Riley and Cindy exchanged amused glances.
Jazmine slowly rose from her spot on the couch and walked towards Huey until their faces were inches apart. "Your that jerky cashier from the gas station.." Jazmine growled. "..Your that bitchy customer" Huey growled back, his eyes narrowing. Then out of nowhere Jazmine let out a giggle and extended a hand out to him. "Jazmine Dubois..again" she said with a smile.
Huey gave her a puzzled look before shaking her offered hand. "Huey Freeman..again" he said. Riley and Cindy sucked their teeth. "Man..we thought ya'll was about to pop off" Riley complained, crossing his arms. "Ya'll niggas lame" Cindy said as she and Riley went into the kitchen. Jazmine and Huey gave them annoyed looks before turning back to each other.
"So…eight years ago huh?" Jazmine said awkwardly, scratching her head. "Yeah, it's been a while. How's life?" Huey said as he sat down on the couch and examined his shoes. "Life is a bitch" Jazmine stated plainly. Huey raised an eyebrow.
"Care to explain?" he said. Jazmine laughed. "If I told you..you wouldn't believe me" she said as she slouched into the couch. Huey gave her a curious look before shrugging. "Okay" he said simply. Jazmine raised her eyebrows. "You're not gonna ask?" she said. Huey gave her an annoyed look. "Okay..tell me" he said. "Can't" she replied. Huey sucked his teeth at this pointless conversation topic.
"So tell me..how was New York?" Huey asked, changing the subject. "High school was shitty and my parents got divorced" Jazmine said, shrugging her shoulders. "Sounds fun" Huey said sarcastically. Jazmine snorted. "I still can't believe we were best friends" she said, crossing her arms. "Best friends? You pretty much followed me around everywhere" Huey said, rolling his eyes.
This made Jazmine laugh. "You remember that too?!" she laughed. "Yeah, what was that about anyway?" Huey asked with a small smirk. "I don't know..childhood crush I guess?" she answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess" Huey said as he felt his cheeks get warm. There was a brief silence as the two were lost in their own thoughts.
"So you smoke?" Huey suddenly asked. Jazmine shook her head. "No, those cigarettes were for Cindy" Jazmine stated. "Oh. I'm sorry about giving you a hard time earlier" Huey said. Jazmine giggled and elbowed him. "Dude, I should be the one apologizing. I can be a little harsh sometimes" she countered. Huey shrugged and then thought about something.
"Do you always carry that much money with you?" he asked her, referring to the one hundred dollar bill she paid with. Jazmine looked away before answering. "Sometimes.." she said. "Well then where do you get all that money from?" he asked. Jazmine glared at him. "Where do you get all your money from? I heard you had a mustang too" she countered. Huey looked away and shrugged. Another awkward silence. Maybe I can trust him, Jazmine thought.
"Alright..I'll tell you if you promise not to tell anybody" she said, lowering her voice. Huey looked at her and then glanced at Riley and Cindy in the kitchen. Huey nodded and crossed his heart. "I'm in a gang.." she whispered, staring into his eyes. Huey slowly exhaled.
I knew it, he thought.
Jazmine waited patiently for him to respond.
"Me too" he said.
Jazmine smirked. "Thought so.." she giggled. "At least we can agree that we're both dangerous people.." Huey said, smirking back.
"Yeah. So which one are you in?" Jazmine asked.
"The Voiceless Revolutionaries."
Jazmine threw her hand over her mouth in shock. Oh shit, she thought. "What is it?" Huey asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm in The Malicious Misfits ."
Huey's jaw dropped. Our crews hate each other, he thought. They sat in silence as they stared at each other.
"I'll quit" they both said in unison. Jazmine blushed at they're mirrored action. Huey shook his head.
"I can't quit. I'm the leader.." he said. Jazmine sighed. "I'm the leader too.." Jazmine admitted. "Plus we can't quit..it's not possible without getting killed" Huey stated. Jazmine nodded in agreement. Then her face lit up as a thought crossed her mind. "Unless we make-"
"No. We're not making our own gang. I don't wanna put Riley in more danger than he already is because of my careless mistakes" Huey said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Well think about it..my crew is all the way in New York. I doubt they'll even find me here" Jazmine said. "Why didn't you just say that? There's no way our crews will meet again" Huey said as a matter-of-factly. Jazmine nodded.
"Last time two people got shot in your crew just because they accidentally stepped in our territory.." Huey said quietly. "Yeah, that was before I joined and they made me leader. But listen..if we just make our own gang..they'll leave us alone" Jazmine said. Huey glared at her.
"I told you I wasn't-" Huey began before Jazmine interrupted him again.
"It's the only way to get out of this" Jazmine said," Plus we can recruit our friends so we can make this paper together..no more secrets kept from them."
Huey thought about this. Keeping all these secrets from his friends and family was slowly starting to eat away at him. But if he accepted this offer, it would benefit not only him, but Riley and Cindy too. Money was key.
"Alright I'm in" he finally said just as Riley and Cindy walked in from the kitchen. "In what nigga?" Riley asked as he and Cindy sat on the opposite couch. Huey and Jazmine exchanged nervous glances before turning back to their friends. "Okay" Huey began as he prepared to explain everything from beginning to end.