Slice of Humble Cake

"What's up, bro? Where you headed off to so fast, come here!" Erick demanded. The young boy froze up in fright from the sound of Eric's voice but couldn't find the courage to turn around and face him. "Little man, you deaf? I said, come here! Don't make me have to call you again", Eric threatened. Eric was accompanied by two of his friends, who took delight in the young student's apprehension. "Look at him; he's about to wet his pants," one of Eric's friends teased. "Just turn around, kid," the other friend advised.

The young boy slowly turned around with the brim of his hat tilted down, making it difficult to see his eyes. "Um, you guys talking to me?" the young boy asked. "You know I'm talking to you. Where you headed, the pizza shop? I'm starving. I could use a slice", Eric hinted.

Eric's friends snickered as the young boy hesitated to respond. "Um, no, Eric, not today. I'm going to that new Bakery down the block", the young boy answered. "Oh yeah, I heard about that," one of Eric's friends replied. "What's so special about some stupid new bakery?" Eric questioned.

"Oh, they are giving out free cake and pie all week for their Grand opening," the young boy responded. "Look at little man so hyped to get some cake. Aight, little guy, let's go check it out, and all you have to do is buy my juice today if this new bakery is really free", Eric said, patting the top of the young boy's head.

"Aight, we'll meet you at practice, cool?" Eric's friends responded. "Cool," Eric replied. "Little man, lead the way," Eric demanded.

The young boy was happy to do so, but as soon as the young boy took his first step, he soon realized Eric's intentions. Eric purposely stepped on the young boy's untied shoelaces, instantly tripping him up. As the young boy jerked forward, his glasses went flying off his face as he hit the pavement. Eric's friends busted out into hysteria as the young boy wiped down his legs, getting up off the ground.

"Gotta watch your step, kid!" Eric joked.

"Go, Gary, you got him!" the female shouted from the passenger seat. Gary weaved in and out of traffic to the next stoplight. Before he looked over to his competition, he checked out his hair in the rearview mirror, combing it back with his hand. "You got me that time, Gary; let's go again," the young man pleaded, one car over from Gary's. "You must like losing, huh, bud? That's what happens when you finance, bro. That piece of crap shouldn't even be allowed on the same road as my baby right here!" Gary shouted, tapping the outside door of his BMW.

The young lady in the passenger seat kissed Gary on the cheek for good luck. Once the light changed to green, Gary took off, weaving through traffic again. After clearly beating the other car by an even larger margin than before, Gary took a cigarette from over his ear to light and celebrate his victory. As Gary sped through traffic, he didn't notice the police car hiding on the side of the road. Once Gary flew by the officer, the cop was quick to pursue. It took a few minutes for Gary to recognize that he was speeding; as the police officer's lights continued to flash, Gary reluctantly pulled over to the side.

The police officer slowly walked up to the driver's side of Gary's car. Gary took a second to throw on his sunglasses and fix his hair, tossing the lit cigarette through the passenger side window as the officer approached. "Excuse me, sir, do you know how fast you were going?" the officer questioned. "Um, ... fast!" Gary laughed. "Yeah, very fast! You were going 70 in a 25, did you know that?" the officer asked. "Nah, I was paying too close attention to how beautiful my girlfriend is. Look at her, isn't she hot!?" Gary joked.

"Sir, let me see your license and registration, please," the officer asked. "Come on, officer, it was just a joke," Gary replied. Gary snatched his wallet from inside his right pocket, then took some money out from it. "How bout I give you some grocery money, and we act like this never happened" Gary responded. Gary fingered through several hundred dollar bills before folding up 5 of them to hand to the officer. "Licence and registration, now, sir," the officer demanded.

"The pigs, I swear," Gary mumbled. "What was that, sir?" the officer questioned. "Nothing, just hurry up so I can get outta here," Gary replied. The officer went back to his vehicle with Gary's information to check things out. It didn't take the officer long to make his way back to Gary. "Who's car is this registered to?" the officer asked. "My father, why?" Gary questioned. "For one, your underage and shouldn't be driving without him. For two, because of that, he needs to come and pick you and this car up now, or it will be impounded", The officer explained. "What? You taking your little 70,000 dollar job too far, you know how much I'm worth?!" Gary shouted.

"You heard what I said, young man. Call him, or it will be impounded", the officer responded.

Gary called his father, and as he waited for his father to come, his girlfriend got hungry. "Babe, I have a taste for some ice cream. Can we get some while we wait?" his girlfriend asked. "Ice cream, how, from where? We can't go anywhere right now", Gary replied. Gary's girlfriend looked around, then squinted as she looked across the street from where she and Gary stood.

"Look, there, across the street! It says, ..., it says, Roz's or Raz's Bakery. Let's see what they got", Gary's girlfriend insisted.

"What is that you're reading, Nicky? Wait, is that a Wall Street Journal?" Nicky's friend asked. "Yeah, why?" Nicky questioned. "All I ever see you read are newspapers and things like that. I mean, I've never seen you read a sportsbook, a comic book, or even something like a Harry Potter book. What's up with that?" Nicky's friend asked? "Well, I only like to read things to keep me informed about our country. You see how these lazy immigrants are taking over, right? We gotta be one step ahead of them", Nicky cautioned.

"Nick, what are you talking about? Stop being crazy, man!" Nicky's friend responded. "Yeah, ok, I'm the crazy one. Anyway, you said you wanted to go get a new comic book, right. Well, let's hurry up so I can get home for dinner", Nicky insisted. "Ok, let's go!" Nicky's friend replied. Nicky and his friend unlocked their bikes and rode to the comic book store. Once arriving in front of the book store, Nicky tried to hurry his friend. "Yo, Nick, that spot is packed, you see it?" Nicky's friend mentioned. "What spot?" Nicky asked. "Raz's Bakery, I forgot this was opening today. Look, they giving out free cake and pies; let's go in!" Nicky's friend suggested.

"Raz's Bakery?! You telling me a woman owns this place? Unbelievable! You see what I'm talking about, another reason for this country going down. The so-called woman movement, disgusting!" Nicky exclaimed.

"I don't know what you're talking about, bro, but those pies look too good in that window. I'm going in. "You coming or what?" Nicky's friend asked. "Yeah, I guess," Nicky mumbled.

Gary and his girlfriend held hands entering the packed Bakery. There were kids of all ages going in and out of the store. Some had containers of ice cream, some pies or cookies, and some with boxes of cake.

"Wow, this is crazy, right babe!" Gary's girlfriend asked, letting loose her grip around Gary's hand as she headed toward the ice cream section of the Bakery. Gary looked around uninterested as one of several female bakery clerks asked if he needed assistance while walking by. After roaming around the bakery for several minutes, Gary found himself at the back of the store within the cake section.

There was one booth that seemed out of sorts that caught Gary's attention. "Hello, son, would you like a slice of cake?" the woman at the booth asked. "So y'all just giving out free samples, how are you going to make money?" Gary questioned. "Son, you can't put a price on happiness," the woman answered. "Yeah, alright, lady. Anyway, I'll take a slice of that right there", Gary said. "Good choice, I only have two more left, and this chocolate truffle layer cake is special," the woman assured. "Oh yeah, lady, how?" Gary questioned. "Let's just say it's food for thought," the woman proclaimed.

"I knew something was weird about you when I saw that umbrella by your booth. It hasn't rained in days", Gary mentioned. "Well, son, it has to rain sooner or later. I like to be prepared", the woman responded.

Gary took his slice, got his girlfriend, and left the bakery heading back to his car.

Nicky awkwardly made his way through the crowd of carefree children and teens, eager to leave as soon as his friend finished.

"You ready Nick, I got some strawberry pie. There were only a few left too. What you got?" Nicky's friend asked. "Nothing! I can't believe women run this place like they can handle a job like this", Nicky grunted. "Nick, it's free! Let's go see what's in the back," Nicky's friend responded. Nicky reluctantly followed his friend. "Excuse me, ma'am, can you suggest a cake for my friend?" Nicky's friend asked. "Of course, dear, I have one more left of this Truffle Chocolate Cake," the woman mentioned.

"I'm not excepting anything from her. She's a woman..., and she's Black", Nicky whispered to his friend. "Yes, ma'am, we'll take that, thank you. Can you wrap that up for him?" Nicky's friend requested. "Sure can! Enjoy, son", the woman replied.

The next day when Eric went to school, no one seemed to notice who he was. At lunch, he sat at the table with the rest of the athletes. Still, no one paid him any mind. He tried to spark conservation with two of his best friends, and they knocked his tray of lunch over and onto the floor. When he attempted to push one of his friends in retaliation, one of the school's athletes wrestled Eric to the floor. He couldn't understand what was going on.

Not only did no one notice him, but he also lost his natural strength to fight back. More than half of the kids at lunch laughed and pointed at Eric as he got up from the floor. A small kid walked by with his lunch tray full of food and asked Eric if he needed help. He refused, but something caught his eye, the desert on the small kid's tray. Eric wiped himself off and darted out of school for the bakery.

Eric barged into the bakery looking for the woman that gave him the Chocolate Cake and found two other teenage boys looking for the same woman. The booth was gone, and so was the woman. The bakery clerks told the boys that the woman was no longer at that location. A few minutes had gone by when Eric noticed a woman across from the Bakery holding an umbrella over her head with no sign of rain. "That's her!" Eric shouted.

The three boys flew out the bakery, crossing the street into traffic in chase of the woman. Eric, Gary, and Nicky tried to catch the woman as they reached the exact spot where she stood. There was no woman in sight in either direction. "Where is she? Where did she go?" Gary yelled. "Look!" Nicky whispered. There lay the woman's umbrella, but still no sign of the woman who gave them all a slice of that chocolate cake. Gary picked up the umbrella and noticed something stuck to the top of it. "It's a piece of paper," Gary said. "What does it say, fool?" Eric asked. Gary hesitated, looked around, but began to read it.

"It says, GOD, RESISTS THE PROUD BUT GIVE GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.

We are watching...

Razilee.