Chapter Ten
Huey Freeman and Jazmine Dubois were upstairs in his room together. He attempted to teach her how to fight, but it seemed like she already knew how. Her hair had reverted back to its puffy African form, just the way he preferred it. He watched as the sweat rolled down her body as she blocked his hits. He silently cursed the world for forcing him to hit his best friend. He hated having to go so hard on her, but he had no other choice. Luckily for both of them, she could clearly handle it.
Jazmine began throwing blows towards him left and right. Huey blocked each of them with relative ease. He observed her face as she smirked well thrusting her fist towards his chest. He blocked a little of the blow, but not all of it, groaning inwardly as he felt half of her fist collide with his chest. She had obviously gotten better since they had last seen each other. Suddenly without warning, she flew into the hair, her feet flying towards his voice. Huey smirked as he grabbed one of her feet with relative ease and tossed her gently onto his bed. Jazmine, in turn, pulled him on the bed too as he fell on top of her. They were both too tired to move, so they just rested on one another, sweating and breathing profusely.
"Ay! Wut's up wit' us going to D.C. tomorrow?" Riley walked into the room before eyeing the two on the bed, "Dayum! Did ya'll get it in! Aw shit! Finally! And dang Huey! Jazzy sweating and both of ya'll breathing all hard and shit but ya'll clothes still on! Ya'll must be real hot and bothered huh? Damn, Hu-"
"Hey baby, did you get them yet? I'm ready to… Jazzy is that you?" Cindy asked before looking over at the couple on top of the bed.
"It's not what-" Jazmine began but was cut off by Cindy.
"Well, it's about time," Cindy smirked with a look of satisfaction as she looked at her best friends lying on the bed together.
"Look, we didn't do anything, you two. We only fell over after fighting. No big deal," Huey sighed.
"Mane nigga' you gay!" Riley fussed at him.
"I don't see how," Huey retorted.
"Shit, I mean you got's this girl under you and…mane forget it, I'm finna get my stuff and dip!" Riley walked towards his closet to get Cindy's coat and tossed it to her as he put on his own.
"You got our gold packs Reezy?" Cindy grinned mischievously.
"Of course I do. You know a brother always stays strapped with the goods," Riley grinned right back.
"Do you guys do anything other than have sex?" Huey asked Riley as he rolled his eyes.
"Hmmm. Well, let's see. We go out to eat, watch movies, play basketball, run a few gangster acts together, talk, and do things that lead up to sex," Cindy smiled at the thought of the activities.
"Wow, that sounds fulfilling," Huey snorted.
"Mane stop hatin! Shit, both of ya'll some gay ass niggas anyways. Act like ya'll don't know what yoyu want when it's clearly staring yo dumb asses in yo face. Well, Jazzy ain't gay. She had Cairo. And you had Dyneisha but…" Riley spoke as his fist trembled violently.
"Dyneisha?" Cindy and Jazmine exchanged a look.
"Yeah, when Huey went to college ya'll two's sophomore year, this girl named Dyneisha and him was talking, but after two years, she had transferred to UCLA and broke off the deal," Riley smirked at his brother, knowing he would never want Jazmine to hear that.
"Wow, Huey," Jazmine spoke softly.
"See it's clear ya'll want each otha! Looking into each other's eyes and shit!" Riley waved his finger at them.
"Whatever," Huey and Jazmine spoke at the same time.
"See? Both of ya'll dumb asses need to quit being so goddamn stubborn all the time. Ya'll know you can't function right without each other anyway!" Riley was turning red now.
"What?" Jazmine and Huey yelled out loud again.
"What he meant to say is that you two want each other," Cindy said gently with a knowing smile, "It's pretty obvious, especially right now."
"I do not want Jazmine in that way! I don't need any distractions," Huey was getting angry too. His wine colored eyes had darkened.
"You do! You always have damn it! When you went to college, all you could talk about wuz Jazzy! Even if you were mean to her, she stayed by yo dumb ass! Talking bout how she weak! It takes a lot of strength to hang around yo' dumb ass," Riley yelled at him.
"And? That doesn't prove anything!" Huey retorted.
"It proves everything! Hell yo ass still on top of her! Stop trying to think about revolutionary shit all the time cuz if the world as heartless as you ass say it is, it ain't gonna be all cool and shit when you die and yo dumb ass in the dirt. The world is too fucked up right now for you to pretend like you don want Jazzy! Cuz if you die without telling her how you feel, or if she dies without ever hearing it, then you gon' feel ten times worst."
"…."
"And you should know that! Life is too goddamn short! Momma, Momma would have loved Jazzy ass! She would have told yo ass the same thing if she were here." Riley's eyes were beginning to water.
"Riley-"
"Mane fuck it! Just think about it, aite? Come on Cindy," Riley took the blonde girl out of the room before slamming the door behind them.
"Dyneshia?" Jazmine rose an eyebrow at Huey.
"What about her?" Huey replicated Jazmine's expression.
"Well, you two, a couple-"
"It's none of your business," He snapped
"Okay," Jazmine said softly, caught off guard by the tone in Huey's voice that she hadn't prepared for.
"It's just that she's the past, Jazmine" he said gently.
"I said okay," Jazmine shrugged her shoulders after she wriggled out from underneath him. Her eyes showed no emotions, "Let's fight."
"Jazmine,"
"I don't want to talk," Jazmine said as she got into stance.
"What is wrong with you?" Huey yelled out, not being able to say what he was really frustrated about.
"What?" Jazmine asked. She was confused. What was Huey's problem? He had never cared before.
"You don't talk as much anymore! You act like a totally different person!" Huey shouted as he raised his hands.
"It's called maturing, Huey. People change. Everything changes, and one day, everybody and everybody we know is gonna die. Isn't that what you told me? Isn't that what you've always told me since we were ten? Now, that I finally do what you say, you get mad?" Jazmine retorted as she paced around his carpet angrily.
"Jazmine, I wanted you to mature, but not this way. It's like your whole personality is fucked up!" He hollered back.
"Because I am fucked up! If it hasn't been any clearer these past few days, then let me spell it out for you. I haven't been the same for almost five months. The world is a horrible place, right? I'm fucked up. I'm so fucked up! But you know what, Huey? I really don't care. If you never want to see me again because of that, then that's fine," Jazmine told him bitterly.
"That's stupid," Huey snorted.
"You always think that I'm stupid,"
"No, I'm saying that you- whatever Jazmine. The point is that you of all people seeing the world that way just makes me think that life is kind of out there." Huey explained.
"I don't get it. I got what I wanted. You got what you wanted. After all these years, you stopped telling me the truth. I stopped talking so much. I stopped acting so stupid, and you still yell at me!" Jazmine threw her hands up in frustration, "Were those not the things we wanted? Is that what you want?"
"No," Huey smirked, looking at her as he moved closer to her.
"No?" Jazmine asked him, noticing the abrupt change in his tone.
"No, " Huey repeated as he kept coming across the floor towards her.
"Then…what do you want?" Jazmine asked as she retreated from his long gaze.
"I want you to talk all the time. I want you to smile at the silliest things. I want you to whine to me about all the problems I pretend not to care about. I want you to cry on my shoulders, so I can kill the bastard who made you cry in the first place. I want you to be happy like you used to be," Huey looked into her eyes again.
"And?" Jazmine whispered; her back was against the wall and she was getting drunk from his eyes all over again.
"I want your eyes to sparkle at me like they used to when they were younger. I want you to follow me around all the time like you used to, and I want you to bother me when I'm reading a book, no matter how much I tell you I don't want you there," Huey said his nose inches away from her. His breath short and shallow as he talked to her.
"Is that all?" Jazmine whispered lowly.
"No, because there's one more thing I want. You." Huey said looking into her eyes, not believing he was doing this.
"Well then," Jazmine sighed, " Even though we just got through fighting, that's really great. I mean because I thought-"
"Oh wait, I forgot another thing I wanted," Huey smirked.
"What, Huey?" Jazmine said innocently.
"I want you to shut up," He whispered before he closed the space between them, kissing her for the second time.
And she did.
She fell back onto the wall as he kissed her. God, he was better kisser than she had remembered. She didn't even know what she was thinking when she had even attempted to compare Cairo to Huey. There was no competition, not with Huey kissing her right now. Cindy was right. Cairo might have been amazing, but with Huey, no words could really say what she was truly feeling. Well, they probably could, but who thought of adjectives when they were kissing?
As if he knew that Jazmine had started thinking about Cairo, he kissed her harder, deeper. Jazmine had to keep her noises at the back of her throat. She really wanted to shout to the heavens that Huey had kissed her, but she couldn't. She hadn't even really kissed him back, and she could feel him starting to retreat. She moved her lips too, joining in on the fun. She tried to pull herself closer as she kept kissing his lips. Huey who had opened his eyes, smiled genuinely at her trembling form before he wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed her harder.
"Huey…" Jazmine sighed, not imagining sex to get any better than this.
He smirked and gently placed her back on the ground.
"I most definitely think I want that," Huey teased.
"But what if we can't beat them? What if we don't fight hard enough?" Jazmine whispered, her voice turning towards a more serious note.
"Who is we? I'm fighting them. Not you!" Huey told her. His face went back to its emotionless state.
"Huey, I won't let you do this alone!" Jazmine hissed back.
"R.H. will be there too! Besides, I don't want you getting hurt," Huey argued.
"No, that's not good enough! I want to help! It's me that they're looking for anyways!" Jazmine pointed out.
"How did you know that?" Huey's head cocked at her.
"Sarah told me," Jazmine growled.
"Well, you're not fighting, or speaking, or doing anything that's going to put you in danger, end of story," Huey spoke as if his decision was final.
"No, not end of story, I'm in danger as long as I'm alive, so I should be able to fight. Besides, I can fight. There's no reason why I shouldn't go," Jazmine argued with such determination in her eyes that Huey couldn't tell her no.
"Are you sure? Because if you say yes, I'll take that as you not fighting with me tomorrow. You don't have to do this Jazmine." Huey spoke in a significantly lower voice as he kissed Jazmine's neck softly.
"No, Huey! I'm doing this with you tomorrow! There's nothing you can say to stop me. Not-" Jazmine paused as he began to suck the spot on her neck that he had just kissed, "Oh, god."
"Come on Jazmine. Just promise me that you won't fight tomorrow," He said as he kissed her between each word so passionately that it took all of her strength to pull away from him.
"No," Jazmine smirked as she sashayed out of his room and down the stairs, "See you soon boyfriend!"
Boyfriend? Huey considered the word, then, shrugged. It didn't sound so bad under the circumstances. He started to pack his suitcase, and found the small box inside of Riley's closet before sticking it inside. He had a feeling that he may need it sooner or later.
Cairo had woken up again as the two guards spoke again. The president was hovering over him. A knife was in his hand. Tailor stared at him menacingly as the knife dangled between his fingers. Cairo swallowed. He felt like some sort of criminal. This was crazy. He felt so weak and defenseless. He felt like less than a man.
"Look, just tell us where she is, Cairo," President Tailor smiled at him.
"No, I wouldn't tell you shit!" Cairo shouted violently as Tailor's smile quickly faded away.
"I never said it was an option boy," President Tailor growled.
"Huh? That's funny because option or not, I'm not telling you shit, so I guess you're gonna kill me huh?" Cairo smirked.
President Tailor stared at the boy. Was this boy really so in love with that stupid little girl that he would give his life for her? Shit, he wouldn't do that for his wife. He wouldn't do that for his mother. This young man made him feel weak, but in a way, he admired him for his strength. Maybe that's why he hadn't killed him yet.
All his life people had doubted his power. People didn't think that he had the ability to do great things. Even his family doubted him. He proved to them time and time again that he could pass along a great legacy, but because he spent his time at home trying to better the world, they laughed at him. His twenty eight brothers and sisters were all older than him. They all came before what he wanted. Nobody cared about him.
Even at school, he was different. He never liked playing with the other kids. He never enjoyed just hanging out. It was a waste of time. Everything he did or fought for was never significant to the kids at his school. None of them ever liked him. They made fun of him just because he would rather read than gossip and gather sexually transmitted diseases. They laughed at his goals, his aspirations.
Then, after his political power grew, people wanted to tell everybody how much they believed in him. What a bunch of bullshit. People never told the whole story. They believed in his money, his power. They didn't give a shit about Addison Tailor. He chuckled to himself. That's why they were either dead or getting ready to die.
All of those unfortunate accidents hadn't really been accidents at all. They had been the work of Tailor and some good detectives and hit men. He was glad too. They had gotten what they deserved. He would show them. He would show everybody what he was capable of.
"Excuse me, sir?" One of the government officials ran into the room, averting his eyes from Cairo, clearly feeling sorry for him.
"Yes?" Tailor answered, the knife still dangling from his hand.
"They've found the girl," He said.
"Really, now?" Tailor asked.
"Yes, she's in Woodcrest, but they actually plan on coming to take you down, sir."
"To overthrow me? Please," Tailor snorted, "Thanks for the information."
"No problem sir," The man walked towards the door and felt a sharp pain erupt through his body. President Tailor had stabbed him in the heart with a simple flick of his wrist.
"Isn't that what they all say?" Tailor smirked as the man fell, coughing and twitching in pain.
"You bastard!" He wheezed, before he dropped his head and died.
"You're crazy! Why would you do that?" Cairo screamed, kicking despite the pain.
"Because, I'm an asshole. I hate people. I kind of hate you too. That's how it is. That's how it's always been" Tailor shrugged.
"That's stupid, man!" Cairo cried out.
"No, that's logical. You wouldn't understand. You're too busy chasing after girl who doesn't want you. You can't even see that you could be free right now. You could be free. Cairo, you didn't have to suffer, but now, it's too late. Now, I have what I need, and you don't." Tailor looked at Cairo with grim eyes.
"You can still let me go. You just choose not to," Cairo groaned out weakly as the drug began to send the pain down his body again. He didn't have long before he passed out again.
"True, but I'm the president. I can do what I want," President Tailor argued, looking Cairo up and down.
"Maybe in secret," Cairo muttered, "Why haven't you killed me? Isn't that what you want to do to me right now anyway? Get it over with. Come on, do it!"
"Please," President Tailor scoffed as he ignored the boy's yelling, "You want me to kill you so that Jazmine won't see you like this tomorrow, but I'm going to make sure that she does. The minute that she tries to rescue you, I am going to kill her. Her nappy headed friend will be so hurt that he won't be nearly as skilled as he normally is when he fights. And guess what? He'll die too. All of you can be buried in the same hole under the dust together. How does that sound to you?"
"You won't get away with this you know!" Cairo cried out with the little strength he had, "What goes around comes around! Your time is coming, punk ass bitch nigga!"
"Nigga? I'm white!" President Tailor scoffed.
"You're mixed, black, ¼ Irish! It doesn't matter. You have African blood inside of you just like me! And the fact that you want to kill one of your own over you're insecurities is wrong!" Cairo argued.
"Maybe so, but by tomorrow, you and your little friends won't be there to stop me," Tailor chuckled as he heard the thud on the table behind him. He didn't even have to look behind him to know that Cairo had passed out on the table. How did he know he was mixed? He walked out of the room and walked towards his wife's room in the White House. The boy just didn't understand the way things worked in the world. Sometimes, morals didn't need to exist. Sometimes, thinking without them helped everybody.
"What goes around comes around. Your time is coming, punk ass bitch nigga!"
More importantly, why did those words make him feel so guilty?
So we all see this crazy person Jazmine and Huey have to go up against?
Shoutouts to:
Shellie B and Cruella De' Chelle for reviewing. You guys made me so happy! Yay you two!
Anyways R&R! Seriously, just click that button with the speech bubble next to the words "review this story".
Be on the lookout for Chapter eleven!