Heart of Porcelain
By DaveTheWordsmith
Disclaimer: Boondocks is owned by Sony Pictures Digital Inc. and Aaron McGruder. All the copyrights associated with Boondocks belong to them. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.
Note: I don't know where to begin in thanking everyone who read and reviewed my previous stories. I'm very grateful for the feedback. It helped tremendously. To add to this note, this story came up while writing the next installments of "Choices" and "Walk in My Shoes", which are almost complete. So without further ado, here is chapter one of "Heart of Porcelain".
Chapter One
Fifteen and a half year old Riley shut his eyes. The cool wind blew against his face, a heavy contrast to the hot sun that beamed its coursing hot rays down upon the city of Woodcrest. He opened them once the wind ceased its pleasant feeling on his sweaty forehead and nose. Left hand on the handlebars of his bike, his right full with a bottle of Sprite, Riley cruised down quiet Timid Deer Lane. Without a second thought he popped a wheelie and leaped onto the curb. With careful balance he continued to ride along the edge of the curb beside the sparkling, expensive Mercedes, Jaguars, BMWs and Bentleys parked next to him on the street. One car in particular posed as a 'victim' of Riley's stunt. With a swift jump, he cleared the entire hood of an ocean blue Five Series BMW.
No other kid would dare try that, Riley thought with a big smile.
When he landed back onto the street, the large silver and platinum chain he wore, with the shimmering "YR" block letters, swung from side to side over his gray shirt with long black sleeves. Riley screeched to a halt when he reached the driveway of his residence. He removed his feet from the pedals and let the soles of his blue, white and silver Air Jordan Fusions rest on the pavement. He grinned in relief upon no Dorothy parked in the driveway.
In his peripheral vision, Riley caught the image of a teenage girl two years his senior round the bend of the block and head his direction. He swallowed, not in fear, but in an unexpected show of surprise. His blank face morphed into one marked by fearlessness. Riley was a real nigga. He wasn't afraid of nobody, especially a girl. His eyelids lowered a little, as if to smile, complementing his lip's smirk. The girl's walk ceased once she stood six feet from Riley. Her hand came up to move a blonde pigtail off her left shoulder.
Cindy smiled. "What's good?" she asked.
"Same shit, different toilet," he said. "You?"
"Same."
Riley switched the Sprite bottle into his left hand. His right hand shot out, formed into a fist, as did hers. Cindy's collided with his, her's on top. They repeated the action in reverse, and then bumped fists normally. Riley held her hand and pulled her into half a hug.
Once he let go, his eyebrows slanted down. His brown eyes looked left, then right, then into her light blue ones. "So, what'chu got?"
Cindy's eyebrows twitched as they rose for a split second. She reached into her pocket. Riley watched her, his serious demeanor reserved only for critical, imperative business. For him, the few seconds that expired felt like minutes. Cindy's hand shot back out in possession of a thick, folded up wad of money that Riley estimated contained nothing but twenties, fifties and a few hundreds. His eyes danced upon the sight of the dead presidents that shook in her hand. He tried his best to hold his excitement inside.
"Cudda done betta. Slow day 'cause of da heat, but it is what it is."
Riley 'hmph'd'. He nodded and took a short swig from his drink. After he exhaled in pleasure from the taste, he spoke. "Dey ain't give you no trouble, did dey?"
Cindy shook her head sideways. She put the money back in her jeans pocket. "Naw. Dey know not ta fuck wit me. Beans wouldn't let nobody do dat ta him."
Riley smiled. "I done corrupted you."
"I already was before I met'chu."
Cindy advanced three steps. Riley couldn't help but gaze at Cindy's chest that almost poked through her white tee-shirt. Her eyes narrowed. "So what about'chu, huh? Where's your part?"
Riley chewed on his bottom lip. After a long pause, he stuttered, "Uh, I ain't got it wit me, cuz see, what had happened was-"
Cindy growled. She walked in a circle. "Argh! Why you always gotta use yo part of da money on dumb bullshit?"
Riley walked his bike backward, wary of what Cindy might do in her small fit. He waited until she stopped pacing and settled down.
"It wasn't fa nuttin stupid," Riley said. His eyes diverted his vision to the floor. "I been savin it up fa sumthin. I'll put da money I got left in da pot tomorrow."
Riley looked at Cindy. He watched her left eyebrow rise. "What?"
Cindy giggled. "Oh wow. Who's da girl?"
Riley's face scrunched up. "Huh? What'chu mean?"
Cindy rolled her eyes. "Dudes only be savin' part of dey stash fa two reasons. Ta get a nigga outta jail or ta get some chick sumthin. Ed 'n Rummy been outta jail fa two days now, so it's a broad. Who's da girl?"
Riley frowned and turned his head to the side. "Nobody."
Cindy's giggles came out louder. "Uhn-uhh. Stop lyin'."
Riley sneered at Cindy. He knew she wouldn't jump, and she didn't. He only wanted to send his message loud and clear. "I said it's nobody, 'n nobody means nobody, aight?"
Cindy shrugged, her face wrinkled with annoyance. "Fine, it's nobody. Damn."
Riley picked up the sound of laughter to his left. His head turned in that direction. Upon first glance of the girl up ahead, a few houses away from his own, his heart almost stopped beating in his chest. The girl's large, orange, curly puffs on both sides of the back of her head bounced with each step. Riley gathered her jovial mood came from the magazine held open in both of her hands.
Jazmine…if I'da known you'd be so damn fine, I'da been afta dat a long time ago.
"Reezy. Reezy. Reezy!"
He looked away, focusing his attention back to Cindy who snapped her fingers in his face.
Business before pleasure, rememba dat, Riley thought.
"Huh?" he asked.
"What'chu got planned fa today?"
Riley clapped his hands. "Iono. Prolly holla at Ed 'n Rummy or sumthin'. See 'bout some bidness we finna get into."
Cindy gave him a quick fist bump. "Aight den. Be easy, Reezy."
"You too."
Riley pedaled his bike casually to the garage door. He got off the bike and walked with it over to the door. He used the tip of his foot to release the kickstand and balanced the bike. He bent over to lift the door open from the bottom. Twenty seconds passed, due to the difficulty of the tumultuous feat, as well as the weight of the door, until he could lift it. Once the door retracted up and backward, he guided the bike inside the dimly lit garage and leaned it against the wall.
Riley tried his best to ignore Cindy's discussion with Jazmine behind him while he shut the garage door. It took only a few seconds for his eyes to betray his brain. They couldn't stay off Jazmine. Her black jeans that hugged her in-shape, curvy hips and thighs, her nice, loose, blue button-up shirt that fought to cover her large chest. When Jazmine giggled, she slapped Cindy on the shoulder, the two of them bent over in laughter at the foot of the driveway, her 'assets' toward the younger Freeman grandson. Both his top and lower front teeth dug into his lip.
No, Jazmine did not just show me dat ass, he sighed.
He leaned against the garage door, arms folded over his chest, his face fixed into an anguish filled pout.
Even if I got ta cut off mah nose ta spite mah face, dat girl's finna be mine. All mine.
...