Chapter Three

"Here's the deal! I'm the best there is. Plain and simple. I wake up in the morning and I piss excellence." – Ricky Bobby

Disclaimer: I don't own Boondocks. I do however own Mikayla, Arielle, and new gang dude with no name for now. Don't sue. Don't snitch. I'm broke.

Jazmine

I bit my lip nervously in my last period of the day, Theater class. As much as I loved acting and all, I wanted to get the hell out of here. It was a Friday after all. I was tired, crabby, and uncomfortable. I couldn't even enjoy the escape of being without my crew because Arielle made it her personal mission to glare at me like the spawn of Satan or something. I shrugged. That was Arielle. If I were in her position, I would do the same thing. At least I think I would.

The bell finally rang.

I walked towards the double doors that led to the exit of school. I let out a sigh of relief. No Kevin, Tasha or Huey were in sight. All I had to do was make it to my car, and I could unwind before this party.

"Jazmine!" A gruff voice spoke from behind. I could just feel the two glares behind me. I wanted to panic, to turn away, but that wouldn't work. And honestly, I didn't feel like running.

"What's up?" I asked Huey casually as I tried to maintain my posture in the heels that wanted to kill me. I looked from him to Arielle, who held no type of mercy in her big brown eyes.

"You did remember to do your part of the project," He narrowed his eyes as I rolled my own, "Right?"

"Yeah, Huey," I told him as I spun around, "I'm out!"

Hopping into the car, I drove off. I shook my head at Uncle Ruckus and his unfortunate passengers. Seriously, would that man ever get fired? I thought of Ruckus and his antics all the way home, and by the time I stepped out of the car, I was laughing hysterically at the man. I was a little happy. Maybe this night wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Clang! Crackle! Clang!" The noises came from the doors of my house. I stood there for a moment, contemplating whether or not I should enter. My parents' voices could be heard already, and I was still on the sidewalk. I shook my head as I pulled out the keys and unlocked the door, ducking as the pot flew my way. Neither one addressed me, nor did they apologize for nearly whacking me upside the head with a stupid pot. They just kept on fighting. Because civilized people do this all the time, I thought in my head.

"Why are things always so damn difficult, Tom?" I heard my mother cry as I sat in my room, now. I didn't even know why I wanted them here with me. Even now, I was alone. Only now, I was alone and scared.

"Because you made them that way Sarah," My dad shouted as something shattered closer to my room. I winced. That didn't sound good. I could hear the way my mother's heels tapped across the carpet. I wondered when they would stop.

"Look what you did to the computer, Tom!" She cried out as another door slammed. Great, the computer was broken. Now, how would I get Professor Elliot's work done? My head shot up. My project with Huey was on that computer. I buried my face in my hands. Now, Huey would kill me. That was really something to look forward to.

"Who cares about that? You and I aren't working together. My damn innocent daughter is a goddamn slut or something because you can't raise her!" My eyes widened. My daddy thought I was a slut? I could feel the sting of the tears that threatened to fall at any moment.

"It takes two parents to raise a daughter, Tom!" My mom shouted back at him as a plant flew into my room before clattering on the floor, "Don't you dare put that on me!"

"Then, where is she?" My dad snorted. I could hear him walk towards my room, "She's not even here! She's probably sleeping with that Kevin! I don't even like her anymore! Ever since she hit puberty, she's been hell!"

"Tom!"

"Don't Tom me, Sarah!" Tom shouted angrily, "She always wears revealing clothes. She doesn't even talk to Cindy or Huey or even Riley anymore!"

"Tom!"

"And she's always avoiding me!" Tom threw up his hands as he continued to ignore Sarah.

"Tom!" Sarah said as she gestured towards Jazmine's bed.

"What?" He snapped.

"Jazmine's right behind you," Sarah said as she shot him a glare.

I couldn't even believe this. What did they want me to say? Hey, mom and dad, I heard that you think I'm a slut? The tears were falling from my eyes. My own father hated me. He didn't even like me anymore. That hurt. Who could you turn to when your own dad didn't love you? I snorted, not Kevin.

"Jazmine, you weren't supposed to hear that," Tom, my sperm donor, came towards me.

"Really?" I looked at him as I wiped my eyes and washed my face in the restroom, "But I did. Didn't I?"

"Jazmine, look-"

"It's okay Dad," I shot him a fake smile as I took the flat iron and ran it across my hair, "I'm a slut, right? You don't even like me anymore. I'm hell."

"Don't talk to your father like that, Jazmine!" My birth mother told me as she waved a finger.

"But he can talk about me that way?" I rolled my eyes as I touched up my makeup, slamming the door in their faces so that I could change, "Please, I don't think so! The least you could do is take a stand but whatever. Love is dumb as fuck."

"Jazmine, I know you're upset, but cussing is not the answer," I could hear the sperm donor outside of the door as I stepped into the dress. My heels were next. I slipped them on before examining myself in the mirror. You couldn't even tell that I just got through crying.

"Then, what is?" I asked him as I snapped at him, opening the door so swiftly that they fell back in surprise, "I think that you should just get out of my face for the moment, and leave some cash on the counter or something. And I want another computer! This is ridiculous. And donor, I'm still a virgin."

They looked at me as though I were crazy. Maybe I was, but I was hurt damn it! The least they could do was hug me. Do anything! I wanted them to tell them they wouldn't leave again, but they shrugged.

"I'll leave you some money on the counter and another computer too," My sperm donor shrugged as I shook my head.

"Unbelievable," I muttered as I grabbed my phone and purse before heading towards the door.

"And where are you going?" My mother looked at me with a stern expression like I gave a shit, like she gave a shit.

"Out," I simply told her as I walked out of the door and into Tasha's car.

"What took you so long?" Tasha asked me sweetly.

"Don't worry about it," I waved her off as I buckled my seat belt, "Let's go."

"You sure you're alright?" Tasha grinned as Kevin looked at her in the backseat, "I mean you can stay at home if you're not up to it."

I wanted to call her a bitch, but that wouldn't provide me the party. Instead, I told her, "I will be as soon as I get a drink."

"That's my girl," Tasha smiled as she adjusted her purple dress and pulled away from my house.

Arielle

I couldn't believe this, but I wanted to go to the Back to School party tonight. I wanted to have a little bit of fun. Every girl deserved it, and all I wanted was for Huey to come with me. I explained to him how much fun we could have, how much it would mean to me, and how I would even wear a dress or whatever.

He, in response, made a face and simply told me, "No, Arielle, I don't want to."

Then, he decided that it would be appropriate to just sit down on the couch and read. Didn't anything that I wanted to do matter? I sulked in silence for a few moments before noticing how completely childish I was acting and plopped down next to him, sitting there. We sat there silently.

"You're angry," He noted as he flipped a page. His afro shook a little bit too, tempting me to stick a pen through his hair like I used to when we were kids. He looked at me for a moment.

"Well," I took a deep breath, "I wanted to go to this party, and you said no, you weren't going!"

He lifted an eyebrow, "I said that I wasn't going, but you can still go."

That was true, but at the moment, I didn't feel like hearing it. I walked towards the door, opened it, and noticed Jazmine getting in the car with Tasha. She lived here? Now, this was actually something worth me discussing. At least, I thought so.

"Jazmine lives down the street?" I made a face that slightly resembles a person who eats sour gummy bears constantly. I peered down the window at her, snorting.

"I thought you knew that, Arielle?" He looked up at me with a look on his face that I couldn't quite place, but I knew him well enough to know that I was getting on his nerves. "What does that have to do with your strange urge to bother me about this party?"

"Because!" I told him as I stomped my foot, "I don't want you around that hussy!" I winced as I said the word. It made me feel old. Then again, I was acting old, right?

"Arielle," Huey's voice was low, "You need to calm down. What do you want me to do? Move? Because I tried that when we first got here."

"Huey," I whispered, feeling bad about bringing it up. I knew that he hated remembering moving here a lot. Whenever I asked him why, he would say it was nothing. But I knew Huey; it was probably something when he said nothing. Even he had a conscience.

"It's okay," He told me as he looked me over, kissing me, "Don't you have a party to get ready for?"

"Of course," I told him as I lifted from the couch with a frown. He was trying to change the subject, "I've got to go anyways."

"Alright," He said as he narrowed his eyes, but I didn't want to bother with this right now. I had to get home. Plus, it was already six o'clock. Before I knew it, I was dashing around the corner and walking into my own door. The lights were out. Just great. I snorted.

I wondered where she was right now. She always had some excuse, and I always put up with it. It wasn't like I was her mother. No, she was my mother, but I had been taking care of her since age three. She made me treat her like the kid. I told her it wasn't her fault, and she blamed me for everything in the process. People think I'm cold? It's the only way I know how to be. I swear crying only makes sense for so long before other people wonder what's wrong, before you wonder what's wrong.

She's probably shivering from the heroin shots or drunk. I shiver too, but not from drugs. I'm not that fucked up. I just hope that she hasn't taken my stash of the money that I keep hidden in my room. I don't trust her. I laugh at that thought. I can't even trust my own mother to take care of me, so what the hell? Who do I trust? I shake my head as I head up the stairs.

"Arielle, is that you?" She sounds meek today. She clearly shot herself in the arm this time.

Something flies across the hall as I jump back in surprise, met face to face with my mother. Nope, she just got purely drunk. Isn't that just great?

I glare at her as she does the same. I jump beack a little from the fierce fire in her eyes.

"I can't stand you," She fumed, "Did you know that you're father left because of you."

I looked at her and gave her a fake dry smile, "Good! You should be thanking me. Especially the way he hit you all the time."

She grabbed me so hard that I fell back against the wall. She was shaking me as her foul breath entered my nostrils.

"Listen up!" She looked into my eyes with her red swollen ones, "You ain't grown yet, and you ain't experienced the things that men have to offer."

"Like what?" I asked her. I rolled my own brown eyes, "A hit to the face?"

She chuckled as she gave me this sick, toothy grin. God, she looked awful, "Love. Good loving that even you haven't experienced yet. One day you'll understand. You'll understand how loving somebody so much can make you allow things you would never let slide."

Didn't she understand that I already did? I wanted to kill her. That was no excuse for giving up, on her and on me! Why couldn't she be the mom that I always thought she would be? Why did she have to act this way?

"And you know what else?" She cut her eyes into narrow slits like a snake's, "I really hate you. I tried to abort you, but it was too late. And I wish for the life of me that I had never followed my heart with you. You're one of the biggest mistakes I ever made, and I wish that you were never born."

That hurt. She had never even said anything to me like that before. At the moment, I just wanted to get out of her view. I'm sure that the feeling was mutual.

"So you just gonna give up?" She shouted as I walked towards my room.

I looked back at her, making sure she saw the one tear that fell down my cheek, "You already have."

"Where are you going?" She sounded concerned now. That was good.

"Out," I told her before grabbing my purse, every wallet I owned and anything of monetary value and walking out of the house. I was done with her.

Finally, I was strong enough to walk away, but was I strong enough to stay that way?

Riley

This party was off the hook! I was live as hell with my boys! My girl, Cindy, couldn't kick it with me, but I didn't care that much. I was having fun without her. It was plenty of fine ass girls here to take my mind off of her. Now before you start saying how wrong I am, let me remind you that I'm Young Reezy! I don't got to answer to nobody. You heard me?

People are everywhere on the floor too. Girls are twerking, dancing on niggas for free. Hell, yeah this shit was too on point. Mane, Tasha Fight may have been a complete bitch, but this party was so crazy that I had to come. Hell, her parties were notorious in the high school land. You had to have a ticket and follow the dress code to get in. There were no fat hoes in sight. Everybody in this motherfucker was the shit. There was no doubt about it.

Then, the beat of the music changed up as the DJ mixed the beat. Everybody hopped from their seats and got on the dance floor. Even I had to lift from my set as the beat played. I didn't necessarily like the song, but it sure pointed out the hoes quicker than me and my guys ever could. After all, hoes love music.

You wanna see some ass
I wanna see sum cash
Keep dem dollars comin
And das gonna make me dance
And das gonna make me dance
And das gonna make me dance

Girls were rising from their seats just to sing along. Booty was everywhere, but all I could see was Cindy's face in my mind. What the fuck? I could not be sprung over some girl that I had only been seeing for about three months. That was just crazy.

Make it rain trick make it make it rain trick
Make it rain trick make it make it rain trick
Make it rain trick make it make it rain trick
Make it rain trick make it make it rain trick

All these girls thought they was the shit too. That made it slick funny. They were throwing dollars up in the air, and they wore their stunna shades in the dark. I bet money that one of them would fall in the heels that they couldn't even walk in. I saw Jazmine too. She looked alright. She was with that bitch ass motherfucker. What was his name? Tevin? Devin? Levin? I don't know. That nigga be cheating on her though. I shook my head. Jazmine would learn one day.

I'm make it rain bitch
I'm make I rain
I'm make it rain bitch
I'm make it rain
I'm make it rain bitch
I'm make it rain
I'm make it rain bitch
I'm make it rain

Everybody was yelling the words as the beat kept on playing through Tasha's house. We were dancing throughout the house as booty shaking commenced. We laughed at the freshman who fell out at the sight of upper classmen butt. Somebody waved a dollar over his head. These folks were mad crazy though. I couldn't help it. The music was causing me to shake my butt too- and my pelvis.

"Get it baby," Called, Elliot, a gay nigga from our grade. I immediately sat my ass down. Shit, I ain't gay.

All of a sudden, the hard ass nigga I inducted into the game a few days ago appeared by my side. I pretended to ignore him for a moment. I wanted to think for a moment. He looked at me, head cocked sideways as though he knew something I did. He waited patiently as his eyes drifted towards the crowd, and I couldn't think of a way to break the ice.

"So you just gonna sit there?" He looked up at me with big green eyes, like Jazmine's. What was going on?

"No," I looked up at him, "What about you? Are you just gonna stand there?"

He didn't even waver in his response, "Nah, that ain't me. I'm always on the move."

I nodded. That's how I was, always moving. This nigga was cool as hell, "Note taken."

"Why aren't you intimidated by me?" He asked out of nowhere, a youth to his face there that I hadn't even noticed existed, "Everybody else is."

I laughed. I lived with Huey Freeman. I shot Ed out of a window when I was younger. I abducted Oprah, or I tried to, "I guess life prepared me for stuff like this." I shrugged. He was no big deal to me. Well, he wasn't bothering me.

"Yeah, I feel you on that," He told me as he looked at the dance floor before some girl came up to him for a dance. He shot me the deuces sign, "Peace."

I smirked. Maybe I'd keep that nigga around.

Cindy

Katie was finally asleep, and I had somehow managed to pay the light bill and the television bill. The sunshine was gone for the day, and the stars twinkled in the sky. I hated that everything was so bright when everything was so wrong. Something was in the air. I could feel it. I hated it. I wanted to just wake up. I wanted my daddy to walk through the door. The phone rang, but I knew it was nobody important to me.

There was a knock on the door. I reached up, spinning my head around. Could this be real? Was it finally real? Did I finally wake up? I frowned up, covering my relief as I slipped on my shoes and covered my body with a robe. Then, I opened the door. Two cops? Well, that was just great.

"I didn't do it. I'm just an innocent little girl. Now," I looked at the one with doughnut glaze on his seat and made a face, "Can you just go?"

"We're not here to take you," The skinny one said with the stubble on his cheek. He had a southern accent that I couldn't quite place. He seemed new, unlike his comrade. I decided he was okay. He fidgeted.

My heart dropped. When police officers were fidgeting, you knew that something was going wrong in your life. Apparently, everything was going wrong in mine, "Then, what do you want?"

"It's your father," One said, his head lowered as he avoided my gaze. I looked at the other as the other did the same, "We found him."

"Oh," I smiled as I ignored the rational part of my brain that tried to tell me what I should already know, "He got arrested? I can pay the bail if you want."

"No, that's not it, ma'am" The larger officer looked up at me as his eyes widened in surprise, "Are you his daughter?"

"Umm," I shifted uncomfortably now. My brain was practically shutting down. All I could do was nod, "Yeah."

"There's no easy way to say this," The skinny officer looked up at me as his own eyes threatened to water.

I pulled back from him as I grabbed hold to the door frame.

"But you're father," The larger officer grabbed my arm so that I wouldn't fall over, "He's dead."

I couldn't hear anything else they said. I could only hear the last sentence as everything around me stopped moving.

My father was dead, and now, I was truly afraid.

Huey

Arielle and I always fought, but she had never been so immature about stuff before. I explained to her before we started going out that I didn't do dances. I was hard to deal with. She told me it was okay. Okay, that sounds stupid. Women don't always mean what they say. I've learned that the hard way. I saw Tom and Sarah's car parked in the driveway. They were probably spoiling the girl again, knowing them.

I groaned aloud. I really needed to get Jazmine out of my head. She was always there. We barely even talked. Why did I care so much? Didn't I have better things to do than worry about her? I couldn't even tell her the real reason that I hated parties so much. I didn't want anybody to know. It was a stupid mistake of me.

I tried to convince Riley not to go, but he gave me the "hater" speech again. Granddad was sitting next to me too. He was eating popcorn. Well he was eating half of it. The other half was emitting from his mouth as he laughed at the Real House Wives of Japan. They weren't even American. I shook my head.

"Granddad," I sighed as I grabbed my jacket, "Why are you bothering to watch this stuff?"

"I'm bothering to watch this," He looked at me and took a breath, "Because this is my house, and I pay for the television. You and your brother eat up everything in the house. The grapes, the chocolate-"

"Bye, Granddad," I told him as I walked out of the door.

I sat on the hill as I looked above me and into the sky. Then, I leaned into the bark of the tree. Maybe a little peace and quiet wouldn't kill me.

Jazmine

Alcohol is very nice. People think that drinking is the hardest part of popularity? I laugh at that. Hell no! That's probably the easiest part. Hell, I don't know. All, I can understand is the way the cool substance sends this sensation down my throat. I want more. It helps me forget. It helps me smile again. It helps me pretend that Tasha and Kevin aren't practically fucking somewhere at this party. Right now, all I can do is smile and wave.

"Jazmine?" A voice calls from behind me.

It's Mikayla. She's a freshman, and she's new. I like her. She's a welcomed change to our fake wannabee clique, "What's up girl?"

She makes a face, "What is that? How many drinks have you had, Jazmine?"

"Too many to count," I hear myself slur as she rolls her eyes in what seems to be disgust. Maybe I'm too drunk to tell.

"Jazmine, you will not keep doing this to yourself," Mikayla grabs my arm roughly as I stumble forward, collapsing as my body weight leans on her own body, "This is getting ridiculous. You can barely think straight. Do you want to forget everything about you, about everybody?"

Well, actually, that was kind of what I planned on doing when I was drunk. It had the greatest numbing effect that I was looking for. I sit there for a moment as I realize how sick I feel. Damn, this sucks, "I don't think you understand, Mikayla. I can't do this. I'm not you, and you? You don't even understand me."

She laughed as she held me tight, not letting me fall, "But I do know you, Jazmine. I'm not fake or green like some of these girls around here. It takes more than Tasha batting her eyes at me to bend at her whim. I'm Mikayla. She can be without me or with me." Mikayla shrugged.

I blinked. What did that have to do with me?

"But you," She leaned so that my back was against the wall. She pointed her finger at me as it waved, "You're different, special."

"I'm not," I slurred, "You're a freshman. I'm a junior. You just look up to me."

"And?" Mikayla glared at me as she shook her head. She gave me a glance over, "Maybe I do, but you are special, Jazmine. You're loyal, sweet, a damn good dancer, and a fucking amazing actress. I don't understand why you let T-Rex over there bug you."

"Mikayla-"

"No, I'm serious," She looked at me as she flipped her long, straight hair over her shoulder, "I mean you're pretty perceptive too. Maybe you're not as perceptive as I am, but you've still got it. You made mistakes to get here, to this."

I couldn't say anything. Did I want to? I shook myself a little.

"I don't think that," I protested weakly as I averted my eyes from her piercing golden ones.

"You do," She poked me again, "And you're better than that, Jazmine. You keep on letting them treat you this way. That's your fault, Jazmine! It really is."

"And how is that?" I slurred as I reached for the punch bowl. Mikayla smacked it down, leaving a light but noticeable mark on my hand.

"People will only do-"

"What I allow them to do," I shot her a look as I stumbled towards the punch bowl.

"Well, you're allowing too much," Mikayla said as she gestured towards Tasha and Kevin going upstairs, "Why are you with him? He makes you so angry."

"Because I love him," I told her as I looked at the carpet on the floor. I moved my foot from the condom that threatened to come into contact with my toe.

"No, that's not love," She snorted as she looked me in the eyes. Her gold eyes darted wildly around me as she leaned in. I already knew what she was going to say.

"That's hurt," I finished her sentence. To my surprise, she began to laugh.

"Correct," Mikayla told me, "But also wrong, that's also asshole behavior. Seriously, Jazmine? You could do ten times better than him. I would tell you to go for Huey Freeman, but he's taken by Arielle."

I choked. No, there was no way that she could see me with Huey. God, nobody had told me that in a long time. I couldn't breathe. I needed oxygen supply. I needed a blood transfusion. I was out of it. I was hallucinating because Mikayla didn't just tell me that. I shook my head, "What would make you want me to go for somebody like him?"

"Somebody like him," Mikayla poked me again as she placed me back against the wall, "Would be real with you, and he most definitely wouldn't have you in a position like this."

"Well, whatever," I heard myself say the words faster than I remembered, "He's with Arielle."

"I doubt they'll last long," Mikayla chuckled as she examined her nails, "That's just trouble waiting to fester. Kind of like you and all this alcohol. The way you're living."

"I know you're wrong," I told her as I flipped my own hair, "Huey and Arielle are perfect together. They think exactly alike."

"Thinking alike doesn't guarantee love, it just provides you with understanding," Arielle shook her head at me as she cocked her head sideways, "And just like you and Kevin, Huey and Arielle are all wrong."

"Mikayla, just drop it," I backed away from the wall as I stumbled to my imminent doom, "You should go party instead of hanging out here with me anyway."

"Fine then," She grumbled as she looked from me to the punch bowl I was aiming for, "I'm here if you need me. You know that right?"

I nodded as she walked onto the floor, dancing with some guy from Riley's area. I didn't know him. I guess he was new or something. I just felt like I had met him before, somewhere. I shook it off. I could have been wrong. That could have been the alcohol speaking to me. I looked behind me before I excused myself to the punch bowl.

"Babe!" A voice rang out. Great, just the person who I didn't want to see.

"What's up, Kevin?" I told him as he looked me up and down.

"Damn, my girl is sexy," He clapped his two hands together. He placed them around my waist, "Let's go upstairs."

How drunk did he think I was?

"Let's," I put my two arms around his neck as I looked deeply into those brown eyes, "Go to the dance floor."

He looked mad as hell, but I felt ten times better, "Alright, baby. If that's what makes you happy."

He led me out to the floor, and despite all of the jokes, I couldn't help but think on what Mikayla told me. I wondered if it was worth it. I bet ten dollars that if I died right now and showed up, Jesus would laugh and point downwards.

"I love you, baby," Kevin crooned as he attempted to lower his hands.

I grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes, "I love you too.

I bet twenty that I go straight to hell.