the basement?" Riley called from upstairs.
"Shut up Riley!" Huey called.
"I heard everything!" He shouted.
"If it's not your business, then why are you eavesdropping?" Jazmine countered. Huey laughed.
Riley was silent. "Yo, I paid for the liquor. Does that make you a hoe?"
"Shut your dumbass up!" Huey shouted.
The memory made him smile. The buzzer cried, and the doors slid open, welcoming him to the multicolored hall. Huey stepped out from his nostalgic domain.
I'm happy with her. But it feels wrong. Afterall, seeing her, must counter one of my beliefs about relationships: stay faithful. How can I believe something, if I don't follow through?
He walked through the hallway, blindly guided by the turns of the hall.
I guess being faithful is what I used to believe, and I'd like to convince myself I still do.
Huey's mind turned to another woman. I chose to be with her, there must have been something there.
He remembered the night he stood outside of her apartment, and knocked on the door. He looked around. He now graduated university.
He anticipated the quick twist of the knock, and a breath of squeaks came from the door. Two weeks in, and he got her patterns.
There she stood. Jenny Holtez. She always appeared crisp, and polished: never a hair out of place. Her auburn strands moved in a synchronized motion, and her dusk colored eyes shined filled with ideas. Her attention to detail always impressed him.
"Hey, Huey. Ready to go?'
"Yeah. You feeling alright?"
"Ehh, been better." She laughed, she closed the door behind her, and stood with a hand on her hip.
"You look excited today." She said, looking into his eyes.
Huey stood with a scowl on his face. "How so?"
Jenny walked closer to him. "I wasn't talking about your face." She whispered.
Huey's scowl broke into a small smile. "We don't have to go out tonight." He said.
"You read my mind." Jenny replied. She opened her door. "Follow me."
Now Huey had been with her for five months. The months started out wonderfully. But soon the two became estranged. Jenny barely came to the apartment anymore.
Our relationship started out great. I hardly thought of Jazmine leaving the country. I remember when I was sitting in the living room with Riley, and Grandad, and I hear the doorbell. I go to get it, with such a nonchalance. The next thing I know, two soft arms are wrapped around my neck, and I immediately recognize her: Jazmine. The beautiful girl I grew to love, who miraculously enlightened me to the beauty of the world, while I showed her what I knew. She made me happy.
I remember seeing her so differently. Her aura of happiness was still around her, but her view seemed expansive. She travelled the world for months, and must have had thousands of stories to tell. I couldn't let her go, especially after that day we had. We got together and it worked.
Huey finally reached her door.
I love her, and I won't lose her. I won't leave Jenny either. I can make things work now, and I probably will in the future.
He knocked on the door.
Wait, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this whole thing is wrong. I'm with another woman, I do love Jazmine, but perhaps I should move on to the next stage in my life.
He heard footsteps coming closer.
But I'm happy in this stage of my life. I'm selfish. Then again, it would be selfish to miss out on this opportunity, Then, I'd start resenting Jenny. I couldn't do that to her.
The doorknob turned.
Jazmine stood in the archway, she looked beautiful. Her dress hugged her figure.
"Hey Huey." She said, smiling.
"Jazmine." Huey said, walking into the apartment.
Jazmine has a good soul. This wouldn't be happening, if I told her I was with Jenny.