Tales of the Underground: Blinded - 31. Homecoming

I could tell by the look on Carter’s face that he still wasn’t happy with my actions…but what can I say? I slipped up, it’s happened before, and I’m sure it’ll happen again. Sometimes I get carried away, and well, some of my instincts are still my Southside ones! As tension filled the car I turned on the radio, and began to badly rap the Kanye song playing in an effort get him to lighten up.

“Stop!” he laughed, trying to turn down the dial, but I smacked away his hands before he could.

“You tried to play nice everybody took advantage…” I flowed, as Carter tried to playfully swipe at me” you left you fridge open somebody just took a sandwhich.”

“You made that up!” he yelped in laughed, momentarily forgetting about my actions “There’s no way that’s an actual line!”

“Swear to god!” I insisted, flashing him a smile “I wish I could make up something that clever!”

“How is that clever?” Carter poked, still laughing “It sounds stupid.”

I shrugged my shoulders, and caught a glimpse of his eyes in the mirror “It’s like…you gave too much of yourself, and now they takin something you need to survive. They taken that food you and your family needed, and now you gonna starve.” I analyzed, thinking over the line “It’s like a warning…be careful, not everyone is what they seem.”

“No wonder you listen to this music” Carter sighed “Sounds like something you would write down.”

“What’s that mean?” I poked, lightly tilting my head.

“You’re just very cautious of who you let get close to you.” He shrugged “It’s not a bad things, but like even now that you talk to people, you’ve only let me, Aaron and Noah get close…and there’s some things I’m pretty sure you only tell me.” I shifted my eyes to the window next to me, knowing he was exactly right “What if I took advantage of you?”

“It would destroy me” I confessed in a low breathe “But if you did that, it would end us…and that would destroy me even more.”

“I hate you…” Carter exhaled with a shake of his head “Whenever I try to be mad at you, you just find a way to sweep me off my feet.”

“I promise you, today was just a mess up…it won’t happen again.” I nodded, turning back to him “It was selfish…I’m sorry.”

Carter faked shock and threw one of his hands up “Did Riley just apologize? Holy crap! I think I need to get this on video.”

“You foolish” I giggled, lighting grabbing his hand “Guess you don’t know what you got till it’s gone, guess that’s why I’m here, and I can’t come back home” I started up again, as another song started to hit it’s stride.

“Would you stop!” Carter giggled once more. He looked over to me and I could see in his eyes how much I meant to him…I just hope he can see how much he means to me.

The party came by a lot faster than I thought it would’ve. Before I knew it I was standing in the kitchen mixing drinks for people who barely knew what alcohol was. We kept it small, bout 20 to 30 people, but there were times I swear it felt like there were 60.

“You even drinkin?” I giggled, taking Carter’s cup out of his hand, to make sure the amount had changed “Come on man, cut loose!”

“And what happens if you start losing control over yourself?” he poked, way too serious for a party.

I shook my head, and handed him his drink back “I won’t, trust me here…besides I spent a lot of time making sure your drink was perfect…so drink it!”

“Oh yeah, and what are you drinking?” he teased, letting up a bit. He took the drink out of my hand, and took a sip…as the warm liquid hit his mouth I saw his face grow sour. He immediately pushed my cup right back to me “What the hell is that?!”

“That’s straight rum” I giggled, taking a sip myself “I can’t do mixers anymore, they just too much liquid.”

“How long have you been drinking that you have to drink straight alcohol?” Carter poked in disbelief.

“Since I was 11” I shrugged, walking off before I could catch the right act from him. I walked through the party, having flashbacks to the hundreds of parties I’ve been too…as much as I hate to admit it…as much fun as I’m having right now…I think I’m starting to outgrow this. Hell I’m only 16, but maybe I have everything I want, good friends, and my guy on my arm…maybe that’s all I need.

“Hey Cy” I heard a familiar voice call out “Lets light it up.”

“Oh yeah” I nodded, making my way over…okay maybe not everything I need. I felt Carter close by as Curtis handed me the carefully rolled joint. I took a nice long hit, enjoying my first inhale since I was on the streets, and made sure to slowly exhale the cloud of smoke. I turned to offer it to Carter, but he quickly waved it off…I thought about trying to convince him, but I didn’t want to force him into smoking…I’m better than that now a days.

I couldn’t help but catch the giggles as the smoking roll went around the rotation a few more times. The music seemed to grow louder and louder in my head, as all the colors in front of me began to pop. “Oh we got a party now” I giggled, leaning against Carter.

“Do we?” he laughed “You can barely stand!”

“That just means too much weed, not enough alcohol.” I smiled, taking another sip of the cup I had been holding.

“I think that means too much both!” he yelped, enjoying being able to hold me in public without drawing suspicion.

I shrugged my shoulders and took another sip “Maybe.”

“What do you mean maybe?” he chuckled, following me in my new quest to find my brother.

“Ey” I shouted, finally finding him talking to a small group “You actually drinking?”

“Yeah” he let out, wearing a bright red face that confirmed his words.

“Man you fucked up!” I laughed, as we both leaned into one another for support.

Aaron swayed his head and threw an arm around me “I’m glad you’re here…” he drunkenly confessed “I love having you for a brother.”

“I know” I giggled “You a good brother too, just annoying sometimes!” I teased, breaking free of his side hug.

“Hey!” he smiled, watching me move through the crowd trying to get away. As I looked around at my handiwork, I couldn’t help but start dancing with some of the guys from the team. Yet none of them seemed to bring it the way me, Curtis and Cam could…maybe it was the Southside in us, maybe it was growing up urban…no matter what it was, none of the others could move like us…we just had it.

“So what now?” Carter poked, finally finding me sitting on the big staircase so I could overlook the party. “You’ve officially gotten us all to cut loose…hell Noahs even over there sucking face with Ashley!”

I laid my head on him, too crossfaded to give a shit who saw “Make sure no one pukes, or drinks too much.”

“No, not like tonight” he laughed “Like overall, where are you going from here?”

“Not sure” I shrugged, keeping my head on him “But where I go…will you be there?”

“Yup” he smiled, discreetly throwing his arm around me “I thought you get angry when you get fucked up.”

“Not always…sometimes I just calm down…sometimes I get happy…just depends on the mood I’m in…or the mood people put me in” I explained, looking into his eyes “It helps to have you here, that’s for sure.” He bashfully shook his head, as the alcohol finally started to hit him “Hey watch this” I giggled, standing up “Everyone with a drink chug” before my eyes, the party below me followed my crazy command “Man you guys stupid! I just made it up to see what would happen!” I giggled, watching the chaos ensue of people only getting drunker and drunker. I turned back and grabbed onto Carter’s hand “Come on” I instructed, leading him upstairs and to my room, making sure to lock the door behind me.

“Oh Riley, I don’t know” he giggled “I don’t think I have the coordination for…”

“That’s not what I’m looking for perv.” I teased, jumping up on my bed “Just come sit with me.”

He shot me a skeptical look, but followed my words “Why are we doing this?” he softly laughed as I gently ran over one of his hands with mine.

“Just…I feel like you’ve been holding back from me lately, and I don’t know…maybe its everything I’m on right now…but it’s driving me insane” I confessed, staring deep into those hazel eyes of his.

He uncomfortably shifted his mouth and forced a smile “Ah so you’re taking advantage of me being drunk by making me talk, instead of having sex.” I couldn’t help but shrug and laugh at his words “I prefer the latter.”

“Just talk you goof” I encouraged, laying back and pulling him down with me.

“I…I feel like you’re getting bored.” He exhaled, looking up into my eyes “You just keep raising the bar, you used to only talk to me and Aaron and Noah, but now you talk to almost anyone…you didn’t want anything to do with school, but now you’re all over the place…you used to not try that hard in basketball, but now you give everything every game…”

“Why is this a bad thing?” I interrupted, shooting him a confused look.

“It wasn’t…” he shrugged “But now it seems like you have everything you want, but you’re still not happy…you seem like you’re just getting tired of everything around here, and…It’s…I’m worried this won’t be enough for you…that we don’t stack up to your old life…that…”

“I’ll go back to it.” I finished as he nodded his head. I shook my head and landed a light kiss on his head “How could I ever find being with you boring?” I softly laughed “I…schools boring, and sure going through the motions is getting tiring, but that doesn’t mean I want to be back shooting and stabbing people…I have a roof over my head, food on the table, and people that love me here…I’m not going to trade that in because I’m bored.”

“This…it has to be the drinks…I feel like I was just trying to convince you of all those things yesterday.” He laughed, planting a kiss on my cheek.

“Time changes people in crazy ways.” I shrugged “but I ain’t going anywhere…I promise.”

“Then why’d you act the way you did at the store?” he poked, as the scene replayed in his mind.

I shrugged my shoulders not wanting to give him the real answer “I guess…” I began, but paused to think “I was just worried you were getting bored…I thought that you were tired that I was becoming one of you…and that maybe I just needed to remind you how excitin I can be, that I’m not a borin white collar stiff.”

A small smile crossed his face as my words hit him “So then this party?”

“Yeah” I confessed in a sigh.

“So we’ve both been acting weird around one another, because we’re worried the other is bored?” he laughed, shaking his head “Even when we’re off…we’re still on.”

“I guess were just meant to be.” I giggled, finally kissing him on the lips. I felt another kiss come in deeper but pushed him away, knowing better than that “You’re drunk, and there are a bunch of people below us…not a good idea.” I giggled, being the voice of reason for once.

“So?” he groaned “You’re drunk too!”

“I’m a bit more with it.” I exhaled, standing up off the bed “I need another drink, I’m startin to sober up.”

He laughed it off, before standing up and wrapping himself around me “I love you Riley Walker.

“I love you too.” I smiled, just holding him for a minute. “Hey will we do Walker-Williams or Williams-Walker?”

“They both sound stupid” he confessed in laughter, as we walked out of the small room.

“Yup” I agreed with a quick raise of my eyebrows “Guess I should’ve taken James.”

“Nah” we both agreed as our eyes connected.

The party raged on for a few more hours without a hitch. There were no fights, or arguments, no drama, and most importantly no one threw up…well no one missed the garbage or toilet when they threw up. Seeing a hungover Carter and Aaron was almost as fun as drunk Carter and Aaron.

“Are you immune to alcohol or something?” Carter groaned, as I woke up next to my messy haired, grumpy boyfriend.

“No” I giggled, running my hand across his face “I just know to drink water and smoke weed before bed…you’ll never wake up hungover by doing that.”

He shot me another irritated look before turning over and going back to sleep. Everything…it’s all going perfect…a little too perfect. I couldn’t shake the worry that something was still coming, and I have a really bad feeling it’s the Southside game coming up this week.

As the week went on me and my parents went back and forth on whether I should even play in the game or not. They fought tooth and nail to try and convince me not to, but I owed it to my team to be there…I made a commitment and I have to honor it…more importantly I have to show I’m not afraid…that I won’t back down from anything. Finally Walter began to see my side of things, but still insisted on hiring some type of security for the game…it’s embarrassing, but if it’ll help them to relax, then I guess it’s not such a bad thing.

As I stepped through the metal detectors of the large run down gated high school I couldn’t help but feel chills rundown my back. This is where I should be going to school…hell this is where I should’ve went for a year or two had I actually stuck to school. This is where I could’ve grown up, where I could’ve become someone else…something else.

“You okay?” Walter checked as about 5 big men in black stood behind up

“Yeah” I nodded, snapping out of it “but really…5 security guards…you’re trippin.”

“I’d rather be trippin then unprepared. There’s no telling who knows you’ll be here tonight, or what they’ll do if they know.” He reminded in a nod.

I felt a chill rundown my spine one more time as I stepped into the gym “Cy Walker?” A voice from my past called out in disbelief. I immediately felt the security around me tense up, but waived them off as I saw who it was.

“No fuckin way” I let out, walking to the slim figure near the bleachers “Sean Ross” I shook, getting a good look at him “what the hell you doin here?”

He shrugged his shoulders, but took another look at me “I heard you was on the Lake Michigan team now a days, and I guess I jus needed to see it for myself.”

“Yeah” I nodded “I’m goin to school there now.”

“Why?” he shook giving me a crazy look “Shouldn’t you be in juvy finishing like a 10 year sentence?” he baited, trying to hear my side of things.

“Yup” I shrugged with a half smile “But you know me, they can’t keep me locked up.”

“You struck a deal you mean?” he let out as his smile faded.

“I did what I had to” I confirmed, as the conversation took a more serious turn “Deal was they put me on those shitty posters and found me a good place to chill.”

He nodded his head, but stayed serious “I know. We all do…you sold yourself out.”

“Shit man, take it anyway you want.” I snickered “It beats sittin in juvy then gettin shipped out to max…I would’ve never known freedom again.”

“You sure you know freedom now?” he pushed, looking me over “Think cause they dress you up nice, got you wearin that jersey, glasses, and a pair of Jordans…hell even got you talkin all nice…you think that makes you free?” he pressured staring me down.

“More free than jail would’ve been” I sternly let out, holding my head high, showing I wasn’t ashamed of who I was becoming.

“You think you somethin special now” he laughed off “They told you you was special, and now you belivin it now…you think you can just change like that? “ He shook looking at me “After all the shit you did…after all the chaos you caused…man you funny.”

“I don’t think I’m anything” I corrected, staring at him “Man, where the hell was you when shit hit the fan? Where was you when I was being carted off to juvy? Where was you when they cut me out and put me in a group home?” I provoked, starting to go on the offensive “You were hidden, too scared to say anything…don’t think I forget how you play people…tell everyone back home I say hi, send em my love, but let them know I ain’t never coming back.”

“It’s not your choice” he shook, as I turned away “It’s Ro’s, and now that he knows you’re free…you think he’ll leave you be? After all that training he put in you…after all that time?”

“Man he got no choice…I hear the saints are dyin…I hear they weak with out me.” I turned back around, and stood my ground “He’s got nothing…I wish he would come for me, I wish he would try...I was takin his spot when they took me away, he was getting old, and me…shit” I clicked “I’m just hitting my stride. He was getting scared of me, and by what I’m hearing he still is.” I dismissed with the wave of my hand “He’s got a lot bigger problems, then tryin to go up against me.”

“Everything okay?” Carter rushed over, as I started to walk away.

I shrugged my shoulders, getting closer to my team “Everythings fine.”

“Who was that?” Carter nervously asked, seeing how irritated I was.

“An old friend.” I grunted “but that’s all he’ll ever be.”

If the Saints think they can scare me into coming back…if they think Ro can intimidate me…they’re dead wrong. I mean what’s he going to do? Drive up to the Northside and try kidnap me? Like he could ever catch up to me…like I could ever be caught. Like I told Carter…I’m not going anywhere.