Howard High-St. Joe Neckbone, the Clueless

Hey everyone...Gonna switch the posting of new Howard High eps to Thursdays, but keep Superstar posts to Mondays. Kewl? Alright...Here we go!

(c)2014 W.L. Sherrod

Superstar-Chapter 10

Chapter 10: My Life

Dom lay in bed, fully awake, but unmoving. A numbing lassitude or more to the point, the realization that she had a date with Booty-Bass, the most chauvinistic, self-centered, wannabe mack daddy she’s ever met, weighed Dom down and pinned her to the bed. She just didn’t want to expend the energy it would take to rise up and face the day.

Then her bedroom door opened and Ava, who was dressed for her custodial job at a nearby hospital, filled the doorway.

”I’m gone. The kitchen betta be spotless when I get home or it’s your ass. Bye.” The door slammed shut and Dom now lay in shock, not quite believing that her mother threatened her and walked out of the door without any kind of loving words or gestures.

“Love you, too.” She muttered.

The day was bright and sunny with a gentle breeze that made the heat bearable. Mottled patches of light slipped through the trees and splashed on the ground. One landed on a headstone that read: Belinda Monique Taylor-Mosley Beloved mother and wife. Terry stared at the marker for the longest time, but it still said the same thing and sharply reminded him of what and who he’d lost.

“Hi, Ma.” He said as he set a rose on her grave. “Sorry I haven’t been by to see you lately. I’ve been kinda busy.”

“The band’s doing good. We still don’t have a record deal, though. D’you know how frustrating it is to be so good that nobody can touch us musically, but we still can’t get a deal?” Terry sighed and sank to his knees. “We got a new lead singer, too. Her name’s Dominique LaSalle. Ma, you wouldn’t believe how good this woman sounds.” A smile blossomed on his lips. “She looks like an angel, Ma; I’m talkin’ café au lait skin and a wonderful smile. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” The smile wilted into a look of despair.

“She doesn’t want anything to do with me, though. She did at first. A woman like Dom actually wanted me and now because some jealous bitch...sorry, Ma…jealous woman tricked Dom into thinking that I had a girlfriend, she doesn’t want me anymore. She’s going out on a date with Rob, probably to piss me off.” He shook his head. “Not probably. She is and it does.”

Terry pulled out a ring that hung around his neck. His mother gave him the ring when he was born and he wore it until he outgrew it. Since then, he put it on a chain and only pulled it out when he visited his mom or when he felt very alone.

“I don’t know what to do, Ma. Everything’s so…I can’t even begin to describe how confused and screwed up everything is right now. I wish I could pull a “Quantum Leap” and go back and fix everything the way I want it, but that’s not gonna happen.” A sad grin crept onto Terry’s face. “Groove would say something like, ‘Focus on the positive and live like its already come to pass.’ How the hell am I gonna be positive when reality is kickin’ my ass? Oops. Sorry, Ma.”

Terry stood up. “I’ve gotta go. I’m meeting Groove and Lisa at Evergreen Plaza in a bit. I’ll be back soon, Ma. I love you.” He walked to his car and drove out of the cemetery. As he drove, a deep pain, one that had been a part of his life for the last ten years, ripped through his heart and he fought to keep the tears from blinding him as he drove. 

(c)2014 Courtney and W.L. Sherrod

Howard High-Do You Remember?

Hey Y'all...Sorry for the day late dollar short...Had a brain fart, but here is the next Howard High ep...Enjoy!

(c)2014 W.L. Sherrod

Superstar-Chapter 9

Howdy everyone! Had a brain fart and forgot to post the next chapter of Superstar...Whoops...but, here it is. Thanx for reading... 

Chapter 9: Brokenhearted

“Just talk to her. Everything’ll be cool, unless of course, she bites my head off with a whole restaurant watching.” Terry groused. “Yeah, everything’s just peachy.”

“You okay, cuzzin?” Eric asked.

Terry glared evilly at him.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“Damn.” Lisa said. “If looks could kill…”

“Then Groove’d be a walking corpse right now.” Larry interjected.

“Now is not the time, Earthquake.” Terry said with a sharp edge in his voice.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.”

“Try.”

Larry chuckled. “On that note it’s time to say good-bye.” He got up from the table. “Yo, Terry. Don’t sweat that shit about Dom, man. She’ll come around.” Larry said his good-byes to Eric and Lisa and walked towards the door.

“Terry, what did you say to her?”

“I couldn’t say anything. I barely got a word in and you already saw what happened when she came out of the bathroom.”

“Yeah. Good thing she didn’t use her fist,” Lisa deadpanned.

“Lisa, right now, I am not the man with whom to fuck.”

“So I see.”

“Anyway—“, Eric interjected, “—you know she’s that angry because she likes you, right?”

“She slapped me in the middle of the restaurant.”

“Because she thinks you’re a playa who got caught up.”

“I know I’d be angry if the guy I was crushing on had a girlfriend already.”

“Lisa, you get mad if you don’t get your way.”

Lisa grinned. “That’s because I’m a spoiled brat.”

“Trust us, we know,” Eric added with a smile.

“Bite me, Groove.”

“I don’t usually do that in public, but if you insist—“

“Okay. Lovebirds, can we get back to the matter at hand?”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “I’m ready to go. Can you two strong, black brothas walk me out to my car?”

“You’re a strong, black woman--” Terry joked, “—you don’t need us for anything else so why need us to walk to your car?”

“You and me are gonna fight in a minute, Terry.”

“And have you and Groove gang up on me? No thanks.”

“Whatever.” Eric said, as they made their way out of the restaurant.

“By the way, are we having rehearsal tomorrow, Eric?” Lisa asked.

“No. Why ask?”

“Well, I’m supposed to call Roger when I get home.”

“It’s kinda late to be callin’ folks ain’t it?”

“He asked me to call him when I got home, Groove. I do have some sense.”

“Didn’t say you didn’t.”

“Anyway, I’m hopin’ it’ll turn into a late-night rendez-vouz, know what I mean?”

“Oh, you mean a booty call,” Terry blurted out.

“If you wanna be crass about it.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Eric deadpanned. “We’d like to see you at the gig tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there alive and unharmed, dahlin’,” Lisa gave Terry a warm hug. “And you: Cheer up. Everything’s gonna be alright.”

“Very Bob Marley of you.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, gave Groove a hug and got into her car. As she drove away, Eric stared intently after her.

“See something you like?” Terry asked.

“Yeah.”

“So, why don’t you tell her?”

“Because, Soft-Touch doesn’t do the friends-as-lovers thing. It’s soured on her before.”

“So? You could be the exception that proves her rule.”

“Nah. I care about Lisa, but I ain’t about to get my heart busted up like that.” Eric looked at Terry and smiled. “And you got some nerve dispensing relationship advice, homeslice.”

“Like you like to say, I don’t make the news, I just report it.”

“Whatever.” Eric raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you okay?”

“As I can be. Dom doesn’t even want to talk to me, man.”

“That’ll change. Just give her a chance to come around. You know Rob’s gonna get on her nerves before too long.”

“But what if he doesn’t?”

“Then I guess you’ll have to deal with them bein’ a couple. Can you handle that?”

“Don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

“Nope,” Eric gave Terry a pound and a man-hug. “Just keep ya head up, man.”

“Okay, Tupac.”

Eric laughed and got into his car. Terry watched him drive away. He sighed and looked up at the stars.

“God, I know we haven’t been on speaking terms lately, but I could use a little help here.” After he spoke, a small group came out of the Golden Spoon. They recognized Terry and they laughed and pointed at him as they walked to their car. Terry looked up towards the sky again.

“Thanks.” He muttered and walked to his own car.

(c)2014 W.L. and Courtney Sherrod

Howard High-Related To Pennywise the Clown

Howdy, everybody! Here's more fun with the Howard High gang! Enjoy!

(c)2014 W.L. Sherrod

Superstar-Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Try Me

“Dom! How you getting’ home?”

“A cab!”

“You ain’t gotta do that. Lemme give you a ride.”

Dom turned around and glared at Rob. He took an involuntary step back as Dom’s anger settled on him.

“Hey, don’t look at me like dat. I ain’t tryin’ to do nothin’ but give you a ride home, swear to God.” Dom wasn’t quite sure just how sincere Rob was, but she didn’t really feel like taking a cab and having yet another guy ogle her and probably try to get her number.

“Okay.”

“Bet! Don’t move. Lemme get my car.”

“You sounded real good tonight, Dom.”

“Thank you.”

“And your kit was slammin’.”

“My what?” Dom snapped.

“Your kit. Your outfit.” Rob said quickly. “Damn, I know you mad at Terry, but don’t take that shit out on me. I ain’t do nothin’.”

Dom looked at him for a moment, then she chuckled and said, “You’re right. I’m sorry, Rob.”

“I know this is gonna sound bogus, but d’you wanna go to the movies on Sunday?” Dom was about to turn him down out of hand, but she stopped herself and looked at him: Rob was kinda cute, with a well-trimmed goatee, strong, yet refined features, honest brown eyes and a husky, yet handsome build. He stared at her chest a lot and got on her nerves with his filthy mouth and unenlightened attitude towards women, but Rob could make a sista laugh out loud and it would really piss Terry off if she went out with him. That made Dom smile.

“What are we going to see?”

“That new Mario Van Peebles flick.”

“’Posse’? Good. I wanted to see that.”

Rob smiled. “So, we cool for Sunday?”

For a fleeting moment, Dom’s conscience whispered that what she was doing was wrong. She shouldn’t go out with Rob just to make Terry mad. What if Terry was telling the truth? What if Wanda wasn’t his girlfriend? Thing is, if she wasn’t she wouldn’t have reacted like she did. Dom remembered how Terry’s face looked when Wanda kissed him. He didn’t look too enthused about it, but a boy tryin’ to be a mack wouldn’t be very happy about getting busted. Dom couldn’t think of a sweeter revenge so she tuned out her conscience and said, “Sure.”

Howard High-Technical Difficulties

Howdy, Everyone! Welcome back to Howard High. Hope you enjoy your stay! Toodles!

(c)2014 W.L.Sherrod

My Opinion-Frozen

Frozen won Oscars for Best Animated feature and Best Song for Idina Menzel's (Not Adele Dazeem's) "Let it Go", but the proof of how popular the movie is in the fact that kids, including my two daughters, watch Frozen on replay like Zendaya.
Mind you, the multiple viewings have branded parts of the movie permanently in my head, like an earwig with a video feed, but the truth of the matter is...It's a good movie.
Consider this: Frozen turns a lot of the usual cartoon fairy tale tropes, that Disney is the pre-eminent purveyor of, on their heads.
The Peril that befalls Arendelle? It wasn't started by an evil witch out to destroy the kingdom. The newly minted Queen Elsa, born with the power to manipulate and control cold, lost control of her powers and placed her kingdom in danger of a new Ice Age.
The female lead meant to draw us in and win our hearts and sympathy? There are two, Elsa and Anna. Their character arcs couldn't be more different: Anna wants to fall in love and experience the world. Elsa wants nothing more than to shut herself off from it. Both of them are VERY naive innocents, who have a very steep learning curve about how the world actually works (Elsa) and what love actually is (Anna). During the course of the movie, they see how much they really don't know and how much they love and need one another. Which leads me to...
The Prince who was supposed to save the day? Turns out Hans from the Southern Isles (We never did get a surname) was out for self when he courted Anna and got her to want to marry him after only a few hours together! He had MAD game, obviously. I suppose having 12 older brothers gives one a thirst for something wholly their own, but the ruthlessness Hans displayed was right up there with Cruella Deville and Maleficient. Even Jafar is warm and fuzzy in comparison. Talk about frozen hearts.
And the act of true love that melted Anna frozen heart? It came from her saving her sister from Hans, not from the expected source of Hans or Kristoff. As a matter of fact, Anna raised Kristoff up since Elsa named him Chief Icemaster and Deliverer for Arendelle.
Another interesting fact: this is the first Disney animated film that was written and directed by a woman.
Look, take a moment and watch the movie without the kids singing along and acting out "Let it Go" and you'll be able to see that Frozen is the honest goods and a very creative take on Hans Christien Andersen's "The Snow Queen".

The Cast from l-r: Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, Anna and Hans

The Sisters

Superstar-Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Everybody Plays The Fool

            Relax, relate, release. Dom thought to herself. Or I could throttle Terry, trash the bathroom and kill Wanda.

            Dom looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t see a beautiful black woman staring back at her though. In her mind, she saw a donkey’s head attached to her body with a dunce’s hat on its’ head.

At least, she knew why Wanda had a continually stank attitude towards her: Wanda’s man was tryin’ to get with another woman right in front of her. Serious disrespect.

Dom sighed and started to wash the make-up off of her face. She had sworn off of married men or men with significant others a month or so ago thanks to a gentleman named Tim. He owned a restaurant Downtown and wined and dined her every chance he got. They couldn’t get together very often and Dom thought it was because he was busy with work. When Tim’s wife called looking for her lost dog, Dom left a scathing voicemail, telling Mr. Tim exactly where he could go. After that, Dom swore to herself to not get caught in a sitch like that again. Ever.

 And here she was, caught up in the drama again.

No more. She thought. Terry can save the drama for his mama, cuz I’m through with him. I don’t care how his eyes sparkle when he smiles or how sexy he looks playing guitar or how good he looks in a pair of jeans. I’m through.

Dom opened the door, intent on getting her coat and getting the hell out of dodge, but she found that her way was impeded by a most unlikely roadblock.

“Hi,” Terry said. “Can we talk?”

“We don’t have anything to talk about.”

“Look…” Terry stammered. “…what happened with Wanda earlier…”

“I know what happened.” Dom said as she folded her arms. “Your girlfriend was marking her territory.”

“Wanda isn’t my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, whateva.” Dom had to close her eyes and remember that she was mad at Terry. Just the sight of him melted her heart and made her want to wrap him in her arms. She thought about what Terry was doing to Wanda and every bit of warmth was leeched away.

“Y’know, I can’t stand niggas like you,” Dom snapped.

“’Niggas like me’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean little boys like you playing with women’s hearts like they’re your damn toys. I don’t appreciate you leadin’ me on like you were single when you had somebody already…”

“But I didn’t…”

“…And whatever feelings I may’ve had for you are long gone so don’t bring ya ho-ass around tryin ta get some play, cuz that’s over, homey.”

Dominique stormed away and left Terry’s ears ringing and his heart torn to shreds. He thought that Dom might’ve felt the same way he did. She’d confirmed as much, but now, because of Wanda’s little trick, Dom wanted nothing more to do with him.

Terry caught up to Dom and grabbed her arm. He had to make her see that he hadn’t misrepresented himself and that he was, in fact, single. He couldn’t even begin to explain things to Dom because she quickly turned and slapped Terry in the face.

“Don’t touch me,” She bellowed.

“But, Dom…”

“Don’t you get it? You can’t have me, ya weak-ass wannabe playboy! And I don’t want yo two-timin’-ass either.”

As Dom walked away, Terry felt like every eye in the place was on him. He was right. Every woman in the restaurant looked at him like he was a leper and every man looked like they were glad they weren’t in Terry’s shoes.

Dom grabbed her coat and her purse, mumbled something about seeing everybody at rehearsal and quickly left. She threw Terry a laserbeam look, daring him to follow. Rob, who finally saw his chance to get with Dominique, got up and followed her. Rob looked like he'd just won the Lottery.

As he slumped into his seat, Terry had to agree that Booty-bass had, in fact, just gotten very lucky.

(c)2014 W.L. Sherrod