Chapter 5: Pre Invasion: Cairo and Cleopatra
Sorry about the wait, schools been crazy. But the funny thing is, the chapter I made was so long, I decided to split it in half. Therefore, consider this a bonus chapter, as it will be 100% pre invasion. Just remember to review
Disclaimer: I own nothing
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Flashback: Woodcrest, Cairo's house
Saturday, one day before Ming comes to Woodcrest.
Cairo's dad, Jamal got up in a haze. As soon as he had gotten up, he wished he hadn't. Not only did he have a massive headache, but his entire house was a mess. There were lamps broken, furniture turned over, photo frames cracked and windows smashed all around him. He could remember absolutely nothing about last night. He decided to look at his watch to see what time it was, but was horrified to see his entire hand was drenched in blood. He looked at the other one to discover it was equally coated in the crimson liquid. Jamal looked around the room, trying to see if there were any other signs of blood anywhere, or where it might have came from. However, his thoughts immediately turned to the one person he most feared he hurt: Cairo.
"Cairo!" Jamal screamed desperately "Cairo!"
Jamal looked all throughout the first floor, and could not find a trace of his son. He then stormed up to the second floor, and swung open his son's bed room door. To his relief, Cairo was fast asleep, safe and sound. However, the sheer volume of him slamming the door open caused Cairo to bolt out of bed still half asleep, and screaming.
"Don't touch ma' weed!" he screamed out while still thinking he was dreaming, but silenced himself when he saw his father.
"Oh Cairo thank God, I thought you were- wait, what da fuck are you talkin' about with weed?"
Cairo's eyes widened to the size of dish plates. Jamal wanted to punish his son immediately. Sure, Jamal himself had done weed when he was Cairo's age and knew how hard it was to get addicted too, yet he was always afraid that Cairo would wind up using it too much due to the trauma of watching his mother get shot. "I won't yell at ya, if you can tell me what went down last night," Jamal bargained, trying to calm himself. Cairo took a breath in relief, and began to explain the story to his father.
"A Pimp named Slickback and his two hoes Cristal 'like the champagne' and Sweetest Taboo came back last night," he said, not bothering to go forward. Jamal looked shocked. He owed A Pimp named Slickback a considerable deal of money, a bit over fifty grand. A Pimp Named Slickback had been coming to their house and demanding money for weeks now.
"Did I…" Jamal said, hoping he didn't do anything stupid. Cairo shook his head.
"Nah. I saw them leave. You do have a cut on your head though,"
Jamal felt his forehead and immediately realized the cut must be where all the blood came from. And also the headache. Jamal grabbed a hand towel and wrapped it around his wound. But one thing still didn't make sense.
"Boy shouldn't you be in school?"Jamal asked his son after looking at his watch which said it was almost 1PM, who stared at him blankly.
"Dad," Cairo said with a bored expression. "It's Saturday,"
"Oh," Jamal said appeased. However after a moment of letting it sink in, his eyes lit up. "Saturday?! Shit we gotta get to the airport!" He said getting up ready to rush into his room until Cairo spoke.
"What for? We goin' somewhere?" Cairo asked confused. His dad turned his head back towards his son.
"Damn, I forgot to tell you," Jamal said sitting down. "Do you remember Mr. and Mrs. Amukamora and their daughter Cleopatra from when I worked at the embassy in Egypt?"
Cairo rolled his eyes "Dad that was like twelve years ago! All I remember is I was friends with Cleopatra, and she was pissed off when I told her I was leaving," he said rubbing his head. Even though they were only four at the time, he still remembered her flipping out and head butting him really hard. That's actually where he got the inspiration to head butt Huey when he came back to Chicago.
Jamal looked down. He had met his wife, Ana, while working as a diplomat in Egypt. While there, he had befriended a couple that worked there, Matthew and Sherry Amukamora, the parents of Cairo's old friend Cleopatra. Jamal had left his post at the embassy to help join a company started by his friend from business school, Marcus Freeman. He also remembers how he was the one who convinced Marcus to run for alderman in Chicago, a regret that will most likely follow him to his grave. He turned his head up to face his son
"Well, you've at least heard about the raid on that Nigerian village by Boko Haram and how they killed all those people, right?" Jamal asked. Cairo nodded his head, causing Jamal to sigh.
"They were visiting Sherry's parents," Jamal stated, and judging by Cairo's gasp, didn't need to go into further detail. "Cleopatra was the lone survivor of the entire family. Her parents' will gave us custody if no blood relatives could be found. She'll be living with us,"
Cairo groaned slightly. As though he didn't have enough on his plate in terms of having beefs with people. And now Cleopatra too? Couldn't he just take one issue at a time instead of having it all piled onto him like he was Atlas or something? Jamal sensed Cairo's anxiety, and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "I promise you everything will be fine," he said, but when that didn't show any true effect, Jamal decided to sweeten the deal. "When we're ready, you can drive the Jeep,"
Cairo immediately changed his expression to a thrilled smile. He had gotten his learner permit months ago, but his dad had yet to let him drive the Jeep, which Cairo viewed as the most badass car on earth. Sure, Lamborghinis and Maseratis were cool, but when was the last time you saw one of them in a combat zone? Cairo practically pushed his dad out of his room and began to get changed. He put on his Matt Forte Chicago Bears jersey, his jeans, and his Air Jordan's. He then rushed down stairs where he met his dad, who smiled at his son.
"You excited huh?" Jamal asked Cairo as he was just about to open the door into the garage.
"Hell yeah! I can't believe I'm really gonna- WHAT THE FUCK?!" Cairo screamed as he saw the damaged jeep in the garage. All the windows and mirrors were smashed, the tires were all slashed and 'A Pimp Named Slickback Was Here' scratched into the side of the car.
"Son of a bitch!" Jamal screamed out; smoke practically coming out of his ears. That overly flamboyant asshole had gone too far. Sure, he could treat women like objects and slaves; he could ransack his house, but touch his car? He'll kill that nigga!
"Now how are we going to get to the airport?" Cairo asked disappointed, looking at his dad.
"Well…" Jamal started, an idea passing into his head. Cairo knew what he was thinking about , and immediately shook his head.
"No way!" Cairo said bitterly.
"You got any better ideas?" Jamal asked. Cairo cursed under his breath, knowing where this would go.
…
Airport
"Now you niggas better not be flyin' off ta join yo' sand monkey cousins in Iraq to start some rag head Muslim empire!" Uncle Ruckus yelled at them as they stepped out the door of his bus. That bus ride had to be one of the most tedious experiences of Cairo and Jamal's lives.
"Yeah, yeah Ruckus, just wait for us until we pick up who we need to pick up. If it weren't for me not havin' my car, I wouldn't be taking this shit," Jamal said, gritting his teeth. During the car ride, they not only had to listen to Uncle Ruckus's rants about blacks and other ethnic groups, but also his radio choices which often played KKK chants, songs romanticizing Jim Crow, and music from racist country-pop singer Tanya Sweet, who had her new song "Lynch them all".
Ruckus looked at Jamal in disgust. "Oh let me guess, you couldn't see the windshield from all the shit yo' monkey ass has thrown at it, and you probably wound up running over a couple o' nice, innocent white kids, totalin' the car that was created through the hard work n' determination of many great white men. Shame on you, you twisted Negro son of a bitch!" Ruckus scowled as he was closing his door and then putting the bus in park. However, Cairo and Jamal could still here him humming the chorus to the song: 'And the niggas gonna hate, hate, hate, hate,' Jamal turned to his son. "You were, right, we should have just gone and hitchhiked," Jamal admitted. "Come on; let's see if Cleopatra's flight landed,"
They both walked into the airport, and looked into the crowd of people; however they couldn't be sure if any were Cleopatra. Cairo turned to his father. "Do you know what Cleopatra looks like now?"
"Yeah, they emailed me a picture so I'd be able to recognize her," Jamaal said, holding out his phone to Cairo. Cairo took it in his hands, and stared at the photo. Despite at first being thrown off by the afro, which reminded him a lot of Huey's, only a bit smaller, she was absolutely stunning. She was wearing a black bikini with a crucifix around her neck as she laid down on a towel at a beach. She looked exactly like Beyonce when she was in Austin Powers. Her skin was flawless, her body was in perfect shape, and she had a beautiful smile. It almost reminded him of Jazmine's smile. Before this could sink in, he felt someone roughly tap him on his shoulder.
"You finished staring at that photo, or should I direct you to the closest bathroom stall, creep?" a voice said from behind him.
Cairo spun around, prepared to tell whoever it was to fuck off. But when he turned, he saw the actual Cleopatra standing there, her arms folded. She looked even more beautiful in person, yet also incredibly irritable. She also had a small scar on her neck, which could barely be seen due to the crucifix she wore covered it. Cairo stumbled, not sure how to explain himself. He looked over toward his dad, who just shrugged, not wanting to get involved in the situation.
"C-Cleopatra, I was just-uh…" Cairo scrambled, until Cleopatra raised her hand as a sign for him to stop.
"Save it," She said with a scowl. Cairo was feeling very conflicted right now. While she was still gorgeous, and he was willing to look past the afro, he could not get past the scowl. It was like a female Huey! Jamal sensed the tension, and immediately turned toward Cleopatra.
"I'm heading out to make sure our driver didn't drive off to a Klan rally. Would you like me to take your bag to the bus?"
Cleopatra's scowl immediately morphed to a small, sweet smile as she handed Jamal the bag. "Thank you, Mr. Johnson,"
As Jamal left, Cleopatra and Cairo were left standing awkwardly. Cairo checked his phone, and frowned to see that there was no battery left, remembering he had forgotten to charge it the night before. Cairo forced himself into engaging in a conversation with Cleopatra.
"Weather must not be what you're used to with all the snow, right?" He said, hoping to form a conversation with her, to no avail. All she did was nod at him with a blank expression. Cairo sighed, deciding not to beat around the bush any longer.
"I'm sorry to hear about your parents. They were good people," this caught Cleopatra as her eyes immediately met his "My mom was killed right in front of me when I was ten years old, so I understand what you're going through. If you ever want to talk about it, I'm-"
"No," she growled at him. She had been listening to him attentively, but when he said he knew what she was going through, she appeared deeply insulted and began shouting at him. "You don't know what I'm going through. Do you know what I saw? They didn't just put a bullet in my parents and end it there. No, that would've been too merciful for the crime of bearing witness to The Son of God. They had to get creative. They crucified my grandparents, stoned my mother, and beheaded my father, and made me watch all of it. I tried to look away, but they made me watch. They were about to behead me before a local Christian militia came in and managed to distract them long enough. I still have a scar on my neck to show for it! And somehow watching just one of your parents get shot is the same thing? You for real, nigga?"
Cairo took a step back in shock of what he just heard. He did not expect such an angry response from her. From the bottom of his heart his motives were sincere, and felt slightly offended that she was so hostile. He looked around the airport to see that almost everyone in the airport had stopped to witness Cleopatra yelling at him. Cairo looked around nervously and was relieved to see his dad coming toward them. "The bus is ready,"
Cairo and Cleopatra followed Jamal out to Uncle Ruckus's bus. But before they entered, Jamal turned to Cleopatra. "I should probably warn you, our bus driver has some… strange positions,"
"What do you mean?" Cleopatra asked, confused as to what he meant.
"You've heard of Bull Connors, right?" Jamal asked, to which Cleopatra slowly nodded. "Okay, just imagine if Bull Connors was black,"
"So he hates white people?" Cleopatra asked, causing Jamal and Cairo to chuckle.
"Not even close," Cairo laughed, making Cleopatra more perplexed. However, the questions were answered as soon as the doors were opened to show Uncle Ruckus, who came out of the gates with his unparalleled brand of racism.
"Ah, it's good to see that we're back to bringing the slaves from the dark, filthy jungles of Africa to the United States to serve the magnificent white men that are descended from pure blood lines that are unpolluted by the gunk of the nigga species,"
Cleopatra's jaws dropped at Ruckus's rant. Cairo almost wanted to take a picture of this hilarious reaction. Cleopatra whispered to Cairo, who in her shock had nearly forgotten all the tension between the two. "What the hell is wrong with him?"
"That's Uncle Ruckus, no relation. He was 'Whitecrest' first token black guy, and hates all other black people, and everyone who ain't white," Cairo explained, while a certain part made Ruckus grit his teeth.
"Now I've already told ya niggas, and I thought you'd have heard me da first time wit dose big-ass Obama elephant ears, but I'll say it again for ya: I ain't a nigga, I have re-vitiligo, it's the opposite of what that lucky bastard Michael Jackson had," Ruckus explained.
Still mortified and confused, Cleopatra entered the bus with Cairo and Jamal. She was just about to take a seat on the empty bus when Uncle Ruckus screamed at her.
"Damn slave girl! Back of da bus! Last thing I want a decent white man or woman to see is a nigga infectin' their seats with yo' jungle filth, ya lil' Rosa Parks!"
Cleopatra's face was still in shock but she prepared herself to strike back at Ruckus. "First of all my name is Cleopatra, not slave, nigga, or Rosa. Second-"
"Cleopatra? As in da Egyptian darkie that attempted to destroy the greatest white empire with her slutty ass tricks? That evil temptress was the Devil, almost as bad as yo' Muslim terrorist friends in da Middle East!"
Cairo, who had previously enjoyed the display, was angered by this last part. Even though he was mad at Cleopatra for how she made a scene at the airport, and Uncle Ruckus had no idea about what she went through, he could still sense how much pain she was in from Ruckus's comment. Cairo walked up to Ruckus and stared him in the face.
"Nigga, what you doin' up here? Don't make me get da police here to shoot yo' uppity ass, boy,"
"Ruckus, I'm gonna give you one chance to apologize to Miss Amukamora for your dumb comments, or else," Cairo said forcefully, to Cleopatra's surprise. She couldn't believe that after what she had said to him, Cairo was defending her. Maybe she had misjudged him…
"Or else what? Y'all nigga's gonna start marchin' n' lootin'?" Ruckus asked mockingly while looking Cairo dead in the eyes. Cairo smiled evilly in response, knowing this lie would make Ruckus lose it.
"She carries the ebola virus," he said. Cleopatra looked at Cairo confused, but when Cairo gave her a wink, she knew exactly where he was going, and sat back and enjoyed watching Ruckus's eyes widen in horror.
"What!?" he screamed in shock. "How'd dey even let her in dis great white country in da first place? You one a Obama Hussein's bastard chillins'?"
"Right now dat ain't your concern. All that concerns you is that if you don't apologize and drive us home, this entire bus and everyone who gets on after us will get it to," Cairo said, knowing the final part would break him "including the whites,"
Ruckus bolted his head back to Cleopatra. "I'm sorry!" He yelled as he stomped his foot on the gas and began driving as fast as the bus could go. Jamal and Cleopatra were okay but the force sent the unseated Cairo flying to the back. They sped through traffic without any regard for stop signs or traffic lights. Once they got there, Ruckus practically tossed the three off the bus, causing them all to land on the gas
"Dammit, now I have to burn all of da goddamn chairs, instead a just da ones dat da nigga's sat their filthy asses on," Ruckus cursed as he threw Cleopatra's bags to them and then drove off. Cairo sat up and rubbed his head, and turned toward his dad and Cleopatra. "You guys okay?".
Jamal sat up as well, and cracked his neck. "Yep. We good," He got up, patted the dirt off his pants, and continued to speak. "I'm gonna take these bags inside and call an auto shop to see if I can get the jeep fixed,"
Cairo's dad trekked into the house, as Cleopatra and Cairo began to get up. Cleopatra just stared at Cairo. Cairo didn't notice this until he had gotten up, and looked at her confused. "What?"
Cleopatra looked down, trying to avoid eye contact with him. "I-I just wanted to apologize about earlier,"
Cairo smirked. "Don't worry," he said. "We's cool,"
Cleopatra smiled at him. It was the first time he's seen her smile since she got off the plane, and God did she look sexy.
'I could get used to this' Cairo thought as they walked towards the house. As they approached the door, something dropped out of Cleopatra's pocket. She went to pick it up, but upon examining it, knelt to the ground and burst into tears. Cairo looked at it and discovered it was a picture taken of a man and a woman at an alter, the woman wearing a wedding dress. He quickly determined that they must be her parents. He opened his mouth, and then shut it again. He had already tried to talk to her about it before, and she was extremely crossed at him. He thought to himself it would be better to do nothing. Sometimes the best thing for someone was just to have them cry it out. But then he heard her say something that made him change his mind.
"I-It sh-should've been me," she cried to herself, barely loud enough for Cairo to hear.
"You're wrong," Cleopatra looked at him, surprised that they were still there. Cairo continued to speak "You couldn't have stopped what happened. The bastards who did it are the ones who made that choice, and they'll burn everyday for it. I'm sorry what happened to your parents, but I know they wouldn't have ever blamed you,"
She shook her head, tears still coming out of her eyes. "You don't know that,"
Cairo smirked. "Trust me, I do. That's just the way parents are. Just like my ma was,"
Cleopatra stopped crying and smiled at him. Before he knew it, she had flung her arms around him. At first, he thought he had just pissed her off and she was trying to tackle him, but as she hung on to him he slowly realized it was actually a hug. He then wrapped his arms around her as well.
"Thank you," she said to him as they continued their embrace.
…
Done with that one, now on to the next, Please Review! Don't worry, I know I say this a lot but this next chapter I kid you not is only hours away.