Sorry guys! I had this posted a couple of weeks ago but then edited it cause the title sucked and for some reason it took it down entirely. Chapter sevens just about down. I hope to have it ready by this weekend. As you can tell by the title in this one it's expected you'll be even more utterly confused than normal... Yay..!
Chapter 6: Fog of Confusion
In a flash the vision vanished leaving me back in the apartments. The vision had left me enervated and confused. I drew my hand from the door handle before falling back against the wall. Looking up at the door as it loomed over me eerily I could see the strange symbol on the door giving off a faint orange light. It was a circle with three other circles inside. Each had a line protruding the bigger circle. I grunted grabbing my hand and stood up facing the symbol. Something about it made my chest throb and my mind ache. I leaned up against my knee and stood up with a grunt. "Hello?" I called hoping that the girl would open the door but not to my surprise there was no answer. I tried using the key I'd found in the washing machine but it didn't work. I could hear faint whispers from beyond the door but couldn't make sense of it. I continued listening as best I could but could only make out bits and pieces of conversation.
One of the voices was that of the little girls and while I couldn't tell what she was saying her tone made it sounds like she was pleading. A loud yell came from inside the room, "You expect me to live off of this? After all I've done for you this is what I get? What do you think your father would say? Get over here!" The girl's voice yelled, "No! No Mommy no! Please don't! I'm sorry!" Her voice shook with terror. I heard shifting inside the room followed by the sounds of slaps and punches. The child screamed and the mom yelled again, "Now go out there and go get me some damn food!" I could hear the child's whimpers from outside the doorway. The whimpers gradually faded before the voice spoke again but this time not angrily but sadly and low, "Kayode..." The voices stopped so I decided to try calling out again but again got no response. I looked down the hallway letting out a deep sigh before walking back into the darkness.
I continued walking in complete silence until I could hear faint bits of sound coming from one of the room down the hall. Hoping to find the source of the noise I ran down the corridor. The sounds became louder and louder until I began to realize it was music, rap to be precise. Soon a voice joined with the music syncing with the rhythm creating a catchy beat. I continued down the hall until I came to the room with the door open letting the music fill the apartments. As the words became clear I could tell it wasn't the trashy stereotypical rap I was so used to hearing at least not the kind I heard before those seven forgotten years in the asylum. I listened carefully from outside the doorway as the voice (which I could now tell belonged to a man) kept rhythm matching the beat perfectly, "Revolutions all the time, people changing the world with violence, and anger, hunger, whatever. I find that ridiculous, if not meticulous. I do my best to guard my own premises."
The music stopped and the voice cut off before the same voice began talking normally, "Yo man, why'd you stop the track?" Another male voice replied laughingly, "Bro you really think people gonna listen to that shit?" I peered into the room and could see the two silhouettes one sitting down with what looked to be a CD player next to him and another standing up in the. Not knowing if it was just another vision I stood back in the door way and listened carefully. The first one spoke up a bit angrily, "This ain't shit man! This is soul. This is street. This is-" "Old school dog." The other one laughed. The first one spoke up confidently, "Damn right bro! And that's exactly what we need! That's exactly what this whole town needs! Hell what this country needs! I'm so sick of them other rappers just talking about material shit. Rap today ain't got no soul and that's what I'm bringing back." "That's nice and all bro but ain't nobody care about soul no more. You said you wanted to get out of here and get your own crib right?" "Well, yeah man. Who don't? But it ain't just all about the money y'know? I want people to hear us and actually think about what we sayin'. I want to change people around. I want our music to have meaning." The other one shrugged him off, "Yeah, yeah...", He paused, "Yo man, I just can't wait till we take off. We'll be makin' money, living life, and getting the hell out of this damn shit-hole. Who knows, maybe you'll even find a girl and by then Yashira and I will be married." The other one laughed, "Damn right bro!" The one sitting on the floor got up. They locked hands shaking them before pulling away. The one that had been rapping before sat down with his hand on the CD player, "K bro, your up. Let's see what you can do." With a sense of both hope and doubt I walked forward to approach the figures but fog began to seep in from the back of the room and engulfed them completely before I could even speak a word. It then retreated leaving me once again alone and without answers.
I didn't have a clue what to do next. Ever since I'd entered the apartment complex things had just gotten stranger and stranger. Who were those people? Did I know them from somewhere? Could I have known them from those seven years in the asylum? I couldn't make sense of anything. It was becoming harder and harder to focus on finding you.
I searched the room but found it empty except for the CD player which still was lying on the ground. I opened up the top and found to my surprise a CD. On the CD was a man posing with a white suit and huge black shades on and two giant dollar signs next to him. Underneath his picture in big bold gold letters was, "Making Money". I decided to at least hear what the music sounded like so I closed the CD payer and started it up. When the music started up I could already tell it was not the same rap music I'd been hearing before. A loud aggressive voice immediately began yelling to a booming bass that caused my ears to ache. More than half of what the guy said was cussing and every sentence had something to do with is luxurious lifestyle. As the music went on static began to drown out his voice but this didn't come from the radio but actually emanated from the CD player itself. The music began getting quieter as the static got louder until it completely drowned out the rapper and obnoxious beat. Then a voice began to speak harshly through the static, "Listen to me, and listen to me closely. Come to the abandoned carpet store down on at the end of Lindsey street or the bitch gets it." A feminine voice quivered from the background, "B-baby, don't do it! He gonna shoot you if you do!" "Shut your mouth!" The angry voice boomed. The woman's spoke again against his orders, "Baby, please stay home! He'll kill you!" The man growled and there was a muffled scream followed by a gunshot which made me jump. The man spoke up again, "I said shut up bitch! That one was in the hand but the next one will be through her head. You've got five minutes and don't even think about calling the cops." The voices stop and the static quieted leaving me even MORE confused.
I sat there for a second still calming down from the sound of a gunshot before standing up and walking out the door. I wasn't even going to bother trying to make sense of it. I was still walking down the hallway trying each door on every room when the voice of a young girl came from behind me, "Hey mister." I spun around and saw it was the same little girl as I'd seen before. Her eyes were blood shot. One was purple and bruised. "H-hello. What are you doing here?" I asked. "I've gotta get food for Mama. Mama said those drinks weren't enough." I hesitated for a second before asking, "Did you and your mom get into a fight?" "Nah, she just woops me when I'm naughty." I bent my knees getting down to her level so we were talking eye to eye, "You've been bad?" "Yeah..." She looked down, "Now that Dads on his trip it's up to me to make sure Mama isn't hungry... But..." She paused, "Momma hasn't always been this way. We used to always be fed at our old house. Now she's like a totally different person... Now she never has enough." I looked at her perplexed, "What's your name?" She looked back up at me with teary eyes, "Kendra." "Well don't worry Kendra I'll take you and your out of here." She looked at me with wide eyes, "Mama don't ever come out of her room. She's gotten bigger and bigger ever since a month ago." "What happened a month ago?" "That's when Mama got a call. She was crying. That's when Mom started staying inside... Mom hasn't told me anything about Dad since then..." I sat there not knowing what to say but tried to comfort her, "I'm sure your Dad will be back soon." "I hope so. I'm tired of getting food for Mama." We sat there for a while in silence before she talked again, "Shoot Mamas gonna whoop me again if I don't get back soon!" With that she once again ran off into the shadows but this time I was right behind her, "Wait Kendra! Where are you going?" "To Mr. Rissert's place. He always has lots of food and I got his key." I grabbed her by her shoulder and slowed her down till she stopped running and asked me agitated, "What?" "You're going to break into his house?" "Yeah, I always go by his place. He's old but he's slow. Mama never whoops me when I get food from his place." "You can't just steal his food!" I said even more confused than before. Were their more people here? She pulled away and started running again, "I have to! Mama's starved and I don't want another whooping." I followed right behind her again but only after a few feet the hall ended leaving me facing the door to the fire escape.
I tried opening the door but found it was locked leaving me dumbfounded as to how she'd opened the door. I pushed the thought form my mind. If she turned out to be just another vision I think I would lose it. Then a thought came into my head. The key from the laundry machine. I figured it was worth a try so I fished it out from my pocket and used it on the door. To my surprise it unlocked so I grabbed the handle and opened the door. Even more surprising was that there was no fire escape outside. The doorway simply led to a two story drop off the side of the building. However across the small gap was another complex. The fire escape must have been knocked down after they built the other building. Luckily there was an open window on the other building across from where I stood. It was the only way she could have gone. I reached out my hands out grabbing the sides of the window keeping my head up so as to not have to look at the long drop. I carefully put my right leg onto the windowsill before leaning forward and bringing my other leg over and hopping inside. I let out another sigh both of relief and of worry. I had no clue what to expect inside the other apartments.
Confused? Pissed? Don't worry it will all become clear in the end. Enjoy, review, and look forward to part 7! If anyone can tell me what the lyrics in the vision of the two free-stylists come from they win a free mention!