Prince woke up to the main door slamming shut. He sat up and let out a noise as he felt a twinge in his back.
The last thing he remembered was Theresa showing his younger siblings some weird YouTubers. The guys name PewDiePlier or something weird like that. Anyway, he just felt so tired that he fell asleep in the couch in a weird angle.
While stretching, some of his bones popped and he jumped at the sound of Joe's loud voice.
"Boy, stop breakin' yo' bones like that! Sounding like a box of fire crackers on the Fourth of July," he exclaimed from his chair.
"Oh, sorry, Joe. I didn't know you were there," Prince replied in a soft voice.
"Damn near gave me a heart attack. I thought someone was shooting you kids up. Oh God, I wouldn't be able to afford if you all got killed. I would be out on the streets looking like Madea on a Friday night."
"I'm sorry," Prince tried again. Usually after apologizing, things were done and quiet.
"My God, you know what would happen if I had died from a heart attack? I would be dead before Madea, and end up losing that bet. If I wanted to give my money to an animal, I would donate to the wild animal reserves!"
Prince had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. This guy just kept going! "Where are the others?" he asked in a soft voice, despite how he felt at the moment.
"Others who?" Joe stopped his rambling to ask.
"Theresa, Paris, and Blanket?" Prince said as though it were obvious- which it was.
"Boy,if you callin' some demonic names, you best be out of here before I shout you the power of Jesus through my holy farts."
"Your what?—No, I'm taking about my brother and sister and the girl you've been taking care of!" Prince lost his cool for a minute.
"Oh, why didn't you say so? They upstairs in ya' room," Joe said calmly.
"Thank you," Prince said, sounding exhausted. Talking to Joe was like talking to a senile old man—or was that the same thing?
When Prince opened the door, he found everyone with a serious expression on his face and Theresa with a sympathetic one.
"Are you guys okay?" he asked. "Did something happen? Was dad kidnapped?" his voice escalated.
"No!" Theresa exclaimed, her eyes growing wide. "But it is something about your dad."
"You should sit down," Paris said in a soft voice. We have something to tell you."
"Tell me what?" her soft voice influenced his and made it just as soft.
-
"So he's not our dad," Prince breathed. It had been said multiple times throughout the conversation, but he needed to say it again to get it the information through his head.
His siblings and Theresa shook their heads solemnly.
"Then who the fuck is he?!" he suddenly burst out, angrily. It hurt him most because he had been with Michael longest- being the oldest. He was tired of this house and everything they had to go through for this guy who wasn't even his dad.
Paris and Blanket, almost instinctively, got up to hug their older brother. Prince had to fight the urge to push them away. He unintentionally glared at Theresa.
"Is there somewhere we can go?" he asked as he pushed his siblings softly away from him. They all looked at him questioningly. "I don't want to stay here. Please," he added. He felt like if he didn't leave he would break something.
"Uh, yeah," Theresa responded. Her voice was very soft. "I was supposed to go to a friends house anyway. I don't think she'd mind if I brought you guys over."
"I smell something burning," Blanket cut in. They could all see he was scared in his eyes, and pretty soon they smelled it too.
"Joe?!" Theresa shouted. In a flash, she sprung up from her bed and rushed out of the room.
"Joe! Joe, are you okay?" Prince shouted as well. He may have been annoyed with him earlier but he didn't want the guy to die in a fire.
Everyone ran down the steps.
All of them bumped into each other as if in a slapstick comedy when Theresa stopped abruptly at the bottom. Her hand was on her hip and the other rested on the frame of the threshold.
"Joe!" Theresa shouted loudly. The others moved to her side and peered into the living room.
There they saw Joe looking impossibly relaxed in his chair with an oxygen tank next to him and connected to his nose. Each time he breathed out, smoke would follow.
"Is he a dragon?" Blanket asked in a frightened voice. His small hands gripped onto Paris' shirt.
"No, Blanket, he's not," Theresa answered. "He's just smoking when he knows he's not supposed to be, you cush head!"
Joe's eyes followed where the voice came from. His eyes were glazed over as if he were dead. "S-stop yeliin," he muttered, barely audiable.
Theresa shook her head. "We're going out, okay?"
Joe didn't give a response as his eyes went back to the ceiling and he smiled at something the others couldn't see.
"C'mon guys," Theresa said after they had put on their shoes. She grabbed her keys and they left together.
It was a little chilly, Prince realised, and he regretted walking out without a sweater. But to him, being in the cold was better than being a house with someone who pretended to be their dad.
"What's your friend's name?" Blanket asked.
"Lashi," Theresa replied. "She might be a little different than what you guys are used to, but she's pretty cool."
Soon enough they walked up to a house. It was in a different neighborhood than Madea's. They could tell by different graffiti being on the fences.
Theresa walked up to the door and knocked on it three times. "Lashi, it's me! Open up!"
After about thirty second someone came to the door. It was a girl with blonde hair and a nose piercing. She was chewing gum loudly as she looked Theresa up and down.
"Hey, how you doing?" she asked smiling. Theresa gave her a side hug.
"I'm good," she smiled back. She noticed her friend looking behind her. "Oh, these are just some other friends of mine." Lashi gave a questioning look. "They're good, trust me."
"Fine," Lashi replied. She opened the door wider to let them all in. "Come in."
Blanket got closer to Paris as they walked further into the house. It was very dark and had a smell that was similar to what Madea's house smelled like when Joe was smoking.
"Sorry it's dark. My dad said he would pay the light bill next week," Lashi said.
Hearing the word "dad" made Prince's heart twinge. "Ya can sit," she said when they got to a couch. In front of them was a projector projecting a white image on the wall.
"Oh, I was trying something I heard," Lashi said with a smile, looking at Theresa. "John told me to try this," she held up a joint, "and just stare at the screen. He said it gonna be mad cool."
Theresa looked nervously at the Jackson kids. Paris and Blanket's eyes were wider than usual, but not Prince's. He eyed the joint with interest.
"Daddy said drugs aren't good and we shouldn't do any of them," Blanket spoke out.
"Yeah, they're not those kind of—" Theresa stared.
"I'll do it," Prince said.
Lashi smiled and bit her lip as she got up to go closer to him. "What's your name?"
"Prince," he replied.
"Okay, Prince- I like that name."
"Thanks."
Paris moved over to give her space. She sat down in between Paris and Prince. She handed him the joint.
"You first."