Hey, so this is my first ever Boondocks fanfiction. I figure it'll do alright online, since there's still a fanbase. Also, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle when characters drop the n-word and its variants, as I am a light skinned Latina. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I plan to introduce a few other OCs, as well as characters cut from the comic strip, like Grits, Hiro, and Isis. Caesar will also show up too at some point. Anyway, enough of my rambling, on with the fic!
It was a sunny late spring day as three of the newest residents of Woodcrest, brothers Huey and Riley Freeman, along with their teenage sister Shauna to walk around their new stomping grounds. The movers were taking their things into the large house, so all they'd have to do is unpack once the movers were done.
The three were silent for a bit before Huey, the so-called philosopher, spoke first, "We're not in Chicago anymore... These people are well-off, comfortable... These are not the hard streets of the South side." He then turned to Riley, glaring, "Understand what I'm trying to say?"
"Think so," the younger boy smirked, "I am the hardest, baddest thing for miles, and I can run amok here without fear."
Shauna couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Boy, you ain't no hard, bad thing. You're as hard as a Hawaiian roll." Riley pouted and made his own answer, "Well, ain't those Hawaiian rolls hard when you cook 'em?" He then sniffed the air and grimaced, "What's that smell?"
"Clean air," Huey pointed out nonchalantly, "We'll get used to it eventually."
"We better. It stinks."
"I like it," Shauna smiled, "It's nice to smell something other than smog and pee." The three continued walking as Riley complained of what Woodcrest lacked: no subway stops, no basketball court, no Chinese food places, no Rib Shack. Really no one could blame him for his complaints. In his eight years of life on Earth, he'd never been too far outside the inner city.
"We're pilgrims in an unholy land," Huey grimly remarked.
"Huey you're always so melodramatic," Shauna laughed, "I'm sure the people here are nice... enough." After a few more minutes of walking, they decided to head back home, turning the corner onto Timid Deer Lane.
"Man, who names these streets? There's no cred in that!" Riley complained, "No one's gonna take a g seriously with that kind of name."
"Riley, shut up," Huey sighed as they walked back to the house. It wasn't too bad, the older two thought. It had two stories, a backyard, a front yard, a garage... All the works, really. The moving van was gone, signifying the movers had moved the bigger bits of furniture in the house. Unfortunately, they forgot about the boxes in the car.
The three winced as their grandfather ordered them, "Y'all grab a box. Just cause I paid the movers, don't think I'm gonna pay y'all."
"Granddad, why did we move here?" Huey asked as the three of them approached the car, nicknamed "Dorothy" by everyone. She was a little beaten up, sure, but there was a certain affection everyone had for the old girl. Still, Huey was ignored as Shauna and Riley grabbed a box each while Huey continued his tirade, "All I'm sayin' is I was perfectly happy in Chicago, and I don't wanna live in the middle of-"
"Boy, shaddup and go grab a box!" The old man scolded. Huey, noticing some unfamiliar looking white man nearby, exclaimed, "Look out! It's Bull Connor with a fire hose! Duck!"
Not moved by his grandson's outburst, Robert merely pointed out, "That's our neighbor washing his car," before grumbling, "Never should have let that boy watch Eyes on the Prize..."
"Huey, get your butt up here!" Shauna yelled from an upstairs window. Huey was resigned, grumbling, "It might be him next time..."
After taking the better half of an hour taking boxes into the house from the car as Granddad "supervised" (aka, "sitting on his lazy black ass while they do the real work"), he called his three grandchildren into the living room where he sat in his living chair, much more relaxed, probably now that the biggest issues were taken care of, mostly leaving just little things that they could take care of later.
"I know you been wondering why I moved us halfway across the country to Woodcrest... Well, your granddaddy has survived seventy years on this earth as a black main, and you know that ain't easy. I always dreamed of owning a house someplace beautiful like this. A nice, quiet place where I can retire and live the rest of my life away from the problems of the city, with really big oak trees in the yard and lakes nearby to go fishing... I don't have to like any of these people here, and they don't have to like me..."
"Well, what about us, Granddad?"
"Well, you don't have to like me neither. Now, scoot. Celebrity Deathmatch is on."
Shauna's ears perked up, "What episode?"
"I don' know. I think it's the one with the Backstreet Boys vs. N'sync."
"Oh, nice." Shauna sat down on the sofa as Huey sighed in defeat. A black nationalist stuck in white suburbia. His own personal hell. Nobody but him understood that. Huey decided to take another walk, leaving Granddad, Shauna, and Riley watching one boy band he hates electrocute another boy band he hates, even if it was only fictional.
At least the days were getting longer. And you could actually see more of the sky out here... Eventually, Huey made it far enough to see a hill with a large oak tree towering over it. When he climbed to the top of the hill, he could see all of the little neighborhood, including his new home. It looked as big as three of the old houses put together.
He announced boldly, "Oppressors, run and hide! Fear the arrival of the riteous! I, Huey Freeman, represent your darkest fear! I am a black freedom fighter!My knowledge of self shines boldy in the face of the beast!"
As he spoke, a little old lady approached him, patting his head suddenly, exclaiming "Aren't you just the cutest thing. Big ol' cutie pie, that's what you are. I'd just love to take you home with me!"
"I bet you would," Huey hissed disdainfully as he ranted about being a "pet negro". Unfortunately, this was lost on the old woman, who was nearly completely deaf, "What was that, sweetie?"
Huey sighed in defeat, his words lost upon this woman, "never mind," before deciding to head back to the house, climbing up the stairs to what he assumed would be his own bedroom, but Rboert announced, "You and Riley are sharing a room, Huey."
"Man, that ain't fair!" Riley yelled, "How come Shauna gets her own room!"
"Shauna is a young lady, not like you two hellspawn. And young ladies need them some womanly privacy or something." the old man then turned to Shauna, "You know, it ain't too late for you to go back to Chicago to live with your Aunt Cookie. She's a lot better than I am with those, uh... woman things," and looked embarrassed.
Shauna shook her head, "It's okay, Granddad. I wanna stay. Besides, what I wanna know, I can look up on the internet. Aunt Cookie bought me a laptop for Christmas, remember? Wait, do we get internet?"
"Comes with a cable package. One hundred fifty eight channels, plus on demand..." Granddad smiled but his expression quickly turned to his usual grumpy self, "And I'm taking it way if you go even a minute... no, a second over the limit. That understood, girly?"
"Of course, Granddad," Shauna nodded and when he turned his back, she mumbled, "cheap ol' bastard..."
Robert turned around immediately, "what was that?"
"Riley said it" Shauna pointed at the boy, who got smacked upside the head by the irate old man, exclaiming "I ain't done nuthin'!" Huey couldn't help but take some sadistic pleasure at Riley's suffering, if only for a brief moment.
"You knock it off, boy. I'm gonna watch TV." As their grandfather left for the living room, Shauna pulled out two candy bars from behind her back, giving one to each brother, "Don't tell Granddad. Y'all ain't supposed to eat candy this late."
"Man, Shauna, you brought your stash?" Riley smiled as he took a bite, talking with his mouth full of chocolate, "Shauna, you's a real g..."
"Thanks, Shauna..." Huey pocketed the candy, but Shauna touched his shoulder, "Look, I know leaving was hard, but you'll do fine here." She smiled, "Who knows, now that this neighborhood is integrated, maybe some more black people will move in."
Shauna then walked upstairs, "Gotta call Jade and Lauryn about how I finally got my own room! Not just a curtain separating us!"
Huey looked up at Shauna's happy movements, thinking, 'Even in the face of adversity, Shauna will have a smile on her face and a candy bar to offer. There's something quite sweet in her ignorance of our people's struggle, outside Granddad's stories.' He then walked to the downstairs bathroom, watching Riley doing his best to make his "thug mug" faces. Unfortunately, being only eight doesn't give you the street cred.
'Least Shauna's got more sense than Riley...'
Next time, "A Garden Party"