Black Beauty

Fate Bites Corey on the Ass

Corey walked away from Latreece shaking and scared. He couldn't believe Latreece would rat on him like that.  But she didn't know. 

She didn't know. 

No one knew his past.

His parents had left Jamaica because a flood of fey moved into the area and Corey being so young he couldn't stop but look at them. Most people didn't see them. Elves, trolls, giants dwarves, gnomes living and working as humans. They descended on Kingston using glamour to convince humans to give away their money. The fey stole from stores, purses, and wallets.  When humans, adults and children, began showing up dead his grandmother urged his parents to move away to some place rural, miles away from a fey portal. And so they moved to America. First it was Washington DC, then Kansas, and now Oklahoma. Each time they moved because he saw more of them. 

But he was older know.  He knew not stare. He'd gone above and beyond to make his parents feel safe, but now Jade was destroying everything.

When he'd left Jamaica his grandmother had told him he couldn't run from fate, but you can prepare for it. He hadn't known what it meant, but his five year old mind had never forgotten. Was Crazy Jade moving here because of fate? He didn't know, but he did know he was sick of running. 

He was going to get Crazy Jade to  fix Shemeya, Ashley, and then her get her to leave Latreece alone. But how the fuck was he going to get Crazy Jade to do anything? He needed back up. He needed help.

Andre? Corey knew Andre hadn't to school because he wasn't in first hour. Maybe he'd help.

#

Corey knocked on Andre's door. The door opened but no one was there. The entire apartment was dark except for the light creeping in from the outside.

"Andre?" Corey said.

"What do you want?" A voice asked from behind the door.

Corey's heart raced, as he remembered Andre had a run-in with Jade a few days ago. Fuck.

Corey tried to walk into the apartment, but Andre tried to close it.

"Andre let me in," Corey insisted.  Not waiting for Andre to respond, Corey used all of his strength to push the door wide open and then he hoped into the apartment.

"Fuck!" Andre shouted. 

"Are you sick. Why weren't you school this morning?" Corey asked, studying Andre. Andre wore a black hoodie and he kept his head down as if he was avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah. I'm sick you need to leave before you catch it," Andre said, backing away.

"What's wrong you?" Corey leaped and reached for Andre's hood.

As Andre's hood fell away, roaches that had been covering Andre's face dispersed running away from the light. 

Too late Andre pulled the hood back over his face.

"Ah, man," Corey said, swallowing the bile that had risen from his belly.  "She got to you too."

"I'm fine.  We've just been having roach problems."

"Roaches don't live on people's faces. Crazy Jade must have cursed you.

Andre walked to the couch in the dark living. "Oh my god. What am I going to do?" He said, weeping uncontrollably.

As Andre cried into his hands, bugs ran across his face and hands, but Andre didn't seem to feel them, or had he just grown used to them? "It just started this morning. I'm scared, Corey. What is my mom gonna say when she sees this?"

Guilt settled into the pit of Corey's stomach. If he'd done something about Jade when he first found out, this whole thing could have been avoided. But shoulda, woulda, coulda's couldn't change the past. He had to do something now.

Corey forced his gaze back to Andre. "Come with me. You are not the only one. She's been messing with Shemeya and Ashley too. Maybe between the four us we can get that bitch."