Suga Babies

Dade

I kicked Jess' soccer ball against his back fence one last time before he finally called it quits, admitting defeat. He sucks at shooting, but he's one hell of a defender. He'd make an alright halfback too, if he'd learn how to aim. But with his leg strength, he can boot the ball past midfield while standing behind the goal at one end. He's pretty set for a soccer scholarship.

"Oh man, what time is it?" I called to him. He pulled out his cell phone.

"3:27, why?"

"Shit, I'm late!"

"Go man, go!" Jess laughed. I vaulted over his side fence, taking the shortcut past the school, soccer fields and past the Rivera house where I sat Cat standing in her room, in front of her mirror. I stopped and just watched her as she held up her arms and seemed to be examining them. I turned to continue my journey home when my Adidas caught the edge of the pool and I lost my balance. I tumbled down and splashed into the water.

Just frigging great!

I planted my feet down on the bottom and pushed off. I grabbed the edge of the pool and pulled myself out. I saw Cat standing a few feet back, tapping a foot at me.

"Have a nice swim?" she spat. I stood up and the chilled air caused a violent shiver to race down my spine.

"You should heat your pool." I said, not letting the cold air shake me, or letting Cat see how freezing cold I was.

"Listen jackass, do you know what fucking up this court date could do to us? To our lives? To our records? I'm trying to get the fuck out of Beverly Hills. So don't," she paused and stepped up to me. With every word she spoke, she pocked my chest, threatening to push me back into the pool.

"I'm serious about this, Dade. Don't," she poked me.

"Fuck," Poke.

"This," Poke.

"Up!" Poke.

I grabbed her finger and glared at her before growling, "You're not the one one who's in trouble for something your friends did, so stop acting like you are the center of the fucking universe! I'm sorry we have to go to this but don't put this on me alone! You're the reason we're in this! Don't you dare stab me with your Mexican finger!"

She looked shocked for a second before recovering, regaining her facade, " Fuck you, it wasn't my idea to steal the watch. What did you wan-"

"You should've said something! I can't care if they are Ace and Angel! I'm not going down for this. I won't. I'm trying to get out of Beverly Hills same as you. You're not the only one who needs a clean... er record." I growled, low and pissed before stalking away. I threw open the gate to the neighbor's yard, the gate slamming together. I grumbled the entire way home.

"It's about time you got home, Dade. You suit is upstairs on your b- Why are you wet?" Mom stopped. I shrugged and trudged my soggy self up the stairs to my room. I stripped my clothes off and stood by my bed with a sigh. I checked the time, 3:47. It took 20 minutes to get home? Goddamn Liliana. This is all her fault. If only she had never been born!

I pulled on fresh pair of bowers before checking out the new Mom/designer made suit. I have about seven but Mom never relents when I say that I'll just wear an old one. It was simple, just a grey suit with pinstripes. Mom was good at simple when it came to her son and extravagant when it came to her clients. It's something I admire about her.

I finally put on the jacket at 3:51. Mom knocked.

"Come on in, Ma." I called. She walked in and her face lit up.

"My baby's all grown up." she wiped at her eyes.

"Ma, don't be like that. It's alright." I said, hugging her. I was several inches taller than my mother and hugging her had grown a little difficult. But that didn't mean I'd stop hugging her. She's my mom, you know? I'm not afraid to admit that I am a momma's boy.

"You grew up so fast." she frowned. I kissed the top of her head.

"Ma, I'm going to court, not getting married." I said.

"Copper." Dad said from the doorway. She let me go and left, whispering in Dad's ear as she passed. I'm pretty sure it was along the lines of be nice.

"Dad, I'm sorry for all this trouble I'm causing."

I watched as he trolled around my room, looking as he walked. He stayed silent as he looked over my books, my CDs and the picture of me, Cat and Jess when we were babies. I can't stand Cat now but back then, Mom and Dad say we were best friends. I think they just say that so we can have history like they do.

"Dade, I want you to tell me the truth. Did either of you steal that watch?" he asked, sitting on the bed and motioning for me to sit with him.

Oh Jesus, we're gonna have one of those father-son heart-to-hearts.

"No." I looked right at him when I answered. I may not have been lying but if I looked away from his eyes when I answered him, he'd take that as a lie.

"Son..."

"I swear, Dad, it wasn't us." I said to him. He stared me in the eyes and I stared back. But neither of us could keep a straight face and ended up cracking up.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, Dade." he said softly. I looked at him and he couldn't meet my eyes. He was ashamed.

Holy shit!

"It's OK, Dad. I can understand. I'm not the perfect kid and it makes believing me hard, if not impossible." I replied, picking a spot on my carpet and staring at it. He didn't say anything for awhile before he sighed heavily, clapped me on the back and left me alone. I stared at the open door, confused. I shrugged and got up, following him downstairs. Mom and Dad stood by the front door, wearing their simple casual clothes that they normally save for the grandparents.

I followed them out to the car and sat in the back, my eyes on the back of Dad's seat, trying to sort out the thoughts racing my head. I tried to think, but all I could think was, please, don't send me to jail.

I wish I took a few of those pills before I came down here, I thought as my parents walked in front of me into the small court room. I saw Grandad standing with Cat and I knew we weren't going to jail. Grandad is Mom's father and is a wicked awesome lawyer, even if he isn't a great person. Mom kisses my cheek and smiles at me before I join Cat and Grandad. He doesn't look happy. Of course, I've never seen him smile. I was scared of Grandad when I was younger and honestly, I still am a little. He's a muscular man for being a lawyer and he towers over me. I'm 6 foot, he's like... 6'5".

"Dade." he held out his hand and I shook it. Cat looked between us and shrugged.

"I'm sick of doing this for you, Dade." he said to me and I cast my gaze downwards. He's intimidating and can make you feel like shit just by looking at you. He likes that power he holds over me, over Dad, but not over Mom.

I rolled my eyes when Dad caught my eye. We took our seats when the judge finally sat down. It took FOREVER! It took even longer than it had last time because a) this was my second offense and b) there was someone arguing against Grandad. Cat and I both gave our side of the story, which was the same side but they wanted us both anyway. The man I'd ran into gave his side and the judge finally nodded.

"Defendants, please rise." he said. The three of us stood.

"Liliana Rivera, Dade Sherman, I have decided since you are still children, to let this one slide with 50 hours of community service and parole for the next year. If you finish these and are not caught in anything else, your record may be expunged." he said and hit his gavel against the desk and I sighed. I can do community service and parole. The last judge had let my little drunk joy ride completely go, no record or anything. I loved him, he was awesome.

Mom hugged me as soon as I stood up, practically knocking me over. I chuckled and hugged her back. Like I said, I'm a proud Momma's boy.

"Come on, the Rivera's are treating us to dinner and we're taking them to a movie." she said with a smile. Odd, I have no social life but yet, dinner and a movie is OK.

"Dade." Jose nodded at me. Nikki hugged me too.

"Oh, Dad, get off." Cat pushed her father off. Another difference between us, I didn't mind hugs.

"Ready?" Mom asked, heading out of the room, her skirt swirling around her as she walked. Nikki and Cat walked right behind her and that's when I saw Cat's outfit. It was definitely Mom-made. It had that flair Mom loves to put in her clothes. Her shirt was a tank top but not the sleaze kind you see most teenage girls wearing these days. It was white silk, I could see that from here. It had a white lace fringe along the bottom hem. You could barely tell that in the straps, Mom sewed in little designs with off-white thread. Her skirt was black, knee length cotton with the sides longer than the front and back. Against Cat's tan skin, the outfit was beautiful.

I shook my head and caught up with Dad and Jose who were talking about some old football game on the sports channel last night. I rolled my eyes and looked at Dad. He hated football, what was he doing?

I just followed and realized, we all lie to fit in with our friends. Mom tells Dehlia that the hard feelings she had about her taking Dad away from her are gone when really, they're not. Dad tells Jose he likes football when really, Dad's into books and music.

"Dad, my prescriptions running out." I said to him, since he is the one who prescribed it.

"Okay, Dade, we'll fill it tomorrow."

Score!