I fucking hate Chauncey.
I hate him. The nigga is tall, like seven feet something. But as a vampire? Fuck him. Fuck him and Fuck Curtis.
We sat in class. It's a vampire school that teaches basic ass shit like Calligraphy. So, Chauncey is fucking high as usual and drawing squiggles on the paper. Mrs. Giovanni is walking between desks. She stops and looks at what Chauncey is doing." What letter is that?" she taps on his desk. He looks at her and shrugs. He starts explaining the zig-zag lines. "This is the road. I call that Arun street and here, in the upper corner, is death row. Niggas don't go down that way."
Mrs. Giovanni exhales and paps Chauncey on the shoulder. "Meet me outside Mr. Lyons."
"Do I get a lollipop?" He follows her out the door and knowing teachers he's standing there and talking. I'm close to the door so I pick up the words 'rehab' and 'struggling to keep'. Everybody knows he's failing. They get loud, "Chauncey Lyons I have the right to report you!"
"Do it!"
I get out of my desk and one of my homeboys kicks his desk trying to snitch on me. I strike the air, mouthing the words shut up. They start whispering again, I can't see their shadows. "Chauncey!"
"shut up!"
"Put the gun down--"
"No! Let me bite you!"
"What--"
"Let me fucking bite you!" I hear the pounding of the lockers. "Yo! Jose, what's happening?" one of my classmates sounded. "He's trying to kill Mrs. G."
"Go back in that bitch! We not doing drawing today! I want neck!" Mrs. Giovanni's shadow shows and skips from the door. Chauncey has a gun at the back of her head. "Jose! Jose!" he swifts the gun at me. "Sit down nigga."
"Chauncey what the hell is you doing!" yells a female.
"Don't worry. Just listen." the gun disappears. "Mrs. G sit on the floor." Our teacher sits down in a prayer position. "I'm a real vampire. You know what this is?"
Chauncey is going through therapy. He found the line and fucking bought something out of that bitch. "Y'all work for me now. Isabella, get up." Isabella is a pale girl with brown eyes bright as the day. She gets up slowly from her seat. "Ok, you hoe number one." he looks at Mrs. Giovanni. "Never mind. Scratch that—which one of you wants to be a witch—hold that. Isabella ain't you studying witches. Come get these blessings." he waves the gun, beckoning her. "Isa... just do it." a friend, former friend gestures.
"What are you doing—I could die."
"Bitch gon!" she exclaims.
"Come on Isa, I'll make you a good one. I'm a vampire, King shit. On God." She walks with patience to Chauncey. "I need somebody to die." the classroom is silent. Chauncey raises the God and a bullet launches out targeting the kid with light brown hair in the back. "One zombie." he fires towards the far right side of the room. One bullet into a brown skin female and a nigga behind her.
"Chauncey what the fuck!" I boost out of my seat. My knees weakened as my head hits a desk going down. My conscious: This nigga just killed me...
.
.
.
When I woke up, the floor was cold and I felt a breeze at my feet. I turn my head to the left and see a box with Chauncey's light skin ass staring at me. "You a big ass motherfucker."
"Amen. Let me speak on your behalf."
"Chauncey what the hell is wrong--"
"Dear Lord..." he gets up and stands over me with his hands out as if catching the rain. "I come before you God. Bathed in fire, Showered in Blood. I give you this man to purify from evil. Forgive him lord for he has sinned."
"Chauncey goddamn it--"
"Nigga hush!" his eyes beam at me. A bright blooming shade of rose. "I'm trying to save yo ass. Ain't you, my friend?" he squats on the floor. "My nigga."
"What the hell is wrong with you? Why can't I move!"
"I'm going to save you, nigga." He gets up. "I read a book. With words in it and reading is dangerous when niggas know how to read." A book emerges from his hand in a cloud of black smoke. "See, I just became aware of my line. It's sickening but I know about it. Back in slavery, Niggas didn't read, couldn't read." he points at his head. "If the nigga could read than a nigga had knowledge if the nigga had that. He could escape. He could think. And of course, that would not let a nigga be." he starts pacing the room.
"Chauncey where am I?"
"But listen. This is where they fucked up. And just the white man because the Arabs in Arabia did it to. It all comes from something. And It started with God book. Let me tell you a secret, a secret passed from struggle to the light. A nigga learns through rhyme. You can't teach a nigga nothing because that's where his power be. He makes sure you are listening! When you hear him in the streets, you stop, you give your ears; your fullest right. And I learned something dangerous, something that should not be."
As I strain. I full something tugging at my ankles. Scratching against my neck. "I'm a vampire Jose. Me estás escuchando."
"No me hables en maldito español!"
"No tengas miedo de tu lengua. But you've been a liar all your life." he puts his together as he stands over me. "Joseph Duncan. You went to Mexico scheming, met a man named... Jose. Nigga was a hustler. You shot him and never got caught. Raped a little girl in California in a motel."
"Shut up!"
"Why are you so ashamed now? But fear not. I can save you. A vampire is like a new license on life." He kicks me in the head. "I got the ritual all set. Trust me." He lifts his boot and brings it down on my forehead. "I'll revive you a bring new." he smiles. "I read it in a book!"
A strike to the head again knocks me into the dark. I had no thought to occupy my mind. I heard no sound but I felt something warm. I screamed; my mouth was different. Heavier, I look at my toes. I was naked with blood traveling down my legs. I searched for Chauncey. He stood in the upper corner of the room. He leaned on the wall with his hands in front of him.
"You live again..." he smirks. Around me is a circle while I'm hung on a cross. My classmates are carrying torches. "I call it the black parade. I don't know what is wrong with it. Like O'Liga threw a goddamn tantrum because 'I'm not sane.' And I was like, I was sane when I got you pregnant. Bitch gets on my nerve sometimes; I swear to God."
"Chauncey, you lost yo' fucking mind!"
"Amen." he stands straight. "I am a messenger. I think, I finished it."
"Finished what?"
"The ritual... that he started. We made vampires, Jose! We did it!"
"Get me the fuck down, Chauncey!" I can holler for hours but I know he doesn't hear me. "Calm down. This is the set up. I made God, along with bitch ass Melvin. Now all we gotta do is play some roles. You'll forget the first one though."