Against the Grain

by Freeze

  “What’s up, Mama? How was your day? Are you feeling okay?” Kay asked as he sat on the arm of her recliner and kissed his mother. Kay knew that Mike had paid for her to have twenty lymph nodes removed from her breast. All of them were clean and she never needed chemotherapy, but he was still concerned about her.

  “Yeah, I’m okay, baby.” She reached for the remote.

  “So, who’s been calling you all day?”

  “Not me! They’ve been calling here for you. Every five minutes, it’s Sonia, Lyniece, Tramaine, Caleek, or some girl named Bernette,” she told him.

  “Bernette?” Kay had already forgotten about the gorgeous young girl from earlier today.

  “I don’t know. She said that she’ll see you at the party tonight.”

  “Well, what did Lyniece and Tramaine say?”

  “After I said stop calling my house, they all said that they would meet you at the party.”

  “Here’s my pager number, Mama. If any of them call back, except for Sonia and that girl Bernette, just give them this number.” Just as Kay said that, he remembered Bernette’s naked body earlier that day in Caleek’s room. He smiled. “Go ahead and give it to Bernette.”

  “I’m not going to get into it, but Sonia is your son’s mother and she may need to contact you about your son. It might be an emergency. You never know.”

  “If it’s anything pertaining to my son, she can contact you and you can page me.”

  “I know you’re bitter, baby, but don’t be mean to her. ‘C’ is at the age where he picks up on stuff like that, and you don’t want him to feel like he’s got to choose between you and Sonia. She is all that he’s had while you were locked up. So if it come down to him making a choice, even though he loves you to death, you will lose, baby.”

  “You’re right, Mama. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

  “Now get on out of here and have yourself a good time tonight. There’s an extra set of keys right there on the dresser,” Mama said as she kissed Kay and climbed in the bed with her grandkids.

  “I’ll see you later, Mama.”

  “Alright, turn my light off and lock both locks when you leave.” Kay grabbed the keys, turned the lights off, and went outside on the front steps. He looked around and saw how much the hood had changed. It was dirty and reeked of urine and garbage. The days of everyone living comfortable had long gone. He could tell that some of his old neighbors still lived on his block. Miss Pricilla, next door, still had the same beat-up car she owned when he left. Kay loved his block. Everyone looked out for each other. Everyone was like family. At least that’s how it used to be. Kay got up and locked the door like Mama told him. Then he walked to the corner, checking out everything. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of Scatter’s and Lady’s house. Someone was home, because he could see movement through the living room window. Kay took a deep breath and walked up to the door. He missed Scatter and Lady so much while he was gone. Especially Scatter. Kay loved them both. He banged on the door. BANG! BANG! BANG! He could hear the high heels of a woman coming to the door real fast, probably Lady. “Who is it?”

  “Open this motherfuckin’ door, right now,” Kay said in a disguised voice while turning the doorknob real fast.

  Lady snatched the door open. “Who the fuck—” She stopped mid-sentence, not believing her eyes.

  “I see you still have a dirty mouth, old woman,” Kay said as he looked at Lady. She didn’t look as if she had gotten a day older since the last time he saw her. In fact, she looked better. She looked younger, livelier. She looked tighter, she was in shape. And she was still beautiful, Kay thought to himself. Lady leaped from where she was standing and into Kay’s arms. “Who you calling old, boy? I can still beat your ass,” she said as she kissed him. Kay held her in his arms as he walked through the door and kicked it shut. Lady let him go, stepped back, and looked at him.

  “When did you get home?”

  “This morning.”

  “Boy, you is still fine as hell. You better be glad that I’m married,” Lady joked. Kay laughed because he had heard that same line from her since he was a young boy.

  “Did ya’ll miss me?”

  “Hell yeah, why didn’t you write us back? You know Scatter was hurt by that. He felt like he had done something wrong to you. We thought you had turned your back on us until we got the picture you sent with no letter. You are the only child that we’ve ever had in our lives. Let someone try to tell him that you ain’t his son, Lord have mercy. They would have to fight all night and half the next day.” Lady stuck her arm through his, escorting him into the living room. Besides Scatter, Kay was the only other male that she let into her heart. He had been a little boy when she met him. She helped raise him. So she considered herself his other mother. Kay thought of her as his mother also.

  “Where’s the old man?”

  “He’s at work. As a matter of fact, he should be coming home any minute now. He’s usually walking through the door by eleven fifteen.”

  Kay was surprised. “Work?”

  “Hell yeah, work. Shiiit, my baby got a good job. He’s been working for five years now. Ever since he almost died from that shit, he’s a changed man. He don’t get high no more or nothing. You wait till my old man comes in. He’s all big and shit since he gained his weight back. We even turned the third-floor apartment into a little exercise room with all kinds of workout equipment and shit. We work out about three times a week.”

  “Well, what kind of work does he do?” Kay asked.

  “He’s the manager of this clothing store on Howard Street called Jean City.” Kay noticed how Lady’s face lit up as she talked about her man. She had always been that way. She was a little older than Scatter when they first met. It was just something about Scatter that drove her crazy. She was the one that turned him into a pimp by becoming his first ho, and teaching him the ways of controlling a woman’s mind. There’s one unwritten rule in the life of pimps, playaz, and hustlers: that the best bitch for them is an old ho because of her experience, trials, and tribulations.

  “How’s my grandbaby doing? I haven’t seen him since that last time you bought him over more than nine years ago. I know he’s big as hell now.”

  “You should see him, Lady. He’s a little me. I almost cried today when I saw him for the first time.” Kay smiled at the thought. Then they heard a key in the lock. They both looked at each other and got quiet. When Scatter walked into the living room, he looked right at Lady. Her eyes went to Kay and Scatter’s followed.

  “Boy, I should beat your ass for not writing us back. You could have called or something,” Scatter told Kay as the two men hugged. Scatter stepped back and looked at Kay. “Damn, nigga, you done got big as hell, lifting all them weights and shit. I might have to get my pistol for yo ass.” They all laughed. Scatter walked over and sat next to Lady and gave her a kiss. Kay noticed that Scatter was dressed like the young guys that Kay had seen earlier at the mall: big jeans, Tims, and a Polo sweater. Lady kicked her shoes off and swung her legs around so her feet would be in Scatter’s lap.

  “How was your day, baby?” she asked her man.

  “It was alright. We got a little busy this afternoon when people heard about this big party tonight to welcome this cat home. Thought I didn’t know, didn’t you, boy?” he said as he massaged Lady’s feet. “So what’s up? Why didn’t you keep in touch?”

  “Don’t take it personal. I cut everyone off except for my moms. I knew I had a lot of time to do, so I didn’t need to be distracted by the outside world. C’mon, ya’ll ain’t got to second-guess how I feel about you. Ya’ll didn’t raise me like that. So please understand that this was how I chose to do my time. Now that I’m home, I plan on being around you two as much as I can. Just like old times.” They both smiled at the thought of Kay spending a lot of time with them. They would be a family again.

  “And I’ll bring Lil ‘C’ with me. You should see him, Scatter. He’s already a little leader, and he’s sharp, too,
” Kay said.

  “Yeah, he could liven this place up around here. I could help him with his homework and bake cookies and shit for him,” Lady said. Kay and Scatter looked at each other then they both looked at Lady and said with a smile, “Watch your mouth!”

  “Fuck both of ya’ll, I’m grown. I ain’t going to cuss around him.”

  “Lady, what happened to those two girls I bought over here to stay?” Kay asked.

  “After you got arrested, Tia was hurt, but Janita took it the worst. They continued to stay here and we loved having them, too. They were like family. Tia went to school for hair and started doing hair full-time. She met a young man that was going to school at Johns Hopkins and they moved in together. Once he finished school, they moved down south, but Janita stayed with us since Tia and her husband were paying for her to go to the University of Maryland. As a matter of fact, she just graduated a few months ago. We all went to the ceremony. She lives down in south Baltimore. She still comes by to see us. Since her mother died, we’re the only family she has up here,” Lady said. She got up and left the room.

  “So what’s up for tonight? You and Lady coming to my party?” Kay asked Scatter.

  “Nah, we’ve got to work tomorrow. Maybe we’ll catch the next one.”

  “Well, get a pen so that I can give you my pager number.”

  “Bug! Buuuuug!” Scatter yelled. It was short for Ladybug. Only he called her that.

  “What?!” She yelled back from upstairs.

  “Bring a pen and paper back with you,” he yelled. Then, Scatter asked, with a sneaky grin on his face, “Yo, you had some pussy yet?”

  “Not yet, probably later on tonight.”

  “Nigga, let me find out that you’re scared.”

  Lady walked back into the room with a big photo album in her arms. She handed Kay a piece of paper. “Here’s Janita’s phone number. I know she would love to hear from you as much she used to talk about you with her fast-tail self,” Lady said.

  “I don’t know what you giving him that for, that nigga scared of pussy, baby,” Scatter said with a laugh.

  “No I’m not. I’ma knock your ass out in here, old man.” This time Kay and Lady laughed.

  Scatter jumped up, “Do it, I dare you, punk. You pussy if you don’t do it. Now what?”

  Kay jumped up and threw up his guards. They both squared off.

  “Look at the both of you. Acting like some damn kids. I can tell ya’ll miss each other. Scatter, sit yo ass down and leave that boy alone. I’m sure he’ll get some when he’s ready. You better hope you get some tonight.” Lady had a serious look on her face. Scatter sat on the couch. She stood directly in front of him. Kay laughed and pointed at Scatter from behind her back. Lady turned around real quick and caught him.

  “Boy, sit yo ass down, too, and stop pickin’.” She sat between them and they went through the photo album to catch Kay up on what had been going on.

  Kay’s pager went off. “Where’s the phone?” he asked. He called the number back. It was Mike.

  “I’m in front of your house. Where you at?”

  “I’m at Scatter’s.”

  “You still fuckin’ with that old nigga?”

  “Yeah, that’s my man.”

  “Well, don’t move. We on our way.” Mike hung up.

  “That’s my ride. They’re on the way to pick me up.” Kay wrote his pager number down. Lady wrote down the new house number and gave it to him.

  “Call us if you need us, alright?”

  “I will. As a matter of fact, I’m going to call you tomorrow and tell you all about how I put somebody’s daughter in the hospital,” Kay said with a grin as he looked at Scatter.

  “Get yo raggedy ass out of here and have a good time tonight.” Scatter told him.

  They walked him to the front door. Mike and the crew pulled up and took up the whole block. Everyone had their music blasting like they owned the street. Kay turned around and hugged Scatter and kissed Lady on the lips.

  “I never did like that boy Mike. Stay out of trouble, baby,” she said.

  “I will,” he said as he turned to go get in the car.

  “Yo, Kay, if you kiss my wife like that again, I’m gonna put my foot in yo ass.”

  Kay looked back at Scatter and laughed. “Love ya’ll,” he said as he got in the car with Mike.

  “Love you, too,” they said back as they closed the door.

  The woman now sits in front of her vanity mirror with her robe on. She has done her hair and is putting the finishing touches on her makeup.

  “Boo, are you ready yet?” her husband asks from the bottom of the stairs.

  “No, not yet, baby,” she yells as she walks over to the bedroom door. She looks over the outfits laid out on the bed. “Give me about fifteen, twenty minutes, baby. I’ll be ready to go then.”

  She walks back to her vanity mirror. As she applies eyeliner to her eyes, she starts to reminisce again. . . .

  11

  The club was packed and there were a couple of hundred people outside trying to get in. Everything from pimped-out old-school cars to brand-spanking-new foreign automobiles were being driven up and down North Avenue in front of the club. Young men and women were standing around with their crews; everyone on some fly shit, especially the women wearing all that short, tight shit.

  When Kay and his boys pulled up, it looked like they were some kind of rap group, the way the women came running. The security team had to rush them all inside to the VIP. Only the elite were allowed in this secton of the club. If you weren’t a part of Mike and his crew, a celebrity, a nigga getting big money, or a broad fucking one of the three, you didn’t get in. Period. The VIP was more lavish than the rest of the club. There were sofas, private booths, and all types of extra amenities. The lighting was red and there were waitresses to serve your every need. Cocaine flowed like water and the weed burned all night. They even had a special cook and menu.

  When they got to their private booth, the waitresses bought over ten bottles of White Star Moët. Everyone grabbed a bottle and popped the tops. Then they all raised the bottles and toasted, “Family.” Gee pulled out a plastic sandwich bag with top-shelf weed and rolled about ten blunts of chocolate from his personal stash. He passed everyone a blunt.

  It had been a long time since Kay had been high and he was feeling good. He noticed the song that was playing at the time, Life’s a bitch and then you die, that’s why we get high. . . . “Yo, who is that?” he asked Tank.

  “Yo, that’s my man Nas. We got him coming through to do a show in a few weeks.”

  Kay liked the song. He was sitting back enjoying himself when he noticed Bernette and another beautiful woman walking toward the booth. Bernette looked even sexier in her clothes—if that was possible—Kay thought to himself. Everyone at the table got quiet when the two women stopped at their booth.

  “What’s up, Kay?” Bernette asked.

  “What’s up, shorty?”

  “Did you get my message I left with your muhvah?”

  “Yeah, I got it.”

  She knew not to question him about why he hadn’t called her back. She didn’t want to overplay her hand and have him check her in front of everybody. So she introduced the woman she had with her.

  “This is my girlfriend, Mattie. I told her how fine you were and she wanted to meet you.”

  There was something about Bernette that Kay liked. She was confident with her shit. She hadn’t looked at anyone else at the table but Kay. “How you doin’, Mattie?”

  “I’m straight. I see that Bernie wasn’t lying,” she said with a smile as she extended her hand to shake Kay’s.

  Then Gee asked her, “Where you from, shorty? I hear an accent.”

  “I’m from New Haven.”

  “Are ya’ll drinkin’ tonight?” Kay asked. “You want some Mo?” He poured two glasses and passed the goblets to them.

  “So, Kay, what’s up for tonight? I’m trying to get some of that dick,” Bernet
te said bluntly. She caught everyone at the table off guard, and even Kay was at a loss for words.

  He quickly regained his composure. “I don’t know, shorty. I’ve got other important things on my mind. I’m on a paper chase.” His whole crew was pleased with his response, because as far as they were concerned, it was always about money. Bernette reached into her Coach bag and pulled out a stack of money, secured by a rubber band, and threw it on the table in front of Kay.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  “It’s a grand,” she said before tossing another stack next to the first one. “And that’s for my girl Mattie. We’ll see you later. C’mon, girl,” she said. They both turned and walked out of VIP.

  “Damn, nigga! Where you know Bernette from?” Tank asked.

  “She was with Caleek at my mom’s today,” Kay answered.

  “Did she tell you she was married? To this nigga named Gerald, on the Eastside? I don’t know him that well. He copped a few ki’s off me once when he ran out, but that’s it. I know he would kill that bitch if he knew she was out here fucking and spending his money like that,” Tank said.

  “I’ll make a note of that,” Kay shot back. “But tonight she’s getting FUCKED!” He gave Tank a pound.

  “Yeah, I heard that pussy is like that. Fuck around and that bitch will get that two grand and some of yours back,” Tank said, making everyone at the table chuckle.

  “Yo, Kay, what’s up?” Gee asked. “Let me have that bitch Mattie?”

  “Do you,” Kay told his friend.

  “Ahhh! Heeey Baaaby!” Kay looked up and saw his sister, Lyniece. He asked Dre and Tank to get up so that he could get out of the booth.

  He grabbed his sister and swung her around and kissed her. It had been too long since he’d seen her.

  “Look at you, boy, looking all good and shit. Tramaine said he’ll see you tomorrow.” Kay could tell that Lyniece was taking real good care of herself from the way she was dressed. Lyniece turned to her friend and said to Kay, “You remember Shu-Shu, don’t you?”

  “You mean little Shu-Shu from down the block?” Kay asked, looking at Lyniece’s friend. He couldn’t believe that it was the same young girl that had a big crush on him. She’d grown to be one of the most beautiful women that he had ever seen. Her skin was the color of caramel and she had long, naturally curly hair like Ananda Lewis and Chilli from TLC. She was wearing a beige leather Gucci jacket with a spaghetti strap dress and a pair of beige leather Dolce & Gabbana pumps. A pair of D&G sunglasses sat on the top of her head.