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Oakland, California - June 28, 1999
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GOT ME up in here bouta watch this stupid ass movie" Erik mumbled for the seventy-fifth time. Nyssa rolled her eyes, "You're just mad that we're not seeing one of those movies that get you thinking and shit". Nyssa and Erik had gone to the movies for the second time in a month. The first time, Erik picked the movie. Candyman, eventhough he knew Nyssa hated scary movies. But he didn't care, he loved it. Once she had thought about it, she saw why.
It was a black man getting revenge on the kind that had ruined his life just because he fell in love and had a child with Caroline, a white woman. Caroline's father sent a mob after Candyman to kill him, and they succeeded. It was a dark but poetic movie. Helen, who was investigating Candyman, was a reincarnation of Caroline, so he haunted her. Every time something popped up on the screen, Nyssa gripped Erik's hand tighter and tighter. The end of the movie turned out just how Erik wanted it to. Helen became part of the folklore that was Candyman, basically taking his place in the mirror.
Anyway, it was Nyssa's turn to pick the movie. And what did she pick? The Best Man. A movie filled with black excellence. The main attraction though was Morris Chestnut, aka finest man alive. They were about an hour and thirty minutes into the movie and Erik was as pissed as he was when it started. Every time, Morris came on screen, Nyssa yelled despite the looks of other people in the theater. She moved to snuggle into Erik's side when something rattled in her pocket.
She had forgot the candy that she had snuck in through her jacket. Nyssa pulled the box out and handed it to her boyfriend. He chuckled and kissed her on the head, "Only you". She shrugged, "We weren't about to pay all that money for candy you could buy at the dollar store. The popcorn already cost damn near 10 dollars". And of course Erik insisted on buying it. He was not paying any attention to the movie. Nyssa knew he was counting down the minutes until it was over. Luckily for him, there was only about twenty minutes left.
It didn't seem like it, but Nyssa wasn't paying attention either. Before she and Erik left for the movies, she got into a fight with her mom. There's this girl, Keisha, who lives on the floor beneath them and everyday she tries to flirt with Erik. She didn't care if Nyssa was standing right there, she would do it anyway, even though Erik would pay her no mind. But today was different. Something snapped in Nyssa's brain and she couldn't stop. She threw Keisha on the ground and hit her repeatedly. She didn't beat the girl too bad.
In the midst of them yelling at each other after her mother had seen her bloodied knuckles, Jasmine had the audacity to say something about her father. If Nyssa recalled correctly, she had said "You look just like Ra's." And she had replied, "Would that be so surprising? I mean, he is my father. How do you think being taken away from him felt? I grew up without a father because of you. Here, we struggle to pay the bills every month. Money was never a worry back when we were with Dad. Did you ever think maybe I didn't want to leave? Maybe I was happy? "
