"I'm so, so, so sorry, Huey," Jazmine said for the umpteenth time.
"Jazmine, I said it's alright" Huey nasally replied. He tilts his head back to relieve some of the pain, but he felt blood seeping to back of his throat. Jazmine goes ballistic.
"No! Huey, don't do that; you'll just make it worse! Here, let me help,"
She stands up from the bed and kneels in front of him. Jazmine grabbed his hand. She leads it to his nose and makes him pinch the soft part of his nose. She then puts her hand behind his head and gently makes him lean his head forward.
"There," she says relieved. She stood up and backed up slightly from him. "Just sit there like that for several moments and your nose will stop bleeding. You swallowing blood like that could make your stomach hurt." Huey stares at her. "Thanks Jazmine," he says darkly.
"You're welcome, Huey," she says quietly. For a few awkward moments, Jazmine gazes at the basement's cold stone floor while Huey glares at her face.
Jazmine clears her throat. She looks down at him with large doe eyes.
"You hungry?" she asks.
"No." Huey says crossly. He was hoping that would scare off and she'll go home. Huey wasn't mad at Jazmine. He was impressed at her, honestly. No one has been able to catch him off guard like that. He just wanted to be mad at her. But he couldn't look at her innocent face and stay angry.
His stomach grumbles loudly. Jazmine laughs at Huey scowling face.
"Yes, you are. You're just tryna act like you're mad at me. Aww, how cute." Huey sits up and glares at her.
"You know me so well," he said bitingly. But Jazmine ignores his attitude. She giggles once more.
"I'll make you some sandwiches and something to drink, 'kay?" She's up the stairs and out of the basement before he has time to respond.
*20 minutes ago*
They've been fighting like tigers for the last several hours. Like almost everything she's does, Jazmine has picked up the techniques of sword fighting easily. She's great at defense, but Huey wanted to strengthen her offense a little more. Jazmine groaned loudly at his suggestion.
"But Huey! I thought we were done," Huey walks to his mini refrigerator that's next to his bed and takes out two water bottles. He tosses one in Jazmine's hands.
"Well, you thought wrong." He states.
Jazmine pouts her lips at him. She then takes a swig of her water.
"Well, can I at least change my clothes?" she moaned. Huey downs half of his water bottle. Then he looks her up and down. She's wearing a black Nike sports bra with a pink logo and black Nike yoga capris with a pink logo. She also wrapped her long thick braid into a tight bun.
Huey raised an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong with what you're wearing now?" he asks.
"My clothes are wet and sticky," she says in disgust as she tugs the seam of her bra. Huey shrugs at her.
"That doesn't matter. We're almost done, so come on." Jazmine puts her hands on her hips.
"That's not fair!" she protests. "It's not my fault the basement's all hot and stuffy. And you're not even wearing a shirt! Just some joggers." Huey rolled his eyes.
"So what? Like I said, we're almost done with your sword training. I'm tired, too. If I let you change, you're gonna take forever. So no and that's final."
Jazmine opened her mouth to rebuttal, but Huey held his hand up. "I said that's final, Jazmine." Jazmine sucks her teeth. She crosses her arms and looks at Huey's bed. "Whatever," she mumbles.
Huey cocks his eyebrow. "What was that?" he said. Jazmine looks at him and grins.
"Nothing, Huey." She answers.
"That's what I thought." Huey smirks. He nods his head at her water bottle. "You done?" Jazmine shakes her head. The both of them chug the rest of their water and Huey throws the bottles in the trash. He crosses the basement and retrieves two bamboo training swords. He walks back to Jazmine and chucks the sword into her hands.
Jazmine raises her eyebrows at Huey. "Why the bamboo ones? We've been using the katanas the entire time." Huey shrugged. "I didn't want you to get hurt." He takes the sword in both hands. "Enough talking, FIGHT!" Huey declares. Jazmine gets this determine expression on her faces. She twirls the sword above her head like a staff. She then gets into her fighting stance.
The room is filled with intense silence. The teens give each other strong glares. Jazmine fills the room with a war cry. She charges Huey and swings the sword towards Huey's head. Huey easily blocks her strike. For a moment they make brief eye contact. Huey looks deep into jade eyes for any sign of doubt or weakness. But there wasn't any there. Jazmine just gave him a devilish smirk. He was so distracted that he gave Jazmine an opening. With one kick to his torso, she pushes him off of her. Jazmine goes crazy on him. She slams the stick into his stomach so hard that all of the air leaves his body. She spins on her heel and lands a kick in the middle of Huey's face. She does this with so much force that he's flung from across the room and collides his back with the wall. He falls with a thud.
"Aww, fuck…" he groans. Jazmine drops her sword.
"Huey…"she squeaks. Huey lifts his head from the floor. He moves his hand to touch his face, but he finds it slick with blood. When Jazmine sees the blood, she screams. "Oh, my God! Huey!"
She runs to him. She helps him gets to his bed. The entire time she's muttering "OhmyGodHueyI'msosorryIdon'tknowwhatIwasthinkingI'msosososofreakingsorryohmyGod." Huey absent-mindly responds to her apologies. "Yeah. It's okay. Jazmine. Damn."
She helps him sit on the bed. Blood continues to seep from his nose. "Uh, um. I'll be right back, a spooked Jazmine says. She hurries to the bathroom and returns with small wet and dry towels. She gets to work. She wipes all of the blood from his face using the wet towel. And dries him with the dry towel. After she tossed them in his hamper, she tells him to pinch his nose and lean forward. Jazmine then leaves him in his basement to bring him some food and a pack of ice.
*Present Time*
Ten minutes later, Huey's nose finally stops bleeding. He ripped up some toilet paper and stuck them up his nostrils. He opens his nightstand drawer to retrieve his smartphone. It's 3:35am, damn, he thinks. Where's Granddad and Riley? He speed dials both Granddad's and Riley's phone. Both lines are dead. Huey frowned at his phone. His phone read No Service. Even the Internet was down. That's weird. I hope they all right.
Huey shoves his phone into his pocket. He rises from his bed, but quickly sits down. Pain erupts in his abdomen. Goddamn, she hit hard. With much effort, he lifts himself from the bed. He hobbles to his bathroom. Once he's in there, he looks at himself in the mirror. He didn't look that bad. He just had a wide, dark bruise that ran diagonally across his torso. Huey shrugs at himself. Hmm, I've had worse.
"Huey! Your food's almost ready! Come one up!" Jazmine calls from upstairs.
After he slipped on a white tee, Huey turns off his bathroom light. He goes up the stairs out of the basement into the kitchen. He finds Jazmine frying a sandwich in a skillet. She smiles broadly at him. "Your sandwiches will be done in a minute. I made you some lemonade, just the way you like it." Huey nodded at her. She opens the top part of the fridge. She takes out a pack of ice. She places it in Huey's hands.
"Put this on your stomach as you wait," she said embarrassedly.
"Okay, Jazmine" Huey replied.
He begins to help her put the dishes she used in the dishwasher, but she stops him. "No thanks. I got it." Huey doesn't respond. He sits at the table, places the ice pack on his stomach, and watches her clean up. He noticed that her bun unraveled back into a braid. Her braid hung just above her butt. She had a very large one, Huey noticed. Probably all those years of ballet and gymnastics made it look like that. He thought. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable eyeing her like that and looked away.
Moments later, a plate with 3 sandwiches and a tall, cool glass of lemonade appeared in front of him.
"Ta-daa! Today we have 3 vegan Philly cheese Paninis and handmade lemonade with ice, basil leaves, and a lemon wedge." She boasted proudly.
The sandwiched looked great. Huey didn't realized how hungry he was until he gobbled down 2 of the sandwiches. He downed the lemonade in one gulp. Jazmine sits at the table next to him looking out the window at the night rain.
He's on his last sandwich when Jazmine asks for the time. He pulls the phone from his pockets and awakens the phone. "It's 3:50," he reads. Jazmine stares at him in disbelief.
"What? Wow, I always stay till midnight." She says. He shrugs and bites into his sandwich. Jazmine watches him. "Gimme some," she smirks. Huey threw her a look. "Can I get a may I and a please?" Huey teases.
Jazmine rolls her eyes at him. "May I please have a bite of your sandwich, Huey?" she says in a sing-song voice. Huey reaches towards her with the panini in hand. He closes her eyes and takes a bite.
"Wow, that's good." She says. "So, you love it right?" Huey smirks and shakes his hand in a so-so manner.
"Nah, it's alright. Love's too strong of a word." He chides. Jazmine sucks her teeth. "Man, stop playing. The way you was smashing that sandwich made it looked like you loved it." She leans over the table, closer to him. "You loved it so much I bet you were ask me for more." She murmured
Huey leans in closer to her. "What makes you think I'd want more?" he uttered. Now inches from his face, Jazmine purrs, "You always want more…"
There lips were barley touching when the doorbell rings profusely. Jazmine pulled away, cheeks flushed. Huey slammed his hand down on the table. "Damn," he groans.
"Who do you think that could be?" Jazmine whispered.
"Probably Granddad, he probably got too much food in his hands to open the door himself," Huey said.
Huey gets up to open the door with Jazmine following him. He looks in the peek-hole. He groans even louder to the ceiling when he sees who it is. He opens it, and a frantic blonde rushes in.
"OH MY GOD! JAZMINE! WE"VE BEEN CALLING AND LOOKING FOR YO ASS ALL OVER THE PLANET! YO DAD OVER HERE WAKING NIGGAS UP AT 2 IN THE MORNING TALKING 'BOUT SOME DO YOU KNOW WHERE JAZZY IS? CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME LOOK FOR HER?" Cindy McPhearson bellows.
Jazmine engulfs Cindy in a big hug. "Oh, my God Cindy. I've been here the whole time with Huey! Why would my dad be looking for me? I told him where I was going. Maybe he didn't hear me…" She leads Cindy into the living room to talk more.
Also coming into the house, Michael Caesar.
"What's up, fam?" he tiredly greets Huey. They bump fists. "Nothing now," Huey says, clearly annoyed. He closes the door and they walk to the living room.
"Me and Cindy were sleeping when Mr. DuBois called Cin's phone crying." Caesar voiced. "He said he been looking for her since 7, but then he was really worried about her when he heard about the riots. So he…"
"What? Riots? What riots?" Huey cuts him off.
"You haven't heard about the riots that happened last night?" Caesar gasped.
"Obviously." Huey says.
They get to the living room. They find Cindy and Jazmine sitting on the largest sofa facing the TV. They were watching the news. Cindy was shaking her head solemnly while Jazmine had tears in her eyes. She turns to Huey, who's standing next to the armchair.
"Huey!" she cried. "They said people are rioting all over the country. All because McWuncler's ran out of burger meat!" Huey scowled. "What?"
"Shh, Huey! Damn!" Cindy spat as she turned up the volume.
A reporter began listing the names of the cities where the riots happened.
The most violent and disturbing of the riots occurred in the quiet Baltimore-suburb of Woodcrest, Maryland. Where a man allegedly incited a riot on a McWuncler's and throwing a Molotov into the building, causing the McWuncler's to explode. 52 people were found dead, hundreds more injured, and 10 people are missing. The arsonist has been believed to die in the fire. We now go to reporter Nadya Romanov who is now live at the scene, Nadya?
The teens stared the screen in shock. It showed the once popular McWuncler's obliterated to smoky smithereens. Paramedics placing charcoal bodies on stretchers, firefighters scrambling to tame the remaining flames, shaky witnesses describing what they saw. Even the death toll raised up to 55 people, the injures where in the hundreds. It was all too much.
Huey thought of it first, but apparently so did Jazmine. They both looked at each other and yelled. "Riley and Granddad!"
"What? What about them?" Jazmine put on her shoes while Huey explained.
"They went to that McWuncler's at 6 and haven't came back yet," Huey said urgently. Cindy hoped up from the couch and said, "Yo, then let's go McWuncler's then." She held up her keys. "I'll drive."
Everyone nodded at her. They sprinted to the door only to find Granddad and Riley coming in. Jazmine and Cindy runs to them and hugs both them.
"Hehe, I'm fine cutie-pies. We were stuck in some traffic that's all." Granddad said wearily.
"For 10 hours!?" Huey yells. "Granddad! You should of called me! I thought you and Riley have gotten hurt! Or even worse, killed!"
Everyone stared at Huey. He never shouts like this unless its necessary. He's always been the cool-headed one in situations. He had his hands at his sides balled up in trembling fists. His glare so dark it was blacker than the night sky.
Granddad walked up to Huey. They're the same height so they stood eye to eye. Then Granddad grabs Huey and holds him in a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry, Huey. I'm sorry that I didn't call and that I took so long. I'm sorry I made you worry about me and Riley. I'm sorry for everything, Huey." Granddad ends his little speech by planting a soft kiss on Huey's forehead. He lets go of Huey and starts walking up the stairs.
"Since it's dangerous out there, I want all of y'all to sleep here in the living room tonight. I'll drop y'all each home tomorrow in the afternoon when I come home. Huey and Riley, get you friends some sleeping clothes. I'm going to bed. Night, y'all."
The teens watched Granddad in awe and confusion as Granddad left them in the living room.
Everyone looked at Huey, then to Riley. Jazmine was the first to speak..
"Riley, you okay? Do you wanna talk about it?" Riley looked down at his feet.
"Yeah, sure. But I'm hella tired. I tell y'all everything after we get ready for bed." He said above a whisper.
After that they all prepared the living room for bed. They moved out the coffee table and replaced it with an air mattress. Huey gave everyone a blanket and designated everyone to his or her sleeping spots. Jazmine gets the small chair, Riley gets the sofa, Huey gets Granddad's recliner, and Cindy and Caesar will share the airbed. Riley gave their visitors' basic sleeping attire; some tees and some basketball shorts. They turned off all the lights. And finally got snuggled into bed.
They listened to Riley's horrifying tale. He told them about the lines, the road rage, and finally the man.
Huey was paying extra attention to the details of the Man. He asked questions such as:
"Did he look like he had a fever?"
"Did he get any bodily fluids on you or Granddad?"
"He was convulsing?"
When Riley finished his story, the teens sat in silence. The house seemed to get draft, as if only to add to the effect. Cindy finally broke the ice.
"This sound like some Walking Dead shit, fam. What are we gonna do?"
Jazmine spoke, but her voice was shaky. "We have to protect and prepare ourselves."
Huey grunted in agreement. "Jazmine's right. This is just like the Fried Chicken flu scare that happened when we were kids."
"Except this time, we actually got a causality on our hands," Caesar spoke.
"So we gotta, like, get 'end of the world' type shit? How we gon' get the money for that," Riley asked.
"We could start "fundraising" again, Reezy," Cindy chimed. "Only this time it won't be no chocolate."
"I can help at the hospital," Jazmine offered.
"No." Huey said. "Don't get in contact with any of the sick. Just see if your dad could help you. What you tryna do Caesar?"
Caesar shrugged. "Me and my mom's pretty stacked on goods because of the bodega. We got lots in the store and in storage. We just need some medical supplies. We all do. I can probably even help y'all some out with-"
"You don't need to do that unless absolutely necessary," Huey said.
"I know," Caesar shrugged again. "But we have way more than enough. And it 'bout to be winter. So we'll divide the food among us, 25% each."
Everybody praised Caesar. Huey with a grateful nod, Jazmine squealed, Riley gave him a handshake with a "That's what's up, man", and Cindy gave him hug. Jazmine leaned over her armchair to talk to Huey. "What about you, Huey?" she whispered. He whispered in her ear, "I gotta way," She stared back at him sadly.
"Huey, you gotta stop doing that stuff. I don't want you to get hurt." She whined. Huey stared into her eyes. "You think I like doing this, Jazmine? I can't even stop now, with all this happening." Jazmine gave him one more pitiful look before turning away.
"All right, so now it's settled. Let's get some sleep." Huey declared. An hour later they were all sound asleep. Except Huey. He found it amazing how just hours ago he was able to sleep. Now he couldn't. All he could do was think about what was to come.
A/N
Yo so they actually got a plan. And hopefully its a plan the doesn't go horribly wrong. (mwuahhhahahah)
So I was in the mood for Juey and lots of subtle fluff. I the first half to Mila J's Smoke Drink Break Up. And the other half to Sleep by Eric Whitacre. Srry i took so long with the update, i was so tired i forgot about the story.
Review Response
Aye: Yo cuz chill, chill. LMAO your review made me laugh soo much. I LOVE Martin. And I agree with you Tyler Perry's sitcoms make us look stupid. I just think Huey wouldn't like the show. And when I was young, I never liked Sheneneh. So i just wanted to talk shit ;). But anyways thanks for responding!
Reviewer: I'm glad you liked the story so far! I wanted the Krazy chapter to feel, well, crazy. I wanted the reader to not understand the situation, but just to understand fear. But yeah thx for reading/reviewing
PotatoeLicker: I'm glad you enjoyed the story!:) I love the humor of the Boondocks bc it reminds me of my family. Just without all of the swearing and death. But yeah thx for r&r :D
hueyfreemanrocksmyworld: lol i love riley. I love his humor, its easy to write :ignorant and brash. And i kinda wanna break Granddad's character, but him through a lout of pain to better understand/appreciate his grandchildren. Yo and the crazy dude! I have the song Krazy to thank for him. I payed extra attention to his character bc i wanted the readers to know he's highly important.
Guest:Yo thanks for reading. And yup you finna see a shit load of nightmares later on.