Not that I need to post another story buuuut here it is. I also changed back to my original pen name :)
I had my problems, but who didn't?
I wasn't perfect and I never claimed to be.
Well, maybe when I was younger. I used to think I would be the change that the world needed or at least a part of that change. I remember treating my classmates like shit, because I thought I was so much better than them.
I learned to be laid back, how to not take everything so serious so I wasn't that person. But sometime between then and now, I lost myself. It started off with weed, then alcohol, then prescription meds. I had managed to graduate high school but Granddad had given up on me getting any better so eventually he kicked me out.
That's kind of where I spiraled. Any drugs I could get my hands on, I took. I just wanted to numb the pain that I felt in my chest. The pain that I couldn't really explain.
Now that I was back home, halfway sober, the pain had tripled tenfold.
I hadn't been to Woodcrest in two whole years. I hadn't seen my childhood friends, my granddad, my brother in two years.
I didn't really know what to expect.
My hands shook as I rung the doorbell to my childhood home. Would Riley or Granddad answer the door? What would they expect from me? Would anything be different? I shook my head. Of course it'd be. Time didn't stop just because I wasn't around.
I heard footsteps and then the door open and I let out a deep breath. It was Riley, actually looking like Riley but so much more grown, mature. Gone were his usual cornrows and a neat buzzcut. He had grown to my height and was looking like he had hit the gym.
"Wassup Huey?" He smirked at me, sliding his phone in his pocket and enveloping me in a huge hug. Out of everyone that I knew in Woodcrest, Riley was the only one who kept in contact with me, even if it was sparingly.
"Nothing much. How you doin' man?" I smiled, stepping inside the house and closing the door behind me.
"Same old, same old. Just tryna get through this year so I can finally graduate."
I nodded. "Good. You're on the right track. Don't fuck up. Where's Granddad?"
"He forgot some shit at the grocery store so he went to go get 'em. I'm stuck watching the mac and cheese." He paused, hesitating slightly. "Are you actually good? Like, are you really here?"
I nodded once. Then again. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm here. I haven't done anything since last week." I lied. He didn't have to know that, though. I had long since perfected the act of seeming sober when I was high as a kite.
"Good." He plopped down on the couch and unpaused his video game. "You know, I know Granddad was pissed off at you when he kicked you out but he really miss you."
I just nodded. "So is it just us for Thanksgiving?"
"Nah. We goin' over to the DuBois' place. Sarah don't make that nasty ass cobbler no more. Plus Jazmine gon' be there. You remember her, right?"
Jazmine DuBois. She had stopped talking to me completely during our junior year when she realized I was heading down the wrong road. She had tried for a whole year to help me out before she eventually told on me.
Before that though, I had the biggest crush on her. She was an annoyance in elementary school, a good friend in middle school and in ninth grade, she just blossomed. I had spent many nights wondering what could have happened if she wouldn't have stopped talking to me.
"Yeah, I remember her. How's she doing?"
"Don't really know. Cindy doesn't say nothin' bad though so I guess she's okay."
"That's right, how's you and Cindy?" Even if I hadn't known much, I at least knew that he and Cindy were an item, even if she was my age.
"We good. She a good girl, I'm lucky I got her. She keeps me on track, keep me in my place. You know? What about you, you got a girl?"
"Nothin' serious. Can't keep a girl with my lifestyle."
"Yeah…" he chuckled. "I remember I used to be like that, chilling with Thugnificent all the time. Guess he wasn't really no one big, huh? Not like the people you mess with at least."
I shrugged. Everyone that I was friends with now were genuine friends who just so happened to be famous. I finally sat down on the couch, tired of standing awkwardly. I was about to reply to Riley when I heard the doorknob jiggle.
"Boy, come help me with these damn grocer….ies." Granddad said, his rough voice trailing off. I turned to look at him, a small smirk on his face. "Huey."
"Hey Granddad." I stood up, ready to give him a hug. All the anger that I held at him kicking me out was gone, I just missed the man who had stood in as my father almost my whole life. He put the bags down on the floor and hobbled over to me, cane and all, and enveloped me in a hug.
"I missed you, boy. I missed you."
"I missed you too, Granddad."
Next thing I knew he was crying. I had known my granddad for my whole life and I had only seen him cry a handful of times. I hadn't planned on crying but the all the emotion was overwhelming, honestly. I was tearing up too, and I thought I even saw Riley swipe at his eyes as he grabbed the bags to bring them into the kitchen. I was surprised, no gay jokes? He really had grown up.
Once we pulled away my granddad held me at arm's length, "I'm glad you decided to come for the holiday. We gotta put some weight on you, you're looking a lil scrawny."
I smirked, "Yeah, I'm ready to be hit with the itis."
"Good, cause I'm cooking up a damn storm."
