Huey Freeman had graduated Woodcrest High School with an almost perfect GPA, plenty of extracurriculars, college classes, and a college application essay that exploited his own personal trauma as a young black man in America with two deceased parents. It was almost too easy for him to get in. And nothing in his life had ever been easy for him. He didn't even have to include the nonsense that his grandfather had put him through during his childhood. With the help of scholarships, grants, and a few loans — Huey had graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelors in Political Science in 3 years and started working as an arbitrator at the age of 22. Next was his masters, and he had intended on jumping right into it. No need to take any time off and chance not to be able to get back into it until 10 years later because… life. But again, that was only his intention.
He hadn't intended for Granddad to have a huge health scare out of nowhere. Huey didn't hesitate to take some time off work and fly back over to Woodcrest as soon as Riley called him, sounding as though he was ready to break down. Huey was back home by 2am and in the hospital by 3am. He always loved his family, no one could ever dispute that… but the past few years he had been so focused on himself that he had neglected his brother and Granddad. Sure, he sent them money and kept in touch through FaceTime and text. He made sure to visit every Christmas. He told himself it was for them — to be able to support them and make sure they lived comfortably. Mostly Granddad, but Riley was lumped into that equation by default. Somewhere between then and now, Huey had convinced himself that was enough.
He hadn't even stopped to consider that Granddad was old, and that he didn't have forever with him. No amount of money would change that fact.
So after Granddad was well enough to return home and was in the clear, Huey flew back to get things situated in Chicago. He withdrew from the masters, put a month's notice in at his job, and broke the lease for his apartment. He wasn't technically in a relationship but he called it quits with the girl he was seeing, because he really did think they had potential to be together but she didn't do long distance. Once everything in Chicago was situated, all he had to do was worry about Woodcrest. He had enough money saved up that he wouldn't have to work for a while and he'd live at home until he got sick of being there. All he had to worry about was getting movers to drive his stuff over to Woodcrest.
That month flew by as fast as a month had ever gone by in his entire life, and before he knew it, he was saying goodbye to the home he'd built for himself in Chicago. And boy did he have to get used to being home again, because as soon as he stepped foot in the door, it was chaos.
"Damn Granddad! You can't eat that shit! It's not good for your heart. I can make you something healthy and you over here eating a burger?!" Riley shouted. He had treated Robert like a glass doll once he got back home but clearly… that was over and done with.
Robert sucked his teeth (dentures) and began to unravel the McDonald's burger sitting in his lap. "I'll tell you what, I'm a grown ass man. I can eat a burger every now and then if I want to. Now get outta my ass, boy!"
Riley almost swiped the burger out of Granddad's hand, but even at his old age, he had his hand on his belt and was ready to whip it out if need be. Riley turned and finally saw Huey standing in the doorway to the living room, watching the situation in silence. "There you are! Huey, talk some sense into this old nigga. He tryna end up back in the hospital."
Huey took a deep sigh and placed his bags by the steps. His granddad had only gotten more stubborn with age but the heart attack had changed him a lot more than they would've ever expected. Granddad was always willing and ready to fight over virtually anything if he could. "Granddad, we can make burgers at home. It'll be healthier that way. No one said you couldn't have a burger but you're supposed to stay away from beef anyways. Damn."
"Like I just said, I'm a grown man. I can do what I want." Robert grumbled loudly, but he let Riley take the food out of his hand.
Riley ducked his teeth again and went to toss it in the trash. "Too damn old to be arguing like that. I'll make some burgers for dinner…" he mumbled as he went into the freezer to take out some ground Turkey meat.
"Don't let me hear you mumbling under your breath again! You grown now but not too grown to get a whoopin handed to you." Robert snapped, snatching the remote off of the table and flipping through the TV. Huey smirked a little bit to himself. Nothing had changed, even after being away for years. He remembered being so annoyed by stuff like this right before leaving off to school, that it made him physically angry to hear arguing all the time. Huey excused himself to bring some of his bags upstairs to his old room. It was left just the same as he left it — save for the few things that had moved over the years when he came to visit.
It was going to take some getting used to being back but… probably more needed than he thought.
He placed his bags next to his dresser and closet and took a seat on the edge of his bed. He took one glance around his room and plopped backwards on his bed. Lot of memories in this house that he hadn't put too much thought into recently. He was never a person to look back, he was always set on the future and whatever was ahead of him. Too many things moving in the future for him to sit and reminisce about things that were already done and over with. So, with a small lump in his throat, Huey sat up and made his way downstairs where things were much more peaceful than he had left them. His brother and grandfather were how they had always been in the living room - Riley sprawled out across the couch with Robert kicked back in his recliner. Riley had his phone in his hands while Robert was chuckling to The Jamie Foxx Show. Huey walked his way over to the empty couch adjacent to Riley.
"What's good bruh?" Riley reached his hand out to dap Huey. "You been MIA recently, huh?"
Huey dapped his brother as he plopped down on the couch and just nodded. Not much he could really say to his absence because he knew he was doing the bare minimum keeping up with them. It was literally written in his calendar every Saturday. "Just trying to work as much as possible."
Riley sucked his teeth, "I respect the hustle. Don't even gotta say nothing to me about that."
Even though Riley was still Riley, it didn't change the fact that he had grown up a lot. He was taking community college classes while he decided if he wanted to go to university and he had multiple businesses — a clothing brand, a durag brand, and he was the plug. Everyone thought Riley wouldn't amount to much, but… that certainly wasn't the case and Huey was really proud of him. It also helped that he stepped up and helped Granddad when Huey had up and left to pursue education and a career.
Huey shrugged, "Doesn't mean I can't keep in touch."
Granddad chimed in under his breath, "We grown men. Ain't nobody worried about that." Huey simply rolled his eyes because he had been nagged on several occasions by Granddad about him not touching base with him. He felt like he was transported back into his teenage years.
He was happy to be home, but damn was it gonna test his patience.
On the other side of town…
Jazmine pinched the bridge of her nose as she stared at the mess in front of her. It wasn't as though she was surprised because this was an everyday thing. She took a deep breath, to help settle her frustration and to avoid yelling, "Ki, come clean your toys up."
Small footsteps padded across the living room floor and big hazel eyes looked up at Jazmine. Those beautiful big eyes were all Jazmine needed to see in order to relax. Her eyes were the perfect mixture between Jazmine's eyes and her fathers eyes. Big beautiful hazel eyes. Kiana was just a toddler and she was such a good one, at that. "Mkay mommy."
And as easy as that, she started to clean her toys up and place them in her toy bins. While she was preoccupied, Jazmine went back to her original task — packing the diaper bag with all the essentials. Instead of going to daycare today, the plan was to visit her parents and drop by and see Mr. Freeman. Once Kiana was done cleaning up and before she could get into something else, "Alright baby, let's put our shoes on and go to grandma and granddaddy's house!"
Minutes later, Jazmine was locking up her apartment and heading to the car with Kiana in tow. The car ride there was the typical drive — a bunch of toddler babbling and stories that didn't completely make sense but kind of did at the same time. The ride wasn't long, but there was that lunchtime traffic that had Jazmine constantly pressing her brakes. She smiled as she turned onto Timid Deer Lane, her childhood home. It seemed like Kiana was just as happy with her rapid clapping and squealing. She loved coming to see Tom and Sarah, no matter the occasion. Considering that she saw them almost every week, you'd think the girl would get tired but nope.
Sarah was opening the front door as soon as Jazmine pulled into the driveway. Jazmine moved in haste to get Kiana to stop the squealing that was growing louder by the second. Moments later they were both walking up to the front door. "Hey mommy," Jazmine gave Sarah a big hug before letting Kiana get all the attention.
"Hey Jazmine! And hey Kiana my beautiful granddaughter! You are getting so big! Oh my, how'd you grow so fast, it's only been a few days!?" Sarah laughed and squatted down to Kiana's level and enveloped her in a hug.
Jazmine smiled and shook her head as she walked in to say hello to her dad, who was sitting at the dining room table sitting at his laptop with a pen and paper. "If it isn't the lovely Jazmine!" he belted out loudly. Her parents sure were in a good mood today but that was usually the case when they were on grandparent duty.
"Hi daddy," Jazmine laughed and closed the distance to give him a hug. It didn't last long, because Kiana barreled in, climbing up onto Tom's lap and almost shoving Jazmine out the way. Tom returned the love immediately, peppering her face in kisses.
Jazmine turned around to face her mom, already knowing the question that was about to come out of her mouth by the look on her face. "How are you sweetie? How's Marcus?"
She had to stifle a grimace, "I'm doing good. I'm sure Marcus is doing good, too."
"Well I'm always glad you're good but you know… you should know how he's doing, too." Sarah replied in a hushed tone. Kiana just found out a few months ago that Marcus was indeed "daddy", and they had to keep the conversation broad enough that she wouldn't grasp on to what they were talking about. Tom was peeking out in between throwing Kiana in the air, listening to the conversation.
"Mom, you say this every single time. We talk about Ki and that's it. I don't talk to him to be friendly, we're coparenting just fine." Jazmine tried not to snap at her mom over it.
Marcus was admittedly a sore spot for her. One, they didn't have a particularly long relationship — 5 months to be exact. Jazmine didn't plan on getting pregnant because, ideally, she wanted to be married first and she wasn't thinking about marrying Marcus. Second, Marcus had been her first serious boyfriend and the first person she had sex with. She broke up with him because she found out he was cheating on her, which hurt but fine, it wasn't the end of the world. They were fresh out of high school. Imagine the punch in the face Jazmine felt when she realized she hadn't had a period in months. She was on extended birth control and only got her period every three months. Once she was two weeks late from her expected period, she took a pregnancy test just in case. Jazmine almost had a mental breakdown, here she was, 19 and pregnant, not married and a freshman in college. Marcus took it surprisingly well.
He waited on her hand and foot during her pregnancy, as much as he could considering that they didn't live together. He was at every doctor's appointment and every class that Jazmine was interested in taking. He read a bunch of books to help get himself prepared. Marcus was a shitty partner but an amazing father. He was persistent about giving Jazmine $400 a week, and always gave more if she needed it. He had Kiana almost every weekend, and didn't have a problem with having her longer than expected. Jazmine really lucked out with getting him, because he could've left her to deal with a baby by herself.
Sarah thought that they were a cute couple but Jazmine had also neglected to tell her that Marcus cheated on her. She wasn't sure why she couldn't bring herself to say it, even 3 years later. It wasn't even that she wanted to be with him, because she didn't feel that way at all. It was more of the shame of being cheated on, even though she left him after the first time. The shame of being a single mother at such a young age. Anytime Jazmine even thought about dating, she remembered she had a mini human that needed to be the focus. Besides, most of the guys she did talk to didn't want anything to do with a kid and she didn't blame them. 22 years old with a 2 year old. She felt like she'd never get a chance at love again.
Sarah backed off and raised her hands up in surrender. She knew when her daughter was about to catch an attitude. Jazmine sighed and took the opportunity to change the situation. "How's Mr. Freeman?" She had stopped by to visit him a couple weeks ago after he got back from the hospital. He had been so happy to see her and Kiana. She planned on dropping by to say hello today too, because he always managed to put a smile on her face.
"He's been good," Tom spoke up and handed Kiana off to Sarah. "I stopped by yesterday afternoon to say hello, he's doing good. Huey came back, I think he's here to stay for good."
Jazmine was surprised to hear about that. She had been friends with Huey for a long time and their friendship naturally dwindled in their freshman year of high school. After graduating, he had basically dropped off the face of the earth. The only updates she heard about Huey was through Cindy and that also dwindled down once Cindy and Riley broke up. She was excited to catch up with him for the first time in years, a smile bloomed on her face. "Seriously? That's amazing. I haven't spoken to him in years."
Sarah nodded, "You two should catch up. You two were such good friends growing up. He's doing so well for himself, Tom actually sent in some good words for him before he graduated. Apparently Riley has his own business, too. Such good boys."
Jazmine tried not to laugh, Riley was definitely dealing. He did have his own business and he was in school but… it's not like her parents needed to know. Jazmine stood up, "Do you mind keeping an eye on Ki? I'm gonna go head over now."
Both parents were more than eager to have their granddaughter in their presence and Kiana didn't even notice as Jazmine walked out of the house. She went up to the house and rang the doorbell, excited to catch up with the Freeman family. Time really had gone by so fast. She hadn't spoken Huey in years. She stopped keeping up with Riley once Cindy broke up with him, though they were still on each other's social media. For Mr. Freeman, she would stop by and visit every now and then casually just to say hello.
There was some noise coming from inside before the door opened. Jazmine looked up, surprised to see Huey. She knew any of them could've answered the door but she was just… surprised. Huey was so different yet the same as she remembered. He had cut his hair low, sporting a temp fade. He was still in the clothes he always lounged in growing up — a white t-shirt and some sweatpants and socks. He had a couple of tattoos on his arms, too. Jazmine stopped herself from ogling and waved at him. "Hey, how are you Jazmine? Are you coming in?" Huey stepped to the side to let her in the house.
"I'm doing good. How are you? How's Mr. Freeman?" Jazmine blushed slightly and walked in. She took her shoes off at the door and walked towards the living room.
Huey closed the door behind her, "I'm doing great, it's nice to be home. Granddad is good, we just argued over hamburgers and he's being stubborn."
"Boy, be quiet and don't embarrass me in front of Jazmine." Robert snapped and turned his attention to Jazmine, who found a spot on the couch next to Riley. "How are you and the baby doing?"
Huey had found his way back into his original spot and he was shocked when he heard the word "baby" when he remembered that she did have a baby after they graduated. He never thought much of it because no one had really talked about it except for when she announced it and when she gave birth. Riley had only mentioned it briefly once or twice in passing, not enough for Huey to genuinely remember. He knew plenty of girls in high school had had children in the few years since graduating but he never imagined Jazmine being one of them. He shook it off his mind and paid his attention to the conversation.
Jazmine had gotten comfortable in her spot, the same spot she sat in when they were growing up. She had a smile on her face, "Burgers, Mr. Freeman!? If you need me to come make some healthy meals for you just call me!"
Instead of the snappiness that he had given his grandsons, Robert laughed with Jazmine and said he'd take her up on her offer every now and then. Huey and Riley both knew he was serious too, which made them both shoot daggers at him. That man knew how to be dramatic. He just wanted to be fawned over by a female.
"Kiana is doing so good. I was worried about her being in preschool but she's doing great. She's going through her terrible two's phase but it's not as bad as I thought it'd be." Jazmine sighed, a small smile on her face.
While the conversation went back and forth between Jazmine and Robert, Huey was listening and forming his own thoughts. He genuinely couldn't imagine that Jazmine had gotten pregnant so soon after school. She had always been a goody-two shoe rule follower, to a tee. Thinking back to school, Jazmine had never even had a boyfriend. He would have to ask Riley who her baby daddy was when she left. She sounded like she was a good mother and like she was doing a great job raising her daughter. Huey's mind flickered to his ex, she was a down to earth girl who he really could have seen himself settling down with. He wasn't one to rush things, and they had only been talking for a few months but were relatively serious. He was going to miss her a lot, but respected her decision in not wanting a long-distance relationship. Huey was snapped out of his thoughts when Jazmine asked him a question.
"So Huey, how's school been? My dad said you graduated already. That's awesome, what's next?" Jazmine wasn't surprised, Huey had always been amazingly smart.
"I'm an arbitrator now and I'll go back for my masters eventually. End goal is lawyer and then I'll see where life takes me from there." Huey smirked, it sounded pretty good to him saying it aloud.
Jazmine smiled bright, her teeth showing. "I'm so proud of you! We should catch up over some coffee or something soon. It's been so long."
It was a small statement but it made Huey's heart swell in a weird way. No one had told him they were proud of him in a while, not even himself. He knew Jazmine didn't mean it in a weird way and it sounded almost motherly the way she said it. Huey nodded, "Yeah, sounds good. I have nothing but time now."
And that was fairly true. The conversation turned to other things, like Robert complaining about how different things were today to Jazmine. She took his complaining in stride, nodding her head and mhm-ing whenever appropriate. She humored him completely while actually paying attention to him and Huey could see why Robert was nicer to her. After a while, Huey and Riley tended to tune their Granddad out after ten minutes of complaining out of sheer habit. Jazmine even had the guts to explain and be a bit combative towards Robert when it came to certain topics. It was a good enough conversation that even Huey and Riley joined in every now and then.
Time passed by quickly and before they knew it, it was almost dinner time. Jazmine glanced at her phone. "Well, it was nice talking to everyone. I'm gonna head back so I can eat with Ki. She's a mini monster when she's hungry." Jazmine smiled and stood up and gave Robert a small hug. Riley fist bumped her.
Huey got up and stood, "I'll walk you out."
"Thanks Huey," Jazmine nodded in thanks. "And I mean it! Let's get coffee soon and catch up. Where's your phone at so I can give you my number!?"
"That sounds good to me, forreal." Huey nodded once and pulled his phone out and gave it to Jazmine. She texted herself a quick message and then put her shoes on, waving goodbye and heading back across the street. Huey closed the door once she was on her parents' property and headed back towards the living room. He asked the question that had been bugging him all afternoon . "Riley, who's her baby daddy?"
Riley thought for a minute, racking his brain for the answer. "It's that nigga, Marcus. Marcus Johnson. Don't think she's with him though. Crazy that he bagged Jazmine cause damn is she fine. She was fine before she got pregnant too but after? Gahdamn… And I can say that cause I ain't with Cindy anymore."
Huey nodded, thinking about Marcus. He had a few classes with him in high school, he was a cool guy but was a player as far as he remembered. He was the class clown, all Huey could remember is that he could never figure out how to shut up. And he had to admit, Jazmine had always been cute but looking at her now? She was undeniably fine.
Robert snapped, "Stop talking about that girl like that! You horny ass boy, you done known her almost your whole life!"
Riley tilted his head to the side, "Granddad, I'm horny? You used to do the most for some pussy! Basically abused us, you should be ashamed. You act like I'm gonna go give her another kid."
"See, nobody abused y'all. You two just never knew how to act. Don't play with me. I'm just telling you to respect her!" Robert snapped, completely sidestepping the second comment Riley made. Huey had to agree but he simply stood up and went into the kitchen to grab something to drink. By the time he came back, the bickering was done and it looked like Granddad was dozing off.
"Guess we should make some dinner before he wakes up," Huey looked at Riley. Riley nodded and got up to head towards the kitchen. His brother had actually grown to be a pretty decent cook in the kitchen, which was funny considering he used to call cooking gay.
"Yeah, guess that's true. Just stay out the kitchen while I'm cooking," Riley replied in a very no nonsense way. Huey raised his hands up and sauntered back up to his room to wait until dinner was ready.
While in his room, he actually sat and thought about what he was going to do tomorrow. He had a very set routine to help him stay on top of things. Usually, he'd be on his way home or just getting home around this time, 6:30pm. He was lucky to live fairly close to his job. His girlfriend would typically come over and spend the night. Huey mind trailed as he thought about her, which someone ended up with him downloading Tinder and Hinge. It would only be for something casual, and it helped that she was so far away no one she knew or herself could run into his profile.
The amount of white women he swiped on reminded him of the fact that Woodcrest was predominantly white. In Chicago, there was a decent mix of lots of races and plenty of black women, which was his preference. He wasn't opposed to dating white women but he had been on that roller coaster a few times before and it never worked out quite right for him. Tinder had got him a few matches and he sent a few messages, but he eventually switched to Hinge.
His eyes widened when he saw Jazmine's profile a few minutes into swiping. What terrible luck, because she would eventually see his profile as well. He would just have to swipe right and make a joke about it if they matched. If they never matched, he could pretend it never happened. He took a glance at her profile, reading the prompts and information given. She had chosen some really nice pictures too — a really casual one with a t-shirt and jeans, like how she looked today. One with her in a tight Jade dress with black heels on. A few selfies. He took a small breath and swiped right. Before he could give it any more thought, Riley called him down for dinner.
It wasn't until after everyone had winded down and the Freeman family was sitting on the couch watching The Wayans Bros that Huey got a notification that Jazmine had matched with him and sent him a message. He smirked to himself as he read it.
Guess we have to actually catch up sooner rather than later now, huh?
He replied back, still with the intention of keeping it casual. That's what I'm thinking. Are you free anytime tomorrow?
Yep, I'm free anytime after 10 in the morning but I have to pick up my daughter at 4:30.
Let's grab lunch then. I can come pick you up around 11:30?
That sounds nice :) I'll text you my address. See you tomorrow!
Sounds good, see you tomorrow.
Huey smirked to himself as he got a text from a new number almost immediately. He saved her contact and liked her message to acknowledge it. They used to be best friends, even if Huey was a bit mean to Jazmine at times. He was genuinely looking forward to catching and seeing how everything had changed in her life and in Woodcrest.