Disclaimer: This is a FICTIONAL story describing the love triangle of a teenage boy. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then refrain from reading it. The story consists of lust, passion, teenage romance, interracial, love and all the rest of the good stuff in that order... Prepare for sin.
Chapter 28: Just A Bad Boy Feeling Good /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~////~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~////~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~////~~~~~~~~~~/
"Where do you see yourself a month from now?"
I was sitting in Dr. Lopez's office. Everything had been going well in my life. I didn't have any negativity in school or in the house. T-Boy was extra nice to me and Lamont was making me feel really appreciated. Sampson and I weren't exactly 'friends', but we managed to stay very civil to one another. We said 'hello' and 'goodbye' to one another. When I had extra time, I asked him how Ms. Nicole was doing and how his new girlfriend, Magdalene was doing.
I was busy playing the piano and it took me a while to answer Dr. Lopez's question.
"I don't know I guess I see myself applying for some colleges or thinking about my other life options."
"Are you going to apply in-state?"
"I don't know. I think I want to go somewhere really far. I want to go to a place where the people aren't so sinful like Brunswick. Brunswick is like the present day Sodom & Gomorra."
Dr. Lopez laughed. I wondered if she agreed or not. She didn't really agree or disagree about the subject. In some cities, people had some kind of patriotism or pride for where they were located. Brunswick wasn't like that. Everyone hated Brunswick.
She added, "Well I don't know about that, but they say that a storm might be coming our way."
"Yep. It's probably God here to wash away all the sins out of this place. Everyone that I know has serious transgressions besides Shane and he's dead."
"Well no one's perfect. Maybe Shane even had his own little Pandora's Box."
I rolled my eyes. That was a rude ass thing to say about a dead person.
"Trust me. He was a better person then you are. I admit; he was even a better person that I am capable of being. Shane was just the perfect guy."
"Ok, ok. So what do you think keeps you from being the kind of person Shane was?"
She changed the subject quickly. She probably realized that I was getting offensive if someone mentioned Shane in a negative tone. Shane was exactly what I thought he was. He was the ideal guy. He was what God wanted him to be. The rest of Brunswick consisted of fakes. Even the pastors just prayed so that they could rip off people with their collection plates. In Brunswick churches, an offering was mandatory.
"I am too opinionated to be a good person. I also got a short temper. I can come off as over-confident sometimes. The biggest thing though is that I like dick too much."
"You feel being gay made you a bad person?"
"Well no. They do have good people who are gay, but it just added another reason why I am not America's poster child. I probably went up against half of the testaments written in the bible at one time or another. I think everyone in Brunswick did. Avarice, gluttony, sloth, envy, pride, wrath and lust run wild in Brunswick."
She once again did not give any sign of agreement or disagreement.
"Do you feel hatred towards people who commit these sins?"
"No. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed in myself as well. Sometimes I wished I was that heterosexual, honest, polite and humble young man."
"Who says you can't be?"
I shook my head.
"Nah. I can't. I'm way too stubborn to change. Being a moral person might just get boring after a while anyway. Are we done?"
"Do you want to be done?"
"Yeah. All these negative thoughts are making me kind of rundown."
"Well, ok. I guess I'll see you later then?"
"Yeah. I might come back again."
I left her office feeling the same way that I had felt when I came in. I really didn't see Dr. Lopez to get help anymore. I just saw her to pass time and express myself to someone. I knew she felt good seeing me too because if I didn't show up she would actually keep calling the house for me.
I made my way back to the house. It was a beautiful day really, but I knew Lamont and T-Boy would feel uncomfortable together so I decided to join them in the house. T-Boy was cooking (or making an attempt to cook). He had this spaghetti sauce on the stove, but it was really watery and was splashing everywhere. I walked over to him and gave the sauce a closer look. It was horrible, but I wasn't exactly the best chef either.
"Hey you?" I said and pointed toward the stove, "Please tell me that you didn't kill Lamont and drain his blood into that."
T-Boy didn't find it funny and I knew why. We'd been struggling on an income for days. We didn't have a lot of money to keep ordering take out. I had basically officially quit work since I stopped going. Lamont and T- Boy didn't even have jobs. T-Boy got a few bucks from Ms. Nicole every now and then, but that was the only source of money for us to buy food. We needed to start cooking and stop wasting all that money.
"Real funny," T-Boy said sarcastically, "This is the best I could do. If you can do any better then here you go."
I took a step backward as he tried to hand me the spoon, "Oh no. I am an even worst cook."
"This is great!" T-Boy whined, "Your 'new' friend Lamont can't cook either. Byron and Yolanda knew how to cook but you had to throw them out."
I couldn't tell if he was really mad or just a little irritated. I couldn't even tell if he was just joking around. Even if he was just playing around, the fact that T-Boy could even have been thinking about that was really bugging me out.
"That's bullshit! You wanted me to let them stay after what they did?"
T-Boy shook his head, "I'm sorry. I'm wrong. Its just kind of frustrating."
"Well don't put your frustration on me next time."
I walked out of the room; even more irked then when I walked in. I didn't know where his attitude had come from but it definitely was something that he needed time to work out. I made my way to the living room and flicked on the television.
There was some spoof on television about gay people. It seemed like straight people found the gay life really amazing. I was watching it none-the-less. It was better then listening to T-Boy having one of his outbursts that was followed by almost constant apologies.
T-Boy walked into the living room, "Syn, don't you want to know what I'm really frustrated about?"
Not really. I was busy watching my spoof.
"What?" I asked with a tired tone.
"You don't seem to notice me," T-Boy explained, "I mean, I am slaving over a stove all day cooking for you. Did you know that the food was yours?"
I probably would have been moved if it were a little more complex meal then some watery spaghetti.
"That was for me?" I asked, bluntly.
T-Boy came and stood right in front of the television like he was invisible or something. He was like a disgruntled housewife. Then I realized that he meant to be standing in front of the television. I glared up at his face. He had on a mad face that was a little desperate for attention.
"Yeah it was you."
"Oh ok thanks. Um can you step to the side a little?"
T-Boy stepped his foot hard on the ground of the house so hard that the television shook, "You see what I fucking mean?"
"Don't curse at me," I warned and then said, "If you want to talk to me about a complaint then make it civil."
He calmed down a little, "Syn just look at me."
I looked up at him. I stared deep into his eyes. He was almost waiting for me to say something. I didn't get what it was, but he definitely was waiting for me to say something.
"What?" I asked.
"I've been working out Syn!" T-Boy whined, "I been working out almost everyday for hours just so that you could notice me, but you don't even care."
I re-examined T-Boy. He definitely had been working out! He had his usual wife-beater on but his muscles had completely filled it out so that it looked like spandex. I was definitely sure that T-Boy had even become more muscular then Sampson was. T-Boy had the body of Vin Diesel or something. It seemed to happen overnight.
I didn't want to drool, "Oh um wow you look good."
"I know," he said with a hint of cockiness, "I got a Bowflex in my room that I ordered."
"With what money?"
We hardly had any money to buy take-out, but he was busy buying Bowflex machines. Those things were fucking expensive as hell. I couldn't believe he was wasting his money to buy one of them.
"Who cares? Look at the results? Matter of fact, feel them."
He came up to me. He grabbed my hand and laid it flat on his stomach. His stomach was harder then a rock. I couldn't believe T-Boy had gotten so in shape right under my nose. God bless the man who made Bowflex.
"Um maybe I should go see that Bowflex."
I got up immediately. I probably did need to use the Bowflex, since my body wasn't anywhere near how tight and developed T-Boy's was. I hadn't exactly gotten up because I wanted to go see the Bowflex though. I had to get up because just being around T-Boy was turning me on. It was REALLY turning me on. I had to get away. I hadn't had sex in a long time and just being around him was causing my dick to get hard.
"Wait let me take off my shirt and show you how I worked out my chest," T-Boy said.
He lifted up his shirt and threw it on the floor. He began to flex at that moment. His pecs moved voluntarily and he made them dance on his chest. He had a better body then Lamont, Byron and me put together. Sampson had a nice body too, but T-Boy had even surpassed him!
I thought about it and realized that T-Boy had been getting some extra attention from the ladies in school. Mostly it was by Sydney. I heard rumors about how she took pictures of him and made a shrine of T-Boy in her locker. She wasn't the only chicken-head in the school doing it either. A couple girls had started doing it.
"Nice! I definitely need to start working out," I mentioned and then turned a little, "Now."
"Wait a second. Its no rush," T-Boy said, "Here touch my pecs really quick."
I tried to leave but T-Boy grabbed onto me. Even though he was so muscular and fit now, he still managed to be gentle. He took my hand and placed it on his chest. We were really close. I could feel his cool breath up against my face.
My hand slid across his nipples. My fingers each rushed past them and then my open palm lay right on top of his heart. I could feel his heart. It was beating fast.
"T-Boy maybe I should go "
"Shhhh," he hushed me and then pressed my palm harder against heartbeat, "Can you feel that?"
"T-Boy, why do you do this to me?" I asked finally.
It was clear that he had probably planned this. He probably had worked out and all that just to get my attention. He wore those wife-beaters all the time that made me walk around with a constant erection. He made me wake up every morning having a wet dream because I couldn't get his sexy stare out of my head. He was completely tempting me and doing it on purpose.
"Why do you do this to 'me'?" He flipped the question and then leaned into me, "I did all this just to be with you. You just need to give into it."
He leaned in more and I began to back up. I couldn't back up too much though because I hit the wall. As soon as he had me cornered, he started to kiss me. He tenderly pecked at my lips with a lot of eroticism and seduction. Sampson might have had the huge cock, T-Boy was definitely more aware of his strengths and how to use them to have me crawling on my knees.
"T-Boy, hold on," I said and broke the kiss, "I don't think that I'm ready for this yet."
T-Boy laughed, "Don't tell me that you are turning straight."
"No, of course not. I just don't want to have sex right now?"
"Oh you don't? Then what's this for?"
T-Boy reached down and was now clutching my crotch area. My dick was hard and my balls were swollen. He had caught me red-handed! There was no way to hide the fact that he was turning me on. I felt T-Boy's certainty go through the roof immediately as he felt my balls even more.
"T-Boy, what are you doing?"
He was unbuckling my belt and going for my dick. I wasn't exactly sure where he was leading to, but I was a second away from giving in to him.
I struggled though. I knew that if I had sex with T-Boy then I would surrender myself to him from that moment on. I would basically be saying I was his boyfriend again and that would mean hanging out with his thickheaded group of friends. I would be giving into T-Boy. I wasn't sure if I was ready to surrender myself to T- Boy.
"You want to know what I'm going to do?" he said leaning his mouth close into mine to whisper, "I'm going to take off these pants. I'm going to suck you off and swallow your cum. Then I'll make you hard again, but it'll be my turn. I'll fuck you in your mouth and make you drink my sperm. I want it to drip all over your juicy lips."
T-Boy was being very blunt about what he wanted to do. His nastiness seemed to turn me on even more! I was feeling probably just as freaky as he was. Hell would sex be that bad?
"T-Boy no."
"What now!"
"Well, Lamont is in the house," I explained, "He's around somewhere."
"Screw Lamont. I know you want me, I saw what you did to my towel "
Damn. I had forgotten that I actually left the towel in the laundry basket. I could imagine how T-Boy would feel if he saw something like that. The idea that I wanted him (which wasn't really incorrect) had most likely blossomed in his head. Him finding the towel made this little seduction a little less unanticipated.
He continued to unbuckle my pants but then I stopped him. I got out of the clutch that he had me on against the wall and he looked immediately pissed off. I could tell that he really wanted it.
"I'm not going to do that," I explained and then crossed my arms; "Get over it. You are way too horny."
"God why are you so hard? None of the girls that I ever been with were so hard. Shit even the other guy I been with wasn't this hard."
I shrugged, "Well, lets just see it as we are controlling our destiny. If a relationship between you and me is supposed to happen again then it won't be just because we got too horny."
"No it will be because you always have someone in this house with us," T-Boy whined, "I thought it was just supposed to be you and me, but then Byron comes along. Then Yolanda comes along. Now Lamont comes along."
"This house is too big for just the two of us anyway."
"Well Yolanda and Byron at least left the house," T-Boy pointed out and flexed his muscular arms, "That guy Lamont doesn't go anywhere. He's such a loser. You and I never have time alone anymore."
"Lamont is not a loser," I argued and then thought about it, "Ok he is, but it's not that bad."
"It really is! The kid is worse then Yolanda when she was in that trauma," T-Boy continued to explain and then added, "He is like a ghost. He just walks around. I tried to get to know him, but it is useless. He never said anything more then a couple of words at a time."
"You don't understand. Lamont had family issues."
"Well he can go somewhere else. That's all I'm saying," T-Boy explained and shook his head, "You really don't have to take in every charity case on the street, Syn."
T-Boy got up and left the room in his frustration. I knew what he was feeling. I was feeling like that more and more. I definitely needed to have some sex. I didn't want to keep humping T-Boy's towels anymore. It was getting repetitive and boring. I wanted something real. I just wasn't sure if T-Boy was the best one to have it with.
I lay back on the couch. The show was over, but another show had come on. It was called Wildboys. It had something to do with these crazy guys who were probably former crackbabies. The guys did crazy things like fight alligators and let strange birds eat from the crack of their ass.
"I heard everything you guys said about me."
I looked over to see Lamont. I rolled my eyes again. He looked a little sad. He looked like he really had been hurt about what had happened. I wanted to be concerned, but I also wanted to just sit there to watch an hour or two of television.
"You did?"
He bit his lower lip, "Yeah, I did. I didn't know you two felt that way."
He didn't know? Lamont was the shyest and most withdrawn person I'd ever known. He sounded really sad. I could hear the disappointment in his voice. He was probably feeling more of an outcast then ever. I didn't understand why he wanted to fit in so bad. Fitting in just caused a lot of social trouble.
"T-Boy is just thinking with his little head instead of his big one," I exempted him to make the issue less tense, "He doesn't have anything against you, but its just that he's stressed. He'll get over it."
Lamont sat there quiet for a while and I could see from his facial reaction about his clear doubt with what I was saying. Even now he still couldn't look me in my eyes.
"I want to be more social," said Lamont, with wishful eyes, "I used to be accessible a long time ago. Then, well, you know what happened."
"Little Isaac happened, didn't he?"
Lamont seemed uncomfortable that I had even said the name, "Yeah, Little Isaac took my manhood. How could I look other people in the eyes knowing how low I've become?"
"He just took your body," I tried to comfort, "That isn't your manhood.
Put your head up."
"I don't feel like he just took my body. That guy took more then just my body. Little Isaac broke me and I can only blame myself."
"Well keep your head up."
"I can't. I should probably just leave," Lamont started to think aloud, "I'm not welcomed here. I don't even really blame you or T-Boy for feeling the way you do about me. I deserve it."
"No all you need to do is believe," I said and physically made him stare in my eyes, "First you got to keep your head up."
I stared into his eyes and then he stared into mine. I held the stare for a little long to test how long he could go starring into my eyes. It wasn't long though. Immediately he dropped his eyes to the floor and moved my hand so that he could drop his chin into his chest as well.
"Its impossible."
"Uh be quiet. Keep your head up," I demanded and then took a step backward, "We definitely are going to have to change these clothes and cut that 4 o'clock shadow."
Lamont usually dressed like he was in the 90s or something. He dressed as though he had made it his job to find all the things that were out of style to wear. Lamont had a couple of turtlenecks, high water jeans and even some Mountain Gear Boots in his closet.
I worked on Lamont for more then two hours. I was just really doing normal things like telling him how to choose clothes to wear. I taught him how to keep a conversation
"Talk about yourself," I mentored him over lunch, "Don't make the mistake to ask them about their day. If you do that they will answer in short words. Talk about yourself, even though they might not be really interested. When they get annoyed enough, they will find a way to connect your conversation to another thought."
Most of the things I was telling him weren't exactly how to be popular, but more how to be interesting (in my opinion). An interesting person and a popular person are two different things, but an interesting person is definitely one that holds a lot more ethics to heart.
It was the rebirth of Lamont. I felt as though I was a woman who was in labor. I hadn't even been able to sleep really. I was so excited for the kid. It felt nice knowing that there was a chance he could change after his personality suffered so gravely from abuse. "Come downstairs, hurry," I explained, "T-Boy is going to be upset if we are late again." He was walking slowly. I could tell he wasn't really accustomed to wearing heavy Timberland boots like I wore. When he walked, it clunked a little bit. No one really noticed the clunking noise though as long as the boots looked nice and sooner or later he'd get accustomed to walking in them. "You sure about this?" Lamont asked. I was more sure then ever. I nodded, "Hurry up." We walked out to the car to meet T-Boy. I sat in the front like usual because it just wasn't normal for Lamont to be sitting next to T-Boy since I could count on my fingers the amount of words traded between the two since Lamont moved into the house. "I keep telling you, Syn, that I hate waiting," T-Boy complained. I rolled my eyes, "Shut up " Every time I turned down one of his romantic advances, he would get mad at me for a day. It wouldn't be very long before he started acting nice again to prepare for his next romantic attempt. "Its too early for bullshit," I explained. "It wasn't his fault." The voice of Lamont rising to come to my defense had actually surprised me. It surprised T-Boy even more. He had been pulling onto the street but abandoned that route to turn around and look at Lamont. T-Boy looked at me with confusion, "What the hell happened to him?" "You can ask 'him' now," I said. T-Boy turned his back around to look at Lamont. It would have been hard not to tell that my style was extremely involved in his look. He had on the thermal shirt with matching Yankee's cap and black jeans. I was probably one of the only ones in the school to wear black jeans (which I found astonishing). "What happened to you?" T-Boy asked. "Well I sorta " Lamont hesitated and then slowly muttered, "I got a makeover." He didn't sound too confident, but still it was a miracle that Lamont was even speaking to someone else besides me. They sort of mad small talk as we drove to school. I realized that I didn't even have to contribute. I said a few words when the conversation was weak but Lamont picked up right after me. I had actually taught someone to be social! It was weird because I hated a lot of people! ~~~~~~~~~////~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~////~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~////~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~////~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As soon as we got to school, we found stares. People noticed the look of Lamont and they were immediately attracted towards him. I could tell he was still shy, but he just seemed a little more confident. He looked people in their eyes and though did well in the social scene, he seemed to be a lot more comfortable at lunchtime when a large percentage of students were on the lunch line. He took a seat close to me. "This is crazy," he told me. I knew just what he was talking about. He looked a little overwhelmed, but he also looked a little excited that he was actually getting the attention that he deserved. "You having fun?" I asked, crossing my arms while staring at my creation. "More then I thought," he answered and laughed a little, "Do you know that Big Rob actually apologized to me today for when he used to mess with me?" "Fake apology," I noted and continued, "What else happened?" "Um the coach for varsity asked me if I wanted to tryout for football," he explained. I laughed. It just proved that everyone was so false in Brunswick. When you were unpopular no one even noticed you existed, but when people liked you then you had to be associated with them. It was just how it was like in the movies. I would have thought all those "Mean Girl" and "Jawbreaker" movies would wizen people up. "Fuck football," I bluntly said, "They suck, anyway. They are just a bunch of jocks hitting up against one another for no pay and little chance of a scholarship. Forget that. You just do what you do and don't curse anyone out while you are doing it either like I would." He laughed, "I wouldn't steal your signature attitude." Why not? I gave him my signature outfit, my signature lingo and my signature way to blow off popular people who used to treat you like shit. "Ha. Welcome to the other side." I smiled at him but he didn't return my smile. His eyes were glancing past me and I turned to see what he was looking at. Sampson was walking up to me at that moment. I hadn't seen him for a while and every time I did see him, he seemed to be ignoring me. "Hey," he said approaching us and then glared at Lamont, "Hey Lamont. I hardly recognized you." Lamont smiled back and said, "Yeah I got rid of the high-water jeans and the plaid sweaters. Syn helped me a lot with it." Sampson seemed a little surprised that Lamont had actually talked back to him. Everyone was surprised. Lamont had gone from speaking nothing or 2 word phrases to actually conversing fluidly. "That was nice of Syn," he said and then turned to me, "Hey can I talk to you for a moment?" "Go ahead." "Um can we talk in the bathroom?" I looked at him with this weird face. Sampson smiled when I looked at him. He didn't wait till I answered him before he left the cafeteria ahead of me probably to wait for me in the bathroom. I guess he was really certain that I was going to follow behind him. "Good luck," Lamont silently whispered. I gave him a look that said "What?" It was just weird that he would be wishing me good luck. Did he think that I wanted something out of Sampson? I mean was it that clear? I thought about it. Sampson seemed be such a fucking challenge and it was a weird challenge. I knew he liked me and by now he knew I liked him. So why didn't we hook up? He was still attractive to me even now. Hell T-Boy had gotten more muscular but Sampson still had that thing. He had that innocent kind of vibe that was mixed with so many other things. I knew he wasn't innocent though. Hell he had more short relationships than T-Boy had pick-up lines. I went to the bathroom, wondering if Lamont was really right. Was there even a reason for me to need good luck? Sampson was standing over the sink, looking at his cute face in the mirror. He knew he didn't have to fix it. It was perfect the way it was. "Hey," Sampson said as I entered. I looked over at Sampson and shook my head, "I'm great. How are you? How's your girlfriend Magdalene?" "It didn't work out," he said bluntly continuing to look into the mirror, "She thought I was still stuck on Byron." They broke up and he had basically been going out with her for less then a week. I didn't see the point. It seemed like no one lasted in a relationship with Sampson. "That's horrible," I said, pretending like I cared, "Well its all good. Magdalene was a little easy anyway. You could do a lot better." "Ha, you are really getting to be a sweet person," Sampson said, "I used to think that you were starting to become a lot like Mercedes." I raised my eyebrow. He had given me a compliment before insulting me. I couldn't believe he would ever compare me to her. I knew what he meant though. "Well, understand that I have a little good and bad," I said, "When I'm good I'm real good. But when I'm bad " "I like the good side more," he commented and smiled. I gave him a complex stare. I wanted to smile back but I really couldn't. It sounded a little hypocritical of him to be saying he liked the good side of me after he went out with Mercedes who was absolutely bad. "Are you saying you like me more now?" I asked raising my eyebrow. "Well, you do look pretty nice today," he flirted and then nonchalantly continued, "But maybe I should get to the point of why I called you in here. I actually wanted to continue flirting, but who knew? Maybe he wanted to finally STEP UP and wanted to ask me to be his boyfriend. It definitely seemed like I should be the one. I mean we'd been flirting since he went out with Mercedes. "Um have you heard from Yolanda?" he asked. Yolanda? What the fuck? "You called me here to ask about her?" "No " Good. I definitely didn't even want to be considering that bitch at any moment. She was just a backstabbing bitch and the worst part about it was she didn't even realize that she was. Or at least I didn't think she did. She was fucking dumb like that. "Well I haven't seen her," I answered. "I know you haven't seen her," Sampson said, "I asked if you heard from her. Yolanda isn't even in town. She went on vacation with her dad." "That's nice " Like I actually gave a fuck where Yolanda was! She could be in hell sucking off Lucifer himself for all I cared. She wasn't someone I looked highly at. "Well the thing is did Yolanda tell you anything about my brother?" Wow this was even better. He called me in here to talk about Zion. I let out a real heavy sigh of annoyance that let him know how irritating he was being. I guess he thought that by asking his questions faster then it would be better for me. I didn't care how fast he talked. I didn't want him talking about them. "I don't talk to her," I said bluntly and almost coldly, "Are we done here?" "Are you sure?" "Yeah!" I heavily sighed, "Why are you even talking to me? Why don't you just wait till Yolanda comes back?" "Zion may be up to something now " "What is your obsession with him?" I asked, bluntly, "I understand that you are a little resentful about your mother keeping him instead of you, but this is crazy." Sampson got blue in the face and stopped looking me in the eyes. He took a couple of steps backwards as if I had just shoved my words into him. Truthfully, I probably should have cared about offending him, but I didn't. Sampson brought me in the bathroom for our 'privacy' but only to talk about Zion again? "Zion took Holden's rightful position!" Sampson defended his actions. I shrugged indifferently, "Well Holden isn't using it now is he?" Sampson sort of shook me off, "I'm not even going to argue with you. I know Zion. I know he's guilty. Just tell me if you are sure that Yolanda didn't say anything about Zion." I thought about it. I didn't really want to help Sampson out with his stupid quest, but I did want to get him off my back once and for all with this whole situation. I dug hard into the past trying to think if Yolanda mentioned anything about Zion. "No well not really," I answered, slightly stimulated. "What? What is it?" Sampson asked, probably catching onto my face shriveled up as though I had something on my mind. "Well Yolanda did want to tell me something the day first night she came back," I remembered, "I sort of blew her away though. She said it had something to do with how Mercedes was captured by Zion." "Oh my god!" A smile spread across Sampson's face. He looked like my little memory had caused something to spark in his head. He looked completely entranced in this thought as well. It was actually humorous. "What?" "Oh my god! Syn, thank you so much." He leaned over to me and hugged me tightly before running out of the bathroom like he had something that he immediately had to do. I didn't see what was so important. Then again, I wasn't really trying to figure Sampson out. I figured that since he finally didn't have a girlfriend (or boyfriend) then he needed something else to do. Maybe he was just bored. I left the bathroom and went back to the lunchroom. My mood switched almost completely. I had gone in having an extremely good day since Lamont was now getting all this kind of attention to being in a bad mood since I had gotten the wrong signals from Sampson. I walked into the lunchroom and immediately I noticed that the table Lamont and I had been sitting at was now more crowded. I completely suspected that since Lamont was the new 'thing'. "Ok people you are in my seat," I announced to the groupies while arriving at the table. A couple of people turned around. Some of them looked old and serious. Those were two things that made me certain they weren't from Brunswick High. They were dressed formally in slacks and buttoned shirts. "Syn how are you?" Sampson said. No damn it I was wrong again. It was Zion. SPEAK OF THE DEVIL! I could tell immediately after he asked how I was. Sampson would usually smile after he greeted me. Zion always just struck this cute posture like he was modeling for the front cover of GQ. "Zion? What are you doing here?" I asked a little dumbfounded, "Didn't you like drop out of school?" It sounded harsh, but hey it was true. If I were making as much money as he was supposedly making then I'd probably drop out of school too. I was poor though and stuck in this miserable cycle of government brainwash for one more year. I "I came to see you guys," Zion said and then looked at Lamont, "Your friend was just telling me all about the way you helped him change his look." Lamont and I exchanged glances. Lamont didn't seem as uncomfortable around Zion as Sampson was. No one was as uncomfortable around Zion as Sampson. If no one else distrusted him then why was Sampson so horribly paranoid? "Sampson and I were just talking about you," I honestly informed him. I didn't give a fuck. "Really?" he asked, but not as though he was surprised or even the least bit intrigued, "What were you talking about?" "Just stuff." He didn't sound like he wanted to know so I didn't want to sound like I wanted to answer. "Oh ok," he said and then quickly changed the subject, "I came to the school to personally invite you and T-Boy to this party that a promoter is throwing for me. Each of you can bring one person I hope you bring Lamont though. He's interesting." Wow someone had called "Lamont" interesting. I watched Lamont's face brighten up a little bit but he was trying to seem as though he was already getting used to being this new person. "Of course I'll bring Lamont," I smiled and then shook my head, "You got things all planned out I see. Someone is throwing you a party, but you make the invites. You even tell the people who you invite who they should invite." He laughed steadily, "Yeah I told T-Boy he should bring Sampson." "Sampson. He doesn't even like you." It had slipped out but I didn't mind saying it actually. It wasn't like Sampson was trying to make it a big secret. Zion seemed a little careless about it. He didn't seem specifically hurt that Sampson didn't like him nor did he seem angry about it. He seemed as though he hadn't even heard the comment. "Oh well, but I'm inviting new friends," Zion explained, "Sampson is kind of renewed. You guys are new. I want to get to know you guys better. Ms. Whyte give it to them." Ms. Whyte handed me a letter. In the letter were two invitations. One was for me and the other was obviously for Lamont. They were all fancy looking. You would think that we were some important people, but really Lamont and I didn't even have enough money between us to eat at McDonald's twice a week. Zion got up with his staff and they looked they were about ready to leave. He struck this last sexy stance as though everyone in the room was suddenly watching him. I watched as he leaned his left shoulder back and lifted his head a little. I laughed. It was kind of cute, hilarious and stupid at the same time, but he always seemed to do it. "I'll see you later Tyson Beckford," I teased, recognizing his stances. He laughed, "So you pet names for me now?" "That isn't a pet name " "Yeah ok," he said sarcastically, "I need to make one up for you." "It isn't a pet name. Why don't you believe me?" I asked. "Bye Syn," he answered and turned away with his entourage trailing behind him like he was some bride walking out of a wedding. Ms. Whyte would probably be the damn flower girl. He was so cocky. It was charming at times, but then it just got annoying. Why the fuck would I be calling him pet names? I like (or at least used to like) his brother, but that doesn't mean I adored him. I turned to Lamont, "I did not call him a pet name. A pet name is sugar dimples, not Tyson Beckford." Lamont smiled, "I'm not a gold digger or anything, but if I was gay, I'd probably be calling him sugar dimples and getting in his pants since he has all that money." "No Lamont that would make you a gold digger." "Oh ha. You're right. Anyway, do you like him?" "No." "Seriously. You were staring at his lips the whole time he was talking." "No I wasn't? Was I?" I asked. It was weird. I didn't know I was. I didn't think I was attracted to Zion. It was probably this unconscious attraction because he looked like Sampson. I wasn't sure. All I saw in Zion was a guy who had too much power and looked a little too attractive so he seemed like some kind of ideal male. I didn't really fall for the 'ideal' guys. I mean, look how different I was ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I arrived home later then usual with Lamont because he wanted to sign up for some after school programs. I guess he was taking full advantage of his new-found socialism. I didn't sign up. I just went to watch him sign up for some things. There was no way I was going to be wearing tights and reciting "Midnight Summer's Dream" to a school with people who probably didn't even know who Shakespeare was. We arrived home to find that Ms. Nicole and Sampson had come to visit T-Boy. I at least hoped that they had come to visit T-Boy and not me. I entered the house and heard Ms. Nicole's voice. It was that same aggravating voice pattern that I had almost grown to hate. "I saw Oprah again at the diner," she was saying in her usual Oprah-absorbed conversations. I tried to sneak my way past the kitchen where they were talking and head upstairs towards my room. I didn't even want to greet Ms. Nicole. She was just an annoying person. "Hey! We're here," Lamont shouted standing right behind me. Ms. Nicole immediately recognized me, "Hey, Syn! Where you going? Come in here." Damn it! I gave Lamont an apprehensive stare, but he probably didn't realize it. He was too busy being friendly and giving Ms. Nicole a warm smile. I reluctantly crossed into the kitchen. If it were Ms. Nicole there alone then I probably would have ignored her, but since Sampson was there I didn't want him to get the wrong idea that I was avoiding him or something. "What's up?" I asked. She was sitting down at the table with T-Boy. Sampson was cooking, which was good because Sampson actually knew how to cook. I smelled the food as I walked in. It was definitely something nice. "Syn, did Zion give you an invitation too?" Sampson asked me as soon as I entered the room. "Damn can get a 'hello' or something?" I defensively questioned. "He sure did give us one," Lamont answered for me and then walked over to Sampson, "This food actually smells really great." I couldn't believe he was interrupting my little moment I had to be offended. Who the hell did he think he was? I crossed my arms and stared at Lamont with these glaring eyes. He wasn't even noticing though. He was busy standing over Sampson looking down at the frying pan like it was the best thing ever. "Thanks," Sampson said, but seemed really focused, "I told T-Boy that he would." "Ok you were right," T-Boy immediately scorned, "So what? No one actually cares but you. You are beginning to sound crazy." "I do not sound crazy." "Actually you do," Ms. Nicole supported T-Boy, "You sound absurd. You think the reason I associate with Zion is because he has money." "He's wrong?" I asked, because that was the reason I thought as well. "Well if he was right about me then he would also be right about your reason, which is because he thinks you have a crush on Zion." Sampson immediately looked at him, "Ma!" "What?" I asked. What the fuck had he been telling Ms. Nicole. "Now its fine if you did," Ms. Nicole said, "I don't have anything against 'your' kind. Especially if my own son T-Boy is one of you." "I'm not your only son who is," I heard T-Boy mutter. "What?" Ms. Nicole asked. "Nothing. Never mind." I wondered if she heard though. I heard and I was sitting across the room, but it was probably because I expected T-Boy to say that. It was weird that Sampson still hadn't told his mother that he was gay. It was weird that he told his real mother, but he couldn't tell his adopted mother. "Why does everyone think I like Zion?" I asked immediately. Lamont thought I did. Sampson thought I did. Ms. Nicole thought I did. Shit even Zion thought I liked him. I didn't see where they were getting this kind of information. I never showed that I liked Zion any more then I liked anyone else. "If you did " Lamont had started saying. "Lamont can you please just shut up a little?" I asked, as politely as possible, "You are beginning to talk so much that you aren't making sense. I don't like him. There is no 'if'." He looked a little bit stiff when I said it, but I didn't care. He was simply getting on my nerves now. It was like he was just talking for the sake of speaking now. He didn't even know what he was talking about anymore. "You'd better not," I heard T-Boy mutter or at least that's what I thought he muttered. "What?" I asked. "Nothing. Never mind." "Ok, 'if' I liked him then it wouldn't be anybody's business," I quickly added just to spite T-Boy, "Now leave me alone. I'm going to go get some sleep for his party." I left the room a little annoyed with everyone in it. I had good reason to be irritated as well. Sampson was basically neglecting me because he had a compulsion for exposing his brother. T-Boy was making comments underneath his breath that sounded like he was trying to control me. Lamont couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore. Ms. Nicole was annoying me because she was Ms. Nicole. People were so irritating these days. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was sleeping for a while. I knew that the party would probably last into the morning and I definitely wanted to get as much sleep as I could now. Plus, I hadn't been looking so good lately. I had bags underneath my eyes for some reason and figured a few extra hours of sleep could help fix that. I was woken up by T-Boy. He was actually lying in my bed next to me stroking my head. It reminded me of how he used to wake me up when we were in a relationship. His strong torso was hovering over me like some kind of considerate blockade from the cold wind that came from the window. "Hey, I want to apologize," T-Boy explained as soon as I opened my eyes, "I know Sampson is talking a lot of bullshit. I don't believe that whole thing with Zion at all." "Thanks." I could feel his hand moving down my head. It grasped onto my shoulders and then continued to move down. It tickled down my back and his smirk widened into a grin. I waited while predicting where his fingers would end up. His fingers continued to climb down until they gripped my left ass cheek. He squeezed them tenderly and I pushed away laughing. "T-Boy do you ever give up?" I asked him. "What? Its just a little flirt," he said, "We're both single anyway. Right?" "Yeah," I said, "Why would you ask me that? You think I go out with Zion or something?" "Do you?" I rolled my eyes and ignored him. I didn't have time to waste on these stupid little presumptions. I hardly even talked to Zion. Why would they think that him and I had something going on? T-Boy helped me get prepared since he was dressed already. I said I didn't need any help but basically pleaded. I knew he just wanted a chance to see me naked again. I didn't get naked though. I made sure to have at least boxers on. He definitely felt satisfied enough with that though. I wanted to make my way downstairs but had to go help Lamont pick out clothes because he still hadn't caught the hand of it. By the time we were ready, I noticed that it was 1:00 and the invitations said that the event had started sometime around 11:30. "You guys ready to go?" Ms. Nicole asked. "You're going?" I panicked. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs with Sampson. Sampson looked cute. No he looked extra cute. He had on a nice shirt and loose pants. T-Boy and him were sort of dressed alike (probably since they grew up together) but T-Boy's shirt was a lot tighter to show off his new physique. Lamont and I were dressed similar since I dressed him. Everyone looked nice except for Ms. Nicole. She hadn't shaved underneath her chin and had little whiskers that were curled up into black circles. Her dress was sort of see through and she made it extra obvious by wearing a black granny bra underneath. She was dressed in some disgusting lime dress with a girl blazer over it that had the shoulder pads in them. The bitch had shoulder pads! "I was invited." I raised my eyebrows, "Let me rephrase. You are going like 'that'?" I looked at T-Boy and Sampson wondering how they let their mother go out into public dressed like that. Ms. Nicole looked confused about my reaction as well. My mother was dead, God rest her soul, but if she ever went out like that she would have died a lot earlier because I would have killed her. "You're beautiful to me, Madam," Lamont lied. He then went up to her and continued to kiss her hand like she was some Princess. He was taking being social way too far! The woman had whiskers and shoulder pads! Shoulder pads! "Your friend is so charming," Ms. Nicole said after giggling like a flattered schoolgirl, "What is your name, young sir?" "Lamont." "Oh, is that French " Lamont led her to the car all the while talking to her. I followed close behind feeling completely disgusted by Ms. Nicole going out in her condition and by Lamont for condoning it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~///~~~~~~~~~~~~ We drove in the car downtown. All the while I had to deal with Ms. Nicole telling Lamont stories about her encounters with Oprah. She actually started from the very first one that happened when she was out with her friend Betty. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Lamont was actually enjoying them. The club was loud when we got there. It was a little bit too loud. They had a lot of people who were already drunk and heading home for the night when we entered through the front door of the club. Our invitations were taken and we were patted down like we would actually be carrying any weapons with us to a club like this. Ms. Nicole called for attention, "Me and Lamont are going to go hit the dance floor." "No, don't do that to yourself," I said. She thought I was joking when I said it as she took Lamont by the hand and led him into the wave of people dancing out on the floor. Thank God she wasn't trying to dance with me. "I'll be back," T-Boy immediately said. I watched as he left. He didn't even say where he was going but I noticed immediately who he was looking at. There was this band across the room that was playing. I didn't know what kind of band it was, but I guess T-Boy recognized them. He went over to the crowd and joined these other groupies that were storming around in the area. I was left alone with Sampson. We leaned up against a wall and looked around. The lights in the club were flashing and it was really hard to see what was going on. I couldn't even see where Ms. Nicole, T-Boy or Lamont were. I just saw a whole army of people filling a large room. They were serving out drinks without Ids and had people making out only a couple of inches away from me. The smell around the room was sin. "You know," Sampson had said, "I've never been a fiend for parties." "You should be," I retorted with a slight smile, "You look nice when you go to them." My compliment was well deserved. Sampson looked extra sexy tonight. He looked like the 'hot guy' who the girls always chased in those trashy teen movies that came out. The best thing was that Sampson was masculine even though he was so fucking pretty. "Thanks you think Zion is around?" I sighed, "I don't know." "I'm sorry. You probably think I'm trying to talk about him again," Sampson explained and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Its just a habit now." "Its cool. Everyone has different interests." "I'm not 'interested' in him," Sampson defended himself, "Its not like you think." He turned to look at me. I could see that he was 'really' noticing me probably for the first time in a while. I could see a slight bit of the reasons why I liked him start to come back. He seemed really worried. I loved that look when he was worried. He seemed caring and sincere. For that one second he wasn't preoccupied with Zion. "If you aren't interested in him then why come?" "I'm interested in my mother. I'm interested in you. I don't want to see I KNEW IT!" He had stopped looking at me completely to stare across the room. I turned to see him looking at Zion who was lounging on these comfortable sofas in what seemed like a private booth. "Come on!" He roared before I could say anything. He pulled my hand and began to lead me to where Zion was sitting. I could see the confrontational stare in Sampson's eyes. He looked angry. I knew that he couldn't keep his mind off exposing Zion for very long. Sampson went right up to Zion. Zion smiled when he saw us. He looked careless. He was comfortably sitting in a chair. Ms. Whyte and a couple of his employees were also sitting around. They were all dressed in suits, which seemed to make this just as formal as a meeting. I guess this was business to them. None of them seemed like they were exceptionally having fun. "Sampson and Syn," Zion said smiling as we approached him, "How nice to see you two." "Hi," I waved and smiled, trying to look normal despite Sampson's harsh march up to the sofa seats. "I'm exposing you, you lying sack of shit!" I looked at Sampson like he had two heads. He did look a little bit crazy. He was still clutching onto my hand like I was a little kid or something. I pulled away and took a couple of steps away from him. His sexiness had been replaced with this sudden aggression that I definitely didn't understand. "Watch your mouth!" Ms. Whyte immediately fortified her boss; she looked to the cronies, "Get him out of our sight." "Wait," Zion immediately stopped them, "Let's hear him out." "You know what I mean!" Sampson said, "I saw her! I saw her just now! She was sitting right next to you. She got up and went to the back!" "You mean my date?" "Don't play stupid with me!" Sampson immediately said, "You fucking con-man!" "Sampson, what are talking about?" I asked. He made no sense. "The guy that you've been lusting over is really trying to play us all," Sampson explained, "He is dating Mercedes!" I looked at him. He definitely didn't make any sense now. I looked over at Zion. His facial expression did not change. He didn't look worried. He didn't even looked very interested in what Sampson was saying. He was just watching as though he was watching some kind of dramatic play. "Syn has been lusting over me?" Zion asked. It was almost like he didn't even hear the rest of it. Great! I stepped in front of Sampson, "Sampson what the hell are you talking about?" "He set us up with Mercedes." "Are you ok, bro?" Zion asked immediately followed by a chain of laughing that formed from the listeners in his entourage. "I'm not a brother of yours!" Sampson immediately barked at him, "I caught you red-handed!" "Sampson, focus," I retorted, "What does Mercedes have to do with this?" "Remember when you said Yolanda had something to tell you about how Mercedes was captured?" Sampson asked me. I nodded, "Yeah." I looked over at Zion. Zion seemed a little distant. I couldn't tell what he was thinking about. He looked like he definitely had something on his mind though. I think Sampson noticed something weighing on Zion's mind because he got really enthusiastic. "Well I called the precinct," Sampson reported, "Zion never reported Mercedes being captured. They are still looking for her." I looked over at Zion, "Why didn't you?" "Its complicated," he answered. "No its not!" Sampson quickly said, "I'll explain it. He didn't call Mercedes cause he never captured her. It was an act. He found her so fast because he paid her! He paid her to sit in that cage that you saw!" "Sir we should send him away," Ms. Whyte said. Zion shook his head. "He captured her just to get you on his side," Sampson explained, "Once he doesn't need you on his side anymore then he'll just let her go." I looked at Zion. I couldn't believe he would do that. Yet even more, I couldn't believe that I had doubted Sampson. I didn't know how I was going to face him after this. It all made sense though. Zion had found Mercedes so fucking fast. It would have been easier to give her money to turn herself in rather then just catch her. "Its this true!" I said looking at Zion "If it is you are trash!" I could see what he truly was now. He had that evil grin on his face looking like he was still so confident and so cool. I gave him the same stare that I had given Mercedes. He looked like he was trying to act like it didn't bother him. I knew it had to though. It was only a stare that I could give to Mercedes but now he could share it since he obviously acted like he captured Mercedes. "Syn, he has no proof," Zion said, getting a little defensive, but still not losing that confident cool that he always had. "Oh yes I do," Sampson said, "She's walking over here right now." We looked across the room. I could see a girl coming our way. The room was dark and the person walked slow like she had a bigger presence even though she was a short girl. I looked at her height and noticed the figure coming towards me. My heartbeat raced. This couldn't be happening again. It had to be over Why wasn't it over? Why was Trash walking my way?