Hoodie Gang on Top of His Daughter

--

Damon was still waiting for the bus to arrive. The lunch rush hour always caused a big fuss at the intersection three down the road that held up the bus. The other students were still playing the game. A guy had been challenged to walk up to a stranger and say, "Hi sir, I am a monkey." He had so far walked up to three people only to bow out and say, "never mind." The students kept watching him muster his courage and enjoyed every little change in his facial expressions for they might suggest him getting closer or farther away from completing the dare.

Approaching the bus stop was a tall, bulky black junior student. He was wearing a hoodie and had the habit of flinching his lips and sucking in the air between his teeth. One of his teeth was gold plated. The other was a black artificial thing that was supposed to give him an extra hard bite, material harder than a real tooth. His arms dangled wide. The loose fabric on his drawstring pants flapped in the gust of his bold step.

Behind him in lock step walked a short hulking figure, equally black and covered in a hoodie. There was something monk like about the overflowing robe like clothes he was wearing and the bare feet in flip flops. The lead person was Krishna. The following one was Howard. Howard was Krishna's sidekick, an ever quiet and obedient guy.

The playing students were surprised and felt like his presence was sudden. Krishna was his name. He stood right in front of Mark. "Get off my seat," hissed Krishna. Krishna didn't even wait for Mark to say anything. A couple seconds of hesitation to move was enough for Krishna to regard Mark's action as defiance. With a flat hand Krishna pushed Mark on the chest. Mark felt backwards out of the seat. There was a toughness in Krishna's movement that had grown with each fight. That toughness gave him a lot of respect. Mark moved away without saying anything. Krishna sat down.

"I'm gonna put your arm around you, girlfriend, if you don't move," said Krishna, looking at Julia.

"Oh, of course. I'm so sorry," said Julia and stood up to move away to where Mark was standing.

The other seat got emptied quickly as well. Krishna waved Damon to come over and sit down with the two. Damon had nothing in common with Krishna, but somehow due to their skin color Krishna invited him in. Damon's dad was a dentist. Krishna's dad was a gangbanger and part-time drug dealer. Damon's family had a pug as a pet who was fed a vegan diet. Krishna had a Rottweiler as a pet with a spikey color, who was fed raw steak from the 99 cent store. Damon listened to hip hop on ITunes. Krishna tagged hip hop symbols on walls with stolen spray cans.

The one thing that they had in common besides their black skin color was that they liked walking around in black clothing and hoodies. For Krishna, black was a sign of power and gang wanna be image. For Damon, it was simply a desire to hide and be invisible.

"Sup," said Krishna.

"Sup," said Damon.

Howard said nothing as usual.

The three students sat stoically. Damon watched the other students already in their next game. They had a retro moment and were trying to remember skipping games from childhood. The tiles on the sidewalk that they had found themselves on were inviting to skip on. They were laughing. The socially lower ranked students tried hard to think of skipping moves to score points. Damon silently wished that he could be playing with them. But he settled with the respect that he got for sitting on the most valuable seat, Julia's, for now.

Damon watched wondering and admiring how easily the students had moved on from the threat of being beaten and the loss of their precious seats. It seemed like they had completely forgotten about it. It seemed like it had never mattered. That one instance with Julia had stuck with him for three years. Every time that he saw someone like her or them, he'd inwardly flinch. He'd be scared of getting in trouble again, scared to be misunderstood, and scared about that scorn that he felt people were throwing his way. He could feel the terror in the flesh under his skin. They didn't live under those clouds. They had the innocence of forgetting instantly.

--

"Where do you think you are going?" demanded her father harshly.

Jenny was standing in the hallway, holding her shoes in her hand to walk on tippy toes. She had put her nice hoop earrings in. She had dashed a bit of cologne on her chest. She even had a little smile on her face and a little tightening in her butt cheeks.

"The school band is playing. Everyone is going," exploded Jenny.

"You aren't. You have to study, my little matryoshka," said her father coldly.

"I need to have a little fun as well. It's good for motivation," begged Jenny.

"You can have fun studying," dominated her father. "I would lock you in your room but the fire marshal is going to give me problems." When he finished that thought, there was a desperation in his eyes. For the first time, he had shown his feelings. He was desperate for her to be well. Studying to get a good job was the only way that he knew his little daughter would be well. He felt desperate and helpless to provide her a good life otherwise. I felt desperate and helpless to make her have better grades.

He thought back to the day when his body was crawling over the frozen ground. He was pushing the little bundle with his daughter ahead of him. The ground was shaking from the chains of tanks. Burned out cars had been rolled flat by tanks. A light dusting of snow was falling. Man with Kalashnikovs were yelling into the doorway of remnants of buildings. The frost was biting his flesh. "There is only one way," he had told himself. You must push forward. He had crawled his way past the Red Army, the might Red Army. That was his fight with himself. This was her fight, and she wasn't fighting.

"I know you aren't studying. You are only listening to that music in your room. That has an end. I'm going to take away those earphones," said her father. With that, he got up and stormed into her room. He looked around with wild eyes to spot them. He yanked on them. Then he worried about throwing down her laptop. She needed the laptop to study. He very carefully picked it up and placed it down again.

"Dad, that's my property! You can't take it!" yelled Jenny.

"I paid for it. So, it's mine. If your mother were here, she..." her father didn't know how to complete the sentence. He was looking around the room to find other things that might distract her from studying. There were her running shoes. She didn't need those. So, he snatched them. There was a photo of Jenny with friends at the beach. He took that. When he was done, the room was left barren with only text books, laptop, and school clothes. Jenny was on the floor crying and sobbing. He was red headed with his arms struggling to wrap about Jenny's things.

"Now, you can focus on studying," said her father as he left the room and locked Jenny's things inside of his own room.

Jenny was sobbing on the floor. Words had been drowned by her tears. Just utter hopelessness and cruelty of the world was spinning inside of her. She was left by herself, listening to the sounds of a baseball game on TV in the living room. After five minutes, no more tears wanted to come out. She didn't feel better about the situation, but she was done crying about it. She pulled herself off the ground.

She pulled herself off the ground. She straightened her clothes. She washed down her face in the bathroom. She steeled herself to walk out of the door. Her father watched the baseball game grimly and didn't even turn to look her way. He was stoic. Right on the doorstep, she couldn't help herself. She spun around and looked him straight in the face.

"You have really hurt me. You have stripped me of everything that I love. I will hurt you were it hurts the most back. Then you know what it feels like," she said with anger, spitting the words into his face. The apartment was a squalid little apartment. The couch was old. There was a single family photo inside of an old frame on the wall. The color scheme on the wall was from the eighties. The TV sounded cheap. The kitchen had a little table with two shaky chairs for them. The toaster oven was old, chipped, and partly broken. That was her world, her destroyed world. She left.

--

There was a sign in front of the school that said "NO DAPL!" It was simply a white poster with a sharpie written on it. A dozen students had locked arms and were chanting "NO DAPL!" A group of teachers were standing in a circle outside the building discussing. They had resigned faces. There was a leisure about them like they were in no hurry to get to their classroom. One of the crazy guys had "NO DAPL" painted on his forehead and was yelling.

Ramon was standing by himself near the water bottle kiosk. Everyone seemed to be outside the college buildings. Ramon was watching the cheerleaders fool around doing cartwheels. Damon, Krishna, and Howard were standing nearby the cheerleaders as well for the same purpose. They made a curious silhouette of black dressed people. The center one the tallest. The left one was in the middle. The right one was the shortest and chubbiest. They looked like a winning podium of silver, gold, and bronze.

"What's going on?" asked Jenny.

"The court rejected to stop the Dakota oil pipeline. Those fools think it's up to them to stop it by not studying. I'm gonna fail all my classes if I get an extra day of school or not. So, who am I to complain," Ramon explained while keeping a curious eye on the cheerleaders to see if a skirt would flick up. "Did you make peace with your dad?"

"No, after what he did, there is no way to go back. I'm going to hurt him in a big way," said Jenny with hate in her heart.

"You know what hurts any father the most is a big, fat black cock inside of his precious little daughter," Ramon said it snorting at himself because he thought the stereotype so comic. "Oh, oh, you know what hurts the most about it? The worry that she might get addicted to it. Ha ha ha."

"That's what I'm going to do," said Jenny stiffly. She walked towards the three black guys.

"Hey Jenny, come back. I was joking. It was a bad joke. C'mon! Krishna is dangerous. He's beaten up at least ten guys this year, big guys," Ramon's words got quieter and quieter as Jenny got closer. He was too afraid to have Krishna hear Ramon talk about Krishna.

Jenny stood in front of the three black guys. They were more interested in watching the cheerleaders because Jenny wasn't much to look at. "Hey, do you want to hang out at my crib?" asked Jenny.

"Hell yeah," said Krishna.

With that, they walked across the lawn towards Jenny's apartment.

"My dad is a complete asshole," Jenny burst out like a brat.

"Yeah, my dad is an asshole as well. He left my mom when I was twelve," said Krishna.

Feeling the obligation to diss his dad as well, Damon added, "Yeah, my dad sucks, too. He forgot to record 'Game Of Thrones' last week."

Howard didn't say anything. He simply kept walking behind the others.

"So, why do you suddenly want to hang out with us?" asked Krishna.

"Do you always ask so many question when a girl asks you to her room?" countered Jenny back, being on her game.

"Hey, that's about all the answers I needed to know," replied Krishna.

They walked in dark, brooding silence down the residential streets with birds singing in the branches and a blue sky shimmering in between the fluffy clouds. A little boy rode his bicycle through the street. A playing card was clipped to a wheel with a clothespin. It made a flapping sound as it hit the spokes of the wheel. The delicious smell of early cooking was in the air.

From the distance, she could see the two elder neighbors talking together in front of the building. When Jenny strode up with her posse, they looked very worried. Their toothless old people mouth gaped in the air until the elder woman said, "I'm going to go to my apartment and lock the door."

The elder man offered, "Would you like me to walk you for safety?"

"I would like that very much," replied the elder man.

They shuffled off holding hands.

Jenny looked at the three young men with her. They did look imposing. They had their hoodies pooled up. While everyone else in the neighborhood was light footed, almost dancing around, with big smiles on their face and a sing song voice, those three men stood silent with serious faces, not a hint of friendliness. Not that they weren't friendly, but they weren't doing that overly friendly, plastic-way of trying to chirp with other people. Their faces were black, really black. The hoodies made the faces dark. The awning put them in a shadow. It was hard to read their facial expressions. It was natural that one would feel uncertain about them. She watched them a bit while she opened the door for them into the dark corridor with the burned out lightbulbs.

A young neighbor came walking their way. He was completely oblivious, too focused on his phone. When he almost bumped into Krishna, he looked up. The look of horror on his face was priceless. Yes, this would definitely be payback to her dad to have them over. The young neighbor dropped the phone in shock and almost fell. He was pathetic. He turned to run, remembered his phone, turned back to pick it up coyly, and ran off. This definitely would teach her dad a lesson. For the first time since yesterday, she had a little smile on her face, the smile of a little devil.

When she turned the keys to her apartment, the door behind her opened a little, just as much as the chain allowed. "Pst, do you want me to call the cops? Those men look dangerous."

"What the fuck! Those are my friends!" she yelled at the pervert that kept watching her through the spyhole every day. It felt good to tell him off. The door slammed shut without another word. It wasn't just that they were black. They did look intimidating. She didn't think that they were actually dangerous. It was more their silence and baggy clothing that made them seem threatening.

The apartment was empty. Her father was probably playing chess in the park with his retired friends. They all sat down on the couch. The apartment felt empty, quiet, and boring. Now that she had them in her house, she realized that she didn't really know what to do with them. They didn't seem bothered with the quiet. What did they talk about? She saw them usually sitting together quietly. Do they like Mexican rap music?

"Yo, I'm thirsty," said Krishna.

Krishna got up and walked to the little cabinet. The cabinet was made from wood. The door had ornamental glass laid inside of the wood. There were little metal bolts and adornments on it. It was the cherished liquor stash of her dad.

"Oh, that's my dad's. You can't have that," said Jenny.

Krishna pulled on the cabinet knob anyway. It didn't open. How lucky! Of course, dad had the cabinet locked with a key safely in his pocket in the park. Jenny relaxed back in the couch to wait for Krishna to return.

Other thoughts were in Krishna's head. He grabbed the door and yanked it out of its socket. There was a bottle of bourbon and one of vodka. "Just the right thing, for thirsty guests."

"No," yelled Jenny. Krishna untwisted the cap of the bourbon. Jenny suddenly thought about how much this would hurt her father to have his liquor given away. She smiled. Her father deserved it. Actually, he had never let her drink any of the liquor ever.

"Give me that," said Jenny. Krishna gave her the vodka bottle. Jenny took the clear bottle, opened it, and lifted it right to her lips. With her head tilted back all the way to rest on the couch, she let the burning fluids roll down her tongue and throat. "Fuck yeah! Payback is a bitch! Time to learn American lessons, my dear old father!"

"Hey, Krishna, not so much! You get violent when you are drunk," hissed Damon. There was reluctance in the voice of Damon, a reluctance to challenge Krishna, but also a bigger worry of the trouble that a drunk Krishna could create.

"Drink!" ordered Krishna and pushed the bourbon onto Damon's chest. Damon let the bourbon bubbles float back into the bottle as the liquid poured into him.

Krishna took the bottle away from Jenny. He tilted the tip of the bottle to the triangle that Jenny's left shoulder had, the triangle between the collarbone, trapezius, and neck. He let a little vodka roll into the triangle. A little ran over down the front of her body to her t-shirt to leave a dark stain. Jenny didn't know what was going on. Krishna leaned forward to drink the vodka of her body.

"Stop," yelled Jenny.

"Hey, I thought that's what you invited us here for?" complained Krishna.

"No... yes," replied Jenny and presented her neck again to take more vodka. She felt Krishna's tongue glide over her skin. The wetness and warmth made her tingle. A sensuality woke up in her, involuntary in a way, unexpected in another way. She hadn't thought this through at all. The alcohol relaxed her to go with it. She let the feelings of touch wake up her whole body. Krishna had an edge to him. He felt strong. She liked that in a dizzy, slightly drunk way.

"Here Howard, it's your turn," said Krishna. Krishna held the tip of the bottle to the other shoulder on Howard's side. Howard got on his knees in front of the couch without saying a word. He put his chin on the front of her shoulder. Krishna started pouring vodka. Howard's sucking was completely different. It was small, fast, and focused. Howard was completely focused on the booze. He was working hard to catch every drop, not let anything get past his sucking mouth to her t-shirt. Not wanting to lose any, he grabbed her whole body and pulled her closer.

In a strange way, she had never gotten so much attention in her life. She felt charmed by it. She felt uplifted. It made her feel precious. Not even having a clear thought, she didn't want to lose this feeling. She wanted to ride on that attention of being considered and of being worthy.

"Damon, get in on the action," said Krishna. Krishna put his arms under her armpit and pulled her onto her back on the couch. Then, he folded up her t-shirt to her chest. He was quite the gentlemen with how delicately, he folded the t-shirt and made sure to not expose her breasts. Damon took the rite and kneeled on the floor. The bourbon ran quickly across her belly, like quicksilver. Damon's mouth chased after it. His hands tried to coral the quick booze in. When Damon sucked no her skin, she could feel the suction underneath her skin as well. She laughed. She giggled.

Krishna pulled her up and her t-shirt overhead. There was something so confident about the way he did it. He seemed so manly, strong, and decisive. She let him do it. She was sitting in her bra with three young men. Her dad would be so pissed when he walked in to find her like that. She wouldn't cover up. She would let her dad see it all until her dad backed down and withdrew.

Krishna poured bourbon into his mouth and then kissed Jenny. He let the bourbon trickle into her mouth. She drank it up. She got all turned on and wild from the wet kiss. They had shared a drink. She was trying to get more bourbon out of his mouth but only got his tongue. His tongue tasted like bourbon, but she couldn't get it off. They were enveloped in cloud of alcohol smell.

"Get your clothes off, Howard," commanded Krishna.

Jenny didn't quite see the consequences of the command. Krishna was offering her another mouthful of bourbon. Jenny was too busy with all the sensations on her lips, tongue, and mouth. Krishna had so much charisma and presence to take in that her whole world swirled around him.

When the long bourbon kiss was done, she saw Howard naked, a naked figure in the half darkness of the room. The most prominent thing was the erect penis. She hadn't seen many penises, especially erect ones. It looked foreign. Somehow, Howard felt like a distant figure because Krishna's presence took all her attention.