© Dec. 4, 2019. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 1
An Unworthwhile Birth
Looming out of the darkness, a shooting star careens in the night sky, faster than a relentless bullet. Connie, 30-years-old and a mother of four children (with a black pompadour, beige t-shirt, brown corduroy jeans, and black sandals) is holding her youngest child, Magenta Marie Slays. Magenta is just 2 years, 8 months, 26 days, 5 hours, 22 minutes, 15 seconds, and 3 milliseconds old.
Magenta is wearing blue overalls and black tennis shoes. Her short, curly hair is the color of the darkest shadow. Her eyes widen only to be covered by her mother’s hands. She’s not allowed to make a wish, but her mother’s boyfriend (Hartman) beside her smokes an expensive cigarette and utters the words, “I wished for us to see each other as long as cigarettes exist.” Connie blushes and positions her left hand on his right thigh.
Talisa, Magenta’s 5-year-old sister (with the tastebuds of 27 chefs) walks on the porch holding an ice cream cone with two sprinkled butterscotch scoops on top. She licks the ice cream, cherishing every moment as if time can stand still. All seems well until Talisa catches a brain freeze and accidentally drops her perfectly structured ice cream cone. Talisa cries like she witnessed a cacodemon and a agathodaemon simultaneously.
Talisa walks back in the house like the flatulence of sadness, entering the living room. She swats away an annoying mosquito from her sight, lowers her haunches on a warm, authentic, black leather bench beside a black upright piano.
Gunther, a 7-year-old male (with black, slick-back hair, a black and white, plaid, chambray dress shirt, black jeans, and black tennis shoes) is slumped down on the couch. His eyes are locked on the black, flat-screen television, which is hung on the maroon, plaster wall. Like anyone young and hip, he’s fully engaged in playing the latest video game with a wireless controller and wireless headphones.
Gunther’s controller is orange and his headphones are black. A ceramic bowl of half-eaten cereal is on the far right end of the couch next to three empty cans of sodas.
Standing in front of the television is Carnation, (a 4-year-old redheaded female with a baby pink spaghetti strap shirt, blue trousers, and yellow tennis shoes). Carnation is tightly holding a grey, stuffed bulldog that she named, “Aurora” as if though Aurora can assist her in unraveling where Connie hid a transparent 32 ounce jar of chocolate chip cookies.
Chapter 2:
The Holier Things
6 Years Later
On the south side of Chicago, Magenta is (wearing a white dress shirt, grey dress pants, and black dress shoes) sitting beside her mother’s mother in a Pentecostal Church. Magenta’s grandma (Lucinda) is (wearing a velvet, beige gown embellished with laced embroidery) the first one in the audience to stand up to dance to the loud church music. Everyone else copies what she does, except Magenta who sits down staring at the church choir, with a dull expression on her face.
Lucinda uses profanity, saying, “Get up.”
Talisa, Carmation, and Gunther look across from Lucinda to Magenta. Magenta rises up not knowing the first thing about dancing. She just remains still while everyone else dances in a jolly mood. Or at least they appeared to be jolly.
2 Hours Later
It’s drizzling outside. Magenta exits the church with Lucinda, Gunther, Talisa, and Carnation. The church has graffiti on the side, which has words that read, “Holy City.” “Holy City” refers to the Vice Lords gang, but they got the word Holy City from Christianity. On a crowded transit bus, they take a ride back to Lucinda’s house. Some people are using profanity on the bus while one anonymous person (with dreadlocks, a white t-shirt twice his size, baggy, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes) is smoking marijuana.
Once they get to Lucinda’s house, Lucinda locks the door and uses profanity.
Lucinda says, “Thank you, Jesus we made it home safe. I can’t wait till your mother come and pick y’all up. Y’all almost made me swear in that church.”
Chapter 3
First Time Hearing About Death
2:00 P.M.
Magenta, Gunther, Talisa, and Carnation is back over Connie’s house. Connie plays a music video of a famous pop star from her laptop, which is connected to speakers in the kitchen. Connie says, “Annie Sombre died a week ago. One of her fans shot her in the back of the head. That’s a damn shame.”
Magenta has a face of confusion. She doesn’t want to ask Connie questions because it can start an argument, but Annie’s beautiful voice shows that she should still be alive. Many of her songs are recorded in Spanish. Gunther walks into the living room and smiles at Magenta. He says to Connie, “Someone died?” Connie says, “Annie Sombre. I’m playing her music now.” When Connie lowers her head to face the music video, Gunther once again smiles at Magenta as if he caused the death of one of the most celebrated singers. This has to be the first time Magenta has ever heard of death
because she simply keeps wondering how someone’s life can permanently end with zero continuation. How do you just stop breathing. While some children her age probably shoot people to death with ammunition and rap about murder, she’s just now finding out about the word, “Death.”
Chapter 4
A Spoiled, Little Boy
3 Hours Later
It’s 5:00 P.M.. Magenta is in an arcade room walking up to a multiplayer arcade game. A random 7-year-old boy walks up to insert tokens in after she does. She picks up the red joystick gun and shoots at multiple dinosaurs while the boy does the same. He yells passionately at the screen, “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot ‘em! Damn it! Fuckin’ shoot! Shoot!” Confusion is on Magenta’s face because while she’s not allowed to use profanity, her mother is behind her watching another child use profanity.
The screen says, “Game Over!”
The boy drops the blue joystick gun and yells, “You suck!” He then walks away with a frown.
Chapter 5
What Don’t You Wanna Be?
1 Week Later
Magenta (wearing glasses, a magenta sweatshirt, blue jeans, and purple sandals) is sitting at the rectangular, wooden, living room table. She’s eating a dainty, green apple in front of a Carnation. Carnation is wearing a blue t-shirt, black jeans, and black tennis shoes while coloring in a coloring book.
Connie (wearing a white, nylon camisole, orange, palm leaf-print, silk pants with drawstrings, and black heels) positions a toothpick to her mouth, sticks it between her lips, and says, “What do you wanna be when you grow up?”
Magenta says, “I wanna play hockey.”
Carnation says, “I wanna be a model.”
Connie says, “Hockey? You can’t even skate. Is hockey going to put food on your table? What if you break a leg? Is hockey going to still be there?”
Magenta is silent.
Connie walks up and says, “What do you really want to do?”
Magenta says, sarcastically, “I want to be a firefighter.”
Connie says, “You can make a joke out of your career. I have my education. I have work experience. Do you know all that a firefighter has to do?”
Magenta says, “Put the fire out.”
Connie says, “You need a plan ‘B.’”
Gunther walks out of the kitchen wearing just a red t-shirt and black underwear, saying, “She wants to be a wrestler. She draws pictures of wrestling a lot. It’s obvious. She even said how cool it’d be.”
Connie yells, “Sinful wrestling? I used to love wrestling. Believe me. It’s not like it used to be. You don’t stand a chance at being some wrestler if you can’t get out of your shell. What the hell are you gonna do? I’m supposed to wanna turn in to see your scrawny ass every week?”
Magenta turns her head away as Talisa walks out of the bathroom, saying, “I’ll be a doctor. I haven’t decided what type of doctor yet, but I know that’s what I want to do. My backup plan is to be a carpenter or go into the military and be an aviator there.”
Connie says, “Talisa already has a backup plan. You go girl! Have you decided how long you’d like to be in the military?”
Talisa says, “I’m willing to make the military my career to stay there for twenty years. I’m not worried about meeting a man either.”
Connie says, “I hope you don’t change your mind either. Men are the devil. I could legally sign you up to join the military and you’d have no choice. If you refuse, you’d be sentenced to imprisonment. Did you know that?”
Talisa says, “Yes.”
Connie says, “So don’t ever say I’m a bad mother because I’m not. I can send all of you all to the military just to get out of my house! I can allow all of you all to just roam outside to do drugs and hang around neggerish souls where I grew up at, but I don’t. Say it.”
Gunther, Talisa, Carnation, and Magenta all say, “I love you mommy.”
Connie says, “Ah! I love you too!”
Chapter 6
Those Delinquents
6 Days Later
It’s Friday
In the south side of Chicago, Magenta is outside, saying, “Mom” while walking around the street searching for her. She passes several delinquents who are using drugs. One delinquent is holding a handgun. She runs across several intersections looking for her family, only to see her mother across the street. Her mother, Connie spots her, then says, “I was looking for you!”
Saturday
Magenta is walking outside with her mother and when she looks to her right, a delinquent throws a brick high in the air and it lands on his friend’s face (who was trying to catch it). The victim screams, bleeding profusely from his face. Magenta ignores the event while Connie says, “These kids ain’t got nothin’ else better to do. Keep it walkin’.”
Chapter 7
Tapping Into Another Side
6 Years Later
Magenta is wearing a pink t-shirt and emerald swimming trunks in her bedroom. Her bedroom door is closed. On top of a black bedsheet, she sits on her knees while on the grey carpet, closes her eyes for approximately five seconds, opens them, then slowly levitates. Her body reaches at least two feet off the floor for seven seconds, then she descends down.
Gunther startles her by immediately opening the door, saying, “The food’s ready.”
Gunther smiles, then turns off the power switch on the wall. He walks away, leaving the bedroom door open. Magenta rises to her feet, distressed.
Chapter 8
Where Aurora Was
4 Years Later
It’s 4 P.M. At minus 3 degrees, it’s snowing and the snow is 6 inches deep, covering the grassy terrains. Magenta is 16-years-old, 5 foot 8, 126 pounds, (wearing a black beanie hat, a black scarf, a black, leather pulley bag, silver, suede, waterproof, parka coat with a detachable hoodie, which has coyote fur on it, blue jeans that feels like a duvet, and black, leather logger boots) and nearly loses her equilibrium on black ice after running at a speed of 25 miles per hour. Then, she saunters up a hill, which is approximately 45 feet high as the cold wind blows the opposite of her direction.
Irrespective of her resting on a hilltop like a viper playing possum, she’s still cold. She then rises into a seated position with her knees slightly bent after realization that making her own body warmth isn’t mentally working. Perhaps, she should constantly move around to stay heated. When she peers through the fog, she sees several teenagers throwing snowballs at one another. For a good minute, she sits on the hill until she notices that everyone left the site.
A cold Magenta hears the sound of footsteps in the snow getting closer. A grey bulldog (that’s 4-dog-years-old) jumps into her presence, knocking her down the hill. She’s startled, rolls in a backwards motion, screaming. A dizzy Magenta refuses to rest and pats Aurora when she runs toward her.
She crosses an intersection, walks back to her house, entering with Aurora. Behind her, she locks the front door shut. Connie, who is deceiving like a bear trap under a doormat yells, “Take off your boots before you go to your room! Do you have my homework?” Magenta says, “Just in Topology, Organic Chemistry, Philosophy, Economics, Linguistics, and History.”
Connie (in a grey sweater, blue jeans, and white socks) ignites a lighter with her left hand, positions the cigarette in the flame, then smokes it. When Magenta removes her logger boots from her feet onto the tawny door mat, her earnest mother says, “I got straight “A’s” back when I was in high school. No television until you get your homework done.” Connie extends her hand out. Magenta hands her black cell phone to her mother.
Connie says, “You shouldn’t be using cell phones anyway. Cell phones are for emergencies only. Last time, I caught you texting a demon.”
Magenta says, “Chad was my classmate. He’s my partner for a school presentation tomorrow.”
Connie gets inquisitive and says, “Classmate?”
Magenta says, “He’s an exceptionally amiable classmate.”
Connie says, “As far as you live here, I’m the backbone of your life. You’re gonna start paying for your own bills and groceries around this house, so that you’d know how it feels to be an adult. Help me out around here. When you get your own money, your own house, and a Holy dynamic with the Lord, then you can talk. You’ve talked enough. Now go upstairs, study until you can get a good job, and buy me a brand new house.”
With forlorn eyes, a depressed Magenta heads upstairs (as if though she witnessed Aurora get her paws stuck in a shredder) to remove her pulley bag, beanie hat, scarf, and parka coat. Irreparable damage is done, for sleep is off limits until she studies. On the right side of her bed, she has a black desktop computer, which is sitting on top of a brown, mahogany entertainment shelf.
After taking her textbooks and color-coded binders out of her pulley bag, she spends her time doing her homework in front of the computer. It’s been 4 hours and 52 minutes that she’s been doing homework, proving that she is an aficionado of technology. She lies her head down near the keyboard, only to look back up at the computer screen and write legibly in her red notebook with a number 2 pencil. Then, approximately, 3 yards away, she hears 20 gunshots coming from outside.
Eventually, she searches on the internet to
watch a couple of pop music videos. That’s when she gets surprised. A small message pops up in the middle of the screen, which reads, “We’re watching you.” Magenta grins and exits the internet. 2 hours later, she finishes all of her homework, puts her notebooks and binders in her pulley bag, and lies down in a prone position on her comfortable daybed with bluish green bedsheets and three black pillows.
It irks her that the night’s not over. A displeased Magenta remembers that she has to remove her contact lenses from her brown eyes. There’s mild swelling under both of her eyes due to exhaustion. Finding the strength to rise up, after tightly gripping her pillows, she walks in front of the daybed. She walks toward the black flat-screen television attached to the beige plaster wall, unplugs the television to save electricity, then near a mahogany dresser on the left side of her daybed. She walks out her bedroom to wash her hands in the nearby bathroom, which has purple neon lights, shuts the bedroom door behind her, opens up both sections of her milk-white contact lens case, pours contact lens solution in the right and left section, removes her contact lenses from both of her eyes to place in the contact lens case, and closes both sections of the contact lens case.
Her vision, which was perfect with her contact lenses is now like a beginners painting without it. The television screen is blurry when she turns around. She unplugs the silver lamp, which is sitting on the right side of her contact lens case. Her glasses are sitting on the left side of her contact lens case.
Chapter 9
A Livid Mother
Connie yells like she caught Magenta watching stop motion Nazi porn, “Magenta!”
Magenta plugs back in the lamp, wears her glasses, then rushes to her bedroom door.
Connie with pink hair rollers in her hair says, “Did you read your Bible today?”
Magenta says in a crestfallen voice, “Yeah.”
Connie says, “Which Bible are you reading?”
Magenta says, “I read the King James Bible. I pray before I brush my teeth out of fear that I may accidentally swallow toothpaste. Can I go to sleep now? I’m tired, ma.”
Connie says, “I’m not done talking! John 14:27. Peace I leave you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Connie gives Magenta a look as if though she read a one hundred and fifty page lawsuit one hundred and fifty times.
Connie then says, “Gunther! I’m not done with you yet! Get out your room!”
Aurora runs down the hall, barking.
Coming from the radio, Gunther has loud black metal music playing in his bedroom, which can be heard down the hallway. As if he has an imaginary friend, he’s headbanging while whimsically playing air guitar. Connie heads down the hall, makes a left, then knocks on Gunther’s door, yelling, “Turn that shit down!” The music continues, so Connie makes an attempt to twist the doorknob and open the door, but to no avail. Connie kicking the wooden door, resulting in a major cracks while Gunther fearfully turns off the loud music. “What the hell,” Gunther says.
Talisa (wearing a yellow, green, red, and white t-shirt, grey pajamas with black and white panda shapes, and black slippers) walks by with a cell phone and records the entire event after posing in front of her cell phone.
Connie kicks the entire door down and says as if though Gunther was relegated from an untouchable reality television star to a coffee maker, “You’re not allowed to listen to anymore fuckin’ music in my house. When Hartman gets here, he’s going to beat some sense into you. You wouldn’t last one minute with my parents. You kids are spoiled.”
Gunther gains courage like a true alpha male (wearing a black metal band t-shirt with black jeans and silver pocket chains on both sides with skulls, and black tennis shoes) and says, “Give me my privacy, man. I’m a musician.”
With manners as filthy as an oversized, roach-infested, moldy subway discolored tiled floor in Rikers Island, Connie says, “You can be a guitarist when you get a regular job and get the hell out my house!”
Red-headed Carnation (with a double ponytail, a black, silk t-shirt that has a red “X” mark across all of the months in a calendar, bell-bottom yellowish jeans, and pink tennis shoes) walks from the kitchen with a lukewarm slice of pepperoni pizza and ravioli on a paper plate with a plastic fork and says, “What am I missin’ here?”
Like mid-winter pollution, Connie says, “Don’t worry ‘bout it. I’m not missin’ anything y’all do as long as you’re under this roof. You two are in deep shit when my husband gets home. He’s not gonna put up with your stubbornness.”
Carnation says, “What did I do?”
Connie says, “You could’ve told Gunther to turn his music down. For his wrongdoings, I’m punishing everyone. I’m taking all electronics out of the house.”
Magenta says, “Ma!”
Spitting as she irately talks, Connie says, “Don’t ever raise your voice at me. I put you into this world and I can take you out. What were you going to say? I don’t have all day. It better be important.”
Magenta says, “I have to…”
Connie interrupts, saying while saliva spews from her mouth, “Huh? I can’t hear you! Can y’all hear her? Speak up! How are you going to get a damn job with your soft spoken ass. No man would put up with that either. They’d just use you and throw you to the side. Don’t talk like your brother. I think you spent too much time being around him. Continue.”
Knowing she can’t compromise with her mother, Magenta says in a louder voice, “Ma’am! I have to have my laptop specifically for my academic studies!”
Connie says in a downright insensitive tone, “Don’t they have computers in the computer lab?”
Magenta says, “My laptop is an essential commodity for my school curriculum. One notable example is that my Economics pedagogue expects his students to construct informative research on the core…”
Connie interrupts Magenta, saying, “Very well. Keep your laptop, but if I catch you on any websites that aren’t school related, I’m getting rid of it! I don’t care if it ruins your grades because you can live at the school as far as I’m concerned. If you’re tired of me, you can get a scholarship like your cousin, live in a dorm when you get to college, get a degree in the field that you’re interested in, and get a job. College isn’t for everybody. You can go to trade school, go to the military, get a regular penny any, minimum wage job, or be homeless on the streets! One more thing! I guarantee that with your attitude, you will not survive on these streets. Another thing! These people out here don’t give a dog shit about you!”
Talisa stops recording on her cell phone, then says, “Does this mean that I get to stay in Magenta’s room?”
Connie says, “I’m talkin’! Interrupt me again and you’re sleepin’ outside!”
Connie heads into Gunther’s room to pick up and slam his black flat-screen television on the grey, shaggy rug.
Talisa and Carnation are yelling.
Gunther yells, “That television costed me a fortune!”
Gunther’s mother continues to stomp on the television after it’s been clearly destroyed. Thus, Gunther holds his mother to prevent her from causing anymore damage.
Connie spits in Gunther’s face, pushes him to the floor where he hits the back of his head on a barbell. As Gunther bleeds while holding his head in intense pain, Connie picks up his radio and throws it out the opened window. She then picks up his actual guitar.
Talisa says, “That was autographed by his idol.”
Magenta thinks, “Rubbish.”
As if Connie is spewing out grandiose delusions, she says, “There’s no idolatry in this house! Somebody shut that dog up!”
The mother slams the guitar on the floor and stomps on it. You’ll get your cell phones back when you go to school!”
Connie then says, “I’ll fuckin’ kill that dog if you don’t shut it up!”
Magenta picks up Aurora and pats her. Instantly, Aurora stops barking.
Just when things couldn’t get worse, Connie then heads into the room Magenta shares with Talisa. Connie kicks their flat-screen television to the floor and stomps on it. She then grabs a box of bobby pins and paper clips from the floor and throws them across the room, carelessly.
Connie says, “After you clean up your mess, then you can go to bed. Goodnight.”
Magenta, Talisa, Carnation, and Gunther all say like robots, “Goodnight.”
After Magenta cleans up the room with her sister, she sleeps on her daybed. Her sister, Talisa, sleeps on a black, leather, pullout sofa with memory foam.
As soon as they’re both about to fall asleep, Connie opens up their bedroom door, saying, “Tonight, you’re keeping your door open, so you can be reminded of how not to be like Gunther! You like your privacy! You can get it by showin’ me some respect. I pay the bills in this house.”
Gunther frowns in his bedroom, but it’s a mistake. His mother spots his facial expression and says, “Get your ass up! Wipe that frown off your face before I do it for you.”
Gunther rises to his feet and limps his way in his mother’s presence.
His mother says, “If you’re so evil, you’d stab Magenta with a knife while she sleeps! That devil music you’re listening to will send you straight to hell like your real father! What do you think you’ll say on judgement day?”
Gunther says, “I’ll tell God how much of a bitch you are and He’ll understand.”
Connie slaps Gunther, twice. She says, “I’m doing you all a favor by allowing you all to live here! I suggest you apologize to me, your sisters, and God before all of you are kicked out on the streets! Call the police if you want because it’ll take them ten minutes to get here and five minutes to kill all of you!”
Gunther says, “I’m sorry.”
Talisa whispers, “I have a pop quiz tomorrow.”
Magenta whispers back, “I have three exams tomorrow.”
“Sorry to who,” she says.
While Connie talks to her son, Magenta finds it extremely complicated to sleep. She looks at the half-broken, silver digital alarm clock, which still shows the time. The time is 1 thirty-two A.M. Connie continues to belittle him until 3 twenty-two A.M., then tells Gunther, “Go to bed.”
Chapter 10
Hartman Just Wants Fun
Connie exits the house only for Hartman to enter. Hartman (with a black and white, flannel shirt, black, leather belt, blue jeans, and black steel toe boots) enters Magenta’s room, wakes her up by pouring a cup of hot water on her. She screams, waking Talisa up. Carnation wakes up, petrified. Hartman behaves erratically; he yanks out several of Magenta’s hair strands while twice losing his grip to pull her out of bed by her hair. Gunther wakes up. She holds onto a dresser, but the dresser tilts over.
Hartman drags her by her legs into the hallway as she tries to hold onto the frame of the door. “Get up! Magenta gnashes her teeth and groans after he strikes her thunderously in the back of the head. She rises to her feet where Hartman walks in front, steering her left arm into the direction he wants her to walk.
She follows him into the bathroom and locks the door. Automatically, she cries. It doesn’t cease the abrasive Hartman from unzipping his pants and lowering them.
Gunther, Carnation, and Talisa can hear what’s going on in. The bathroom. It sounds like poor Magenta is being strangled in a bathtub full of water.
Coming from the bathroom, Hartman screams, “You tell anyone and I’ll kill you. Say the magic word.”
“I don’t want,” Magenta says while struggling to breathe.
He grabs her by the neck and positions her face beneath the water for 20 seconds until she panics for necessary oxygen, pounding her arms in the water.
“Say it,” he yells with sarcastic, bleached humor.
The introverted Magenta says a the derogatory form of the “N” word.
Hartman says, “And that’s what your mother is. You tell no one what happened. Now, clean yourself up.”
Chapter 11
Unpopular Magnet
It’s Tuesday. Magenta has a flashback of being in a school hallway and two students following her. She’s never associated herself with them, but they follow her, then greet her and ask her personal questions like, “How do you feel about the police,” “What are your views on religion,” and what do you have a job?” When she tells them to leave her alone, they make racial and religious jokes about her and when she tells the English teacher, the teacher laughs. When she gets exhausted in another flashback at a cafeteria, sitting alone, she mumbles, “God!” One of the same perpetrators yell, “Who said anything about religion?” Many students stare at her. She exits the flashback.
The alarm clock in Magenta’s room wakes everyone up at 6 o’clock in the morning. She’s distressed and doesn’t feel like she had much sleep. It’s as if though she heard oxymorons replaying in her head last night with a televangelist telling her to shut up. Surely, her neighbors heard the echoing raucous.
Magenta was awake an hour ago and is in the bathroom. She now has bluish-green dreadlocks, black eyeliner, black lipstick, black sunglasses that cover her contact lenses, a gold chain with a pendant of a tarantula attached, silk, gold blouse with red, laced, floral designs, a leather, black belt with silver studs, polka dot blue jeans with green dots, three rows of ruffles attached on the thighs and golden studs on the hemlines, and leather, black calf boots.
Magenta positions a nose piercing on her right nostril, which is a silver, hollow circle. She then sprays the aroma of strawberry perfume across her neck and positions the bottle back in a mahogany cabinet. When she hears her mother’s raspy voice yawning, she grabs her black, fleece pea coat, slips it on, zips it up, puts her hood over her head, slips on black, leather gloves, which were sitting on the toilet, and grabs her pulley bag.
Her mother would turn into a venomous snake with legs if she discovered she’s wearing piercings. Forget the piercings. If she discovered that Magenta dyed her hair blue, she’d probably kill her. Magenta just wants to express her own individuality.
She already ate a bowl of cereal and decides to rush out the front door. It’s not as cold outside as it was yesterday. In fact, it’s a lot warmer than yesterday. It’s 60 degrees outside, but there’s still snow on the ground. From her right, she can see a snow angel. From her left, she can see a half built snow man because a teenager is kicking it.
The teenager (wearing a blue winter coat, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes) approaches her after she walks across the street.
He says while speaking English with a Spanish intonation, “You stay ‘round here, Magenta? Maybe we can kick it some time.”
As if Magenta has a mouthful of saltwater in her mouth, she says, “I’ll think about it.”
Magenta has a flashback of when she was 5-years-old. Someone wearing a black beanie, black and green scarf, green trench coat, blue jeans, and black harness boots) covered a rock with snow, then threw it directly at her right eye. She fell on her left side and cried like she got shot with three oxycodone formless bullets.
The flashback ends. Magenta walks down the street and waits on a transit bus. The teenager in the blue winter coat follows her on the crowded bus. After paying to get on the bus, she stands in the front of the bus holding a pole. The pole makes her feel like she paid to stand like a stripper with clothes on. Beside her, the same teenager stands.
He says, “Don’t be like that. You lookin’ good, girl. I was thinkin’ if we can have a lil alone time before class starts if ya know what I mean.”
Magenta responds, “Thats extraordinarily considerate of you, but I’m not interested.”
A group of seven teenagers wearing baggy jeans, sitting down in the back of the bus laugh. Three out of seven of them have dreadlocks. One old lady (with grey hair, a tan, fleece capelet coat, black culotte pants, black tennis shoes, and a walker) in the front chuckles.
As if he’d drink her filthiest bath water, he says, “I love it when you smile…”
Magenta says politely as if she’s speaking to a rude dispatcher while she’s being shot at by gangs, “I’ll smile if you leave.”
A teenager in black dreadlocks at the back of the bus says, “Darius ain’t gettin’ no pussy!”
Darius feels like a prisoner eating his only source of food on a diseased ground mixed with blood, roaches, and urine. Everyone at the back of the bus laughs. Darius gropes her on the buttocks, says, “A pretty lil thang like you ain’t gettin’ away from me.” Once she pushes the stop request cord to her right side, the bus stops, and she immediately walks off. The bus drives off while she looks at her surroundings. She just wanted to get away from the embarrassing moment, but can see a pizzeria and video store across the street beside a supermarket. Behind her, there’s a chain link fence and mud-brick townhouses.
Magenta has a flashback of Hartman wearing a blue shirt on the south side of Chicago while walking with her from a week ago. She remembers before being in Chicago, telling him that he’s wearing gang colors and the times prior he said how dangerous Chicago is and how he doesn’t want to get shot. She exits the flashback.
Directly behind the supermarket is a poetry lounge called, “Relic’s Poetry Club.”
She walks across the street and sees three black cars drive nearby in the parking lot and park in front of the poetry club. One scrawny driver is on his cell phone (with a backwards, black and green camouflage baseball cap, black sunglasses, a blue denim unbuttoned jacket over a black t-shirt, black and green camouflaged pants, and black tennis shoes) and taking multiple pictures of Magenta walking. Two other drivers step outside of their car while holding their cell phones up to their ear. They report Magenta’s whereabouts verbally, but in a soft voice.
Magenta doesn’t know that people are watching her. When she walks in the front door, she spots many people in a seated position laughing at round tables. These tables have white cloths on them. She sees nary a smile on her face in a mirror that’s on the ceiling. More people enter the poetry club and within minutes, it gets crowded to the point where people are standing around the tables as well as sitting on the stage. Good for Magenta that she arrived early to sit on the stage. She’s sitting between a couple and a depressed female. On her right side, there’s a male (in his mid-20s, wearing gold dowry beads) who is kissing a female of the same age with a red bindi. On her right side, there’s a brunette in her mid-30s with long, wavy hair, a red hijab, red lips, and a black bindi.
The crowd cheers as the neon lights of all the colors of the rainbow dim. The suave host with black waves and brown eyes walks on the stage with a black, wool, ascot cap, a black, wool, tuxedo, authentic, silver cufflinks, black, silk dress pants, and leather, black dress shoes.
The host says, “Bonjour. Who’s ready for some poetry? My name is Diego C. Berezka the Third and I am your party host. You know how we do it in the Relic’s Poetry Club! Let’s get this party started! Ladies, gentlemen, and children of all ages, get make some noise for our first poet! All the way from South Central L.A., Aurelia Ariel!”
A flamboyant, Maharashtrian Aurelia (who is on a plant-based diet) has perfectly permed burgundy hair with a hint of bluish-green in the middle, and orange at the tip. She has hazel eyes, heart-shaped lips, and a silver, circular nose piercing. This particular poet is wearing a black, wool, fedora above a black, silk hijab, a tie dye leather, sleeveless, hooded jacket (with neon colors like blue, red, pink, and yellow) over a pink, silk tank top with laced gold floral designs, silver, circular bellybutton piercing, burgundy fishnet armbands, gold bangles, gold fingernails, skinny jeans with black and white cow spots, black ankle strap heels with several gold studs embedded on them, and gold toe nails.
A sassy Aurelia walks to the microphone gleefully and says, “I’d love to make it short like shortcuts. And simple like a slice of apple pie, but there’s no cheat sheets while cops eat doughnuts. And these are grownups desperate to lie. Who shot the alphabet? That’s the phonebook. While they sprinkle drugs on the deceased. ‘X’ out the yearbook and overlook. There’s mean crooks with badges claimin’ peace. From North, South, East, and West, I see death like our priests molesting the youth. Make me stronger when I’m out of breath and I’ll keep my word to speak the truth.”
Magenta looks at her cell phone, which rings. It’s her mother calling. She continues to listen to the poem.
Aurelia says, “These seeds are crushed when I can still crush. My morals arrive searching for life. If I speak of this hell, they say, ‘Hush!’ ‘No snitchin’,’ but this cuts like a knife, and I’m split for focusin’ on love. If I date another race, I’m shunned. I’m done standin’ zero steps above. If we both get arrested, we’re stunned while gangs force us to kill each other. We should heal each other if we can. But the world don’t care; they’ll kill your mother. Am I a seedless fatherly man?”
Magenta exits the poetry club after hugging her friend, Aurelia, who pulls at her heartstrings with an utter smile. Magenta whispers, “I told you I’d be here. I gotta get goin’. I’ll catch you later.”
Magenta jolts pass several people while politely saying, “Excuse me.” One bald person who appears to have a bald cap is wearing a tie dye shirt smiles her direction. She rushes out of the door and calls her mother.
Connie says, “I was trying to reach you. Where are you!”
Magenta says as if though she’s using large vocabulary words on a suicide hotline, “You always told me to be an adult, so I’m traveling my way to school.”
With egregious rage, Connie says, “I thought you were taking the school bus up with your brother and sisters. You could get kidnapped! What fuck are you thinking? If I call up to that school and they say you’re not in attendance, you, your brother, and sisters are all getting an ass whoopin’ at school and home. You want to be grown! You be grown by doing what I say and when I say it. You got that.”
Magenta says, “Yes, ma’am.”
As if Magenta ripped a a flip book of her smiling, Connie says, “You can hang up now.”
Magenta ends the phone call.
She takes the transit bus to high school where this time, nobody flirts with her. While Magenta is about to exit the bus, a Pinay brunette in her mid-20s (wearing short, straight hair, a spaghetti top, bluish-green skinny jeans with black polka dot designs, and white tennis shoes) rushes pass her and exits where there’s wiggle room. Magenta just steps off the bus and the bus drives off.
A male (wearing a black beanie over a black durag, wool, brown shearling coat, blue jeans, tan work boots, and black polyester gloves) walks toward Magenta.
Like he recently graduated from common knowledge with a throne in mental illness and a black belt in humility, he makes an unfathomable comment, “Stupid.”
Magenta stands still like a stillborn statue and says, “That’s not a nice thing to call yourself.”
The male says as if she failed to whittle one piece of wood one thousand times and called it a second chance, “I’m looking at you. Next time you undress me with you bedroom eyes, you come at my place. Bye stupid.”
The male walks away with two female friends, giggling. One of the females is wearing revealing clothing as if though a male therapist hypnotized her to suck his hairy 8-inch dirt-free penis pass a fifth session. The anonymous long, frizzy, red-haired woman is wearing a silk turquoise crop top, a black ouija board tattoo on her right wrist, a horizontal, awning stripe black and burgundy pencil skirt, and tennis shoes. The other woman with a black afro is wearing a purple velvet sun dress with black, purple, and gold paisley patterns and high, black, leather heels. One blond woman from Flint, Michigan (with a black, velvet cowboy hat, black sunglasses covering her asymmetrical eyes where her right, somewhat reddish protruding eye is larger, a black, leather cowboy vest over a tan dress shirt, black, leather chap pants over blue jeans, and black, leather cowboy boots) approaches Magenta.
The blond woman says, “Leave her alone!”
He turns around and smirks as if he finished singing a Christmas carol in front of a Jehovah’s Witness house.
“Don’t mind him,” she says with a cordial smile, “Donté is a stuck up freeloader who lives off his grandparents multimillion dollar oops money.”
Sounding like a sheltered woman, Magenta says, “Oops money doesn’t sound too bad.”
The blonde says, “His family has enough money to murder a cop at gun point and get away scot-free. I’ve had my share of misery with him. Trust me. He’s not a very good person when you get to know him. I’m Harlow.”
Magenta says, “Magenta.”
Harlow says, “That’s your real name?”
Magenta says, “It’s on my birth certificate that my mother never showed me. Yes, that’s my real name.”
Harlow says, “I’ve seen you in lunch. How come you don’t ever stop by and say anything?”
Magenta says, “I’m not a conformist.”
Harlow says, “Excuse me! The way you’re dressed now says that you’re really different from everyone else. Go back to mama juju.”
A bald person near a red brick wall full of graffiti art (wearing a surgical mask, a black, polyester windproof, waterproof, hooded winter coat, tattered blue jeans, and black tennis shoes) places a transparent 20 ounce plastic bottle of a putrid homemade stink bomb on the grassy terrains, which makes a tumultuous crowd of students to either leave the school premises or head inside. The bottle consists of 25 matches with their heads cut off, 2 tablespoons of household ammonia, mixed ingredients, 4 days worth of uncapping, and an uncapped smell for Mother Nature. There’s another stink bomb with cat fur and sparkler powder on a newspaper. Rubber bands are used to wrap around the rolled up newspaper and a sparkler stick is used to cut inside the end of the newspaper and lit on fire. More students run away.
Magenta walks away with her pulley bag and slips on her earphones. While she’s listening to a podcast station, “Breaking News” shows up where an anchorwoman talks about a 9-year-old male who ruptured her blood vessels from weightlifting in his father’s basement as well as a 67-year-old female who was shot in the back of the head while standing at a subway train station. The elderly woman fell on the train tracks, got electrocuted, and ran over somewhat like roadkill. After listening to the gratuitous violence, her playlist plays as she walks into a crowded hallway.
Some of the students are wandering around the hallway while many are opening their lockers and talking. That doesn’t stop Magenta from getting pass the strangers like a germaphobe on a sweaty elliptical machine with a face that looks like she was raped by fun-sized Santa Claus after he through punches like an epileptic hobo on a 10 foot crimson pogo stick.
Mr. Kawani (the rotund school principal with a quiff hairstyle, hazel eyes, a pear-shaped face, and ocean blue eyes) is having an animated conversation with (Ms. Jong), a Linguistics teacher nearby, who practices Babism. He’s wearing an immaculate, black business suit silver, square cuff links, a rare cologne, a silver watch, and black dress shoes.
Mr. Kawani gives Magenta a familiar look like he’s her neighbor. The last time Magenta saw her neighbor was a couple of days ago when she was exiting the house to run errands for her mother. She waved at her male neighbor in his early 30s as he was getting in a black convertible sports car with his 5-year-old-son (who has a camouflage book bag). She takes a 45 minute train ride downtown, two transit buses North, (which takes her 22 minutes in full, arrives to a mall, only to see her neighbor in the parking lot from 5 yardsticks away saying, “I could’ve drove you there!”
After she exits the flashback, the principal says to her, “Two steps to my right and look at whom we have here. Our very own straight “A” student, Magenta. Just like your father who was valedictorian, I see a bright future on you. I was just walking down the auditorium and saw a stippling portrait you drew…”
The principal just babbles so much like it’s a foreign alien language.
One anonymous student says across the hallway to another, “How y’all livin’? Another student removes his blue winter coat and yells across the hallway to another student, “Sometimes, you make me wanna cheat on your mother.”
“Language,” the principal says, then brings his attention back to Magenta.
Magenta says, “I should be…”
Ms. Jong says, “Cowabunga! You’re my favorite student.”
“You’re just saying that. You don’t have to…”
Ms. Jong says, “No. Really.”
A random mulatto student (with a milk-white durag, milk-white headphones, a milk-white t-shirt with a famous rapper on it, sagging blue jeans, and milk-white tennis shoes) approaches Ms. Jong and says, “I thought you said I was your favorite student last year. I take ambitious pride in my school curriculum.”
Ms. Jong freezes in light embarrassment and jokingly says, “I love all of my students. What can I say?”
The student says with a smile, “Lies.”
Magenta makes a phony smile and says softly, “I’ll see you in Linguistics class. Bye.”
Mr. Kawani and Ms. Jong says simultaneously, “Bye!”
Magenta walks away and looks at the diversity of raucous students crowding many blue lockers. She finally sees her locker, which says, “202 W,” but there’s an interracial couple kissing in front of her locker. She says, “Excuse me. My locker is here” and they continuously kiss as if though she doesn’t exist. The African with a medium length black, flat top haircut American (wearing a black, fleece, hooded jacket over a light grey t-shirt, emerald green pants with a silver pocket chain and a skull pendant on both sides, and the latest brand name, black snakeskin tennis shoes directly from the thrift store) smacks the Caucasian woman’s petite butt (who is wearing a black, silk blouse and a silk broomstick skirt, which covers up her blue jeans, black knee-high, velvet boots. The couple hold one another’s hand firmly and walk away together.
She looks at the silver padlock, twists it to open it, but to no avail. Crimety! She forgot her padlock password. After sighing, she sees the principal walk by. Fortunate enough, she remembers the password like a backwards whooping and unlocks the padlock, then opens her locker after setting the four correct combinations. A female on the right side of her, with a auburn, frizzy hair black lipstick, and a curvaceous body open her locker. Magenta looks at the female who has a violet, velveteen sweatshirt with a crescent moon design on it along with sliver studs, a plaid, black and violet mini-skirt over red jeans, and black, leather combat boots.
She unzips her pulley bag, removes her “Linguistics” textbook from it, then places the bag inside the locker. Then, she grabs a blue binder and three sharpened number 2 pencils and a silver pencil sharpener.
A female voice with an Irish accent on the opposite side of the hall shouts, “Heads up!”
When Magenta darts her head around, a wet, brown, crumbled piece of paper strikes her in the face. She’s pilloried by students. One blond male (with a short crew cut hairstyle) walks by saying, “It’s piss!”
A debonair male with a (fifties gelled black, pompadour hairstyle, a white t-shirt under a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and tennis shoes) refrains from laughing. He snaps his fingers and everyone stops laughing. The male with the rebellious look says, “What’s your name?”
Magenta says, “Magenta.”
Like an amateur boxer that would tap out in a boxing match, he says, “For now on, you all don’t pick on Magenta or you’ll have to go through me! You got that.
The female with the Irish accent and green eyes comments as if her girlfriend got lost in a wardrobe full of expensive fur coats, “Why should we listen to you, cock Fucker!”
The male says, “Ya, got any smog in the noggin’ up there, aye! Huh, Kiara?”
The freckled Kiara with the Irish accent (wearing orange, shirt, wavy hair, a black blouse, bluish-green jeans, and light grey shoes), says, “Why are you always killin’ the buzz! This isn’t the nineteen fifties anymore. Fix your hair. What’s up with your shoes? Looks like you’ve worn those bad boys for donkey years!”
He says, “These old things. You mean my Earth pads. They cost more than your wig chop. I know I’m a flutter bum and all, but you don’t have to…”
She says, “Whisht! You’re a bum alright! I can pay any male I know to split your wig faster than you can bat an eye. Do you know who I am? I’ll marmalade ya!”
He responds, “Cool it! Your parents work for mine, toots. I can buy your ass with an inventory scanner. I’m cranked. I’m on cloud nine, right about now.”
The colleen leaves after saying, “Fair play. Let’s bounce girls.” Five teenagers leave the scene with her.
A male in the hallway smacks the 50s rebellious man in the back of the head as students laugh. Another student says, “Such a dweeb.”
Everyone laughs at Magenta and the person who stood up for her, including teachers watching. Magenta stares directly at Ms. Jong and once Ms. Jong notices, her laughter abruptly stops.
Magenta says to the male with the gelled pompadour hair, “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
The male says, “My name’s Maurice by the way. My parents aren’t really well-off. I just made that part up to ward off Kiara.”
Magenta says, “I understand. Thirty seconds until the bell rings. I can’t be late for class.”
Maurice says, “Wait!”
Nearby a muscular male in the hallway (wearing a gold and blue turban, a black overshirt, blue jeans, and gold sandals), there’s a blond female with amber eyes who has two long braids wrapped around her two buns, which are on the right and left side. Walking behind them is a big-bellied male (wearing a milk-white, denim chambray with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a green tribal tattoo on his right and left wrist, blue jeans, and milk-white tennis shoes) half-speaking in Spanish to a scrawny friend (wearing bifocal glasses, a green basketball jersey, blue, baggy jeans, and black shoes) about how a female was ugly, but he had sexual intercourse with her anyway.
Magenta rushes to class and makes it inside just in time before the bell rings. Once she sits down in the back of the classroom on the far right side, someone sitting behind her (wearing a blue bandana, a blue, denim jacket, black jeans, and and black tennis shoes) throws a crumbled up piece of paper at her. Several students have their heads down with their eyes locked on their cell phones. Another student in the front of the class (wearing a gold tiara with diamonds) on the far right turns around in her seat and rolls her eyes at Magenta while Ms. Jong is writing on a whiteboard with a dry erase, red marker. One male student (with a bald head, a black t-shirt twice his size, blue, baggy jeans, and black and white tennis shoes) is holding a silver laser pen, where a bright, red light flashes out at the point. The male flashes the light at the female with a gold tiara. Thus, the female shields her eyes with her hands and turning her face the opposite direction.
Just a couple of minutes until “Linguistics” class is over, her brother, Gunther can be heard shouting profanity while running down the hallway. Two security guards are chasing him, but Gunther is so far ahead of the security guards, that he has time to look in the window, waving at Magenta. The entire class laughs. The female student wearing a tiara says, “Is that your brother?” All of the students except Magenta rise up to look out of the window like it’s a carnival act as Gunther continues running down the hallway like a nonstop motor. They ridicule him with name calling, imitating his running, and smile like they’re superior. Ms. Jong says, “Class is still in session. Everyone, sit down.”
Magenta just has her head lowered in shame as a reserved male student (with a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes) at her bosoms. Bringing up that she skipped three grades won’t give her cool points. “Why’s your brother running down the hallway,” the female with the tiara asks as if though she deserves an answer. The bald student holding the laser pen says, “Because he’s retarded.” Another male student with a scrawny and eyeglasses says, “Your brother’s cool.” A female student says, “He’s a thug. Why can’t you be more like your brother? You have no emotion. You better not ever go to prison or they’ll be foggin’ up your glasses.” “She’s wearing contact lenses,” the female with a tiara says. The other female responds, “You can’t wear contacts in the prisons ‘round here. You have to wear glasses and those do you no good in fights if your eyesight is already bad.” All of the students laugh at Magenta.
“Shut up, Shanice. You ain’t had no pussy in a week,” a male with a black and red, flannel shirt, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes says to the female wearing a tiara.
Shanice says, “I know you ain’t talkin’, lookin’ like the poor, midget one-eyed crack debt collector. Magenta wears five shirts less than you and she only wears the same four shirts. You ain’t got no green. She’s been wearing the same damn shoes for five straight years. Brush your damn teeth like your mother should’ve told you. Tell me, what type of ladies you gettin’ with them fucked up teeth, huh?”
He’s speechless.
Shanice says, “That’s what I thought.”
He finally speaks up, saying, “Don’t tell me you blew off your mother’s college fund with that dirty ass tiara that’s dunking up the place. I see lice in your hair and you, girlfriend. You need a face over.”
Several students say, “Damn!”
Shanice says, “Have you looked in the mirror lately? You couldn’t get laid if a traffic full of hookers had a fuck me harder contest and they all put you on a waiting list.”
He responds, “Ask your mother.”
Shanice says, “My mother died nineteen years ago on the same date you were born. She couldn’t take living in the same world as a fake nigga like you.”
He says, “Maybe it’s because your fat ass momma got laid by my pops and she couldn’t handle the dick I was givin’ her when I popped out!”
Shanice says, “You a lame, nigga. I’ve never seen you around anyone in lunch. Maybe my mom took overdose pills, but out came the whitest black crackhead like you. By a show of hands, if anyone saw Terrell with any bitches, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Nobody says anything.
After “Linguistics” class, the bell rings and Magenta is the last student to walk out of class. Ms. Jong says, “Till next time. Bye.” Magenta turns her head around and waves goodbye with an exhausted look on her face. An androgynous person runs pass her wearing all black attire.
Kiara walks behind Magenta and slaps the back of her head after putting lotion on her palm. The bully laughs, pretending like it’s 45-year-old sperm. Maurice then spots Kiara and glares her direction. Many student laugh at Maurice for befriending Kiara.
Maurice says, “Are you ok? Don’t move. I’ll wipe it off.”
He wipes the lotion out of her hair with a handkerchief in his pocket. One male student trips Maurice while he’s walking.
Talisa is following Carnation like a robot, down the corridors, which leads to lunch. Talisa says to Magenta, “I thoroughly loved the Sweet and Sour Pork yesterday. My tray was clean. They’re serving Kung Pao Chicken in lunch today.”
Magenta says, “Make sure there’s no hair in it.”
Talisa chuckles, saying, “I’m not paying for hair in my food!”
There’s a muscular male in the hallway arguing with a chubby male. The muscular male claps his hands together repeatedly, then says, “Don’t get yourself knocked out! You’re askin’ for it! I’m tellin’ ya now!”
The chubby male says, “You took my side piece and now I’ll take you out!”
Several of the onlookers comment on how gay that sounds. Both of the males get into a scuffle. The crowd shouts. Magenta just passes the crowd with a numb face and heads to “Topology” class after putting her “Linguistics” textbook into her locker and grabbing her “Topology” textbook.
When school is over, Magenta walks outside with her pulley bag. She sees several students get a ride home from school by a parent or legal guardian. One student owned his own car and drove back away from the school premises as if his life is meaningless. At least thirty students walk home while five of them use bicycles. The rest of the students are stuck with the daunting school bus where many arguments and fights get started.
Maurice says, “I think a woman should split the bill between a man if they’re dating. It’s not always a guy’s responsibility. My friend was kind of daring to do that. What about you?”
Magenta says, “I’ve never been in a real relationship, so I wouldn’t know.”
Maurice says, “You’re pulling my leg right now.”
Magenta says, “No. I like both of your legs closed. Thank you though.”
Magenta makes her way home by taking the school bus with Carnation, Talisa, and Gunther. While bus drives, Gunther falls into another male’s lap, who has a blue bandana extended from the right, back pocket of his black jeans. The male says, “I’m gonna whoop yo brother’s ass.”
Other students get involved to say they’ll beat up Gunther. A random person in the front of the bus asks Magenta if she knows how to fight. Another person screams in Magenta’s ear with utter laughter, being the loudest of the students laughing. Magenta says that she doesn’t want to fight, but the rumor spreads to the back of the bus, where Gunther is. Once the bus stops, all of the students step off the bus. Magenta walks home while someone yells, “Magenta’s running!” Gunther grabs out his house keys when five students surround him. They all strike him simultaneously and stomp on him. The crowd laughs. Talisa and Carnation walks away while the fight proceeds. A cable technician stops the fight by stepping in front of Gunther and yelling, “Get the fuck outta here!”
Chapter 12
Gunther’s Schizophrenia is Acting Up!
It’s 7:00 P.M.
Gunther says, “There were five guys an… and none of you all helped me. I could’ve gotten a couple of punches in on them if one of you all jumped in to help. There will be dire consequences.”
A wretched Magenta says, “I’m a woman.”
Gunther says, “No. You’re family! You want equality! You help me fight off the bad guys! I have balls, but you have breasts. You could’ve showed your breasts to distract them.”
Magenta has a change of clothing with a plain, white t-shirt, grey sweatpants, and white tennis shoes. Her bluish green dreadlocks and jewelry is nowhere to be found. Now, she has, curly, black hair.
Magenta says, “I wouldn’t do that. The legal ramifications for that would be incomparably extravagant. Our father should’ve taught you about the adequate amount of respect for women.
Gunther stutters, “Wh… wh… why? Women always pre… pretend like they don’t want men to ha… have sex with them. They fear strait jackets.”
Talisa says, “Shut up.”
Gunther punches Talisa in the stomach, then on the right side of the cheek. Talisa develops a bruise. Carnation rushes into the kitchen to tell Connie about what Gunther recently did, but Connie says, “He’s your brother. He’ll grow out of it. While you’re at it, tell Magenta to keep a lookout on the mailman tomorrow. He may or may not ring the doorbell, which is sad. I’ll be home later to pick you all up, so we can go to the video store. Should I get some goodies?”
Carnation says, “I’m not hungry.”
Connie says, “Good because I’m not cooking dinner. Your stomach is as big as a duplex and you head in the kitchen every five minutes. Just eat up everything.”
Magenta walks near the kitchen and says to Connie, “Mom, I need to…”
Connie ignores Magenta to answer a ringing phone, “Hello. No. What’s up, boy!”
Talisa whispers to Magenta, “Again.”
Connie rolls her eyes, then says, “What do you want, Magenta! Since you’re out here, you can be waiting on the mailman tomorrow morning. He may or may not ring the doorbell. He should and I’m going to have to send in another complaint. Set your phone to remind you to look for the mailman. They just have one job! Damn! Is it Friday?”
Magenta says, “Yes.”
While Gunther is busy hogging the video game for two hours and counting, Magenta is studying in her bedroom room alone.
Connie leaves the house and 28 seconds after the door shuts, Gunther tackles Magenta to the floor while she was reading a book. He mounts her, punches her in the ribs several times. She groans while trying to breathe. Magenta looks at Gunther and she can see a lump on the right side of his head. Gunther then punches her in the face. Thus, she has a bloody lip on the left side he rises chokes her with both hands, saying, “Say it! God can’t save you! I am God! Say it!”
Talisa and Carnation just stand by as she finds the strength to roll her body over to where she mounts him. She uses her right knee to launch at his groin, then runs away into the bathroom. She locks the bathroom door and hides in the shower. The cheap door knob twists rapidly. She hears yelling, “I’m gonna kill you!” Gunther opens the door and the look on Magenta’s surprised face is priceless. Connie returns home saying, “What the hell’s going on?”
Gunther rushes into the bathroom to strangle Magenta as she screams. Connie rushes into the bathroom to say, “Get the fuck off of her! Now!”
Gunther removes his hands from Magenta and says, “Magenta said she was a woman and that’s why she didn’t help me fight off those people!”
Connie says, “You can’t do this in the hood where I grew up. They don’t give a damn if you have schizophrenia. You run up into someone’s face today and punch them in the face, they’ll grab out a gun. My uncle, DeAndre was caught fooling around in the streets selling drugs and he pissed one of the drug dealers off. The drug dealer said, ‘Either you’re going to pay me or I’m gonna kill one of your family members.’ DeAndre never did pay up. All of our family members had to carry guns just in case he was going to go after us. I really wanted to move my mother out that neighborhood because it was horrible out there. Lance will tell you about it. One night, DeAndre’s brother, Xavier said he was hungry and wanted some chicken. My mother bugged him not to go outside, but he did anyway. He was on his way to the restaurant to go get some chicken, just across the street from the gas station where I used to go pick up your father at my old job. The drug dealer shot Xavier 22 times in the head. To this day, my mother will not forgive DeAndre. All because he wanted to run the fucking streets!”
Gunther says, “What’s that have to do with me! I’m not shooting people in the head. People don’t know how angry I can get.”
Connie says, “We all get angry.”
Gunther says, “Not as angry as me.”
12 minutes later and Magenta is standing in the same durable shower listening to a dramatic conversation. Gunther says, “Maybe if Magenta would stay in my rock band, I’d be less angry.”
Connie says, “Magenta. Did you say you wanted to be in Gunther’s rock band?”
Magenta says while shaking, “I was five years-old, mom. I don’t want to do it.”
Connie says, “I went back and forth to hundreds of school meetings for you, Gunther! I’ve went done everything a mother should do. I’ve put clothes on your back…”
By the time it’s thirty minutes later, Gunther says, “I don’t believe in God! I like goth women and I don’t think Satan was such a bad guy! Maybe if people like you didn’t judge him, he wouldn’t be up in everyone’s ass! God knows everything, but wants us to go to hell!”
Connie says, “That’s not true!”
Gunther says, “You’re interrupting me! You said you don’t like it when I interrupt you, but you’re interrupting me! You’re just mad because I have photographic memory.”
Connie says, “But you’re not making any sense. You wanna talk. Talk then. Finish. God gave you a mouth. Use it.”
Gunther says, “I forgot.”
Connie says as if he was caught having public sex at an airport with a skateboard, “Because it wasn’t important.”
Gunther says, “Thats not fair! I have short term memory loss.”
Connie says, “Life isn’t fair. People will judge you based on your disability when you get out on those streets. I won’t be around forever. You can’t g around picking up objects, jumping over counters like an animal, and hitting on people. They will put you in a mental institute and you’ll be a zombie. Write this down! If you have problems remembering, write it down! Do you remember anything I just said?”
Like a dyslexic, deaf stranger, Gunther says, “No! I’m leaving.”
Gunther exits the house in the snowy weather without a coat.
Connie says, “Don’t be like him. You don’t have to ever speak to him again if you don’t want to,” then says to Gunther, “Where are you going without a coat!”
Gunther says before he slams the door shut, “Bye! I miss my real dad! You’re the worst mother ever!”
Chapter 13
A Life Cycle
Saturday
Magenta wakes up and as soon as she walks outside, she’s asked by her mother, “Do you have any dirty clothes?”
Magenta says, “No.”
Connie says, “Every single day, I thank God that all of my children wake up. Do you pray before you go asleep?”
Magenta says, “Yes.”
Connie says, “I got a phone call this morning at around five A.M.. It was Gunther who was over a friend’s house. I don’t know how he remembered my number if he has short term memory, but he just called to tell me how much of a horrible parent I am. Do you think that someone who caters for you, puts clothes on your back, supports you to get an education, and fights for your freedom is a bad parent? Now, he’s saying I’m the reason he can’t get a girlfriend. His girlfriend left because he was always talking about his anger. Everything was his anger. Maybe if he brushed his teeth and put on some deodorant, nobody would say he smells. He’s not ready for a girlfriend. His girlfriend broke up with him.”
Magenta says, “There’s something wrong with him.”
Masquerading like she’s a good person herself, Connie says, “There’s nothing wrong with my son! He needs a miracle. Just pray for him and he’ll be okay. I’m thinking about having him see an exorcist. If you really think there’s something wrong with him, you can get out my house too. I’m traveling to go get your brother and while I do so, you keep your eyes on that mailman. My mother always did say you have to much to say.”
Magenta speaks, “What are…”
Connie’s loud ringing cell phone interrupts Magenta’s speech.
Connie says, “I don’t have time for this. Don’t answer that door for anyone. I don’t care if it’s the president. Just get the mail. You have one job, now.”
Connie’s friend can be heard laughing on because Connie’s phone is on maximum volume. Connie then has an elusive thought and grabs her house keys on the table after looking around the living room for approximately 30 seconds.
Connie says, “Call me if you need me,” then leaves the house answering her cell phone.
While sitting by the living room, mahogany, square table near the balcony window, Magenta uses her cell phone to go on an online dating website. Many men contact her in her inbox and many of them are flirtatious and sexual. Some of them are brief messages like, “Hi. How are you?” One message by someone with the username, “One with Funny” in particular reads, “Hi. Call me silly, but I’m an avid reader as well. My favorite author is…”
She proceeds to read and respond back to his messages for hours while constantly glancing out the window. The mailman still hasn’t arrived. It’s been a bit over 6 hours and now it’s noon. “One with Funny’s” message reads, “When I was 4 months old, my adventurous mother traveled the world with me. I’ve been all across the world, in every city, state, and country, but was too young to know what I was seeing. I grew up living in the same one bedroom apartment with her and slept on the same pillow. It was the definition of no privacy. She kicked me out ‘cuz she favored her new drug dealing boyfriend over me. She died a day later on Christmas. I was only 13 and just a month ago and my grandma allowed me to kick it with her. I don’t get out much because I think about how my mother died.”
Finally, the mail truck arrives in the parking lot. Magenta walks downstairs, from the second floor to the first floor, and opens the front door. In her eyesight, she sees the mailman walking away from the door and getting in the truck. When she looks to the right, she sees a brown box that’s approximately 8 inches on all sides. The uncourteous mailman acted like it took studying the Morse code as a visually impaired person just to learn to ring the doorbell, but sadly, a doorbell, he didn’t ring. He drives away from the house, to stop by an apartment complex, just another block away. Magenta carries the box upstairs, shuts the front door, locks it, and texts her mother, “The mailman delivered your box, but never rung the doorbell. I had to rush downstairs when I saw the mail truck and when I got downstairs, he was walking away from the front door.”
Her mother texts her back, “Thank you.”
One with Funny sends another loverly message into her inbox. It’s a poem, which reads: “How my life’s irreversible.
My footsteps are so risible.
I’m an invisible mirror.
If I’m you, you’re reliable.
I’m losing myself, yet loving.
I’m losing myself; go clubbing.
I’m touching the dance floor,
Thinking about you with my phone.
Right or wrong, I’ll sing you a song,
Smiling till our age is well-known.
I’m losing myself, yet loving.
I’m losing my steps; go clubbing.
Hugging my breaths to the music.
Nothing stands between us that’s slick.
Nothing except for your lipstick
On my lips like a lunatic.
Magenta finishes reading the poem and blushes in inevitable bliss, then Carnation enters the living room, soundlessly.
Carnation says, “Why are you always on your cell phone? Who are you texting?”
Magenta says, “I’m examining the fully authorized statements about wild animals. I was reading, “Doctor Queeni’s Queen,” a romance, fiction novel about a doctor named Queeni from Queens, New York, who never went to college, but performed a successful heart surgery on his high school crush. Shortly after, she was arrested, but fled prison to stalk the woman of his dreams, who has a husband and three children. There’s one scene it Queeni mentions that swamp wallabies like to consume seabirds and reptiles? It’s a really good book with twists and turns. After reading ‘Doctor Queeni’s Queen,’ I think of five things I’m thankful for before I go asleep and when I wake up.”
Chapter 14
Hard Work Doesn’t Pay
Sunday
Magenta is applying for multiple, remote volunteer writing, paid internships, and full-time jobs online. She applies for “Video Editing,” “Graphic Design,” “Web Design,” and “Audio Engineering” jobs. Majority of the “Video Editor” jobs are in-house positions that expects people to know how to create animation with updated computer software. Magenta lacks money and can’t afford to travel in another state to work at a startup company just as much as a well-known company. Also, she applies for jobs in her area like “Dishwasher,” “Stocker,” “Cashier,” “Front Desk,” “Bartender,” and “Waitress” jobs. She even applied for a job to be a “Model,” but she received the same regurgitated, depressing, ‘We regret to inform you that our company has decided to move forward with other candidates” message. She’s only an overqualified 16-year-old, so there’s not much to worry about yet.
Outside her bedroom window are two female teenagers scuffling as if they’re bidding against each other over tuberculosis, but are really scuffling over a male gang member in prison. They’re shouting, but Magenta ignores them.
While she steps on the white tiled kitchen floor to open the sienna, mahogany cabinet, her mother, Connie speaks, “I removed all of the cups to give to your grandma. For now on, you’ll be using your own cup. Look to your right. That’s your cup. I don’t know what you do in that room!”
Magenta looks to the right side of the Carrara venato, marbled countertop and sees a small box with the design of a black, novelty, coffee cup in the shape and style of a camera lens. She thanks her mother, opens the box, removes the coffee cup, washes it out with a dish rag, water, and dishwashing liquid, rinses it out, then, then drains the rag. Before aha can fill her cup with cold water, Connie says, “Are you forgetting something?”
Magenta turns off the faucet, sits the empty cup down, picks up the box, and places it into a white, transparent garbage bag. Magenta washes her hands, then finally takes a drink of water. The maintenance guy is coming up today to fix that heater in your room. There’s so much going on. And your grandma should be stopping by next week to watch some movies. I have a list on the different movies we can watch, but I lost it. What movies you want from the video store?”
Magenta shrugs her shoulders and says, “I don’t know.”
Connie says, “You should wear your glasses more often.” Wear your glasses.”
Magenta heads to her bedroom, but once she steps inside, she sees Gunther sitting on her daybed.
Gunther says, “I’m glad you could make it to the meeting, Magenta. Please, sit down.”
Magenta says, “It’s my room. What are you talking about?”
Gunther says, “I was thinking about some lyrics I can write for my next song. Tell me what you think. Here’s the first one. I can see you looking at my basement eyes.”
Magenta says, “You mean bedroom eyes.”
Gunther says, “Clever, right? Everyone’s using bedroom, but not me because I’m different.”
Magenta attempts to add pizzazz to Gunther’s lyrics, “It doesn’t sound catchy. How about honeymoon eyes?”
Gunther says, “No. Honeymoon eyes? That needs work. Thats where you’re wrong. Basement eyes can be the next big hit. It’s powerful just like my last quote I said to my ex. I said you’re like tasting chocolate for the first time. It’s bigger than anything you can possibly think of. I’m proud of my quote. I’ve been working on it for over a year now. I’m going to add that to my novel that I’m working on.”
Magenta says, “That sounds great.”
Gunther says, “I know it does. Do you know why it sounds great? I’ve accomplished so much…”
Gunther continuously talks for over two hours straight and whenever Magenta speaks, Gunther says things like, “I’m talking,” “You’re interrupting,” and “I don’t want to hear that.” It finally gets to the moment where Gunther gets silent in his speech because he’s practically talking to himself now. Magenta speaks, “That sounds inordinately commercialized. I have to get ready for school tomorrow. I can’t condone…”
Gunther interrupts her, saying, “What’d you say? I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening. My mind went blank. Do you want to help me write lyrics. We can be a team. It’d be an unstoppable band. It’d be better than…”
Magenta frowns.
Gunther names some of the greatest bands of all time only to belittle them, then says, “My dad doesn’t support my lyrics. I’ll show his ass. We can both show him what real music is. He’s too old to understand. Old people are always listening to old people music. He listens to jazz, house music, and soul, but maybe if he listened to dubstep more, he’d live longer. Why are you frowning? I just wanted to comfort you because you’re always to yourself. Maybe if you smile more, you can have a boyfriend. I’m giving you relationship advice right now. That’s another thing I just helped you with. Hartman should clean up around the house more. I found dirty belongings in the dishwasher.”
Magenta nods her head up and down as if Gunther cleans the dishes when it’s his turn for the week.
Gunther says, “Sometimes, you make me feel suicidal. It’s your choice of words. You need to smile more and stop looking like a dork. I have girlfriend. Why can’t you get with anyone. People say I have a mental disability, but I’ve been proving them wrong for years. I’m very intelligent. I’m the most intelligent person I know. I want to die sometimes because nobody wants to talk to me. Maybe I’ll slit my wrist or kill my mom. If there’s one thing I’m afraid of, it’s pain. I don’t want to feel pain when I’m dead, but I’m okay with getting hit by a train or shot in the head.”
Magenta says, “Maybe it’s because you’re always angry.”
Gunther says, “I’m angry because nobody knows how angry I can get.”
Magenta says, “And why are you angry?”
Gunther says, “Repeat that.”
Magenta says, “Why are you angry?”
Gunther, unable to articulate his feelings, says, “Because I can be! Nobody else can get as angry as me!”
Gunther strikes Magenta in the sternum with his right fist. She gasps for air while on the floor. Thus, when she rises up with a frown, she’s shaking in rage.
Gunther yells, “Do something! That’s right! You’re a bitch because you can’t get as angry as me! Four eyes!”
Talisa walks in the room and says, “Mom said she’s downstairs. She brought grandma and need us to help her with the groceries.”
Gunther says in anger, “She said grandma would come next week! It’s okay. Grandma’s the nicest person in the family. I can ask her questions for my book.”
Carnation follows Talisa into the living room. Talissa says, “Coming?”
Magenta and Gunther exits the bedroom.
After they carry many items (like bags of frozen pineapple slices, frozen strawberries, frozen, tart cherries, frozen berries, oranges, dainty apples, watermelon, avocados, beets, spinach, carrots, broccoli, hamburger patties, hamburger buns, two 12 packs of beer, shavers, deodorant, beets, 12 bars of soap, a spider plant in a black, ceramic garden pot, ten containers with 5 gallons of pure water, and 2 containers of distilled water) from the rented red car, parked outside to the house, Magenta rests on a chair in the living room. Carnation locks the front door. Then, grandma hugs everyone.
Connie says, “I have the popcorn ready and everything, so now we can just get right to watching movies.”
Grandma says, “How are you, Magenta?”
As if that question is supposed to represent, ‘Are you happy,” Magenta says, “Good.”
Grandma says, “Thats good.”
Magenta asks, “How are you?”
Grandma says with laughter, “I can’t say in public.”
Gunther says, “Don’t be like that. You’re with family. You can say anything.”
Carnation says, “Yeah! Tell us, granny!”
Grandma says, “Don’t call me granny. I feel old, now. Sixty-seven is still young to me.”
Magenta says, “I wish you a speedy recovery.”
“I don’t do wishing, but thank you for your concern,” grandma says.
Grandma talks for approximately three hours about topics like the weather, online videos about healthy eating and not taking the mark of the beast, grocery shopping, relatives, the lavish lifestyles of celebrities, and pipe dreams with Connie.
Finally, Connie inserts a movie into the DVD player and the projector flashes a bright light on the plaster, white wall, showing two lesbians snogging in a light green tent with their bras and panties. Magenta eyes at the trailer as her mother hands her a bowl of popcorn that she has to share with Carnation, Talisa, and Gunther. Magenta refrains from screaming with words that can only tell the world that families are regressing towards puberty. Great! Connie fast forwards the lesbian scene in a movie trailer and says, “They always wanna include all this LGBT mess in movies. Now, they’re trying to teach kids as little as 4 about accepting gays. They wanted equality. Damn it! Leave the kids alone!”
Grandma says, “Gracious me! Lord had mercy! God is coming for these folks!”
Connie skips through all of the movie trailers, then presses the play button on the remote control. Just 20 seconds during the movie, Connie’s cell phone rings. She answers it. The movie pauses on when a pyramid with the Eye of Horus in the middle. Connie rambles, then ends the phone call, saying, “This some weird crap. You wanna fast-forward?” She fast-forwards the movie and sees a woman put her hand over her right eye. That’s enough imagery for Connie to complain, but not turn off the movie.
Magenta watches her mother rewind the movie to press play. Connie says, “I’m scared,” sarcastically. Knowing that Connie supposedly hates horror, it’s odd that she’d say that. Connie and grandma talks throughout the entire movie by telling jokes, saying what the characters should do, talking about their relatives, and pausing at noticeable demonic scenes just to lecture Magenta, Carnation, Talisa, and Gunther. It was a tragedy in the making.
Once the movie ends, Connie inserts another movie just to yap throughout it with grandma. Needless to say, there was indeed major interruptions where Connie paused the movie like bathroom breaks, a minimum of hour long phone calls, cooking, and more. They watch approximately 4 movies, but where’s Hartman?
Meanwhile, Hartman is actually flirting with men at a gay club. That’s right. He’s bisexual.
Chapter 15
An Awakening
Monday
It’s 2:48 A.M. Magenta wakes up to the sound of Hartman opening the front door. Hartman enters the living room after locking the door, then grandma startles him, saying, “What in the squeegee dick are you doin’ up?”
Hartman says, “Sorry, Misses Slays. Can you keep it down?”
Grandma says, “I never did like your broke ass. Why can’t you just get a damn job, so my daughter’s children aren’t influenced by your mother’s genes?”
A loud person outside yells, “You’re a fun-size nigga lookin’ ass boy.”
Magenta grabs her laptop and places it on her daybed. She researches the latest news as it relates to pop culture, only to find out that (Nisha Moribund) a red-haired, freckled, goth, pornographic actress with green eyes is being offered a multimillion dollar contract to star in an action movie. When Magenta looks at the comment section, various usernames show their disgust while others show a sexual interest. Some of the negative comments are, “She ain’t very smart. That’s why she was a porn star,” “Hoes out here winnin’, bruh,” and “First, Slim Barbarian and then her.” The former porn star has a smile of stretched liberty.
After Hartman enters Connie’s room to close the door, the silver, digital alarm clock on the table in front of her turns to 3:00 A.M.. She tries falling back asleep, but struggles doing so due to hearing heavy breathing coming from her closet. It has to be a living person like her grandmother, but her grandmother never snores. Perhaps her grandmother is dying, but is struggling for air. It can’t be a television in another room or rats in the building. It’s the sound of active breathing coming directly from the closet.
Magenta shuts her eyes anyway. It’s around thirty minutes later, it gets to the point where eventually, she tries to open her eyes, but she can’t. She lacks the strength to move her limbs, but can only move her fingers and toes less than an inch away. She tries to open her eyes, but can’t, then in a vision with darkness in the background, there’s a demon crawling towards her. She screams, but although Talisa is sleeping in the same room on another bed, nobody in the house hears her. The demon sits on top of her.
Magenta instinctively, repeatedly says, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!”
The demon leaves from her sight. She continues to try to move her limbs, but her body takes time to function completely. Eventually, she’s able to tilt her body out of the daybed to fully wake herself up. She land on her knees on the floor and is awake, but in front of her is the same demon. It was real. It was beyond verisimilitude. The demon vanishes in front of her near the television. When she darts her head at the digital alarm clock, it reads, 3:33 A.M.. Talisa is still asleep.
Magenta rises to her feet and sits in an upright position on the daybed. She reads her Bible, reading in her head, Psalms 91: 1 through 16. Then, she prays and heads back asleep in a supine position. When she wakes ups at 5:00 A.M., she asks Talisa if she couldn’t sleep last night. Talisa replies, “I got my sleep in. A princess like me has to rest. I dreamt of marrying my middle school sweetheart. He’s ugly now. If you need me, I’ll be exfoliating my face in the nearest restroom.”
Magenta says, “Well, I’ll be!”
Talisa says, “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Magenta says, “It’s just the clamorous gangs outside. You sleep like a brown bat. Brown bats sleep for over 19 hours per day.”
Talisa says, “You learn something every day.”
Magenta says, “I’ll be testing out my coil gun before I get ready.”
Magenta opens the top drawer of her dresser to grab a coil gun and plays with it while Gunther opens his bedroom door. She even grabs a Science magazine with numerous diagrams and pictures inside as it relates to newly discovered chemicals in the past several years. A schematics poster is attached to the magazine with the periodic table. On top of her dresser is a Bunsen burner, a white microscope, wormlike substances in a sealable plastic bag, powder-free, white, transparent, rubber gloves in a sealable plastic bag, and a thermometer in an unopened box beside a calendar. Carnation walks in Magenta’s room and says, “I can’t stand Gunther. I’ll take my mother’s beating if it means never to see him again. He’s so frustrating.”
Magenta says, “I know the feeling. You have a point there.” Say, you wouldn’t happen to hear anything out of the ordinary earlier, would you?”
Carnation sighs, making an abominable comment, “Everything Gunther does is out of the ordinary. I woke up at midnight and caught him masturbating to a photo of grandma’s sister.”
Magenta’s jaw drops, then she says, “You have to tell somebody.”
Carnation says, “Gunther will kill me.”
Magenta says, “Hold that thought. I have to put in my contact lenses.”
Magenta heads to the bathroom with her contact lens case, then when she holds her right contact lens up, Connie barges into the bathroom without the courtesy of knocking. Thus, the right contact lens slips out of her right index finger and falls to the white tiled floor. Connie walks in the bathroom, just one inch away from stepping on her right contact lens, to reach for a bottle of lotion that’s on the sink. When Connie exits the bathroom and shuts the door, Magenta washes her hands, dries her hands on white paper towels, picks up her right contact lens, cleans it off with contact lens solution, and places it on her right eye. She places her left contact lens on her left eye as well.
Magenta can see clearly now. She opens the bathroom door and sees Hartman raising his fist at her mother’s face. Hartman is furious.
Connie says, “If you’re gonna hit me, hit me! I’m tired! You’d be no different than all my other boyfriends! Hit me! That’s why you have a little dick!”
Hartman makes an indelible impact by striking Connie on the right side of the face like he’s an overly paid Hollywood mogul in a mafia. On the way down to the floor, she knocks over an brown ceramic bowl of salad, which has nutritional yeast, olives, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, sliced apples, croutons, spinach, and salad dressing. The ceramic bowl breaks. Connie develops a black eye after falling to the floor near the living room couch.
Magenta returns to her bedroom as if nothing happened. She overhears her sister, Talisa knocking on the bathroom door, saying, “Are you almost done! I have to get in there!”
Carnation says while applying makeup on her face, “Just a minute!”
Chapter 16
The Laughable
At 8:15 A.M., Magenta (wearing a dark brown, silk blouse with ruffles on each end of the sleeve, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes) walks in the hallway and sees many students rushing one direction toward the cafeteria. The students are shouting with cheers, laughter, and inspirational sound effects, adding to the wow factor of the fight. An uninterested Magenta continues walking, then sees Harlow wearing a black, sweetheart neckline top, a velvet, pencil skirt with leopard spots, and yellow tennis shoes.
Harlow approaches her, “Your brother just got into another fight!”
Magenta’s worried about if her brother’s safety or what students will say to her after the fight. She’s worried that the students may try to assault her as revenge for her brother’s actions, but doesn’t want to look at the fight. Several police officers run toward the cafeteria. “Damn,” several students say. Many students walk away from the fight and a nonviolent Magenta hears someone say, “Your brother whooped his ass! He was doin’ the damn thang! He molly whopped, Denice’s main man, then tackled him to the ground and came in with rights and lefts.” Tyrone has a black, bald fade haircut, a blue bandana wrapped around his head, an oversized black t-shirt with baggy blue jeans, and blue tennis shoes, says, “Your brother has heart. Tell him I said that. You, on the other hand is a bitch! My homeboy had to kill his cuz to get initiated in a gang. What have you done?”
Magenta says, “I’m a jack of all trades.”
Harlow says, “What she means is she’s not interested in fast money, fast cars, and fast bitches like you.”
He says, “It’s whateva, nigga. I be hustlin’. You can manage your own retirement by makin’ good investments if you want, but down here, the odds of you living to be sixty-five is one out of five people. I blew sixteen grand on these kicks right here. Know what I’m sayin’? This ain’t even the hood and I’m hood rich!”
Magenta says, “Thank you. That’s arguably insightful of you. I’d rather make the right choices in life than to illegally climb the economic ladder as a pseudo human rights activist. I want to be a positive contributor to society and if I ever have children, I’ll teach them to take initiative into doing the right thing.”
Harlow says, “That’s a primary example of a good mother. More power to you. We’re not cuttin’ any corners. I can show you your future. Just show me your friends.”
Kiara, a self entitled female (wearing pink headphones, a silk, purple blouse, black leather pants, and leather, black ankle boots) walks by and says, “Y’all hangin’ with this square?”
As if he has a mouthpiece on, gum got stuck on it, and he ran half of a marathon, he says, “You only live once. Ya’ll just gonna do a brotha like that? I’m married to the game and I always use protection. I’m a circle.”
Then, he leaves, following Kiara down the hall with laughter. Kiara and him clap hands and laugh louder.
Magenta sees someone who says, “On everythang, I smashed that.”
Magenta never had an intimate encounter with the liar in her life. She remains quiet while Harlow says, “You ain’t smashed shit! You still have the same condoms from last year with your dirt cheap ass! You betta gone somewhere!”
Harlow says, “I know you get tired of them bothering you.”
History Class
Mr. Looper says, “Pick a partner you want to talk to about the assignment you did. Chop-chop.”
All of the students find someone to talk to while Magenta sees a scrawny male with glasses, braces, a cotton, green shirt, orange corduroy pants, and white tennis shoes. They talk about the assignment.
Magenta says, “Hi.”
Like a romancer, Mat says, “Even I haven’t done this assignment. Can you help me out really fast? I appreciate it.”
Mr. Looper says, “Hopefully, everyone’s finished their assignment. If you’ve forgotten, that’d be an automatic zero. You can make up for that grade with a pop quiz tomorrow about the five things I can’t live without. That’s your extra credit. Who wants to go first.”
The entire classroom is silent. Nobody raises their hands.
Mr. Looper says, “Either somebody say their poem first or I’ll start picking people. Or this can be a part of your cooperation points. Cooperation is seventy percent of your grade. Magenta… You can go first.”
All of the students laugh as if she was caught for criminal distribution of steroids. Mr. Looper says, “A poem about mathematics and history. This should be great. After I’m finished recording you,” I’m sending it to all of the math teachers.”
Mr. Looper grabs his professional camera, adjusts it to a tripod, then presses the record button. He says, “Action!”
A nervous Magenta is speechless and trembles. She fidgets on her hair with her right index finger.
Mr. Looper says, “Come on now! We don’t have all day!”
A tomboy with a green mohawk and all black attire says, “She can’t read. Them the same clothes she had on last week!”
The classmates laugh at a fallible Magenta. One African American classmate says to Magenta, “Shut yo black ass up!” Another male student attempts to traduce Magenta further than her laughable reputation by yelling, “What are those! Swag!”
The classmates laugh louder as Magenta struggles not to lose her composure. She struggles to say her speech at the behest of Mr. Looper, stuttering with low and high pitch sounds.
5:00 P.M.
Connie says, “I’ve received a phone call from one of your teachers. Do you care to tell me what’s been going on?”
Magenta says, “My history teacher wanted to record me dancing while saying a poem about a historic event as it relates to math. With that information, he was going send the footage to all of the math teachers. I don’t want to look…”
Connie says, “I don’t wanna hear that! If your teacher says do something, you do it! You ain’t goin’ through nothin’!
You’re turning into your brother every day! Damnit! My mother would’ve worn my ass out if I talked to her the way you just did me! Let me tell you something! My teachers would’ve whooped my ass in a dark area if I disobeyed them and my slightest attitude would’ve went on my permanent record. I don’t care if you piss the wrong way, you should be watched. You have to break out of your shell. When you get back to school tomorrow, I want a full page apology letter and you will be reading it in front of your entire class.”
Magenta listens.
Connie says, “Are you listening?”
Magenta says, “I was wrong for allowing my insecurities to get the best of me. I’ll readjust myself my by compartmentalizing my life.”
Connie says, “Compartmentalizing? What the fuck are you talkin’ about! What do you mean?”
Gunther stands behind her and says, “Can I have some grapes.”
“Get ‘em,” Connie says, then mocks his words sarcastically, “Can I have some grapes. Just get some damn grapes! You live here too. You probably was eating grapes while I was grocery shoppin’ anyway. You just wait to have a party when I leave.”
Gunther says, “Whatever! I just wanted some grapes!”
Connie says, “I’ll kick your ass back outside. Don’t raise your voice at me! For that, you don’t get no grapes! Now, go to your room!”
Gunther heads time his room like it’s a punishment when in reality, he stays in his bedroom longer than the average human should in order to gain proper communication skills. He has a speech disorder anyway. Magenta, Carnation, and Talisa stay in their bedroom just as long as Gunther as well and aren’t diagnosed with any mental health issues.
Chapter 17
What Maurice Wants
Tuesday
Magenta (wearing a a wool, turquoise strophion with neon green sandals) walks in the hallway. She sees a male (with a red bandana, black dreadlocks, an oversized red t-shirt, baggy blue jeans, and red tennis shoes) removing a handgun and shotgun from his locker to show his friend.
Maurice walks pass Magenta and greets her by saying, “Hey, dolly. I was pilin’ up some Z’s in English. Don’t worry these cubes out here. What do ya say after school, we take a ride in my rag top and take a visit to the passion pit?”
Magenta makes a lethal comment, “I don’t know.”
Maurice says, “Think about it. It’ll be just us. I’m goin’ ape right now thinkin’ ‘bout it.”
Magenta says, “With all due respect, I’ll pass on that chivalrous offer. I’ll have to think of what I’ll tell my mom and I have to keep my head in textbooks to stay ahead of the class.”
Maurice says, “I’m not a crime enabler like your mother may think. I’m your friend. You’re bein’ a square right now. Is one night of fun really gonna hurt you. I’d like to have a word with your mom to let her know what kind of workhorse her daughter is and that she can spend just a little time having fun.”
“I’m not allowed to have a boyfriend until I have my own place and he meets my parents,” she says.
Maurice says, “Listen. My lil bro was told he wasn’t allowed to have his own house until he got married. It’s a family thang. I get it. I started diving in cologne and manscaping, then bent the rules and I found you.”
Magenta says, “You found me at school where your biological parents wanted you to go. I’m not like others.”
Maurice says, “True, but I found you by being brave enough to stand up for you because I was being myself. I don’t take no for an answer. Wait. Are you with that One with Funny dude you were telling me all ‘bout?”
Like a 40-year-old black tomboy, Magenta says, “First time for everything. Sorry. I’ll catch you later.”
Gunther runs down the hallway passing up Magenta as several students laugh. A brunette Latina (wearing a black, hooded sweater, grey sweatpants, and black tennis shoes) walks by and asks, “Why does your brother run around in the hallway? I think it’s that carton of milk in lunch that gives him energy. Yesterday, he got really impulsive, breathing hard when I just asked him a simple question like.”
The brunette mimics Gunther’s heavy breathing as if she’s a demon. It’s so annoying that it’s like Magenta recently cleaned a transparent fish tank and filled it with fresh water only for the brunette stranger to sneeze in it.
Magenta says, “Contrary to…”
Maurice interrupts as if he’s been her traveling companion for umpteen years, saying, “Her brother is getting his daily jog in.
The brunette walks away after saying, “I knew it.”
A student of black descent (wearing an immaculate, white t-shirt, blue gym shorts, and white tennis shoes) deliberately approaches Magenta, saying, “I be gettin’ your brother mad on purpose just to see what he’ll do next. It be funny as hell. Why don’t you tell him to calm down?”
Now, Magenta is in the dilemma to agree with everything the cool person says or to have some dignity. One with Funny sends a message to Magenta’s inbox. “I miss you.”
Magenta types back, “I miss you too!”
He types back, “I should come visit you some time. I live like an hour away.”
Magenta types back, “Then you could keep me company while I amorously hug you. That’s if you can get pass my family. I’m not allowed to bring boys over the house.”
One with Funny types, “I respect your mother’s wishes, but it’d mean a lot to prove to her the gentleman that I can be.”
Magenta types, “Flattering.”
Chapter 18
Crazy Connie
4:00 P.M.
Back at home, Connie says to Magenta, “You need to get married to God and get your priorities straight. You’re getting older. Soon, you’ll be in your twenties, thirties, then forties. You better think about where you’re gonna stay. Now, when you go to college, then you can get a job. When I was your age, I was married and had two jobs.”
Magenta says, “And if things get bad, I’ll pray.”
Connie sighs and speaks like she got done drinking water out of a brown porta potty, “Girl, people have been praying for over thousands of years and ain’t nothin’ happened. We’ve been waitin’ for the world to end for thousands of years.”
Magenta says, “So you don’t believe in the Bible?”
Connie says as if she switched out of a trance, “God is as real as it gets. Let me tell you something. One time, when I was with Raven. You know, the one that shot herself in the right foot? You don’t have problems like that. One night, I woke up out of bed because I heard God talking to me. You gotta be careful because it can be the devil talkin’ as well. This was when she was spending the night. You were like nine. I heard her fall on the floor in the bathroom, so I opened the bathroom door and called the hospital. I told him that he had to go back to Minnesota where her life insurance is. Had she not gone to Minnesota, she would’ve died and his mother would’ve never gotten a chance to see her before her death. The doctor said she had seven days to live. Do you know she lived for almost two years? The doctors can’t know when someone will die. God controls everything.”
Magenta has her face turned toward Aurora, then asks, “Can I make some fried rice?”
Connie screams at the top of her lungs as if one can hear the financial woes in her voice, “Are you listening? I’m speaking to you! Do that at work and your ass is fired. You’ll see many people like your brother and sisters in the workforce. That’s why when you apply for a cashier position and attend a job interview, they want to know how you’d react if someone tries to rob you. Jasmine was just a sanitation worker. You know what. Fix your damn food. Your lunch ain’t feeding you anything. And walk slow before you trip and bust your head. I ain’t got hospital money. Get right with God. That’s what different celebrities need to do. Selling their souls to the devil.”
Magenta speaks, saying, “I’m…” Then Connie’s cell phone rings.
Connie answers the phone saying, “Yes, I know! I’m working on that, I’m going to have a word with Gunther! Throwing a fire extinguisher at a pregnant woman! He needs to get his shit together! That could’ve hit her and killed the baby. Then, he’d be in prison. People would kill you over their children. Gunther!”
Carnation walks in the living room and says, “Gunther’s in the bathroom.”
Connie nods her head vertically and talks to the person on the phone, “Did you hear about what that woman who donated millions of dollars to Jockerville College?”
Carnation returns to her bedroom, then Connie says to Magenta, “What’s her name? The woman who donated millions to Jockerville College.”
Magenta says, “Ishita Broker who lacked the evolutionary mechanisms without using her body as a sexual object, lives in the parallel economy of Germany. She’s a paleontologist with seven college degrees…”
With ingrained enmity, Connie urgently says, “Thats enough. You should be like her. Giving.”
Magenta says, “In layman’s terms, she sold out to get her money and luxury houses. A molecular brain that functions biannually can have that registered like the life cycle.”
Hypocritical like an augmenting white supremacist white belt with black cats, Connie says, “You can’t be paranoid over everything! Are you going to start up a conversation like that with others?”
Magenta thinks, “I presumably was born on another planet that’s camera shy.”
An hour later, Magenta is in her bedroom on her daybed with Aurora beside her. Her artwork full of realistic city landscapes and portraits on canvases, sketches, charcoal drawings, and more are in an opened closet on the shelf. With the laptop on her lap, she searches the internet, looking up six gang members surrounding a barefooted, reeking, scrawny vagrant with seasonal affective disorder and unkempt hair. The vagrant has a cold, constantly sneezing in the snowy weather. One gang member wearing a blue bandana, which drapes from his back, right pocket steps on an old, rusty crimson convertible vehicle and stomps on the laminated glass of the windshield. He tries the same tactic to a red-orange newer vehicle, but it’s more difficult. The glass on the new vehicle is has gorilla glass between the laminated glass, which gives it compressive strength.
Magenta sneezes on her right shoulder and develops a runny nose. She sneezes on her right shoulder four times, then finishes watching the video. In the video, there’s another gang member and he says to the vagrant, Would you let me rock you for five bucks?” The vagrant thinks about the degrading comment and says, “I can really use five bucks. Make it ten.” The gang members laugh. One gang member responds, “Five. Take it or leave it.”
The vagrant says, “Why not. It’s better than gettin’ jacked up for free.”
Each gang member pummels the petrified, dirt poor individual while he stands. After getting brutally punched in the face several times, losing his equilibrium, and getting punched and stomped on, the vagrant writhes in pain. The daunting event gets worse when blood trickles down his nostrils and onto the hard, unforgiving concrete. With both feet, one gang 126 pound gang member forcefully stomps on the vagrant’s cranium after kicking him directly in the vulnerable right eye, which causes a severe orbital fracture. Blood then leaks from the vagrant’s back of the head creating a massive pile.
The gang member who excessively stomps on the defenseless vagrant’s skull, says, “Bitch ass nigga! I’m a beast! I put that work in! This the motherfuckin’ hood, nigga!” Another gang member says, “This nigga sleep! This is how it is baby!” One gang member steals the vagrant’s light green book bag while another steals his shoes. Unfortunately, the vagrant lacks vindictive behavior from the gratuitous violence.
Magenta watches another video where two women scuffle in a restaurant. One of the women says, “I’ll break ya jaw!” Her red bra slips off from the ongoing pulling on her braids and bra, but she strikes her opponent’s face and body in a repeated fashion. Now, it’s just a woman with revealing breasts scuffling with her opponent while many men laugh in satisfaction. The woman with the braids tackles her petite opponent and strikes her repeatedly in the face, leading several women to try and separate them. One woman watching yells, “Get the fuck off of her!”
Magenta then sees a gruesome livestream of a 16-year-old male teenager molesting a homeless 28-year-old female, then setting her on fire with gasoline and a lighter in the woods. She sees a news article about a 36-year-old male who had consensual sex with a 13-year-old little girl as if he was dated her in another life, but only she got reincarnated. The perverted 36-year-old got arrested. She sees another another article on the internet homepage about a 45-year-old who raped a 6-year-old girl 9 times and was found not guilty.
She messages back an onliner with the username “Ramsey Damsel” in his inbox after reading, “Hey. Is that your original hair color?” She types, “You’re right on the money, sir. Why did you ask me that?” He types back with an evasive response, “I was just curious.”
Magenta gets several inboxes simultaneously. One online user inboxes her a picture of his 18-year old penis while another user harasses her, saying, “Hey. You lookin’ cute. Wanna have sex?” Magenta is used to such messages, but ignores them. She refuses to mention her desire to vomit. When Magenta checks the onliner’s profile page who flirted with her. she sees that he’s married and his wife’s picture looks like she had two morning after pills.
Magenta thinks, “When was the last time anyone said that I looked aggravated. It’s usually them saying I look mad, weird, or crazy.”
Chapter 19
Maxine
1 Week Later
It’s Monday. Magenta is in Philosophy class with a black updo hairstyle, which has a braided wrapping around her scalp, purple lipstick, a purple blouse, black, flared pants with a violet, sequined section from the knees to the hemlines, black, knee-high, leather boots. She has a flashback about how earlier, her mother knocked on her bedroom door to ask her for money, saying, “Can I borrow forty dollars?” Connie smiled in a fashion that’s difficult to smile from and a kindhearted Magenta can’t be mean. Besides, if she was mean, she’d be kicked out the house. Magenta said no words and gave Connie forty dollars. Her flashback switches to later on. Magenta said, “I’m going to need some more batteries.” Connie responded, “You have your own money. Don’t you? You can pay top dollar for those batteries and get yourself some new clothes while you’re at it.” Magenta said, “I don’t have a job. That was my birthday money.” Connie said, “When I was around your age, my best friend didn’t have a birthday. She didn’t live to see the age of fifteen and you’re worried about money. You have it made. You’re spoiled.”
Magenta exits the flashback, looking at the teacher, Ms. Looper as she sits on a stool in the front of the classroom wearing all black attire. Ms. Autonomy has a grey bobcat hairstyle with black, laced Bohemian blouse, an asymmetrical skirt, which draws down to her ankles, and leather knees-high boots. Ms. Autonomy says, “You. I’m sorry. What’s your name? I’m still getting used everyone’s names. I have 6 classes to teach today and this is just my first job.”
A blond lady sitting to the right side of Magenta in the middle row with short, straight hair and braces, says, “Maxine.”
Ms. Looper chuckles and says, “That’s right. Maxine. If you will. Share with us your thesis on the philosophy of religion. If you feel uncomfortable, you can remain discreet.”
Maxine says, “I’m Atheist.”
A brunette with glasses in the back of the classroom sitting on the far left, squints her eyes. There’s a moment of silence throughout the classroom. Magenta turns her head toward Maxine.
Ms. Looper says, “Most people would say that you have to believe you came from somewhere. What’s God to you?”
Maxine says, “I don’t know what God is. God is something we can’t prove. Religion is just one systematic way of controlling society through unrighteous acts for years. I do not need a religion to know the difference between right and wrong. I have my mother to tell me that.”
Ms. Looper says, “Please. Continue.”
Maxine says, “There’s so many churches around the world. There’s many beliefs in Christianity and Islam, but why can’t they all just agree on one thing? The Catholic priests sure don’t feel guilty for what they do to little children.”
Maxine’s comment about Catholic priest’s concupiscence causes a male (with a black undercut hairstyle, white, 3-buttoned dress shirt, black dress pants, and tawny dress shoes) sitting in the front of the class to say, “Let’s hope that nobody Catholic can hear you.”
Everyone except Magenta laughs.
Maxine says, “I guess I’d have to say God is anyone or abstract thing that makes you feel comfortable with yourself. All we have to do is love each other in this world. My mother is my God.”
An exasperated Magenta hears the uproar of nonsensical, dehumanizing disputes on such a sensitive topic. Mucus runs down her right nostril and she asks to rush to the bathroom after gently wiping it off he flesh with a piece of tissue. Magenta is instructed to remain in the classroom.
She has a flashback from when she was 7-years-old (wearing a black, basketball jersey, blue jeans, and black shoes). In her flashback, she sees the scene of herself grabbing a water gun and spraying it at a hung picture of her great grandma. All of the walls are black, except for the milk-white kitchen with a tinge of chicken grease. About an hour later, she walks upstairs alone and sees an apparition of her great grandmother standing in the bathroom. The aspiration is light blue with a chubby figure at about 5 feet and 7 inches tall in height. Magenta stares at the apparition for approximately 5 seconds and runs away. The scene switches to a week later where she’s in an apartment room in the suburbs and sees the same apparition in a different bathroom. Magenta runs away in horror.
She exits the flashback and struggles to refrain from making an outburst.
Harlow, sitting in behind of Magenta receives an alert on her cellphone about an atheist 19-year-old who ran over a 52-year-old man with a convertible car after saying, “There’s no God, so I can do whatever I want.”
Harlow says, “I’m going to have to be the devils advocate. There many atheists who go around and…”
Maxine interrupts, saying as if she accidentally ate a finger in a can of baked beans, in a commissary, “There’s many Christians who go out and murder people as well. You can read all about it when they say, ‘Jesus made me do it.’ They’d blame the devil as well, which is a fictional character. These types of people need to be in mental facilities or executed. I’m not at everyone’s front door trying to save souls or hating on people’s sexual preferences. I can have a radical idea and create my own religion over night like the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I probably know the Bible more than any Christian and once you really read it, it’s highly unflattering.”
Magenta has a flashback from when she was 7-years-old and saw a supposed faith healer in a church. She was saw the faith healer use the same magic trick that she saw on an internet, exposing video. In the flashback, Magenta says, “I know someone else you can help! How about people in the hospital” Most people in the audience grins at her.
Her flashback switches to when she was 8-years-old and in a different church where the pastor uses his hand to cast out demons from a blond, scrawny audience member. Afterwards, a week later, she sees the same person who used to be demon possessed, smoking a cigarette in an alley as she walked beside her mother. Her mother didn’t notice him. The flashback switches to last year when she was job searching online and sees an acting position for the church. The details involved writing a script about how to cast out demons and to act it out. It’s worse like a crisis acting job, but fortunate enough, Magenta refused to apply to that position. She exits the flashback.
When Magenta sneezes seven times in a row with watery eyes, Ms. Looper reacts like a true germaphobe by distancing herself, then saying, “You’re free time leave.”
Harlow says, “I’ll check up on her” and exits the classroom. Once they exit the classroom, Harlow says, “Do you have allergies?”
A sultry Magenta says, “I have seasonal allergies. Me and grass pollen aren’t friends. Sometimes, it’s hard to breathe through my nostrils.”
As if an au pair got robbed and molested before becoming a Black Rights Activist, Harlow frowns.
Harlow says, “It could be asthma. Did you diagnose yourself?”
Magenta says, “You’re right. I did. I have to get it checked out.”
A random student with a bald head bypasses Magenta and says, “You ugly.”
Magenta has another flashback from when she was 7-years-old, seeing an actual exorcism at a church. She sees an 8-year-old girl’s body contort. The girl’s bones twist in places the human body shouldn’t. Even her fingers twist as her head turns backwards. The anonymous girl moans with milk-white eyes. The girl yells, “Fuck Jesus Christ! Fuck you! Fuck you,” then levitates. Magenta exits the flashback and scratches her forehead in frustration.
Chapter 20
The Unfairness
4:15 P.M
When Magenta steps off the school bus, Gunther is busy fighting with a student on the school bus for yelling across from him. The student was just having a disagreement with his girlfriend about which current rap star has the best song release. Gunther instinctively strikes the male student in the face several times everyone else crowd the area with raucous.
Magenta walks in the house feeling too depressed to know why Gunther is fighting again. She feels like her online friend can just be like an optical illusion that she fell head over heels for. Connie is on her phone ranting.
Connie says, “He’s gonna be dead or in jail. I hate to say it, but it’s true. Black people need to get their shit together. In a minute, I’m goin’ to move to Canada ‘cuz it’s gettin’ bad out here. The president wants a wall, trying to send immigrants back… God is gonna get the president. I told my children that we may be moving to Canada. I was thinking about moving to California, but I don’t know. It’s a warm climate though. I want to move somewhere where I’d still have more control over what I can do.”
Magenta waves at her mother in the living room, enters her room, and shuts her bedroom door. Magenta then has a flashback of earlier at school when a student (with a black beanie hat, a black, wool pea coat, blue jeans, and black desert boots) approaches her. He said, “Ma’am. May I borrow your phone for a quick minute? I have to let my mother know that my phone just died and it’ll take a while to get back home.” She responded, “Sure.” When he grabs her cell phone, he calls his own cell phone number. This, his cell phone rings in his pocket as she looked at him in shock. He grabs his cell phone out of his right pocket, positions it to his right ear, then says, “I just needed an excuse to talk to you because you’re so beautiful.” She snatched her cell phone out of his hand, then walks away. He says, “You have my number.”
She exits her flashback and sits on her daybed. Gunther arrives in the house while yelling out the front door, saying, “That’s why I whooped your ass!”
Connie says, “Calm down. What the hell’s goin’ on!”
Gunther says, “He was yelling in my ear, so I screamed, ‘Shut the fuck up!’”
Connie says, “Who?”
Gunther says, “He was so loud to the point where I…”
Connie interrupts him, saying, “Who said it?”
Gunther yells, adding a bit of truth to one of his grandiose lies, “Ronnie. He don’t know how angry I can get! One time, I lifted up twenty people when they tried to restrain me, but they were no match for me.”
Connie says, “You’re a damn liar.”
Gunther says, “You said to stop bringing up the past and now you’re calling me a liar! No matter what I say, I’m lying.”
Connie says, “That’s because you’re lying right now. You said it yourself that you’re a liar. Didn’t you.”
Gunther says, “Yes.”
Magenta walks into the living room and says, “Mom. Can I go over to a friend’s house?”
Connie says, “What are your friend’s names? Where’s their address? You can’t meet with anyone if I’ve not met their parents first. You can stay your ass here.”
Magenta says, “Gunther gets to be on the track and cheerleading team. I want to be able to just go over a friend’s house.”
Connie says, “Lower your voice. Keep talking and I’ll get rid of your television. You’re not supposed to have one anyway. Some Christian homes allow you to read the Bible ten times a day.”
Magenta walks back in her room with a depressed expression as the loud talk Connie has with Gunther turns into an argument. She’d have to be a fully naked ganjapreneur in order to afford enough money to leave her mother’s house.
Connie says, “Listen! Listen to me! You’re going to have to speak like an adult! I didn’t understand a damn thing you were talking about!”
Gunther says, “Thats your fault! Maybe you need to understand my language more. You people have your fancy words like handkerchief. Understand my new word. Lotion. I just made it up.”
Connie says, “Lotion already exists! Are you stupid!”
One with Funny texts her. She reads the text message and it says, “It’s not that I don’t want children. I just can’t have children.”
Magenta texts back, “How do you know you can’t have children?”
One with Funny texts backs, “I grew up with erectile dysfunction. I wasn’t sure if it was from the types of foods I was eating or my depression, but I ate practically everything my parents eat until I’m in the cafeteria. When I was around sixteen, I experimented on my penis by rubbing it and it grew larger. It would never stay up. I saw you for the first time and my penis could stay erected, but on that same day, I got chemically castrated to avoid cancer.”
Magenta texts back, “Have you ever wanted children of your own?”
One with Funny texts, “I got used to the idea of me never being able to have kids so much that it’s less desirable. It’s hard to imagine me caring about small creatures that could annoy me. My cousins already annoy the crap out of me.”
Magenta texts back, “I see.”
Magenta has a flashback of her cousins being over her house. In one flashback, three of her light-skinned cousins are annoying her. One cousin named Benedict 9-years-old is playing loud drill music as well as pop music, only to look at pornography whenever his parents, brothers, and sisters are nowhere to be found. Benedict even digs his finger in his nose, in his underwear, and between his buttocks just to attempt to touch Magenta. Sometimes, Benedict takes a full-sized poop just to grab it and try to smudge it in her.
His other cousin, Devlin 11-years-old usually is the one hogging the latest video game in her room while video chatting with friends and women he meet on the internet for over a day, just to show Magenta’s face and room. Magenta frowns. 6-year-old Emery, her third cousin who she usually sees usually sings, dances, and draws pictures with crayons on printing paper. All three of her cousins ask annoy her with the same type of comments when they come over like, “When are you getting your own place,” “You ain’t never gettin’ your own place,” “I got more money than you,” “When I get a job, I’ll buy you a t-shirt,” and “When I turn your age, I’m leaving my parents house.”
Magenta exits the flashback, thinking about wanting to strangle all of her cousins to death or at least watch them die from asphyxia due to a freak accident. Thus, she’d like the attorneys that oppose her to be gruesomely murdered.
Magenta texts back, “My mother had three abortions after me, so I’m fortunate to be here. When I was shot in the chest at the age of seven, I received a blood transfusion. I didn’t know who shot me at the time because I was walking outside on the porch and all I can remember was the sound of a gunshot. It his music back and I fell down. My father was there to donate his blood for my well-being, but as it turned out, a year later, he confessed to the police for shooting me on purpose. Now, my mother is with another man who doesn’t care about her. So, I think I can live without children, but if the right man walks along, I may want to start a family. You never know.”
One with Funny texts back, “What? That’s crazy you’re still alive right now. I don’t know what to say to that. It could be worse for me. Me having kids would be the same amount of pain I feel when I stub my toe on a piece of furniture.”
Magenta says, “A large population of African Americans used to get legally sterilized against their will. It’s a miracle you’re still here as well, even if you can’t get erected. I’m sure, we’ll figure out how to get you erected together one day.”
1 Hour Later
Connie says, “Magenta!”
Magenta exits her room while Talisa looks at out around the corner.
Connie says, “Are you thinking about going to the military?”
Magenta says with a soft voice, “No. You said it was dangerous to go there.”
Connie says, “It’s not about me! Do you want to go or not?”
Magenta says, “No.”
Connie says, “It’s not easy in the military. Your aunt said she don’t think you could handle it in the military. They’d be on your ass. Your uncle who went into the military. He wasn’t always on different medications and seeing things. Once he got out, he was an entirely different person. It’s tough. What do you want to do in life? You’ll have to pick something and stick with it. Soon you’ll be twenty, thirty, then forty. You ain’t living here that long.”
Magenta says, “I’m not sure what I want to do.”
Connie says, “Look at some college courses, come back, then tell me if you’re interested in that. A lot of people don’t get to go to college, so you got it made. You go to a community college around this area code and you get financial aid, but if you’re relocating and plan to transfer to one of those artsy schools that rich kids go to, you’ll be taking out a lot of loans. The good news is that once you get a good paying job, you can pay that off in no time.”
Magenta says, “I’d like to be a film director.”
Connie says, “Do you know any film directors?”
Magenta says, “I know some…”
Connie says, “Just like you’re on top of sports and science, you’re gonna have to stay on top of film directing. You’re going to have to want it more than everyone.”
Gunther walks into the living room holding a red notebook with a black pen. He says, randomly, “I’m going to add that to my book.”
Connie says, “What are you talking about?”
Gunther says, “A ménage à trois in my next song. I’m working on a novel as well.”
Connie says, “What’s that have to do with anything?”
Gunther is vibrant with anger, saying, “Why you always getting mad at me! You think you’re the angriest woman in the world!”
Connie says, “Nobody’s gettin’ mad at you.”
Gunther says, “Magenta is. You are. My teacher, Misses Kewaltz is a better mom to me than you.”
Connie says, “Once you graduate, your teacher won’t be there for you! I was always there telling your psychiatrists not to treat you any kind of way and going over their heads! You complained saying I’m getting them in trouble, but weren’t you the one saying your eyes were rolling in the back of your head?”
Gunther answers, “Yes.”
Connie says, “You’re damn right.”
Gunther says, “I’m finally right about something. You’re still a lousy mother! Magenta! You should talk to me more often! I can help you with your communication skills and possibly get a relationship! I’m going to my room!”
Connie says, “No television! If I catch you watching it, I’ll throw the television out.”
Magenta frowns, then Connie looks at her, saying, “What you frowning for?”
Magenta says, “Nothing.”
Connie says, “Those are demons controlling him. God will heal him though. You should start talking to your brother. That is your brother.”
Magenta wonders why she has to communicate to her brother if she was told repeatedly in the past not to associate herself with homosexuals because homosexuals have demons. Yet, mentally challenged people have demons according to her mother, but she’s told to continue talking to Gunther. Now, she fears losing brain cells or becoming insane herself.
Magenta has a flashback of when she was 9-years old. She fell out of the top bunk of a bunk bed while asleep in her Dalmatian spotted pajamas and developed a hematoma on her right elbow. She awakes to a migraine, gasping for air.
Chapter 21
Ex Out the Ladies
Tuesday
Maurice is (wearing a denim, unbuttoned ski jacket over a white t-shirt, denim, black jeans, and black tennis shoes) as he sits an empty table in the cafeteria with three chimichangas, two pieces of barbecue chicken wings, nine pieces of fried shrimp, spaghetti, a carton of chocolate milk, and plastic silverware on his grey tray.
A male student named Anthony (with a black flat top afro hairstyle, black sunglasses, a blue, denim jacket, a silver watch on his right wrist, a silver necklace with a silver pendant of a female posing, black jeans, and milk-white tennis shoes.
Anthony sits a tray with a spicy, Italian sausage with ketchup, mustard, relish, and lettuce in a bun, salted French fries, 12 cheese sticks, a chocolate candy bar, and a soft drink.
Anthony says, “You good?”
Maurice says, “Cloud nine. You?”
Anthony says, “I’m feelin’ myself. You know. I got money stackin’ in my pockets to keep the ladies comin’.”
Maurice says, “Your fly is open. I just saved you.”
Anthony says, “It’s for ladies to have easy access.”
Maurice says, “Is that why you sagged today? Men can see it too.”
Anthony says, “We’re gonna get you a bad bitch today. What type of woman you like? Big tits or a nice ass? You like skinny or fat?”
Maurice says, “I’m good.”
Anthony says, “You don’t look good. I see you always hangin’ around that Magenta squirt and I can tell you ain’t hit that yet.”
Two women sit at the same table as Anthony and Maurice. One woman is named Ella who is a brunette with a curvaceous body. Ella
is wearing a silver chain linked to a silver locket, a nylon, burgundy, peplum shirt, a black, leather belt with silver studs, blue jeans, and grey, knee-high, leather boots. She sits down a tray with plastic silverware, nachos and cheese, brown rice, a bag of potato chips from the local vending machine, and a chocolate milk.
Diamond, another woman with a bra size 32K with wide hips. Diamond has a black ponytail, red lipstick, black red fingernails, a black, hooded sweater, tight, blue jeans, and black, leather riding boots. On her tray is plastic silverware, spinach with sliced apples, olives, flaxseed, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and salad dressing on top, two slices of lean beef, and a banana smoothie in a glass cup.
Ella says, “Hey!”
Both of the ladies sit down at the table. Diamond chews on a piece of strawberry bubblegum, creates a bubble with her mouth, and waves. Magenta walks by wearing the same clothes that she wore last week, (holding a tray with silverware, lobster, steak, garlic bread, macaroni, mashed potatoes and gravy, and chocolate milk), noticing that her friend is already talking to others. Magenta decides to sit at an empty table beside Maurice on the left. In front of Magenta, a bald, muscular male is wearing a military uniform with a 64 ounce, transparent container of water in on the round, mahogany table. He takes out a homemade lunch from his backpack, which is in a aluminum foil.
Maurice turns around to look at Magenta, smiles, and waves. Another my says, “What about Ella? You like her?”
Ella says flirtatiously, “Yeah! What about me?”
Diamond says, “Leave my boyfriend alone!”
Ella, Diamond, and Anthony laugh at the table while Maurice maintains the same emotionless face.
Anthony says, “I can teach you how to get women. Watch me. Ella. I saw you walkin’ down the hall and you must be my conscious speaking because you’re all in my head.”
Anthony kisses Ella passionately on the lips, looks at Maurice, then says, “You try. It’s easy.”
Diamond makes an orgasmic smile.
Maurice says, “No thanks,” grabs his trey, and heads to the table Magenta is sitting at.
Magenta says to Maurice, “Whenever I want to get rid of guys, I just yawn.”
Maurice says, “What if they stick around?”
Magenta says, “That’s never happened before. I’d get rid of them for flirting like a sales caller.”
Maurice says, “Are you calling me a chick?”
Magenta says, “Would that make you smile? No, I’m not calling you a woman. I’m happily taken for now.”
Anthony pats Maurice on the back and says, “I’m a Blood, bruh. Back on the streets, I sell some blue squares. Nobody had it as rough as me growin’ up. I used to push the same car my father handed down to me just to get that motherfucka workin’ again. Many times, while I was pushing that bitch, I dodged gunshots. My homies couldn’t afford cars, so they got a head start in their feet and bicycles.”
Anthony heads over to a crowded area where loud rap music is playing to talk.
Ella walks over and says, “Your brother is a really fast runner. He ran pass me like a football player while I was going to my locker earlier.”
Chapter 22
Wanda, the Witch
4:00 P.M.
Magenta is doing homework, then hears teenagers fighting outside. She ignores the raucous only to head to the kitchen to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a white, ceramic plate. There’s nobody in the living room, but when she sits the plate on the counter, and turns her head, she notices that her food is gone. What’s going on?
She looks behind her, between the kitchen refrigerator and counter, near the microwave, but sees no evidence of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This, she hears a disembodied voice, say, “Magenta.”
The longer she stays in the house, the more she feels like a masked woman walking into a bank to hold herself hostage.
Connie is talking over the cell phone and walks into the living room, saying, “Listen! Listen! Listen! You keep saying you heard me, but you’re not listening. A lot of times, people can hear what others say, but they don’t take the time to think about it. Your father won’t be here forever. He’s a Jehovah’s Witness and I accept that, but you have to live your life as well. I’m saying rejecting blood transfusion means to not take the action to saving the person’s life. That’s suicide. If you fall off a bike, forget a bandage then. Don’t kiss my booboo. Let God handle it. We don’t pray for food to just come into our system. We prep the meals, pick up a damn spoon or fork, and get to eating.”
Magenta walks into her bedroom and has a flashback of walking by Gunther earlier. Gunther was sitting at a table with a blond scrawny woman who stutters with her speech a lot and is on crutches. She has a bob cut hairstyle, blue eyes, a gold pentagram pendant attached to a gold chain, a wool, black sweater around a pink t-shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. A rotund male with a black afro looking at his white laptop is sitting on the opposite side of the table.
The handicapped woman says, “Did I tell you about the time when your brother saved my life?”
Gunther says, “I came just in time, too!”
Magenta sneezes on her own right shoulder and says, “No.”
Gunther says, “I saw Wanda falling from… from… It all started when I was walking by and… and from my peripheral vision, I saw Wanda falling backwards, so in my head, I took charge of my psychic powers to run as fast as my favorite superhero. She was falling backwards and if I haven’t grabbed her in time, her cane would’ve penetrated through her butt.”
Wanda says, “Your brother’s a hero.”
Gunther and Wanda somewhat soul kiss one another like they have fermented tongues; Wanda is slobbering from her repulsive mouth. Gunther involuntarily muscles causes a rapid jerk movement in his body.
Gunther once again boasts about himself with stumbling words, “Being a hero is just one of my many talents. I’m also a genius. I’m the greatest writer in the world, fastest person in the world, the best actor in the world, a musician, I can be a mathematician, a doctor, psychologist, a mother and father, a comedian, and can also teach you about religion.”
Wanda says, “Aaawww!”
Wanda’s delight makes it feels like somebody euthanized Magenta’s dog, Aurora.
Wanda says, “You should stick with us more often. I like you. I saw Carnation earlier.”
Gunther says, “Oh” while pointing his finger in the air for too long.
Maurice walks by waving her direction, exiting the cafeteria to head into the gymnasium.
Magenta exits the flashback and hears Connie calling her name, “Magenta!”
Talisa whispers, “You better answer her.”
Magenta walks in the living room and says, “I was…”
Connie interrupts, “Did you know that we have some famous people in our family?”
Magenta says, “No.”
Connie says, “Yeah. Like three of your cousins used to be in a band.”
Connie continues to speak while Magenta has a flashback of Connie saying last week, “One of your cousins once won over two million dollars in the lottery.” Her flashback switches to another one from last week of Connie saying, “My friend, Debra’s mom is a millionaire. She didn’t just win that money. Anyone can be a millionaire. She saved her money up while working, used coupons, unplugged electronic devices…” Magenta exits the flashback.
Connie says, “So you do have relatives who made it big. You should be proud of that.”
20 Minutes Later
A drowsy Magenta is standing in the same position and hears Connie yell about religion, saying, “The Antichrist is here. All that seeking revenge and proving how angry you are means nothing. The devil is laughing at that. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. You may be younger than your brother, but since he has a mental disability, you have to be older.”
Gunther yells from his bedroom, saying, “I’m the oldest.”
Connie yells, “No. I’m the oldest!”
Gunther exits his room, saying, “We’re going over my girlfriend’s house to relax. I love you mom, but I have to relax.”
Just like that, Gunther leaves the house with no real punishment. Magenta follows him because the only opportunity she gets to usually go outside is a trip to school, a trip to her grandma or aunt’s house, and/ or grocery shopping.
45 Minutes Later
Everyone is kissing over Wanda’s house except for Magenta. Gunther is passionately kissing Wanda on the couch as if he’s about to take her clothes off. A blond, bisexual named Johnny with curly hair is kissing in a chubby, goth woman with ocean blue eyes, black eyeliner, black lipstick, a leather black corset, blue jeans, and leather, black high-heeled boots. Magenta feels uncomfortable being the only one not kissing.
Afterwards, Wanda says, “Here’s the remote. Make it your home. Watch what you wanna watch.”
Magenta grabs the remote and starts changing the channels.
Wanda says, “Ooh! I love this show. Leave it here. My brother told me you wanna wrestle.”
Magenta says, “I was going to officially join the wrestling team…”
Wanda says, “I love the old school wrestlers on television. If I didn’t have a walker, I’d be able to super kick anyone.”
Magenta remains silent.
Johnny says, “You wanna come in my room with me?”
Wanda says, “Johnny lives here with us. He’s my best friend.”
A black cat jumps on Gunther’s lap. He pats her, gently.
Wanda says, “I have a white cat, too.”
Johnny laughs, saying, “A Wiccan is thought to have just black cats.”
Wanda says, “My mother taught me everything she knows.”
Johnny says, “Check this out. Whip.”
Wanda reacts as if she’s getting electrically shocked for less than a second where he muscles in her body involuntarily moves on its own.
Johnny says, “That happens every time anyone says whip.”
Wanda says, “That bitch witch did that to me! Stop saying it.”
Johnny says it three times.
Wanda reacts and says, “Ouch! Stop!”
Magenta says, “Who?”
Wanda says, “She used to be a friend, but betrayed me.”
A curious Magenta says, “Why can’t you use your magic to get her back?”
Wanda says, “She’s too powerful.”
Chapter 23
Are You Gettin’ Smart?
1 Week Later
Magenta is on her daybed and feels the caressing wind blow on her back from the opened window. It’s no longer cold, but warm with the sunlight in the sky. She’s wearing a white spaghetti strap with red and black polka dot panties.
Connie enters Magenta’s room. Talisa wakes up and farts on accident.”
Connie says, “Did you just shit yourself?”
Talisa says, “You scared me.”
Magenta and Connie run out the room. Magenta shuts the door and Connie says, “I’ve had a psychological evaluation with Gunther last week, filed several documents, and they kept giving me the run around, so I had to go over their head and have more meetings after he kept acting a fool in school. If he didn’t have a mental disability and a good mother, his ass would be expelled with no place to stay. Now, since you’re being bullied in school, you’re going to have to take the same bus as Gunther for now on. You can either stay at this school or go to another school. If you go to another school, your cab expenses will already be covered. So what do you wanna do? Go to a new school and it can be worse.”
Magenta says, “I want to go to Fondly Doors High School.”
Connie says, “Are you sure? They’re tryin’ to shoot folks with paintball guns in the eyes around that area.”
Magenta says, “I’ll stay at this school then.”
Connie says, “Good.”
Connie overhears Talisa talking on the phone, saying, “Looking like a transgender massage therapist.”
Connie yells, “Shut up, Talisa!”
What if Talisa was doing a video chat?
Magenta has a flashback from last year of receiving a text message from her mother to meet her at a train station. She was wearing the same black, wool jacket, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes, which she had for over 5 years. In a rush, she made exit the house to head to the train station, then overheard a Caucasian, elderly woman with a white, floral dress with red petals. The elderly woman had grey hairs, which nearly bristled with perspiration and said, “That nigger owed me twenty-five dollars. I’ll kick her ass.” One can imagine if the elderly woman had brown areolas and just despise colored people. A bald African American stranger (wearing a white durag, a black shirt, and black shorts, and black tennis shoes) standing approximately a yardstick away says to Magenta, “Did you just hear this bitch? She just said nigger.”
Magenta nods her head up and down.
The stranger says, “I was about to knock that bitch out.”
The train arrives and after many people step off, finally Connie arrives with four grocery bags. She grabs two, heavy grocery bags from Connie’s hands, then heads back home with her. As soon as Magenta talks, Connie says rudely, “What? What do you want?”
Magenta says, “Earlier…”
Connie interrupts, sighing, “Here we go.”
Magenta says, “Earlier, while I was at the train station.”
Connie says, “What happened? You can’t even get your sentence together. Speak up. Why you have to sound so boring? Now, what were you trying to say?”
Magenta says, “A white woman said the ‘N’ word while on the cell phone.”
Connie says, “And? What are you gonna do about it? You a bitch. It’s their word. The white men made it.”
Magenta exits the flashback.
Connie says, “Make sure that before you go to school, you pray. Anything can happen. Pray because you’re thankful for what God has given you. There people with no house to stay at and no food to eat at your school, I’m sure. They just won’t tell you. They’re probably some of your friends. Be thankful. You can hate God all you want, but in the end, we all need Him. Praise Jehovah.”
Magenta feels like she’s in a prison with a cult, where she can’t escape. It’s as if her brother, Gunther is using wool sheets to cover his bedroom walls for great sound when he uses a studio app to record his voice and make beats. His guitar is already broken. Carnation and Talisa have to defend theirselves. If Gunther threatens somebody, perhaps, in revenge, the person could try to kill one of his sisters, but with Gunther’s short term memory loss, they’d be forgettable.
Magenta says, “You said that Jehovah’s Witnesses is a cult. In church…”
Connie says sarcastically, “Do you go to church?”
Magenta says, “No, but…”
Connie interrupts again, “Do you go to church?”
Magenta says, “No.”
Connie says, “Okay then. So, you shouldn’t talk about church if you don’t go there.”
Magenta says, “I haven’t been to church ever since I was eight. What about the time I thought about going?”
Connie says, “Change yourself first.”
Magenta says, “I can’t change without God. The body is the temple.”
Connie says, “Do you know your real name?”
Magenta says, “Magenta.”
Connie says, “No. Rachel. I was originally going to name you Rachel. Look it up. Rachel is in the Bible. This is a matter of life and death!”
Magenta says, “Magenta is the combination between red and blue light, so what does that have to do with the Bible?”
Connie says, “Are you gettin’ smart with me? God created the rainbow, so your name has power.”
When Connie tries removing her belt from her pants, saying, “Where’s my belt,” Magenta runs in her bedroom, locking the door.”
Talisa says with a smile, “Open the door. I have to go to the bathroom.”
Magenta says, “Shut up.”
Connie shakes the doorknob and the bedroom door unlocks and opens. Connie lashes her belt at Magenta where it strikes her back several times. She screams, crying in agony. Connie says, “I told you not to talk God! You’re in my house!”
She continuously lashes the belt at Magenta as she runs out the door into the living room. Magenta falls, defenseless, developing welts on her flesh. There’s welts on her forearms as well as back, thighs, and shins. The pain causes her to cry louder, then Connie says, “Now shut the fuck up. You don’t deserve to cry. Mommy hurts when you do her wrong! You’re not doing anything, but hurting yourself! Shut up or I’ll whoop your ass again.”
Magenta tries her hardest to hold her breath from making a sound. There’s a whistling type of paranoid laughing noise coming from her mouth. Connie lashes a belt at her approximately, twenty-two more times at full force. Afterwards, she grabs a brown extension cord from the closet and says, “Gunther said the belt feels like pillows. You’re going to tell him that the difference. She lashes the extension cord at Magenta’s back fives times, then spits on her face.
An abrasive Connie says, “Clean up your mess. Did I tell you about your uncle in the military?”
As if Magenta wants to hear about her relatives now, Magenta pretends to care. Magenta says, “Yes.”
Connie says, “Thats right. He came out crazy. It’s a war out there. Drugs. Ongoing shootings. Post traumatic stress disorder. Who knows what he got himself into. He wasn’t with God. I know that. God would’ve healed him. Anytime someone wanted to get him to go to church, he refused. He was all into eating unhealthy, talking back, and Buddhism.”
Connie throws all of Magenta’s artwork found in her bedroom in the dumpster outside with multiple, plastic bags. When Magenta enters her room, she sees zero of her artwork, which makes her feel temporarily numb.
Talisa borrows Magenta’s laptop and looks at a rap battle where a female says to an opponent, “I’m walkin’ up sideways puttin’ the ‘P’ on ‘em.” The crowd cheers like a parodied version of a real rap battle. Talisa clicks on another video where the first thing a Latin American comedian says is “All my mother used was the big voice!”
Magenta has a flashback from when she was 8-years-old. In the flashback, she sees a bright, flickering light, which fades, showing students on a school bus hearing a woman with long, black cornrows and a Chicago accent in the far back seat yelling, “You’re gonna get your fuckin’ hands off of me or I’m swing in’! Fuck that! Square up!” Her fists land on an anonymous person’s face so swiftly that it’s swifter than a stop motion movement in a video clip. Many students stand up in excitement and look at the back of the bus. Several students say, “Damn!” Blood flows down the black aisle in a disturbing manner. The ghetto woman says, “Now what! What! Fuck that shit, nigga!” A student says, “Oh, Lord!” Another student says, “Oh, shit!” The ghetto woman says, “Back up!” The students sit down then get silent when they see more blood than usual profusely exit the boy’s nostrils. The flashback switches to a scene where she walks away from yellow monkey bars on a school playground to a willow tree, where the anonymous ghetto woman is. The ghetto woman says, “Leave or ill do you just like I did that boy!” Magenta runs away.
Magenta exits the flashback and hears Talisa say, “Remember when Gunther through a fire extinguisher at a pregnant woman?”
Magenta responds, “Yes. I remember the tables he intimidated others with as if he’d throw them. I remember the times he did throw the tables. I remember when he broke my mother’s bedroom wall and told me to take the blame or he’ll kill me. My mother asked me who did it, but before I could answer, she whooped me.”
Talisa says, “Okay. Okay.”
Magenta asks, “Why don’t anyone pick on you? Or Carnation?”
Talisa says, “For one, I don’t pretend like I have a brother. I have an image to protect. Another reason is because I’m the shit.”
Magenta says, “You mean you are shit if you’re the shit.”
Talisa says, “No honey. I’m the shit.”
Magenta says, “Figuratively speaking…”
Talisa says, “Stop it.”
Chapter 24
The Disgusting
The Next Day
Magenta sees a short, yellow school bus stop by while she’s standing outside with Gunther. Gunther removes his beanie hat showing the nappy, black mohawk, which he cut himself. Gunther steps onto the yellow school bus while Magenta is reluctant to step on the bus. She hears the sound of some mentally challenged students laughing, yelling, and crying. Magenta ignores the bus driver and the first student in the front row is in a wheelchair. As Gunther keeps walking, Magenta follows, seeing man drooling in one seat and an African American, chubby woman in the middle row point her right index finger her direction. The chubby woman then digs in her nose with a smile that reveals her crooked, yellow teeth.
Once Gunther and Magenta sit down beside each other, the bus starts moving. Magenta is frustrated and wonders if anybody with a high intelligence quotient will see her on the short, yellow bus with her brother. When the bus is half way to the school, the chubby, African American student waves her direction. Gunther waves back, then smiles at Magenta. He rolls his eyes as if he’s not mentally challenged, then faces the chubby woman.
The chubby woman does the unthinkable. She lifts up her red and grey, horizontally striped shirt to show her bosoms, which has large, brown areolas. Magenta looks away, attempting to ignore the event. While loud screaming occurs in the background, Gunther reaches his arm over Magenta’s neck in a sneaky fashion to pull her ear. She looks upward in anger seeing nobody, then looks at a smiling Gunther. Magenta frowns, suffering and enduring the debilitating effects of embarrassment.
Once the bus arrives at the school, Magenta waits for the woman in the wheelchair to get off as well as several, lethargic students. Then, she walks off, only to see some students in regular classes looking out their classroom windows to see her with mentally challenged students.
Magenta then heads to her locker and has another flashback. She has a flashback of exiting a regular school bus with Gunther, Carnation, and Talisa. Talisa waited until all of the students walk away and said, “Mom’s not home till seven today. Remember?” Gunther said, “I’m havin’ some fun. She never leaves the house.” Carnation said, “I know. Me and Talisa will be walking to a friend’s house. We’ll text you when it gets close to seven.” Magenta said, “Two women without any weapons, going to a friend you all met three weeks ago? Sounds wise. Sounds like a horror movie to me.”
Carnation said, “Cut the crap. If you all wanna come along, you can.”
Gunther said, “Sayonara! Come on Magenta.”
Gunther walks into his mother’s house while Magenta follows. Carnation and Talisa walks the opposite direction. When Gunther exits the house, he’s holding a boom box playing pop music. He has no earphones, but Magenta is wearing earphones, listening to old school rap music. It doesn’t matter how loud she plays her music, Gunther’s radio overshadows it and teenagers who are still outside laugh at the radio. “Gunther’s playin’ that shit,” one person yells. One muscular teenager (with brown dreadlocks, hazel eyes, a sun-kissed skin, a black, long-sleeved, hooded, denim jacket, black jeans, and black tennis shoes) walked to Magenta and said, “Girl, your shoes are talkin’.” Magenta said, “School’s over.” The teenager said, “So is the nineteen nineties. What the fuck! A boom box! That’s where it is. Yo brother’s cool.”
The guy with the dreadlocks said, “It’s Ben. Later.”
Magenta had the grueling task of speaking to someone she felt unworthy of hearing her.
She said, “Bye.”
Gunther saw an African American woman with black braids in a green blouse, bluish-green pencil skirt, and white tennis shoes standing near a hill, full of ryegrass and daisies. A couple of bees were around to cause Magenta to run away until they leave. Gunther said to the woman, “Hey Brittany. How are you?”
Brittany says, “Good. What you doing out here? Nice radio.”
Gunther said, “Thanks. I’m just taking a look around. Trying to bond more with my sister, Magenta. You?”
Brittany said, “Trying to meet friends. You wanna come up to my place?”
Gunther said, “Sure.”
Magenta followed Gunther and Brittany into a local apartment room on the sixth floor. It’s apartment ‘6F’ and Brittany locker the door behind them, leading them into her bedroom. Brittany took off her tennis shoes and her socks are brown and funky similar to Gunther’s armpits. Brittany teased them with dolls and told them to play with her like a tea party.
“The tea party originated from the Boston Tea Party,” Magenta thinks.
Brittany whispered into Gunther’s ear, warming the cockles of his heart, then they kiss under the bedsheets while Magenta stood up in disgust, discombobulated. Then, Gunther and Brittany walked into the closet, closed the doors, and had sex.
Magenta said, “I’m going to catch up with you later.”
Gunther said, “Good idea, baby. Oh, fuck!”
By the time Magenta leaves the apartment complex, Gunther is in the climax of sexual intercourse, moaning. He then says, “It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”
Magenta exits the weird flashback.
Chapter 25
What A Bully
Magenta hears her mother’s voice in her head, saying, “Revelation 13:18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred three score and six.”
Magenta gets spoken to by a random blond nerd (with a bowl cut hairstyle, round, reading glasses, a green and white horizontally striped shirt, a cheap watch from the local thrift store, beige khakis, and grey tennis shoes, “You look different without your glasses. I can’t afford contacts, so I stick with glasses for now. You’re lucky.”
Magenta says, “I guess.”
The nerd says, “Did you know that the Earth travels around the sun is approximately sixty-six point six hundred miles per hour? The curvature in one mile squared is six hundred and sixty six feet. Earth’s axis rotation and its plane of the orbit around the sun is sixty six point six degrees.”
Magenta says, “Not until now. Where’d you hear that, Ken?”
Ken, the nerd says, “The internet. I have too much time on my hands. It taught me how to talk like a step-by-step, verbal instructions guide. It’s also where I learned sign language.”
Magenta says, “You learn something new every day. Later.”
Ken then says while laughing, “How’s your brother?”
Magenta frowns, refusing to respond.
1 Hour Later
There’s a riot nearby the high school. One person is holding up a sign that reads, “I Love Black People!” Another person is holding up a sign that reads, “Abortion is murder!” A 7-year-old girl is holding up a sign that reads, “Black Power!” The leader of the riot has a megaphone and yells, “Y’all crooked cops need to stop killing our black people! We won’t stand for it anymore! Black power! It’s not the white men that were here first. It was black! How dare you teach us false information in schools! How dare you not know about your own motherland. Whites came from blacks.” Police officers throw tear gas at the riot, then attack. The riot retaliates by fighting back while some break police cars with weapons, and throw burning toilet paper and beer bottles.
One person outside drives his red convertible car and runs over two police officer. Magenta and many students see the entire event outside. Several police officers shoot participants of the riot. Approximately 7 participants of the riot gets shot in the head and 4 in the body, 1 on the left side of the arm, and 1 on the Achilles tendon.
Kiara (with an orange swing top, white jeans, and orange, leather, high heels) says to Magenta, “You must be fuckin’ them retarded kids on that bus, huh?”
All of the students in the hallway laugh. Maurice arrives as another student (Albert) with a black bald fade says, “Them retards got them strong hands.”
Like any attorney can be paid to lie, police officers, FBI, CIA, and so on can. The student with the bald fade has two parents that are police officers.
Magenta says to Kiara, “I don’t want any trouble.”
Kiara walks up to Magenta’s face and says, “Or what? Fight me. You scared?”
The students get excited and cheer. Magenta recoils at Kiara’s fake attempt to strike her thunderously in the face. Magenta then walks away, saying, “I don’t want to fight you.”
Kiara says, “Hold your Eponas.”
When Megenta turns around, Kiara laughs, clapping hands with Ken. The tumultuous crowd jeers until Kiara decides to assault her. Kiara runs and strikes Magenta in the back of the noggin. The students cheer. Magenta walks away faster.
Kiara says like she nearly overdosed drinking sperm, “You’re such a pussy.”
Ken says, “You betta stop before she get her brother on you.”
5:00 P.M.
Gunther says, “I heard that somebody punched Magenta in the face today!”
Connie says, “What? Magenta!”
Magenta walks out of her bedroom and says, “Huh?”
Connie mocks Magenta by saying, “Huh” with an ugly expression, then says, “When were you going to tell me you have bullies?”
Magenta says, “It’s one woman who won’t leave me alone.”
Connie says, “Either you’re gonna whoop her ass or your brother will.”
Magenta makes a comment deserving of merit, “I don’t want to fight her. I was trying to deescalate the situation.”
Connie says, “How’d that work for ya? I’m calling the police. You’re going to point out this kid at school tomorrow, then we’re going to have a talk at the police station with her parents. This has to stop.”
Magenta says, “Then, I’d get bullied more.”
Connie says, “She was going to bother you anyway. Get her in trouble before she does the same to others. If she bothers you again, you make sure you knock her the fuck out!”
Magenta heads back to her room only for Connie to follow her.
Connie says, “What’s her name?”
Magenta says, “Kiara Mooner.”
Connie says, “I got this.”
Connie walks away, shutting Magenta’s bedroom door. Connie yells on her cell phone while the closet light bulb stops working within seconds when she turns it on.
Talisa says, “Darn those lights. Look in the bottom drawer in the dresser.”
Magenta says, “I can’t tell my mom about the lightbulb now. She’d be twice as furious.”
Talisa humorously, says, “Unless she gets a lightbulb, that is.”
Magenta says, “Shut up!”
As Talisa laughs, Magenta opens the bottom drawer and takes out Christmas lights.
Magenta says, “Please tell me these are the only lights we have.”
Talisa says, “You guessed correctly.”
Magenta plugs in the Christmas lights, which brings back memories.
Magenta has a flashback of when she was 7-years-old and received two wrestling action figures in a wrapped box as well as a wrapped, all-new, desirable video game console. It was all under a Christmas tree, but Connie said, “Share that game with your brother and sisters.”
Her flashback switches to when she was 8-years-old on Christmas. Connie said, “I don’t celebrate Pagan holidays. Saint Nicholas. Switch the letters around in Santa and it’s Satan. My momma wanted to have a Christmas, but I said no!”
Magenta’s flashback switches when she was 9-years-old and her brother, Gunther received a pack of socks, two pairs of new shoes, brand named shirts, and pants. Magenta just received hand-me-down clothing and Connie laughed. Lucinda laughed as well, saying, “Merry Christmas!”
Magenta exits the flashback.
Talisa says, “Feels like yesterday.”
Magenta says, “I know, right. It’s like a perpetual yesterday.”
Talisa says, “It has a nostalgic feeling to it.”
Magenta says, “If you say so.”
Talisa says, “Do you ever feel like there’s a jinx in this family? Like you’re cursed?”
Magenta says, “I feel like life stuck both of its middle fingers up my enchilada, but it’s their loss.”
Talisa says, “I’m glad you aren’t a robot and are a sister to me.”
Magenta says, “You really think that?”
Talisa says, “Don’t tell anybody.”
Magenta says, “Your secret’s sage with me. You’re a lifesaver. I can’t dismantle every robot. Magenta’s only got two hands.”
Saturday
In the police station, Magenta and Connie sits at a rectangular table in front of Kiara and her parents. A police officer is standing up, watching the entire event. Kiara is wearing a brown scoop neck t-shirt, silk, tartan, gold and black pants, and black tennis shoes. Kiara’s mother, Georgia Mooner is wearing a zipped up, black, leather jacket, blue, tattered jeans, and black, fleece flared-heel boots. Donovan, the muscular, bald father of Kiara (with black sunglasses, a blue denim jacket, black jeans, and black, leather motorcycle boots) smiles.
Donovan says, “I’m glad we could all sit down and have this conversation. I did not raise any of my two daughters to be like me in my younger years when I was riding the streets as a member of the Hells Angels. I’ve seen things you can’t imagine. People got shot and didn’t have time to think. They were just dead.”
Magenta just sits in silence while Kiara wears a fake face of sympathy. Magenta and Kiara is silent throughout the entire discussion. 30 minutes later, Georgia says, “I’d like for the both of you all to shake hands. You all may become best friends one day.”
Connie says, “That sounds like a good idea.”
Magenta extends her hand out and Kiara shakes it.
Monday
Magenta is wearing the same clothes from last Monday. While she’s walking in the hallway, Kiara approaches her, saying, to a female friend, “Magenta called the cops on me.” Kiara’s friend says, “For real?”
Kiara (wearing a purple spaghetti strap, a pink, denim pencil skirt, and black sandals) chuckles and gets threatened by Magenta, “Back the fuck up before I kill you!”
Kiara makes an unparalleled laugh, saying, “Do something, bitch!”
Magenta walks away as the crowd laughs.
6:00 P.M.
Magenta says to Talisa, “I had to go to detention today just for defending myself. My mom still got mad at me.”
Talisa says, “She’s worried about you.”
Connie walks by the bedroom, sits on Magenta’s daybed, and says, “We need to talk.”
Magenta worries.
Connie looks at Magenta, then Talisa, and refrains from shredding a tear.
Connie says, “Magenta. It’s about you. It’s one of your dreams to go into the military and I know it’s not your main focus right now, I feel that it’s beneficial for you. It’d be an experience you’ll keep with you forever. I legally signed you up to go to the military.”
Magenta’s jaw drops. Talisa’s eyes widen.
Talisa says, “What! Mom!”
Connie says, “Don’t you ever raise you’re voice at me or I’ll kick you out the house!”
Magenta says, “You already did!”
Connie says, “You’re fighting for your country. It’s what you wanted ever since you were little.”
Talisa says, “I don’t want to go to the military! I changed my mind six years ago. God!”
Connie says, “Watch your mouth before I wash it out! You didn’t get the memo!”
Connie pummels Talisa. Talisa suffers bruises. Afterwards, Connie grabs Talisa by the hair, leads her to the bathroom, then washes her mouth out with a used bar of soap.
Magenta cries after hearing Connie say, “Your flight will pick you up tomorrow.”
Carnation walks out the room to hug Talisa. Hartman arrives in the house, shuts the front door, and locks it, (wearing a plaid jacket, blue, denim shorts, and black tennis shoes) saying, “I’m exhausted. Can you all keep it down?”
Connie slaps Hartman in the face.
Chapter 26
Tell Me It’s Normal
Tuesday
It’s 4:45 A.M.. Talisa (wearing a camouflage, black and grey knapsack on her right shoulder, a a zipper up, black, velvet, embellished jacket with snowflake and gossamer web designs, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes) leaves huge Magenta, Carnation, and Gunther. Connie weeps and hugs Talisa.
Talisa exits the house after seeing Hartman arriving. She didn’t even wave to him, “Goodbye.”
9:00 A.M.
Magenta is at school and sees a 5 pointed star with the number “9” on the left side, “7,” in the middle where the number “360” is above, and “4” on the right side. Two visible pitchforks are above it the 5 pointer star. The numbers “9,” “7,” and “4,” represents Insane Gangster Disciples.
Students stare at the graffiti on the wall as the Mr. Kawani gets a close-up view at the graffiti work.
He yells, “Who did this?”
A random person in the crowd yells, “G! D! K! All day! Fuck you mean!”
Another person yells, “B! D! K! Nigga!”
Magenta thinks, “They got the word disciples from the Holy Bible.”
When Magenta walks in a corner nobody is at, she looks up gang symbols on her cell phone with wifi connection. She sees the word “Almighty” in the Black P. Stone Nation.”
She thinks, “Almighty is the word in the Holy Bible.”
The more she continuously research the gang symbology, the more she’s disgusted by it. She sees an article about how the Freemasons created sagging of the pants first and another article about the Eye of Horus in gang symbology. There’s a video of one gang member claiming he can be Christian and a gang member at the same time, so she slips on her earphones.” She skins through more articles, saved it in her documents, then places her cell phone in her right pocket.
Magenta thinks, “How can you be a member of the Hells Angels and serve Jesus?”
A Gangster Disciples member gets punched in the face by Black Disciples member. Approximately 20 gang members scuffle while many students run out the way, shouting.
Afterwards, Gunther runs down the hallway jumping over lockers and trash cans. Students laugh at the occurrence.
3:45 P.M.
Magenta steps off the short, yellow bus with Gunther. The bus drives off as several mentally challenged students wave at them. Once Magenta and Gunther enters the house, Connie asks, “How was school?”
Gunther says, “Sweet! I kissed my girlfriend today.”
Magenta can smell baked chicken and salted beans. She closes the door and locks it. Aurora approaches her. Magenta hoists Aurora up and pats her on the back while walking in the living room.
Connie says to Gunther, “Okay. You need to be careful kissing women.”
Gunther says, “I can kiss who I want!”
Gunther throws his book bag to the floor, takes off his coat, then shirt. Now, he’s shirtless as Hartman walks out of the bathroom.
Hartman says, “Put your shirt back on.”
Gunther yells, “No!”
In Indian style, Gunther then sits in one spot, blocking the kitchen.
Hartman says, “Get up! You can’t do this every time you have a problem.”
Gunther says, “I’m mad! Nobody’s as angry as me right now. Once I lifted a hundred people up who tried to tackle me.”
Hartman says, “Get your ass up!”
Gunther yells, “No! Fuck you! Fuck Magenta! What type of name is Magenta anyway!”
Hartman says, “Get your ass up or you’re off the track team!”
Gunther rises up, then sits back down, saying, “Everyone knows I’m the fastest person in school anyway. I’m the fastest person in the universe.”
3 Hours Later
Connie says to Gunther, “Get up.”
Gunther says, “No! I’m not trying to hear about God! What about Buddha! What about Zeus?”
Connie says, “Jesus is the true way. Go away Satan. You’re not allowed here.”
Gunther says, “I’m not a demon!”
Hartman says, “First off, did you brush your teeth?”
Gunther says, “No.”
Hartman says, “I didn’t think so.”
Gunther yells. “Why y’all always gotta make fun of me. Always insulting and shit!”
Connie says, “Nobody would make fun of you if you just wash up. To be on the e safe side, you can wash up twice a day.”
Gunther says, “See! You all are always talking about how I smell. Maybe I smell better than all of y’all. It’s your fault Talisa May die in the military.”
Connie says, “I can take you up to a church where they perform exorcisms! You better be careful what you ask for. Pray before you go there because the demons can get inside you just by looking at the wrong things.”
Gunther says, “Bye!”
He rises up and heads to his room, passing up Carnation.
10 Minutes Later
Connie says to Magenta, “Uncle Mike is out of prison again. Hopefully, he stays out this time!”
Magenta says, “When did he go back to prison?”
Connie says, “six months ago for stealing a bottle of beer. He has two daughters and a girlfriend. What’s he need to be stealing beer for! The police shot at him and a bullet nearly hit him in the head. It’s stupid! Don’t you ever do no dumb shit like that! Now, your grandma wants him to come over. He had gang tattoos on the right side of his arm and gang tattoos of a rival gang on the opposite side!I don’t know how the fuck nobody noticed!”
Magenta says, “Drugs!”
Connie nods her head sideways.
Magenta reminiscence of multiple times she saw Mike in a super-maximum prison on the south side of Chicago, from the opposite side of a bullet-proof window. Connie, Carnation, Talisa, and Gunther was with her. The more she thinks about it, she remembers wearing a silk, black bardot top, light green cargo pants, and black tennis shoes.
Mike says, “It’s been ages. What up, thug!”
Magenta says, “Hey.”
Mike says, “What you been up to? How’s school?”
Magenta says, “You know.”
Mike says. “No. I don’t know.”
Connie says, “Answer the question!”
Magenta says, “A’s and B’s.”
Gunther says, “I love school.
Talisa says, “Same old.”
Carnation says, “I’m right there with you.”
There’s another flashback Magenta has of seeing Mike on the opposite side of the wall say, “I love you.”
Magenta says, “I love you too.”
While Magenta is still having a flashback, Connie says, “Hey.”
Connie snaps her fingers, causing Magenta to exit her flashback, then grins.
Connie says, “Demons are real! Gunther needs to know it. Jesus is real! Do you believe in Jesus?”
Magenta says, “Yes.”
Connie says, “Why?”
Magenta says, “Because I’ve had my personal experiences.”
Connie asks, “Like what?”
Magenta says, “When people try to talk to me at times…”
Connie interrupts, saying, “I don’t wanna hear all of that. Like what?”
Magenta can’t think of anything good to say.
Connie says, “I know Jesus is Lord. The King if Kings.”
Magenta says, “Me too.”
Connie says, “Do you? What type of music do you listen to?”
Magenta says, “I like classical music. It depends.”
Connie says, “Classical music is of the devil. The devil uses music to brainwash people.”
Chapter 27
Try to Forget
Magenta has a peculiar flashback of walking in the high school hallway and Caucasian female says, “You ain’t no thug.” The Caucasians body vanished as the background behind her turns black. A Gangster Disciples member says, “You ain’t ‘bout that life. You got a momma that cares about you. Stay your ass in school. You don’t want it on these streets or prison. I’m blessed make it to this school. Don’t have me catch you where I’m from.” The gang member’s body vanishes and a crowd full of people crowd her like a psycho relic dream, saying similar words like, “You ain’t goin’ through nothin. You have a mom and dad.”
She exits the flashback and hears Connie still talking, “You’ll go to hell if you continue listening to that crap!”
Magenta has another flashback. She remembers typing to a pop culture magazine company about her interest in being a writer for their company 2 years ago. The flashback switches to a scene where she got the writing position and wrote approximately 6 articles. Mr. Jarvis writes via email, “Just touching base on the payment I owe you. Please forgive me for it taking this long to get that taken care of. I don’t want to give you excuses since it doesn’t matter, I owe you for your submissions.
I am working hard to get you taken care of so hang in there just a tad longer.
Obviously though, considering this situation, going forward so I am not in this situation again, I am going to have to go with unpaid articles from people who want the exposure or to build their portfolio of published articles. At least for a while. I know you are professional and this may not be fitting for you, but of course I’d love to have anything you want to submit and have published. But right now, as I dig out of these back payments, I just don’t want to create this situation all over again.
Thanks for your patience and understanding the trials and tribulations of starting up a magazine.”
Magenta messaged him back, “Thank you for the update. How long would people have to write unpaid articles for?“
Mr. Jarvis replied to the message, “I can’t truthfully put a timeline on it. I want to pay my writers for their work because as a writer myself I respect writers. Nothing happens without us, right? But as I build this publication it’s hard to say exactly when the cash flow will be right. Hopefully not long. In the meantime, all I can do is offer a platform to help writers get exposure while I get content.”
Magenta messaged him back, “While I enjoy researching topics and writing for your company, I’ve decided to pursue other options. I want to broaden my horizons. If I was informed that this specific position was “Volunteer” from the beginning, it wouldn’t feel like a scam. Part of me believe that it’s not a scam, but I just can’t afford to work for free. I understand that there’s financial struggles. I’d love to write for your company, but again, I can’t under these conditions. Thank you for your time.”
Mr. Jarvis wrote 6 days later, “I understand your not being able o contribute for free. No worries. You’ll still get paid for what you wrote, thus eliminating your thoughts that we were scamming you. That’s $60 for all of the articles you’ve written. I wish you all the best.”
The flashback switches to a month later when she messaged Mr. Jarvis.
Magenta wrote, “Hello. I’m just checking up on if you have a set date on when you think you’ll be able to compensate me for my past work. If you can’t pay entirely, could you like pay $5 every week or something until I get all of my money? I’m not sure where all of your sources of income may come from, but I’d still like my money.”
Magenta’s flashback switches to a scene where Mr. Jarvis wrote back the next day, “Hey, Magenta. I think we’ll be able to wrap up your payment by next week.”
Next week arrived in her flashback and Magenta messaged her former boss, “Hi. Do you have my payment ready now?“
6 days later in her flashback, Mr. Jarvis wrote back, “Hey Isiaiah. Sorry just seeing this. I don’t have the payment yet unfortunately. But hope to wrap you up very shortly.”
Magenta wrote back, “How shortly? You could give me $5 every week until you reach the full payment. I don’t see how that’d hurt.“
The next day in her flashback, Mr. Jarvis wrote back as if it’s so hard to check his email messages, “True. Worst case we’ll start that this week.”
Magenta wrote back, “And what’d you mean by worst case?“
After receiving no response, Magenta wrote, “Hello. It’s been over 8 weeks now and you’ve still not paid me the money you owe me. How’s it that you once planned to hire somebody, but never had the money to pay them a lot of money? That’s a scam. It’s just $60 you owe me.”
Magenta recurved another message, “Hello, Magenta. I’m Annie, Jarvis’ daughter. I’m sorry if you haven’t heard already, but my father died last week. I don’t know what your business relationship was with my dad but I’m sorry he was taking a while paying you for whatever services he requested of you. Sorry for contacting you like this but I’d like to get all my father’s business dealings that he left behind sorted so we can all move on. I’d like to get you your money if I can but if you could please be patient I’d really appreciate it. I’m sure you understand this process is going to take some time.”
Annie got on the internet to type “Mr. Jarvis in the search engine and discovered that indeed, Mr. Jarvis is deceased. Annie posted to his social media account telling his followers the sad news. Sadly, Magenta finds it complicated to care because she’s not been paid for 6 articles she wrote.
Magenta responded back, “I’m sorry for your loss. I’m also sorry for my recent messages if they came across as self-centered. I’m just someone who used to be a “Writer” for your father. I actually enjoyed working with him. I just wasn’t getting paid for the articles I was writing, which made me stop working for him. I agreed to have my articles deleted from the company website because I didn’t want to support a company that wasn’t going to pay me. He did offer to place me as a “Volunteer Writer,” but I mentioned that I wasn’t interested.
Nothing can replace your father. Thank you for the update.”
Annie responded back, “Don’t worry about it you’ve gotta stand up for the quality of your art. Thanks for the work you did for my father and thank you for the kind words. My dad was certainly struggling financially in his final months but if down the line I can give you what you’re owed I’d be more than happy to on behalf of my late father. I’ll try to get in touch soon.“
Magenta exits the flashback knowing that Annie never did pay her the $60 her father owed him.
Connie says, “It’s like when you aunty got salmonella and died. My half-brother burnt his face while cooking a hamburger. You have to always be careful. Your life is at risk all the time. I’m done.”
Magenta walks to her bedroom and shuts the door. Carnation is sitting on her daybed.
Carnation says, “I miss Talisa.”
Magenta says, “Yeah. Me too.”
Carnation says, “Can I stay in your room?”
Magenta says, “Gunther would be…”
Carnation interrupts, saying, “He’d love his own room. He already thinks he’s a straight ‘A’ student. Mother used to be one, but he repeated the sixth grade. She was the first in the family to go to college though.”
Magenta says, “Hard work beats talent. That’s what they say.”
Carnation says, “It’s true.”
Magenta says, “I hope so.”
Carnation says, “If you’re poor in this world, it means you’re lazy. That’s just my opinion. I’m a competitor. It’s my nature to be the best. It’s in our family blood.”
Magenta says, “Talisa will come out of the military unscathed. She’s strong.”
Carnation says, “She no longer believes in violence.”
Magenta says, “She can adapt.”
Carnation says, “Pinky promise?”
Magenta wraps her pinky finger around Carnation’s and says, “Pinky promise.”
Carnation says, “I’d hate the military.”
Magenta weeps, shredding a tears from both of her watery eyes, saying, “We were getting so close to each other. Thousands of armed forces veterans are either homeless or in prison. That sounds like the government really cares.”
Carnation pushes Magenta backwards on the daybed, whispering, “Grow your ass up. Start acting your age. What are you gonna do without me? Next week, I’m leaving this dump and I hope you eventually do the same.”
Magenta whispers, “You have no money. You’ll won’t survive alone.”
Carnation whispers, “I’ll figure something out.”
They can overhear Connie talking over the phone in the living room about religion.
Magenta says, “This is why I don’t talk loud. If we can hear her, she can obviously hear us.”
Carnation says, “I won’t have to worry about that where I’m going.”
Magenta rises up and says, “Can you please just tell me where you’re going?”
Carnation says, “Far, far away. An online friend will pick me up and take me to East Westwood, Ohio. It’s a neighborhood in Cincinnati.”
Magenta whispers, “How long have you known this friend.”
Carnation says, “Two years.”
Carnation exits her bedroom as Magenta has her face lowered to her chest. Gunther pops his head out around the door, then says, “You still have me. Cheer up.”
Gunther laughs.
Chapter 28
Kiara Gets Her Medicine
Next Tuesday
Connie awakes, screaming in the living room, “Where’s Carnation!”
Gunther and Magenta sit at the table, pretending not to know.
Connie says, “Do you know where she went? I’m going to have to call the police.”
Magenta shrugs her shoulders, saying, “I don’t know. Anything could’ve happened.”
Connie says, “What about you, Gunther? Did she tell you anything?”
Gunther then says, “I heard her say something. I forget. She said. She said. Right. She said that she was going to Cincinnati.”
Connie asks, “When?”
Magenta stares at Gunther, refusing to wear a worried face.
Gunther says, “She told it to Magenta last week!”
Connie says, “And you didn’t tell me?”
Magenta says, “I don’t recall it.”
Gunther yells, “I remember it! Why you yelling at me? That’s my sister too! That’s why you failed the sixth grade!”
Connie says, “That’s why I don’t tell you everything about me. I tell you things so you can learn from my mistakes, but you try to use them against me.”
Gunther says, “You need to learn that it’s my sister too! I have a theory. Carnation ran away to become a doctor.”
Connie says, “Talisa wanted to be a doctor. Not Carnation. It’s my daughter! Mine!”
Gunther says, “I forgot what we were talking about.”
Gunther throws a ceramic bowl at the plaster wall and leaves the house without a winter coat.
The snow is 6-inches deep outside and the wind is blowing hard. Connie locks the front door and eyes Magenta.
Connie says, “He’s still your brother. You have to love him.”
Wednesday
The electricity turns on by itself in the house. Magenta’s television turns on. Thus, she turns it off. Magenta looks up a sequined, black and silver, horizontally striped shirt with black, meshed, long sleeves. Better than window shopping, it’s admiration from a computer screen for all of the clothes she can’t afford. She then heads outside with Gunther after logging off the internet.
Lunch
Magenta is approached by Kiara (who is wearing a maroon cardigan sweater, embellished bell-bottom jeans embedded with silver, round studs surrounding both sides of the pockets, and black, leather, high-heeled boots). Magenta closes her locker, then faces Kiara.
Kiara says, “This ain’t over, Magenta.”
Magenta strikes Kiara in the face. Kiara falls to the floor with blood trickling down her right nostril to her cheek, crying. The students stare at Magenta. There’s no cheers or jeers. Magenta shakes her fingers from the painful aftermath of the impact against it. They just stare at her as she heads to her History class.
Gunther runs pass many students, spinning pass several, jumping over objects. Many students laugh. Magenta ignores the embarrassing moment.”
Chapter 29
What Curse?
Home
4:00 P.M.
When Magenta walks in the house, there’s nobody home. Her cell phone rings. It’s Connie calling her. When she holds the phone up to her ear and answers, saying, “Hello,” Connie says, “Carnation’s dead!”
Magenta says, “How?”
Connie says, “Police found her in Cincinnati dead. They’re saying she slit her right wrist.”
Magenta sits down on the living room couch after feeling uncomfortable. She shreds tears, then hears Connie say, “You can hang up now.”
Magenta says, “Okay.”
Magenta hangs up the cell phone.
5:20 P.M.
Gunther arrives home, shutting the front door, locking it. He says, “Track was phenomenal. I outran everyone today. They called me Speedy Mac. What’s the name of that woodpecker character?”
Connie says, “Carnation’s dead.”
Gunther literally jumps in the air with his hands extended, overreacting. He says, “What! How’d that happen?”
Hartman and Magenta is sitting on opposite ends of the couch.
Connie says, crying, “She went to Cincinnati and the police found her in a dumpster with a slit right, wrist.”
Gunther says, “Who did it?”
Connie says, “We don’t know who.”
1 Week Later
It’s Monday at 5:00 A.M.. Hartman leaves the house with Gunther to head to the grocery store.
Connie calls Magenta, “Magenta!”
Magenta walks out of her bedroom.
Connie says, “You clean up yet?”
Magenta says, “I have to do my homework first.”
Connie says, “Family comes first if you wanna continue living here. Why can’t you be more like your cousin who’s an instructor, abroad in China. He learned three languages and has an Asian girlfriend. I see you with an Asian man with a nice house in your future.”
Magenta says, “I’m doing the best…”
Connie interrupts, saying, “Your best isn’t good enough. I need you to push yourself until you can’t. What do you want to major in?”
Magenta says, “Film.”
Connie says, “Nobody’s stopping you from doing what you want. Do you wanna do that for the rest of your life?”
Magenta says, “Sure. I like wrestling though.”
Connie says, “I don’t have hospital money. What’ll you do if you bust your head? I stopped Hartman from wrestling in high school. He’s doing just fine now. Had I let him wrestle, he could’ve gotten a brain injury.”
Magenta says, “The possibilities of that happening…”
Connie interrupts saying, “Are high. You have no experience and should just stay away from it.”
Magenta says, “Can I at least join the wrestling team?”
Connie says, “Okay. You can join. Sit down.”
She sits down and Connie says, “I know it seems like I’m hard on you, but I love you. I have to tell you something. One time when I was… around nine-years-old living in the projects with my mother, I went outside to play outside. Nobody paid attention to me. There were several delinquents outside, too. A man around a corner snatched me and started touching on me in a car. He penetrated me. I’m lesbian. Your father announced that he was gay. He wanted me to tell you. The people’s houses we lived over in the past, all of them were the ones I’ve had a relationship with. I got seven abortions in the past. I don’t want you to have the family curse.”
Connie cries.
Magenta says, “What curse?”
Connie remains speechless for 5 seconds, then changes the subject.
Connie says, “Are you a lesbian?”
Magenta says, “Why would you ask me that? No.”
Connie says, “They’re teaching little kids in school how to have sex and be okay with transgenders. Ten years ago, they’d say they weren’t pushing their agenda on anyone. If you weren’t a lesbian, you’d just say no.”
Magenta says, “I’m not.”
Connie sighs, saying , “My father is on drugs. Did you know that? He died on your grandma’s sixty-fifth birthday owing over one hundred thousand dollars in drug money.”
Magenta says again, “What curse?”
Connie is speechless.
Connie avoids the question, saying, “Had your brother stood with his real mother, he’d still have tuberculosis.”
Magenta says, “You’re not my real mother?”
Connie says, “I am if I take care of you.”
Magenta says, “What’s the curse?”
Connie once again remains speechless.
Chapter 30
Wrestling with Time
After School
It’s 4:00 P.M. Magenta heads to the gym room to sign up for the wrestling team. The Mr. Siders, the wrestling coach is sitting at a desk, saying, sign up here.”
A few minutes later, Magenta passes male students to perform standing bicep curls with 20 pound dumbbells. She’s using both arms at the same time. She remembers the prior to wanting to wrestle, she wanted to play hockey, but her mother was against that as well. Now, her mother can’t possibly complain if she figuratively speaking follows the perfect training algorithm to becoming the best wrestler of all time.
One scrawny person named Deonte (wearing a yellow basketball jersey, black pants, and yellow shoes), laughs at her, saying, “How’s your brother? Your brother thinks he can fly, huh?”
Magenta ignore him.
Lamar, a muscular male, walks over to Magenta and talks to the crowd like a presentation, making fun of her.
Lamar says, “I’m going to train Magenta how to get muscles like these in three months with my special training program.”
Lamar flexes his muscles.
“Show is your muscles,” Lamar says.
Magenta slowly lifts up her arms and flexes as all of the students laugh. To Magenta, the students were laughing too hard. One chubby student falls down laughing and uses a stepping aerobics steps to maintain his balance. Even Mr. Siders is laughing. It’s humiliating.
5:45 P.M.
Magenta walks in the living room with her pulley bag. Gunther puts his book bag on a the floor and sits at the living room table. Magenta sneezes on her right shoulder. Then, she looks at Connie.
Connie asks, “How was school?”
Magenta says with excitement, “Great. I signed up for the wrestling team.”
Connie says, “I never said you could join the wrestling team.”
Magenta says, “You did earlier.”
Connie yells, “I’d never say such a thing! Stay away from that crap! Gunther. Did I tell Magenta that she can join the wrestling team?”
Gunther says, “Uuumm. Let me see. Uuumm. I don’t think. No. Aaawww! Nope.”
Connie then looks at Magenta, saying, “I’d never tell you to join that crap! You could’ve gotten seriously hurt!”
Magenta says, “All we did was exercise.”
Connie makes a shocked facial expression like it’s the end of the world, then says, “Exercise? One of your cousins popped a blood vessel in his right arm from exercising and by the time he got to the hospital, he was dead! Don’t end up like him!”
Magenta walks to her bedroom wearing a depressed look.
Magenta mumbles after closing her bedroom door, “Stupid.”
Chapter 31
Gang Stalking
She looks at an online video of a Crips gang member fighting with a Bloods gang member. She then clicks in an action video that shows a movie trailer. In the living room, her mother has the speaker set up. The same video Magenta is playing in her bedroom plays in the living room.
Connie yells, “Magenta!”
Magenta exits her bedroom with a frown.
Connie says, “What you growing for? I’m not sure where this sound’s coming from on the speaker. Do you know what it is?”
Magenta says, “No.”
Connie says, “Try playing a video on your cell phone or computer. Let me borrow the computer.”
Magenta let’s her see the computer. Connie sits at the living room table and plays a video, which produces sound onto the speakers.
Magenta says, “How’s that happening.”
Connie laughs, saying, “I don’t know. It’s not supposed to do this.”
Magenta says, “You should get a new speaker.”
Connie nods her head sideways, saying, “No. I like it like this. That way, I’ll know exactly what you’re doing in that room. Here. Here’s your computer. You know I got cameras watching you, right? You think I’m crazy? That’s because I am.”
Magenta takes the laptop, heads in her bedroom, then presses a button in the settings to get the device off of the speaker. She slips on her earphones, scrolls down to the comment section of the video, then sees a username called ‘Rulethetruth’ mention, “Research gang stalking and color sensitization.”
When Magenta researches organized color sensitization gang stalking on her cell phone, she gets extremely uncomfortable from how relatable the content is with her life. One person in the video is holding his cell phone to his face, recording himself.
The person says, “My name is Sheldon. Have you ever felt like you were always the black sheep? Like you were always being watched? Like you were left out? I’m going to be talking about what color sensitization is. When it comes to color sensitization, you may notice the repetition of red, blue, and black objects in your way. They can be any color depending on where you’re located. Maybe you’ll walk outside and see a blue car just now parking by your location. I’ve been a Targeted Individual for six years already and it’s bullying on steroid. Gang stalkers illegally bully Targeted Individuals to the point of suicide, to get them to look crazy by being incarcerated, placed in a mental institution, or homeless. They’re watching you twenty-four seven. You can’t just run away to another state or country. One person who gets paid to stalk may get the tracking information of where you’re at, so they’ll follow you and do exactly what the app tells them to do. They get paid in drugs or anything. The history as you know it taught in schools are backwards. When subjects are trained to search for the colors they’re used to seeing, their sensitivity to that color is altered for weeks. It’s mental manipulation that the higher ups do. If I walk outside, I see a car usually driving off. Red means they’re mad at you. Orange means they want to kill you. Blue means police is watching you. Black means women victims of sexual assault and harassment or physical violence and harassment.white means moral purity or purity. Grey means you’re a piece of shit. It’s what they think of you. Light blue means you’re gonna die. If you see many people wearing a light blue shirt or doing stage theater, you know what’s up. Stage theater is when someone puts on an act. Let’s say I just got done reading an unpopular book, then I overhear a group making fun of the book in great detail about the protagonist, antagonist, conflict, and so on. Let’s say stuff like that happens many times. Or I can be having an argument with someone and they laugh about it. I’ve never committed a crime in my life. The people behind this are rich enough to pay anyone to follow you, whether it’s the FBI, CIA, your family, neighbors, or whoever. They’ll blackmail, pay, or silence others just to cause you pain. Mainly, the government does this for sport, for revenge, to silence you because you’re a whistleblower, or because your relative was in the military. They are your military, your lawyers, judges, doctors, police force, firefighters, and so forth. People are paid to be mean to you. Some people think those are aliens, demons, or whatever, but I say they’re normal people ready to make your life a living hell. Matter of fact. I’ll walk outside.”
Magenta makes a shocked face.
Sheldon, in the video aims the camera at the street as he walks outside.
Three red vehicles drive by and stop at the same time near his location.
Sheldon yells “Go away you sick freaks! Some of these people have underground hideouts where they do human trafficking. Once this person gets done following me, he’ll turn a corner, then someone else will begin following me.”
Just like Sheldon said, the person who was following him while holding a cellphone aimed at him turned a corner. Across the street, someone else is staring at him while on a cell phone.”
Sheldon says, “Dark red means they hate you. Dark blue means police are intensely watching you. Purple represents the struggle for equality. Pink is for womanhood. Green means they know everything about you, someone told them the latest gossip about you, or they know who you really are. Yellow means you’ll be executed through renal failure. Blue and red means police is angry at you. Blue and dark red means police hate you. White and red means pure hate. There’s so much about gang stalking that you’ll have to do your own research. They are here. I’m just telling you what I know.”
Magenta clicks on another video of Sheldon speaking.
Sheldon says in the video, “Sheldon here. What up targeted family. Most people you tell that you’re targeted won’t even believe you. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts. They won’t because they’re wired to be attracted to what the news feed them. The news won’t report everything. They’d rather talk about what celebrities are wearing instead of gang stalking. This video is about V2K. Voice to skull technology. Some Targeted Individuals believe they have a microchip implanted in their head, but due to this, they get shocked multiple times a day, resulting in burn marks. Research synthetic telepathy. It’s what the military is working on trying to read people’s mind. There’s already enough pollution in this world. We have GMO’s and pesticides killing the population off. I’m not a scientist, but this shit is real.”
Magenta exits out of the screen.
She continuously research what Targeted Individuals and gang stalking is on the internet for approximately 2 hours.
One With Funny texts her.
He texts, “What’s up.”
Magenta texts back, “Everything much. I’ve been thinking about you.”
He texts back, “I had to work. When can I meet up with you?”
She texts back, “Oh, Alfonso.”
When Magenta checks her phone again, the text message reads, “Stay away from my son, nigger. You show up and it’s your ass.”
Magenta’s eyes widen.
He sends another message, texting similar things like, “Nigger. That’s what I thought!”
Magenta texts back, “What’s your problem! What your son likes about me is his business. Not yours.”
She gets a text message back from Alfonso’s dad, which reads, “Just stay away from my son! Saint Clouds, motherfucker!”
An isolated Magenta texts back, “Fuck you! Come down here and you won’t make it.”
She blocks his phone number.
Magenta walks in the living room and says, “Can I go to the library?”
Connie says, “You don’t have to ask to go to the library. You’re an adult. Just go.”
As soon as Magenta opens the front door, Connie says, “Wait! I need to drop some items off. I’ll come with you.”
Connie says, “Gunther! Do you wanna go to the library?”
A shirtless Gunther walks in the living room in his light blue underwear, which has a hole in the back.
He says, mumbling, “Yes.”
Connie says as if she wants to slap the mandible off of him, “What?”
Gunther mumbles again, “Yes.”
Connie says, “Speak up! We don’t have all day! Put your clothes on.”
Gunther says, “Okay.”
Connie says, “Wash up while you’re at it. You’re gonna have to cut that nappy head.”
Gunther says, “It’s my style.”
Connie says, “Somebody lied.”
Gunther says, “I’m not washing up! I can go around smelling how I want. I smell good! It’s natural!”
Connie, the quintessence of frustration squints her eyes, yelling as Magenta closes the door, “Wash your ass up before we forget about ice cream.”
Gunther power walks to the bathroom.
Library
Magenta is walking around, looking for books about science, history, and poetry. She picks out 4 books with one of the history books having the cover image of Buddha on it and her mother says, “What’s this? Put it back.”
Magenta says, “I have to have knowledge about the consistent trials and errors of other world views in order to not make the same mistake.”
Connie says, “What are you talking about? Put it back! No demons are allowed in my house!”
Looking like he’s diagnosed with malaria, Gunther says, “Don’t pastors have to study other religions to become pastors? Maybe she wants to be one.”
Connie says, “Do you mind! She just wants to practice Buddhism.”
Magenta says, “I want to fill my head with knowledge about every aspect of life. This book shows Buddha on the cover, but it cover other religions.”
Connie says, “There’s only one God.”
Magenta says, “I know. I also have a Philosophy class at school. How’d you find out that Christmas was a Pagan…”
Connie says, “Put the damn book back!”
The librarians at the front desk feel uncomfortable and remain silent.
Magenta puts the book back.
Chapter 32
Who Has It Worse?
Tuesday
5:45 A.M.. Once again, Connie is in the living room. This time, she has conjunctivitis on her right side.
Connie says, “Some families have no food. You’re not skinny compared to those children in Africa. You have it made. You’re spoiled. Just think about what you want to do with the rest of your life. And get your head right with God. I’m thinking about going back to church, so you can come with me. You’ve not been to church ever since you were like eight. You need to stay out of that room. I know I sheltered you when you were young, but I thought it was for your protection. This world is evil.”
Magenta has a flashback from when she was nine-years-old on the south side of Chicago. She had magenta cornrows, reading glasses, a horizontally, black and grey, striped shirt, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. She remembers Gunther (wearing a grey, hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and white, work and torn tennis shoes) sitting with her on the living room couch (made out of brown and white, faux cowhide). Carnation and Talisa were sitting opposite directions from each other in two living room chairs, eating chicken fajita soup out of a tawny, ceramic bowl.
Someone knocks on the front door. Out of the bedroom, Lucinda pops out, (wearing a white, laced, sheath dress with black heels) smelling like a strong avocado perfume. She opens the front door. It’s Uncle Mike (wearing black dreadlocks, a black and red, denim jacket, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes). Uncle Mike waves at all of the children, saying, “What’s up!” They greet him back. He follows Lucinda in the bedroom and closes the door. A couple of seconds later, they play music, the bed rattled, and Lucinda moans for approximately 11 minutes straight, even obviously repeatedly saying the name, “Mike” at a loud volume.
Magenta exits the flashback.
Connie says, “Get ready for school.”
7:45 A.M.
Magenta walks off the short, yellow school bus, and waves to her brother as she steps in the hallway. She puts her pulley bag in her locker, takes out her textbook, then walks down the hall. Two females follow her down the hall. One female is a blond with a ponytail while another is a brunette with short, curly hair. The brunette says to the blond, “Some families have no food. You’re not skinny compared to those children in Africa.“ The blond and brunette pass her up as Magenta stops her movement. She grows rage.
2 Years Later
Magenta is walking across a one-way street in the sunny weather. There’s a male with black sunglasses on their cell phone behind her. He has green and black an orange t-shirt, camouflage jeans, and black tennis shoes. When she crosses the street when there’s a red light signal, a car speeds pass her, nearly running her over. A passenger with a bald head says, “Watch where you’re going!” She looks at the male with black sunglasses on the opposite side of the street. He points his right index finger under his nose, indicating where she is. When she walks pass a grocery store, a stranger opens the door wearing a red shirt. A car stop near her and there’s a police car around the corner.
She turns the corner, walks up stairs and makes her way to the train station. An anonymous blond woman with a pixie cut hairstyle is wearing gold, circular earrings a white blouse, leopard print pants, and black, slip-on shoes is holding her cell phone toward Magenta’s direction, out of several people at the train station, the one specific woman in leopard pants has her cell phone aimed at her.
The woman in leopard pants is talking to a shirtless male via video chat, laughing.
When Magenta crosses the woman with leopard pants, she turns, aiming the cell phone her direction. Magenta ignores the woman and steps on the train where someone in one of the top seats sitting forward has their cell phone sideways and downward, aimed at her. Nobody else sitting at the top has their cell phone aimed downward.
45 minutes later, Magenta exits the train after waiting on slow walking people. She walks up the stairs, crosses a rusty, brownish bridge, then walks straight ahead toward a college. She’s in the city, so she doesn’t worry as much about who is entering an exiting doors when she passes by, but it’s still dangerous. The events of being stalked is all too normal.
She’s about to cross a street to get to the private college and sees several cars immediately park in front of the school. It’s her first day of school and she’s not excited. A fake smile could help the moment. She enters the school, greets the front desk clerk receptionist. She hears to the cafeteria, takes a homemade turkey sandwich out of her book bag, which is wrapped in aluminum foil. Then, she takes out a plastic bottle of half-frozen water. She sits the items on a round, wooden table, then a student with white headphones on, black, slick back hairstyle, hazel eyes, a red and white, plaid, long-sleeved jacket, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes.
He waves his hand at her with a friendly smile. She texts Maurice on her cell phone, “Hey.”
Maurice texts back, “Hey. You okay?”
She texts, “Not really, but I’m living. You?”
Maurice says, “I just got done having dinner with my girlfriend. It was a thousand dollar dinner.”
She texts back, “Wow! Where’d you get the money?”
Maurice says, “My old man taught me never to be a square. You know.”
She texts back, “I’m not going to ask for any.”
Maurice says, “Good. Because you know what you have to do if you want some.”
Magenta texts, “Why are you acting different?”
Maurice texts, “If you want to stay my friend, you’re going to have sex with me tonight. Good luck finding a place to stay without me.”
Magenta texts back, “You have a girlfriend. I thought you were my friend.”
Maurice texts, “You’re my friend I want to have sex with. I already fucked Carnation for the 2 years ago. I don’t see why you’re holdin’ out on your boy. I bet you have some good low-income pussy. I’ll pay you 2 grand if you let me smash. What do you say?”
Magenta blocks Maurice on her cell phone, then looks downward. She has a flashback of Harlow from high school asking her if she can enter her house. Odd enough, her unofficial parents, brother and sisters aren’t in the house.
Magenta says, “I don’t know. I’ll have to call my mom.”
Harlow says, “Call them then.”
Magenta calls her mom, saying, “Mom. Can I bring any friend over the house?”
Connie says, “I haven’t cleaned up the house. Wait until I meet your friend’s parents. I don’t know who that is. No. You can hang up now.”
Magenta hangs up her cell phone and says, “She said no, but we’ll make it quick. Magenta enters her house with Harlow. Harlow takes a glimpse at her transparent jar of change in her bedroom. The bedroom door closes automatically. Harlow looks at Magenta in fear as if it was a ghost.
Magenta says, “That was the wind” pointing at an opened window.
Harlow says, “Oh. I’m hungry. You wanna go to the store afterwards? I ain’t got any money.”
Magenta asks, “Why can’t your parents feed you?”
Harlow says, “They’re broke. I’m lucky if I can eat a bowl of cereal and water for breakfast.”
Magenta says, “I’ll fix you some spaghetti. Wait there.”
Harlow says, “What kind of games you got?”
Magenta says, “Those are in Gunther’s room. You can hook up the game while I fix your food.”
After Magenta cooks Harlow a bowl of spaghetti with cheese sticks, Harlow accepts the meal by consuming it like a ravenous person. Harlow consumes every bit of the meal, sits her bowl on the floor, and plays video games for approximately 30 minutes. Then, when Harlow leaves, she notices that her cell phone and music player is gone. She looks outside and sees Harlow running.
The scene switches to Harlow being confronted by a police officer at a police station. She’s watching while the police officer yells as Connie gives Magenta a furious look. The scene then switches to a scene where Magenta sees two students mention Harlow stealing items from their house and how they’re going to fight her Harlow.
Magenta exits the flashback, nearly crying after accepting a friendship with someone with an asymmetrical eye that’s larger than the other, only to be betrayed. She reflected on many stages in her life and tries to think positive. She tries to make a first impression at school.
Magenta receives a phone call from Connie.
When she picks up the cell phone, Connie says, “Gunther is back in the mental institute. He through a chair at the wall after I asked him if he wanted to watch a movie. He went talking about how angry he was like usual, then broke my wall by throwing a chair into it. It’s a six-inch sent in the wall…”
Connie talks for approximately 7 minutes straight without giving Magenta a chance to talk.
Connie says, “You can hang up now.
Magenta hangs up the cell phone, then surprisingly sees a flamboyant Aurelia. She hasn’t seen Aurelia in a long time. Aurelia is wearing a green permed hairstyle, an embellished, purple jacket with laced ruffles, and silver studs. She has a bluish-green, circular, studded belt, embellished blue jeans with red and black, floral designs, and red shoes.
Aurelia screams, running to Magenta.
Aurelia says, “Hey, girl!”
Magenta says, “Hey. What are you doing here?”
Aurelia says, “I’m going to be a movie star. I have to start somewhere.”
Magenta says, “I hope you’re in my class. Which class you got?”
They exchange their course schedules to see if they have the same classes.
Magenta says, “I don’t see a match.”
Aurelia says, “Don’t worry. We can meet after school and hang out now that you’re in college. You can hang in my dorm room if you want.”
Magenta says, “Sounds fun.”
Aurelia says, “Give me your number. I’ll text you after my class, then we can meet up.”
They exchange phone numbers.
Magenta says, “See ya, later,” then heads to the fifth floor to her Producing class.
Magenta has a flashback of hugging Aurelia in the 6th grade, then her flashback switches. In the next scene, she’s in the 3rd grade getting kicked by four boys and three girls in her grade. She cries in excruciating pain. She exits the flashback and hears to her classroom. There’s already several students in the classroom. Two male students are on the opposite side. One is an African American with dreadlocks while another is a blond Caucasian with a bob cut hairstyle. There’s a Caucasian female with blue eyes and a ponytail, sitting four chairs away from a heavyset, African American woman with a Chicagoan accent.
Magenta sits next to the heavyset African American woman. The heavyset woman doesn’t even look her direction and says, “Somebody looks angry.”
Magenta ignores the woman and sees what appears like a cholo walk in the room.
As students start to talk to one another, the heavyset woman talks to Magenta, “How do you feel about gay people?”
Why’s that the first question she asked?”
Magenta says, “I’m okay with gays. If that’s their sexual preference…”
The heavyset woman interrupts, saying, “Good.”
Magenta says, Why’d you ask?”
The heavyset woman changes the subject, saying, “So, what’s your name? What are you majoring in? Tell me a little bit about yourself. I have to get my cooperation points flowing.”
Magenta says, “My name’s Magenta. I want to be a screenwriter and film director.”
The heavyset woman says, “I’m Laquisha. I’ve already produced two independent films and balance out my passion with a job working at my dad’s ice cream shop. I’m married with three children, so by me following my passion, it’s all or nothing. When I was around twelve, I wrote a children’s book that was adapted into a movie, which won first prize at Oh Kay Walk Film Festival in the Atlanta. I still get royalties for that. What type of music do you listen to?”
Magenta says, “A little bit of everything.”
Laquisha says, “I like everything rap.”
One brunette female (with long, curly hair, a green and black camouflage jacket worn over a black muscle shirt, black jeans, and black tennis shoes) speaks to the African American male with dreadlocks, saying, “Hey! I’ve known you since the high school.” They hug.
As most of the student arrive, it appears as if though they’ve known one another for years. Everyone is talking about personal topics in an emotion and enthusiastic fashion except for Magenta.
Magenta says, “Everyone seems to know each other.”
Laquisha responds, “It’s a small world. I’ve been on section eight for twenty two years, so I appreciate the small talk. I know all about section eight.”
Magenta looks at a blond woman cuddling with a chubby light skinned male as if they’ve known each other for years. They kiss seconds after Magenta says, “No problem.”
Laquisha says, “You should smile. Your name is beautiful unlike my lil sis. She can’t hold a job with the name Clitorisandrea. It doesn’t come off the tongue right.”
An energetic male with a British accent, says, “Clitor… What? How do you say that?”
Laquisha says, “Clitorisandrea. That’s my baby sister’s name. What’s your name?”
He says, “Alasdair.”
Laquisha says, “You have a good name. We need a name swap right about now. I’m famished. I should’ve ate earlier. I woke up at four in the morning to drive…”
Laquisha effortlessly talk to the students as the laugh at her stories. Magenta hears her name being mentioned.
Laquisha says, “Magenta wants to be a film director and screenwriter too.”
Alasdair Asks, “What type of movies you want to make? I’m in the business for commercials to feed my family. Don’t say action.”
Magenta says, “How’d you guess?”
The room gets silent as the teacher, Ms. Moist walks in the room.
15 minutes later, after Ms. Moist let’s everyone take turns reading the syllabus, she says, “Each time you step in this classroom, you’re representing craft. If you’re not a public speaker, you’ll learn to be one. If you’re not a reader or writer, we can help you. If you’re lazy, you’re not pushing yourself to the next level, you’re just going to fail. It’s that simple. I don’t want to hear your excuses. When I was your age in college, I didn’t have the internet. I had to go to the library. I didn’t have cell phones to call boyfriends every day. I wasn’t monogamous, but that’s are little secret…”
Everyone laughs except Magenta.
Ms. Moist continues talking, “Have everyone properly gotten to know one another?”
All of the students except a Magenta says, “Yes.”
Ms. Moist says, “Good. Because next week, your assignment is to write a summary about each classmate as them having their own movie and how you’d produce it. What’s the budget? What’s age group will watch it? Why should I care? Your presentation should be longer than 10 minutes. If you want to work in groups, talk to me after class and if you have special needs, let me know. Last year, I had a blind student who used Braille to learn my class and I wasn’t slowing down for her, so I’m not slowing down for you. Fair?”
5 minutes later, Ms. Moist rises from her desk as the students are exchanging phone numbers. Magenta is just asking for everyone’s phone number.”
Magenta says to an African American male with dreadlocks, “I’ll text you.”
Ms. Moist says, “My mother asked me earlier if I ever felt like there was a jinx in the family. I said it’s only when you think there’s a jinx because whatever you believe happens. I believe in the law of attraction. She said, “I’m glad you aren’t a robot and are a sister to me.’ I cried and didn’t know what to say.”
Like déjà vu, Magenta has a flashback from when Talisa said, “I’m glad you aren’t a robot and are a sister to me.”
Magenta then has a flashback of notification officers standing in front of Connie’s front door, revealing the life-altering news of Talisa’s death. Connie turns around after shutting the door, crying.
Magenta raises her hand and says, “What’s the greatest thing your mother taught you?”
Ms. Moist says, “She taught me unconditional love. What about yours.”
Magenta says, “Always be honest, no matter what happens. That’s the family motto we lived by.”
Ms. Moist says, “That’s a good rule to live by, but in the film industry, you’ll be like politicians. You’re promoters. What do all good politicians have in common?”
Magenta says, “Money.”
Ms. Moist says, “That too, but they lie. You’re going to have to bullshit us until we believe it. If you make an error in your presentation, I won’t know until you show me. Continue. If you run out of things to say, don’t say umm. Bullshit me. What are you gonna do if you’re working on a Big rated film and you have to promote it? Bullshit the fuck out of it. Make me interested.”
Noon
Class ended and Aurelia texts Magenta with a message, which read, “Hey. I’m in the cafeteria.”
Magenta travels to the cafeteria and Aurelia is nowhere to be found.
She texts Aurelia, “I’m downstairs in the cafeteria. Where are you?”
Aurelia doesn’t respond to her text message as she waits around 6 minutes looking around before leaving the school.
When she leaves, she sees Aurelia in a lime green lowrider with two women. The lowrider has hydraulics, bouncing up and down.
Aurelia laughs with her friends, then drives away down the street.
Magenta gets on a train and receives inbox messages from several usernames, calling her a conspiracy theorist.
She ignores the messages and shares a post, which says, “I long for the world to find its true reflection.”
Someone on her friend list with the username Cameron Caz comments publicly to the post, “God isn’t real.”
Maxine from her high school, comments in her inbox, “I’m a Pagan.”
Magenta responds to Maxine via an inbox message and types, “So did you tell your husband that you’re a Pagan?”
Maxine types, “Not at all. I just want some sex. I like black men.”
Magenta types, “What happened to the atheist, Maxine?”
Maxine types, “She never existed. I can’t go around telling everyone what I believe. It’d limit my options. It’d be harder to get jobs.”
Magenta types under her public post, “God is real.”
Cameron Caz Types back, “I am God.”
Magenta types back, “Go away troll!”
Magenta receives another inbox message and it’s from Chelsea. Chelsea types, “These perps are pissing me off. I hear voices and get electromagnetic shocks all across my body. I have scars from my handler who tortures me. We have to put a stop to this. We have to sue the government.”
Magenta types, “How are we going to sue the government without money and even if we do record the evidence with a body camera of what perps do, they can just kill us. The rest of the world won’t believe us.”
Chelsea types, “Are you implanted with a microchip?”
Magenta types, “No.”
Chelsea types, “Thank God. Perps back my emails and delete my messages. They can be from another state and still get into my account. This is my fifth account on this website.”
Magenta types, “I believe that microchip is used as a test subject for the mark of the beast. It’s an RFID chip. I wouldn’t go around telling just anyone about targeting because if you tell the cops, they’d just arrest you or send you to a mental institution.”
Chelsea types, “They tried to move items around in my house while I was gone and when I made it back, one perp had his music blasting all night. I heard nonstop cars honking their horns. There’s too many to fight off. Who do you think these people are?
Magenta types, “Freemasons. FBI. CIA. The Department of Defense. They’re in different countries as well with different names. I’ve tried calling them in the past over a dozen times and they’ve hung up after I asked, ‘What do you think about organized gang stalking?’ It’s suspicious. Many of these perps are demon possessed to do the actions they’re doing.”
Magenta has multiple flashbacks of calling the Department if Defense about organized gang stalking.
Chelsea types, “Catch you later.”
Magenta types, “Later.”
Magenta logs off the internet.
Magenta then has a flashback of 2 years ago when she tries to tell her mother about gang stalking. The conversation started in the living room.
Magenta said, “Mom.”
Connie said, “What do you want?”
Magenta said, “Have you ever heard of Targeted Individuals?”
Connie said, “We’re all targeted. What’s that crap? I’m not trying to look up anymore Illuminati videos. I’m not walking around feeling paranoid. I have God by my side. Keep looking at that crap and it’ll turn you crazy.”
Magenta said, “I’m trying to tell you about…”
Connie said, “Listen! Listen! Listen! Leave that crap alone. You need to focus on getting a job.”
Magenta said, “I can’t get a job…”
Connie said, “What is it then?”
Magenta said, “They’ll blacklist you and you’ll have to sell your soul or wait until another Targeted Individual is sacrificed in order to get a job opportunity. It’s deeper than that. It’s when they hire regular people to…”
Connie interrupted, “I’ve heard enough. You sound crazy.”
The scene switches to an event a day later when Connie emails Magenta a video about RFID chips and the Illuminati. Magenta was in her room watching television when she received the email.
2 Hours Later
Magenta is watching professional wrestling on her cellular device. One professional wrestler says backstage, “I have a a sister who lost her life in the serving this country. Tammy was her name. Before lil Tammy died from serving, she told me, “I’m glad you aren’t a robot and are a sister to me.“ I’ll be the bigger sister tonight and if I let her down, I’m only beating myself. You can sneak, you can cheat, you can hide, but I’ll hit you with any intended maneuver to put your lights out. I stand here to say I don’t care about Tammy because I’m not the good gal all of you fans want me to be. I don’t care about any of you! You all didn’t help me get to the top. Next week, challenge accepted. I’m taking my title and until I’m dead, you won’t see another wrestler on the face of the Earth holding this title.”
Magenta gets mad, frowning at the screen.
1 Day Later
Magenta is in her ‘Acting for Filmmakers’ class and while a few classmates are pretending to be arguing like Blood and Crip gang members, the instructor, Mr. Cataract (wearing a peach colored dress shirt, blue jeans, and brown dress shoes) saying, “Everyone. Get in a circle. Hold hands. If I call your name, you have to step in the circle and become an entirely different person. Its improvising. I’m going to call two people in the circle and you have to be a totally different person. Magenta! Connor.”
Connor steps in the circle, then Magenta. Connor says, “I saw her in a lowrider driving over speed limit with her friends.”
Magenta wears the same frown, saying, “What else was she doing?”
Mr. Cataract says, “Cut! Cut! That was dreadful! Awful. God! Magenta, I call everyone in the circle because I believe in them. Matter of fact, let’s sit down and meditate before we get started again. Sometimes, meditation works to calm our nerves.”
3 Days Later
On Magenta’s cell phone, she sees a music video called “The Three is Out” by Harlot Handsome, a rapper. In one of the lyrics, she says, “My mother’s a controllin’ heffa. My teacher’s got pregnant with reefa. You can’t tell me what to do, teacha. My doctors are turnin’ to preacha’s. And when they killed my favorite sista, I was screamin’ in a twista.”
When the rap video is over. another video plays by itself. There’s multiple clips of preachers throwing up devil signs, six six six signs, covering up one eye, and wearing jewelry of other religions. Seeing the video reminds her of seeing the oldest cousin she’s so used to seeing come over her house. There was one time when he had all of the fingers of his right hand locked around the opposite, except for his index fingers. His index fingers were extended straight, outward while his thumbs were upward at a 90 degree angle, like meditating Satanists, witches, and warlocks.
Magenta has a flashback of herself (wearing a light blue, high school t-shirt, blue shorts, and black shoes) in the gymnasium while jogging with Harlow. Harlow is wearing the same gym clothes while they jog side-by-side on the circular race trace track.
An African American standing in front of of the bleachers laughs, saying, “You look like you from Africa. Unphala! Oooomp! Oooomp!”
Many students laugh at the racial joke and he throws a basketball at the back of her head. It bounces off. She looks at him and he says, “What the fuck you lookin’ at?”
She exits the flashback only to speechlessly, pretend to scream. Then, she has another flashback of when she was 15-years-old (wearing a violet t-shirt and black and white, polka dot panties) resting in a supine position. She was in a hotel room in Joliet, Illinois and saw a spirit in exit the closet, levitating. Her mattress levitated as well, then dropped when the spirit vanished. She remained in the same position.
Her flashback switches to a scene where an African American with black dreadlocks says to a group of friends, “I bet I can smash that wetback bitch right there. That’s a fat ass anchor baby. I’m gonna fuck the shit out that grasshopper and get her to cook and mow my damn lawn.”
A couple of days later, the same African American shows his friends a video of himself having sexual intercourse with the woman he called derogatory names.
The scene switches to three women talking to Magenta in middle school. As the women are talking to her, they have their hands under the table in a meditative position. Before she hears words in the scene, it switches to another scene of a desktop computer in the cafeteria exploding with electricity and smoke erupting out. A the male sitting in front of the computer jumped up and screamed. Magenta looked at the event from approximately 3 yardsticks away at a round, wooden table. She hears a voice screaming, “I can get many people to fuck your up, Daniel! You don’t know how powerful I am,” then exits the flashback.
1 Day Later
Magenta is sitting at a public restaurant and keep checking her cell phone. She sees Chelsea walking toward the restaurant with a black winter coat, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. Chelsea opens the front door, sits on the opposite side of Magenta, then says, “Hi.”
Magenta says, “Hi. You look tired.”
Chelsea says, “I can’t sleep with all that’s going on. Insomnia is messing with my immune system. Can you sleep well?”
Magenta says, “Sometimes, but I try to not sleep at the same pattern because it’d get the perpetrators used to what I do all the time.”
Chelsea says, “I just want them to get it over with sometimes.”
Magenta says, “I know that feeling. What type of things do the voices say?”
Chelsea says, “My handler has a device he speaks into that remotely connects to a microchip in my head. He says I should kill myself. That I’m stupid. Worthless. Dumb. Nobody loves me. There’s a device that’s used to rape me multiple times a day as well. It’s doing it now, but I’m trying to ignore it. Fuck them.”
Magenta says, “This is the same technology used to cause real mass shootings. Not the fake ones with crisis actors.”
Chelsea smirks, saying, “I’ve seen those videos. They can’t act for shit. I want to go to a church.”
Magenta says, “You do not. The pastors are perps as well. I keep telling you. We can go to any church you can think of and most likely, they’re all perps, especially if it’s ‘501C3.’”
Outside
A male in his mid-50s says with a husky voice, “Excuse ma’am. If you’re not too busy, may I have a moment of your time if you take five steps away.
The 16-year-old female with sun-kissed skin follows the male.
The male says, “I’m a recovery agent.”
Her face gets uncomfortably nervous as if though she realized she developed brain cancer.
He shows her his identification card, then says, “If you see a brunette walking by you in a red winter coat, I’m going to need you to shove any items towards her. In return, you’ll be compensated one thousand dollars. Her name is Magenta. She’s a threat to society.”
Inside
Magenta and Chelsea giggle and a waiter approaches them, “Are you ready to order?”
Magenta says, “We’re not ready yet. Thank you, sir.”
The waiter walks away.
Magenta rises up and says, “Let’s go.”
Chelsea rises up and walks with Magenta. The walk outside and a 16-year-old female with sun-kissed skin flicks a cigarette towards Magenta while walking her direction.
Magenta dodges the cigarette, saying, “Watch where you’re flicking that cigarette.”
Chelsea covers her head, saying, “The voices are talking again.”
There’s a black, convertible car with a Square and Compass, Masonic symbol on the trunk and its following them. Magenta and Chelsea enters a church.
30 Minutes Later
The pastor says publicly, “The homeless are homeless only because they haven’t received the gift of God.”
Magenta and Chelsea automatically leaves the church while active members are watching.
Magenta says, “Don’t get me started.”
10 Minutes later, Chelsea says, “My mother married a gay person, so that he’d be eligible for medical benefits.”
Magenta says, “That sounds like a nice person.”
Chelsea says, “Yes. Sometimes. Sometimes she changes. You know how that is.”
Magenta says, “You get used to it, but then there’s only so much a human can take, you know?”
A female police officer walks near them, making an offensive joke, “You two look pretty. Do I have to arrest the both of y’all?”
Chelsea says, “Not me” and creates a fake smile.
Chelsea receives a voice in her head that says, “Kill.”
Magenta says, “Are you one hundred percent sure you have a microchip in you?”
Chelsea says, “I’m not totally sure, but I know what’s going on with my body.”
The involuntary muscles in Chelsea’s body move as her body temporarily heats up on her skin. She itches as well.
Magenta says, “Well, I’m going to head the opposite way. I’ll text you later.”
Chelsea says, “Later.”
Gunshots fire in the street. Magenta and Chelsea run the opposite direction.
5 minutes later, when Magenta steps on a train, she texts Chelsea, “Are you ok?”
Chelsea responds, “Yeah. Still trying to make it back. They want me dead.”
Magenta texts back, “It’s me they want dead. I was born targeted.”
Chelsea texts, “We’re never getting out alive.”
Magenta texts, “I’ll still have my soul though.”
Chelsea texts, “I’m starting to lose faith in this religion stuff.”
Magenta looks on the internet and sees a username post on her page, “I’m hallucinating again. Should I see a psychiatrist? I’m seeing people follow me and I don’t know what to do.”
Magenta types back, “Get off my page with your shenanigans.”
Magenta then blocks the username and texts Chelsea, “There’s many perps to stop you from knowing the truth. Many get paid a lot of money to stop you, but it’s up to you to find out everything.
10 Years Later
Magenta calls a phone number and says, “Hi. Is this Barbara?”
A woman with a New England accent says, “This is her.”
Magenta says, “I have an appointment for a ‘Dishwasher’ position at …”
Barbara interrupts, “I prefer the title ‘Sanitary Specialist. Do you have previous experience washing dishes?”
Magenta says, “I wash dishes at home. The job title was called ‘Dishwasher’ online. There’s different names for a dishwasher. ‘Pearl Diver,’ ‘Kitchen Porter,’ ‘Sudsbuster, but I’ll call it a ‘Sanitary Specialist.’”
Barbara says, “No. We need someone with at least four years of professional dishwashing experience. If you want this job, get at least four years of dishwashing experience. Bye.”
Barbara hangs up the cell phone. Magenta mumbles, “Fuck!”
She texts Chelsea, “I need a job badly. I’m 28.”
Chelsea texts, “You still have one more interview today.”
Magenta texts, “It’s one of the only face-to-face interviews I had all year.”
Chelsea texts, “I was homeless for about 3 years until I could get back on my feet. My ex took me in and that didn’t go well. He could’ve killed me.”
Magenta texts, “Good, old life. I’ll tell you how this interview goes.”
An Hour Later
Magenta is (wearing a beige dress shirt, silver, squared cufflinks, black dress pants, and tawny dress shoes). She walks into a building and says with a smile to a male at the front desk, “Hello. I have an eleven o’clock appointment with Terra.”
He says, “She’ll be down in a minute. Take a seat. Would you like a drink?”
Magenta says, “No, thank you. I recently had some coffee.”
After 2 minutes, Terra arrives in an all-white dress and says, “Magenta Slays?”
Magenta says, “That’s me.”
Terra says, “Stand up. Follow me. Is this your first time interviewing?”
Magenta says, “Not at all. I’ve had several interviews.”
Terra laughs, saying, “So you’ve never had a job before?”
Terra sits in a brown chair in a small office and makes a hand gesture, pointing down, signaling Magenta to sit.
Magenta says, “I’ve done volunteer work as seen on my resume. I’ve worked remotely for a short period…”
Terra interrupts, writing on a piece of paper while mumbling, “Never had a job.”
Magenta looks to her right side, seeing a chubby guy with pizza crumbs on his mustache, a black, gamer t-shirt, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes) playing a portable video game in the corner.
Terra says, “Don’t worry about him. He’s not even listening to this interview. So, tell me. Why should I hire you.”
Magenta says, “I’ve…”
Terra laughs uncontrollably, then says, “Continue.”
Magenta says, “As a loyal member of this company, my needs will be the second most important thing compared to how hard I work…”
Terra interrupts, continuing to laugh, saying, “What makes you think you can work here. We have workers with substantial backgrounds of different walks of life. You have no work history. Sell yourself.”
Magenta says, “I can prove myself in a video reel or any possible test you put in front of me.“
30 Minutes later, Magenta texts Chelsea outside of the building, “Fuck that job. I’m coming over. Remote jobs are better.”
Chelsea texts, “I need a real job. Are you even allowed to come over?”
Magenta texts, “I’m not returning.”
20 Minutes Later
Magenta is on walking home and sees Kiara down the street. Kiara approaches her and before she says or does anything, Magenta says, “Do you know about gang stalking?”
Kiara says with a confused face, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Magenta says, “Do you?”
Kiara says, “Yes.”
Magenta says, “Why are you a perp?”
With a sad face, Kiara says, “I have to go.”
Magenta says, “Change your life. They’re going to target you next.”
5 Hours Later
Magenta arrives over Chelsea’s house with a black pulley bag. She walks in the house with her bag, sits down on a couch, then says, “Whats up?”
Chelsea says, “My mom says there’s another riot down by her and she wants to stay over tonight. They’re rioting over police brutality again. One police officer who shot an innocent black man fifteen times was not guilty. Now, he’s getting death threats. It’s a race war. I’m just tired. I didn’t eat and didn’t feel like stopping by a restaurant. They may poison your foods if you go there. It’s already unhealthy.”
Chelsea has her laptop out and types on the search bar with the words “Targeted Individual” and it backspaces on its own, only to type, “Indian porn” in the search bar.
Chelsea says, “Did you just see that?”
Magenta says, “That’s one of their tactics to frame people. They’re giving you a warning, so you can join them.”
Chelsea says, “I’m not joining them. I still have less than half of my life left.”
Magenta says, “I need some camping equipment in case I have to travel on foot one of these days.”
Chelsea says, “You need a car. That’s what. The weather is horrible out here. Last week, it was snowing at a jaw-dropping rate.”
20 Minutes Later
They’re still talking.
Magenta says, “I’m glad I have your place to stay at.”
Chelsea says, “It’s the best I could do ever since my ex moved out. How many boyfriends you had?”
Magenta says, “I never had one.”
A voice that sounds just like Chelsea’s with a high frequency inside of her head says, “What a loser.” It’s Chelsea from middle school.”
Chelsea gets electronically shocked, then burn marks on her right wrist after 10 seconds. She screams in agony.
Chelsea says, “Motherfucker! Sometimes, I want to just…”
Magenta interrupts, saying, “Don’t give them energy. They do this to mass shooters.”
Chelsea says, “They tell me to kill people in my dreams, but I don’t listen. They call me names, sounding just like me. Coming at me with telepathic ray guns.”
Magenta says, “And that’s why it’s a terrible idea to go to a doctor talking like that. Doctors are trained to put you on medication, even if you don’t need it.”
Chelsea says, “Right. There’s been over dozens of voice to skull technology patents over the years and not too many people know about that. In California, you can get compensated if you’re a Targeted Individual. One male who went to court and got compensated five hundred thousand dollars was murdered 3 days later.”
Magenta says, “There’s not enough money in the world that could justify this.”
Chelsea receives 14 text messages at the same time from sales callers and 5 repeated phone calls from sales callers in less than a minute.
1 Week Later
A cop is talking to an African American in the driver’s seat, saying, “Do you know why I pulled you over?”
The African American says, “No, officer.”
The cop says, “‘Cuz I don’t like your kind.”
The African American says, “I didn’t choose what skin color I could be born with.”
The cop says, “Put your hands on the wheel! License and registration!”
The African American says, “I can’t do both at the same time.”
The cop says, “I said put your hands on the wheel.”
The cop opens the door and drags the African American out of the car. The cop positions a transparent bag of crack in the victim’s pocket, then says, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can or will be held against you in the court of law.”
The African American says, “Fuck you!”
Magenta imagines the story in detail of how an African American male was framed for having drugs. A nearby citizen on the highway was recording the entire incident.
Chelsea says, “And that’s why they were rioting.”
Magenta says, “Do you think he was targeted?”
Chelsea says, “It’s possible that he was a Targeted Individual. That’d explain why so many African Americans get framed and sentenced in prison for years over minor misdemeanors.”
Chelsea sighs.
Chelsea says, “Why can’t they just kill me?”
Magenta says, “They just want you to feel miserable. I have two Bachelor’s Degrees, so I’d know. I went through hell in school.”
Chelsea says, “Put some of those film skills to work. We can spread awareness with videos about targeting.”
Magenta says, “I’m in.”
Chelsea removes Magenta’s professional camcorder from her bag and Magenta helps her adjust it to a tripod. Then, Chelsea records Magenta, saying, “Action.”
Magenta says, “My name is Magenta. and I am a Targeted Individual…”
Chapter 33
Doppelgängers
The scintillating sun shines in the sky. Chelsea uses a piece of blue painters tape to cover up the built-in camera to her laptop, to prevent anyone to use the camera to stream or record exactly what the camera captures. Magenta wakes up on the living room couch, which is covered with a cyan bedsheet. A milk-white bedsheet is wrapped around her. She removes the bedsheet from around her body, then sees Chelsea walk out of the kitchen, sitting a plate full of food on the living room table. On the plate, there’s homemade, scrambled eggs, crispy hashed browns, and a piece of bread.
Chelsea says, “Rise and shine.”
Magenta, mortified to be seen in a black, laced bra and navy blue swimming trunks, says, “What time is it?”
Chelsea says, “It’s eight o’clock. I made you breakfast if you don’t mind.”
Magenta says, “Is cereal on the menu?”
Magenta gains courage, rises to her feet, and walks to the table.
Chelsea says, “There’s no cereal around here. I can stop by the grocery store and get you some cereal…”
Magenta interrupts saying, “No. No. What you have here is just fine. I still have to learn how to cook.”
Chelsea grabs herself a plate full of food, sits it down, and eats on the opposite side of Magenta. Magenta says her prayers before eating.
Chelsea eats and hears Magenta say, “How many views did the video get last night?”
With her face lowered for a few seconds, Chelsea says, “Just over two thousand. It’s full of many perps in the comment section. I’m not wasting time showing them attention.”
Magenta says, “I don’t know why anyone would be a perp…”
Chelsea says, “Some of them get paid good money.”
Magenta says, “Right. My family are gang stalkers.”
Chelsea says, “How’d you survive?”
Magenta says, “I didn’t. If you call this living, I don’t want to be dead.”
Chelsea says, “Says the woman who got done saying grace. Nobody ever told you to not talk and eat at the table?”
Magenta says, “I was told that, but I eat in my room a lot with my siblings.”
Chelsea says, “Are the eggs good?”
Magenta says, “Everything’s good. Have you ever seen any doppelgängers before?”
Chelsea says, “Not around me. Have you?”
Magenta says, “In the past, when I’d go to downtown Chicago with my mother, I’d see many people who’d look like my old friend, Maurice. I mean like nearly thirty people in a day look like him with the same type of facial features as if makeup was applied on their skin. And sometimes, I see people who look exactly like my family.”
Chelsea says, “Wow.”
As Magenta talks, she has a flashback of the scene when she took a picture of at least thirty strangers she saw (who looked like Carnation) while being in downtown Chicago. In some locations she took their pictures against their will, but it was all for a good purpose. She showed those same pictures to Carnation. Carnation was shocked at the resemblance and said they all looked like her, except for one person if you look at at a close distance.
Chelsea says, “How long ago was this?”
Magenta says, “Three years ago.”
Chelsea says, “I prefer the indoors where I won’t have to worry about much.”
“Talk about it,” Magenta says.
About 2 minutes later, they finish eating, and put the plates in the sink.
Magenta washes up first to get dressed up, then Chelsea.
Chelsea says, “Ready to go get some groceries?”
Magenta says, “Not really. Let’s do it.”
45 Minutes Later
Magenta is walking beside Chelsea in Chicago. Magenta sees a female who walks by, looking exactly like Chelsea, but with different clothes. Chelsea sees the same person walk pass her, then she looks behind with a face of confusion.
Magenta says, “Did you see that?”
Chelsea says, “She looked just like me. It must’ve been…”
Magenta finishes her sentence, “A coincidence? There are no coincidences. Everything happens for a reason.”
Chelsea says, “And for what reason am I seeing a replica of myself? It’s like a clone.”
Magenta says, “They’re trying to make you go crazy. You’ll see more doppelgängers when you keep walking around.”
Chelsea jokes, “Not if I join the gang stalkers. I’m tired of being harassed.”
Magenta says, “Why would you?”
Chelsea remains speechless as approximately 20 people get a text message at the same time and look at Magenta and Chelsea. Half of the stalkers are across the street, looking their direction while walking pass them.
When they go into a grocery store, around eight customers walk in at after them. After shopping, Magenta and Chelsea put their items into a black shopping cart. There’s the same eight people in front of them in the line and it’s taking long. One person in the front is laughing while saying, “I think I forgot my debit card at home. Can you believe that? I’ll just have to walk all the way home. I may have some spare change in my pocket.”
Eventually, the cashier smiles, saying, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, y’all.”
They finally get out of the grocery store with two bags worth of food products.
Chelsea puts the bags in the trunk of her car, and says, “They need two cashiers. The lady can’t even count. I had to check my receipt and she was going to cheat me out of ten bucks. I’ll be making a complaint at this store.”
Magenta says, “They won’t get her in trouble if you complain. They may fire her, but she’d get a raise for being a perp.”
Chelsea sits in the driver’s seat, puts on her seatbelt, then Magenta sits in the passenger’s seat, putting on her seatbelt. Once Chelsea drives, around 8 cars begin moving in the parking lot.
Chelsea says, “They’re following us.”
Magenta says, “Give me a break!”
Magenta sighs as Chelsea says, “Where you wanna go next?”
Magenta says, “We have everything we need right here.”
One red, convertible car tailgates behind them.
Chelsea says, “I think you’re right.”
Magenta says, “No. we need a gun.”
Chelsea makes a right turn onto an intersection, saying, “Me knowing you for as long as I have, I’m not sure if I could trust you with a gun.”
Magenta says, “They have guns, so I should have at least one. Forget what I said. I’m tired.”
Chelsea says, “I’ve been tired while I was homeless and I still had to walk five hours to get to work in the cold snow. Honey, you don’t know tired. The cops won’t do…”
Magenta interrupts, saying, “I know! They’ll try to kill you or make you look crazy if you try exposing gang stalking. That’s where our tax dollars really go. It’s how they’re able to continue profiting from doing dirty work to innocent people.”
Chapter 34
Because I Told You
Magenta is sitting in the a bedroom with Chelsea and receives over 20 missed phone calls from her mother.
Chelsea looks at her, then shrugs her shoulders.
Magenta ignores the missed phone calls, then says, “What’s the point in applying for a job if they’ll just not hire you anyway?”
Chelsea says, “At least you have your degree. Just a piece of paper that nobody really cares about.”
In agreement, Magenta nods her head up and down,
Chelsea says, “I know.”
Magenta says, “Indeed. I’m never going back to college. Loans!”
Chelsea says, “That’s why I’ve never gone to college. I got my high school G.E.D. Ever since then, I survived on my own. Now, I’m surviving with a friend.”
Magenta says, “Ever since the Patriot Act, many Muslims were automatically put on the targeted list. Nine eleven didn’t help either, so they’re targeted because of their faith. Christians are targeted as well if you become a freethinker and not accept the New Age movement and such mess that’s going on today.”
Magenta receives a flashback of a protester yelling, “About seventy-five percent of the Holy Koran consists of jihad waged against unbelievers.” The scene switches to the same male protestor yelling in a microphone, “It is unlawful for a believer to kill another believer, accidents excepted. He that accidentally kills a believer must free one Muslim slave… He that kills a believer by design shall burn in Hell for ever. He shall incur the wrath of God, who will lay His curse on him and prepare for him a mighty scourge!”
Magenta exits the flashback after seeing a flashback of a teenage boy saying at a round table she’s sitting at with a teenaged girl, “I’m undecided on if I want to find a relationship or if I should let my parents pick my wife. It’s complicated. I don’t know.”
Chelsea says, “You ok?”
Magenta says, “Flashbacks. I get a lot of flashbacks when I think about certain topics.”
Chelsea says, “PTSD. I wouldn’t tell anyone I have PTSD. They’d put you on one drug for PTSD, then the next thing, you’re on another. I know. I told my parents that I heard voices when I was younger, but I wasn’t talking about demons. I was placed on ten different antipsychotic medications. My mother sprinkled Holy water on me, but look at the results. I’m still alive, I guess. I got off those medicines, but I can’t tell anyone about my real life or they’d say I’m crazy. There’s thousands of Targeted Individuals like me.”
Magenta says, “The same reason I’d get PTSD treated is the same reason I’d get depression treated. Never. They won’t put money in my bank account. They won’t rewind time and stop the times they bullied me. They just want to prolong their own lives and feed you unhealthy foods in hospitals. My grandma was in the hospital for leukemia and at the hospital, you know what they fed her?”
“Tell me,” Chelsea says.
Magenta says, “Polish Sausages with fried chicken for dinner. Chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream for dessert. And you know they have a vending machine around every floor.”
Chelsea says, “I fear going to the hospital. Doctors have a history of killing people on purpose.”
Magenta says, “I’m just happy I’m not in that situation and it’s out of my control if I am put in that situation. I’d do all the right things I can do on Earth now, so I won’t have to worry about what happens after…”
Chelsea interrupts, saying, “How do you know so much about life and death? You’ve barely traveled the whole world. You don’t have any Religious Studies. How do you know what happens after death. Nobody does? There are over four thousand and two hundred different religions on Earth.”
Magenta says nothing.
Chelsea says, “I thought so. You’re going to have to go. I can’t stand Jesus freaks. We’re nothing alike!”
Magenta says, “What? You said you were okay with whatever people choose to believe.”
Chelsea says, “I just don’t need Bible thumpers around. Pack your stuff and get out before I call the police.”
Magenta says, “Now, you trust the police, huh? I’ll pack my stuff and never return to this dump again. Bye.”
Chelsea smiles, saying, “You’ll be living in a dump after you’re out. You won’t amount to anything like your mother said.”
Magenta grabs her items, then heads outside in the raining weather. Chelsea uses Wifi to check her inbox messages on her social media website. Various Targeted Individuals contact her. Another person by the name of Fabian says, “If any Targeted Individuals needs a place to stay, I’ll charge you $100 per month. Just help keep the place clean. That’s all I ask. Inbox me for details to see if you’re a good match.”
2 Weeks Later
Magenta hasn’t consistently brushed her teeth in 2 weeks, is (wearing a brown, velour t-shirt, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes) in a library and inboxes Fabian on a desktop computer, “I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”
Her cell phone is no longer working because her parents cut off the phone service, but that doesn’t stop her from contacting a Targeted Individual on the internet.
Fabian inboxes her, “I’ll pick you up outside in 5 minutes.”
Magenta tries not to smile due to years of being used to disappointment.
5 Minutes Later
Magenta is standing outside looking at the cars speeding down the road. She sees a homeless male (with tattered clothes) sitting on the stairs with a local newspaper in his hand, saying, “You have any money?”
Magenta digs in her pocket and hands the homeless man five dollars.
She says, “It’s all I have. God bless you.”
The homeless male walks away, saying, “Thank you. Connie said she misses you.”
Magenta says, “How do you know Connie?”
The male says, “I know your friends, family, where they live, what sins they commit. Jesus won’t save their souls.”
The supposed homeless man walks away.
Magenta says, “Bye, perp.”
A grey car stops in front of her. Fabian’s head pops out of the driver’s seat with his hand extended out the lowered window. He’s in his mid 30s with slick back, black hair with a black mustache and beard.
He says, “You gettin’ in?”
Magenta smiles and rushes in the car. She closes the side door.
She says, “Thank you so much.”
He says, “I just feel the need to help out those in need. I’m not a serial killer or anything. How long have you been out here?”
She says, “It’s been about two weeks.”
He says, “I mean, “We’re you waiting long?”
She says, “No. you showed up in just about five minutes.”
He says, “You want to go anywhere? I’m paying.”
She says, “No. I prefer a warm place right now. I’m exhausted.”
He says, “You’d really sleep over a stranger’s house?”
She says, “I sort of been couch surfing ever since I graduated college.”
He says, “Home it is. You never speak about your family. Are you close to them?”
“They’re lovely,” she sarcastically says.
15 Minutes Later, Magenta enters Fabian’s house.
Fabian locks the door, then directs her to her new bedroom, saying, “Here’s where you’ll be staying. If you need anything, you’re grown. Forget about the monthly pay. You can stay here for as long as you want.”
She says, “Why? What’s the catch? You said you weren’t a serial killer.”
He says, “Relax. I’m not holding you captive. I just feel for you. I’ll be in the kitchen cooking if you need me. When you feel like telling me more about your life, you can. I won’t make you tell me.”
She smirks when he exits the room.
She uses her laptop that’s in her pulley bag to look on her social media account. One username (Riley Wild) on her friends list claims on her own profile page to love spooky subjects, the oddities of the world, and to respect people for what they believe. Yet, Riley has several offensive images of disrespecting Christianity like, “Jesus dying for your sins, so you’re not living if you’re not sinning.” Riley claims your be Pagan, so why’s she disrespecting a religion she doesn’t believe? There’s many people liking her page with laughing emojis and heart emojis.
Magenta unfriends Riley, then decides to block her.
20 Minutes Later
Fabian knocks on her bedroom door, then says, “The food’s ready.”
Magenta finishes eating a bowl full of beans. When she lowers her head, a reddish scar shows on the right side.”
He says, “My God! What have they done to you? Did they steal from you.”
She mumbles, “They tried.”
“Can you please just tell me what’s going on?”
She says absolutely nothing.
Magenta has another flashback. It’s when she was in her first year of college. Her schedule was set for her Casting Directors class and she was outside of the classroom with a student, making sure each participant signs up before auditioning for short films. The other student. The other student Eric, was light-skinned with a black bald fade, a white t-shirt with an Eye if Horus in the center, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. After a couple of actors sign up and audition, the Eric started to speak to Magenta. He says sarcastically while in front of other participants waiting for the next actor to exit the classroom, “And that’s what your mother is. You tell no one what happened. Now, clean yourself up.” Magenta wore a face of frustration and asked, “What’s what my mother is?” He said, “What job are you gonna get? I already have a job.” A female participant sitting in front of them wore a face of confusion. Magenta exits the horrible flashback.
Fabian says, “Right now, you’re beginning to act like the serial killer.”
She says, “I was robbed three times while homeless, but I’d never let them take my laptop. I was held up at gunpoint once and nearly gotten ran over in the snow after running away from a stranger. Are you happy?”
He says, “Yes. You finding the courage to tell me this makes me happy. Thank you. It’s hard to know who to trust in this world. It’s just full of many fake people.”
She says, “Some Targeted Individuals are microchipped.”
Magenta checks her email message on her laptop, then sees a post from a week ago by Connie. Connie’s message reads, “I’m not in the mood to be mad with you based on your life decisions. I know that I’ve forgotten your birthdays in the pass, but none of that matters right now. I’m just letting you know that your brother, Gunther died. He went back to the high school he graduated from with a gun and shot up the place, then himself…”
Magenta stops reading the message and gets a blurry vision from her watery eyes.
Fabian says, “What’s wrong?”
The following Day
Magenta wakes up to breakfast. On the living room table, there’s a plate full of pancakes with syrup and scrambled eggs.
Fabian says, “I gotta go to work soon. I’ll be back later. Don’t burn down the house.”
Magenta says, “I wouldn’t.”
6 Months Later
Magenta is kissing Fabian on the mattress.
Fabian says the following words, “I love you.”
She pauses and gazed into his eyes.
“Do you mean it,” she asks.
He says, “Of course.”
She says, “How do you know?”
He says, “I just know. I feel a chemistry. Don’t you feel something between us?”
Magenta says, “I do…”
He says, “Say that again.”
She says, “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
They both smile. Fabian hoists her in the air and spins her around in circles.
Isaiah Lawrence 