He observed those around him, and thought of them as simply automatons, shaped by society's narrow presentation of desires, style, and life. He imagined that their disdainful laughter, was the formula created by a microscopic internal madman, who turned the gears of his minions.
These people don't seem real. Where is their depth? He wondered. Instead of an internal monologue, feelings, or wants, they all seemed to be reflections of a Corporation's dream: mindless, gullible beings, with wads of money, willing to spend it on anything with the slightest hue of colour.
This society is a peculiar creature. He thought.
Huey was still walking on the side of the road. The thoughts of internal madmen, and minions danced through his head. Thinking that his 'peers' were just manufactured instead of born..
He passed a group of laughing children, about his age. The group of 10 year olds talked as loud as possible.
"But I told him no, and he said to me OH MY G!"
"LoL!"
Okay...that's enough bullshit.
Huey turned around, angry, his bag swung with turbulence against his back. "LoL? Did you just say 'Lol' and not L.O.L but "Lull!' Has society really poisoned you that much? You can't even respond with out using an abbreviation meant for texting, which you shouldn't even been doing at this age anyway! Do you think you sound 'witty?' Do you think that's 'laughable?' Lol. Bullllllshit!"
Huey started to walk away, feeling a sense of release. But he wasn't quite finished yet. He turned again. "And don't even get me started to 'Oh My G.' You pick 'Oh my God,' or 'OMG' but don't. Mix. Shit." And he walked away in a huff, leaving the 10 year olds wide eyed, their mouths agape.
"Oh...my...g." The girl said, in shock.
He was now almost halfway to his house, looking around the predominantly white neighborhood. He observed the 1950s picket fences that adorned some of the houses.
"I guess this society is what I'll have to get used to." He said to himself, quietly. Where the hell was RIley? He thought. Where was Jazmine?
"Jazmine. Riley." Huey sighed, exasperated. "I love them, but they seems just as prone to buying products as the others. Especially Riley."
Huey was getting close to his home. As he was reaching it, all the memories of this house flooded back: the fights, and conversations with Grandad and Riley, the crazy, remarkable, or unconventional antics that ensued in or outside of the house, the parties, the epidemics, the battles, the peaceful nights in front of the tv, reading in any of the rooms, or up in his, and Riley's room, researching something. The times when they would sleep soundly, and wake up to the aroma of breakfast; the eerie, bizarre, conventional, or gluttonous guests, and so much more. It all felt lifetimes ago, yet it also felt as if it was all just experienced. Somehow, the nostalgia formed a small, serene smile on Huey's face.
But as Huey stood on the driveway, he analyzed the facade of the house. Something seemed off.
Was it the windows? Could it be the shingles? New paint? No, it wasn't the way the house looked, it was the house felt. It radiated this strange presence of inclusion, and warmth that he hadn't felt before. The house developed a powerful, and beautiful charm. Huey's smiled dropped, as he planted his feet on the ground, and his bag dropped on the concrete.
It seemed as if the house started to develop more human features: the windows became beckoning, alluring eyes, beaming with jovial greeting. The walls started to look supple, and smooth, as if there was skin underneath the brick and paint, instead of wooden beams. The roof seemed tilted, as if it were a maroon beret a graceful woman placed deliberately on her head.
Huey started to gaze on through the windows of his home. Is it possible to be attracted to a home?
He looked on as the gentle wind caused the greenery around the house to sway to west. The home was framed with luscious greenery, as if it were woman swaying her jade skirt, hypnotizing whoever watched her.
Huey snapped out of it. He felt himself stare. He shook his head, embarrassed to even address the thought. He smacked his forehead. "And I thought society was crazy." Huey walked up the step, still drawn in with the pure aura of the house.
He opened the door. "Riley! Grandad!" Huey called, closing the door behind him.
"Grandad! You seen my sock..." Riley trailed off. He walked through the hall. "Huey. What you doing so late? Man, we've been waitin' fo' an hour." Riley said, surprisingly without any excessive swearing, or racial slurs.
"Uh...I was just...never mind. What's going on?" He asked. Not wanting to mention his new found, but quickly extinguished love for the house.
"It's just the best thing Huey!" Grandad said, he came down the stairs. Holding tickets in his hands. Huey still stood in the foyer, his arms at his sides.
"I just entered the Kiana sweepstakes, and we won three tickets to Bora!" Grandad said enthusiastically. "I looked up images. it's beautiful, Huey."
"Grandad, don't you mean 'Bora Bora?'" Huey said, with a monotone voice.
"'Bora Bora?' I thought the second one was a typo."
"Nope, there's two. When are we going?" Huey asked.
"We're leaving in two weeks! This'll be my next opportunity to do it big!"
"Yeah, and you won't leave us like last time!" Riley said.
Huey still felt the happiness in the house, but it didn't seem as if it was radiating off of Grandad or Riley.
"Uh, is there someone else here?" Huey asked, breaking the discussion between Riley and Grandad.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Jazmine's in the kitchen."
That explains it.
Huey walked to the kitchen, while Riley and Grandad danced excitedly around the foyer.
Huey walked in, and there he saw his best friend. the lovely Jazmine DuBois.
The 10 year old girl radiated a powerful optimism, and innocence, even if she was in her deepest concentration. She was sitting at the table, painting on a canvas. Her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth slightly. He laughed through his nose.
"Hi Jazmine." He said,
"Whatever." Jazmine replied, still painting. Huey looked at her, and he smiled slightly.
"Huh. Looks like the tables have turned with that one." Huey said. Jazmine smiled.
"I expected you to say that." She laughed.
"What are you doing over here?" Huey asked. He sat down, and watched her paint. She started a new part of the picture, and spoke.
"Well, I was sitting on the porch outside, happy as could be! I was imagining myself as Jazmine Starflake, a super power spy, searching for the most powerful gem in the world. When I was teamed up with this crazy and borderline suicidal guy named Derrick."
"Mhm." Huey nodded, observing her paintings.
"Then we were on this rickety boat called Old Abigail, and we were on turbulent waters." Jazmine became more animated as she spoke. The paintbrush ran frantically across the canvas. she faced Huey as she spoke. Her expression constantly morphed dynamically as she retold her imaginary adventure. Huey could visualize it all.
"I told Derrick to slow down, the crazy nut! But did he listne to me? Noooo! He was steering the ship like a madmen, as we were heading for the rocks! I couldn't BELIEVE the crew was still sleeping during that craziness! I said "Slow down!" Then he said. "HOLD IN YOUR LUNCH!" I said "IF I DID THAT, MY HEAD WOULD EXPLODE!" Then, this wise guy laughs and goes "WOOOO!" Then guess what?"
Huey scowled. "What?"
Jazmine thought. "How about we both say it at the same time. Ready? One, two, three."
"This psycho heads STRAIGHT for the rocks, while I'm holding on, nautrally white knuckled, and we FLIP over, but you know what? We lived!" Jazmine said enthusiastically, while Huey imitated her tone, and movements. Jazmine laughed.
"How did you know?" She asked.
"I've known you long enough." He said.
"Well, after that, these pirates came along, and they shot at us, and we shot at them with our weather guns! And then, my mommy came to wake me up. She told me that imagining things is good exercise for the brain. Then she leads me into the kitchen, we go in there, and my daddy says, get this: aunt Miyanne is staying over! Can you believe that?" Jazmine said.
"You don't seem happy."
"I'm not! Aunt Miyanne is so mean! So if she comes here, I don't want to be there! so I took some paints, and I'll stay here for a while."
"And your parents are okay with this?"
"They said it's fine. Because they like when I spend time with friends."
Huey was fascinated by this story, despite the fact that it tok a while to get to the point.
"Tell me what happened after that." He said.
"I went up to my room to pray for her to stay away, but then I thought that God has so many people praying to him, what if he doesn't hear it in time? So I wrote him a letter."
Huey stared at her. "You wrote a letter to God?"
"Yep."
"What address did you send it too?"
"Heaven of course."
"Did you put your address?"
"Everything a letter needs! Plus I wrote in it to make the spiders in my basement go away." She said happily.
Huey poured grape juice in a cup. "Okay, and how do you expect the letter to get there?"
"Huey..." Jazmine stopped in mid sentence. How was the letter going to get to Heaven?
"Um...maybe the mail people will send it up."
"If yu say so." Huey started walking out of the kitchen, he wanted to go up to his room. "Nice paintng by the way." His statement was genuine.
"Huh?" Jazmine said. She turned to the painting. She had painted everything she reenacted to Huey, and aunt Miyanne's mean face. She smiled, and called it a masterpiece. "Thanks, Huey!" She called through the kitchen.
Huey was in his room, researching the trends in purchasing demographic for his generation. "I wish I could understand this." Huey said. "What's the big appeal?"
"Hey Huey." Jazmine peered into the room. She stood in the archway.
"Hey Jazmine."
"I'm going to be staying over tonight."
Riley came virtually out of thin air. "What?" He exclaimed.
"Okay." Huey said.
"Alright I'll be sleeping on the couch. I just wanted to let you know in case you see me tomorrow!" She said happily.
Riley was still baffled, almost beyond words. "What?" He uttered.
Jazmine walked in, she sat down on Huey's bed. "I'm still thinking about this whole letter thing." She said. "What are you researching?"
"The trends of purchase in the Y generation demographic." He said.
"Nigga, what is she doing here? She can't stay!" Riley said. He walked in the room. "Man, this some bullshit. How can we travel, if someone's staying over!"
"I thought you were going in a week."
"Even so. It's weird. Go home."
"I called my parents, and I asked , and they said it was okay."
Riley pinched the top f his nose, and closed his eyes out of frustation. "Jazmine, he'll say yes to all kinds of shit when he's on a high. Do you know that? Man, he could..." Riley had an epiphany. He stodd with his arms at his sides, ready for a sprint "He'll say yes to anything right now! He's on a high!" Riley ran downstairs, creating a list of desires to request from his elated Grandfather.
Jazmine faced Huey's back. "Wow, Bora Bora. That sounds fun." Jazmine got up, something slide form her pocket. "Well I've got to brush my teeth. Good night, Huey."
"Good night." Huey said, still looking at the screen." The 10 year old girl left, leaving Huey in his room. He couldn't help but hear something fall to the floor. He got up, and picked it up: there were two pieces of paper.
Dear God
How are you? I am good. Thank you for this day. I sent you a letter recently, did the mail people send it to you? If they did. How did they do it? I would really like to find out. Thank you again, amen.
Sincerely
Jazmine DuBois
Huey read the letter, and he felt the surge of humanity in every letter. It was all so genuine, and pure. Jazmine wasn't like the others, he knew this ever since they became close. But the letter caused an unexplained reaction in the boy. He now felt the same feeling towards the letter, that he had earlier about the house.
He put the letter on the desk. Now he looked at the second paper. His eyes widened.
It was one of Jazmine's drawings. She drew the two of them, laughing. She captured everything perfectly in the image. Jazmine and Huey were both sitting on the hill close to each other, gesturing as if they were retelling a story. He analyzed himself. In this picture he looked so happy, his eyes were closed, and he was in mid laugh. It was accurate down to every detail.
This must be how Jazmine sees the world. Huey thought. How she sees our friendship.
When he looked at the picture of the two laughing figures, he felt a strong sense of unity with Jazmine. as if he was seeing the world through her eyes. He looked around the room: the colours seemed brighter, he felt lighter, happiness was flooding his system. He felt an overriding sense of elation, and peace, as if he had no worries, and as if the universe was a Utopia. He felt as if he had travelled through the gates of enlightenment. He felt absolutely phenomenal.
The 10 year old sat down on his bed. The emotion wore off, and he came back into his universe.
"Jazmine..." Huey said. "I think I'm in love with her."