by Kiki Swinson
“Yeah, him and his friend Lamont stopped by to see me. But, they aren’t gonna be here very long, so I’m gonna call you right back.”
“Okay, you do that,” I encouraged her.
But, I knew if I sat up and waited for her call, then I would be waiting in vain. Because you see, her brother was there with her. And the only reason he was there was because he recruited different dealers to come by her place to supply her with drugs. So, when that guy Lamont was done replenishing her supply container, she was going to go into seclusion and I would not hear from her until the morning, which was why I was going to tune in to these Good Times re-runs and call it a night myself.
Eric finally brought his dumb ass home around eight o’clock. He still had nothing to say to me, which was fine. My main concern at that point was to get Kimora into bed. And that’s exactly what I did.
Time to Re-up
I had a ritual every Saturday, where I’d make plans to spend the entire day with my family. We’d always start the morning off with a nice hot breakfast at IHOP or Denny’s. And then we would either check out a movie or do some shopping at the mall. But you see, Teresa had another set of plans in store for me. So, when I received the call from her that Saturday morning and heard the urgency in her voice, I knew that I was going to have to deviate from my plans a little bit.
After I assured her that I would be at her place within the next thirty minutes, she sounded somewhat relieved and told me that she’d be waiting.
Now when I broke the sudden change of plans to Eric, he immediately blew up about it. So, there was no point in me trying to convince him to act a little more rational. He was a little too stubborn for that. And besides, my best friends needed me, so I had to be there for her.
On my way out, Eric met me at the front door with an ultimatum in hand. “If you walk out of this house, don’t expect me and Kimora to be here when you come back.”
I stood there with an expression of disbelief. I mean, I couldn’t believe that he would stoop this low. So, I asked him, “Why are you trying to blow this out of proportion?”
“Why are you always putting outside affairs before your family?” he retaliated.
“Look, I know it seems that way. But, the truth of the matter is that you and Kimora mean more to me than anything.”
“Well, prove it!”
“Eric, don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?” he questioned aggressively. “Just admit it! You don’t have time for us anymore.”
“Eric, please stop. Because it’s not like that.”
“Oh, it’s like that. And it’s been this way ever since you took that position as an assistant principal. Always working late hours, and you’re hardly ever home to sit down and eat dinner with us.”
“Eric, it’s a performing arts school, and we discussed the fact that I was going to be working long hours before I even took the job.”
“Yes, we did. But, I didn’t think it was going to be like this.”
“Look, Eric. I see your frustration, but can we talk about this when I get back?”
“No, we can’t.”
“And why not?”
“Because I won’t be here when you get back,” he replied and then he walked off in the direction of Kimora’s bedroom.
It took everything within me not to run down the hall behind him, but when I realized that he was pulling one of his stunts, I opened up the front door and left. I figured it was too early to start the day off with drama.
Fully clad in a pair of flannel pajamas, Teresa was definitely glad to see me. Her eyes lit up when she opened up the front door to her apartment. So, after I was let in, I asked her what was going on.
“Come in the living room so we can talk,” she replied in a nervous manner as she led me into that direction.
Now when I entered into the living room area, I wasn’t expecting to see Teresa’s brother Eugene lounging on her sofa. But, what was really bizarre was the fact that he was pretty banged-up looking. And then, not too far from him, sat Lamont, a very young looking guy who had to be in his early twenties. But, he had the body frame of a linebacker. So, I cordially spoke to him and he nodded back. When I set my sights back on Eugene, I couldn’t help but wonder out loud about the black eye and the scratches on his face. And that’s when Teresa went into her spiel about their dilemma.
“I got some coke and heroin from somebody,” she tried to explain, but was interrupted.
“That somebody is me!” Lamont interjected in a cocky manner, which of course scared the hell out of me because I wasn’t expecting him to say anything.
Nervously, Teresa opened her mouth and tried to finish her story, but Lamont wouldn’t let her get a word in edgewise. “Look, Ms. Lady,” he said, looking directly at me. “These two muthafuckas right here got some smack from me over a week ago and promised to pay me my dough by Friday. And when I came over here yesterday to collect, this ole bitch right here tried to give me some ole sob-ass story that didn’t even concern me. So, I told her that if she didn’t get my money by this morning, then I was going to fuck her and her brother up. And I guess they thought I was playing, because when I got here an hour ago and they told me they didn’t have my dough, I had to smack the shit outta her and rough him up a little bit.”
Trying to digest all of this chaos was like trying to swallow a horse pill, but somehow I managed to cope. Holding my composure was another hurdle I needed to cross. So, I took a deep breath and very calmly asked him how much money those two owed him.
“Two hundred.”
Baffled at his response, I said, “Two hundred!”
“Yeah, they owe me a hundred for the coke and a hundred for the dope.”
Before I made another comment to this guy Lamont, who was obviously at wit’s end, I turned to the direction in which Teresa was standing and asked her how much money she had to her name.
Her response to my question was, “Girl, I don’t have a penny.”
So, I looked over to Eugene and asked him the same exact question and his answer was almost identical.
“I ain’t got no money either,” he said.
“So, what are y’all going to do?” I asked, my voice screeching.
“Well, I was hoping you could loan us the money; that’s why I called you to come over here.”
Frustrated with their lack of concern for their well-being, I lashed out and said, “But, I don’t have that much money on me!”
“Well, somebody better come up wit’ something,” Lamont belted out with anger.
Feeling the effects of his roar, Teresa nervously moved a little closer to me and asked me exactly how much money I had on me.
“I really don’t know,” I replied, sticking my hand into my purse to retrieve my wallet. “But, I know that it’s nowhere near the two hundred you need.” I pulled my wallet out and began to look in it.
“So, how much do you have?” she asked me once again, peering over my shoulder and directly into my hands.
“I’ve got one hundred and thirty-one dollars,” I was finally able to say and then I held the money out to her.
“Don’t give it to her,” Lamont’s voice roared again. “Pass that dough right on over here to me,” he demanded.
So, I did. But at the same time, I wanted to know where he stood with her and Eugene.
“Oh, they a’ight for now,” he began saying, “But, I’ll be back tomorrow for the other hundred.” He stuffed the money into his pants pockets.
“What other hundred?” I protested. “I just gave you hundred and thirty-one dollars.”
Going into his left pants pocket and then revealing a plastic bag of powder-filled capsules, he said, “Yeah, I know. But, that thirty-one dollars was added interest, since it took these morons longer to pay me.”
“Come on now, Lamont! That’s not cool!” I commented.
“I’m sorry you feel that way. But, they know that if that was somebody else’s shit they had, they would’ve been paying more int
erest than that. But, just to show you that I ain’t as fucked up as you think, I am gon’ give y’all a pill of coke and dope free of charge, so y’all can loosen’ up ’round here.” He smiled, throwing the two capsules into my direction.
I wasn’t in the mood to play catch, so I let the pills fall to the floor. Seeing everything play before her and reacting off my actions, Teresa fell to her knees and gathered both of the pills from off the floor, and then she scrambled to get back up to on her feet, clutching the drugs tightly in the palm of her hands.
“Good looking out!” she managed to say, trying to catch her breath. “I will definitely have the rest of your money by tomorrow,” she continued, trying to assure him.
Lamont laughed aloud once again and said, “Yeah, you better. ’Cause if you don’t, I ain’t gon’ be so nice the next time.”
“Don’t worry. We’re gonna have it. Just give us till about six o’clock,” Teresa suggested.
“A’ight,” he agreed and then he made his way out of her apartment.
The moment he disappeared beyond the front door, Teresa rushed over to lock it behind him. “Don’t want him changing his mind and coming back,” she commented with a cheap little smile.
Meanwhile, Eugene jumped to his feet. It immediately became apparent that his sudden burst of energy was fueled by a craving to get high off the drugs Lamont had just left. And like a true fiend, he rushed up to Teresa and said, “Want me to get the plate and the razor blade?”
“Yeah, go ahead,” she encouraged him, and off he went.
I stood in the same spot and watched these two in awe as they paraded around there with their heads stuck up in the clouds, acting like they did not just get their damn heads banged up by that nigga they owed money to.
As I continued to watch in dismay, Teresa finally realized that I was still in the presence of her apartment and said, “Oh, damn! You so quiet, that I forgot you was in here.”
“No shit!” I replied sarcastically.
Teresa giggled at my comment. So, I looked into her eyes and asked her if she was all right.
“Hell yeah, I’m all right! You just saved me and my brother from getting another ass whipping!”
“But, why put yourself in dangerous situations like that? I mean, you and Eugene could’ve gotten seriously hurt by that guy.”
“Oh. Girl, snap out of it! We’re all right,” she replied and then she grabbed a hold of my hand and said, “Now, come on in the room with us, so you can get that monkey off your back.”
Now, I don’t know why, but I allowed her to lead me into her bedroom where Eugene was already posted up on the edge of her bed with his eye all black and blue, waiting patiently to catch his next high. Poor thang! He was truly in another world. And you know what? I was too, right after I snorted a good amount of that white candy. It literally blew my fucking mind.
A couple of hours after the speed ball—which was a combination of the two drugs—had begun to wear off, I was starting to come to grips with what I had just done. But, by then the damage was already done; not to mention, I had damn near scratched my arms off. But anyway, as I drifted back into reality, one part of me instantly embraced the whole idea of pushing the straw up my nose. I mean, why not? I was under a lot of stress. Shit, between the drama I had earlier at home with Eric and the drama I walked into here, it was enough for me to go off into wonderland.
But then, after you come down off your high, your mind begins to play games with you and cause you to have mixed emotions. One minute you’ll be all happy and then all of a sudden, you’ll start feeling guilty and ashamed of what of you just did, which in turn makes you want to get high all over again. But, unfortunately for us, there was nothing else to get high off of. So, I lay back on Teresa’s bed and waited for my senses to get back on track.
Meanwhile, Eugene realized that there was no longer a need for him to be in the presence of either myself or Teresa, since the plate was completely empty. So, he grabbed his jacket and said, “Yo, I’m out.”
“Where you going?” Teresa wanted to know.
“To the block, to make some moves.”
“You coming back?”
“Yeah.”
“What time? ’Cause you know we got to get up the rest of the money we owe to Lamont by tomorrow.”
“I know. I know. I’m gon’ handle it. Just let me go out here and grind for a couple of niggas and we gon’ be a’ight.”
Teresa sighed with frustration and said, “That’s what you said the last time. And look what happened.”
“Well, this time it ain’t gon’ be like that,” he assured her and then he left.
“What was that all about?” I began to inquire.
“Whatcha mean?” Teresa asked, as she began to straighten up her bedroom.
“What kind of grind is he getting ready to go on, that’s going to enable him to get up that other hundred dollars?”
“Oh, he’s going to run for a couple of the street dealers who be getting their hustle on out there in Norfolk. And then at the end of the day, they’ll pay him.”
“What do you mean by ‘run’?”
“Running is when street dealers find young boys or fiends to go out and get other fiends to come and buy their drugs. And when you help the dealer sell his entire package or get them enough sales, then they’ll pay you with cash or give you drugs.”
“Why do the dealers need people like your brother to get other addicts to buy their stuff?”
“Because it’s so much competition out there, and when you got a true dope fiend on your payroll, telling others how good your shit is, believe me—niggas will buy it.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, ma’am. A dope fiend will believe another dope fiend before they believe the nigga who’s selling the drugs.”
“Why is that?”
“Well you got to look at it like this,” she began to explain, “a dealer will lie to you in a heartbeat about how good their shit is, just to get rid of it. But, a fiend ain’t gon’ lie. They know when a nigga’s shit is garbage and they’ll tell you if you ask ’em.”
“Well, it sure sounds like you’ve made a few trips down that road.”
“Shit! I didn’t have a choice. Can’t always trust Eugene to go out and buy my stuff.”
“Why not?”
“Because he has burnt me too many times.”
“But, you’re his sister, so why would he do that?”
“Girl, please! Eugene is a dope fiend first and my brother second, so he’s gon’ treat me like a stranger from the streets when it comes to those drugs.”
“Has he ever stolen anything from you?”
“Yeah. He’s got me for a few dollars a couple of times, but that’s it.”
Teresa continued to educate me about the life she and her brother led. It was pretty interesting, I might add. But, an eye-opener nevertheless.
So, I took every last detail in, not even realizing that I would need it later on down the road.
Caught Her Slipping
Just when I thought Monday was going to be the start of a good week, I get a call at 11 a.m. from Mr. Baker, asking me if I would come to his office immediately for a meeting. So, I did. I got the surprise of my life the moment I walked through the doorway into his office.
There awaiting my arrival was Katherine Montoya, who happened to be the director of Human Resources. Sitting alongside her was one of my newly hired ninth-grade English teachers by the name of Sandra Early. So, instantly my mind started wondering what was going to be the gist of this meeting we were about to have. And then without warning, the shit hit the fan.
“Faith,” Mr. Baker began saying, after I greeted everyone and took a seat in a chair place directly beside of Mrs. Early’s, “I called you into this meeting because this matter that we’re about to discuss will affect you in several ways.”
“Oh ,really?” I wondered aloud, as my heart began to pick up speed.
“Yes, it will. That’s why Katheri
ne and I decided to inform you beforehand.”
“Well, tell me what’s going on.”
Mr. Baker hesitated a bit and then he said, “Being that this is a very complicated situation and Mrs. Early knows about it firsthand, I am going let her take the floor and tell you about our problem.”
“Okay,” I replied, shifting my attention directly toward Mrs. Early. “I’m all ears,” I told her.
Before she uttered a single word, she sat up in her chair and cleared her throat. It was becoming obvious that this matter was very difficult for her to talk about. But eventually, she mustered up enough courage to speak, and when she did, I gave her my undivided attention.
“Well, not too long after the first bell rang this morning, I took a quick bathroom break and stumbled across your secretary, Teresa, snorting drugs in one of the bathroom stalls.”
My heart started racing a mile a minute, which made me act defensively. So, I immediately interjected, “What makes you so sure that she was in that bathroom stall, snorting drugs?”
“Because as I entered into the bathroom, I heard a loud snorting noise, but I didn’t think anything of it until I heard it a couple more times. So, when I asked her was she all right, I must’ve startled her because she started fumbling with a folded dollar bill and then she accidentally dropped it to the floor, and that’s when a white powdery substance spilled all around her feet.”
“How did you manage to see her fumble with the dollar bill?” My questions kept coming.
“Because I was peeping at her through the open space on the side of the door. And then when she looked up at me, as if I was invading in on her privacy, I took a couple of steps back and that’s when I noticed that she had spilled the drugs onto the floor.”
“What did you say to her after all this happened?”
“I apologized to her for imposing, and then I left out of the bathroom.”
“So, you didn’t ask her what it was she was doing?”
“Well, it was obvious. So, I didn’t think it would be necessary.”
“What was obvious?” I pressed on.
“That she was using drugs.”
