(18+) Come & Talk to Me: A DeVanté Swing Fanfiction

Chapter 98: Come & What Makes Them Crazy?

Please excuse ANY grammatical errors.

July 23, 1998

~Tia's P.O.V~

"So Donald and Tia, why don't you join the conversation?" Mary J said stopping Donald and I conversation.

"Sure." I turned around for my and replied.

"You do movies, right? Weren't you part of the Juice production?" Mary J asked me.

"I was. What about it?" I questioned.

"You're the reason for black men's demise. Promoting gang violence and all. How do you feel about that?" Mary asked.

I turned to Donald with my tongue in my jaw, giving him a look. This ain't too bad but... I chuckle before replying. "I'm- I'M not in charge of black men's actions or anyone else's. I'm a woman black men are black men. That movie doesn't promote gang violence. In fact, it does the complete opposite of what you may think. There was a lesson that many people learned from that movie. What exactly did you learn?" I leaned forward.

"I learned that you were trying to paint black men as thugs and they aren't. You highlighted the stereotypes. You're part of the reason for black men not being in the homes with their parents." Mary J replied, looking at Donald.

I placed my hand on my chest. "Oh, wow. My father as well as many others with absent fathers were LONG gone before I started writing before I learned to walk."

"Yo, somethin' is definitely wrong with you! You buggin'! That ain't my child and you need to get that through yo thick brain." Donald pointed at her.

"Take the DNA test so she can shut the hell up!" His uncle Eddie replied. Mary chuckled and looked to Mr. and Mrs. DeGrate.

"I learned who REALLY had the juice," Dalvin spoke up.

"Oh, yeah? Who was that?" I asked Dalvin.

"The smartest one of them all; Q. The one who wasn't involved in everything. The peacemaker of the group. I don't think she was glorifying anything. What you took from that film ain't what the black community took from that. While you over there tryna sound like the woke white woman." Dalvin chuckled. "The movie was all that," Dalvin emphasized.

"Exactly." Donald cosigned. "You trippin'."

"Right, it teaches not just black men, but everyone who watched that film that being a follower, a gang member, and hanging with the wrong crowd leads you to one of two places. Dead or locked up. It's a prevention movie, not an encouragement to people who want to be in gangs." I added.

"I don't look at it like that. Why do we have to see black people lead that type of lifestyle in movies? Why add that narrative?" Mary questioned.

Okay, maybe she genuinely does want to know but her delivery doesn't sit well with me and hasn't been since the first time she spoke. 

"Ladies, you wanna help me out in the kitchen?" Mrs. DeGrate said directing my attention away from Mary J, but Mary stood up. "I mean Eden, Edna, Tia, and Maria." Mrs. Degrate added and Mary J sat back down.