Chapter Four
It had been four months. She had been here for four months; and after all of the months that she'd left home, she didn't want to leave. It was so much easier to pretend here. It was easier to believe that maybe she could be happy again. Loving or at least pretending to love somebody was easier too.
Jazmine and Cairo had been going strong for about three months. They had started off as friends, sure enough, but Jazmine couldn't really resist his charm. He was funny, smart, and gorgeous. It was hard not to give into his request to be with her. She was just so attracted to him.
She knew she was wrong deep down. He loved her. Cairo loved her, and she knew it was deep. He would whisper it to her over and over again. His eyes shouted it the most. They looked at her with pure adoration and trust. Too bad she didn't deserve it. Any of it.
Yes, she enjoyed their chaste kisses and the fact that she could she tell him anything. She relished the feeling of her lips against her neck. She loved it when he would whisper sweet nothings into her hair. She smiled whenever they cuddled. There was only one problem.
It wasn't love.
She knew what love was. She had known it deep down at the tender age of ten, and she had probably messed it all up. Of course, you couldn't mess up a love that wasn't mutual in the first place, Jazmine thought. She digressed. She may have been attracted to Cairo, but she knew the difference between love and lust.
Love was the ability to stand beside somebody nobody how many times they may have hurt you. Love was the fact that you knew somebody more than they knew themselves, yet you couldn't really figure out every single part of the. Love was something that made your heart just scream for that one special person. It was something that she couldn't even describe sometimes.
She loved Huey, and it wasn't fair. Huey always treated her like shit. He always told her the truth, sure, but that was pretty much where it ended. Plus, he was always talking about her afro and making fun of it. Once she tried to get him to say something nice about it, and he talked about how pretty and puffy the clouds were. What was that? She didn't want to love him, but her heart refused to buy that signal from her brain. It kept placing Huey in her memory at the most inconvenient times- especially around Cairo.
She kissed Cairo and imagined it was Huey instead. She snuggled into Cairo, looked up, and beheld a giant imaginary afro. And once, when things got really heated, she almost called him Huey. Luckily, Cairo hadn't noticed. She wondered if he ever would.
She had kissed Huey once. It was a couple of years back on her birthday. It was on a very large hill in Woodcrest. Jazmine sighed as she thought back to the day where they kissed. It seemed so long ago.
March 5, 2020
Midnight
She was finally there. Sixteen years old. She felt a little different. She didn't feel excited either. Honestly, coming out here in the middle of the night was kind of a silly idea even though it was really pretty.
The grass flowed with that gentle kind of wind. The moon was full. The trees swayed back and forth as the crickets chirped in a low hum. The stars exploded in this area since there weren't any lights, and it was kind of cool.
Jazmine hugged the jacket over her arms closer to her. She thought about all of the events that had happened over the past three years. Huey had been right again. Those stupid movies forget to mention that while everybody is transforming for the next two hours on a movie real girls get junk like periods, stress, and acne. They also failed to mention that, typically, everybody kind of wants that well liked title known as popularity in high school, so you may not always get it.
Besides everything about this was, well, overrated. Wow, maybe Huey really was leaving traces of him with her after all. She never tended to just think. Ever.
Footsteps suddenly came behind her. Jazmine froze. She tried to remember everything that Huey ever taught her, but that was silly. She was frozen.
She chose her next best option: scream and kick. Her attacker simply covered her mouth.
"Jazmine," Huey said calmly, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Huey, that's not funny! I really thought I was going to die!" replied Jazmine spinning around to face him.
"Jazmine, I really don't know what you're talking about." Huey replied.
"Huey! Really! It's not funny!" Jazmine exclaimed. She was getting nervous now, fidgeting.
"Jazmine! Get a grip! Jeez! You act like I assaulted you or something!" Huey sighed looking around them, kind of like he knew that something was up in the air.
"Because somebody did Huey!" Jazmine shot back, whispering as though somebody could hear her.
"Sorry, Jazmine, but there are far too many things…" Huey began
"For a revolutionary such as myself," Jazmine teased with a deep voice.
"Wow, there is a brain in there after all. Maybe you take after Sarah after all," Huey smirked.
Jazmine ambushed him then. He, in turn, rolled her over a little gingerly. She struggled under his grasp complaining even though she knew he was going easy on her. His eyes were sparkling in the moonlight. He looked at her and chuckled, allowing his smile to grace her with its presence for a few seconds. The grass didn't feel itchy on her back either. It felt soft and cool, a deep contrast to his warmer hands on her wrists. She was still struggling under his grasp, but it was getting weaker. She really didn't want him to let her go.
He looked into her eyes again as she looked back. They were staring at each other now. Their breath seemed to flow together. The silence only made it easier to hear. Jazmine attempted to find her voice now. Instead, Huey's face started moving towards hers slowly. She closed her eyes slowly. She wasn't going to stop this.
His lips pressed gingerly onto hers. They were warm, soft. She kissed them back too, not wanting to wake up if this really was a dream. She wanted this moment to last forever. She didn't want it to end. She kissed him until they ran out of breath.
Then, all too soon, he lifted himself up. Jazmine sat up, but she just looked at the stars around them. She was waiting to wake up. It was too good to be true. It had to be a dream, but it wasn't.
Huey offered her his hand. She took it as he lifted her up, a smirk on his normally sullen face. She looked away from him shyly.
"Happy Birthday, Jazmine," he said softly.
"Thanks" she said simply.
And that was that. They walked away from the hill that morning. The kiss was never discussed again, and that night, Jazmine wondered why she felt as though she was being watched. She shook it off. Huey was probably right. He always was. She snuggled into her pillow, sending a silent prayer to heaven that he was right.
(End of Flashback)
Jazmine sighed again. Her flight was leaving early. She had to head to Woodcrest. Even if she wasn't necessarily the same Jazmine, she still wanted to go back home. It was five days until Christmas Eve. She smiled a little, thinking of one of the happiest days on Earth. Her hair was straight again. Her green eyes were twinkling.
She looked back at her boyfriend, Cairo. He smiled too. He was headed home to Chicago for now. He had wanted her to come with him, but with everything that happened this year, she decided that it would be better if she went to Woodcrest with her dad. Cairo had understood.
She tossed him a shirt from his drawer as he sat up, yawning. She simply smirked. She'd worn him out again last night. Jazmine four versus Cairo zero. She had lost her virginity to him about a month ago. She knew it wouldn't come back again, but she had wanted to. She had really, really wanted to, and Cairo had no problem obliging. She knew that she was ready, and they took all of the proper precautions. Plus, it felt amazing anyways. Now she knew what Cindy had meant when she said she had no idea what she was missing. Wow.
Cairo grabbed her suitcase and looked at her with brown puppy dog eyes. She gave him a little peck on the lips but shook her head no. She was not meeting Cairo's family just yet. Cairo seized her lips again. Crap. She wasn't going to get to the airport at this rate.
"Cairrooo," she whined, "Come on, babe. I want to get to Woodcrest, not back to the bed."
"Hmmmhmmm," teased Cairo, "And what's wrong with that?"
"Whatever, Cairo" she said pushing him off of her slightly, "Let's go."
"Hey, babe," He called out, "You don't know Huey Freeman do you?"
Cairo had finally figured out who she acted like about a month ago. He had wondered why she reminded him of somebody, but the way she tended to jump from bubbly to a practical pessimist in various moments made it a little difficult. She acted like his old best friend from about eight and a half years ago, Huey Freeman.
Huey had been his best friend for a while. They had done everything together. He had listened to Huey rant about everything at the age of ten. Cairo had always joked that Huey had the mind of sixty five year old, and Huey would retort with some fancy phrase that he had just made up.
Then, Huey had moved away to Woodcrest. Cairo felt angry then. It hadn't been fair at all. Huey had just left him in Chicago for some old white neighborhood and never come back. Of course, it wasn't his fault at all. Cairo knew that now, but he had been angry then. He didn't want his best friend to leave him. He was just a scared, wimpy kid.
He replaced Huey with Duey. Even though Duey wasn't exactly Huey, he was a little close. He had the whole revolutionary thing going on and made speeches for others to listen to. He made a difference and used his tactics to change the way things were. Okay, maybe not that last part but Duey proved to be a good friend anyways.
When Huey came back to Chicago to visit for a little bit, he and Cairo got into a fight. Huey had punched him when they got into an argument, and Cairo head butted him in the process. Riley tried to beat up Duey, whose running skills surpassed his poetic ones by far, but he had gotten away.
He hadn't talked to Huey since, but he knew that if his best friend was still the same way he was then, he wouldn't be happy about him talking to Jazmine. He knew that he liked her too. He may have even loved her. He probably hung around her way more than they ever had as kids. Her little tendencies proved that much.
They acted kind of alike in different situations. It was subtle. You really had to pay attention to see it. Jazmine hardly ever showed her emotions to Cairo. Huey always locked his inside. Jazmine always claimed that she didn't care, but like Huey, she would work her butt off just to protect the ones that she loved. If she didn't care, she would just sit back and let bad stuff happen to people.
He also knew that there was a chance that Jazmine was in love with Huey. He could even see it in her eyes now even though she was trying so hard to keep it from him. Her green eyes were twinkling when he mentioned his name. Too bad she wouldn't do that for Cairo. He sighed.
Jazmine decided to be honest with him.
"Yes, I know him. He's my best friend or he was." Jazmine began, "But he has that harsh tendency in him."
Cairo nodded. He knew what she meant. Huey did have that ability. Then again, that was Huey.
"He and I didn't always see eye to eye anyways," Jazmine began, "But when my mom died, his honesty sent my anger flying towards him."
Cairo looked up at her. He wanted her to finish this.
"And I said some stuff that I shouldn't have. It was the day before I left for UCLA," she said looking away from Cairo's gaze, "And I told him that I never wanted to see him again, that his words would never bring my mother back, that kind of stuff. I never really meant it."
Cairo winced at that part. The way she said it with so much pain and emotion proved him right. Jazmine was in love with him. Cairo wasn't even sure if love was strong enough for this one.
"So I walked off and everything," Jazmine kept on talking, "I was just so mad at him that day. It didn't even matter that he was right. I even left early so that he wouldn't even say goodbye. I haven't even talked to him since I left."
Cairo felt a little relief about that. That meant that it had been four months since she had talked to Huey. Maybe there was hope for their relationship after all.
"I wanted him to though," she added honestly.
Maybe not.
"So, how do you know Huey anyways?" Jazmine pondered.
Cairo told her everything. He told her about how he moved away. How he felt about his best friend leaving him. He even told her about the head butting incident. To his surprise, she laughed.
"What?" he teased.
"Nothing. It's just that you must be some bad ass ten year old to jump on Huey Freeman like that babe." She said.
"Well, I am Cairo." He grinned. Even though on the inside, he was hurt. Jazmine didn't love him. She could never love him. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't even Huey's fault. It was bigger than that, than them. He didn't tell her that, though.
For now, he was just going to remain her boyfriend. It was Christmas, and there was just no way that he could end it like this. That was just kind of fucked up. He kind of hoped that she would see Huey so she could realize just how deep her feelings were for him. That is, if she didn't already know right now.
On the other hand, he kind of wanted her to hate Huey Freeman. He wanted her to run into his arms and love him the way he loved her. However, he knew that would never be. Those green eyes would never twinkle that brightly for him. Ever.
He still loved her. Hell, he would always love her, but he knew that this wasn't right. He loved her enough to do the one thing that would hurt him the most. Let her go.
He still managed to smile on the way to the airport. He looked at her lovingly. He even kissed the lips that weren't rightfully his. He lifted her stuff onto the carrier. Cairo even kissed her again before she entered the plane.
As soon as that plane took off, he walked towards his own, wondering how he got himself into this mess.
Huey Freeman and R.H. were training-again. And if Huey had to say so himself, he was beating R.H down. He delivered another kick to R.H's weaker side. He then dodged R.H's synchronized punches as he hopped up and held him down. R.H groaned. This actually kind of hurt.
Huey kept it coming. He picked up the katana and threw it towards the tree. He focused on all his energy towards the tree. The katana landed next to R.H's head as the tree exploded into little pieces. Ash covered R.H's face as it fell from the small fire.
R.H chuckled. Huey had gotten better. He was more than ready now. Maybe he didn't need him after all.
"I knew I could do it," Huey muttered to himself victoriously.
"Whatever, that was luck," Retorted R.H, mocking Huey.
"Nahh, an ass whooping from a nineteen year old young adult," teased Huey.
R.H let it slip. Time was really running out, and he had to go. He had things to take care of. If Huey really needed him again, he would be there. Not that Huey needed him now. Huey could do this alone if need be. He just prayed that Huey could handle it, for his sake.
Huey had turned to R.H to brag some more, but he was gone. That was normal. Huey supposed that somebody was coming towards the hill. He waited.
"AYYY NIIGGAA!" said a loud voice.
Oh, it was Riley, Huey thought. Wasn't that just lovely?
"AYY! HUUUEEEYY CANN YOOUU HEAR ME BRUH?" Riley called. He sounded frantic. Desperate, and worried.
"What is wrong with you?" he yelled, a little frustrated.
Cindy wasn't too far away. She was half dressed too. She wore a robe and pajamas. And no shoes? What the hell was going on? Cindy may have acted black, but she never dressed like it.
"JAZMINE'!" cried Cindy
"What the hell did you just say?" Huey asked as his eyebrow rose.
"Ay nigga! Can't you hear? She said, 'Jazmine's plane crashed after it was taken by a terrorist in the sky. Jazmine is dead, Huey! OMMIGAAD! My best friend is dead." ,translated Riley, "Damn!"
"Well, thank you personal translator." Retorted Huey.
Cindy and Riley just looked at Huey in disbelief. Riley couldn't even read Huey this time.
"Nigga did ya ass hear what I just said about JAZZY?" Riley asked, his voice cracking a bit.
"Yes, I did." Huey replied.
"And chu ain't sad? You don even care? Mane that's sum ole bullshit bruh!" Riley responded angrily, pounding his fist into the air.
Cindy was sobbing now. This wasn't supposed to happen to her. This was Jazmine. Loving, sweet, carefree Jazmine. Her only true friend was dead. Her sister was dead. Was this how Jazmine felt when her mom died? Because this crap hurt. And Tom, she couldn't even guess how Tom felt. She felt like whooping ass, now. Who in the hell did these terrorists think they were, killing people to scare the government into doing what they wanted? This was personal now.
"Huey come on! We've gotta do something!" Cindy cried out.
"AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE GONNA DO?" Huey shot back angrily
"Something! Anything but sitting here!" Cindy yelled.
"Well, she's gone." Huey replied calmly, "And there's nothing that we can do about it."
"OHHH you're so fucking heartless!" Cindy replied hotly, her blonde hair whipping towards Huey. "I don't even know why Jazmine liked you in the first place. You don't even care that she's dead!"
"I do care! So you can stop doing that now." Huey answered her with a strong demeanor.
"Mane fuck this! C'mon Riley!" Shrieked Cindy.
"Aite!" exclaimed Riley as he shook his head at his brother, "Nigga yo ass is really fucked up. You know that?"
"Yeah, I've heard," said Huey sharply, "So can you comfort your little girlfriend and stop bothering me?"
WHAM! Riley punched Huey in the gut before he could retaliate. Huey just let it be. He was upset anyway. It didn't matter.
He looked up at the sky, wondering what in the world was going on. Jazmine wasn't dead. She couldn't be. This had to be a dream. He would trade beating down R.H. for Jazmine's life any day. As long as Huey was alive, Jazmine had to be. That's how it had always been. Footsteps had come behind him. They were light, almost like a woman's. Jazmine? Huey turned around, thinking maybe he had woken up after all.
"What in the world? You're supposed to be dead!" Huey exclaimed.
"That's not important right now!" the woman shrieked.
"Then what is? Because you died! I went to your funeral, Sarah!" Huey said through gritted teeth.
"I thought I was protecting Jazmine, Huey!" she exclaimed.
"Protecting her from what, Sarah? SHE'S DEAD! And if there is a heaven, she's gonna get pretty pissed when she discovers that mommy dearest isn't there don't you think?" Huey retorted, clearly pissed off as his fists clenched down.
"She's not dead Huey!" Sarah whispered, "I switched her off the plane that was scheduled to crash."
"That's just sick, Sarah." Huey said disgusted with her. He hated liars. He really hated Sarah too.
"Huey, I'm not lying, and when Jazmine gets here, I need you to look after her. She may not think she wants you or loves you, but she needs you just as you need her." Sarah pointed out.
"First off, even if Jazmine were alive, I wouldn't need her! Secondly, according to Jazmine, she doesn't need me or want me at all!" Huey huffed.
"So you want her?" Sarah said raising her eyebrow.
"No, I never said that!" Huey stomped his foot.
"Yet you never denied that part." Sarah responded.
"Look, I don't need her or want her!" Huey said as he forced himself to create sentences. What did his and her daughter's life have to do with the least of her worries right now?
"For your sake, I'll let you believe that." Sarah smiled gently.
"So why did you leave? Didn't it hurt you to know that Jazmine was crushed, devastated?" Huey asked her.
"Don't you dare start up with that!" Sarah's eyes turned icy and dark," I was doing what was best for her. But that won't work out for her in the end. She's still susceptible to dark things. Her personality is like a magnet for good people and bad people. You know that."
Huey couldn't really argue with that. Even he couldn't resist Jazmine's sweet gestures sometimes.
"Just don't tell her that you saw me when she gets here, Huey." Sarah replied.
"I don't lie to her, Sarah. You know that." Huey answered with a furrowed brow. He was still trying to figure this entire thing out.
"I know," Sarah bit her lip. She looked around as if sensing the change, "Just promise me that you'll protect her. And don't baby my daughter either! She's stronger than you think she is. Especially now."
"Whatever Sarah" Huey waved her off.
"Just promise me, Huey" Sarah was begging him now. Her blue eyes pleaded with him. It was too much, even for Huey.
"Sarah, I don't think that would be good right now. I don't want to make a promise to a liar." Huey responded gruffly.
"Damn it, Huey! I don't have time for this! Just promise me. At least for Jazmine, you promise me!"
"Fine then," Huey said, but Sarah was already gone.
Had he been dreaming?
Jazmine was walking down the street towards the Dubois house. He would take that as a definite no. He heard the shouts of Cindy and Riley as he made his way towards the Dubois house. He looked up towards the sky. It was bright and sunny. How ironic.
He had a feeling deep down in his gut. It wasn't guilt or anger. He was relieved. He was actually happy that Jazmine was okay. He looked around him for a moment before he whistled the tune Up, Up, and Away. He was sure that Riley and Cindy would come running any minute now. He still had about eight months to prepare for the disaster to come. Little did he know, time was running out quicker than he thought. Much quicker.
SOOOO….To my reviewers of the week:
Cruella De' Chelle, Traban 16, and my anonymous reviewer! You guys really made me smile! Thank you!
The rest of you who read and don't review. Uh, I guess I still love you.
Anyways…THANKS FOR READING, REVIEW, INBOX ME WITH CONCERNS OR IDEAS, AND THAT'S IT!
Look forward to another chapter by yours truly soon.