"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴"
- 𝘒𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘰 𝘐𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘰
~
Granddad had died.
His death was rather sudden, despite being a decently old man, nobody had expected him to drop dead. He was in good health, and was yelling and laughing like normal just the night before. Doctors say it was a peaceful death, that he had passed on in his sleep, the Freeman brothers were able to find peace in knowing he hadn't suffered.
Due to them both being underage, Huey being only 14 and Riley being 12, it was expected that the two would be sent to an orphanage or adoption center, but to the surprise of many, they actually did have family still out there. They had an aunt who lived back in Chicago, so sadly the two had to say goodbye to their friends in Woodcrest and set back to the world they once knew.
Who knew that such a change would lead to such a different perspective?
~
"I can't believe we back in this bitch! I can damn near smell the gun smoke"
"Whatever, get yo suitcase"
"Damn nigga, fuck you got that attitude fo'? We just got here!"
Huey rolled his eyes at Riley's behavior, even with having to deal with the sudden loss Riley hadn't changed in the slightest, he was still the loud mouth 'hood nigga' he'd always been "I ain't got no attitude, now get yo suitcase"
Riley paused, before allowing his face to be overtaken by what could only be described as a shit eating grin "I get it! Yo punk ass is scared that niggas finna get on yo ass! These Chicago niggas ain't been feelin' you since you apparently went boujee!"
"Ain't nobody scared of Cairo"
"Who said anythin' about Cairo?"
Before he could retort, their aunt, Carrie, stuck her head through the front door and smiled "hurry y'all asses up! Unless y'all wanna sleep outside!"
Huey decided it was best to let it go and just bring his suitcase inside, ever since Granddad's death, he had tried to keep his stoic and calm personality, but he was slowly becoming more erratic by the minute. He didn't know it would affect him like this, Huey wasn't used to being so... so... confused.
Riley on the other hand had been coping by pretending it never happened, he'd laugh it off when it was brought up or simply leave the room, he never acknowledged Granddad and he tried his best to keep it back, but like Huey, Riley wasn't sure how to feel, he just didn't get it.
The boys spent the day unpacking and getting used to Aunt Carrie, it had been years since they'd seen her, so long that Riley forgot most of the things he knew about her. Carrie was a kind woman, a naturally bubbly lady, she was a pretty light brown skinned woman who often wore braids and cosy clothing, because of this she was rather popular around their neighborhood, often getting asked out by guys but turning them down eventually.
"I'm waiting for Mr. Right" she would say.
The boys then spent the next two days resting, they had already had a stressful few weeks so it made sense that they wanted to just sleep. On the third day however, Riley decided that he had enough of laying about and wanted to go out and "just do shit", and sadly all because of Carrie's insistence on the boys making friends, Huey had to go with him.
"Damn, I'm so used to being around white folk, I ain't seen this many niggas at once in a hot minute" Riley cackled.
Huey glowered "wow, it's almost as if Woodcrest is a predominantly white area"
"Shut yo bitch ass up, just cuz you miss the Mariah headass bitch"
Huey twitched at what Riley had said, before playing it off with a scoff, "don't make me get onto you and ya white girl, 'cause then you gon' have a problem"
"Cindy? Naaaaah" Riley shrugged, Cindy was cool, real cool, but she was the homie, the squad. The more Riley thought about it, he was going to miss her quite a bit, but things change, and according to the universe it was time for the Freemans to have a fresh new start.
They would have continued their talk, had they not been interrupted by someone familiar talking to someone they had never seen before.
The person, Cairo, was sitting with a group of boys and a girl that neither boy could recognize. She had soft brown skin and large tightly curled hair that was cornrowed until the top, where it was then left to freely curl. she wore a baggy white hoodie with grey sweatpants, white air force 1s, a few necklaces and a chain with a pair of golden hoops around her ears and bracelets around her wrists.
The Freeman brothers stood still, listening to the conversation "and so I told that stupid ass hoe to pull up if she really want to and that stupid bitch did! So when I whooped her ass she wanna be on some 'all this over cookies!?' like hell yeah bitch don't try to scam a nigga out they coin and maybe yo lil' ass won't get popped, the fuck"
"That bitch is so fuckin' ugly, yo bruises did her a favor" Cairo snickered.
"Ay Deja! What beef do you and Queen got?"
The girl, who they had picked up was named Deja by now, scoffed "the bitch wanna talk about some 'Deja don't run shit, Deja ain't on shit' like nigga I RUN CHICAGO BITCH!" She yelled "her lil' light skin ass really think I'm scared like I won't get my niggas to pull up on her! You finna be in high school soon worried about a middle school kid, that's corny! Someone gotta tell her that she need friends or a hobby!"
"You ain't neva Deja! She talk too much!"
Riley smirked "damn, she a feisty one"
Huey grimaced "she's like a female you, ignorant and lost in this world-"
"Nigga shut up, you always trynna be on some Malcom X type shit, give it a break," Riley quickly said, cutting his older brother off before continuing, "her style type fresh tho', can't front"
"I'm just suprised that Cairo got a girl-"
"You think he cuffed that? Heeeell nah" Riley laughed "she seem too off the chain for his punk ass"
Deja, whilst in the middle of telling a fight story, got a phone call "Hello?- Oh shit, Sup Ti, damn bitch I'm at the park with Cairo and the bros- fuck you mean they bad influences!? Nigga I AM the influence! Man I'm sayin' hop off my dick! You always wanna be knowing what I'm doin and shit like just go back to doin' whatever lonely bitch shit you do, BYE!" she then sighed "that bitch need some friends"
The group began conversing some more, and the Freeman brothers decided it was time depart. This plan was cut short, just as they started walking away, Cairo looked over at the duo and squinted his eyes, after a few seconds they grew wider as he slapped Deja on arm "damn nigga! Fuck you hittin' me fo?"
"Look!" he smirked pointing at the duo "that's them niggas I was tellin' you about! FUCK Y'ALL DOIN' HERE!?"
Huey shook his head "let's go Riley-"
"Nah nigga, this bitch Cairo always talkin' his good shit" the younger Freeman spat, walking up to the group "we live here now nigga!"
Cairo raised a brow "what happened to y'alls white life? I thought you ain't fuck with the hood like that no more"
"Niggas change! We in this bitch now!" Riley retorted "what you gon' do about it, beat our ass?
"No the fuck you ain't! How the fuck you go boujee and go fuck wit' the white folk and now y'all asses wanna pretend you hood again!? Fuck outta here"
Riley couldn't help but laugh "nigga you mad cuz we had the money to dip? You mad cuz we glew up?" He then looked to his brother, "you see this shit Huey? Nigga mad we got bread and he don't, ain't neva seen no pathetic shit like that!"
Cairo frowned "nigga fuck you! Ion even care about yo ass, it's yo bitch ass brother Ion fuck with! How you gon' be all pro-black and shit and then turn yo back on us for some white people!?"
Huey decided it was time to get involved "Cairo, it's not even like that I-"
"Nigga shut up! You don't give a fuck about us, go back to drinkin' sparkling water and playin golf with the whites, Bitchman!"
Just as Cairo was going to go off even further, he received a text message, frowning. He placed an arm around Deja for a few seconds before before getting off of the picnic table "my momma needs sum, I'll see y'all later" he then looked over at the Freeman's "bye"
Deja watched as he walked away, she then turned to face the two "so y'all are them Freeman's this nigga's always talmbout?" When they nodded, she smiled "don't worry, to be honest ion really give a fuck, Cairo cool but that nigga's always caught up on y'all like I thought y'all was lovers or some shit" she then did a two finger salute "I'm Deja Norwood, Lil D, Deja on Da Block, Deja with the shits, my niggas call me whateva"
Riley was quick to jump in "I'm Riley, but all my niggas call me Escobar, Young Reezy, Lil-"
"What niggas?" Huey said with a roll of his eyes.
"Nigga shut up! This hatin' ass gay ass bitch behind me is Huey, don't nobody give him no nicknames cuz nobody like his punk ass"
Deja snickered at this and stood up. Riley didn't want to acknowledge it, but she was pretty cute, which he found funny because from a distance he thought she looked rather boyish. Deja had this cute little button nose and still had soft baby skin, which was understandable considering she was no older than Riley was. Her lips had a naturally moisturized texture to them and he noticed that she smelt of shea butter and coconut oil. That was all though, unlike Cairo's bitch ass Riley wasn't going to allow himself to be caught up by no female.
"Well it was nice meeting y'all, I need to go home anyway, my sister trippin' fo real"
"We should go too Riley-"
Riley shook his head "hell nah! Remember what Carrie said? We need to make friends and shit"
Deja looked at Huey up and down before smirking "yeah, you one of them quiet niggas, my sister finna like you-" she then raised a brow "hol' on, why I feel like I recognize you? Nah, neva mind, follow me!"
As much as Huey didn't approve, he soon found himself once again following Riley through the streets of Chicago to find Deja's block. On the way, the two younger kids talked about shit that Huey wanted no parts of, gangs around the area, fights and local functions, and typical ignorant shit that he wasn't interested in. soon, they found a house that looked decent, Deja walked up to it and opened the door, only to fall back after being hit rather hard "MOTHERFUCKER!" she yelled as she landed on the porch.
A girl then stepped out, the girl looked to be a little older than Deja, probably around Huey's age. Similar to the Freeman, this girl had an incredible amount of afro textured hair on her head, rivalling and most likely beating the Freeman's in volume. The girl wore a black and white 'Black Lives Matter' shirt with an unzipped brown hoodie on, she wore a pair of jeans that were held up by a chunky black belt and wore heavy black boots. The girl's hazel eyes pierced into Deja's with anger "why didn't you come home when I told you too? Granny's been worried sick"
"I know you cappin', that saggy bitch don't care- OW!" she felt a rather hard book hit her on the forehead.
"Answer the question, why didn't you come home?" Despite being angry, the girl (who the brothers assumed was Deja's older sister) didn't sound it, her voice was still calm and level.
"I was getting to know our new neighbors, damn! Ain't you the one who's always talkin' about how I gotta make new friends and shit!?"
The girl shook her head and crossed her arms "considering the type of friends you bring home I don't think I want you making new friends, I don't wanna see you bring more fuckboys around here"
Riley instantly got on the defensive "who you callin' a fuckboy!?"
Deja's sister turned to face him with an unamused expression "who are you exactly?"
"Escobar bitch! Young Reezy!"
She stayed silent for a few seconds before turning around "GRANNY! DEJANAYA BROUGHT HOME THOSE KINDA KIDS... AGAIN!"
"Damn bitch, fuck you usin' my full name fo!?"
Her sister pointed at Riley, not even acknowledging Huey's presence "he's not coming in the house"
Deja finally got up and stomped her foot "you always hatin'! What the fuck is yo problem!?"
Huey soon stepped forward and raised an arm "I wanna apologize for my brother's behavior, even I don't known why he's like that"
Her sister looked at Huey, she looked him up and down and took into consideration what he had just said. He didn't look like that attitudinal boy next to him, he was dressed a lot more respectably and didn't give off try hard gangsta vibes, not only that, but she swore she could recognize him, but for whatever reason she couldn't pin point from where.
She then shrugged "okay, you're allowed in, but stay in the living room" she then walked in.
Riley walked over to Deja and huffed "what's her problem?"
"She's a bitch- OW!" it wasn't long until Deja was on the floor again, another book hitting her face.
~
The Freeman's soon found themselves sitting in the Norwood family living room, Riley and Deja were conversing and Huey, along with Deja's sister were either reading or just sitting there "aight then ma" Riley said, looking over at her sister "all you've had on is a screw-face and a stank attitude, you ain't even tell us yo name!"
"Tahiry Norwood" she quickly replied, not looking up from her book.
"I call her Ti" Deja smiled.
Tahiry motioned to the boys "Don't call me Ti"
The older Freeman felt obligated to introduce himself "Huey Freeman"
Tahiry then looked up from her book "I knew I recognized you! You were on the news a while back!"
"You know me?"
"Hell yeah I know you, you was the talk of the town and everything!"
Deja felt like being petty, so she put her hands next to her lips "Ti's yo biggest fan nigga!"
Tahiry furrowed her brows "I'm not a fan stupid, I just respect him dumbass"
Huey felt even more overwhelmed, he wasn't used to being respected for his work, he was more used to being called a crazy conspiracy theorist "respect me?"
"We share similar views, and I've tried to spread the same message you do, it's harder for me since this is Chicago, people don't care about what I have to say" she then pointed at Deja "I think the fact that this is my sister says a lot"
Huey began to like her a little bit, they were on the same wavelength, but he had to test her "Ronald Reagan?"
"Evil incarnate, I'm fully convinced he's the antichrist"
"9/11?"
"There's some sort of conspiracy going on, there's no way that was all a freak attack"
"Obama?"
"Garbage, just as bad as the previous presidents and the current president"
"America?"
"A shitty police state"
"Pork and red meat"
"Disgusting and unhealthy, I'm vegan"
Okay so she was legit "believe me when I say people don't listen to me as much as you think they do, not even my brother cares"
"Cuz you weird nigga! Always bringing up politics at the dinner table and shit"
Tahiry looked back at the book "as a black person, is it really shocking that politics is always being brought up around you? I mean in this country-"
"BLAH BLAH BLAH, damn girl shut up!" Deja laughed.
"Quit yelling"
"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"
"You'll get in trouble-"
"DON'T CAAAARE!"
"Seriously, Granny's gonna-"
"I DON'T GIVE A F-"
Almost instantly, a woman walked in, a rather angry elderly woman "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE!?"
Tahiry snorted "told ya"
~
I know the girls seem like copycat counterparts to the boys, but I promise I'll better establish their individual personalities in later chapters :3