A Girl Named Drool & A Pack of Kools|| Book I

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Ward

I lean my head against the foggy car window drawing shapes in the condensation on the glass. Ruby continued to drive down St. Bernard Parish with me in his dark green derelict car. I get dizzy as I watch the trees and ramshackle buildings pass by in a blur. Apart from the soft music, the car ride was overall comfortably silent. Ruby's presence was soothing almost as if we've known each other all this time. I see Ruby glance at me discreetly out of the corner of my eye.

Ruby reaches out his hand turning down the radio, "So, why'd ya move to the Seventh of all places? Usually, people who live 'ere tryna get outta 'ere."

"S'long story, mainly cause my home life was toxic and the area I lived in was gettin' too dangerous to stay, even for me," I let out an unenthusiastic laugh, "here ain't too bad, If only you saw the trailer I was brought up in back in Chaldean Town you'd think the Seventh was French Quarter or some."

Ruby nods in acknowledgment just as he parks the car on the curb outside of a small beige house with a chain-link fence surrounding it, about two blocks away from mine. When he turned the keys out of the ignition I took that as my cue to undo my seatbelt and hop out with him. I trail behind him as he barges open the front door.

"Aye yo Slick!" Ruby shouts into the air while walking into the empty living room.

I gulp, my heart faltering at the familiar nickname. What were the chances it was him? It couldn't be, right? I thought to myself. Then again how many shitheads are running around the Seventh named Slick. I continue to follow Ruby throughout the house on edge. Suddenly you could hear a trap-like beat coming from the backyard and pumping faintly throughout the inside of the house.

I follow Ruby like a lost puppy not sure what to do until he goes to the back door and gestures for me to follow. I step outside onto the slab of concrete patio, he waits to shut the door behind me before going towards the direction the music was and into a small dirty off-white shed. I step high through the tall unkempt grass and weeds until we end up at the shed.

Ruby opens the door, popping his head in. The music stops and a thick cloud of smoke seeps out. The shed was unusually dark but lit up by Led colors from the computer screens and speakers surrounding them. They both seem to notice immediately as the sunlight pours in.

It seems to divert the pair from working on what they were. Perturbation spreads throughout me as I notice the all too familiar tattooed guy from behind.
Scrim pulls back one side of his headphones briefly glancing back at the two of us before doing a double-take.

Scrim begins to open his mouth appearing at a loss for words. His eyes are locked onto mine in a state of turmoil before he hastily clears his throat, shaking out of his trance-like manner. Suddenly, his expression becomes sour for a moment like we had done something wrong.

"Ruby, what the hell I tell you 'bout bringing bitches back ere' when we recording?" He sneers, turning back around and acting like he didn't notice me at all.

I quickly shake the odd feeling off in the back of my mind and decide not to take it personally. Scrim promptly snaps his head back to converse with the other guy to his right who had a darker complexion and was much scrawnier with medium-long dark brown dreads with a silver lip piercing.

While I was ensnared in my thoughts I didn't realize Ruby had shut the door and made his way over to the more intimidating and bitter of the two. Suddenly, he pulled Scrim's headphones far away from his ear and let it go with a snap.

"She ain't some bitch. She just moved 'ere, we're skipping class and I wanted all of us to hangout—Molly these are my asshole friends—" he points to Scrim that looked like he was ready to beat Ruby's head into the desk he was at, "—Slick, and—" he points to the other guy who was already gazing curiously at me, "Weston."