Chapter 64:
Entertain Us
"Yo Ben, we need to go".
The boy standing in front of Benjamin wore a ski mask covering the bottom half of his face, showing only his white eyes and wavy hair with brown tips. Seeing him made Benjamin's smile grow. His presence made it seem like everything was going to be okay, even though he seemed distressed.
"Who's this Benji?" Kofi asked, stepping forward.
"It's fine", Benjamin said, raising his hand. "He's my friend".
"Yo, I'm Malakai Junior", he quickly introduced himself to Benjamin's friends. All the guys looked at him and gave him a little nod.
"What happened?" Benjamin asked.
"I think I pissed off a lot of people; they're all looking for me", Malakai replied, checking his shoulders.
"What did you do?" Benjamin asked, looking at Malakai, constantly turning his head.
"Threw a few blunts and pills, smashed a few needles and blew cocaine off a few tables", Malakai listed.
Benjamin's eyes widened, and his mouth gaped. He really did fuck up the party. Benjamin's friends all looked at each other.
"You're messing around with our product?" Tevon questioned from behind Benjamin.
"Tev!" Benjamin said, trying to stop him.
"Your product?" Malakai replied, looking past Benjamin.
"Mally, forget what he said", Benjamin said, stepping in front of Malaki to block his vision of Tevon.
"Yeah, we sold all of that and your fucking about with it", Tevon continued with a straight face.
"Malakai didn't mean it. He always takes the piss. He jokes around too much", Benjamin said, not wanting them to fight.
Malakai raised his eyebrows. "You sold it, so why do you care what happens to it? You got your bread, and you probably made a profit. Your supplier will be happy, no?" Malakai replied, not feeling intimidated.
Tevon didn't expect that response. He smirked, "Benji, you've got a funny friend", he said. "I can see why your new life is only good. You probably didn't know how to describe it with this dumbass as your friend", Tevon said, pointing at Malakai. Malakai didn't reply, but he smiled under his ski mask. Benjamin was slightly embarrassed by the compliment and the dynamic between his two different friends.
"Go", Jamar said out of the blue.
"Huh", Benjamin turned to him.
"Looks like your friend needs you. We've talked enough. The next time we see, you better have more stories", Jamar told him.
"Oh shit did I disturb a reunion", Malakai said. "My bad, it's calm. You can stay here Ben and talk more if you want. Imma try get Willy and Lu, but if I can't, imma text you".
"Wait, I'll", before Benjamin could finish what he was going to say, he turned to his friends. They all nodded and indicated that it was fine to go.
"Benji, go. The longer you stay and talk with us, the more you'll feel sorry for us", Tevon said. "Like J said, the next time we meet, you better have more stories".
Benjamin didn't want to leave, but if he stayed with them, he would never want to leave. He went to each of them and gave them a brotherly hug. Even though they said we'll meet again soon, it wasn't certain. Benjamin didn't know if he'd ever see some of them again. It was true Benjamin would go back to Nashville during winter break, but who knows if they'll be there. Will they be there or in another state selling cocaine? They say freedom is priceless. A quote that got screamed in Benjamin's neighbourhood. Benjamin was about to leave his friends. Friends who were risking their freedom for extra cash. People got taken away or died in Benjamin's neighbourhood frequently, but that was out of his control. This time, it felt like when he'd leave them, they would be gone, and if he ever did see them again, they wouldn't be the same people. Was this out of his control, too? If he did stay, what would happen? Nothing right? They would talk some more until the party was over and go their separate ways. Maybe in that time, Benjamin could persuade them against selling cocaine. Did he have the power to change minds? Was he that good of a speaker? He isn't a kid, after all. He's grown up. He understands the world. He's lived life. He has seen shit other people see in movies. What doesn't he understand? 18 years old… 18 years old… Is 18 years old still a kid?
"Who should we get first?" Malakai asked, taking off his hoodie.
Benjamin snapped back to reality, "Huh. Why are you taking off your hoodie?" he said, following Malakai.
"Someone might recognise me if they see this hoodie", Malakai replied. He tied his hoodie around his waist and pulled his ski mask down to show his full face.
"Why're you pulling down your mask? You said someone might recognise you", Benjamin asked; everything was happening so fast.
"They won't recognise my face, but they'll recognise my outfit. You know I stole someone's mask and started wearing it when I was fucking about", Malakai replied.
Benjamin stopped walking. "Mally, wait", Benjamin stopped him.
Malakai turned around, "What?".
"Erm. It's about my friends. They're not bad people", Benjamin timidly said. "I know they said it was their product, but it's not what it looks like", he didn't know how he could make it look good.
"Ben, it's calm", Malakai replied. "I knew people who sold weed", he shrugged.
"I'm talking about cocaine here", Benjamin said, thinking Malakai wasn't getting his point.
"I mean, I knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy that sold cocaine", Malakai replied, trying to cheer him up. Benjamin looked away in disappointment thinking Malakai wasn't taking him seriously. "Look, my point is I don't care. Their reasons for doing this are the same reason some of my friends back home were doing it. To survive and feed their families", he said.
"It's just I don't want you to get the wrong idea about them", Benjamin said, looking back up at Malakai.
"I don't", Malakai truthfully replied. "This life ain't fair, you know. Some people are born with a silver spoon, and others aren't born with anything. It's not their fault for being born in that environment".
"I'm guessing you're shocked at my upbringing. I didn't tell you guys about my childhood", Benjamin said, looking at the dirty floor to avoid eye contact.
"I mean, I kinda figured it out when we were coming here. When we were in that alleyway you didn't cover your nose when it stank of weed. It didn't surprise you like Willy and Lu, so I kinda got an idea from that", Malakai replied.
Benjamin lowered his head. "Are you going to look at me differently now?" he shyly asked.
"Na, why would I? What did you do? Sell weed?" Malakai questioned.
"Yeah, I helped them", Benjamin embarrassingly answered.
"So what if you did? I don't care. Some of my childhood friends are drug dealers", Malakai replied, smiling showing it was okay. "You did it to help your family. If you did it to act cool or for fun, then I would be judging you", he said.
Benjamin smiled at Malakai's honesty. He was glad Malakai was the one who found out about his past; he knew he would be the most understanding of all the guys. "Could you keep my past a secret from the guys?" he asked.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. I think they would understand if you told them though", Malakai replied.
"Yeah, I'm sure they would, but everyone's got their unconscious thoughts and feelings. I'm sure one or two of them would feel a type of way, not cause they want to but unconsciously", Benjamin rambled. "I wouldn't blame them though. A drug dealer is a bad guy in the face of the law", he quietly said.
"Who cares? You're here at this academy. The past is the past", Malakai said, walking away. "Let's get Lu and Willy; I'm starting to get paranoid".
Benjamin smiled and followed him. "The past is the past", he mumbled to himself.
Malakai and Benjamin walked through the party, trying to spot one of their friends. The number of people at the party decreased; it was a few minutes past midnight, so technically, Halloween was over. People were starting to leave or they were passed out on the seats or floor, making the party's volume look less. It was mostly the students who were leaving as they had classes in the morning. They continued to search until Benjamin noticed a familiar top hat.
"Mally, isn't that Lu?" Benjamin asked, tapping Malakai's shoulder to show where he was looking. They could only see the back of the guy sitting down, so they couldn't tell if it was Lucas.
"There's two girls hanging off him, so it's probably him", Malakai replied. The two of them walked over to the guy with the top hat, and as they got closer, they heard him giggling.
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