by Ni-Ni Simone
“All you have to do is call him, Pop,” I said.
“Yeah, call him,” Janay agreed. “And you better call him now, ’cause if you wait until tonight he might jump off a bridge or join the army or something.”
Pop looked at Janay like she had two heads. “Janay, you’re my girl and all, but you need to start thinking before you speak.”
Seriously.
“And Gem, I can’t just call him, it’s gotta be something bigger than that. Something more romantic like a movie scene or from a romance novel. A story where I can tell my kids how their daddy swept me off my feet.”
This chick here... is trippin’.
“I got it!” Pop snapped her fingers. “We gon’ do a group date. And Gem you make sure that G-Bread is there. We’ll meet at Chickey D’s on Bloomfield Ave.”
“Chickey D’s?” I said. “Didn’t the health department close that place down?”
“They cleaned it up and it’s reopened now,” Pop snapped. “And plus they have pizza for five dollars.”
“So you want us to go to Chickey D’s for five dollar pizza, so that you can get G-Bread back, when you can save us all some money and just call him,” I said as I shook my head. “Speechless.”
“She doesn’t want him to think she’s desperate,” Kamani said.
“He won’t think that,” I said. “Just call him.”
“And plus,” Kamani continued, “Chickey D’s is romantic. ’Cause that’s where Crook took me for our anniversary.”
“What? Stop the press,” I said to Kamani. “Your boyfriend’s name is Crook?”
“Yeah.” She smiled, showing all of her teeth. “That’s my baby.”
“Well, I don’t think I’ll be going to eat with anybody that calls themselves Crook,” I said.
“And why not?” Kamani said with a slight snap in her tone.
“ ’Cause I’m just getting my life right. I don’t need any problems. And anybody named Crook is on somebody’s wanted list, and my new mama don’t play that. She is not the one.”
“Gem,” Pop said adding her two cents in, “Crook is a cool dude. I remember when they first met.”
“And it’s been on poppin’ ever since,” Kamani said. “So I don’t appreciate you talking about his name, Gem. This is why I don’t bring him around my friends and we just chill solo.”
“My fault, Kamani,” I said. “The name Crook is just a little, well, different.”
“Well,” she said, “they call him Crook because when he’s on the court and the other team has the ball he steals it every time.”
“Oh, he plays ball, too?”
“Yes, he does.” She rolled her eyes.
“Like I said. My fault,” I said. “I shouldn’t have said all that. Don’t chill solo with your boo, let’s all get together and have some fun.”
“Bam, exactly.” Pop smiled. “Let’s have some fun while me and my baby get back together again.”
“All right,” Kamani said. “So we’ll be there.”
“Straight,” I said. “So Pop, when do you wanna do this? Next week?”
“Next week!” Pop screeched. “It’s Friday, oh no, this is an emergency. We need to do this after school. Today. ’Cause by six o’clock I need to be back to boo-lovin’. Hard.”
“Today? Then I won’t be able to go,” Janay said.
“Why not?” Pop looked upset.
“’Cause David has choir rehearsal and I have to be there to watch him.”
“Watch him for what? You can’t sing,” Pop said, frowning.
“Well somebody has to be there to make sure all he does is sing and leave. The last time I left him at choir rehearsal alone, he ran off with the pastor’s daughter. So I’m not taking any chances. None.”
I really wanted this chick to return to being the quiet Janay. “It’s okay, Janay,” I said. “We’ll hold it down.”
“Then today it is.” Kamani smiled.
“Yep,” Pop said. “Tomorrow it’s on!”
“What’s on is the clock!” Coach pushed the door open and yelled into the locker room. “And if you ladies don’t get in the gym right by the time I count to three, you will spend the next game riding the bench. One . . . Two . . .”
21
Since I no longer caught a ride to school with Man-Man and instead caught the bus home with Pop, I wasn’t able to catch up with him until I got home this afternoon. I wasn’t exactly sure how to tell him that today was the day he needed to beg Pop’s forgiveness, because she expected to be boo-lovin’ by tonight. But seeing as though we were due to be at Chickey D’s in less than an hour I had to tell him something—and quick.
I caught a glimpse of him standing in front of his mirror and splashing cologne along his collar.
I know he’s not about to go somewhere.
He slid his black leather jacket on.
Oh . . . heck . . . no . . . I can’t deal with Pop if this doesn’t jump off.
I pushed open Man-Man’s bedroom door and said, “Where are you going?”
He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Yo, don’t you know to never push a grown man’s bedroom door open? You might run up on me runnin’ into somethin’.”
“Ill. I did not need that visual.”
“Well then knock first. Now what you want?” He ran his hands over his goatee.
“I wanna know where you’re going?”
“Out. ’Bout to go chill.”
“When? Right now?”
“You got it.”
“You need to reschedule those plans. I need you to go with me and Ny’eem.”
“Lil Sis, please. No offense, but the last time I hung out with Ny’eem all he talked about was you. Messed. Me. Up. So nah, I’ll pass, y’all can get that. I got a date anyway.” He brushed the waves in his hair.
“A date?! What about Pop?”
“Pop’s lost her mind; because anybody that can stay away from me this long it’s something wrong with ’em. And besides I’m tired of her ignoring me and not returning any of my calls. So I’m done sweatin’ her and now I’m back to the days of spreading my playboy love around.”
“Now is not the time for that.”
“Yes it is. Yesterday I got two friend requests on Facebook from these two chicks. Twins. And you know I got a thing for multiples. They told me they’d been watching my profile and drooling over me. And when I told ’em that they were too fly for me to choose just one, they agreed to let me take ’em both out.”
“All three of y’all are going out together? On the same date?” I frowned.
“You got it. That’s called helping the economy out. This way instead of having to borrow ten dollars from Toi I just hit her off for five.”
“Speechless.”
He winked his eye. “A real cat daddy seems to have that effect on people.” He popped his invisible collar. “That’s why I changed my name from G-Bread, to G-Bread-Pimpin’-Ain’t-Dead.” He slid his wallet into his back pocket.
While I was too busy being stunned to say anything, Man-Man said, “Dope ain’t it?” He shot me a two-finger peace sign and said, “Deuces.”
Shaking off my surprise I said, “Wait!”
“I can’t. I gotta catch up with these shorties at Chickey D’s.”
My eyes bugged. “Chickey D’s? You can’t go there!”
“Girl, please, the food is nasty, but I’m not going there to eat. But in case the twins want something, Chickey D’s has five dollar pizzas and I’m broke. Didn’t I just tell you that I had to borrow this money from Toi?” He shook his pocket and for a moment it sounded as if he had a collection of silverware rattling in it.
“What is that?”
“It’s five dollars worth of quarters. I think Toi was trying to be funny. But hey, money is money. I take dimes and nickels, too.”
SMH . . . I have no idea what Pop sees in him. . . . “Man-Man, listen, Pop wants to make up with you. So she arranged this group date for all us to hang out at Chickey D’s this af
ternoon. And I have to make sure you’re there with flowers in one hand and an apology in the other.”
“Did you say this afternoon at Chickey D’s?”
“Yes.”
“Pop wants to make up with me?”
“Yes. Right now.”
“Today?” he asked again.
“Didn’t I just answer that?! So you can’t go on that date with those two chicks, ’cause Pop will kill ’em.”
Man-Man smiled. “That’s exactly why I have to go on that date with two chicks. Get Pop all riled up and right when she’s about to cut one of ’em, I confess my love to her.”
“If you do that, she may not get back with you. She’s tired of the games and I know she arranged this crazy date, but still, she just wants you to take her seriously. That’s it. So that’s why she left you alone for almost three months to teach you a lesson. And if you go in there playing games, she may never speak to you again. Do you want that?”
Man-Man stood silent for a moment and then he said, “I do miss her.” He sat down on the edge of his bed. “That’s my girl for real. No other girl compares to Pop. Not one.”
“Then cancel that date with the ghetto-ghetto twins so that you can come with me and Ny’eem and tell Pop how you feel.”
“But what if I get there and she’s changed her mind or not feeling me again?”
“G-Bread-Pimpin’-Ain’t-Dead, believe me, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“A’ight.” He reached for his cell phone. “Let me call the twins and cancel my date with them.” He dialed a number, paused, and then said, “Aye, yo, is this Twin Number One or Number Two?” Pause. “Number One, a’ight well this is Prince Nazeem from Brick City.”
Prince who?
“And I won’t be able to make it tonight. I’m trying to get back with my girl. But I’ma forward your friend request to my lil brother, Baby-Tot-Tot. He can practice kicking it to chicks on y’all. You know I gotta keep the love in the family. . . Hello . . . hello?” Man-Man looked over at me. “Guess they got mad ’cause they couldn’t have me. Oh well.” He hunched his shoulders. “Let’s roll.”
I’ll be hiding out in the bathroom, Pop’s text read. And I’ma stay there ’til y’all arrive. So text me when you get here, so I can make a grand entrance.
K, I replied.
I was in the car with my baby, Ny’eem, and Man-Man followed behind us in his own ride. “Who’s meeting us here again?” Ny’eem asked.
“My crew,” I said. “And why do you keep asking me that?”
“’Cause I can’t understand why y’all would choose Chickey D’s. They serve heart attacks on the menu.”
“Okay, Mr. Fitness, could you chill? Like wassup with you? Why do you seem on edge this afternoon?”
He took a deep breath. “We lost our game yesterday.”
“Awwl. My baby’s a sore loser? Next time I’ll make sure I’m there to be your good luck charm. As long as I don’t have a game on the same day.”
Ny’eem smiled. “I’m not a sore loser.” He pulled into a parking space. “I’m just a great winner.”
“Yeah, I bet you are.” I smiled, as I texted Pop, We’re here. Wait ten minutes and then getcha abracadabra on.
Ny’eem walked around the car and opened my door. “This is probably the only place in America that sells pepperoni-flavored pork chops as a pizza topping.”
“Whatever.” I cracked up. “They don’t sell pepperoni-flavored pork chops.”
“They may as well,” Man-Man said walking up behind us and giving Ny’eem a fist bump. “’Cause the last time I was here the food made me so sick, I thought for sure I ate a stroke.”
“Fa’ real?” I asked, as we walked in.
“Fa’ sho, good thing I started praying. I was like, yo God, I’m ’spose to kick it at the club tonight, Chief.”
Ny’eem cracked up and Man-Man said, “You know what I’m sayin?”
Once we walked into the small two-room restaurant the waitress, who also doubled as the cashier, met us at the door, smacking on a pack and half of gum. “Yeah, y’allz dinin’ in or takin’ er’thing out?”
I blinked, because her southern accent was so thick that for a minute I wondered if we were in the deep woods of Florida somewhere. She looked at me and smiled and of course she had a diamond grill. “Oh, you look real purdy. Whicha lil get-up on.”
I didn’t know whether to say “thank you” or check this chick for calling my top, leggings, and heels a get-up. I decided to let her slide and say, “Thanks. And we’re staying. It’s six of us.”
She showed us to our table and said, “All right now, make sure y’all leave a tip.”
I looked at Man-Man and asked him, “Is that one of the ghetto-ghetto twins?”
Before he could respond my cell phone beeped letting me know I had a text. It was from Pop. Meet me in the bathroom.
I looked at Man-Man and Ny’eem. “I’ll be back.”
I squeezed my way into the single stalled bathroom where Pop was. She wore a cute black miniskirt with a yellow top and heels. “Awwl, look at you, boo,” I said. “You look too cute.”
“That’s how I do it.” She snaked her neck and snapped her fingers.
“So are you ready to make your grand entrance?” I asked her. “Man-Man and Ny’eem are at the table, where’s Kamani and her boo? They’re running late?”
“Gurl, Kamani’s mother be buggin’ sometimes. So who knows. She probably told Kamani she couldn’t hang out after school, that room needed cleaning or something. And plus you know Kamani has a little sister and brother, so she’s the built-in babysitter. She tried to get me to come over to her house once to help her watch her brother and sister and I had to tell her, ‘Oh no, boo-boo, I don’t like kids.’ ” She curled her upper lip.
“Pop.”
“What? It’s the truth.”
“Shaking my head at you, Pop.”
“Anywho.” She ran her hand along the sides of her curves. “We’ve in been in this tight bathroom long enough. Time to go and get my snucker-boo.”
Pop and I switched our way from the bathroom and both Ny’eem and Man-Man looked up and smiled. Man-Man stood up and met Pop halfway. “Let me hollah at you real quick,” Man-Man said to Pop, dropping his deep sexy voice on her. One thing about Man-Man was that only his relatives knew underneath that smooth voice and cute looks was a seventeen-year-old, who never cleaned up his room, and borrowed money from his sisters for a living.
I could look at Pop and tell she was formulating a slick way to say no to Man-Man, so he could beg her until she said yes. That’s exactly why I took over and said, “Yeah, she can hollah at you real quick.” I gave Pop a soft nudge with my shoulder and said, “Go ’head. Mrs. G-Bread-Pimpin’-Ain’t-Dead.”
Pop smiled, Man-Man took her by the hand, and they walked outside. They were gone for about ten minutes and I’m not sure what they said, but I do know that by the time they walked back in, Man-Man was holding Pop’s waist and she was grinnin’ super-hard.
“My favorite couple’s back together again?” I clapped my hands. “Awwl, look at them, poo,” I said to Ny’eem. “Boo-lovin’s back in style.”
Pop snaked her neck. “And you know it.” Snap. Snap.
Pop and Man-Man slid into the booth with me and Ny’eem. They sat directly across from us.
“Ny’eem,” I said. “This is my bestie, Pop. And Pop, this is my boyfriend, Ny’eem.” I caressed his hand.
“Wassup, Pop,” Ny’eem said, draping his arm over my shoulder. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Hey...” Pop hesitated, and then she paused and looked at Ny’eem with a blank stare. After what seemed like at least ten seconds she blinked. “You know what, I have to go to the bathroom.” She looked at Man-Man. “I’ll be right back, sweetie.” She looked over at me. “Don’t you have to go to the bathroom?”
“No.”
“Ahh, yeah you do.” She shot Ny’eem a plastic smile and then looked at me with her e
yes bucking. “Come on.”
Once we were in the bathroom Pop locked the door and I said, “What is wrong with you?”
“Gem...” She paused, then tapped her fingers like an accordion against the side of the small sink. “Umm . . .” She paused again.
“Would you just say it!” I said aggravated.
“Okay, your lil cutie, Ny’eem looks a lot like Kamani’s boo, Crook.”
“What?” I said taken aback. “Say that again.”
She let out a deep breath. “Gem, I ain’t sayin’, but I’m just sayin’, they look like the same dude.” She paused, let what she’d said marinate in the air for a minute, and then she went on. “Unless they’re brothers or have the same daddy or something.”
I gave a nervous laugh. “Girl, bye. Ny’eem is not even that type of guy. And besides, you’ve seen Kamani’s boyfriend before, right?”
“Right,” she agreed.
“Well then you would know if he and Ny’eem were the same person.”
She shook her head. “No I wouldn’t. I saw Crook twice last year. Early last year. When he first kicked it to Kamani and a week later I ran into them at the bowling alley. But that was the last time I saw him.”
“They’re not the same person,” I said. “Ny’eem doesn’t even have a nickname.”
“I hope not.” She sighed and then quickly snapped her fingers. “I got it! This is what I’ll do. When we get back to the table I’ma tell him that he looks real familiar and I’ma ask him if they call him Crook. If he says, ‘no,’ then we’ll eat, chill with our cuties, and be happy. But, if he says, ‘yeah,’ then you gon’ play it cool. And I’ma say I have an emergency at home and we need to go. Game?”
“Game.”
We walked back to the table and my stomach felt like it was filled with sick butterflies. Ny’eem looked directly in my eyes as I slid into the booth next to him. “You a’ight?” he asked me.
“Yeah, I’m cool.” I nervously grabbed a menu and combed through it.
He stared at me a little longer than I wanted him to. For a moment I felt like he could read my mind.
“So umm, Ny’eem,” Pop called for his attention. “You look soooo familiar to me. You’re from Newark, right?”