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venusdian · 1 month ago

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VIII. Unforgettable - Part I

[Friday— A Day before the State Championship.]

Taurus pulls up to an empty parking lot to an abandoned warehouse. Cassius shoots him a worried look as he parks close to the building.

“What the fuck is this?”

“This is where the party at!” Cassius scoffs.

“You ain’t tell me you were taking me to an abandoned warehouse.” Taurus chuckles as he gets out of the car.

“I told you it’s on 56th. That’s the fucking hood.” Cassius cautiously gets out of the car. Taurus rolls his eyes at Cassius’ dramatics.

“I thought you were from Aurora City? Why you acting pussy now?” Taurus asks as he goes to the trunk. He hits the side of his trunk three times, and it pops open.

“You know we could’ve just taken my car…” Cassius points out. Taurus rolls his eyes. He begins to put his equipment on the ground.

“Well, I’m sorry, I don’t have brothers that can steal me a dodge hellcat.” Cassius rolls his eyes.

“They didn’t steal it… Some niggas owed them money, and they took that as collateral.” Cassius corrects, shrugging. Taurus looks at Cassius, unamused before kissing his teeth.

“Stole it. Anyways, use those muscles and carry my shit in.” He says, smiling and patting Cassius’ muscular arms. Cassius rolls his eyes, closing the trunk. Taurus angrily turns around.

“Nigga! Don’t slam my shit down!” He scolds Cassius. Cassius rolls his eyes and mocks Taurus, picking up the two full crates.

Taurus walks up to the green metal door. The green paint was peeling, and the exposed metal was corroded. He knocks on the door, and the small rectangular sliding peephole slides open, showing dark brown eyes.

“Who you?” The man says on the other end. His voice is straggly and hoarse. It was intimidating. Cassius worriedly looked over at Taurus, who seemed unamused by the man on the other end.

“This is Taurus, the DJ!” The guy on the other end’s voice lightens up as he unlocks the door. The door opened, and there was a dark-skinned black man about the same height as Taurus, maybe a couple of inches shorter in front of him. He was bald and had a nappy goatee. He wore a black and gold Lakers jersey and ripped denim skinny jeans that were way too tight, Cassius thought. He was sagging, showing off his Red Ralph Lauren Boxers. He wore black and red Air Jordans 11.

“OH SHIT! Wassup, Taurus!” Day Day happily says, dapping him up and showing off his gold grills. Taurus daps him back up.

“Wassup!” Day Day looks up and sees Cassius carrying Taurus’ things. He notices Cassius wearing purple and begins sizing Cassius up.

“What you bang?” Cassius furrows his eyebrows.

“Nigga, none.” Day Day looks at Taurus, not feeling Cassius’ attitude.

“Oh, he’s cool! He with me.”

“He ain’t from 77th?” Taurus shakes his head.

“Nah, he’s cool. I promise.” Taurus reassures him.

“I’m from Aurora City…” Cassius corrects.

“Don’t BDs run Aurora?” Cassius shrugs. Day Day hums.

“Well, y’all can come in, we were just setting up.” Taurus and Cassius enter the warehouse. They were setting up Strobe lights and getting the bar ready. Day Day points to the makeshift DJ booth. There were black metal stairs that led to a section that overlooked the party. There was An Ikea-built DJ Booth with a laptop already at the station. Cassius groans.

“Those are a lot of stairs.” He groans. Taurus huffs.

“I guess you better get started.” Cassius glares at Taurus, who uncomfortably chuckles.

“Please?” Cassius rolls his eyes and heads towards the stairs, leaving Taurus and Day Day to themselves.

“So, when is the party supposed to start?” Day Day hums.

“Uhhh, I’m shooting for 10 after the meeting with the boys. There’s some word going around that SW-15 is tryna do a drive-by tonight.” Taurus worriedly looks over at Day Day, who seems unfazed.

“Should I be worried?” Day Day shakes his head.

“Nah, I’m sure the shit is gossip. SW-15 already knows not to fuck with us.” Taurus hesitantly shrugs.

“Ain’t Santos taking over SW?” Day Day shrugs.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. We already made a deal. SW don’t want smoke.” Taurus hums, shrugging.

“Fair point.” Day Day scoffs.

“Exactly. Wootie gon’ pay you the rest of the money once he gets here.” Taurus nods.

“Aight, bet. Let me make sure that num-nut ain’t fucked up my shit. You know them basketball niggas be dumb as hell.” Taurus jokes. Day Day begins to obnoxiously laugh loudly, startling Taurus.

“NUM-NUT! THAT’S FUNNY!” He loudly exclaims. Taurus awkwardly looks over at Day Day and begins to walk away, shaking his head. They better be glad that they offered him thirty-five hundred to DJ or else he woulda been left.

He fucking can’t stand Day Day’s loud ass.

Meanwhile, Junis was in her dorm. Síauna had taken the car out. She was supposed to be the designated driver for tonight’s party at the Omega Sigma Xi Frat house. This was the prequel party to March Madness; mostly all basketball players and the dance team attended the party, including the popular Gamma Xi Delta (GXD) Sorority. Síauna had invited Junis out, but Junis hates parties.

It could be PSTD of Aurora City parties. Every party she went to ended up getting shot up. She got tired of enjoying herself and then fearing her safety all of a sudden, and she didn’t want to risk her chances of seeing Cassius at the party. They hadn’t talked since that day and honestly didn’t know what to say to each other.

Junis was sitting on her bed, on her MacBook. She was in a Microsoft Teams group chat with some of her Foundations of Chemistry II classmates. They made their own group chat to share the answers and dumb down the lesson for people struggling to understand it.

Junis was one of those students. Chemistry was easy in high school, but once she got to college, She would end up feeling dizzy at the end of the class because of how confusing the course was. Jessica “Big Jess” Stewart, the only white girl in their graduating class, noticed that Junis was struggling. She gave her the link to the chat so that Junis didn’t have to repeat the course.

Big Jess felt like she owed her. Junis was one of the few people who didn’t bully her freshman year. They felt like Big Jess was being a colonizer by taking a spot at Redlands, and then when they found out that she had gotten a free ride because she was considered a Minority. Many students at the school chose to make her life miserable.

Except for Junis. Junis didn’t care, and after learning Big Jess’ story, she understood why she took it. So, they’ve always been good friends, and Big Jess always came through and saved the day when it came to Chemistry.

As Junis was scrolling through the chat, her iPhone began to ring. She grabs her phone and smiles softly, seeing Xydia’s name. They’ve been talking every day since they traded numbers. Xydia hated texting. So, they would stay on the phone for hours. Sometimes, Junis falls asleep on the phone, and Xydia watches until he, too, falls asleep.

She presses the answer icon, and Xydia’s face appears on the screen, smiling.

“Hey beautiful, what you up to?” Junis hums, shrugging. She places her iPhone on her MacBook, The MacBook Screen, holding the phone up.

“Uhh, I’m looking at today’s chemistry lesson dumbed down.”

“Oh, cool, you take Dr. Shandra Knowles’ classes?” Junis shakes her head.

“Nah, I had her last year. I’m talking Mr. Reagen’s class.” Xydia hums, nodding.

“Will you be free later on?”

“Yeah, I’m technically free now. I Can always go back into the Teams chat later.” Xydia hums, nodding.

“You wanna hang out?” Junis looks at the Phone screen and blushes.

“You sure?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t Junis.” Junis hums.

“Touche. Uhh, Síauna has my car at the moment.” Xydia Shrugs.

“No problem. Which building do you stay at?”

“Mary Bethune.” Xydia ooes, teasing Junis.

“Them Dorms are expensive! Let me find out you’re rich!” Junis chuckles.

“Far from it. My scholarship came with free rooming of choice, and I decided to stay in Mary Bethune.”

“So, you have the single or double.”

“The Singles were filled for this school year. I had to get a double, but it’s my same roommate from last year. So, it’s cool.” Xydia hums, nodding.

“Aight, I’ll be over there in like 15 minutes. Dress comfortably.” Junis hums, nodding.

“Alright.” Xydia hangs up the Facetime. Junis takes her phone and jumps up from the bed, squealing. She’s going to have one-on-one time with Xydia, and she couldn’t wait!

Zy’onna looks around disgusted as she arrives at Vemini’s dorm room. The hall had reeked of weed and alcohol. She couldn’t believe she was in this building. The building that everyone calls the projects: The Du Bois building. This building was for students who were poor and couldn’t afford rooming.

This building was for students who had gone to public schools and got free lunches. This building was a Co-ed building filled with gang bangers and hoes. Zy’onna anxiously knocks on the door, fearing that she will get robbed by a passer.

“Coming,” Vemini calls out. Zy’onna anxiously looks around.

“Aye, Ma!” A boy calls out. She turns and sees a Dark-skinned black man walking up to her. He was with two other guys. One wearing a black Shiesty over his face and the other one, who looked slightly slow, Zy’onna thought. The black guy in the middle walks up to her.

“Wassup, Ma. I ain’t seen you ‘round here. You lost or are you looking for a place to be found.” Zy’onna lets out a disgusted scream and bangs on the door. Vemini opens the door, annoyed.

“Bitch, I said I was coming!” Vemini angrily exclaims. Vemini looks up and sees Zy’onna cornered by the three guys. Vemini grabs Zy’onna’s arm and pulls her into her dorm.

“Tootie, leave my homegirl alone.” Tootie rolls his eyes.

“Oh, come on, Vee! I was just being welcoming.” Vemini rolls her eyes and slams the door in front of the boys. Zy’onna sits on Vemini’s bed, visibly shaken.

“Why couldn’t you just meet me at my dorm?!”

“Cause I didn’t want to go there… You did walk over here, right?” Zy’onna scoffs.

“hell no! They were not gunna shoot me up!” Vemini nods.

“Well, they will break into yo shit and rob it, dumbass.” Zy’onna gasps, covering her mouth.

“OH NO! Do you know how much my custom BMW Cost?!”

“A lot, I assume. We’ll just go back to your dorm. I’ma text Wootie and have him meet us there.” Zy’onna’s face scrunches up in disgust.

“Why can’t we just take my car?”

“Because You won’t have a car to go to if we do. Zy’onna, please don’t piss me off.” Zy’onna sighs.

“Fine.” Vemini grabs her handbag, and Zy’onna furrows her eyebrows.

“When did Marc Jacobs make that?” Vemini looks at her bag.

“Oh, girl! I got this from the flea market for thirty bucks.” Zy’onna gasps.

“You can get a Marc Jacobs bag for like 200 bucks. They’re pretty affordable.” Zy’onna nonchalantly suggests.

Vemini looked at Zy’onna, stunned by Zy’onna’s ignorance to reality. Vemini literally lives in a building that all the students call the projects and cannot afford a car. Vemini, honestly, could not afford Redlands. When she lost her scholarship due to low grades, Wootie stepped in and paid for her yearly tuition. She still doesn’t know where Wootie got the money to pay for her Sophomore and Junior years of college.

But rather not ask. Vemini can only afford her clothes and dance team fees because she earns $20.00 an hour working at spiritual shops under the table. But since Basketball was still in season, Wootie has been paying for practically everything. Which is grateful for, but almost everyone on the Dance team knows that Vemini doesn’t have it like that.

Vemini squints her eyes, tilting her head to the right side, astonished by Zy’onna’s idiocy.

“Bitch, does it look like I have two hundred dollars to spend?” Zy’onna takes a look around Vemini’s dorm. She lives in a single dorm. She had a wooden twin-sized bed frame that housed her twin-sized Vinyl foam mattress. She had Walmart purple T-shirt fabric sheets covering the bed. She had a cheap wooden desk that was in front of her window.

The white plastic blinds were disheveled, and she had a sheer pink flat sheet as curtains. Zy’onna didn’t see a bathroom or a little kitchen, just a white mini fridge and a White Microwave on top. The room was small and had the school color, blood-red curtains. The walls were white.

Zy’onna’s face looked remorseful. She was fucking up her chances here.

“My bad…” Zy’onna remorsefully states. Vemini sighs.

“Let’s just go before I regret this. Plus, we can take a look in your closet and change your outfit.” Zy’onna huffs, offended.

“What is wrong with my outfit?!” Zy’onna exclaims.

“You are wearing… a Versace crop top and a Chanel mini skirt with Chanel heels. I mean, your outfit is cute, but that’s not the type of party we going to. We going to the hood, where bitches will literally fight you up out of those clothes.” Zy’onna sighs.

“But, it’s cute.”

“Zy’onna, I know—for a fact, you are not beating down six bitches. You need to wear something else.”

“Like what?! All my clothes are designer. I don’t shop at Fashion Nova— or Shein!” Zy’onna saying the last part, slightly disgusted.

“Well, I do. I’m sure we can find something.” Zy’onna scrunches her face in disgust.

“Cheap fabric breaks me out.” Zy’onna points out, disgusted.

“Zy’onna… I am—this close—to fucking leaving you.” Zy’onna pouts.

“NO!” She whines.

“Aight then, Now, I’ma look for something for you to wear, and you’re gonna wear it, got it?” Vemini sternly states. Zy’onna begrudgingly nods.

“Ok.” Vemini smiles.

“Good. Let me see what I have.” Vemini says, opening one of the many storage Containers that Zy’onna missed. Zy’onna takes a deep breath, realizing it’s going to be a long night. But it’s better than being alone and crying in her room.

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