Hey guys. New story. I know I've been dipping in and out but...there's been a reason for it. There's been a death in my family and it had me just...reeling since October. I had deleted one of the other stories I was working on and I was going to repost and after I tweaked before it happened. My friend suggested I get back into writing to do something with my time and do something positive with my energy. I had a vampire themed story but that's on hold until further notice, and I will try to update the others until that goes back up. This story kinda takes from my own life as me and my brother was supposed to get tattoos together. Hope you enjoy. If there are errors...sorry, I try to catch them before posting.
Disclaimer: I don't own Boondocks, just my OC character.
Rest in Paradise to Emmit Latrell Beasley. My love, my baby brother, my everything. Until I see you again...then we'll go get tattoos together...like we were supposed to. I love you, I miss you and everything I do...it's all for you.
So It Begins
Flashback
'Riley, can I be honest with you?' Huey asked me as he was going through my artbook that was now filled. Not sure why, but that day I decided I wanted to share my art with him. He was doing his normal nerd shit and was reading, so I figured if he was gonna look through a book, it should be something worthwhile. Granddad had bought me a new sketch book for my birthday last week, and I was already drawing on the eleventh page.
'You should do something with your drawings…you got skill.'
'Really?' I looked up from my sketching, smiling a bit. It's rare Huey ever praised me for anything I did genuinely, but to give him credit, he did tell me he loved the spray paint portrait I did of our parents on the side of the house once the shock wore off, granddad too…before he painted over it.
'Yeah, you always could draw; I guess Rob Paulson had a lasting effect on you.'
I miss him, my old art teacher. After we were chased by the cops because of all my graffiti I was leaving everywhere, I never saw him again. I had never got to tell him he was pretty dope for a white dude. I credited him for making me improve.
'Yeah I guess…but what you talking 'bout though? What should I do with my art?'
/
Present Day
Michael Caesar
"Kiara! C'mon! I will be late!" I yelled as I put on my Jordan's. Tonight was far too big and far too important for me to be late. I didn't want to even take her, but she was so adamant and came off as she really cared, that she insisted she'd be a part of it. I wasn't even exclusive with her, and this was one of the reasons why. She didn't respect my time.
"Hold on, rude nigga, I'm puttin' on my last eye lash!"
"You had all damn afternoon to get ready! You know where I was going! I'm about to leave your ass!" I shouted from my living room, losing patience.
"You New York niggas are a different breed! Here the fuck I come! Damn, you act like a few minutes will kill Riley's trust in you."
I grabbed my car keys, giggling them loudly to signal I wasn't playing, only then did she rush out from the back, high heels in hand as she did her jog in her slides. Her was purse bouncing off her wide hip as she moved.
"C'mon nigga, damn, I'm sorry." She pushed past me as I opened the door. We got in the car, both of us slamming doors, full of attitude. I normally would tell passengers of my car to not slam my shit, but whatever, we are leaving. As I was backing up, my cell rang through the car. Pressing 'accept' on the screen, I readjusted my attention on backing up. It was Hiro.
"Hey, where are you?" his Asian voice filled the quiet void of the car.
"I'm on my way bruh, Riley cut the ribbon yet?"
"Nah, he hasn't made it yet, he said there was an accident on the highway, he like fifteen minutes away, the rest of us are here, though."
"Oh, so you mean to tell me all that rushing was for nothing?!" Kiara practically screeched. Hiro remained quiet, probably shocked to have heard her. I lost my temper, then.
"I wanted to see him cut the motherfuckin' ribbon to his new tattoo shop, and I was not about to miss it because you wanted to put those fuckin' big ass eyelashes on!" I yelled back.
"Aye yo so, uh, Huey said that-" Kiara cut Hiro off from trying to diffuse our current petty argument.
"First of all, what we not gonna do is you keep being reckless with how you talk to me, nigga. I already said I was sorry, and I knew we weren't going to miss that, Riley wouldn't have moved unless we were all there."
"So, you saying you was going to make him wait on you? Like he even likes you like that?"
"I'm saying that at the end of the day you weren't going to miss shit." She snapped back. Hiro hung up awkwardly, which made me even madder because I wanted to know what Huey said! I pumped the brakes to just look at her.
Kiara Williams and I have been doing this…whatever it was between us for the last six months, but we've known each other since high school. She wasn't an ugly girl, she just did the shit I didn't normally like: weave, eyelashes, stank attitude for no reason, etcetera etcetera. She was just as dark as I was, which I really liked as I'm no colorist, and no lie, she had the prettiest big doe brown eyes I've seen. We actually couldn't stand each other in school; she once had thrown her orange soda in my face after calling me a hotep because I told her I didn't like some of her ways. How we ended up fuckin, is a long story within itself.
"You don't know that." I sighed in frustration. No one plans car accidents.
"You need to stop talking to me any ole kind of way, especially if I apologized. Damn, I know this shit is important to Riley for all his people to be there, I lost track of time and you know I had got off work late." She said calmly.
"I'm sorry." I wanted to dead it.
"I'm sorry too, again."
We quieted down, but we still didn't talk for the rest of the ride to the place. So, I turned on the music so it wouldn't be so quiet. I wasn't too pressed about it; I knew what to do to make it up to her later.
/
Huey Freeman
"Guys! Riley is about to pull up!" Caesar, Kiara, Hiro, his girlfriend Stephanie, his new coworkers, a crowd of anticipating customers, and my fiancée Leona all made a way for him to his new tattoo shop he owned, Inkprint. Riley been tattooing since he was seventeen, and all he ever told me was how he wanted his own shop. He saved up all his money from everyone he had ever tattooed to achieve this. I was proud of his drive, his dedication to his craft, and so…when our granddad passed and we received the rest of our inheritance, plus the money I had gotten after I decided to sell the house, I paid for everything with my half. I told him to use the money he had saved and his half for his new equipment and living expenses. Basically, he finacially was stress free.
I think that was one of the rare times I ever seen Riley cry, not from angry or sadness, like when our granddad passed, but from happiness.
'Damn, I didn't think you had it in you to be such a real nigga!' Is what he said when I surprised him with the building and along with the fact I had already paid for it. What makes this especially important is that I did it on his twenty-fourth birthday. He gotten buzz for being one of the youngest tattoo shop owners, and his work speaks for himself. If you were to see my brother's tattoos, you would think a certified veteran did the shit he does. I was the first person he ever tattooed outside himself when he first started, my sleeve still looks brand new…well add to the fact that he touches it up every few months and I still take care of it.
I got him his first machine for Christmas, yes Christmas. He didn't expect me to do that, so it was easy to surprise him with it. He knows I normally don't do Christmas, still don't give a damn about it. Watching him give himself his own tattoos first was amazing. People don't realize how much skill that truly takes. He tatted his whole chest, and none of it looks like chicken scratch. It was after that, I let him tattoo me, and when people saw my sleeve, they flocked to the house after school to be tatted by him. It got to be so much traffic, granddad had told him to stop because he didn't like the idea of so many strangers coming to the house.
Once he graduated, he went right to work at Dominion, and he stayed being booked. Word of mouth gave him the start he needed. I loved the fact he prided himself on learning how to tattoo darker skinned black people, since so many artists think that's the kiss of death, that it's too hard to tattoo dark-skinned people. Caesar was his first experience of course and he loves his Brooklyn bridge tattoo he has across his chest. He wants a back piece, but hasn't decided on what he wants yet, he's thinking of getting a portrait of his mother.
And Hiro? Oh man, nearly all his tats were done by Riley. His favorite one is the moth tattoo he had on his neck. It was a memorial piece of his grandmother who loved moths and used to own an outhouse dedicated to taking care of them back in Japan. I winced when he was doing that one, because that one hurt him so bad. What we all appreciated that Riley wasn't a heavy-handed ass person, he always tried his best not to be hard on the most painful parts of the body to be done. I think that's another reason why the same multiple people been going to him since high school, on top of new people. He's still been lazy to make an official business page on his social media accounts.
When I saw his rented black hummer pull up, people started cheering, and hopped out while Moneybagg Yo blasting from behind him. He was sharp in his royal blue suit and fresh braids, and we excused him for wearing shades at night. Nigga thought he was too cool.
People started going live off their phones and continued to cheer until he spoke.
"Thank ya, thank ya. I'm glad niggas don't know how to drive because you know I, Riley Escobar, always need a fire entrance." He began, "Hope they ain't hurt too bad." They laughed.
"I just want to say, thank you all for supporting me, and being here at the grand opening of my own tattoo business. To all my frequent patrons, I'm talking about the ones who been letting me ink them since I was fuckin' eighteen, ya'll my day ones…thank you so much."
"Whatever, soft ass nigga!" Caesar yelled.
"BOOO, where ya'll find this sentimental ass nigga at?" his friend and now co-worker, Justin shouted. Riley whipped his head in their direction.
"Aye fuck ya'll ugly niggas," he laughed, "But for real," he walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me close beside him.
"But I need everybody to know, this nigga right here? He's the reason I'm able to do this, on my birthday, Huey's my original ride or die. Thank you. I love you." He faced me. I felt myself shift in my shoes as people 'aww'd'. I became bashful.
"It was nothing to it, I'm proud of you." I was honest. I handed him the scissors and he walked up to the red ribbon that was tied around the double doors.
"Consider Inkprint, OPEN!" He yelled and cut the ribbon.
/
Riley Freeman
I love tattooing. I can tattoo anything; anywhere, anytime and however someone wants it done. My style is versatile, well no…I lie. I hate doing American traditional. I can't tell you how many patriotic nerds would purposely seek me out to do Trump tattoos, American flags, eagles, and all that other bullshit. But I would do them, I did them well, and it would piss them off. They thought I'd risk my reputation by fuckin their shit up. Never. I don't half-ass a damn thing I do. Down from tattooin' to fuckin, I need everyone to know I'm the best, and you will respect that. Hiro was DJ'ing playing music in the lobby as people flooded the shop to get tatted. I was running grand opening specials where I did flash tattoos at a discounted rate.
Since I was just started out, I only have two people under me as of now. I knew Justin from when I was playin' basketball in middle school. We would hold drawin' contests to see who did better. I would get salty when people picked his work, but it motivated me to get even better, to pass him. Never get jealous, I saw to it that my plate was just as good, if not better than the next nigga. My other worker was Frankie, that girl could tattoo her ass off. I met her at Dominion, and people wasn't showin' her no real respect because she was a black woman and they showed her that in so many ways. I told her to come with me when I opened my shit; she didn't even give that shop a two-week notice. They didn't deserve it.
I liked her because she had toughed it out, she let her work show she was worth employing. I found myself in competition with her before Justin, but she has been in the game longer than me, so I also took advice from her as well. She was one of them goth black girls, kept her hair natural and in classic pin-up, Amy Winhouse looking hairstyles and had the strongest Baltimore accent. Piercing's out the ass and was covered up to her neck. She was different, and I love different.
I was on my sixth client that night when Leona, Huey's fiancé walked in. Boy oh boy, where can I start with this shit here? I'm glad Kiara never asked me about Jazmine since she been here, Stephanie too. Don't fuck up my vibe with my brother's INSANE love life. God knows I love my brother, but I'll be lyin' if I said Huey don't be on some other shit when it comes to relationships. I don't be too hard on him though because I am too.
Here's the thing, I do not see this engagement lasting. At all. I told him not to do it, in fact. This was a rebound deal because Jazmine's currently with someone else too. They are both crazy and stubborn. Their craziness sometimes distracts me from Cindy, and I instantly stopped thinking about that because fuck that situation too. This is my moment, and I'm not about to get myself worked up.
"You are such an amazing artist, Riley." Leona smiled as she leaned over my shoulder, watching me. She's a sweet girl and all, but I feel like she tries super hard for me to like her because Jazmine is such a household name…all the women after her winds up living in her shadow, and vice versa to the niggas Jazmine mess with. You couldn't have gone to Woodcrest High or just live in the area and not know about those two. People were stupid enough to try to be with these niggas anyway. Only one girl Huey messed with didn't know about their history because she was here for college and she wasn't from around here, and honestly, she was the only one I felt bad for…I'd wonder how she's doing. I forgot her name…it's been four years. I remember her face though! She reminded me of SZA. Leona was attractive looking too, though she didn't look like anyone I can say off the top of my head. Us Freeman brothers are never caught slippin' with ugly chicks anyway. She was short, about our complexion and would wear braids a lot. She's a chef at some restaurant near Washington DC, but sometimes I always felt like she could season her food better.
"Thank you." I said, in full concentration, not looking up.
"So, I actually been thinking of letting you do my very first tattoo, I've been thinking of getting a butterfly on my hip."
"I don't know…hips kinda hurt, closer the bone is to the skin, the more painful the tattoo. You would want something like that on the arm or something." I told her. Normally I'd flirt with female tattoo virgins but…you know.
"I'm a tough girl, Riley. I'm actually pretty set on it being on my hip."
I nodded as I dipped my needle in the blue ink, my client wanted a blue jay on their forearm, and I was nearly finished with it. "Alright, just let me know when you ready to do it."
"Okay and Riley…can we talk later?"
I groaned internally. No. Every time Huey's rebounds ask me this…it's about Jazmine.
"Okay."
Her face brightened a bit as she walked out, ugh. Can I tattoo like…twenty more people?
/
Eventually, it was time for me to close the shop. Frankie was counting the register, as I trusted her with the money.
"Guys, we made so much fuckin' money, and it's just day one!" she said excitedly. "Riley, thank you so much for bringing me on board with this. Tonight, I really felt like I was a part of a shop, I was able to fully express myself in my work."
"Don't mention it, what are you about to get into Justin?" I asked as he was switching the lights off in his studio, putting on his jacket.
"I got Strawberry waiting on me."
"You still messing with her? I heard she was less like a strawberry and more of a tuna fish factory." Frankie scrunched up her face, I did too.
"Bruh, we are upscale, black artists. You no longer have to dumpster dive. Quality over quantity."
"Ya'll just believe anything, she actually pretty nice. Stop hating. See ya'll tomorrow." He waved and walked out towards the back. I actually didn't have any plans for the rest of the night, which is rare. I am pretty tired, I won't lie. After me and Frankie squared the money away in the vault, we locked up the building.
"Okay boo, I'll see you later. Goodnight." She hugged me and began her walk to the bus station.
"You know I walk with you home if you need me to." I offered, she turned to me and winked.
"Aren't you the gentlemen, but no I'll be fine. Take care of yourself, birthday boy." I watched her until she crossed the street and went around the corner, out of sight. Even though she's older than me, I always felt like I needed to look out for her.
"Hey, Riley."
Ugh, no, I changed my mind. This was why I wanted to walk with Frankie. Turning behind me, I saw Leona looking like a creep peeking from behind the other building, waiting for me to be alone.
"How did you stay behind without Huey?"
"I told him the shop called me, an emergency with inventory…" she fidgeted with her fingers as she walked up to me.
"What is it you want to talk about?"
"…Riley. I know you're Huey's brother and all…but…could you be honest with me about something?"
No.
"What?"
"One day last week…my phone was dead, so I needed to use Huey's phone…"
Ah shit, he really fell for that?
"And?"
"He let me use it but…he was doing something first."
I almost laughed, of course he probably had deleted some shit, I was about to say.
"Riley, tell me…is he still in contact with Jazmine?"