The Young & The Mindless Dos!

Chapter 32: Scolding

Prodigy's P-O-V

"WHAT WERE YOU BOYS THINKING?!" Keisha yelled as we entered our hotel room.

"ARE YOU GUYS STUPID?!" Vince questioned.

"YOU ALL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!" Walter proclaimed.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU ALL!" Kenneth exclaimed.

We just had gotten bailed out of jail. We were facing assault charges and possession of alcohol. I don't know how or where that came from, I hadn't drunk anything other than that punch. But they weren't all that upset over the fight because physically, we were okay. We had nothing but minor scratches and bruises. The fight was apparently caught on camera and so was our arrest. And that's what they were upset about.

"I mean, look at this!" Kenneth pulled up the video on World Star Hip Hop.

"Clever title," Ray-Ray mumbled sarcastically.

My eyes made its way to the title of the recording: "Real Mindless Behavior".

We all snickered at his comment.

"You think this is funny?!" Walter yelled quickly shutting us up.

We shook our heads.

"I'm just so disappointed in you boys..." Keisha said rubbing her temples.

I let out a sigh then spoke, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"You're sorry? That's not going to fix a thing! Do you know how hard we've worked to build up your career? We have put you out as respectable young men and you do this?!" Vince snapped.

"What else can I say, ya'll? I'm just sorry. I didn't want to ruin our career. It just happened... I don't know what came over me," I responded ashamed.

Just then my phone rang. I looked to see my mother's contact name across the screen.

"Who's that?" Walter asked.

"It's my mom."

"Answer it. I hope she saw the video," Vince spat.

I hoped that she didn't see it.

"CRAIG THOMAS CRIPPEN, JR.!" She shrieked. "What is this video?!"

My hopes were shattered...

"Mom calm down. It was a reason. Not the one that the description says, but there was a real reason."

The description had read: Mindless Behavior gets into a brawl after Prodigy is called ugly.

The foolish minds of some people...

"Well, explain!" I heard my father's voice echo.

My mother must have placed the phone on speaker.

I let out a sigh then began, "Over the summer of last year, I met a girl named Melody. She was beautiful, smart, and charming. I really liked her and it seemed like she had a thing for me as well, but one day when we were at the mall together, I found out that she had a boyfriend and-"

"Boy, what did I tell you about these fast little girls?!" My mother interrupted.

"Mom, can I finish explaining?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Anyway, I saw him with another girl at the mall, but she didn't want to believe that he was cheating. Even her friend said that she was like that. But we got into an argument and were salty towards each other until I returned with hopes of patching things up with her. Her boyfriend was still up to the same old things behind her back and she was still oblivious to it. This wasn't the first time I had fought the boyfriend. We fought back at the movie theater. I won, by the way."

"That's my boy!" My father said laughing then switched up to save face with, "I mean, uh, you fought him before? That's terrible!"

"Get on with the story, Craig," my mother said as I mentally pictured her eyeing my father.

"I don't have a story."

"Not you. You're son!"

"Well, my bad. Sheesh."

I rolled my eyes then went on, "Well, they had broken up. I thought it was my chance, but by the time I talked to her, they were back together. To make a long story short, her boyfriend had beat her unconscious because he was trying to rape her. And when I saw her lying there... I just- I don't know what came over me, but I began to fight him. And... that's what happened."

"What do you mean, you don't know what came over you?"

"I mean, what I said mo-"

"Uh uh, you know what happened? The reason you went after the boy like that was because you like this girl. You like her a lot. You only want to protect her, but look at what that caused you to do."

"Mom, I know what I did was wrong. Violence is never the right solution, but in my defense, he asked for it."

She laughed, "And how was that?"

"He's been threatening me ever since I got here. Whenever he sees me, he threatens me. You want to know what he told me when I burst into that bedroom to save Melody?"

"What?"

"He asked me if I was ready to face off. He knew I was coming."

"Well, I'm glad you did your thing then. I mean, honestly, from this video it looks like you stood your ground."

"Thanks pop."

"No problem."

"Okay. But, I just want what's best for you. I trust that Walter, Kenneth, Vince, and Keisha knows what is best to do in these media situations, but I just want you to know that I raised you better than that, I know I did and to not let it happen again," my mother said a little mellowed out.

I smiled, "It won't. I promise."

"And I would love to meet this girl one day. Who knows, maybe you and this Melody girl can give me grandchildren."

I laughed, "Bye mom."

"Bye sweetie."

"Bye dad."

"See ya, son."

I hung up the phone with a smile on my face. I'm surprised my mother and father accepted my reason. I then felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Keisha.

"You really care about this Melody girl?" she asked.

I paused and thought. I really did. I mean, I knew that I had feelings for Melody, but feelings strong enough to do what I did made me think. I think I'm in love with her. Like deeply in love with her.

"I really do," I responded back to her.

"Okay. Well, we'll stay here for one more week. Just so you have enough time to see her and so we can do this press conference."

I hugged her, "Thanks Keisha!"

"No problem. Now get to bed. It's late."

I let her go and she left the room. I looked at the clock to see the time and it was 2AM. That's when I felt sleep come on to me. I quickly showered. Being mindful of my minor cuts and scratches then headed off to bed. 

                                                                                           *** 

I tossed and turned that night. I couldn't sleep. The image of Melody's body curled up and helpless on the ground haunted me. Her screams for help bounced around in my mind and I felt completely restless. I felt guilt biting at me and telling me that it was all my fault. It whispered that I could have saved her if I really tried harder. And the fact that she's probably still unconscious in some hospital bed all alone sent chills down my spine. And I just feel like it was all my fault.

*~SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT TIME~*