Happy New Year. So I'm a bit late but I still managed to get it here. Thanks to those that review, I deeply appreciate what you said and I hope you enjoy this chapter. PS I own nothing.
Boondocks Chapter 20
Huey and Riley were in the back of Ed's car, driving through town. Once Huey had told them what they intended to do, Ed and Rummy were eager to help, most likely because it would involve shooting.
"So where we going again?" Ed asked from the passenger's seat.
"It's that big hotel down town" Riley answered. "You know the one we had when we were doing that fundraiser. That's where all the gangsters hang out"
"Oh yeah I know that place" Rummy added as turned a corner. "It's the one with the Scarface suite isn't?"
"Yeah"
"Mm they got good service there" Rummy said aloud. He then turned his attention to Ed. "So anyway like I was saying man, it was divine intervention. It had to be. How else do you explain how not a single one of them bullets hitting us when that nigga shot at us?"
"I don't know" Ed replied in an unconvinced voice. "He probably just had bad aim".
"It was a sign man. I'm telling you my eyes are wide open now. Once we finish this job, I'm gonna go and take a walkabout. Find my peace with god"
"You kidding me? That's bullshit" Ed turned around in his seat to face Riley, while still holding a gun in his hand. "What'd you think Riley?"
"How the hell I'm I suppose to know? I wasn't there" he said, seemingly unperturbed by Ed's gun. Beside him, Huey carefully took off his seat belt and slid down onto the floor of the car.
"You must have an opinion. You think god just came down and-". Ed didn't have the chance to finish his sentence as several things happened at once. First the car jerked upwards as it went over a pothole. It was that at that moment that Huey grabbed Riley by his shirt and pulled him down to the floor with him, right before Ed's gun fired into the backseat.
"Who the fuck's shooting at us?!" Rummy screamed aggressively, thinking they were under fire. He took out his own gun and began to open fire at just about everyone and everything outside of the car as it swerved madly across the street, while Ed for some reason continued to empty his bullets into the back seat as Huey and Riley kept their heads down.
After a very long…and loud drive, the party reached the hotel. The windows of the car were shattered and the backseat was ripped to shreds. After they stepped out of the car, Huey opened up the boot and took out a medium sized black duffel
"So how we do this huh?" Rummy asked, as they walked up to the hotel.
"You guys go up the stairs and I'll go in through the vents" Huey said. "If anyone makes contact with Michael, head to the 11th floor to rendezvous. Wait fifteen minutes. If one no shows up, get out of the building and don't look back. Last chance to walk"
Beside them Ed and Rummy pulled and cocked their guns, ready for action.
"Let's take these bastard's down!"
Up near the penthouse, Michael and Ruckus were locked inside a storage room, with no way out. Ruckus was pacing back and forth, while Michael sat on a stool with his head resting on his arm as he contemplated his situation.
"Oh I never thought it would end this way for me" Ruckus said, still pacing. "Killed and raped by some neutral coloured I-don't-know-what-kind of nigga. Well I guess it aint as bad as getting killed by an actual nigga, course they'd probably just talk me to death with their baboon monkey jabber or infect me with some kind of African rabies or worse-"
"Look we're going to die in about five minutes" Michael said, expressionlessly. "So could you please just shut up until they kill you? Or better yet me, since I have feeling you'll somehow keep on talking even after your dead"
"Oh now I'm so sorry little Michael" Ruckus said kindly. "I know you must be so scared"
"I'm not scared of dying. I just thought it wouldn't happen yet. But I am happy that Huey and Riley are safe"
"Safe?" Ruckus said, confused. "But…but I thought you shot them?"
"They're not dead" Michael said, shaking his head. "Huey and Riley were wearing bullet proof vests. At least…I am pretty sure they were…" He trailed off, now looking a little bit uncertain.
"Oh I see. You were just trying to help them get away. Oh if only niggas could see how kind the white man truly is, instead of giving him back nothing but grief. Oh Robert and his grandkids sure were lucky that day when heaven dropped you on their door step. Truth be told little Michael, you and I are a lot alike"
Michael slowly lifted his head off his arm and turned toward Ruckus. He opened his mouth for a second, but then just looked back down to the floor deciding not to even bother.
"You see, I also had two African step brothers of my own"
"…..Excuse me?" Michael said, reluctantly.
"Well as I told you the day we met, I was in the same situation as you. I was adopted into a family of darkie Negroes. My Negro father beat the living shit outta be daily which of course is how any lowly nigga expresses emotion. My Negro mother was always sweet and kind to me, teaching me how to love and worship the white man for the wonder that he is. But the one thing I'd never forget were my two adopted Negro brothers, Darrel and Daryl. Oh sure I was white and they were black. You wouldn't think we could ever get along, but oh we did. We laughed and played together and got into all sorts of hijinks. Thing is, I really did love them, almost as if they were my own white brethren. Course in the back of my mind it always did plague me that they probably didn't feel the same way about me. That I wasn't their real family. That to them, I wasn't really their brother. Just another white kid. But then one day they came up and told me straight out that no matter what I or anyone else ever said or thought, I was always gonna be their brother. It did warm my heart to know they could see past the colour of my skin and learn to accept me into their little darkie family."
Michael eyed Ruckus with a bizarre look as he listened to his story, wondering for a minute exactly how mentally insane he truly was.
"I figured that maybe the same thing would happen to you" Ruckus said in a soft voice. "That those two African hooligans would end up being like real brothers to you. That they'd accept you into their home the same way I was accepted. Even as far as niggas go, they okay"
Michael looked at Ruckus's warily, unsure of how he should respond. For the first time since they met, Michael didn't feel any of his usual hatred and disgust toward him. He actually said something that Michael could relate to and made him feel like Ruckus really did understand how he felt about Huey and Riley. In fact, he now began to feel some small sense of sympathy for what Ruckus had just told him, although he prayed it would not last long and that he would soon go back to hating this man with every fibre of his being.
Michael was brought out if his thoughts when the door of the room opened up. Garcon walked in with two other men and gestured to Michael and Ruckus to get up. They both complied with any trouble and were once again escort by the armed men through the building. They were brought down a couple of floors and eventually walked into a dimly lit room. The source of light was a pair of strobe lights in the middle of the celling. Underneath them were two large and odd looking barrels. After another few minutes of waiting, Cinereo entered the room.
"What is this place?" Michael asked him, as he looked over the dark and empty room.
"This is the torture room" Cinereo answered. "Yeah this hotel is really well accommodated for criminals". Cinereo walked in front of the two large barrels and cast his gaze over Michael and Ruckus.
"Okay so I suppose you want to know how exactly I will kill you"
"Actually I've mostly be wondering why you didn't just shoot me" Michael replied.
"So behind me are two massive barrels" he continued. "Of which contain an as yet unknown substance. I went to get another one after I decided to let your friend here join you"
"How thoughtful" Michael muttered bitterly.
Cinereo clicked his fingers and his men lifted up the lid on one of the barrels. Once they did a clear white vapour almost like steam ruptured out from inside of it and the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.
"Liquid Nitrogen!" Cinereo said with a smile. "Now isn't that something. Not only it's kinda of poetic, you know with you being an arsonist, but it will be a very, very horrible way to die. I had to get these barrels specially made with insulation otherwise they'd blow up. Imagine actually going for a swim inside of this stuff. I mean there's cold, but there is cold. But you probably must think that this stuff will freeze you solid and kill you in like a second but that's only a myth".
Cinereo waved his hand over the open barrel for a second, dispersing some of the vapour. "See there is this thing call the Leidenfrost effect(1) that protects you from being from being instantly frozen, but it only lasts for a second. I don't even know how long it would take for it to kill you. It could be hours. I mean if you don't suffocate yourself first, you'll have to endure the most horrific frostbite imaginable. Your entire body will feel like it's being pierced by a thousand needles, before you lose feeling in all your limbs and they start to fall off. And then there's the hypothermia. The thought of that kind of numbness all over your body, is just…terrifying."
Cinereo trailed off for a moment and stared off into space, looking somewhat shaken by his own monologue. Then he immediately brightened up with a smile and looked back to Michael and Ruckus.
"So who goes first?" he said with a cheer.
"Oh please mister Switzerland, spare little Michael! I beg you!" Ruckus got down on his knees and threw himself onto Cinereo, clutching his coat. "Please! I'll do anything, but don't make me watch this precious little miracle child die!
"Well that settles it" Cinereo said looking down at the crying Ruckus. "You'll go first. This will save us some time".
Giving some kind of silent order, two of Cinereo's men grabbed Ruckus by his arms and pulled him over to barrel. He struggled desperately as they began to push him into the barrel.
"Wait wait" said one of the men, causing everyone to pause just as Ruckus's head was an inch above the liquid.
"What?" Cinereo said in concern
"This guy's kind of fat" he replied. "He might spill some of it out due to the increase in volume and then it will take longer"
"Huh. Good point"
"Well maybe we should do the kid first and then pour the leftovers in this guy's barrel" suggested the other man, still holding Ruckus in place
"I'm not sure" Cinereo muttered uncertainly. "Maybe we-". He was cut off when he felt his phone go off in his coat. He pulled it out and answered it
"Hello. What? Seriously? You know this is pretty inconvenient timing. Well inconvenient timing for me, convenient timing for the guys I was about to kill. Alright I'll be right up". Cinereo hung up the phone and looked over to Garcon.
"There's a situation in the building. We deal with it first". He then looked over to the two men holding Ruckus. "Watch them till we get back".
"Where the hell is he!? Huh? Where you got him locked up asshole? Speak the fuck up motherfucker!"
"I swear to god I don't know what you talking about!" the man cried desperately. He was sitting on his knees in nothing but he's underwear, absolutely terrified.
"I'm talking about the bullet I'm gonna in yo skull bitch" shouted Rummy, standing over the sobbing man with his gun pointed right in his head. "I'm gonna give you to the count before I blow yo brains out on the wall!"
"I'm telling I don't know anything!"
"Please we just on our honeymoon!" screamed a half naked woman in the corner of the room.
"Shut up bitch" yelled Ed, waving his shot gun at her. "Now where's the money?"
"I thought you were looking for a little boy?" the underwear man gibbered, confused and terrified. Rummy responded by pulling him forward by his hair and shoving his gun into his mouth.
"What's that? Oh I'm sorry I can't hear you. You better speak the up fuck or else you about to suicide yourself!"
"Hey!"
Everyone in the room turned over to the eight year old boy standing by the door, repeatedly trying to get their attention. "Yo Ed, Rummy, I keep telling you this is wrong room! We need to go up to the penthouse at the top"
"I aint going nowhere until this cocksucker right there starts to sing for me!" Rummy shouted taking gun out of the sobbing man's mouth. "Now sing bitch!"
"Uh….uh….what do..?"
"Sing Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball" Ed suggested. "I love that song"
"Aw hell no!" Rummy protested. "That song is fucked up man. I still can't get that image of Miley Cyrus naked on that wreaking ball out of my dame psyche. The day that video went on YouTube is the day Hanna Montana fucking died!"
"Yeah but damn is look hot on that ball" Ed said with a crooked smile.
"I don't give two fucks! She was a beautiful pop star icon and now she's fucking Britney Spears" Rummy looked back to the man on the floor. "Sing something from either Jackie Wilson, Bob Marley or Elton John. And you better carry a tune or else I'll pop so many caps in yo ass you'll be shitting out yo dick!"
"What about some Kanye West?" Ed asked
"No man, fuck him!"
"Hey I'm in the mood for Kanye West!"
"Guys we need to go up to the penthouse!" Riley tried once again to stress.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. In response Ed quickly trotted up to the door and pushed his back to the wall beside it. Stretching his arm out, Ed gripped the handle and pulled the door open, while staying hiding behind the door.
"Housekeeping?" asked the man. As if on cue, Ed jumped out from behind the door, grabbed the man by his collar and stuck his gun in back of his head, screaming wildly.
"GET DOWN ONT HE FLOOR! GET DOWN THE FLOOR RIGHT NOW MOTHERFUCKER! ". Ed pinned the man to ground and started yelling nonsensically into his face. The man on the ground now started screaming in fear, which caused the woman in the corner, as well as her husband to join in.
Riley rolled his eyes in disbelief as Ed and Rummy continued with their performance, forgetting everything else. As such they didn't notice as he walked out of the room, the gun shots now going off like crazy.
Up at the penthouse four men were standing outside the Scarface suite, which they were supposed to be guarding but it seemed as though they elected to take a break.
"You think it's weird that the boss brought us all the way out here to kill a nine year old kid instead of stealing that gun and drug shipment?" one of them asked, wanting to break the silence.
"I don't know" replied one of the two men closest to the door. "I mean about a dozen of our men have died since we got here and half them were killed by the boss"
"We really should have another talk with the union rep about that. I think we need some better working conditions. And anyway you know what the boss always says about goal setting"
"When you set the goal, see it through no matter how corpses there are" they all said in unison.
The guards then fell silent again when they heard a strange drilling sound echoing in the hallway. They began looking around for the source. It eventually stopped and was followed by a loud clank as a piece of metal fell from the ceiling. One of the guards looked down at the air vent cover and then back up to the now opened vent. Next a small dark object fell down from the vent. It rolled on the floor for a second, before stopping and releasing a stream of smoke that began to fill the hallway. The guards covered their eyes, their vision becoming completely impaired. There was another loud thump on the floor, with yet another object falling from the vent. While the guards couldn't see what it was, they soon guess what it may be when they heard the clear sound of footsteps within the smoke.
Huey stepped out of his smoke screen just enough so that he could make out the first two guards. They were still coughing, while Huey protected himself with a rag around his mouth. Pulling out what looked like two guns from inside his coat; Huey pointed them in a wide angle aiming for both of the guards. A dart was fired from each gun and hit their intended targets, knocking them out.
The smoke wasn't as thick near the door, but there was still enough for the remaining two guards to look around, uncertain. One of them moved forward and waved his hand around, trying to get a better view. From inside of the smoke, two strings of wire came flying at him, hitting him in the chest. He muttered incoherently as he felt the jolt of electricity pass through his body and fell to the ground
Dropping his stun gun, Huey ran forward, while keeping low to the ground. Once he was close enough, he pulled a handheld tazer from his pocket and stuck into the leg of the last guard. The guard convoluted on his feet for a second before falling against the wall. The smoke had finally begun to disperse, now revealing Huey standing among the four unconscious guards.
Ruckus and Michael were still waiting inside the torture room, sitting on a bench near the wall. There were still two guards in the room, standing beside the barrels, not paying much attention to their captives.
"So maybe we could get another barrel of liquid nitrogen and when we dump the big guy in we pour the rest inside?"
"No, that won't work ether because the stuff will still spill out. What we really need is a bigger barrel"
"Maybe this barrel will be enough. We could try it first and see what happens"
The two guards ceased their discussion when they heard a faint knock on the door. They thought it was strange since their boss wouldn't be knocking on the door. One of the guards walked forward and opened the door slightly. At first he didn't see anyone until he looked downwards and saw a young boy with a box in his hand.
"Excuse me sir, but would please buy my chocolates so I can stay in school and not end a drug dealer"
Michael jerked his head when he recognised Riley's voice. He lifted himself up in his sit to try and get a better view of the door.
"Sorry kid we don't want any" the guard said dismissively.
"Please?" Riley said in an innocent voice. "We got a whole range of real nice chocolates. With peanuts, cinnamon and taffy"
"Taffy? You what? Okay. I'll have some" he guard said with a smile. He pushed the door wider and stepped further out.
Once he did, Riley grabbed the side of the door and slammed shut as hard as he could. The door hit the man in the side of his knee cap, causing him to yell. Riley then threw his leg up and kicked the man in his balls. Inside of the room, the second guard reacted with concern when he heard his partner scream. With his eyes on the door, he moved forward and took out his gun. Taking the opportunity, Ruckus charged forward and hit the guard in the back of his head with both hands clenched together. The guard fell to the ground unconscious.
Riley stepped over the man at the door and entered the room.
"What are you doing here?" Michael demanded with some anger.
"Saving yo ass that's what" Riley replied.
"You shouldn't be here. Don't tell me Huey came too"
"Yeah he said to meet downstairs after I found you"
"Cant believe this. You guys went and put yourselves in danger cos of me. The two of you have to get out of here before-wait a second. How did you even know I was in here?"
"I asked the receptionist where some criminals would keep niggas they gonna kill and she said they probably be up in the torture room"
"Wow. This hotel is pretty good" Michael said, impressed.
"Look out!" Ruckus cried. He pointed over to the door, where the man Riley knocked out was slowly getting back on his feet and pulling out his gun.
Ruckus took a quick glance to his right and remembered the barrels of liquid nitrogen. Thinking fast, Ruckus hosted one of the barrels up as high as he could and threw its contents across the room at the guard. The freezing liquid splashed over him, creating a massive vapour cloud. Once it clear they saw that the man at the door was now covered from head to toe in ice, frozen completely solid.
After looking over this sight for a few second, Michael was the first to recover. "Huh. Guess it's not a myth(2)".
Huey stood in the middle of the Scarface suite, surrounded by at least five guards. Most of them looked uncertain at how to deal with the ten year old kid in front of them. Having run out of projectiles, Huey took out his nun chucks from his back pocket. He moved for the guard nearest to him and swung low at his leg, causing him to drop to his knee. Huey followed up with a back hand strike to his head.
Another guard pulled out his gun and prepared to shoot Huey. Taking his sword from his back, Huey slashed at the gun, cutting it halve. He then proceed to strike the man in his lower abdomen with his nun chuck
Two more men moved to either side of Huey, to try and box him in. The man on his right had his gun out and was ready to fire. However, Huey countered by throwing his sword up into the air and then tossed one end of the nun chuck around the arm of the man on his right, trapping it. Grabbing the handle again, he pulled down on the man's arm just as he fired and sending the bullet into the leg of the guard to his left. The second man, fell in to the floor and let out a scream, holding his leg.
The man who fired gun was taken by surprise what he had just done and while he was distracted, Huey jumped into the air and gave him a spin kick to the head, knocking him out. Once he fell, Huey opened his palm into the air and caught his sword as it fell back down.
"Oh god! How does he have such incredible upper body strength?!" cried one of the men, who soon realised that he was the only left standing. Walking forward, Huey pointed his sword up at the man, who was now shaking in fear.
"Where's Michael Ringer?" Huey questioned. The guard didn't get the chance to answer that, as a series of gunshots suddenly went off, striking the floor in front of Huey. He turned to the door, to see Cinereo standing there with his gun in hand, some smoke seeping out of it. He smiled as he walked forward, followed by Garcon and another guard.
"We have got to stop meeting like this" he said directly toward Huey. Though he had lowered his gun, the threating intention he imposed was still clear. Watching him carefully, Huey dropped his nun chucks and sword to the floor. Cinereo picked up the sword and admired it in his hand for a moment. Garcon grabbed the nun chucks and then patted Huey down for any other weapons. After a quick inspection, Cinereo gestured for them to move upstairs to the office room. Cinereo took a seat behind the desk, placing the sword down on it, while Huey once again sat opposite.
"Well Huey, not that it isn't nice to see you again but you're really making me look bad out here. So let's get to the point. Why are you here?"
"I came here to take Michael back" he answered.
"No you didn't" Cinereo replied.
"Yeah I did" Huey said.
"No you didn't" Cinereo repeated.
"Just said I did".
"No you think you did, but the truth is you don't really want to save him"
"What are you talking about?" Huey asked, raising an eyebrow. Instead of answering him, Cinereo looked turned toward his henchman on his side.
"Garcon, go check on the boy's downstairs". He nodded in return and exited the room.
"Garcon means boy" Huey said, after he left.
"Yeah, that's his name" Cinereo explained. "Garcon Jouet. He's French"
"His name's Boy…?"
"Yes yes, sex jokes I know but whatever. Now where we? Oh yes. You were telling my why your here"
"I already told you" Huey said, beginning to feel frustrated.
"You did, but that's not how you really feel. The truth is you hate him"
"I hate him" Huey repeated.
"Oh yes. You hate him. Why? Because he's white. And you hate white people. Isn't that right?"
"I don't hate white people" Huey said after a short pause. "But I hold them accountable for most of the tragedies that have befallen the African race"
"There is no such as 'I don't hate'" Cinereo said knowingly. "You see black people will never forgive nor forget what white people did to them. You are living proof of that, which is sad really to see how they just want to keep playing victim. 'Oh we were slaves', 'oh we were lynched', 'oh please be nice to us otherwise your racist'. Now I like to think I am above all that considering my own racial background, so I don't really have much feeling one way or the other, but I do know this. No one will ever look at a black and white hanging out together and not think in the back of their minds that it's strange. Michael isn't your family Huey and he never will be. For one sad yet obvious reason"
There was no visible change in Huey's demeanour, yet Cinereo was certain that he had struck a nerve inside of him. Huey was about to give a counter argument, when he heard several scuffling sounds outside the door. The source of the sounds became clear when the door was throw open with Michael, Ruckus and Riley being pushed through it by Garcon and yet another thug. The three of them joined Huey in front of the desk, while Garcon stood on Cinereo right hand side.
"Well you know…" Cinereo started, but soon began to laugh with amusement. "This is really getting old. You standing there, me talking and pointing guns at you."
"Then how about you just let Huey and the others go" Michael said, the closet he came to actually show like pleading.
"You know I just might do that". Cinereo turned back to Huey.
"How bout it Huey? You now you have your real brother back and the door is right there" he said, while pointing behind them. "Now all you to do is walk away. If you want I'll even let you take the fat guy with his fake skin condition with you as a bonus"
"Re-villtigo aint fake" Ruckus exclaimed. "It's the worst kind of disease to befall a white man"
"Just walk away Huey" Cinereo said, ignoring Ruckus. "You have no reason to be here". Michael watched Huey carefully, hoping he would just do the smart and leave.
"…Yes I do" Huey said, walking out of his seat and moving in between Riley and Michael
"We're not leaving without Michael" Huey said. "He's family. We're a messed up family, but he's a part it now. He's our brother"
Michael felt his mouth fell open slightly, at a loss for words. He glanced at Huey but he had his eyes firmly set on Cinereo.
"He's your brother?" he repeated. "You do realise if that's the case then I'm going to kill all three of you? Are you really sure you don't want to reconsider you're position?"
Huey showed no signs of backing down and stood his ground, beside Riley who looked equally unflinching.
"We aint gonna back down like a pair of bitches"
Though he tried not to show it, Michael was genuinely moved by what Huey and Riley were doing for him, and was just as equally heartbroken that this would cost them their lives.
"Well that's disappointing" Cinereo said with some regret. "I really did like you Huey. It's really just something about your voice. It just sounds so ….cool. But life is full of disappointments, so everybody die's now. Anyone have any last words?"
The three boys and Ruckus shared some quick glances with each other, none of them daring to speak. Riley however decided he did have something to say.
"Look" he said directly to Cinereo. "Fuck you, fuck yo grey skin, fuck that suit, fuck that haircut, fuck that gun, fuck yo Taylor business methods, fuck yo racially ambiguity, fuck the Godfather, fuck Marlon Brandon, fuck the Joker, fuck Mark Hamill and fuck Troy Baker. Now the get the fuck outta of my face before I paint your grey ass black with my foot".
Cinereo stared blankly at Riley. "Mmm, you'd think I'd be angry at that, but…I'm not" he said with a shrug. "Anyone else?"
Once again there was silence, but this time Michael was the one to speak.
"Can I have one last drink?" Michael asked. Cinereo looked as though he wasn't sure if Michael was being serious or not.
"A drink?"
"Yes"
Cinereo mauled this over for a second before giving raising his hand up accusingly. "Wait I know what this is. You're going ask for some kind of alcoholic drink, and as soon as I hand it to you, you'll take out a rag and make it into a Molotov cocktail. You'll then throw at the desk, setting it on fire, catching us off guard and attempt to create an opening for escape"
"I can guarantee you that I will not be doing that" Michael assured them. "All I wanted was some water"
"Here you go little Michael" Ruckus said with a strangely cautious tone of voice "I happen to me have a thermos of rehydrating, nutritious water which I have been carry with me this whole time". Ruckus pulled out a small red thermos from his back pocket and handed to Michael.
"Thank you Ruckus" Michael said with a pleasant smile. Cinereo didn't seem to mind this exchange but still watched Michael carefully. Michael placed his hand on the cap of the thermos and then gave a quick glance in Huey's direction. Though they didn't exchange words, Huey was able to understand Michael's intention.
Still holding the cap, Michael quickly undid it and then flung the thermos at Cinereo's desk. Cinereo involuntarily raised his arms as the liquid nitrogen splashed on the table, briefly creating a cloud of vapour. In the moment of confusion, Ruckus tackled the thug to the left of the desk down to the ground and sat on top of him.
"Please forgive me Mister white man!" Ruckus cried as he stared beating the man underneath him.
Garcon tried to pull out his gun, but Huey jumped into the air and kicked it out of his hand. Moving into one corner of the room, the two of them faced off against each other. Michael and Riley were about to help Huey, when Cinereo flipped himself over the desk and gracefully landed in front of them.
"I usually don't like to get my hands dirty like this" he said, adjusting his black gloves. "But I am really getting tired of you breathing".
Michael raised his fists up, ready to settle this. Beside him, Riley also took up his own fighting stance. Michael ran forward threw a punch at Cinereo, but he easily blocked each one of his hits. Riley moved around to his left and tried to land a hit, but Cinereo easily blocked each one. He then grabbed Riley's arm as he swung and threw him over his head into the wall. Michael now fought Cinereo by himself, but all of his attacks were avoided. Taking control of the fight, Cinereo jabbed at Michael, hitting him with a solid strike to the face. He then grabbed Michael by the top of his head and slammed him into his raised kneecap.
At the other end of the room, Garcon struck at Huey with a series of punches of which Huey either blocked or dodged. Going underneath his arm, Huey managed to hit Garcon with an upper cut, followed by a hard kick to the abdomen.
Once Garcon was down, Huey watched as Ruckus, having finished his own opponent, threw a punch at Cinereo, who parried the hit and then gave Ruckus an upward strike to the face with his right elbow. As Ruckus fell back against the wall, Huey set his sights on Cinereo and made a running jump off him.
Without turning around, Cinereo gave a 360 kick to Huey while he was in the air and sent him flying across the room, hitting the side of the desk. Cinereo was now the only person left standing in the room. With a confident smile, he walked over to Michael as he lay on the floor and pressed his foot into his chest, pinning him to the down. He took out his gun and ran his hand over the hilt.
"I think I finally understand what meant about just shooting you". He slowly and deliberately lowered his gun, pointing execution style at Michael.
Huey sat back up and looked on as Cinereo was about to fire. Knowing he couldn't make it time, Huey looked around the room, until he saw something gleam in the corner of his eye. He turned to see his sword which was still lodged in the desk. He reached for it and gripped it in his right hand. Across the room, Cinereo was inches from pulling the trigger back. Michael stared into the barrel of gun and for in that moment he realised this was how he would die.
But it was only for that moment. In a split second he saw something else flash across his field of vision. Cinereo seemed to notice it as well. He turned over to the wall with a questioning look. Michael also turned his head and saw Huey's sword was now sticking a few inches out of the wall. Cinereo and Michael looked back at each other, neither of them entirely sure what had just happen. However everything became crystal clear, when Cinereo's hand fell right off his arm and landed right beside Michael's head.
For minute Cinereo stared down at the stump where his hand used to be, unable to give any reaction. He's face then fell into complete horror as he screamed at the sight of his arm and stumbled off Michael. While he was distracted, Huey ran over to Michael and helped him up. The two of them along with Riley and Ruckus then made dashed for the door. Cinereo recovered just quick enough to see what they were doing. Beside him, Huey's sword was still stuck in the wall. Gripping the handle with his single hand, he yanked it out of the door and with a seething glare in his eye, he trotted after the others.
Luckily Huey and the others slammed the door closed just before he reached them. They all pushed their backs up against and breathed a short sigh of relief. It was, however short lived when the end of the blade was thrust through the door, just above Riley's head. Huey managed to jam the door shut with a piece of furniture but splitters of wood began to break off the door, as Cinereo started to hack his way through.
Ruckus and the boys quickly made their way downstairs, until Michael stopped behind them.
"Okay look you got to get out of here now!" he asserted.
"What are you going to do?" Huey asked. Suddenly he noticed a strange smell in the room. "Is that…gas?"
"We came up here to cause a gas leak" he answered. "That's we got caught again. And now I'm going to finish this". He pulled out a match he had hidden behind his ear, along with a piece of striking paper. Huey instantly guess what he was going to do.
"No" he said, refusing to let it happen.
"Look this is the only way. Cinereo will keep coming for me. I'm the reason he's here, so I have to do this"
"No you don't little Michael". Ruckus gently took hold of Michael's hand and took the match from him. "I'll do it. You get out of here"
"…Fine by me" Riley said quickly, running out of the door and down the hall. Ruckus got down on his knee and put his hand on Michael's shoulder.
"I never got the chance to see my adopted darkie family again for fifty years, but you still have that chance. Go and share yo magnificent life with them niggas, you beautiful little angel"
Michael stared at Ruckus for a second, not sure how to respond. "Quick question. If I was black you'd just let me die right?"
"I would indeed" Ruckus said plainly.
"….yeah ok" Michael replied with an eye roll. Without another word he turned around and followed Riley. Just before he left too, Huey gave Ruckus quick nod of respect and ran after the others
Up the stairs, Cinereo continued to cut away at the door until he finally managed to kick it down. He was panting heavily, his greasy hair a mess and blood pouring out of his wound even as he held it under his left arm. Staggering forward and dragging the sword along the floor, he made his way down stairs, the only thought going through his head was how many pieces he would cut those three little kids into. He stopped in the middle of the suite when saw Ruckus waiting for him in front of the door. Cinereo lifted up his sword, but paused to look at what Ruckus was holding in his hand.
Ruckus held up the match against the striking paper, ready to pull it across. Cinereo could now feel dreaded sense of understanding come over him as he only just now began to smell the gas.
"I'll see you in grey purgatory….From white heaven".
"Ooooh fudge" was the last thing Cinereo said before Ruckus struck the match.
Just seconds before it happened, the three boys were running down the hallway as fast as their legs could carry them. As they turned a corner, Michael started to chant franticly and pointed at something ahead of them
"Laundrychutelaundrychutelaundrychutelaundrychute!"
Riley was the first one to reach the chute and opened it the lid for the others. Huey went first, and then Michael and Riley jumped in behind them. Together they slide down the chute, just as the explosion went off above them. They continued to slide down the smooth metal, until they broke through another lid and landed inside a laundry cart. Slowly each one of them pulled themselves up out of the pile clothes and leaned onto the side of the cart.
"Thank god for convenient clichés" Michael said with a sigh.
After getting out of the laundry room, the three boys made their way to the front of the hotel. In was night time now and the top of the hotel was now complexly ablaze, as it lit up the sky.
Taking a sit on the ground, Michael sighed heavily. "Well this has been a fun day". Soon Riley and Huey joined him on the ground and for a while they simply looked up at the building on fire.
"Too bad about Ruckus" Michael said, breaking their silence.
"Maybe's he's better off dead" Huey said solemnly. Reaching into his back pocket, Huey then pulled out a small photograph and handed it to Michael
"You looked in my box huh?" Michael said, looking over the picture.
"The lid was broken" Huey explained. "That was all you had in it, but I always thought you kept something important in their"
"No I said I kept things that were precious to me in the box. I never said I had anything in it"
"But you had picture in it" Huey said.
"Yeah" Michael said carefully. "I guess I was just trying to deluded myself"
"What do you mean?" Huey asked.
"Well I … just thought it would be fun to pretend okay. Having this picture just made me feel really happy because I…I"
"Because of what?" Huey asked softly. Michael looked over the picture for a minute and seemed to be thinking of how to get his thoughts across.
"Okay. It's like this" he finally said. "You guys are the most dysfunctional, crazy and downright fucked up bunch of niggas I have ever met. You argue, you fight, you scream at each other and it's like you're designed to be incompatible and bring out the worst in each other. But despite all that. Despite all the drama, craziness and fucked up shit you get into, your still there for each other no matter what. And you don't need to say how you feel. You just know. You know without a doubt that each of you love and care for each other more than anything and that somehow you belong together. And I just wondered…"
Michael paused and looked down at the picture again with a melancholy expression, his voice beginning to break ever so slightly.
"I just wondered…. if that's what it feels like to have a family"
Huey didn't say at first, but his usually scowl melted away and he now looked pretty sympathetic.
"And why did you think that we wouldn't feel that way about you" Huey asked, starring hard into Michael.
"Cos I'm white" he replied, cynically. "And you hate white people"
"I am not really sure I how do feel sometimes. I'm still young, so maybe there's more for me to learn about the life and the world. But can tell you this. I meant what I said back in there. I know how I feel about you. We all feel the same. Me, Riley and Granddad. We all care about you, cos whether we like it or n not you are our family. And…you're my brother".
Michael looked up at Huey and he appeared to be almost vulnerable. He and Huey held each other's gaze for a minute, until Michael moved closer and hugged Huey tightly. "Thank you" he said.
Huey put his arms around Michael and return the gesture.
"You two... are by FAR, the gayest pair of niggas I have EVER seen in my whole damn-". Riley felt both Huey and Michael garb him by the shoulders and simultaneously pulled him into their hug. Though at first he seemed a little repulsed by it, he soon relaxed and put his arms around both of them in return. And for a moment the three of them stood embraced together, grateful to be together.
"Okayokayokay" Riley said hastily, breaking from the hug just as quickly as he entered. "That's enough. Don't let people be thinking am into yo gay ass shit"
"You okay?" Huey asked after he released Michael.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good" Michael said in a low voice, rubbing his right eye with his thumb.
"So what do you think happened to Ed and Rummy?" Riley asked after another minute.
A second after he asked, there was another explosion from the top of the hotel. Looking upwards, the boys saw two objects jump straight through a window on a lower floor. Another explosion from inside the building illuminated the objects, revealing them to be Ed and Rummy.
They jumped into the air and seemed to be moving in slow motion as the explosion trailed behind them. They then began to fall downwards, their arms and legs flailing in the air as if they were just jumping across a small hole. They kept falling down and down and down until….
Smack.
They both landed face first on the granite pavement in front of the three boys, huge cracks surrounding their bodies(3). Then they suddenly stood up, without any injuries and looking no worse for wear.
"I told you there were no motherfucking bushes down here!" Rummy yelled at Ed. They then noticed the boys staring at them.
"The fuck y'all looking at!?"
The three boys looked in-between each and simply shrugged in indifference.
Once Ed and Rummy dropped them home, the boys walked up to house, feeling completely exhausted after today's events.
"Hey guys I've been wondering something" Michael said.
"What?" Huey asked.
"Well you know we keep doing all this stuff that we're doing, but imagine we did but we were like as adults or teenagers. You know we weren't kids or anything. You think that would somehow make things more interesting?"
Huey and Riley shared a quick looked with each other before answering in unison.
"No".
"Yeah alright", Michael shrugged forgetting the subject(4). When they opened the door of the house, the three of them stopped in their tracks as they came face to face with Granddad, looking unpleasant.
"The hell is wrong with you three?" he demanded, not looking too surprised at seeing Michael back. "I said be back by dinner and now it's like eleven o'clock. I spent all day over a hot stove cooking for you boys and now all that's gone to waste. You have any idea of the crazy shit I've had to deal with today, while you kids were outside playing?"
"It was my fault we were late" Michael spoke up. "Sorry about that"
Granddad turned his head to Michael as if he had just realised he was there. "And you! You have idea how much glass I had to clean up after them gangsters showed and started shooting my damn house? Hell if I'd known you been messing around with crazy grey skinned gangsters I would have dumped yo ass at the fire station the first chance I got. But I think am just gonna beat yo ass for the rest of the evening, till you learn yourself some damn sense and-"
Michael moved closer and hugged Granddad tightly around his waist. Granddad's earlier animosity melted away and now he looked down at Michael with an expression of surprise and uncertainty.
"I love you too…Granddad" Michael said softly, still embracing Robert warmly. Eventually Granddad cleared his throat and gently pulled Michael off of him.
"Um...yeah…well uh. G-Good too have you back" he said awkwardly. Though he was still frowning at them, Granddad was now more relaxed as looked over the boys.
"Come on" he said with a small smile. "I'll heat up some leftovers for ya"
Without hesitation they followed Granddad into the kitchen, expect for Riley, who remained where he was, shaking his head solemnly
"Man, that nigga is so gay". He then joined the others in the kitchen and the four them had their dinner together.
1. That's an actual thing. Apparently it's an effect that happens when a liquid falls on something incredibly hot. It creates a layer of steam which protects from making contact. Like when you put a drop of water on a hot stove. The same happens with liquid nitrogen, since it's so cold compare to anything it touches. You could actually deep your hand into liquid nitrogen but only for a second.
2. Just kidding. It really is a myth, but that's the joke.
3. That is literally the funniest thing I have ever seen in a movie ever…and I don't own it.
4. …..
Btw if anyone is wondering if Ruckus is dead, well he's about as dead as he would be if he was ever struck by lightning. So this was a long one, but it was still fun to write. Also now that this part of the stories out of the way, I'm going to focus on some more Huey and Jazmine in the future, since that is all anybody really cares about for some reason. Also since the season 4 will be out soon, I may decide to re-write some episodes with Michael them if anyone is interested. So thanks again for reading and have a happy new year.