RED PARALLEL

Chapter 55: Word Up

It took all of his deep strength not to burst into tears again as he stepped into The Crib, after who knows, millenniums. And damn, that place was just. Identical as it had ever been. The same people, the same everything. Perfect yellowish as hell. The Crib didn't know that its troubled inhabitant was about to return home, so everybody was shocked. Most people would just stand halted at wherever they were, a little mouth dropped, maybe throwing glances at whoever was around. The closest ones would act almost hysterically. Jessi - later, Traviz heard that she had moved to The Crib for good - almost crushed his 'okay' bones with a desperate hug. Aaron grabbed both arms and checked him from head to toe, shook him vigorously, and exclaimed "Is that you or not?". Ion was eating potato chips and spat half of what was inside his mouth after a lively greeting. Goat pushed him from behind with no mercy, making him drop one of the crutches. He had never thought that coming back to The Crib could be physically dangerous, too. G.Klo' was also welcomed with a celebration but with no savage greetings. People would shake hands, maybe sing, clap hands, whistle, do that loud noise that man, he missed. So. Much.

"Ya know, we got the illest warriors in this shit," Aaron said, robbing Ion's potato chips. "Check this out, a skinny white dude run by a truck, and an obese nigga who-"

"Shut up, Ars," Nate hissed. "Tiger, I think you need a rest, right?"

Traviz hesitated a bit, but then, he finally revealed the deep physiologic wish that he had been carrying for months.

"Can I have some beans?"

He had never seen - or heard, or felt - such a funny silence. People were shocked. Later, Aaron told him that Nate had stood in front of the fridge, crying for good, before picking the beans leftover. Nate had decided to drop the same amount of tears that Traviz had done; he'd spent hours sobbing, and according to G.Klo', Big Bro was going through a deep emotional momentum.

But there was something wrong. All that positive vibe and commotion, it didn't seem real. Part of his fear of getting back to The Crib was of being rejected, beaten. None of that happened. People would only say two things: "Daaamn, you're skinny as hell, though." and "We been missing ya, motherfucker." The warmth of those people was surreal, no wonder why he got so screwed up after he left the place because they had made him get used to an off-the-hook kind of life. Yeah.

Nate wouldn't act normal, though. He would talk very little, avoid staying around Traviz for too long, open half-broken smiles, ask few or none questions, but most of the time, he'd go to G.Klo' several times a day, and always get out with reddened eyes. Traviz didn't get it. Since resentment was something he had like a dense flood in his body, Traviz tried to reach him.

"Yo, Nate."

"Hm?"

"You alright?"

"Hm, yes."

"Okay..."

It got weirder. Aaron one day appeared in his room, before six in the morning, and woke him up.

"Wigga," Aaron called.

"Hm?"

"God bless ya, okay?"

"O-okay..."

"Peace out..."

So he took a deep breath - but no - and knocked on Big G's room.

"Hi, son. It's three in the morning. Something happened?"

"Hm... I was... N-never mind, sorry, I'll go back-"

"Come in, Traviz. Here, let me help you."

The armchair welcomed him, raising its dust and a few feathers. G.Klo' placed the crutches on a further desk, and that was the same as caging him. There was no turning back now, either he stayed or he stayed.