I really thought I wouldn't be able to write anything this week...but I guess I was wrong. So here it is.

Thanks to child who is cool, KrisD.723, and HappyH for the reviews.

Yup. That's...basically it...

Disclaimer: I don't own The Boondocks. That's why it's called FANFICTION, people.

All Roads Lead to Washington

Change of Plans

It was seven am.

Huey was a morning person. Maybe it made him insane in the eyes of fellow teenagers but there was something about being up to greet the sun, do some meditating to start off a new day, and having the pleasure of taking his sweet time to get things done without having to rush. It was also the quietest time of the day since he woke up even earlier than grandad, who usually woke up around eight, and Riley, who was lucky if he got out the bed by one. There were no arguments over who ate the last of the cheerios, whose goddamn underwear were hanging on the downstairs banister (which had never been his...alright, except for that one time), and why grandad should just stop trying to be a cradle robber and find a woman his own age. No fighting over who got power over the TV remote. Nope, just him, some sun salutations, and an ample amount of time to read the newspaper, eat breakfast, and get dressed before he had to be at his defensive driving class by eleven in order not to have his license suspended.

Which was just stupid. What had the cop expected him to do when the light had turned yellow and the car behind him was going seventy-five in a forty zone with no intention of stopping? What the hell would he look like, braking so that his car would've been totaled or even better, he would've gotten killed?

But no. While Mr. Look-at-my-Rolls-Royce sped by it was Huey who got pulled over, Huey who got the ticket, and Huey who had to go to traffic school since this was his first driving offense and he was under twenty. What a way to waste a day as well as seventy five dollars that could've went towards other things.

Huey tried to let it all go out of his mind as he sat in the middle of the living room floor in front of the TV, the screen black. His legs were crossed and his palms were resting face up on his knees. His eyes were closed and he was taking full, even breaths. Yup. Mornings were the best. It was just him, his positive energy, and the still air around him-

Crash.

"Boy! What the hell are you doing?!" Grandad roared from the second floor. "Do you want me to kill yo ass before you see seventeen?"

"Dat ain't even right, grandad!" Riley shouted. "I'm yo youngest grandchild! Ain't you supposed ta love me unconditionally?!"

"Hellno!" He yelled back. There was an assortment of thumps, followed by another crash and Riley's yelling, which was being overpowered by grandad. "Not if you keep breakin my stuff! Damn! I'll be happy when you get old enough to get the hell out like your brother's doing! You don't see Huey worrying my ass every five seconds!"

"Man, cuz Huey's a bitch!"

Huey cracked an eye open at that and sighed heavily. Shaking his head and deciding to let them sort out whatever was going on themselves he closed his eye again, taking another deep breath and trying to clear his mind...which was becoming increasingly difficult, due to Riley and Grandad's rising decibel levels.

"No, because Huey has a future!" Grandad shouted back.

"What, you don' think ima amount to nothin? You ain' proud of me?!"

"You stole the neighbor's car and crashed it into a ditch, and you just tried to steal mine!"

"Man, I won' gon steal it!...I was gonna borrow it."

Smack.

"I hate you!"

"I don't care how old you are, I'm still gon beat that ass!"

"AHHHH!!!!!" Riley came tearing down the stairs in boxers covered in Christmas trees, grandad on his heels with nothing but a towel around his waist. Huey opened his eyes again and let out another sigh, his shoulders slumping as they ran through the house, yelling like maniacs.

Well. That had been nice while it lasted.

"You just want yo old grandaddy to die, don't you?!" Grandad shouted as his hands reached for Riley's throat. Riley darted behind Huey's back.

"You just want me to go away!" He yelled back. "It's a shame! My own grandad don't love me!"

"Well my own grandson don't care about me!" Grandad shot back, stopping in front of Huey. "I raised both of you from little bad ass kids, letting ya'll eat my food and waste my electricity and blockcock or buttstop or whatever it's called-"

"Cockblocking?" Huey supplied tiredly, looking up at his confused grandfather. Grandad snapped his fingers.

"Right! And all ya'll can do is get in trouble! Huey, you had the nerve to blow up the entire science wing of the school-"

"It's not my fault the genetic makeup of the molecules in my project happened to be unstable and produced an explosive reactant!" Huey pointed out. Grandad rolled his eyes.

"Please. You thought your Physics teacher was an Anarchist."

"He was!" Huey frowned. "He had to be destroyed."

"Well he won't. You were just suspended, so I had to have yo bad ass around the house for three weeks, which only made Riley's bad ass badder-"

"Okay, how did I get into this?" Huey asked, still looking up at him. "You and Riley were arguing, not me!"

"Because your negative influence is something I look at!" Riley said smugly. "So you makin me bad."

"Exactly!" Grandad shouted, throwing up his hands. Huey shook his head.

"That doesn't even make sense!" He snapped. "I graduated high school with a 4.2 GPA! I'm going to college in two months! I read books for fun! How is any of that negative?"

"Well." Grandad stroked his chin. "Boy does have a point. Wait, what were we arguing for?"

"Uh...I don't remember?" Riley tried. Huey snorted.

"Riley stole the neighbor's car and crashed into a ditch. He was about to take Dorothy for a joyride."

"Man, yo snitchin, afro wearin, gawtdamn-"

"Oh, yeah!" Grandad raised a hand. "Boy...whoops." His towel fell and Huey and Riley lept back, screaming.

"Aw Grandad! Put that thing away!" Huey moaned.

"My eyes! My eyes! I'm blind!" Riley cried, jumping onto the sofa and burying his head in the cushions. "Oh, I'm scarred fo life!"

"You're mad at Riley, not me!" Huey covered his eyes with his hand and rose to his feet, stomping past Grandad and heading for the stairs since it was obvious his peaceful morning was going to be anything but peaceful. As he walked into the foyer the doorbell rang and he groaned, stomping up and throwing it open.

"We don't want your damn pamphlet-" Huey blinked at Mr. DuBois, who was standing there in his traditional blue suit and red tie. Seriously, did he ever wear anything different? "Oh. My bad, Mr. DuBois."

"It's alright, Huey." He looked past Huey's large afro to the commotion in the living room; Grandad and Riley were back at it. "Is everything alright in there?"

"No!" Riley screamed, running for the stairs again. "Call child services! Call homeland security! Call the zoo and tell dem dey gotta monkey on tha loose!"

"I'll loosen your monkey!" Grandad growled, running up the stairs as well, his towel still missing. Tom's face paled and Huey rolled his eyes, his hand still on the door.

"It's normal." He jabbed his thumb behind him. "Do you want me to let Grandad know you want him?"

"Actually," Tom tugged at his sleeves awkwardly. "I came here to talk to you."

"Oh." Huey blinked and stepped outside, closing the front door behind him. "Okay." That was weird. "What's up?"

"Well. Huey." Tom cleared his throat. "Huey," He tried again. "Huey." His voice was deeper. "Right. Well, as we're both aware of, you and Jazmine have been...er...seeing each other...for quite awhile."

Huey raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

"And well...wow, this is harder than I'd imagined it being...wow. Okay." Tom was sweating, his fingers tugging at his white collar. "I know that teenagers...well, they have hormones. I was a teenager once...more importantly I was a man once. If you get my drift."

Both of Huey's eyebrows rose. Was he seriously getting "the talk", which he'd already had when he was six, from his girlfriend's straight laced father?! "So...you're not still a man?" He asked, just to make him suffer a bit. Tom's face flushed.

"What? Yes, I'm a man!" Tom massaged his temples. "That did not come out the way I intended it to."

"You intended to come over here and explain to me that you were once a teenager who gave in to the strong rages of his testosterone fueled hormones, so you know how I probably feel when in the company of your daughter," Huey explained flatly. "You were then going to proceed to lecture me on how Jazmine is your only child and how if I hurt her in any way, physically or emotionally, you're going to beat my ass. Which, you probably can't do." He lifted his chin, Tom's jaw dropping. "Is that right?"

"Well...yeah." Tom laughed nervously. "Well! You sure did save me the trouble of saying all that!"

Huey blinked at him in response. Tom cleared his throat again and stood tall, fixing his expression into a stern one and glaring down at the eldest Freeman.

"Now, listen here, buddy." He leaned forward, his nose inches from Huey's own. "Jazmine is my only daughter. She's my only child! And I won't have you comin around, breaking her heart and hurting her! So if you mess with her...well, you'd better be prepared to deal with me!" He jabbed his index finger into Huey's chest. Huey looked down to the finger before glancing back up at Tom, whose glare softened.

"Is...is that okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." Huey snorted, trying his best not to laugh. "Do...you feel better now?"

"Oh, tons!" Tom backed away, laughing. "Wow! I felt like a strong tiger there! Rawr!" He chuckled, wiping the corner of his eye. Huey made a face.

"Um...right."

"So, do we understand each other?" Tom asked. "Did I make myself clear?"

Huey nodded earnestly, in hopes that Tom would hurry up and get the hell off their doorstep. "Crystal, Mr. DuBois."

"Great!" Tom turned on his heel, heading back to his house. "I guess I'll see you in a couple hours, then?"

Huey raised an eyebrow at that one. "For..."

"Well, you guys are all going to DC today, right?"

Huey made another face. "No. We're going Sunday."

"Really?" Tom scratched his chin. "I thought Jazmine said...oh, nevermind. I guess I was confused. Okie dokie then!"

Huey gave him one last wave before turning around, scratching his head. Well, that had been weird. What was even weirder was how he'd mistaken Jazmine for thinking they were going today. After all, wasn't he the one who Jazmine had begged, pleaded, and cried to so that he'd let her go without himself and Sarah? Tom had made her be clear on every last detail, from if they'd be able to sleep in the apartment Cindy and Jazmine were going to pay their first few months of rent on when they were there (which they were able to) and if the boys would have different rooms from the girls (which they wouldn't. Of course they'd lied about that though).

So if Tom had been breathing down her neck, making her sign God-only-knew-how-many contracts, and being the paranoid type of person he was, then how could he possibly mistaken them leaving sunday for today?

Oh, well. Maybe Huey was looking too much into it. He shrugged to himself as he grabbed the doorknob, turning it and pushing the door forward. Only nothing happened.

He stared up at the door, his fists clenched at his sides. Did he just lock himself out?

"Oh, come on!" Huey yelled, banging his fists on the door. He knew that if Riley and Grandad were still arguing then the chances of him being heard were slim to none. Sure enough, he could hear more banging from the second floor, followed by more yelling. Shit.

Yeah, today was going to be a great day.

Cindy whistled as she paced in front of Jazmine's convertible. The owner itself was sitting on the mound of luggage that stuck out so that she could slam the trunk down. It was an uphill battle and she was obviously loosing.

"Cin!" Jazmine wheezed, shoving roughly into a fuchsia suitcase and squealing when it fell on her and knocked her onto the driveway. "We're going to DC, not to war!"

"What? Girl, that's the essentials!" Cindy laughed, sliding off the hood of the car and lifting her plastic blue framed sunglasses. They were one of the gifts she'd gotten from Jazmine for her birthday, which had been six days ago. Jazmine rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Cindy. How on earth could you live without your hair straightener, your collection of nail polishes, and every pair of shoes you've owned since you were twelve?"

"First of all, sista," Cindy retorted, snatching the glasses off her face entirely and folding them, tossing them in the front passenger seat. "The hair straightener is more for your hair, not mine. So trust me, it is essential." She shook her head. "You know you look like something related to Clifford the big red dog without it-"

"My hair's not red!" Jazmine whined. Cindy rolled her eyes again.

"You're a redhead. Get over it. Anyway, the polishes, the shoes...we gotta look fly, gurl! We goin to DC, not Iowa!"

"We're going for Orientation and to make sure our apartment deal went through!" Jazmine argued. "Why the heck do we need all that?"

"We gon get our party on!" Cindy snapped her fingers over her head and started shaking her hips, making her floaty white mini skirt twirl around. "We gon hit the clubs, the bars, the-"

"We're not old enough to drink," Jazmine reminded her. "You know that-"

"Wrong!" Cindy laughed, reaching into her purse. "Cindy McPhearson and Jazmine DuBois aren't old enough to drink. However-" She whipped out two cards with a flourish, handing them to Jazmine. "Ethel Simmons and Gracie Stewart are."

Jazmine looked at the fake IDs, her nose wrinkling. "My name is Gracie?" She suddenly groaned in horror. "My hair is not-"

"Save it." Cindy snatched them back and threw the offending suitcase into the backseat, slamming the trunk down effortlessly. Jazmine stood up and made a face.

"Why didn't I think of that...?"

"Don't know don't care, it's eleven!" Cindy rolled her eyes. "We were supposed to be outta here by nine!"

"Well sorry you didn't get here until ten thirty!" Jazmine stomped towards the house, her flip flops smacking the pavement. "Geez..."

"Oh, honey!" Mr. DuBois suddenly sang, bursting out the front door, holding a set of papers in his hand and shaking them. Sarah DuBois was on his heels, looking annoyed. "Look what I've got!"

Jazmine groaned, her mother doing the same.

"Tom, can you just relax?" She asked as he handed them over to Jazmine, along with a pen. "She's a responsible girl. You know that."

Jazmine was muttering something under her breath as she leaned on the front of the car, using it to sign her name on the designated places. "This is stupid," She mumbled darkly. She straightened, practically slamming the papers into Tom's chest. "Can we go now, daddy?"

"Wait." Sarah gave her daughter a concerned look. "Sweetie, weren't Huey and Caesar supposed to be going with you guys?"

"They were," Jazmine said, twisting a strand of curly hair around her finger. "And now...they aren't."

"Well that explains it," Sarah said sarcastically. Cindy gave her a grin.

"We just decided to do a girl's road trip." She slung an arm over Jazmine's shoulders. Jazmine glowered at her. "You know. Fresh air, long roads, strong friendships. That sort of thing."

Sarah bit her lip. "I don't know." She ran a hand through her blond hair. "I liked the idea of you two going with the boys better. It's not as safe, going by yourselves-"

"We could all go!" Tom sang, making Sarah jump and causing horrified looks to fall over Cindy and Jazmine's faces. "We could wear matching shirts, and sing show tunes-"

"Daddy please don't!" Jazmine cried, clasping her hands together. "I'll die."

"She will, and so will I," Sarah agreed. Cindy nodded as well. "Tom, they'll be fine. They have their phones, plenty of money for an emergency, and our relatives DeMico and Bryan are in Maryland, so-"

"Fine, fine." Tom looked dejected. "I have to work anyways."

"Gotta make that money, Tommy." Cindy pat his shoulder in mock sympathy. "Maybe next trip."

"Really?" Tom's face lit up and Jazmine glared at Cindy, who shrugged. She looked less sure.

"Um...maybe?"

"Just go." Sarah shook her head. "When it gets dark, Jazmine, stop at a hotel. Use your credit card. I don't want you girls driving all through the night."

Jazmine nodded. "Okay, mommy." She reached forward and hugged her, smiling. When they let go of each other Tom darted forward, snatching Jazmine in such a tight hug that he lifted her off her feet.

"My baby girl Jazmine!" He cried out, burying his face in her hair and swinging her from side to side. She let out a tiny squeak. "I'm going to miss you so much!"

"She looks a bit pale, Mr. DuBois..."

"I never thought this day would come!"

"She's turning purple, Tom!"

"My little baby's going to college!"

"Tom let her go!" Sarah punched him in the side, making him wince and let go of his daughter. Poor Jazmine gripped her throat, gagging. He smiled sheepishly.

"Whoops. Sorry."

"Let's just go before I spend the next week in the hospital instead of Washington," Jazmine shook her head and opened the driver door, scooting in and slamming it shut. Cindy ran to the other side and hopped over the door into the passenger seat. The engine started and Jazmine shifted the car into reverse, giving her parents a smile and a wave as she backed out the driveway. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Sarah yelled, waving. "Call us if you need anything!"

"I love you!" Tom blubbered, practically sobbing. Jazmine stopped in the middle of the street and shook her head as she shifted into drive.

"I love you too, daddy." She snorted. "But get a grip."

She hit the gas and they started forward, Cindy letting out a yell of her own and punching her fists into the air. "Washington, here we come!" She cheered. Jazmine rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Here we come."

Huey was going to be pissed.

He knew, without a doubt, that none of this was his fault.

Okay, so some girl had kissed him! And? It wasn't as if he liked her. Shit, Tasha could have been the last girl on earth and he probably would choose a rock over her. Heaven only knew that rocks were smarter.

If Cindy had come any later she would have seen him pushing her away and telling her that he wasn't feeling her that way. If she wouldn't have come at all he would've told her about it if they'd decided to go off their break. Shit, he might've called to tell her regardless because he was hoping they could be friends!

Caesar sighed as he trudged towards Cindy's front door, his hands in his pockets. Alright, so maybe some of this was his fault. He was the one who decided to go to a different college than what he'd decided on, which had been the University of Maryland. He was the one who, instead of explaining why he'd done it in the first place, let her sit in the dark and draw her own conclusions. This was all just so dumb.

And that was exactly what he was going to tell her.

Caesar rang the doorbell and stepped back. Not even two seconds passed before the door was being flung open, a maid dressed in some black and white dress answering.

"May I help you?" She asked in a thick, heavy accent. Caesar tilted his head to the side.

"Um...Cindy? Is Cindy home?"

The maid seemed to think, then shook her head. "No no! Cindy no home!"

"Really?" Caesar checked his phone. It was barely eleven thirty. Cindy didn't wake up before twelve unless someone woke her up first. "Do you know where she went?"

"Eh?" The woman looked confused.

"Do you know where she-"

"EH?"

"Where's Cindy?!" Caesar groaned impatiently. The woman's nose wrinkled.

"...She no home."

"Argghh!" Caesar yelled, throwing his arms in the air and stomping back down the driveway. Damn! He was all for immigration, since the country was founded by immigrants, but damn! Could she learn a little more English than "Eh"?

Caesar supposed that he could call her but she probably wouldn't answer. Oh, well. He'd go and do stuff and worry about it later. He'd call Huey or Jazmine if he couldn't get a hold of her.

Nope. No big deal.

Caesar shook his head, frowning.

If it was no big deal...why did it feel like one?

That...had been the worst eight hours of his life.

It was seven thirty by the time Huey got back home. When he pulled into the driveway and cut off his car, the first thing he noticed was Caesar sitting on the front steps, looking worse than when Denise Arnold, some pregnant girl in their history class, had thrown up in his lap.

"Damn, man." Huey climbed out the car and slammed the door, walking up to him and jingling his keys in his hand. "What happened to you?"

"Man!" Caesar groaned. "Cindy broke up with me!"

Huey blinked at him. Caesar stared back at him, his brown eyes widening.

"Well?" He asked. "Aren't you going to ask me why she did it?"

"I figured you were going to tell me anyway." Huey shrugged. Caesar glared.

"You know, you aren't the best conversationalist." He nodded towards his best friend. "And what's up with your phone? I called you eighty trillion times."

"Then maybe it's a good thing I had it off," Huey muttered sarcastically, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Huey, never one to be hung up on the latest technology, still had one of the first phones that had ever come out, which resembled a big walkie talkie that flipped. It was a pretty funny sight, especially beside Jazmine's Sidekick or Cindy's iPhone. "I told you, I had that driving class today. Which, was a waste. It's pretty nerve racking that the government has such control issues that they give a teenager one ticket and then unleash a load of unnecessary court fees and charges to-" His eyes narrowed at his screen. "Damn."

"What?" Caesar, who had been dozing off like he always did when Huey got in one of his lecturing moods, sat up. "Is it Cindy?"

"No. It's Jazmine." Huey was clicking various buttons on the phone. "Either she lost her mind and decided to text me twenty-four times as a result or something's really wrong."

"Ha!" Caesar cackled as Huey dialed Jazmine's number, pressing the phone to his ear. "That's why you should keep yo big ass dinosaur phone on!"

"If you hate it so much then buy me a new one. Hello?" Huey's eyes narrowed. "Jazmine? Okay, what did we say about you talking so fast that it's as if it's in light years?" Huey paused, rolling his eyes. "No, I didn't check my voicemail. Even though I saw you left at least ten of them. What's going on?"

He paused again before his eys widened. "Wait, what?"

Caesar sat up. Ooh. This looked interesting.

"You're where?"

Maybe he wasn't the only one about to be single!

"Okay, start from the beginning." Huey was stepping past Caesar and had his key in the front door, unlocking it and throwing it open. He rushed inside and Caesar darted in after him, slamming the door shut behind him. He followed Huey up the stairs and into his room, where Riley was lying on his bed. Huey froze in the doorway, holding the phone away from his ear.

"Hold on," He said into the mouthpiece before glaring at Riley. "Get out."

"Naw, man! Hold up hold up!" Riley jumped up, putting on a sad puppy dog face and blinking his wide, hazel eyes towards his older brother. "You know you wanna help a brotha out-"

"No! I don't have time for you right now!" Huey rolled his eyes, putting the phone back up to his ear. "Hello? Jazmine? Damn." He flipped the phone closed and tossed it on his bed, heading towards his dresser and throwing it open. Caesar and Riley watched him.

"So what happened?" Caesar asked. Huey looked over his shoulder, glaring.

"What happened?" He snorted. "Oh, nothing much. You know, just little things. Such as Cindy forcing Jazmine to drive them to DC today and not Sunday!"

"What?" Caesar's jaw dropped; Riley started laughing.

"Dayum, Ceez!" He jabbed him in the shoulder. "How you not gon have a hold over yo broad?"

Caesar smacked him so hard in the back of the head that he fell over. "Maybe the orientation date changed?"

"Or maybe," Huey pointed out, throwing clothes onto his bed. "Cindy's mad at you and in result didn't want me to go so she wouldn't be the third wheel?" He groaned. "The thing is, you didn't even have to go since you're going to school in North Carolina."

"Then neither did you!" Caesar shot back.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Huey gave Caesar a look. "I did too need to go! My orientation is the same day as Cindy's!"

"Wait..." Caesar eyed Huey. "You did pick a school?"

"Yes, dummy!" Huey rolled his eyes. "I'm going to Howard! Are you serious? I've told you like, eighteen-"

"But Jazmine said you hadn't decided yet!" Caesar yelled. Huey gave him a blank stare.

"I only told her that so she'd get off my case about me applying for housing," He said flatly. "She wanted me to stay with her and Cindy but they were already paying for it and it wouldn't feel right being there for free. So I paid Tom my partand was going to tell her when...what?" Riley was giving Huey a look.

"Man, can I come wit chu?" He asked. Huey gave him a look.

"No!"

"Please?"

"You know what?" Huey reached under his bed, pulling out a suitcase. "I don't even have time to argue with you right now. Fine. Go get your stuff."

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaauhhh!" Riley ran out the room and Caesar gave Huey a pitiful stare as Huey began throwing his things into the open suitcase.

"Why would they go early, though?" He asked aloud. "If Cindy didn't want me to go then she just would've said "Caesar, yo ass ain't goin" and left me here. So what was the point of them leaving early?"

"Probably so I couldn't go," Huey concluded. "If she wasn't going to have a guy to go with then Jazmine wouldn't either. Caesar, face it." Huey was still tossing the rest of his things into the suitcase laying open over his bed. "Cindy's gone AWOL."

"So did Jazmine!" Caesar pointed out.

"Correction: Jazmine was dragged." Huey glanced over his shoulder. "Aye, Riley! Hurry up!"

"And how do you know?" Caesar asked, slightly defensive. "How do you know Jazmine's not as mad at you as Cindy is at me?"

"Because Jazmine and I don't argue for her to be mad at anything," Huey responded matter-of-factly. Caesar sucked his teeth.

"Well...that don't mean nothin!" He persisted, pacing as Huey continued his quick packing. "How do you know she didn't voluntarily leave with Cindy?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Huey shot back sarcastically. "Maybe it has something to do with the six text messages she sent me in fifteen minutes, all which say "Help me!""

"...maybe it was a typo?"

"Maybe you'd better get your ass in the car before I leave you." Huey rolled his eyes. "Riley! We leavin in five minutes!"

"Nigga, don't rush me!" Came Riley's response from the other room. "You don't own me!"

"Where are we going?" Caesar asked. Huey raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really have to ask?" He slammed his suitcase shut. "We're going after your crazy ex girlfriend."

Review? Yay? Nay?

Whatever.

-Kelsey