The Day the Streets Stood Still

by JaQuavis Coleman

  “Nah . . . nah,” Sean replied, swiping his hands over his face to shake off the painful memories of his friend Liam.

  Sean looked out the window and then looked back at Fox with his eyebrows up.

  “That’s right. We here for you. Good work deserves to be rewarded. You know who used to always say that to me right? Mook, that’s who. Man, I’m telling you I should’ve made her my lady back then,” Fox said dreamily. “Let’s go inside. Pick out what you want. It’s only right.”

  Sean couldn’t open Fox’s car door fast enough. He had been dreaming about getting a car for months since he’d gotten his license early, but he knew he would be saving forever to get the car he really wanted.

  “Make sure niggas know who took you to your first dealership and made a all-cash transaction. Hear me,” Fox told Sean, putting his hand on his shoulder like a father would a son. Sean shook his head up and down vigorously. He wasn’t really even listening to Fox anymore.

  Sean was in awe of all the Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks lined up on the lot. He rushed up and down the aisles, smiling all goofy like. Fox walked up behind Sean as Sean used his hands to shield the sun so he would peek into the window of an all-black E-class.

  “Hey, man, let me rap with you for a minute,” Fox said, interrupting Sean’s excitement. Sean stood up straight and looked at Fox expectantly.

  “When you walk into a place like this . . . one that screams class and wealth, you don’t run around like an excited bitch in a shoe store or something. Nah, you walk in smoothly, cool and shit. You act like you ain’t buying shit and you let them beg you to buy something. When they see you looking like you look right now, they know they got them a dummy nigga willing to pay his ass for anything they throw his way . . . feel me,” Fox lectured, his tone more stern than Sean had ever heard it.

  Sean nodded his understanding and stepped away from the car he was admiring like it all of a sudden had poison on it.

  “And a E-class is a bitch’s car. As a man, you shouldn’t be looking for shit less than an S or maybe that new G truck . . . nothing else. How am I going to retire if I can’t trust you to make me proud out here?” Fox went on. Sean looked at him with wide eyes.

  “What? You thought an old ex-NBA player with two bad knees and a bum hip would be hustling forever?” Fox asked, smiling. Sean couldn’t answer because that’s exactly what he thought. He had never even contemplated the fact that one day Fox might not be around to hold his hand through the game and help him navigate the streets.

  “I just thought you had some more time,” Sean said with a regretful tone.

  “C’mon, man, this is what all of my work is all about. You . . . the next generation that will take the torch that me and your mother lit for you. Making sure you have a good grasp on the game before I sail away into the sunset is what it’s about, baby boy. A nigga ain’t never plan to stay this long, but I had to make sure Mook’s kid was good. Remember the money you gave me in the bag the day your mother was killed? Well I’m about to show you what we gon’ do with it. I told you it was yours,” Fox said with genuineness. “Now let’s go start this over again and let these white motherfuckers scramble for us out this bitch. Shit, I was looking forward to my glass of champagne from these cats. That’s how I make them get down when I roll up in here,” Fox joked.

  Sean laughed, but he was seriously taking it all in. He was like a sponge learning everything Fox did and said. Sean felt like all of Fox’s lessons would one day serve him in the streets, he just didn’t know how soon it would be.

  Chapter Four

  After three hours at the dealership, three glasses of champagne each, and a lot of haggling, Fox handed Sean the keys to a brand new big-body, black-on-black Mercedes-Benz S500.

  “This is how you do it. You are seventeen and your first car was a big-body Benz . . . Always remember how high I set the bar,” Fox told him.

  “Thanks, man. I don’t know how I can ever repay you,” Sean gushed, his foot itching on the gas pedal.

  “You don’t owe me or nobody else shit. I wanna see you at the crib tonight . . . you know a celebratory dinner and kind of like a retirement dinner for me. I got something I want to give you and talk to you about,” Fox said.

  “A’ight bet. I got that consignment paper for you, too,” Sean told him.

  “Just bring it tonight, wrap some in a gift box like you bringing something for my lovely wife. The rest, you go and buy some food items from a real nice restaurant or some wine and you box the money with it, you know like you’re a polite guest not coming to dinner empty-handed. We gotta get smart out here now. Too many eyes in the sky on the streets. Never even speak on it like that out here. The Feds love to watch me. And if they love to watch me, it won’t be long before they love to watch you,” Fox told Sean.

  “I got you,” Sean agreed.

  “Now go show off, but don’t be late for dinner. Adina hates when m’fuckers show up late and so do I,” Fox said. He smiled and stepped back from the driver’s side window so he could admire his protégé in his new ride.

  “Looking good, baby. Looking damn good,” Fox beamed, nodding his head up and down with approval. With that, Sean pulled out of the dealership lot. He didn’t care what Fox said, he was smiling from ear to ear like a boy getting his first taste of sex. That was exactly how he felt.

  Sean drove straight to his grandmother’s house with his new car. His adrenaline was pumping as he caught glimpses of dudes in the street stopping and trying to figure out who was driving the sleek, new Benz. Sean liked the attention, but he was heeding Fox’s advice—real niggas don’t go seeking attention they command it without effort.

  Sean couldn’t wait to show Sunny his new whip and take her for a ride. He was thinking, maybe he would ask Sunny to go to with him to Fox’s retirement dinner tonight. Sunny was probably in the house pouting about her situation and Sean was always the one to cheer her up since they were younger.

  When Sean pulled up to his house he squinted his eyes and pursed his lips when he noticed a black Suburban with shiny, chrome, spinning rims sitting out front. The SUV was kitted out with a custom grill, police-grade black tints, and a huge system in the back that was blasting reggae music.

  “Who the fuck is this disrespecting my crib?” Sean growled under his breath. He could feel his insides heating up as he eyed the strange, intruding vehicle. The SUV was blocking the entire front of the house so Sean had to pull his Benz a few spaces back, which made him seethe inside.

  “This m’fucker acting like he live here?” Sean said, his jaw rocking back and forth. He touched his gun that was stashed in the back of his waistband and moved it to the front to make it more readily accessible, just in case the occupant of the SUV was up to no good. Sean got out of his Benz and walked slowly toward the house, all the while eyeing the strange SUV with a scowl painting his face. The windows on the truck were tinted so dark, Sean couldn’t see inside at all. He couldn’t front though; the Suburban looked like money with its custom paint job, halogen lights and big wheels. It looked like a hustler mobile right off the back, a fact that caused Sean more unease. He gripped his gun under his shirt and moved forward slowly. Just as Sean made it to his grandmother’s gate he heard the front door open creak open. Sean swiveled his head quickly, being careful not to turn his back on the strange SUV too long.

  “Why you out here looking like you about to blow some shit up?” Sunny joked, smiling brightly. The passenger side window on the SUV went down as soon as she stepped out of the house and Sean could finally see inside.

  “Aye, gal! I don’t have all day to wait,” the driver yelled out. Sean’s eyebrows shot up on his face as the shock of the situation registered in his brain. He looked from the dude in the SUV to Sunny and back to the SUV.

  “I’m coming, Faheem. I’m coming,” Sunny called out, smiling and blushing like she was the happiest girl on the planet. Sean’s heart started pounding so hard his head began swimming. He clenched his fists at this side a
nd swayed a little on his feet.

  “You know him?” Sean asked incredulously, his bottom lip turned in by itself—something that always happened when he was angry. Sunny giggled at him because she knew he was jealous.

  “Boy, I told you I was seeing somebody. You never believe me when I talk or what? He’s my new man. He’s gonna be my ticket off this fucking block, too,” Sunny said as she sauntered sexily down the porch steps.

  Oh, so my offer from earlier was just bullshit? Another nigga gonna save you? Sean thought to himself.

  Sean bit down into his jaw when he noticed that Sunny was wearing a very revealing, bright yellow sundress that hugged her body so snug he could even see the indent where her bellybutton was. The dress left nothing to the imagination and it outlined Sunny’s smooth butt and legs and lifted her D-cup breasts into perfect mounds on her chest. She also wore a pair of high-heeled wedge espadrilles that made her look like a grown woman and nothing like a seventeen-year-old girl. Sunny had her hair pushed away from her face in a neat ponytail that hung down her back and for the first time she had on makeup. Sunny was so stunning Sean had to cough to keep from saying something. He could feel his mouth hanging slightly open because he had never seen Sunny dressed up like that. She had never gone to those lengths to be around him; whenever they hung out she was always in jeans, sneakers and sweatpants. “You want to meet him? His name is Faheem,” Sunny asked, now standing right in front of Sean.

  “Nah . . . no need,” Sean replied with an attitude. “Just tell that nigga when he come around here, respect my grandmom’s crib and don’t be blasting that monkey music ’n’ shit,” Sean retorted while he squinted his eyes into evil dashes and stared at the man behind the wheel.

  In a bold act of bravado, the dude Sunny had called Faheem jumped out of his kitted-out Suburban and walked around to the passenger side door all the while eyeing Sean like he had something to say to him.

  Sean noticed the huge diamond cross sparkling on Faheem’s chest and the iced-out big-faced watch glistening from his wrist. Faheem was a pretty boy, with perfect cocoa skin, a small, neatly trimmed goatee, and deep-set intriguing eyes. He was tall like a basketball player and dressed pristinely in a pair of dark Levi’s, a crisp white T-shirt that fit his body close enough to show off his muscular chest and six pack abs, and a pair of gleaming white Nike Air Force Ones. A pang of jealousy flitted through Sean’s chest causing him to instinctively touch his waistband and snarl at the man he now saw as an immediate nemesis.

  Faheem noticed Sean’s little gesture and he laughed as he kissed Sunny on the lips and opened the door to let her into his ride. He closed the door once she was inside and turned his sights back to Sean. Faheem smirked at Sean as if he saw Sean as a little punk or a joke. The two young men shared a heated, glaring, staring exchange; neither of them wanting to be the first to back down.

  Faheem finally broke the heated exchange by touching his waistband the same way Sean had a few minutes earlier.

  “The way I got the info, blood . . . she’s like your sister or more so you’re like her little brother, so chill the fuck out. You don’t know me and I don’t know you. She’s gonna fuck with niggas. That’s life. Find you a bitch and forget about mine,” Faheem said snidely as he bopped toward his driver’s side door.

  “Fuck you, nigga. You don’t know me and I don’t care to know you. Fuck from in front of my house,” Sean snarled, baring his teeth like a rabid dog. Sunny rolled her window down.

  “Faheem, get in this car and stop. Y’all both need to stop,” Sunny said like what was happening was a joke. Faheem laughed and made his way back to his driver’s side door. Sean stood there brooding, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

  “Don’t wait up for me. If I decided to come in tonight, I’ll call first,” Sunny said waving at Sean cheerfully. Sean stood there seething inside, his fists curled so tightly at his sides his knuckles ached. He didn’t know if he was more angry at Sunny for having a man or at her man for taunting him; whichever it was, Sean made a promise to himself that day that he would never let himself be chumped like that again.

  Sean went into the house, his pride and his feelings crushed.

  “Sean? Is that you?” his grandmother called out from the kitchen. Sean smiled and headed to see his Big Mama. She would definitely make him feel better; she always did.

  “Hey, Big Mama. How you today?” Sean asked, grabbing her affectionately from behind. He loved hugging his grandmother’s soft, ample body. She reminded him of a big teddy bear and she always smelled like peppermint.

  “I’m fine, baby, but I want to talk to you about something,” his grandmother said, her voice going low and her tone sounding grave. In the years since Sean had moved in with her, his grandmother hardly ever sounded like that. She was always upbeat and happy.

  Sean released his grasp on her and stepped around to her left so he could look at her face. When he did, he noticed her red-rimmed eyes and a flush of red on the tip of her nose. Sean could tell his grandmother had been crying.

  “Big Mama . . . what is it? Somebody did something to you?” Sean asked, swallowing hard as all sorts of crazy things ran through his mind.

  His grandmother moved away from him and shuffled her swollen feet to one of the chairs that sat at her kitchen table. She flopped down into the chair and let out a winded breath like she had walked for miles. Sean was starting to see signs that his grandmother was getting old and he didn’t like the feeling or thought that she might not be around forever.

  “Big Mama, tell me what’s going on,” Sean said, sliding into the chair across from her. His nerves were on edge because his grandmother was the only family he had left; he couldn’t stand to think that something or someone was disturbing her.

  “Well, baby, I have a problem,” his grandmother sighed. “After all these years of working, struggling and buying my own things, I ain’t never asked the government for nothing.” His grandmother hung her head and shook it left to right. Sean’s eyebrows dipped on his head as he listened.

  “Now, they want to tell me that they taking the house from me, Sean. Them people want to tell me that I owe them taxes on property that been mine since the sixties,” his grandmother lamented, cradling her head in her hands. Sean’s shoulders slumped and he twisted his lips.

  “I ain’t got it, baby. We might be getting put out of here,” she broke down and cried, her soft double chin jiggling with every sob. Sean drummed his fingers on the table, his mind racing in a million directions. He knew that he couldn’t just go upstairs to his shoebox stash and drop the cash on his grandmother because she would have too many questions about where he’d gotten the money from, but he also wasn’t going to sit by and let his grandmother lose her house.

  “Give me the paperwork, Big Mama. I’ll have Fox take me downtown tomorrow to take a look and see what we can work out. I’m the man of the house, Big Mama, and I’m not going to let us get put out. I promise you I’m not going to let us get put on the streets,” Sean assured, standing up and hugging his grandmother around her neck. She smiled and used her cloth handkerchief to wipe her tears.

  “I want you to always live your life right, Sean. Always do what’s right or else things you do will come back on you with a vengeance,” his grandmother said. Sean stood hugging her for what seemed like an eternity; her words were planting seeds in his mind, but he wasn’t ready to let them grow roots.

  “I will, Big Mama. I promise . . . I will,” he said, crossing his fingers because he knew that an orphan like him would never survive if he always did the right thing.

  When Sean pulled up at Fox’s house he immediately impressed with the huge, wrought-iron monogrammed gates that protected the property.

  “This nigga Fox living how I’m gonna live one day. This that shit I’m talking about,” Sean said to himself, smiling from ear to ear.

  Sean pushed the button on the intercom outside of the gate and when he was asked to announce himself he yelled out his name. The rega
l gold and white gates opened slowly and Sean drove his Benz through them slowly. He inched his car along the circular driveway and almost hit one of Fox’s parked cars because he was busy admiring the grounds. Fox had the most beautiful, plush green manicured lawn Sean had ever seen. There were custom-cut shrubs, trees and bushes adorning the front of the house. The shrubs directly in front of the steps leading up to the door had a huge F and A cut into them and there were dozens and dozens of different colored roses, daisies and hibiscus flowers surrounding the letters. There were two water fountains outside of the house—one shot water straight up into a beautiful stream with green and blue lights around it making the water look colored as it shot into the air and the other seemed to be on a timer as different sized plumes of water flew up into the air from it, reminding Sean of a brochure he’d seen for the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.

  “Yo . . . this is some rich man shit for real. I gotta step up my game. Damn, Fox, I wanna be like you when I grow up,” Sean mumbled to himself, his eyes wide with awe.

  Sean parked his Benz, but he was so dumbfounded by the beauty of the mansion’s grounds, he only grabbed the nicely wrapped gift box off the seat.

  Fox was waiting in the doorway smiling and waving Sean inside.

  “C’mon, man. You too young to be walking up them steps like a old man,” Fox joked.

  “Nah, I’m just still trying to catch my breath from this house,” Sean called out as he climbed the twenty white and gold marble steps that led up to Fox’s front door.

  Sean’s eyes must have told the story of what was running through his mind because Fox was rolling laughing by the time Sean made it to the door.

  “Man, you act like you ain’t never been nowhere nice before,” Fox laughed, taking the gift box from Sean’s hand and giving him a quick hug and pound.

  “Yo, Fox . . . your new house is the shit. I thought the other house was big, but this one . . . this like some rapper shit. Nah, more like some mafia don shit,” Sean gushed, his eyes still wide and roving.