Chapter Three

I'd like to thank all of the people who have read this story so far, I'm having a great time writing it. I'm going to show you guys what really happened with Cairo and Jazmine and why no one has yet forgiven him. Sorry it took so long, but with school I've barely had any time. But I have a great feeling that you'll enjoy this chapter. Remember to Review!

. . .

Cairo's Dream

1 and a half years before

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Hiro screamed from his DJ set up and started jamming it up as the party began. Cairo was throwing a party for the end of freshman year and it was insane. Every single person in the grade showed up, and the party was awesome. Hiro was rocking it on DJ, and the pool and hot tub were packed with hot girls!

Cairo was pouring himself a drink at the punch bowl, when someone ran up from behind him and gave him a hug!

"Cairo!" Jazmine screamed with joy. Cairo smiled at her as he tried to get her off. Cairo always admired Jazmine's energy, but still wanted a bit of space. Once she was off, she began to talk about the party. "Oh my God, this party is insane! I can't believe how awesome it is!"

"Even I have to admit this party is pretty sweet," Huey said walking towards them. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself, or at least for Jazmine's sake. They had just started going out two weeks before, and Huey was doing everything he could to make his girlfriend happy, even if it included a rare smile.

Huey and Cairo shook hands, and Cairo poured the three of them punch. After Huey took a sip, he turned to Cairo.

"So, who's the girl?" He asked, to which Cairo responded with a confused look

"Beg your pardon?" Cairo asked, to which Jazmine clarified.

"Come on Cairo, were not stupid! You don't throw a big party with hot girls unless one of them is yours. I can't wait to meet her!" She squealed giddily.

Cairo looked down, his cheeks turning red. He never actually had a girlfriend, and that hadn't changed yet. Jazmine picked up on this, and her joyful look turned to sympathy.

"Aw, I'm so sorry. If it helps, I could go see any girls on the cheerleading squad with me are interested. Any girl would want to be with you, especially after this party," Jazmine said.

Cairo smiled, not taking her question seriously. However, his eyes wondered to the pool, right to a particular cheerleader with a perfect hour glass body, long blonde hair, and a bikini that left little to the imagination.

Jazmine looked over at the girl, then back to him, and beamed.

"Oh, that's Emma! She's on the cheerleading team with me! I'll go get her," Jazmine said, handing Cairo her drink, and sprinting off to get her before Cairo even got to say yes. Huey simply smirked.

"I'll make sure she doesn't do anything too crazy," Huey said walking in the direction Jazmine had went running to. When they were gone, Cairo fist pumped and yelled "Yes, score!" He was extremely excited to meet Emma, and his party was off the hook. That is until Butch Magnus walked up to him.

"Hey man what up?" Butch said coming next to him. Cairo forced a smile. Cairo hated Butch with every fiber of his being. But there was only one guy he knew who could beat up Bitch Magnus, and Huey was at the pool with Jazmine. "Dis party cool, so I'll do you a favor. Dat Jazmine's glass?"

"Yeah but – What the fuck?" Cairo said to Butch as he placed a clear capsule into Jazmine's drink. Butch then smirked.

"You're welcome. Give that to Jazmine, and then half and half girlfriend of your will give you the best fuck of your life."

Cairo's jaws dropped in horror. "Wha- Wait- You dumbass! Jazzy ain't my girl!"

Butches grin faded away, turning into a befuddled stare. "Wait, I thought you and Jazmine were together though?"

Cairo looked at him angrily. "She's Huey's girlfriend, you idiot!"

Now, Butch made the full transition to complete fear, sweat streaking down his multiple chins. Everyone knew Huey was not someone to mess with, especially with his girlfriend. "H-h-Huey?! I'm fucking outta here!" He then ran out through the front door, knocking several innocent people down on the way.

Just then, Cairo saw Jazmine and Huey starting to make their way back to him with Emma, and started panting. What the heck was he suppose to do? He couldn't let Jazmine have it; there were no other cups around to confuse it with, and he couldn't just pour it back in the bowl. So as they made it over, just before they could see, he did a split second choice.

He drank it himself.

…

3 hours later

"Bye Emma," Cairo said leaning by inside the doorway, and Emma just outside. Cairo was relieved that not only had the pills that Butch gave him were shit, but that Emma and him had hit it off great. They talked all night, and everything about her just made him want to learn more.

Emma looked down and then grinned. "I hope we could do this again some time,"

Their eyes both met and they leaned in to kiss. It felt amazing, like his mouth was in heaven. However, it was rudely interrupted by Emma's dad honking his car's horn. They both jumped back in fright, but both retained their composer. However, her dad kept honking his horn.

"DAD, I'LL BE RIGHT THERE! JUST GIVE ME A FREAKING SECOND!" Emma yelled angrily, her face getting red. Then the honking stopped. Emma turned back to Cairo, her face returning to its calm beginning.

"Bye," she said, giving him a slip of paper. She walked back to her dad's car, as Cairo watched. Once she got in he looked down at the slip and his jaw dropped. There it was; the hottest girl in the school's number in the palm of his hands. He put it in his pocket and walked back into the living room. Sitting there was Huey and Jazmine, with excited looks on their faces, outside was Riley, Cindy, Caesar, and Hiro in the pool.

"So how did it go?" Jazmine asked anxiously, nearly jumping up and down in her seat with anticipation.

Cairo smirked and held up the number to Jazmine, who's face lit up.

"Yea!" Jazmine squealed with joy, as she hugged Cairo. When she finished, Cairo received a high five from Huey.

"Nice, man." Huey said, happy for his friend's fortune. That's when Huey got a phone call. Huey looked down at his phone, and then back up.

"It's Granddad," He said as he turned it on, and put it by his ear. However, coupled with him unknowingly having it on speaker and Granddad's already booming voice, Huey jerked it back as soon as Granddad began to speak.

"Boy, it 12 o'clock! Ma hoe turned out ta be a burglar, an' wound up stealin da damn stereo, den maced me in da face! So get yo black ass and da rest ya back from Cairo, before I go over their ma and stomp my foot up yo ass!"

"Be right their Granddad," Huey said calmly before hanging up.

"Jazmine, wait here with Cairo, I'll get those four," He said before heading outside. Jazmine and Cairo watched as he walked up to the pool which contained Hiro, Cindy and Caesar.

"Wait, where's Ri- AH!" Huey started, just before Riley came out of nowhere and pushed him in, which was met with laughter by all, even Huey.

While Cairo and Jazmine were standing by the glass door, laughing at the situation, Cairo began to feel strange. His vision started to blur, he felt nautilus, and he began staggering around randomly.

"Cairo, you okay?" Jazmine asked him nervously, not knowing what was happening.

Cairo could barely hear what she said, his ears now ringing like there was a fire alarm. Cairo felt as though he was a stranger in his own body. He was aware of what was going on, but all of his senses seemed to be out of his control. He tried to ask her for help, but it came out slightly different.

"Blurble, ecrock!" He croaked out. Jazmine gasped in horror, seeing he was in serious trouble.

"Come on!" Jazmine yelled grabbing him by the shoulder and bringing him into the bathroom. She shut the door, and put his head into the sink. That's when Jazmine turned on the cold water in hope the shock could regain Cairo's senses. This was actually effective, and Cairo's vision began to return. Jazmine lifted his head back up and he turned his head towards her. Not only did he see better, but he saw Jazmine as he never had before. Her strawberry blond hear glistened by the florescent light, her face filled with innocence and determination to help Cairo, and her figure was perfect. Cairo didn't know what was going on, but he felt as though he was falling in love. However, he then angrily realized that he could never have her, unless he was willing to lose his friendship with Huey, who he could not bring himself to betray again. The entire situation made Cairo angry. Embarrassed by himself, he looked away in shame back to the mirror. However, when he looked into the mirror it wasn't his face, in fact, it looked absolutely nothing like him. It looked like an elderly man wearing shades, his face construed with hatred.

"Cairo. . . Are you okay?" Jazmine said, and everything went black.

. . .

"Cairo, p-please stop!" Jazmine begged, tears running down her face.

Cairo just came back into reality, not knowing what had happened while everything was black, but looked in horror at the scene. He was right in front of Jazmine, who he'd somehow backed against the wall. Her shirt was ripped off, and her bra was removed. The only thing that covered her breast were her arms across her chess. She looked like she was afraid for her life, but mainly looked hurt. Hurt that someone she trusted, someone who was almost like a big brother to her, who she had known since middle school, would do this to her.

Cairo desperately wanted to apologize, but he didn't know what to say. He wasn't even sure what it was that happened. He opened his mouth to begin, but then the door busted open. Huey had broken the lock by kicking down the door, and reviewed the scene in horror. He saw Jazmine, and for one of very few times, Cairo saw legitimate tears beginning to form in Huey's eyes, in horror of what happened to the girl he loved. However, as he turned to Cairo, those tears evaporated from the flaming fury that now engulfed his eyes.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. DO!" Huey stated angrily, staring at Cairo. Cairo was about to attempt to explain himself, but when he opened his mouth, he had no control over what he said next.

"Nigga, da mule bitch wanted a real niggas D. So fuck off!" Cairo said a split second later gaining control. Once he did, he was horrified by what he just said. Yet that was not nearly enough time before Huey ran up to him, put his hand around his neck. All Cairo could do was watch the fist hurl towards his face like a meteor.

. . .

"AHHHHH!" Cairo yelled, bolting up in a cold sweat. His chest was going up and down like an accordion. Cleopatra was awakened by this, and bolted up to face Cairo.

"Cairo, what's wrong suga?" She said looking around nervously, afraid they were under attack by the Chinese.

"Nothing," Cairo said, more trying to convince himself than her. "Just some stupid nightmare"

Cleopatra raised her eyebrow. "Just some stupid nightmare? Cairo, today I've seen you beaten up by a Chinese girl, and two soldiers, and you didn't freak out like that once. So tell me, what the hell is goin' on with you?"

Cairo looked into her eyes and sighed. He didn't want to say anything, but he couldn't possibly lie to Cleopatra. She meant the world to him, and she should probably know the truth about him. No matter how dark it is.

"Look there's probably somedin you should know . . ."

. . .

"Oh my God," Cleopatra stated, her jaw dropped. She hung on every word Cairo said, with each one being extremely disturbing. Every last detail, from Butch Magnus to the man in the mirror, she was horrified.

"So now what?" Cairo said gloomily, his usual confidence sucked out of his voice. He was waiting to hear the same thing he heard from everyone he tried to explain himself to after that night. "You don't believe me to do you? You probably think I'm a liar, that I'm a monster, that I'm a –"

Cleopatra raised her hand for him to stop. "Don't give me that melodrama bullshit. You were drugged, you had no control. I'm sure if you told them they'd understand if you explained the shit that went down,"

Cairo looked at her seriously. "I did, but they didn't believe me. All of them shunned me like I had the fucking plague. All of 'em; Huey, Jazmine, Caesar, Hiro, BJ, Riley, Cindy . . . Emma,"

Cleopatra gave him a serious look and raised her eyebrow, which Cairo noted. Probably shouldn't mention my ex in front of my girlfriend he thought.

"Then they also beat the shit out of me," Cairo added.

"And is that when you started being an asshole to them?" Cleopatra asked, to which Cairo smirked in acknowledgment. That's when Cleopatra's brown eyes met his. They both leaned in to kiss, but then a loud knocking stopped them.

"GET UP, NIGGAS! BREAKFEST IN FIVE!" Cindy yelled from the hallway.

. . .

KITCHEN

"Oh Shit!" Riley screamed at the uncontrollable fire coming from the stove. He was trying to make the instant grits, but instead of putting it in a pot, he just put it on the stove and turned it on. Thus beginning the rapidly spreading combustion while the others were obliviously waiting in the dining room.

"Hey Reezy I – WHAT DA FUCK DID YA DO?!" Cindy screamed walking in, feeling the heat from all the way across the room. She jumped to grab the fire extinguisher, and instantly took down inferno. Riley gave out a huge sigh f relief.

"Damn C-Murph tha- AHHHH!" Riley screamed as Cindy sprayed him with the fire extinguisher, laughing. Riley laughed as well, but then began to rant.

"Why I da one who gotta do dis shit? Shouldn't Tatiana o' Jazmine be doin' dis bitch shit?!" Riley complained, but then saw Cindy was deep in thought about another issue. Riley knew what

"Yo worried bout BJ, ain't ya?" Riley guessed. BJ was his and Cindy's best friend since they were all ten. They saw him getting the shit beaten out of Butch Magnus, and they helped him beat Bitch Magnus. Well, Cindy did at least. When Riley tried, he got knocked out cold, but the Cindy kicked Butch Magnus in the nuts and he fell like Saddam Hussein's statue. The three had been inseparable ever since. BJ was pretty much a 'wigga' like Cindy.

Cindy looked at Riley seriously and asked. "Yo think he 'kay?"

Riley smiled at her concern. "Dayum C-Murph, I feel sorry for whateva yellow ass ty to mess with that crazy nigga!"

Cindy smirked. "Yeah, your ass right . . . for once," as she playfully nudged him in the stomach with her elbow. The both grabbed trays of the burnt grits to bring into the dining room. Cindy and Riley noticed Jazmine had a new hairstyle. Do to one of her afro puffs being shot off, instead of having two be side to side, she just had the one tied in the back of her head. They gave the bowls of grits to each person, however it was burnt to the point it looked more along the lines of a bowl of hot crap. The only one who dared to touch it was Ming, for she was willing to eat anything considering that up until two days ago she hadn't had a real meal in six years. However, she made a strange face when she discovered it tasted even worse than it looked.

"So . . ." Tatiana said pushing the plate away from him like it was the plague. "Which place should we hit first?"

"Wait, aren't we going back to Woodcrest?" Jazmine asked with her eyes widening, to which Ming shook her head.

"They probably have most of their forces there. They know that's where were most likely to hit, so they'll be waiting to attack,"

"Oh. . ." Jazmine said gloomily, to which Huey grabbed her hand and began to console.

"It's okay Jazzy," Huey told her "I told you last night everything would be –"

"Hold dis shit up!" Riley said cackling "Since when did y'all start calling her 'Jazzy'? What kind o' dumb shit name is dat?"

Huey gave Riley a death stare, clinching his fists. Hiro sensed the situation could get violent fast, so he held his hand up in hope of restoring the conversation to the elephant in the room.

"Okay, so we need to choose a target. How about we try going into other parts of Baltimore?"

Cleopatra shook her head. "They probably have the city under as strict guard as Woodcrest. Maybe we should start off smaller,"

"What about Annapolis?" Caesar suggested.

"Their probably infesting the capitol," Huey said "Let's go for Dundalk. It's close by, and the Chinese probably don't have much of their Navy passed the Chesapeake,"

"That's a pretty good idea," Ming said. "We won't attack to take it over. We just need to send a message,"

"Run and gun? Sounds good to me," Cindy said cracking her knuckles.

Then Cairo stood up. He was the only one who had yet to speak. Huey eyed him angrily.

"Huey, before we go, you, me and Jazmine need ta-" Huey raised his hand to stop him.

"Why?" Huey growled getting up as well. "So I can see you try to fuck her again?"

Cairo bit his lips, trying to avoid starting a fight. "Look man, I'm not trying to start anything all I want is-"

"What?" Huey asked, gritting his teeth. "That you were dumb enough to drink a pill that was suppose to make you disoriented, and that somehow it made you rip off Jazmine's shirt and attack her?"

"Huey," Cleopatra said getting up from her chair trying to restore the peace. "You need to just calm down-"

"Shut up, Cleopatra" Huey barked at her angrily, as she went back down in shock. Cairo looked back at Huey, his blood boiling.

"Don't you dare talk to her dat way!" Cairo yelled at Huey, to which Huey simply smirked.

"Your right, Cairo," Huey said cruelly "I should just go by your example. Spend a few years getting to know her, wait til were alone, and then I can rape her. That sound familiar?"

Cairo had enough. He'd never been so angry. He was about to comeback, but then he lost control. His head began twisting back and forth

"Ableabaleabyub" was all they could hear as Cairo moved violently, to which everyone watched in horror. Even Huey was concerned for his old friend. Then Cairo stopped, with his face now distorted in hatred.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, NIGGA?" Cairo yelled, but it was definitely not his voice. Only Huey recognized who it was.

"Oh shi-" Huey started, but before he could finish Cairo flipped over the table and did a two feet kick to the chest on Huey. Everyone looked at the two in horror. Huey stumbled back into the wall, his chest hurting like hell. However, that didn't stop him from continuing.

"Stinkmeaner!" Huey gasped, now putting all the pieces together.

"Ding ding ding! Dat right nigga!" Stinkmeaner cackled. "You think dis mo'fuckin excuse faw a nigga had da balls to shaw dat mulatto how a realz nigga do? HA HA HA!"

Huey stared at Stinkmeaner/Cairo, feeling anger and regret at the same time. Stinkmeaner had turned him against Cairo, one of his best friends. But what made Huey feel so ashamed was how so easily he turned his back on Cairo. He looked back at Jazmine, and through her horror he could see the shame she was feeling as well. But now wasn't the time for a pity party, now was the time to defeat Stinkmeaner once and for all.

"Stinkmeaner," Huey said regaining his composer "How many times do I have to send your ass back to hell?"

Stinkmeaner laughed again. "Until I get ma chance to send you with me, in a first class cabin on da ass whoopin' express! Woo Ho-!" WHAM!

The chair crashed down on Cairo/Stinkmeaner's head like a boot on an ant. He went down unconscious; standing behind him was Ming, holding the now removed end of the chair leg. Everyone looked at her in shock, but she simply shrugged.

"That voice was annoying the shit out of me,"

. . .

RILEY AND CINDY'S ROOM

"Why we puttin da nigga in ma bed again?" Riley asked angrily, looking at the knocked out Cairo, who was tied up to his and Cindy's bed. They had just finished explaining who Stinkmeaner was to those who didn't know. Jazmine stirred in her seat the entire time, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"Seriously though, why it gotta be in ma bed dis time? Dis crazy ass demon nigga's been tied up in ma bed every fucking time! Ain't dis a bitch some ole bull- Ouch nigga!" Riley yelled as Huey slapped his brother upside the head.

"Quit complaining Riley, this is serious," Huey said, still looking at the unconscious Cairo. He felt like absolute shit, knowing he spent more than a year with a fiery hatred toward one of his best friends over something that he didn't have any control over. All the times Cairo tried to convince him of what happened, Huey wouldn't listen. Huey couldn't find anything to console his conscious. He looked over at Jazmine, whose constant fidgeting hinted she was not doing any better.

"Huey," Riley said now being far more serious. "You and me both know there is only one nigga out there that knows all da wayz ta stop a nigga moment,"

Huey sighed, as they both said in unison "Uncle Ruckus,"

"Huh?" Cleopatra said turning to look at them both. "Isn't that the fat guy who looked me and said 'Ah, it's good ta see dey bringing back dem niggas from Africa'?"

"Probably," Caesar said to her. "He's one racist ass mo'fucker,"

"I guess we'll have to go back into Woodcrest," Tatiana sighed frowning. Hiro made note that she seemed pretty nervous, like she was afraid of what she'd find. He couldn't blame her though. The only family she had left was her Grandmother who she had moved in with a couple of years ago. Her grandmother and she were common visitors of the local shooting range. Hiro thoughts then wondered to the fact that whenever he asked Tatiana why that was, or anything about her family, she would always tense up and refuse to answer.

"Huey, watch after Cairo with Cleopatra and Jazmine," Ming said, looking right at Huey. She could tell that even though Huey was a badass, he needed to stay with Cairo. "We'll go and find Ruckus,"

Huey simply nodded in agreement. Part of him wanted to go and kick some ass, but he knew that he needed to do something that he hadn't done for a long time: be there for Cairo. Cairo and he always had each other's backs back in Chicago. Huey taught Cairo martial arts, and Cairo taught Huey fencing, and even helped train him to use his katana. However, it all changed after the drive by. Huey's dad was running for city council, on a platform of taking on gangs. They were at a campaign picnic, when a car drove up and began shooting. Huey and Cairo were only saved because Huey's mom dived in the way to take bullets for both of them. In total, three died that day. Huey's mom and dad, and Cairo's mom were those three. Cairo went through the same rough patch as Huey and Riley did, only a mix between total indifference and total ignorance. Granddad wanted out of Chicago as soon as possible, not wanting his grandsons to have to live in a place with such bad memories. Huey never felt right about leaving Cairo, and had planned to apologize when he came back to Chicago. But that hadn't gone exactly as planned. . .

"Alright," Huey said to her. Once the people who were going went into the hallway to go to the elevator, all that were left with Cairo was Huey, Cleopatra and Jazmine. Jazmine was still looking nervously at Cairo.

"Cleopatra," Huey said clearing his throat. "About before, I didn't mean to-"

"It's cool," she said calmly. "We were all a bit stressed out. And I shouldn't have gotten involved,"

Jazmine then looked up at her, with a shocked look on her face. "What do you mean you shouldn't have gotten involved? You showed all of us that Cairo was innocent. None of us would have guessed it was Stinkmeaner!"

Cleopatra blushed at Jazmine's praise, while Huey nodded in agreement. He had been duped by Stinkmeaner for the past year and a half, and Cleopatra figured it all out within 24 hours of meeting all of them! He could get used to her, he thought.

. . .

Armory

"Come on, grab what you need!" Ming yelled at all of them. They were going through the massive array of weapons that was extensive as far as the eye can see. The choices were so varied it took them a while to decide what to go with. They each decided to take a long range and short range weapon. Once they had finalized their choices [Caesar: a shotgun and a machete; Riley: twin pistols and brass knuckles; Hiro: AK-47 and nunchucks; Cindy: AR-15 and a baseball bat; Ming: crossbow and a Chinese saber, along with her small knives; and Tatiana: rifle with sniper scope and a switch blade] they went to the elevator. Once they all piled in to get to the garage, Ming looked at them all and took a deep breath.

I won't lose this team. She thought to herself. Never again.

. . .

Washington DC

Mr. Long Dou was sitting in the oval office. For American work, it was actually quite nice, he supposed. Mr. Long Dou might have actually taken time to enjoy this, had he not been currently on the phone arguing with a gangster head of the Bloods in LA. Mr. Long Dou had managed to get every gang in America to align themselves with him. He even soothed major rivalries with his proposal. However, now that Mr. Long Dou filled his end of the deal, it became obvious that they were not exactly on the same page.

"You asked for Hoes, and I gave you Hoes!" Mr. Long Duo yelled in to the phone with perfect English. Why were these jerks calling him so much about this? He disposed at least five men in his forces with the last name Hoes per gang. Thankfully there was a large amount of them. Mr. Long Dou was unsure why they wanted them, but that was their problem now. That's what they agree to.

"You dumb ass mother fucka! Deez ain't no hoes! They're all dudes!" The gangster fired back.

"They are Hoes! Look on their IDs!" Mr. Long Dou screamed in return

"You yellow shit! I wanted hoes! You know, prostitutes," The Gangster screamed.

"Ah," Mr. Long Dou said. "We'll send some over. Why didn't you say so?"

The gangster cursed, and hung up. Just then, Mr. Long Dou's phone rang, it was the secretary.

"Hello . . . Excellent. Send him in." Mr. Long Dou said with an evil smile.

Just then the door, opened, and three people appeared at the door. One was a fat young man with an evil look, and eyes that were so evil they disturbed even Mr. Long Dou. The other two escorting him were members of Ming's kickball team. They were all angered that they had to continue to train more in America before they could extract their revenge, but they had kept their mouths shut. Mr. Long Dou still wanted them to be the ones at the execution, but he wanted to test his granddaughter a bit more. She thought she escaped the torture, but it had only just begun. Mr. Long Dou then looked at the young man.

"So Lamilton, are you prepared to fight?"

Lamilton Taeshawn just smiled. He had a few scores to settle back in Woodcrest. And this wasn't just Riley. . .

"What can I say? It's fun to do bad things?"

. . .

"Ah another Nigga successfully exorcised and or beaten" – Uncle Ruckus (The Return of Stinkmeaner)

I literally say that every time I finish a chapter. Sorry for the insane wait. But with school I only have weekends, and sometimes their booked solid too. I kind of feel like a jerk for making you wait so long, and I promise that I'll try to be faster. I have a lot of great ideas for character development, so just bare with me. I'm also thinking about starting with a flashback with a lot of the next few chapters to give more background. Please Review and give any suggestions you want. Thanks!