"𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦"
Jacquees - You
~
The group stared at the two that had just arrived, whilst the woman had an expression of (false) confidence, the girl looked as though she had something better to do with her life than be there. Riley soon came in, questioning why the room had gone so noticeably silent, only to freeze when he saw her. Although he hadn't met his mother before, he just knew instantly that was her, and that the girl beside her was her daughter, their half-sister.
"Hopefully we aren't too late, someone decided to take their sweet time" Jatavia chuckled, which received a glare from the younger one.
"Says the one who spent ages trynna fit in that dress" the girl mumbled, already ready to go home.
Huey watched in surprise when, instead of cussing her out, Jatavia chose to inhale heavily and just accept what was said. The girl, Marise was the first to step forward, she looked at the two boys before seeing one holding a puppy, she then looked into his eyes. Huey noticed two things about her right off the bat, first of all, she looked an uncanny amount like her mother, almost as though Jatavia just copy and pasted her face onto her, second of all, her eyes looked a lot like his. Same dark pupils, same uninterested expression, it was weird, Huey really had a sister.
She put the box down on the chair beside him "here, happy birthday...?"
"Huey" he said politely.
"Oh, cool, I'm Marise"
Although awkward, Huey decided not to take any of the animosity towards his mother out on Marise, it wasn't her fault the woman chose to be a deadbeat, plus now that he knew he actually had a sister, the least he could do was be nice to her.
When Marise put her respective gift down, she looked between the brothers and her mom, before going to sit on the couch, deciding that she didn't want to play any role in the inevitable confrontation that was going to happen.
For the next few minutes, the entire room was dead silent, no one wanting to say anything. Jatavia looked down at both of the boys, resisting the urge to cry, "you two have grown so much, last time I saw y'all you were just little boys..."
"Duh, you left," Huey grumbled, not noticing the rather venomous tone of voice he used "why are you here?" he asked, he just didn't understand. He hadn't seen her in just under thirteen years, why did she all of a sudden feel the need to pop up and make herself known? If she missed them so bad, why didn't she come years ago when they were all alone in her apartment.
His mother looked down at the box she held for a few seconds, before smiling at him "I wanted to bring you a gift, and wish you a happy birthday," she then sighed "I also wanted to apologize"
Huey stared at her, before walking over to Marise, handing her Newton "wanna hold him?"
Marise looked up from her phone at the puppy "aw, he's so cute! Sure" she took him and began playing with him and rocking him in her arms. In all honesty, Huey didn't really do it to be nice, more so to get the Doberman out of his hands. When he was free, he made his way over to Jatavia, which made her grin, she handed the box to him and he looked down on it.
Considering the kind of family he had, he shook the box, felt the wrapping and stared at it. Jatavia couldn't shake the look on his face, it was so bland and non-caring, Marise often looked at her the same way. It was the sort of look that made her feel like anything she would say would receive a negative or angry response. Huey then took in a deep breath, and held the box up.
He then suddenly threw the box at the wall with an unprecedented amount of force.
A lot of the room gasped, Riley cracked up, Jatavia looked betrayed and Marise was too busy playing with Newton to care. Huey then glared at her, and his mother swore that her heart stopped, his look was so hateful, more so than that of any other glare she had ever received. The boy began shaking gently, his breathing beginning to get heavier, Riley could sense the complete rage flowing out of him.
"How... How dare you..." he began, "you... you... you left us to die in an apartment, abandoned us for years, you didn't even come to Granddad's funeral... but you wanna... you wanna pop up at my birthday with a bullshit ass apology and a box...?" she couldn't even respond when he quickly snapped, "Ion want yo' dumbass gift! Fuck you, yo' sorry and that fuckin' box!"
With that, Huey turned around and stormed out of the beach house. The entire room went quiet, save for Jatavia, who had suddenly began sniffling at his reaction. Though not a fan of the woman, Carrie approached her with a sigh, putting a hand on her shoulder as a form of comfort.
"I just wanted to make amends..."
Carrie shook her head "it's gon' take a lot more than a sorry and a present to make them forgive you, especially considering what you did"
Jatavia hated this, she hated the fact that none of her children really liked her, and she hated the fact that no matter what she did, she could never truly atone for her actions. However, she also hated the way everyone made it seem like she wasn't attempting to fix it, couldn't they at least give her props for trying to make it all work? If she truly hated her kids, she would have never came.
The room was so focused on whispering about what had just happened, that they hadn't noticed Marise slip out to go and find him. It took a bit of looking, but she eventually found him sitting on the wall that separated the beach from the street, looking down with his hands in his hair, she took in a sigh, before approaching him. With Newton still in hand, she slipped on the wall and sat beside him, not saying anything for the first few seconds.
Huey noticed she was there and growled, "what? Gonna drag me for cussin' out yo mom?"
"Nah, I don't care really" she shrugged "I know why you're mad, Jatavia's a bitch"
Huey looked down at the younger girl in slight shock, what issue did she have with her? Wasn't she the kid their mother chose not to abandon "damn, first name basis? Must be rough"
"Yup, she swears she did good by keeping me, but it would have been better if she just gave me up like she did y'all" she said plainly, stroking Newton on the stomach "she did fuck all to look after me, her three week boyfriends did more parenting than she did, then suddenly she wanted to act like she been a great mother from the start, as if she wasn't the same one who let me go missing for a week when I was five and didn't bother looking for me until social services came knocking"
"Wait, for real?"
"Yeah, she lucky I wasn't kidnapped by no pedophile or nothin' I accidently got lost on a train and this nice family kept me safe until the authorities found me" she then glared "then her ass had the nerve to get pregnant again, luckily she aborted it, she don't need no more kids"
Huey sat back, deciding the standoffish approach was probably not the best to talk to her "I don't wanna hate my mom, but Ion know how to love her either, you know?"
"Yeah, Imma be real I almost popped off on you when you yelled at her, but then I remembered everything and realized you was rightfully pissed, she a shitty mom, but she's still our mom, it's hard to really hate her"
The two sat together in silence, it was getting to the afternoon and the blue sky was slowly turning a soft orange. He then put a hand on Marise's head "you know what? You a cool ass lil' sister"
She then chuckled "you ain't bad yourself, antisocial ass nigga"
Huey spluttered "now I know miss 'I spent the whole party on my phone' ain't talkin' right now"
The two shared a laugh, enjoying the sunset quickly before hearing the signature sound of heeled shoes quickly approach them, turning around, the two saw Tahiry approaching. She leaned against the wall when she made her way over "Hueeeey! Is everything okay?"
"Oh, hey Ti"
Marise looked between them "who's this? Ya girlfriend?"
"Oh no, his girlfriend's still inside trynna comfort his mom"
Huey groaned, turning away "Val isn't my girlfriend Ti..."
"Not yet" she giggled with a wink before then turning to look at Marise, quite instantly, she took the girls hand and began enthusiastically shaking it, grinning rather widely as she did so "so, you're his lil' sis, Marise right? You're sooo cute!" she smiled "I'm Tahiry, or Ti, whichever works"
Huey noticed this and raised a brow, usually the girl didn't let people who weren't close friends of hers call her Ti, so that was weird of her to suddenly encourage it with his sister. Marise, clearly not used to this sort of greeting simply shook her hand back and muttered a gentle 'nice to meet you', the sound being drowned out by Tahiry's chattering.
"Hey, Huey?" she began "just know that, uh, I know what it's like, not having a stable parental structure and stuff, so if you ever wanna talk, I'm here"
Huey then smiled, a sight that Tahiry was starting to get more and more used to "thanks Ti, you'll be the first one I go to"
"I better not be!" she snorted "ya girlfriend's supposed to be the first! But I'll gladly take second though"
"You're just not gonna let this go are you?"
Both of the girls laughed at him, which of course made him rather moody, before they all planned to return to the party. Huey and Marise quickly exchanged numbers, deciding they wanted to keep contact with each other, especially since Huey didn't want to have to interact with his mom. When they all returned, they noticed the lack of Jatavia, to which Carrie quickly said "she went to her car, but she won't leave until Marise is ready to leave"
"Well, I'm kinda ready to go now, there's nothing left for me to-"
"WOW!" Marise jumped when she heard a yell, only to see Riley approach "so you gon' be besties wit' this nigga but you don't wanna get to know yo other brother?"
"Well-"
"Anyway, I'm Riley, your cooler, smarter, better brother" Marise couldn't even do anything before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders "so, since you my lil' sis I gotta set some ground rules and shit, no crushes, no boyfriends, no parties or NOTHIN', you gon' focus on school and get yo grades up-"
"But you don't even focus on school or get your grades up Riley" Fatima loudly stated, receiving laughter from the crowd.
"She ain't gotta know allat Tima!" Riley slumped "anyway, best believe Imma be an annoyin' ass brother, and I'll whoop any nigga that looks at you-"
Carrie quickly pulled him back "that's enough Riley, I think she gets it"
The younger girl looked at Huey "please don't give him my number"
"Oh, I'm definitely giving him yo number, dealin' wit' Riley builds character"
The brothers laughed when Marise began complaining, soon, she bid them all goodbye and went back to their car to meet her mother and drive off. When that was all over, Huey noticed how most of the guests were leaving, Riley then smirked "in case you were wondering, Marise got you an IPhone X, and Mom got you a Nintendo Switch, luckily yo ass ain't break it when you threw it at the wall, I know cuz I was on that shit"
"Ayo, give it here-"
"Hell nah! I thought you ain't want it? What happened to 'Fuck you, yo sorry and that box!' or whatever you said?"
"Riley!"
For the rest of the afternoon, they left over attendees spent their time lounging and enjoying the left over food at the party. Riley though was plotting.
He had seen Huey ask Valarie out to 'get to know her' (like they didn't know each other well enough already) and it sort of... inspired him. He knew that he said he wanted to wait until at least second year before he told Fatima, but he began feeling restless. He didn't think he could wait that long, and if other dudes started noticing her...
He had to get her on lock as soon as possible.
He had asked her to meet him outside the beach house, and was now just waiting. What should he say? Should he do what Huey did and just blurt it out? Or should he ease into it? He barely had time to plan out his next move, when he saw her walk up to him with a grin. That day, Fatima had worn a soft pink frilled top that was cut low and exposed her shoulders and tank top underneath, she wore a pair of black jeans as well as fluffy pastel yellow uggs, she looked... cute, very cute, so cute in fact that she was making this hard for him.
"Wassup Riley?" she said, leaning with him beside the wall, "you wanted to talk?"
"Uuuuh..." he really didn't plan for this, if only her cute ass would stop giving him that sweet smile! "I..."
"Is... everything okay?" she asked, noticing his sudden behavior, "you know you can tell me, right?"
Nigga! You lettin' Huey out do you! Snap out of it!
Riley then glared, which startled her, he refused to be topped by Huey (pause)! If the words weren't going to come out, then her had to resort to more desperate measures. He took her by the hands, turned to face her fully and kissed her.
Sort of.
See, due to Riley's... inexperience with kissing, he didn't want to embarrass himself by going for it fully, so it was more of a 'gentle lip tap that only lasted for about two seconds' than an actual serious kiss. When he pulled back, he gave her a serious expression before quickly saying "I like you, be my girlfriend"
Naturally, Fatima was in a bit of a state. Her crush had not only just kissed her (kinda) but also said he liked her AND asked her to be his in a span of five seconds or so. There was a lot of things to process, so forgive her for not being instantaneous with her answer.
"I, uh, um, I, uh-"
"I think you cute, and you cool, and you funny, and you gimme allem butterflies and shit" Riley wasn't too good at smooth talking girls as you can see, "so yeah, I kinda wanna fuck wit' you- not like that! But like... fuck, you know what I mean, right?"
"Y-Yeah! I get you!" When she calmed down, she shot him a shy smile "to tell you the truth, I... actually like you too, I just didn't expect this to happen, haha!"
FUCK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-
"For real? Oh, uh, so you wanna...?" he got his answer when she held his hands and gave him a gentle peck on the cheek (fun fact, Riley almost died of joy right there, but he couldn't let her see that, he refused to be on some simp ass shit).
"Yeah, I do" was all she said. For a while, the two just looked at each other, taking in what had happened, before Riley suddenly dragged her inside by the arm. When the entered, he cleared his throat, a wide grin making it's way onto his face, when he saw the attention on him, he put her arm up and yelled.
"Guess who got a girlfriend niggas!?"
Emily, who was stealing a few cans of Pepsi (her parents didn't let her drink soda unless it was a special occasion) immediately popped up, her eyes getting wide as ever "you lyin'! Word!?"
"My man!" Kumal dramatically cried "look at my boy, I feel like a proud father!"
"So, you and Tima aye?" Dequan smirked "y'all really on some good girl bad boy shit, I'm widdit though"
"I for one am happy for you two!" Deja clapped from the couch "issa cute pairing"
The friends all gathered around Riley, congratulating the two of them for making it official, Carrie found it incredibly cute. She had gotten her first boyfriend in middle school, and the two of them lasted right until sophomore year of high school. Though it ended for her, she saw the way the two interacting, and something was telling her that they'd have a better chance at making it work, hopefully Riley wouldn't screw it up.
~
The party had ended a while ago, and the Norwoods were back at home, preparing for bed, Deja was sat on her bed, staring at the wall, whilst Tahiry was texting a friend. The older sister looked up, seeing her sister's blankness "so... Riley has a girlfriend now?"
"Yup"
Tahiry then noticed the hollowness in her voice and frowned "I thought you were happy for them... didn't you say 'issa cute pairing' at the party?"
"I lied" she said simply "and don't ask why as if you don't know that I like him"
"You gon' do sum' about them? 'Cause you mad petty if you do"
"Nah" Deja sighed, "Tima don't deserve that, so I'm gon' let it be" she then laid back on the bed "they prolly won't last long anyway, you know how these middle school relationships work, so I'll just let it run its course"
"Ion know, Riley really likes her-"
"Who's side are you even on?" Deja spat "aren't you supposed to be making me feel better?"
"I'm on none of your sides, I'm just saying if you let this get to you, you're gonna end up being like those bitter exes you see on reality TV, if he doesn't like you, let it go, there's plenty of fish in the sea, no need to look at someone else's relationship in envy"
"Why are you talkin' like you know shit?"
"Because I like Huey, but notice how I'm not sulking because him and Val are getting close?" Tahiry drawled, rolling her eyes "I accepted he doesn't like me a long time ago and I got over it, sure it hurts a lil', but I'm happy for Val" she then smiled "plus, they look adorable and happy, so if I gotta deal with some guy not liking me so a fellow girl can get some joy then so be it"
Deja stared at her sister, who continued to text before exhaling "you're right, I'm acting immature, it's not that deep and they happy... plus, Tima's my girl, I'm not gon' let a nigga get between us, it is what it is"
"That's the spirit!" Tahiry laughed, the two then lounging before eventually going to sleep.
~
Meanwhile, the Freeman's had just gotten home, and Huey was in the shower, contemplating everything. His mother was apparently back in his life, his sister was now a solid part of the family, him and Valerie were going to go on a real date soon enough, and he was going to high school. He continued to scrub himself, becoming suddenly overwhelmed with emotions, he remembered the painting Kiren got for him, the one of Granddad.
He hoped the old man was proud.
He couldn't imagine what Robert would be thinking about his family situation and love life, would he be proud of Huey for asking a girl out? To be honest, he'd probably playfully tease him about it, but Huey knew it was all out of love anyway, so he wouldn't let it get to him.
He felt overall... contempt. His time at Chicago so far was going great, he had good friends, an aunt that would give the world for him, and now a future of teenagehood to look forward too. Robert would be proud, he may not say it, but he'd be proud. Huey then turned off the shower, getting out and wiping himself down. He looked in the mirror, and saw a few stray hairs on his chin, though he wouldn't make a big deal of it, he was glad to finally be growing facial hair (or at least the groundworks to facial hair), he couldn't stand being babyfaced with a deep voice for much longer.
He then got out of the shower, the towel wrapped around him as he went to his bedroom, there, he saw his younger brother cheezing on the phone, and instantly knew who he was talking to. When Riley caught sight of him, his face immediately tightened, his voice losing it's cheery tone "oh, uh, yeah, talk to ya later, bye"
"Tima?"
"Yeah..."
Huey snorted, "y'all only got together two hours ago and I can already tell you gon' be a simp ass nigga"
"Man, shut up Huey!" he yelled, throwing a pillow at him, before looking away to give the other a chance to put his clothes on "you just mad that I got a girl and you can't even make it official with Jazmine 2.0"
"Aight, chill with that, her name's Valerie" he said, finishing by sliding on his shirt "but on a real note, I'm proud of you lil' bro, congrats on finally snatchin' her up"
"Don't get all sentimental on em nigga" Riley laughed "but still, all jokes aside I hope you and Jazmine 2.0 have a good date and shit"
"So you just gon' keep on goin' with that?"
"Yup, and you can't stop me- HEY!" Riley was stopped by a pillow hitting him straight in the face, and he soon retaliated with his own pillow attack. Soon enough, this ended in an all out pillow battle, and sadly, Huey ended up taking the dub on this one. Riley, not being a sour loser, lay back with a laugh, accepting his face.
"Aight aight, I won't call her that no more"
Huey snorted "you better not, never underestimate the power of a pillow"
"Whatever nigga" Riley scoffed, before looking up "yo Huey?"
"Yeah?"
"This gon' sound soft and gay as shit but... promise we ain't gon' drift apart when you go off to high school?"
"Watchu mean?"
"You know... you still my bro and shit, don't switch up on me, yeah?"
Huey stayed quiet for a bit, before smiling "of course I won't, promise"
Once he heard that, Riley relaxed. The two were now ready to finish the last bit of their school year, and open up a whole new chapter in their lives. This one was going to be different, instead of all the grief they felt before they came to Chicago, this next chapter was going to be filled with fun, joy and a lot of growing, it's what they had to do.
For Granddad.
ARC ONE: End
~
AAAAAAAAAND that's it for the first arc of perspective!
The next few chapters will detail their summer break, and then we'll pick up with Huey and the gang starting HS and Riley's friends continuing their middle school life. Since HS is infinitely more interesting than middle school, the next arc will focus more on Huey and the lot and will rarely actually delve into renegade, so sadly all the Riley content will be less until they reach hs too
Edit: JK! There'll still be more Renegade, but it'll be every once a chapter. Like, one chapter with both hs and renegade, then a chapter with only hs, then a chapter with hs and renegade, I just love my middle school babies too much ;')
Anyway, thank u for supporting Perspective, see u in arc two ;)
Edit: OMG 1K READS???? TY ALL SO MUCH IM LEGIT LOSING MY MIND 😭
To know that ppl support my story this much makes me so happy, it rlly motivates me to keep going, so thank u :')