Okay, sorry for the wait. So this chapter has some Huey/Jazmine for anyone that is interested. I know I promised more, but I wanted to keep it slow so I hope I turned out ok.

Boondocks Chapter 25

It was late in the afternoon at the Freeman household. Granddad was downstairs in the living room watching TV. Riley and Michael were upstairs in the bedroom. Riley was on the bed, listening to his iPad and Michael was sitting at the table reading a book. Huey entered the room, having just finished washing up in bathroom. He crossed the room and opened his closet door, pulling out one of his jackets

"And where are you off to?" Michael asked him, looking up from his book

"I'm going out" he said.

"Where?"

"There's this new carnival that opened up down at the pier a week ago. Jazmine wants to go, but Tom and Sarah are too busy to take her, so I said that I would"

Michael lowered his book and stared at Huey for a moment, scrunching him face slightly as processed this.

"So… you're going on a date… with Jazmine" Michael said slowly. "As in a date with just the two of you?"

"Nigga, you gay" Riley said out loud, without even moving or opening his eyes

"First of all, it's not a date" Huey said to Michael. "Second of all, you are in command till I get back. That's means you keep an eye on Riley and Granddad, don't let anything happen to the house and under no circumstance are you to start fire. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir". Michael raised his hand and saluted Huey with a very serious expression.

Excepting the reply, Huey walked over to his drawer. He reached in and took out a medium length katana. Sheathing the blade, he tucked it securely behind his back, underneath his jacket.

"Wait. You're bringing a sword with you?" Michael said with less disbelief than you would expect.

"Yeah" Huey replied.

"That's a bit much to bring on a first date isn't?"

"First of all, it's not a date" Huey repeated, with some irritation. "Second of all, mugging and child molesters often congregate near carnivals and water fronts. And third of all, Ruckus will more than likely be there working there as a vendor"

"Ah, good point" Michael nodded. Taking some money out of the drawer, Huey made his way to the door, until Michael caught up to him for a second.

"Look Huey just some advice" he said. "Jazmine really does like you and aside from me and Riley, she's pretty much your only friend. So you know for once, just try and a have a little fun"

Huey gave no reply and but still listened to Michael's advice with respect

"Remember" he said, his hand on the door. "Don't let anything happen while I'm gone. I'm trusting you with this"

"Don't worry Huey" Michael said confidently. "I'll got this"

Later, Huey and Jazmine were sitting in the back seat of Tom's car as he drove along the road.

"Thanks a bunch for doing this Huey" he said. "Jazmine really wanted to visit the carnival, but Sarah's come down with the flu and I have a meeting today. You will be alright for a couple of hours?"

"Yes Daddy" Jazmine said. "Huey won't let us get into trouble"

They arrived at the pier, where the new carnival that just been set up on the wooden dock. It was relatively small and there wasn't that much to it yet, but had some notable attractions, such rides, game stands and even a small Ferris wheel.

"I'll pick you guys up later okay. Have fun sweet heart". Tom waved them goodbye and drove off down the road, leaving Huey and Jazmine by themselves.

"So what do you want to do first?" Jazmine asked eagerly, looking around the carnival.

"I don't know" Huey said indifferently. "You decide that"

"Ooh let's go on this ride!" Jazmine put her arm around Huey's and pulled him along to the nearby ride she had pointed to. The ride was a rotating wheel that spun them around on a horizontal plane. Jazmine raised her hands in the air and squealed in delight as they spun faster and faster on the wheel, while Huey remained silent and composed, with his arms crossed.

The next ride was a sails boat that went up and down on a pendulum. Jazmine cheered happily as they rose into the air and back down again. Huey rested his hand on his chin and kept that pose as like a statue, even as the ride picked up speed.

Next they went on the Ferris wheel. It wasn't very big and so it didn't reach up that high, but it held a good view of the ocean. Huey and Jazmine were in a small compartment by themselves. Jazmine was looking out at the view with wonder, while Huey once again just looked bored.

"Come on Huey. Aren't you having fun?" Jazmine asked, now walking through the carnival again.

"I guess" Huey shrugged.

"Then why aren't you smiling?"

"Why would I smile?" he asked.

"Well that's what you do when you're happy or having fun"

"Then I guess I'll smile when those conditions are met" he said impassively.

"But you never smile" Jazmine whined. "I bet I can find something that'll make you smile before we have to go back".

"Good luck with that" Huey said. They continued to explore the carnival, this time looking at some of the food and prize stands.

"Let's try this one next". Jazmine pointed over to a stand which had a rack of stuffed toys and prizes. A clerk was leaning forward on the counter, looking bored. Behind him were sets of single bottles on some ledges. They walked up to him, as Jazmine eagerly began to look at the prizes.

"How much for that cute panda?" Jazmine asked the clerk, pointing at the one she wanted.

"If you want the toy all you have to do is knock over the bottle" he replied. Jazmine paid the clerk with some money and in return, he gave her three rubber balls.

"You get three shots" he said.

Holding up one of the balls, Jazmine threw it at the bottle, but missed it. She tried a second time, but missed again. On the third try is managed to hit the bottle dead on. It wobbled back and forward on the ledge for a second but it didn't fall over.

"I hit it! I hit it! I won!" Jazmine looked up at the clerk with excitement, but he made no move to get her a prize.

"Sorry little lady but no dice" he said.

"What?" Jazmine said, aghast. "Why not?"

"You got to knock the bottle off the ledge"

"Can I try again?"

"Knock yourself out" he said, taking Jazmine's money with satisfaction.

Once again Jazmine tried to knock the bottle over. She had better aim this time around, but every time the ball hit the target, the bottle would simple wobble on the ledge in nearly the same manner each time, never fully tipping over.

Huey watched with disapproval as Jazmine kept paying the clerk for more tries, though she only seemed to grow more determined rather than discouraged.

"Jazmine, stop" he said after she paid for a fifth try. "This game is rigged. You can't win"

"It's not rigged, it's challenging" the clerk rebuffed, counting his money

"It isn't challenging for you to make money" Huey said coldly.

"Hey little, man if you don't your girlfriend to win that bear, that's fine with me"

"Huey, I'm trying to concentrate here" Jazmine said impatiently as she lined up the ball to the bottle. She threw it but once again, the bottle just wobbled.

"Jazmine the end of bottle is obviously attached to a spring" Huey said. "It won't fall no matter how hard you hit with those balls. Stand operators rig these games to make money without having to give up their popular prizes"

"Hey I'm not the one who rigged this game…if it is rigged" the clerk mumbled offhandedly. "I didn't even set it up. We had this one eyed black guy working here to put up the stand and set up the games. He was gonna work the stand too, but management let him off, because he only wanted to charge blacks and let white kids get stuff for free."

"Are you were against that?" Huey asked.

"Of course" he asserted. "White kids have a lot more money than black kids, so we have to let them play"

Huey and Jazmine stared silently at the clerk as his statement sank in.

"I want a go" Huey said, handing the clerk his money. He took it without question and offered Huey the three balls

"Can I try throwing something else?" Huey asked. The clerk eyed him for a second, wondering if he should allow this

"If this game isn't rigged" Huey said "Then I should be able to knock the bottles over with anything I throw"

"Alright" the clerk shrugged. "Go for it"

Moving at blinding speed, Huey reached behind his back and pulled out his sword out into the air, the sheath flying off. Arching his arm back, Huey sent the blade spinning through the air, until it pierce the bottle with incredible force, breaking off its spring. The sword dug itself into the back wall of the stand, bottle skewed right onto it.

The clerk quietly handed Jazmine her stuffed panda without a single word. She accepted the prize with delight and hugged it tightly.

After retrieving his sword and sheath, Huey and Jazmine left the depressed vendor and his stand.

"Why did you bring a sword?" she asked.

"I'm cautiously pessimistic" he replied, sticking blade behind his back.

"You're weird" Jazmine laughed

"Least I'm not careless with money" he replied coolly.

"But I really wanted to get this panda" Jazmine said happily

"Why?"

"Because he has a big grumpy face just like you. See!" Jazmine held out the stuffed panda and sure enough it had a deep scowling face that would do Huey justice.

"I still don't see why you would want that" Huey said.

"I thought it was funny" Jazmine giggled, hugging her bear. "Don't you think it's funny?"

Huey didn't reply, but simply kept his straight face.

"Oh come on. It doesn't make you wanna smile?" Jazmine said with a chuckle.

"No" Huey said, deadpanned. Jazmine stared back at him with a pout and then looked at her new toy.

"What do you think Mr Panda?"

Jazmine pulled the panda closer to her ear as if he was whispering to her. Nodding in understanding, Jazmine shoved the panda into Huey's face and then spoke in a deep, gruff like voice

"Hiya Huey. I'm Mr Panda."

"Hello Mr Panda" Huey said calmly.

"Now why don't you want to give a little smile for Jazmine? I'm sure she'd really love it. Everybody loves a smile! Why do you have to be so unhappy looking all the time? Why do you look sooooo sad and down?"

"Mr Panda" Huey said, addressing the stuff toy as if it was real. "Are you aware that only 1600 of your species still exist in the wild today due to deforestation and that in roughly fifty years you will have been wiped out it exchange for pulp paper and greenhouse gases? You're merry disposition in the face of extinction is inspirational". Huey finished that last part with a faint yet distinctive trace of cold sarcasm

Jazmine pulled Mr Panda away from Huey and looked at him with a slightly shocked expression. She slowly clutched the bear closer to her chest and looked a little guilty.

The atmosphere had now shifted and there was an awkward pause between the two of them. Huey sighed in frustration, mostly about how Jazmine had reacted to what he said. Not wanting to have to put up with her crying, Huey looked around the carnival to try and find something that might cheer her up.

"You want to get some cotton candy?" he asked, indicting to a sweet stand.

"…Okay" Jazmine mumbled dully. Walking up to the stand, Huey purchased a stick of cotton candy for himself and Jazmine.

"Look sooner or later you gotta learn to hear things that are true, either good or bad" Huey lectured.

Jazmine didn't say anything back to Huey and still seemed to be a little upset. She looked down at her cotton candy glumly, but her face soon brightened as she got an idea. Grinning, she pulled a large whiff of cotton off the stick and stuck it on top of Mr Panda's head, making it look like he had a big puff of pink hair.

"What are you doing?" Huey asked, perplexed.

Jazmine didn't answer him, but instead carefully fluffed the cotton around a bit more until it was the almost the exact same size and shape as Huey's afro.

"Now he looks just like you" Jazmine said with a grin, holding up Mr Panda up to Huey's face. Huey stared at the bear and its absurd cotton hair with a reserved expression. Jazmine then started to move Mr Panda's arms from up and down, while also making a very serious and straight looking face of her own.

"Oh I'm Huey Freeman" she said, imitating Huey's voice. "I'm from Chicago. I'm so smart, I know everything about everything but nobody ever listens to me, because I'm a big sour puss!"

Huey didn't respond to Jazmine's erratic display and just did his best to ignore it. However Jazmine moved Mr Panda closer and continue to talk through him with her 'Huey voice' without relent.

"I don't have any friends and I think black people are stupid and I think that Jesus was black. I have an imaginary secret agent friend who follows me everywhere and I have a big sore butt because my granddaddy spanks me with his belt!"

Huey let out a groan in disgust and rolled his eyes. He crossed his arms and turned his head away, refusing to look at Jazmine or the bear, but she just moved even closer.

"I can fly around and do kung fu and I like to play with swords. I hate BET and fried chicken and I don't believe in the Tooth Fairy. I say mean things to people and my hairs' so big that I can't stand up straight or wear a hat!"

"….I don't even have any hats" Huey mumbled quietly, looking down at the ground.

"But the rest is all the truth isn't it?" Jazmine said with a satisfied grin and her voice back to normal.

Huey didn't say anything, but a small blush appeared on his face. Jazmine smiled again and smartly picked off some fluff from Mr Panda's cotton hair. She ate it smugly as she sauntered off. Huey followed her behind her begrudgingly.

Later after another half hour of just walking around, Huey and Jazmine stopped at the edge of the pier. Huey sat down on the wooden dock and looked out over the water as the sun was slowly setting. Jazmine took a seat right beside him, setting Mr Panda down behind her.

"You're not mad are you?" she asked a little tentatively

"No" he said.

"I wasn't trying to mean or anything. I was just…" she trailed off.

"You were just telling the truth" Huey finished. "It's okay"

"Thanks for taking me out here" Jazmine said after a minute. "It's really nice out here. Especially the sunset. It's really pretty isn't it?"

"Yeah" Huey said. Jazmine looked at him with some anticipation.

"And that still doesn't make you want to smile?" she asked.

"No" he said flatly.

"What about…rainbows? Do they make you want to smile?"

"No"

"Even double rainbows?"

"No"

"How bout puppies?"

"No"

"Kittens?"

"No"

"Laughter of children?"

"No"

"…A really really big party with everybody you know and love, with a bouncy castle, balloon animals, a water slide, a giant chocolate frosting cake, your named spelled out in fireworks and Usher singing for you?"

Huey slowly turned to Jazmine and raised an eyebrow. "…No"

Jazmine groaned in frustration and lay back on the wooden dock, looking up at the sky. "What is wrong with you? Doesn't anything make you happy?"

"Jazmine, I'm neither happy nor unhappy" Huey said. "I lie suspended like a hair or feather in a cloudy mixture of memory. Lawrence Durrell's Justine"

"You're impossible" Jazmine chuckled

"Why is it such a big deal to you if I smile or not?" Huey asked. "What is a smile anyway?"

Jazmine sat back up and thought intently for a second. "A smile… a smile is just this little twitch you do with your face. But even though it's just a twitch, it can express something warm and good that you feel inside of your head or your heart. It's a way to share how you feel with the rest of the world and maybe let other people feel something good as well. That's Jazmine Dubois by the way" she added smugly.

Huey raised his eyebrow again at her response. He then stood back up from the dock.

"I'm still not smiling Jazmine" he said curtly. Jazmine groaned again and threw her hands up on disbelief. Shaking her head, she pouted in annoyance, but then smiled slyly as another idea came to her.

"Well then, it looks like you leave me no other choice" she said in serious manner as she stood up. "I have to use the final contingency"

"What's the final contingency?" Huey asked, sounding as if he took the threat seriously.

"…Tickling!" Jazmine reached out with her hands and grabbed Huey's sides. She started to vigorously tickle him with her with her fingers. Huey still didn't smile or laugh at her attempts. In fact he just looked more annoyed than anything else.

"Jazmine, stop it" he said. But Jazmine didn't stop and just tickled him even more while giggling to herself. Huey's face and body twitched uncomfortably as Jazmine pressed her fingers into him, making feel a little embarrassed by her what she was doing.

"Jazmine cut it out" he said repeated, sounding a little more impatient. "I said cut it out. Stop it!"

Losing some of his stoic composure, Huey suddenly lifted up his hands and tried to pry Jazmine's hands off of him, but she pulled them out of reach and now began to playfully poke him in his arms and sides. Jazmine laughed happily as Huey kept trying to swat her hands away in frustration. Huey then tried to grab Jazmine's hands as she poked him, but she quickly slipped him out of his grasp, giggling uncontrollably as if they were playing a game.

Finally, however, Huey managed to take a firm hold of Jazmine's hand. She flung her other arm wildly around in the air, taunting Huey as he tried to catch it as well. Once he did, he held onto both of her hands tightly as she desperately tried to pull away.

"Stop… it" he said evenly to her face. It was then Jazmine finally stopped giggling and calmed down as she looked back at Huey. For a second the two of them just stood still and stared right into each other's eyes. Huey was the one to blink first. Clearing his throat and let go of Jazmine.

"It's getting late" he finally said. "Your Dad will be expecting us"

"Yeah. Yeah okay" she said tiredly.

Moving away from the edge of the pier, they walked back through the carnival to the entrance where Tom was going to pick them up. Huey said nothing, but he kept glancing at Jazmine who kept smiling as if something was funny.

As they turned a corner, another person suddenly collided with them. Huey stumbled back a little, while Jazmine was knocked to the ground, taking the brunt of the hit.

"Ow!" Jazmine rubbed her head as Huey helped her back up. Huey turned to the person that ran into them. He was a dark skinned kid who looked about the same age as them, with a butch cut hair style. Huey stared at the other kid as he also recovered from the impact. When he finally looked at them, he scrunched his face as if he had just stepped his shoe in something disgusting.

"Sorry about that. We didn't see you" Jazmine said kindly to the kid once she was back up.

The kid didn't say anything and just gave Jazmine a bit of a disgruntled face. Looking off in another direction, he quickly rubbed his chest with a clench hand and looked back at them.

"Um… excuse me?" Jazmine said uncertainly. The kid now rolled his eyes and impatiently pushed Jazmine to the side so that he could walk right past them.

"Hey!" Jazmine said, sounding offended, as the kid brushed right by them.

"Hey! Hey wait a minute!" she called after him, but it didn't seem like he had even heard her. This only seemed to offend Jazmine even more. With her face reddening she marched after the kid, despite Huey's attempts to pull her back.

"Hey! I said sorry so you have to apologize too!" she said angrily as she caught up to him.

The kid glanced round, as if he only just noticed Jasmine. He rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance before just walking on again, but Jazmine grabbed his shoulder.

"You're really rude you know that? You bump into someone, don't apologize and then just push them out of the way. You big jerk!"

The kid gave Jazmine a look that was both incredulous and angry

"Well I take it back, I'm not sorry. You ran into us, so you have to apologize and I'm not leaving till you do. So go on!"

The kid just stared at Jazmine with an angry glare which she returned in kind as she moved closer to his face

"Well are you gonna apologize for being rude, huh?" she demanded, her voice rising. "Huh? What are you, deaf!?"

"YESH…IE…AM!"

"….Wha?" Jazmine said her anger dropping in a second.

"Ie am deafh!" he said with a slurred voice(1). "Ie hav an earrin adie!" He pointed to a small brown device behind his left ear. The kid then pointed to his chest as he rubbed it once again with a clenched hand.

"Ie saida sowy to you in sighn lanwuage"

"I…I… I'm so sorry" Jazmine said in complete shock at what she had done. "I...I had no idea you were-"

"Ie'm ina hurwy and Ie hav tings to do. Stopid bitcha!" he cursed. And with that the deaf kid stormed off down the pier.

Jazmine walked back to Huey in a daze. She picked up Mr Panda up from where she had dropped him and buried her face in his fur, completely mortified.

"I'm going to go hell" she muttered miserably.

Jazmine was soon brought out of her despondence when she heard a strange snorting sound, followed by a sharp breath. Lifting her head up in confusion, she turned back round to Huey, who was covering his mouth with one hand and clearing his throat loudly. When he lowered his hand, Jazmine thought that for a brief second she thought saw the side of his mouth curl upwards. But an instant later he went straight back to his stoic face.

"Are…are you laughing?"

"No" he said, recovering quickly

"Yes! Yes you were! You were laughing at me!"

"Maybe I was" Huey said calmly. "Didn't you want me to laugh?"

"You think it's funny that I made fun of a deaf kid?! You're messed up Huey!" Jazmine, despite herself, broke into a fit of giggles.

"I just found it interesting" he said with a shrug. "That may be the closest thing you'll ever have to a nigga moment in your life. You're probably spending too much time around Cindy"

Jazmine stared at Huey and a second she started slapping him with her hands and then with Mr Panda, while he lifted up his arm in mild defence.

Afterwards, Tom picked the two of them up and brought them back to his house, Huey agreeing to walk back home himself. Tom went inside, leaving Jazmine standing alone on the porch with Huey.

"Thanks again for coming with me" she said. "It was a lot of fun"

"You have a strange definition of fun" he said.

"Well your definition of fun is picking on handicapped kids" Jazmine said, grinning playfully.

"Then I guess we both had fun" Huey said smoothly.

"Guess we did. If I had known that all I had to do to get you to smile was get into a fight with a deaf kid, I wouldn't have even tried to do it the first place. What do you think Mr Panda?" She held up the bear to her ear again. Jazmine nodded affirmatively and closed her eyes.

"Mr Panda says that you ought to get some professional help Hu-"

Before Jazmine could finish what she was about to say, Huey, without any kind of warning, moved in closer and kissed her on the cheek. Jazmine opened her eyes wide and became very stiff. She unconsciously squeezed Mr Panda tightly to her chest and a slight blush was appearing on her face

"Thank you, for trying to make me smile" he said. Before Jazmine could even think of anything to say, Huey was already walking down the street back home.

Huey sighed with both exhaustion and content as he walked. He hadn't known what to expect when he volunteered to take Jazmine out for the evening, but it wasn't often that he was able to come home with this kind of warm feeling in his chest. And he beginning to enjoyed it immensely.

However that warm feeling was instantly gone once Huey made it back to the house as he gaped in shock at the sight of it. The door of the house was burst wide open and some of the windows were broken, but that was only the second thing Huey noticed.

The first was that the front lawn of the house was completely flooded, with water and sewage spilling out from a large hole on the lawn like a fountain and out onto the street.

In the front of the house was standing Michael and Granddad (who wasn't wearing any pants), both of them soaking wet and covered in muck. They turned away from the house, to see Huey walking up on the wet grass and looking at them with an angry frown.

Michael and Granddad immediately pointed at each other and yelled simultaneously.

"It was his fault!"

(1)Okay have to apologize for that. I found it INCREDIBLE hard to write slurred speech and make it sound realistic. I hope I didn't offend anyone about that, but then again, that kid may be deaf, but deafness does not beget manners.

Btw the kid's name was Douglas and we may yet be seeing him again.

So next chapter we'll be seeing what happened to the house after Huey left. Won't spoil anything beyond that, except that yes it was Granddad's fault. Kinda.

PS I have a poll on profile for anyone who is interested. Peace out