by Onyxx Black
"Bitch, what do you have on?" I died laughing at her silly ass. She had on a bubble coat, a scarf, gloves, a skullcap and earmuffs. She was doing the most. Her jeans and boots were cute though.
"You know I had to catch two buses out here right? It's cold as fuck and I'm not about to catch a cold for you or nobody else." I knew her sick ass would get defensive, but it only made me laugh harder. Shauna stayed with a cold. Sickle cell anemia was a hell of a disease, but my best friend was a hell of a fighter. She was the same height as me, if not a few inches taller, with skin so perfectly golden brown you'd swear she was Hawaiian. She was real skinny, about 110lbs. Her long, silky wavy hair made the boys go crazy. Not to mention her B-cups and fat ass. From behind you couldn't tell us apart.
"Anyway, I have to turn in these applications for Lids and Foot Locker. Did you bring yours?'' I needed a job and fast. It was just the beginning of Spring and I didn't qualify for college until Summer.
"Yeah, they’re in my bag."
Once we walked in the mall I got hungry as hell. I always stood like a kid in a candy store in front of all those restaurants. The smells from every different place in the food court drove me crazy. I was convinced Circle Centre had the most restaurants of all the malls in Indy and I still didn't know what to eat.
"Ooh, what about Taco Bell?" Shauna's hungry ass was already in line ordering for both of us. She was tiny but she could eat. After downing three tacos, she nudged me.
“Hmm. Somebody’s got an admirer.”
I looked up. “Bitch where?” Shauna’s silly ass busted out laughing.
“Over there. He’s cute too.” I looked over my shoulder, not caring how obvious I was. This thugged out light skinned man, who looked to be about twenty-five, with tattoos coming up out of his collar was staring hard as hell. I looked that nigga right in his eyes and turned my head. I laughed to myself, thinking how funny it was that dudes thought us females had to be so pressed all because they looked in our direction. Like I said time and time again, none of that flattery bullshit could make me any more willing to take off the panties. He was fine as hell, but it took more than a handsome face and a dope-boy attitude to sway me. Fuck outta here. “Come on girl, let’s go turn these applications in.” I made sure to switch my ass real hard, walking past him and the tack head bitch he was with. She must have been his type: pressed, because I heard her yelling at him as soon as Shauna and I walked past. I knew all eyes were on us as they usually were. I felt his stare though, harder than anyone else’s.
***
Kenyon
Damn. She was fine as hell. This chick was sitting about four tables up at the mall, looking like my next girlfriend. She and her friend were bad as fuck. They might have been sisters, but I was feeling what Future said, ‘I don’t give a fuck if they was real sisters’. I watched her turn her head and look at me, then look away. She knew I was looking too. Neeka’s bitchy ass was complaining about everything as usual. I wanted to walk over to the sexy ass piece of chocolate and leave TaNeeka’s crybaby ass sitting right there watching, but I didn’t want no smoke today. I just got a call from the Chi, telling me the pack just touched down early and the last thing I needed was problems at home. I don’t even know why I was putting up with her anymore, but it was something about them crazy broads. They had the best pussy and they were down for whatever. When she walked past switching that ass real hard, I knew it was just for me. I turned all the way around in my seat to watch her walk. “Aye, follow that for me.” I nudged my boy, Tae, who was mugging the fuck out of TaNeeka.
“Yeah, a’ight.” He got up and walked behind them, doing just what I was doing, staring at that ass.
“What the fuck are you looking at?” TaNeeka slapped my arm and started getting loud. “Oh, so you staring at other bitches now? Really?”
I got up and left her ass sitting right there. I had shit to do today and she was killing my whole vibe. Plus, I knew the make-up sex was going to be crazy. My phone buzzed in my hand. “Foot locker” was all the text said. Now I needed a reason. I looked down at her feet and smiled to myself. Her gold digging ass wasn’t going to put up any complaints.
When we finally made it to the store, shorty wasn’t there anymore, but my main nigga Carter was.
“What’s good Kenwood?” I dapped up with the crispy black, dread head nigga that had been like my brother for years. “Watch out, nigga.” Carter shook his head at me like he always did.
“Hey, C.J.” TaNeeka walked up to the counter, smiling hard as hell. I didn’t give a fuck. Carter nodded what’s up.
“Don’t you want them 11’s?” I handed her a wad of money and pushed her ass out of my way.
“You hell, man.” Truth was I was just tired of her annoying ass. “Anyway, who are those bad broads that just left? All I saw was the chocolate one. My nigga, face, ass, titties and she look crazy as hell. My kind of woman.” I had to laugh at myself because I could be a straight fool when I wanted to.
“You ain’t never lied. The gold one was bad as fuck, nigga. Thing about it is they’re high schoolers, I am not fucking with that. I just got in a new position. I can’t be no ChoMo.” I just about died laughing.
“Aye, you a fool, man.” I made him promise that he’d give them the job. He said he made up his mind as soon as they walked through the door. TaNeeka walked back up to the counter looking mad.
“Bae, they don’t even have the ones I want yet.” She poked her lip out at me and hugged my arm.
“They’ll be in next week.” Carter looked at me and gave me that look. Hell yeah, I was coming back.
“We’ll be back when I get back in town.” She smiled and kissed me on the lips.
***
Ashanti
Two weeks had gone by before I got the call, telling me I had an interview with Foot Locker and when I got there, they offered me the job on the spot. I was on a roll, first setting up my driver’s ed classes and now, working a full time job. I was too happy. Shauna got the part time job because she was still in school, so I was bored as hell at noon on a Tuesday.
“Can I see this shoe in a size six?” Asked some tall, light skinned chick whose breath smelled like onions, and standing a little too close to the counter for my taste. Evidently Ms. B’s shit was still working because I didn’t get smart like I normally would have.
“Yeah, give me just one second.” I went behind the door that led to this warehouse type of room that held box after box of shoes and easily found the last size six. When I came back through the door, I almost dropped them. The same nigga from two weeks ago was standing beside the girl and I instantly recognized her as the ol’ chick that was cussing him out the last time. I cracked up in my head and rang her shit up. “That’ll be $175.93.” I was amazed at how much black people will spend on shoes that cost less than a dollar to make, to impress motherfuckers that they swear they don’t like or give two fucks about. That shit was dead to me.
He pulled out a wad of money and counted out two hundred dollars. I rang it up and cashed him out.
“Twenty-four dollars and seven cents is your change sir, have a nice day.” I tried to hand him his change but he shook his head.
“You keep that.” He smiled for the first time and I saw a dimple in his left cheek. I didn’t see him last time like I was seeing him this time. At 6’5” I was looking up with my head tilted back. His skin was the same color as those caramel candies in the gold wrapper that old people liked to pass out. His dark goatee and thick eyebrows drew attention to his dark, mysterious brown eyes with eyelashes that put mine to shame. Did I mention those lips? His lips were dark like he had been smoking all his life, but they were the perfect size, shape and looked well taken care of. Damn this nigga was sexy as fuck. As nice as the gesture was, I didn’t take anything from anybody, especially not money and especially not from men who thought, I needed something from them.
“No, thank you.” I declined. He smiled again and took the change. His girlfriend was too busy smiling in C
arter's face to see her man over here smiling in mine. I was glad though because I'd hate to fight on the job. When she came back, he winked at me and walked out with his arm around the girl’s waist. As soon as he left, Shauna came in.
“Ooh. I saw that. What’s his name bitch?” She always thought she knew something.
“I don’t know and don’t care. He has a little girlfriend anyway.” Shauna busted out laughing like I had told the funniest joke ever.
“Uh-uhn. When you say ‘little’ in front of shit it makes you sound like a hater. And since when does Ashanti Renee Woods give a damn about a girlfriend? Hell, where is your competitive spirit?” I cracked up.
“Well aren’t you just the comical bitch today? Eastside Ivo head ass.” We both busted out laughing.
“Let’s just call that nigga T.O.” I was lost. Her ass was always coming up with nicknames for people. “Thugged Out. T.O. for short.” I shook my head.
“I’m nothing on you today. Do some work hoe. As a matter of fact, why don’t you help me stock this new shipment?” Carter, our manager, poked his head out of his office door and flashed us a smile.
“Good job, Woods. Team work makes the dream work.” Before I could respond, he stepped back into his office.
“See, you need a nigga like T.O. and I need one like Carter’s sexy ass.” Sometimes she sounded so thirsty, but when you looked like Shauna, no nigga was off limits and if he was, she pulled all the right strings to get him. I was happy I didn’t care for niggas like that. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t care for bitches either, niggas just wasn’t as important as my money or my time. If I could find a nigga that could match me in every aspect, such as money-making, intellect and loyalty, I’d consider, but so far, I was good without. I can’t lie though, T.O. made me think real hard about reconsidering. The rest of the day went smooth with Shauna and me working side by side. I was tired as hell, but still had T.O. and that dimple on my mind.
***
Ms. B. was in the kitchen cooking for everyone when I made it back to the house.
“How was work today Miss Thang?”
The large pot was simmering on the stovetop with her down deliciousness. I smelled her usual Cajun seasonings from the door and my craving for salt was through the roof.
“It was alright. What’s cookin’?” Ms. B. may have been from Africa, but she never pounded foo-foo in our kitchen, it was solely Louisiana cuisine when she got down. How she could go from Erykah Badu to the queen of Nawlin’s was funny to me.
“Jambalaya. I made our pot with all the spices. I was hoping you’d be off in time to make the corn bread.” Thankfully, Ms. B. had kept me in the kitchen with her from the time I arrived at the home. I was six years old learning how to flip pancakes on the griddle with Ms.B. Since none of my family was willing to take in the daughter of two big time drug dealers, I was stuck with Ms. B and I couldn't have been happier. The only thing I did feel bad about was not knowing who my family was exactly. I walked from one end of the spacious kitchen to the other, fully admiring the granite countertops and imitation hardwood floors. I never got tired of being in the spacious room. Not wanting to have to come back to the other end, I grabbed everything in one trip. I took the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt from the cabinet before grabbing the milk and eggs from the fridge. I mixed the dry ingredients first then the wet, careful to put just the right amount of milk in. Ms. B. caught me reaching for the sugar again and snatched it away quickly.
“Nobody wants sweet cornbread Ashanti.”
I greased the pan with unsalted butter and poured the batter just as Lexi walked into the kitchen. The tension was so thick, I could’ve scooped it with the spoon I had in my hand.
“Hey, Ms. B. I’m not feeling jambalaya tonight. Any way you could make me some chicken soup? My cramps are really bad.” I thought the saying was that if you and another female had the same menstrual cycle, you were really close. Fuck all that. I knew that with all of this estrogen in the house, we were bound to all be on our period at the same time. I couldn’t stand her ass and we were not close by a long shot.
“Sure. Go lie down and I’ll be in to bring you something to help with that.” I rolled my eyes at her and finished what I was doing. I got jealous whenever Ms. B. did something for someone else that she did for me. The only saving grace was that I knew she couldn’t stand Lexi any more than I could.
Ms. B. sent me to the Rec room to round up all the girls for dinner, minus Lexi. Everybody walked to the kitchen except one person. Brionna, Lexi’s sidekick and so called best friend, was sitting at the computer whispering on her cell phone.
“Aye. It’s time for dinner.” She put her hand up, too close to my face and I instinctively slapped it away. I wasn’t racist or anything like that, but I couldn’t stand Hispanic bitches like her. She thought she was intimidating because she stood at 5’7”, a few inches taller than me. What she didn’t know was that in the two homes I went to before coming to this one, I fought bitches that were way bigger than her. The Hispanic ones always seemed to come for me and I don’t know why.
“I said hold on, puta. Don’t be hitting on me.” Her accent fueled something in me that made me want to punch her teeth down her throat. She had been trying me these last few days because of whatever lie Lexi must have told her about me being a punk. I assumed she didn’t see that big bruise on her best friend’s face before Ms. B. gave her that cream and if she did she must not have known who had given it to her.
“First, bring your voice from ten to two before I knock your big ass out.” Bri may have been twenty-five to thirty pounds heavier than me, but I wasn’t the least bit scared. She was a dark, Dominican with long red hair that hung down her back. “Second, Ms. B. said come to dinner.”
If it wasn’t for her fucked up attitude and the fact that she was friends with Lexi, she could be cute. Her body was banging and she knew it, which is why she had begun selling ass throughout the entire school. She had convinced Lexi to start doing the same thing and I bet that’s why her menstrual cramps were so bad. Her nasty ass probably had HPV, or according to Ms. B, she was pregnant, but who was I to judge? I walked away and back to the kitchen, but not before I heard her say, “Bye, Shaad.” I knew I got high from time to time with Shauna, but I could’ve sworn I wasn’t tripping and that was Lexi’s boyfriend’s nickname. Damn. Goes to show how bitches of a feather, thot together.
Chapter Four
Kenyon
“What happened? Nah, man you’re talking too fast. Slow down.” I was sitting in the car on my way back to my cousin’s apartment, when Tae called me to tell me some shit about TaNeeka. The plan had been pushed back by another week, so I wouldn’t be home for a few days. “She did what?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Her dirty ass was on her phone, whispering about the coke I had in the house. I should’ve let Tae kick her grimy ass out when he said some shit wasn’t right about her. I thought he probably hit it and was mad because she was still with me. You never know though. I could trust these niggas about as far as I could throw them and that wasn’t far as shit.
“Look, you and G dig that shit up and move it. I’ll be back in a little bit. Don’t forget to look in the kitchen sink.” I hung up the phone just as TaNeeka called me. “Hey bae.” I answered like I always did. I was furious, but I wasn’t going to let her know shit was up, yet. No reason to waste good pussy. No matter if it was attached to a liar. Pussy was pussy. No money lost and definitely no love. Loyalty was just something I’d have to find in a new woman, if any of them knew what the shit was. I listened to her lie about her fake account of her day while I imagined strangling her. “I’ll be home in a few days.” I was leaving in three days and I knew with such heavy traffic so early in the morning, I’d get there around 10am, but I wanted to stop by and see Carter first.
***
Ashanti
Fall had been going by slow as hell, but I had stacked enough money to maybe move out on my own in a few mon
ths. I was eighteen now and the only reason my ass hadn’t been kicked out of the group home I was in is because of Ms. Bamidele. She had to convince social services that it was more than just being eighteen that made us adults. I don’t know what kind of lemonade she made them but when they ended the meeting, I still had a place to call home.
Besides making money and staying out of the way, I had been working on my flip ass attitude too. Ms. B. had me working in the kitchen with her and spending my free time learning all about her religion, called Santeria. She paid me at first to come to her to start learning, being a helping hand and moving things around, but after a while I stopped taking her money. I had already saved $5,000 minus what I used to buy my new Galaxy 6s. I wasn’t rich enough to pay for the plan just yet so I got it connected with my old company.
In my mind I was moving up like the Jefferson’s. Too bad other motherfuckers couldn’t see just how hard I was working and trying to be good. I knew I was being too nice. Ms. B. told me I needed to conduct myself as a lady, but fuck it. Sometimes you had to show your ass to get folks to understand and actually listen.
“Who took my shit?” I walked in the Rec room, where all the girls were either talking on the phone or using the computers. I think I scared them because I was so calm. Lexi sat there looking like she wanted me to slap the caked on makeup off her face. “Got something you want to say hoe?” I turned my head to look at her like the nigga from Beyond Scared Straight and I was waiting for her ass at the door. I was waiting for her to say some flip shit and I was going HAM. Her scary ass didn’t say anything so my next guess was Brionna. Brionna was supposed to be Lexi’s ride or die. Tuh. If I wanted Lexi’s head on a silver platter all I had to do was get Bri to bring it to me. Brionna acted like she owed Lexi and for what, I had no clue. Maybe she felt guilty about fucking her run down nigga. “Where my shit at Bri?” Her nervous ass jumped. I bet her scary ass thought I was going to tell Lexi what I heard.
