EMOTION UNIVERSITY
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EPISODE ONE , familiar
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AUGUST 20th, 2006
GREENSBORO, NC
———
venus' mother cynthia, portrayed by sanaa lathan
"i just can't believe my baby is going into her sophomore year of college!" my mom says in an exciting tone as we unload my bags out of the car. "at an HBCU at that! MY NCAT BULLDOG!! YEAR TWO! WOOOO GO COMPUTER SCIENCE!" she yells in excitement, i immediately calm her down to prevent humiliation. "ma can you quiet down on the major please? or just in general?" i whisper to her in embarrassment looking around to see if anyone heard. my mom has always been my number one supporter and as you can see, my biggest fan. my father hasn't really been present in my life as he continues to tend to his other family. i don't wanna dawn on that too long so in short, it's always just been me and my mom.
i'm originally from detroit, michigan. it's just me, my mom, and a two bedroom apartment in the city. my mom calls me her special gift from the heavens because of how skillful i was in my younger years. i always wanted to learn, i always had a book, and i always was figuring stuff out on my own. my family says i'm too smart for my own good. i came to north carolina last year not because of my full ride scholarship but just to get away from home because in a way i felt like my mother was coddling me. like i said before it's always been us so you can take a guess on how overprotective my mother is. at first she wasn't for the idea, which is a reason why we clashed in the beginning. now after finishing my first year strong, she trusts me a bit for a second orbit around ncat, hence her excitement.
we start walking towards the dorms and she stops and turns to me in a concerned tone, "vee .. i don't understand why you're so embarrassed about your major baby, you've been into this all your life! for your twelfth birthday you begged me to take you to the museum of science and industry, and for your eighth we went to the library!.." i sigh instantly as she dawns on the past, "yea mom but no one here knows that .. and i want to keep it that way.." she still had a confused look, "ma, if people find out i'm this tech savvy book nerd then they'll start using me and my time for answers to assignments and tests...just like high school... and i want my connections with people to be genuine.."
in high school i wasn't popular or unpopular, i was just me. i always observed from afar and i was a quiet individual, but i was nice to everyone. i often let people take advantage of me and use me for my smarts. i never really knew how to stand up for myself. people who i thought were genuinely my friends often proved to me that they were only around me because i got them straight A's. i put my heart and soul into those people and those were real attachments to me, just not to them. keeping those friendships drained me. it took me a long time to realize it, so my senior year i disposed of all
of those "friends".
the only real friend i've ever known was my childhood bestfriend trevon alexander. we were bestfriends since second grade and he stuck by my side and even defended me against those who tried to pick on me. he always told me that i was being used but i would just tell him that he was wrong and jealous. he was considered "popular" so me being on his arm got me a lot of those "friends". he ended up transferring our junior year and i haven't seen him since. he never reached out, not once. not even when graduation happened. i reached out, but never got a response. sometimes it makes me believe we were never really friends either but i'll always have love for him.
she rubs my head "baby you're not here for people, you're here to get your degree.." , "and while that may be true my sweet mother, i have to live here and make it easy...you don't..now, can we please hurry up because kai is waiting upstairs and i already told her i'll be here way earlier than what we are now and she's gonna rip my head off..." as soon i said that my pager buzzed immediately, it read from kai, "U R SO L8, ORIENTATION IN TEN MIN HURRY!" , "see what i mean?" i quickly showed my mom my pager, placed it in my pocket and started jogging towards the entrance. "mom just drop everything off at my room okay?" i yell as i'm jogging. "can i at least get a hug?" , "i love you mom!" i respond to her statement yelling as i jog.
*
i finally got to the doorway of my room and dropped my bags in a deep breath, as i catch my breath i see kai checking herself out in her full body mirror as if she was going to a party. she had on low rise jeans with a cropped dark blue shirt that showed her belly ring & read "NCAT" in bright yellow bold letters, her sandy blonde hair in cornrows and jewelry on her wherever you look. her makeup was glowy and shining but it looks like it's barely there. she was ethereal.
"you couldn't tell me the elevators were out of order kai? my mom still has stuff to bring up!" , "YOU couldn't tell me that you were gonna be an hour late?" she says fixing her lipgloss in her compact mirror, her side of the room was already organized with her vanity and everything else she needs to be kailah, her jodeci posters making a surprise appearance.
"oh, fuck. you. did you want my mom to go 200 in a 40?", "sophomore orientation started twenty minutes ago and we have zero time to bullshit! ... i'm sorry, is that what you're wearing?" she asks in a confused giggly tone. i had on a casual fit i would wear any other day, some baggy khakis, and a regular solid dark brown shirt that read "over it." in white letters as it showed my navel a bit. "those orientations are boring, you don't remember freshman year?" , "that's because we were FRESHMEN, just cmon and at least put on some lipgloss please!" she hands me her lipgloss, grabs my hand and immediately pulls me out the room.
•
- now playing -
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i know you see it , new joc city
we finally enter into what looks like the party of the century. "THIS is orientation.." kai slightly yells dancing to the music. apparently after freshman year is out of the way we get to kick it with the upperclassmen and go to the underground parties. if i didn't have a friend like kailah, i probably would've had no clue about this. ahhh the perks of going to an HBCU. i was surrounded by nothing but people like me and i felt so comfortable. there were so many clubs, fraternities, and sororities that were dying to recruit and show off. it felt like a dream honestly, it's gonna be hard snapping back into reality.
"i'm gonna go get us some to drank on okay?" kailah says to me preparing me for her disappearance, "can you make sure there isn't any alcohol in it?" , "and girl why would i do that?" she laughs, "girl you are a character!" she shoves me playfully. as kai drifts away i find myself in the middle of a crowd, i have no idea who anyone is and the music is terribly loud.
looking around the room distraught i find myself locking eyes with a very pretty girl. she had blonde straight hair and a coco butter smooth complexion. her gaze almost brought me to her. she had a red cup in her hand with a straw, and the way she was eyeing me was almost like how a jaguar gazes at its prey.
i wanted to walk over and perhaps break the awkwardness i was feeling but as i move my way into the crowd to find a path, i find myself pausing, getting shoved and getting hotter by the second. i'm not the party type. i barely have friends so i'm never invited out. i turn to different angles to find kai but physically it seemed like i started to grow weak. i started to become nervous and really really hot.
there were colors everywhere but these ones came into my vision as dots, not the colors in the room. fuck, am i about to pass out? i think to myself as i begin to lose my balance. i can't faint in front of all these damn people they gon think i'm on drugs, it takes kailah that long to get a fucking beverage? i feel myself stumble and plop onto the floor because my knees grew weak. my vision was blurred and i started to blackout and see more colors, what was going on with me? i tried my hardest to remember my steps for the day.
*
4:48 a.m.
my stomach begins to rumble loudly in front of my overprotective mother as we move bags into the car,
"venus you need to have something in your system before we get on the road, at least a snack or something maybe a water too? i can run in right quick-" my mom says, as if i'm not old enough to feed myself.
"mom i'm not 12 years old, i'll eventually feed myself.."
*
as i remember, i rub my head in stupidity, "great, i'm dehydrated..of course...mom one point, venus zero.." i say to myself as i finally gain consciousness, i noticed that i was sitting in a dimly lit room, someone's dorm i'm guessing. how the hell? i stare in the same spot in confusion.
i finally sit up and wipe my eyes.
in front of me was a shadowy figure, a male figure. he was sitting on the edge of the bed..watching me. i started to get startled..i didn't know who i fell into let alone where i was currently. my heart begins to beat fast, "i don't know what type of shit you're on but i carry a pocket knife, and i'm from detroit...i'm very skilled with it.." i warn him.
"yo calm down vee, i was just trying to make sure you were straight, i didn't even know you went here.." i hear a familiar voice. i wipe my eyes some more before saying the words, "do i know you?" in a confused tone.
the voice in question sounded too familiar to me, "please don't tell me you got amnesia because then i'ma have to take you to the hospital and they already made a scene of you passing out .." he says in a chuckle. "they WHAT?—..woah" i look up to see a beautiful complexion looking right at me with a bright smile. his outfit matches the school colors but it was also in his own style which i always admired about him. what are the odds of my childhood bestfriend being in front of my face helping me from a dehydration coma? at a college party? a college i didn't even know he attended with me? and why hasn't he reached out all of this time?
"trevon?"
"venus penis!" he laughs, i shove him instantly, "let me guess, you skipped breakfast, lunch and dinner?.." , i give him a death stare before mocking his tone "let me guess, you skipped '04, '05, o-oh look you found me!" i say in a shady tone. how dare he? at this point, i shouldn't even be talking to him. he doesn't even care about me in all actuality. "look, i appreciate you for helping me and all i do, but don't act like this secures anything because as of right now? i don't know you.."
as i keep my attitude and prepare myself to leave, he brings out a honeybun, an apple and a water and sets it next to me on the bed, when we were younger i always had a honeybun as a snack and i hate that he remembered. "you're right venus anne, i don't know you at all.." he smiles.
i stare at the items on the bed but i was just too upset to care about the gesture, i look at him with a frown, "why haven't you reached out tre? thousands of pages, hundreds of calls..no response..i mean we go to the same fucking school and you didn't even know.." after i had my outburst his smile fades away, "you were the only person i had left trevon, you flaked on me..i mean shit! we grew up together! did us being bestfriends for that long mean anything to you?"
for a moment there was an awkward silence. he had a look on his face that told me he wasn't prepared for this dialogue. "just as i thought, you have nothing to say.." i grab the items and head towards the door. as i leave i feel a slight tug on my arm, "don't tou—.." , "my parents divorced after my brother got twenty years.." he says in a disappointed tone. we stare at each other for a moment.. "what? tr- travonte?" i remember his brother, he almost was like a brother to me too growing up.
*
JULY 7th, 1995
DETROIT, MI
"your mud pie looks disgusting!" vee says
"it's not posed' to look good! we not eatin em!" trevon responds. "look i found a worm!" he dangles the worm over her head as she screams in terror.
"stop tre! i'm not playing anymore!" vee yells. as she has her tantrum, a classic car with a loud bass pulls up into the driveway, it was vonte..
the kids eyes grow with excitement as tre's cool big brother exits the car. "TRAVONTE" they both run to give him a hug, he loved these kids like they were his own.
trevon's big brother travonte, portrayed by trevante rhodes
"i knew y'all was gon be outside in this heat, y'all all dirtied up you lil rascals" he rubs the top of their tiny heads before going in his backseat to retrieve something. "i brought something for my two favorite munchkins"
he then smiles showing them, "WATERGUNS!" they scream before excitedly grabbing the colorful objects from his hands. the kids start laughing as they pretend to shoot each other with the empty waterguns. he looks at them smiling as he enjoys their excitement because he always loved making them happy when he visited.
"yo lil tre, is mama here?" , "YES...she is.." she responds sternly walking up to him and his car, "and she told you not to come by here anymore....y'all babies go play!" she shoos the kids out of grown folks business.
trevon and travonte's mother sheryl, portrayed by angela bassett
"ma i just came to visit my little brother.." he says in a sigh while leaning back on his car window.
"and you could have more visits if you stop this ghetto ass street hustling you call yourself into, got niggas knockin on my door looking for you."
"what?...ma who's looking for me?" he asks in a serious tone. "huh?...ma come on this shit is real life! who came here looking for me?" he raises his voice.
she stares at him for a moment in disgust.
"your brother will not be around you with this type of lifestyle, he's a good boy and he doesn't need thugs like you putting him in danger, you understand?"
"i would never bring him around anything i do, what i did needed to be done..you know that..."
"well know THIS, stop coming to this house! you hear me? i don't want you around and your father definitely doesn't want you around!"
"just like he wants you around right?"
she slaps him instantly in anger. he makes no sudden movements and accepts the sizzling sensation on his right cheek.
"don't you dare disrespect me when you stand before me as a cold blooded murderer undercover. you think you run these streets now don't you? i never raised you to become the man you are before me. i can deal with your father's infidelity for the sake of my youngest child but i won't deal with a killer in my house!"
"you weren't saying that when this killer made sure we never went hungry..."
"we don't need your blood money.." she scoffs.
"i won't stop trying to be in my little brother's life, he's gonna need me.."
"and that'll be a cold day in hell..now get the fuck off my property travonte.." she says before walking away from him, "y'all kids so dirty let's get y'all in the house so i can clean y'all up for dinner!" she says bringing the two giggly kids in the house.
before they go inside though, they both run to give the best big brother a hug.
travonte gives his mother a death stare as the two children hug him tightly.
*
"i didn't know how to tell you vee.." the silence fills the room. she walks past him to take a seat back on the bed looking lost and confused at the news she just found out. "they found out he was the one who killed antoine, his homeboy.." , "fuck.." she mumbles under her breath. "it was bound to happen venus, you know how my brother was.." she looks at him feeling a sense of remorse, "look tre i had no idea—.." , "you don't have to apologize vee, i was young i didn't know how to handle it.."
he stares at her for a while feeling her sadness spread to him, "hey, it doesn't excuse me not reaching out though vee..i should've, i just didn't know how to..and i'm sorry.." he says taking a seat next to her reaching his hand over to give her a one armed tight hug.
"i'm sorry too, about your parents and vonte.." , "don't be.."
after a couple moments i realized that i haven't spoken to kailah since she dismissed me. "oh shit!" i say starting to scramble, "your friend kailah checked on you an hour ago, she's at your dorm.." he smiles at me, "just eat your apple, eat your honeybun, drink your water, and you can chill here and gain all of your consciousness but i have basketball practice in a few minutes and i do have a roommate so .. you don't gotta leave but you gotta get the hell up outta here!" he says playfully. "yea yea i gotchu..basketball team?" , "scholarship.." , "impressive.." i say sarcastically. "see you venus penis!" he says before tapping the top of the doorframe and disappearing into the hallway.
i suddenly get a beep on my pager, "WHTS THE HOLD UP WITH T-REXX? CAN U COME BACK PLZ?" it read.
who the hell is t-rexx?
•
END OF EPISODE ONE !
words from the author -
[ hey guys! i've been on & off wattpad for a while. i know a lot of people aren't into writing or reading anymore but i decided to come out of retirement just for my own sanity because i enjoy writing stories. for my comeback i decided to start a new series. i hope you guys enjoyed chapter one, chapter two coming soon <3 ]
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