Hey guys. Heads up, this chapter is kinda sad...:/

But don't you worrry though (Rollo Goodlove voice), you won't hate me...for long lol. But yeah,

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE BOONDOCKS!

And Shoutouts to Miss Ace Thank You, MissG2020, jayjai107, & the newest one, misseylady! (girl I know how ya feel. computers are stupid lol. & this chapter has a lot of Riley, so don't worry!)

Ya'll are the sweetest! :) Thanks for the rev

But anyways, here's the storryy!

CHAPTER 9: AWAITING

"CINDY!" shouted a very exhausted Riley Freeman as he saw his best friend at the hands of some stranger. As the stranger turned around to spot him, he ran away so fast that Riley had to wonder if he hadn't imagined the person. But as he spotted his best friend on the ground, motionless, he knew he wasn't. This was as real as ever.

Running up to her, ignoring the annoying cramps he'd developed from playing basketball for so long, he called to her again to make sure she could hear him. And of course, she couldn't. She was knocked out cold.

When he finally reached her, his eyes, along with his mind, was full of rage. He knew she wasn't dead, but her lifeless body made it seem as if she was and that just made him angrier.

Just who the hell does this person think they are? They're not getting away with this. He was gonna find out who it was and hopefully, he'd have to kill them. There was just no way he'd let some potential killer go. No way in hell.

He knew that if he didn't stop looking at her, he'd go crazy sooner or later. He knew he was being irrational as well, but he didn't care.

You fuckin' wit' my niggas, you fuckin' wit' all of us. Riley thought, as he picked his best friend up and carried her over his left shoulder. Using his right hand, he reached his back pocket to pull out his cell phone and called Huey.

After a few rings, his brother finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Huey. Yo, I'm headin' to the hospital."

"Umm, why?"

Riley paused for a second, trying to control himself from taking his anger out on his brother.

"'Cause some nigga, or bitch, did somethin' to her." He growled involuntarily. On the other side of the phone, Huey's eyebrows raised in concern.

"Riley, what did they do?"

And that's where he lost it.

"SOME BITCH MADE ASS NIGGA CHOKED THE FUCK OUTTA HER, AND I WAS TOO FAR AWAY TO DO ANYTHING! BY THE TIME I GOT TO HER THE NIGGA RAN OFF LIKE THE LIL' BITCH I KNEW HE WAS AND CINDY WAS ON THE FLOOR UNCONSCIOUS AND NOW I'M TRYNA GET HER TO THE HOSPITAL WIT' NO FUCKIN' CAR AND I'M TIRED AS HELL AND, AND-"

"RILEY!" Huey yelled, silencing his brother's panic mode. "Calm down and be rational. Look, we're leavin' the store now. So just chill and call the…on second thought, take her to our house. I'll be there within five minutes."

Both of them knew the police would not make it to their neighborhood in time. Though their neighborhood usually wasn't a bad one, the police knew black people were there, and they weren't taking any chances. So it'd be better if Huey picked them up.

"Look man, I'm tryna be calm but…" Riley started, trying to hold back the tears. His voice sounded thick and he rolled his eyes as he was well aware of it. "…man, this my homie. I'm supposed to protect her, man. We been friends since elementary. To see her like this is just…" He didn't finish his statement. He just shook his head and continued walking down the path, ignoring the silent tears coming down on his cheeks.

"Riley." His brother responded in a sympathetic voice. "I'm comin' okay. Just hold on. She'll be fine." On the other side, Riley could vaguely hear Jazmine ask "Who's that?"

"It's Riley." Huey said, backing away from the phone a bit. "We gotta go. Tell Stacia and Caesar to come on or I'm leavin' them. It's an emergency."

"Nigga, don't leave my girl." Riley warned, his normal tone coming back to life. "Just, hurry up aiight."

Huey nodded, almost forgetting that Riley couldn't see him. "I'm on the way."

"Yes?" The impatient woman behind the glass inquired with a bored expression. The entire crew, minus an unconscious Cindy, glared at the woman. This was definitely not the time to play.

"My friend here is unconscious. Could you please get her a doctor?" Caesar asked in a surprisingly calm tone. This was Cindy, the girl he's had his eye on for a while. The crew thought he'd be more distraught than anyone.

Maybe he was, but he had to be strong.

The woman rolled her eyes and sarcastically snorted. "Well, you are at a doctor's office. So I'll see what I can do." She retorted sarcastically and ended with yet another stupid sarcastic snort.

At that, Stacia wanted to whoop her ass.

"Bitch, we don't got no TIME for your stupid attitude problem! Either let my friend in, or I'll have yo ass admitted." Stacia threatened in a tone that caused some of her friends to back away from her.

Hey! It was kinda scary, alright?

The woman behind the counter gulped before walking in the back to let the doctor know what was going on. Within minutes…

"Umm, someone wanted to admit an unconscious woman?" A nurse timidly asked, slipping half of her body through the door. The crew nodded in agreement as the nurse, along with a few others, walked through the door hurriedly with a hospital bed for Cindy to lie on.

"Name?" One of the nurses asked the crew in haste.

"Cindy McPhearson." Riley replied in a sad tone, his voice cracking a bit. The crew looked at him for a second and everyone had sympathetic looks on their faces. Riley had been silently crying since they picked him up, and of course it was understandable. He actually witnessed this. If it were Jazmine or Stacia, they would've been sobbing loudly and uncontrollably, so who the hell could blame him for not controlling his emotions at the moment?

"Cindy McPhearson, got it." The nurse noted and paused before looking back at the crew. "McPhearson? Isn't her dad that multi-millionaire who works with Ed Wuncler?" She asked. Huey rolled his eyes impatiently.

"Could you just get her some help?" He responded, causing the nurse to nod and leave with Cindy and the other nurses. Once they left, the crew sighed and took their seats in the waiting room.

"Man." Caesar softly let out. "Who the hell is after her?" Everyone shrugged, but Riley. Riley, sitting in between Stacia and Huey, had his elbows on his knees, covering his face with his hands.

This had to be a dream.

Stacia stared at him for a good minute before resting her hand on his shoulder. Riley tensed up at the sudden touch, but relaxed a bit as he realized who it was. He never looked up though.

Stacia felt like she was going to cry herself. Never had she seen her boyfriend look so sad. It was a sight she hoped she'd never see again. He was always the one who knew how to control his feelings. I mean, she knew it wasn't healthy to harbor emotions, but, she didn't want to witness it.

As she looked over to the rest of her friends, she saw Huey look at his brother with sad eyes. It wasn't as if he wasn't sad about Cindy, but just like Stacia, he hated to see his brother so down like that. It was…odd. The last time he'd seen Riley like that is when their parents died, and he didn't even know if Riley remembered it. He was only three at the time, but Huey would never forget that day.

Stacia looked past him towards Jazmine and saw the girl near tears. It was actually surprising to see Jazmine not cry over something like this, yet. She expected her to bawl her eyes out, but she could see the girl trying to tough it out.

As she looked at Caesar, she couldn't help it. The tears finally drowned her cheeks and her upper lip. She didn't even bother to wipe them away.

Caesar was biting his lip trying hard not to punch a wall, or someone, for what happened to Cindy. The look in his eyes that Stacia saw was mixed with both sadness and fury. It was weird. No one had ever seen Caesar that mad, besides Huey. He was always the happy one. He always looked on the brighter side of things.

But let's face it, what's the bright side of this outcome?

Cindy could be in coma for weeks, or months…

Or she could be dead.

But no one wanted to think about that. They just wanted their crazy, goofy, fun-loving, ethnic acting friend back. It was only a matter of time before the results came back.

After what seemed like forever, one of the nurses came back with a clipboard and a few papers. She politely walked into the room, giving the crew a sympathetic smile, only receiving one from Jazmine.

"Um," she started, as Riley finally lifted his head up, his face covered with dried tears. "We have the results for a Ms. Cindy McPhearson." Stacia nodded. "And uh, I'm sorry, but-"

"NO!" Yelled both Riley and Caesar as everyone else looked like they were about to cry, well Jazmine already did, but Stacia and Huey weren't too far behind.

"Man, don't tell me she…she…" Riley started, but he couldn't even say the word. The nurse shook her head quickly, finally understanding that they misunderstood what she was trying to say.

"No-No! She's not dead." She started as everyone let out a sigh of relief. The nurse grew nervous as she knew that what she was about to say wasn't going to make the situation any better. "And she isn't in a coma…but she has a slight case of amnesia." She finally ended, giving the group another sympathetic look.

"What?" Riley asked in disbelief, as if he didn't know. The nurse slowly nodded, trying not to upset the crew any further.

"I'm sorry, but she's been out for quite some time, and the unconsciousness did quite some damage to her head." She stated, not really wanting to say that, but it was her job to tell nothing but the truth. "Again, I'm sorry…and I know that what I say isn't going to make things seem better, but she will get better, eventually. Thankfully her memory loss isn't permanent." The nurse ended with a nervous smile, trying to make them feel better.

Of course, it didn't.

"Ugh!" Jazmine groaned softly, leaning her head on Huey's shoulder as she covered her face with her hands. Huey just shook his head. This was sad. The girl wouldn't even remember the Pep Rally, or the fact that she's supposed to be going to Homecoming tomorrow.

All because some psycho couldn't keep their hands to themselves.

"Well, thanks anyways." Caesar sadly responded to the nurse as she nodded.

Riley couldn't take it anymore.

He suddenly stood up, causing Stacia to quickly look his direction. "Baby, where you goin'?"

"To see my best friend." He replied in a shocking clear voice without hesitation. The nurse looked hesitant though.

"Um, sir, you can't go back there just yet." She responded in a timid voice. The glare he sent to her caused her to shrink back.

"Oh yeah? Watch me." He responded in a low tone. The nurse looked scared as she backed away from him and left the scene to go to the back.

Huey gently pulled Jazmine off his shoulder and hastily walked over to his brother. "Aye. Riley, calm down."

"Nigga, don't tell me to calm down." He snapped at him. "My best friend done turned to a vegetable all because of some stupid nigga who think it's okay to put they hands on whoever they want." And there they were. The tears came flooding out of his sockets as he neared closer to the door, but Huey gently grabbed his arm, stopping him. He didn't know why he stopped, but he did.

"C'mon man. We all wanna see her, but if the nurse says we can't see her right now, then we can't see her right now. We can wait a few hours." He tried reasoning with his little brother, but Riley shook his head, the tears still comin' down.

"No, nigga! You just don't get it!" he began. "I saw the whole thing! I saw the nigga walk up behind her. I mean, I ain't think he was gon' do anything, but I sure as hell ain't walk much faster when I saw him chokin' her like that. I mean, I was too shocked, but man, I could've gotten over that shit and ran as fast as I could to that nigga and beat his ass! How the fuck this nigga gon' do that to my friend, man?" His voice had gotten so thick by now that he was almost incoherent, but not quite. "She a down ass bitch! Other than Stacia, she the only girl who been by my side since I first met her! I'll never forgive anybody for messin' wit' her man! That's my nigga!" And right after he said that, Huey couldn't help but hug his little brother. He knew he needed it. They both needed it really.

And as soon as the brothers embraced, Riley broke down. He buried his head into Huey's shoulder and cried his eyes out. He didn't care who was around. He didn't care who heard him. All he cared about right now was the well being of the people he loved.

Once the girls and Caesar saw the display, it broke their hearts.

Caesar looked over to the girls and saw the huge empty space between them where Huey and Riley once sat. He knew they needed someone to console them right now. Both girls were crying so hard that their bottom lips were trembling.

He silently got up from his chair and grabbed Jazmine's hand. She looked up at him with sad eyes as he gestured for her to get up. She obediently did so as he motioned for Stacia to arise as well. As soon as she got up, she walked over to Caesar and took his hand as well. The three of them just stared at each other, waiting for something to happen.

It wasn't long before Jazmine suddenly wrapped her left arm around Caesar's shoulders, and did the same to Stacia with her right. A second later Caesar followed her motion, and then Stacia. They all embraced in a circle, healing each other with love and affection. They needed this. They all needed this.

Cindy may have been alive, but it sure as hell didn't feel like it.

She wasn't herself. She didn't know how to be herself. She couldn't remember a thing.

They all hoped that her memory loss was temporary, because they wouldn't even know how to function without that girl around.

"My baby girl. I can't believe this." Cried a distraught Lauren McPhearson as Charles McPhearson lovingly wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. By now, everyone was in the waiting room: Huey, Jazmine, Riley, Stacia, Caesar, Granddad, Mr. and Mrs. McPhearson, Caesar's Aunt Joan, Tom, Sarah and even Ed Wuncler the third and Gin Rummy.

The crew sat in the seats they sat in earlier as the McPhearsons embraced, Granddad paced back and forth and Aunt Joan, Tom and Sarah sat on the opposite side of the room.

Riley, Stacia, and Jazmine were all dried out. They couldn't cry anymore. Caesar and Huey never did cry in the first place, but their expressions were just like the others.

Dead.

This was devastating. And to see Cindy's parents bawling out of control definitely didn't help the situation at all.

Granddad was still trying to figure out who would hurt this cutie pie. She may have had a mouth on her, but she was a good kid. She didn't deserve this.

Aunt Joan's thoughts were just like Granddad's. She even considered the girl family to her. It just wasn't fair what that stranger did to her.

Tom and Sarah were actually crying. Everyone knew Tom was a punk, but for once, they didn't even clown him for his sensitivity. It was all too much for them to handle. Sarah, like Jazmine did before, had her head on Tom's shoulder, covering her visage with her hands.

And Ed and Rummy were pissed the hell off. Cindy was their lil' nigga from back when. They used to get into all kinds of mischief and she was the only girl who was gangsta enough to hang with them. They made a promise before they entered the hospital that the nigga who did this to her was gonna pay.

Oh, they were definitely gonna pay.

"That poor child." Aunt Joan suddenly stated in a soft tone. She shook her head as she looked down at the ground. Caesar looked up at his aunt as he heard her speak and stared at her.

He sure hoped that this incident was just a message from God, teaching them to tell their loved ones just how much they loved them before they were gone.

Mentally and physically.

He thought about it. He never did tell his Aunt Joan how much he loved her. Of course he's said "I love you" before he left to go to school, work, or whatever, but he never actually gave her a heart to heart notion that he loved her. There was no doubt in his mind that she knew he did, but he had to tell her anyways.

He just had to. He was not about to let another day go by without telling the people that he loved that he loved them.

"Aunt Joan." He started, causing all eyes to look in his direction. He didn't care about that. He didn't care who saw. "I love you, and I mean that. I really do." He genuinely stated, causing some of the adults to smile, including his aunt's.

"I love you too, sweetie." she responded in a sweet tone getting up to walk over to him. Caesar got up as well, walking into her embrace. His friends just watched in admiration as they looked at their family members.

"Mommy…Daddy…I love you guys." Jazmine stated before getting up and walking over to their side, hugging them as well.

Riley and Huey looked at each other before looking at Granddad. They didn't necessarily think that Granddad would buy into this lovey dovey crap, but as they saw his eyes, they knew he didn't mind.

At the moment.

"Uh, Granddad." Riley started, but before he could finish, Granddad started talking.

"Come here, boys." He demanded in a surprisingly sweet voice. At that, the brothers stood up and walked into their Granddad's loving arms.

Stacia looked all around to find that her parents weren't there.

Like that was a surprise. They were always busy. They didn't even bother to listen to her when she tried to tell them of the emergency on the phone. It went a little something like this.

"Mom!"

"Yes, honey."

"Look, it's an emergency. Could you please try to-"

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey. I'm busy right now. I can't go anywhere. Try asking your father."

"But mom!"

"Sorry, honey. Bye." Click.

Stacia groaned and looked through her contacts to reach her father. When she finally did…

She got a busy tone. Again…again...and again.

She finally let out an exasperated sigh and hung up. It was whatever. They never noticed her, so why start now?

The McPhearsons, along with Ed and Rummy, saw the girl all alone, with on one to embrace her.

Well of course Ed and Rummy weren't going to do it. They may have been upset, but they won't that upset.

Mrs. McPhearson kindly walked over to Stacia, extending her hand. Stacia, not expecting this at all, looked up at her in shock. Cindy's mother gave her a small smile.

"It's alright, honey. I don't bite." She joked as Stacia finally took her hand and hugged the woman. At first, the hug was awkward, but as she became accustomed to it, she hugged her with all of her might. From behind, Mr. McPhearson smiled.

Within a few minutes, the nurse walked through the door with a half-pleasant, half-apologetic smile. She noticed the scene in front of her, but as much as she didn't want to interrupt it, she thought that they'd really want to hear about the news.

She cleared her throat patiently as everyone's head turned towards her direction. "I think you all would like to hear this." She started. Suddenly, the entire waiting room ran right in front of her, desperate for answers as she damn near tripped over nothing from the sudden shock.

"Well." Granddad started, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. "How is she?"

The nurse suddenly gave everyone a genuine smile. "She's doing pretty good, sir."

Now, that was something to celebrate.

"How good?" Charles McPhearson couldn't help but ask, as a small smile began to form. This caused the nurse to smile even more.

"Well, Mr. McPhearson, we ran a few tests by her and couldn't help but notice that there was something there that wasn't there before." she started as everyone listened intently. She continued. "You see, earlier, on the right hemisphere of her membrane, we saw some serious damage. Her brain cells seemed to have been halfway depleted, which was the result of her amnesia." Cindy's parents nodded as the nurse went on. "But later, after we ran a few more tests, we couldn't help but notice that she had much more brain cells than she did earlier. So after we ran even more tests on her, we came to the conclusion that Cindy McPhearson no longer has amnesia." She explained to the entire group, with another genuine smile.

Everyone's eyes grew ten times their regular size.

Granddad smiled happily and continued to stare at the nurse in surprise.

Jazmine looked at Huey, as Huey looked at Jazmine

Stacia looked at Riley, as Riley looked at Stacia

Caesar looked at Aunt Joan, as Aunt Joan looked at Caesar.

Tom looked at Sarah, as Sarah looked at Tom.

Ed looked at Rummy, as Rummy looked at Ed.

Lauren looked at Charles, as Charles looked at Lauren.

And all at once…

"Yes!" Jazmine squealed as she hugged Huey. Huey hugged her back, smiling harder than he's ever smiled in his entire life. "I guess there is a God." Huey softly said, looking up towards the ceiling.

"Oh, man!" Riley exclaimed, hugging Stacia as Stacia squealed as well.

Caesar didn't say a word as he laughed in excitement, hugging his aunt who laughed as well.

"Thank ya, Jesus!" Granddad shouted to the heavens before singing in his 'good food' tone.

Sarah and Tom hugged each other grinning happily and crying happy tears.

"My baby's alright! My baby's alright!" Lauren McPhearson bellowed, hugging her husband with all her might as he laughed joyously.

"I knew it! My nigga a warrior!" Ed yelled, dapping Rummy up happily. Rummy grinned.

"Hell yeah she a warrior, nigga. Why you think she used to hang with us?" Rummy responded.

No one even answered him. They were just so consumed in their happiness.

The nurse continued to smile as she watched to atmosphere switch from sadness to joy. She loved to please people with good news.

"Would you all like to see her?" She asked and jumped abruptly as the entire room ran past her down the hall.

There was no way they were going to last another minute away from that girl.

AWW! :) Sweet ending, huh?

Please review! I know ya'll can't wait to see Cindy wide awake lol. Well...ME NEITHER! *smiles like an idiot*