Chapter Fourteen: ❝ c'mon, just say it with me ❞

Hakeem's pinkie finger followed the fly on the car window.

Twelve minutes into their road trip, the little insect made itself right at home on the center of the glass. From time to time it would jump from one water spot to the next, with the thirty-five mile-per-hour wind tickling its transparent wings.

He always found it fascinating how such small things were able to withstand the force of the powerful breeze while also using their tiny legs to hold onto the large window. Life seemed much simpler as a fly, or just an insect really. Sure, you had a lot of larger predators like frogs, the average human fly-swatters, or just attempting not to get squished. But the freedom to move wherever you want, whenever you wanted, without any pressure from the overpowering societal expectations or judgment from others seemed nearly... perfect. No bills to pay. No one to answer to. No tough decisions to make. You just fly.

And Hakeem wanted more than anything to fly away at that moment.

"Soooooo... Manny. My main Man. Manolo. Mann-o-aise. Manuel... Where are we going?" Rashaad finally asked, leaning against the constraint of his seatbelt.

Manny tilted his rearview mirror with his right hand while his left controlled the steering wheel. His eyes peeked over his black aviator shades, a hint of a smile forming on his lips. "It's a surprise. Wouldn't be any real fun if I just told you."

"Oooh, good thinking." Rashaad bobbed his head. "Weelll... Tell us a little bit about yourself then."

Hakeem's hand fell once the fly fluttered to the upper right corner of the window and Rashaad started talking again. He turned his head toward his best friend and slightly frowned. "Rashaad quit interrogating him. He can tell us when he wants too."

"No it's okay, I don't mind guys," Manny responded. "What do you want to know?"

Rashaad briefly stuck the tip of his tongue out at Hakeem before getting back to his questions. "For starters, what's your favorite color and or colors?"

Manny sighed and rearranged his hands on the leather wheel. "I have two. Orange, like in the shade of marmalade, and purple, but like in the deep violet color. What about you?"

Hakeem slouched in his seat while Rashaad smiled and nodded. "Love that. Mine is mainly green, like the emerald color green. Hakeem?"

"Uh, blue. Like the cobalt blue. And I like yellow too. Like the sunset," Hakeem mumbled, shifting around in his seat again. Another minute had passed by, going from twelve to thirteen. Ever since they snuck off the school grounds, each minute they drove further away, the more fidgety he became.

"Cool, cool. Now let me ask you a question. Both of you," Manny started. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen. Going to turn seventeen in February. I am a Pisces, of course," Rashaad responded, squeezing his backpack between his knees even tighter.

"Uh, I'm sixteen too. Going to turn seventeen in December. I think I'm a Sagittarius or whatever... Why'd you ask?" Hakeem said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Manny shrugged, his fitted, plain white T-shirt wrinkling around his biceps. "No reason. Just needed to make one-hundred percent sure... I'm seventeen, by the way."

Rashaad side-eyed his restless best friend before shaking his head. "No kidding. When's your birthday?"

Manny pushed his sunglasses up his nose as he rested a foot on the brakes. "Umm, it was last week on the tenth. Pretty sure I'm a Virgo too. But it doesn't matter—"

"What?! O-Oh my God! Happy birthday buddy!" Rashaad smiled as wide as his face would let him, gently patting Manny on his shoulder. He loved celebrating other people's birthdays, sometimes more than his own. It pinched a little that he couldn't have known sooner, but in his mind, he was already crafting what type of present to get him as they hung out more.

Manny returned the friendly gesture by patting Rashaad back on the hand with his right; his smile more somber than sparkling. He vaguely heard Hakeem also mutter "happy birthday", but it went right over his head. Last Thursday, exactly a week past, was not a day he was very fond of remembering. It made his gut twist and churn just thinking about it. "Thank you, but seriously, it's not a big deal... Plus, a little fun fact— Annisa is also a Pisces. She never shuts up about it sometimes."

Rashaad's heart nearly skipped a few beats at the sound of her name. "For real?! Wow, and to think she couldn't be even more perfect..."

Hakeem quickly sat up straighter, as if someone stuck a needle up his butt. "Well, uh, what's O'Dallas' sign? Just out of curiosity..."

"If I remember correctly, she said she's a Cancer. Which is the dumbest fucking name for a zodiac sign that I've ever heard of, personally," Manny replied. "Oh, and be sure to type that in your notes too. They're really into the whole astrology, stars, birthday, weird-symbol stuff."

Both boys nodded, picked up their phones from the middle seat, and did as they were instructed by typing it into their notes app.

Since they left school, Manny has been giving them random little tidbits of information about O'Dallas and Annisa so they knew what to do and not do with their first impressions. When Rashaad explained to him of his failed plan for asking the girls to Homecoming, Manny told them they were lucky it actually didn't work.

If Rory had not misinterpreted his role Rashaad gave him (and the girls were there on time), everything would have gone completely different. See, once the last bell rang, Rory was supposed to have gone down into the courtyard to cause a small "scene" with Annisa and O'Dallas, give the boys the signal, and then they would've gone down there to "rescue" the girls. That would have, in turn, led the boys to ask them to Homecoming or just some form of a date later on.

"They both hate corny shows of endearment and would have caught on soon enough. Nice try, but bad move," Manny said after Rashaad went over the story. Hakeem smirked to himself, knowing he was right along. But then again, without Rashaad's faulty scheme, they wouldn't have wound up here. His smirk immediately faltered afterward.

"Okay, so another question," Hakeem started, leaning forward like Rashaad. They were both too nervous for either one to take shotgun, so they occupied the backseats for good measure and as a form of respect for their new friend. "About the whole 'not caring' thing, how would we show them we don't care by not caring when we actually do... care?"

Manny chuckled. "You're getting it all wrong. See, there's nothing less sexy than someone who is constantly stressed about everything. Guys like me, we don't sweat the small stuff because we got it all under control. Even when it's obvious we don't. School? A total joke. Family? Who needs 'em. Emotions? For total babies. Respect? Never heard of it. Once you learn to let the 'non-essentials' go, everything else falls into place."

"Ooh, I get!" Rashaad exclaimed. "Try without trying. Care without caring. Be a douchebag, without being a douchebag. Genius!"

Hakeem rapidly blinked. "So, is that why we're ditching school? To train us to start caring about important things... less?"

"Precisely. Once you learn to walk the walk, the talking becomes way easier," Manny said as he twisted the wheel, the car turning down the curvy road. "It won't happen overnight, trust me. But the less you worry, the hotter you become. "

"And to think I was going to do my math homework today," Rashaad said with awe.

Hakeem nearly rolled his eyes at Rashaad but decided to ignore him. "Then what things should we care more about?"

"Easy. Looks are definitely a first. O'Dallas and Annisa don't go out with warthogs," Manny said. "Next is obviously your personalities —"

Rashaad frowned. "Wait, what's wrong with our personalities?"

"Nothing, nothing! I didn't mean it like that," Manny said with a half-smile. "You guys have great personalities, they just need to be... fine-tuned. Anything can be improved."

"But if we already have great personalities, why improve it? Wouldn't it already be at its maximum greatness?" Hakeem asked with raised eyebrows and a tilted head.

"Are you the expert here, or am I?" Manny retorted. "If you want to get the girls, you're gonna have to be less... nice. More mean. Assertive. Aggressive. Maybe a little sexist. Think of it as adding sprinkles on top of your... greatness."

"Right, right. So we're too nice..." Hakeem said. "I guess we could try being 'meaner'. Would that also include us having to swear more too?"

Rashaad sucked in his breath. "Yikes. Last time I said 'hell' out loud by accident, my Dad beat my ass with his belt. I've been trying to avoid a lot of curse words since..."

"Me too. Expect it was with a switch on the hands. Those were really dark times." Hakeem shuttered.

"Well your Dad's aren't here, are they?" Manny asked with a shrug. "C'mon, just say it with me. Fuck."

Hakeem took a deep breath while Rashaad kissed his teeth. They've only ever limited themselves to three of the "lesser" curse words — hell, damn, and shit. The "lower levels", they liked to call it. The "top levels" were the ones they've avoided using since last year.

"F-F-F-F-uuuudge," Hakeem stuttered, his throat suddenly becoming tighter and dry.

"F-F-F-F-rick," Rashaad also said at the same time, his palms becoming clammy.

Manny snorted. "It's not that hard guys, it's just a word. Ffffuuuucccckkkk. See? Easy."

They both sighed and tried again.

"F-F-F-F-F-uuuudgggeee...."

"Fuck."

"F-F-F-F-F-eeeeettt...."

"Fuck."

"F-F-F-F-reeeaakk..."

"Fuck."

"F-F-Faaalllcon..."

"Fuuuuck."

"F-F-F-Fried chicken..."

Manny took a deep breath in. Then out. "O-kay, so clearly we need to work a lot on your... cussing skills."

"Sorry, it's just not a part of our moral code to use top-level cuss words," Hakeem responded, leaning back against the leather cushions.

"Just 'tastic... And Hakeem is right. We're complete chickens." Rashaad slumped, letting his backpack drop to his feet and the seat belt wrap its straps around his neck.

"What? 'Tastic?" Manny asked, frowning as he slowed down to the oncoming yellow traffic light.

"Yeah. We have this thing where we shorten certain words to make them sound cooler," Rashaad replied. "Like 'tastic is a shortened form of fantastic or 'noculars is short for binoculars."

Manny slowed his blinking and shook his head. "So you can shorten words but not curse? That's so stupid."

"Pfft, to you," Hakeem said, crossing one ankle over the other. "Everyone has certain guidelines that they live by. And one of mine and Rashaad is to not use top-level curse words."

"Hmm, okay... Well that's too bad seeing as Annisa and O'Dallas both curse frequently," Manny started, "but, if you're not willing to sacrifice some of your own 'moral standards' for the sake of love, then I guess..."

"Wait, wait! I mean, we could, you know, make some adjustments. Exceptions to the rules. Right 'Keem?" Rashaad asked him.

Hakeem rubbed and twisted his wrists. "I mean... I don't know. What's the point of having certain moral codes if you can't live by them? We can't just switch it up whenever it's convenient too. It would make our word and principle meaning nothing."

Rashaad groaned. "Sure, our principles are our principles. But haven't we broken like five of our own moral codes just by being in this car! I mean we already stole, lied to people, stole some more, and are literally cutting school. What's a few more rules broken?"

"Rashaad has got a point," Manny said in a sing-song tone. "Not every 'ethical rule' can apply to every situation. There can always be exceptions."

"Always?" Hakeem asked.

"Sure. Always." Manny shrugged as he switched on the turn signal."I mean you 'stole' and 'lied' here and there. Every human being does it eventually. Tell me, is it really possible to go your entire life without telling at least one lie, for example?"

"Yes."

"No."

Hakeem and Rashaad gave each other dirty looks.

"'Keem, what do you mean 'yes'?!" Rashaad asked, turning on his side.

"What do you mean what do I mean 'yes'?! It's possible. Anything is," Hakeem retaliated. "Wish I was able to do it, but other people have done it."

"Sure, sure." Rashaad snorted and folded his arms over his heaving chest. "So let's say someone was holding a gun to your head and demanded to know where you lived so he could rob your house and murder your entire family. Would you tell him the truth, even though that would get your entire family killed, or lie, even though that's not morally right and goes against everything you stand for?"

Hakeem stretched out his left hand, clenching and unclenching his fingers. The bones cracked and popped. "I guess... I don't know, okay? I get it, you have some decent point..."

"Ah-ha! So you're admitting I'm right," Rashaad said beaming.

"I never said —"

"Hakeem, it's okay to feel bad about lying and stealing and just trying to stick to what you believe in. I truly get it," Manny interrupted. "But, if you really like O'Dallas, and you'd do anything for her, you're going to have to commit to this one thousand percent. Abandoning all your goodie-goodie morals and beliefs, completely changing your entire persona..."

Hakeem briskly exhaled, finishing off his sentence."... And not giving a single duck. Okay, okay... But only for O'Dallas."

Manny grinned. "See, that-a-boy! Still got to practice those curse words though, but you're getting it."

Rashaad opened his mouth to say something else until the car began to shake and rumble on its right side. The tires screamed and screeched as Manny pressed his foot on the brakes and twisted the wheel to a grassy mound on the right side of the road. All three boys looked at each other with slight panic in their dark eyes as the sound of hefty, forceful gushes of air grew louder and louder from the outside.

Shit. Shit. Shit, Manny thought. Without wasting a breath, he unbuckled himself and threw open his car door once he put the vehicle in park. Hakeem and Rashaad immediately followed his moves, Rashaad going out from Hakeem's side since he didn't want to open the right doors.

The air was getting warmer as the sun rose higher in the clear, sapphire sky; its dazzling rays bouncing off of Manny's black Mustang and almost burning a hole in Rashaad's cornea. The boys went around the trunk of the car and stood beside a bewildered and shocked Manny who was squatting above the flaxen colored grass.

Unlike the other three wheels, this one had become a lumpy, flattening mess— releasing air as a person does after one too many servings of baked beans. Manny poked the wheel like one would with jello. It jiggled a little and left a small dent on its surface. He couldn't tell what sharp object poked a hole large enough to penetrate its leathery skin, but the damage looked like it had been done a while ago.

Manny looked up at Hakeem. Hakeem looked back at Rashaad. Rashaad looked down at Manny.

"Fuck," they all said in unison.

Just a friendly reminder that this story has a very soft, jovial, satirical tone of humor. So it's supposed to make you smile or laugh, and really think. Most jokes have the intention to make fun of YA fiction as well. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the return of the boys!

And if you are from, have family or friends, or know someone that lives in Beirut, Lebanon, please pray for them, the families, the first responders, and the souls lost in the explosion (if you do prayer). Or if you can, donate and share petitions about it to spread the word. I have some links on my social media that can direct you down below.

Stay safe out there, please wash your hands and wear masks, and Happy Eid Mubarak to those who celebrate!

~ Robin ~