Fast Forward

by Celeste O. Norfleet

  We talked a minute then he asked me to go online. I did. There was a conference call message. I opened the program and turned on the camera. The first faces I saw were Jr. and Jason. I started laughing. “Hey Pineapple-head, hey Coconut-head,” I said. They broke up laughing. Jason touched the screen like he expected to touch my face. “I’m in D.C. You guys being good?” I asked. They nodded still amazed at seeing and hearing me. “What are you guys doing now?”

  Jr. started first. He told me about his new best friend and how they played yesterday, and then Jason joined in, telling me about his new toy. We talked a while. I was surprised how much I missed talking to them. They were like two cartoon characters that always made me laugh and feel good. I guess it was the fact that they were still kids and had no idea how hard things could get. “All right, Burt and Ernie. Put Dad back on.”

  “I’m Burt. Go get Dad, Ernie,” Jr. insisted.

  “No, I’m Burt, you’re Ernie. You go get Dad,” Jason said.

  They started arguing and then pushing. “Stop it,” I said loud enough to get their attention. “Stop it, don’t be fighting. Both of you go get Dad. I’ll wait. And for the record, you’re both Burt and Ernie. Now go and walk. Don’t run in the house.” They called our dad as I watched them disappear from the screen. A few seconds later I saw my dad’s face. He was smiling.

  “What did you say to them just now?”

  “Nothing, why?” I asked.

  “They walked into the living room and told me you wanted to see me. I swear I’ve never seen them actually walk before.”

  “I just told them to stop running in the house, that’s all.”

  He shook his head. “I told them that a million times and so has Courtney. I guess she was right. They do listen to you more than they listen to us.” He smiled happily.

  We talked more, mainly about school and Hazelhurst. Another exam was coming up at the end of the month, and he wanted to make sure I was going to be ready. I assured him that I’d be ready then signed off. I checked to see if Terrence sent me anything. He didn’t. I did have a text message from Ursula asking if I was going tonight. I didn’t know how to answer. I wanted to go, but I knew my grandmother would have a fit.

  So as usual, Saturday evenings my grandmother cooks dinner. She was tired after gardening all day, so I volunteered to cook and clean up. When she went to bed early, I changed clothes, peeked in at her passed out and snuck out of the house. I met Ursula down the street and then Darien drove to the after-hours go-go party in Charles County.

  I had no idea what to expect. But, for real, I didn’t expect the go-go party to be in an old beat-up restaurant. “This is the go-go party?” I asked as Darien found a place to park not far from the entrance. A constant motorcade of minivans and mom cars flowed by discharging teenagers. Doors slid open and teens poured out. It was like a school drop-off point.

  “By day it’s a rib joint, but at night the owner hires it out to club promoters,” Darien said.

  “We used to go to this place a few miles from here, but they closed it down after somebody was shot and killed. Then there was this other place in D.C. we used to hang, but two stabbings and a gun fight later that was closed, too. There’s this other place in Charles County, but the police get too controlling. So this is the spot now,” Ursula said, cavalierly.

  I shivered. We got out and started walking toward the makeshift dance club. “So what’s up with all the cops?” I asked, starting to get nervous inside. This was all new to me, but I was posing like I knew what to expect. For real, I had no idea.

  “They bring drug-sniffing dogs and just stand around trying to harass people who just want to party instead of doing what the tax payers actually pay them to do,” she said, talking louder and louder. Several of the police officers turned to glance at her. She eyed them, then sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. I looked at her like she was crazy. Taunting cops wasn’t exactly a natural occurrence for me.

  So we got to the entrance. It was brightly lit like daytime. There were a few people in front of us. One was this huge mountainous guy and his friends. He laughed at something then lumbered to the side and leaned on the wall. It felt like the whole building shook. When he moved in, there was security in the foyer area. One guy was patting down the big dude, and another was waving a metal detector over the front of this girl’s body. It beeped and everybody turned around, but it was just her belt buckle.

  This other security guy told me to take off my boots. I looked at him like he was crazy. Why in the world did I need to take off my boots? Then Ursula tapped me on the arm and pointed to a wooden bench. We both sat down and removed our boots, and Darien leaned on the side wall and removed his sneakers. He slapped them together a couple of times then the security guy peeked inside and nodded. I offered one guy my boots, but he just motioned for me to tap the heels together. I did, and he nodded and motioned for me to go inside. This better be worth it, is all I’m saying.

  I didn’t know what the restaurant looked like during the day, but I put money on the fact that it didn’t look like this. The lights were dim, and there were twirling, flashing lights mounted on the ceiling. There was a band at one end and people were dancing everywhere. Of course the place was packed.

  “Come on, let’s dance,” Ursula said, pulling me along behind her. We got to a place near the center of the room and started dancing. Everybody just danced in the crowd; there was no pairing up. It was just fun. The music played nonstop for about an hour. We danced the whole time. They changed bands, and we danced some more.

  So we’re dancing and I heard my name. Li’l T was dancing near us. He waved. I nodded then shook my head to him. I wasn’t exactly still mad at him, just maybe a bit annoyed. “Where your girls?” he asked when he danced closer.

  “Home,” I said, and then waited for some smart-alecky remark. It didn’t come. He nodded without asking more. It was strange. Li’l T never shut up. He always had something to say. Then I saw him look over my shoulder, then look away. I glanced to the side. Darien was there. I figured that they must have some history that I didn’t know about.

  So we were having fun. The music was tight, and the dance floor was packed. After another half hour, we took a break and got something to drink. They were selling soda and water at the bar. We each got something then Ursula walked away to talk to some guy she knew, and I stood talking to Darien. We talked about the different go-go bands, the crowd, then the party the night before.

  “So what’s up with you and TB?” he asked, moving close so I could hear him better.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Y’all hanging out or what? I mean, I don’t see him around, ever.”

  “Just ’cause you don’t see him around doesn’t mean he’s not. I talk to him all the time. He’s busy that’s all.”

  He looked me up and down then shook his head. “If I was hitting this, I’d been here twenty-four, seven.”

  “Well, I don’t see you with Sierra.”

  “That’s ’cause we ain’t together.”

  “That’s not what I hear, Daddy,” I said smiling knowingly.

  He smiled too then nodded. “Yeah, yeah, that’s right. But it ain’t about all that now. I made a mistake. We both did. We’re dealing but it, but it doesn’t mean we have to be together, right?” he asked. I shrugged. He had a point. “So TB, huh?” he said.

  “Terrence,” I corrected. “So what’s up with you and Terrence? You know him. Why all the hostility?”

  “He ain’t tell you?” he asked.

  “Tell me what?” I asked.

  “Nah, nah, never mind. So what do you see in him?”

  “He’s nice, he’s smart and he’s fun to be with.”

  “Sounds more like a punk-ass chihuahua to me,” he said dismissively.

  “Oh, and he doesn’t dog me. He treats me right.”

  “Is that all it takes to get with you?” he asked.

  “It helps. Terrence is a good guy.”


  “Oh so what, you trying to say I’m not?” he asked.

  “I’m saying that you come with drama. Sierra for instance…”

  “I told you, ain’t nothing to all that,” he interrupted.

  “…yeah, I know. But it’s not just about all that. You’re dangerous. You got bad boy written all over you.”

  “And you don’t hang with bad boys.”

  I shrugged. “You’re the type that girls hang with for awhile, but…”

  “But you can’t take me home to meet your grandmom.”

  “You’d be staking the place, and you know it,” I said.

  He laughed. “See, it ain’t even about all that. I don’t rob people. That’s kid stuff. And as for hanging with bad boys, you need to check yourself. TB ain’t no saint either.”

  “Yeah, but that was then. This is the for real stuff now.”

  “So you saying I can’t change?” he asked.

  “Sure you can. And after house arrest, maybe you should.”

  “Check, your man’s a poser. He acts like he’s all down. He’s doing all that college stuff, walking around like he better then somebody else. But for real, he ain’t all that.”

  “What’s wrong with going to college and wanting a better life?” I asked.

  “It ain’t about all that. He just needs to be for real.”

  I didn’t get what he was saying, but before I could find out more, one of his boys came over and said something to him in his ear. He nodded, told me he had to leave and then followed the other guy through the crowd. I was getting hot and tired, plus I was curious, so I followed him. He went outside and walked around to the side of the building.

  So Darien and his friend walked over to these guys who were standing all together laughing, smoking and talking. I could see a few cops were hovering by, so I didn’t get too close. Darien and his friend walked up and everybody greeted everybody else. Then there was some kind of big scuffle on the other side of the parking lot ’cause the cops took off running in that direction. Everybody turned to see what was happening, but they didn’t move.

  I looked back to the front of the building seeing that the crowd outside was getting thicker. It was like everybody knew something was about to go down and they wanted to be there, either to witness it, get involved in it or to get away from it.

  A few more guys walked over to where Darien stood. I moved closer, curious. By now I could smell the stench of marijuana in the air. I stood with these other girls just a few feet away from another commotion. Sierra was there too. We looked at each other but didn’t speak. I was just turning to go back inside when I heard popping sounds. Everybody knew what that meant.

  fifteen

  Fast & Furious

  “Whoa, so when did out of control become the norm? For real, I can see myself free-falling without a parachute holding a lead ball in each hand. No stopping, no pausing, just fast and furious falling into whatever comes next.”

  —MySpace.com

  Somebody screamed, and then all at once everybody either ducked down or started running. I ducked down beside a parked car and stayed there. I watched the scene around me like it was happening to somebody else. It was crazy chaotic. People were running, screaming, yelling, pushing. I’d heard about stuff like this happening, but I never in million years thought I’d be in the middle of it. The girl ducking down next to me pulled out a cell and called somebody. She started relaying what was happening around us like a war correspondent.

  It seemed to me that she thought this was no big deal, like it was a joke. She was bragging instead of being scared. I couldn’t believe it. She was actually joking about what was happening. Whatever I guess, bump this, I just stayed low. My heart was pounding a mile a minute, and my chest tightened. I took a deep breath, but it seemed that my lungs weren’t filling up. I have asthma sometimes, mostly when I get stressed. I was obviously stressed.

  I reached into my pocketbook to get the inhaler I always keep with me. I opened my mouth and pressed the button then inhaled deeply. I felt a quick cool blast stream down my throat and into my lungs. I sat back and waited. After a while I could breathe a little better. Still keeping low, I peeked up, looked around and then slowly stood. Most of the craziness was over, but all of a sudden a swarm of teens appeared out of nowhere, I guess mostly from inside the club.

  They were just standing around laughing, talking, pushing, shoving or just walking around aimless, like they were waiting for something else to happen. Some were even standing on top of cars. I was close to a few shoving fights, but nothing came of it. I started walking, looking around for Ursula and Darien. I had enough of this. The police were everywhere, and I heard more sirens coming. I turned around and saw a cop use a Taser on this guy and then reach for his nightstick. Yeah, it was seriously time to go now.

  As I moved through the crowd, rumors were flying as somebody asked somebody else what had happened. “Somebody got shot. The back of the building was on fire. Two gangs were fighting. There was a drive-by shooting. Somebody stabbed somebody, and the cops are searching people for knives. A drug dealer executed somebody out back. Destiny’s Child was back together and had shown up to party. Firecrackers were set off. The place had been robbed.” I couldn’t believe all the wild stories. There was no telling what was real or not.

  I kept looking around. It seemed now everybody was on a cell phone talking about what was happening. Then I saw this girl on the ground. She was searching around and yelling about finding her other earring. I couldn’t believe she was actually worried about an earring. Then, for some reason, I still don’t know why, everybody started running again. They were headed right in her direction. At the last minute, she jumped up and out of the way just before being trampled. It was crazy.

  I kept looking for Ursula. After a while I saw Sierra again. We were right next to each other. There was a loud popping sound again and everyone ducked down, including me. I looked up, Sierra was still standing. I reached up and grabbed her hand and pulled her down beside me. She looked at me. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. “Stay down,” I ordered.

  The cops were running toward the popping sounds. “Come on,” I said, still holding on to her hand, “let’s get back inside the restaurant.” We stood up, crocked low, then ducked behind some parked cars until we got to the side of the building. Just as we were making our way to the front door again, we saw Darien.

  He and this other guy were fighting. I recognized that it was the same guy who found him before when we were inside the club talking. Sierra and I were moving closer when we saw the fight expand and others start jumping in. Now it was just a mess. They were all pushing, shoving and arguing.

  The guy punched Darien hard. He fell to the side and hit against the side of the building. Darien charged him, and they both fell down. Then Darien got up first and kicked the other guy still on the ground. Somebody bumped into Darien, and the guy on the ground got up fast. He punched Darien again. Then I saw Darien pull something from behind his back. He held it out, and everybody stepped back.

  Seconds later the police arrived. The fight broke up instantly and everybody scattered. The police were thick, but people were moving too fast. They caught a few guys but that’s it. The guy Darien was fighting had fallen and was trying to get up when the police got him. More police came trying to grab anybody they could get. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

  Darien got away and ran right toward us. He was looking all crazy scared. “Here, take this,” he said to Sierra shoving something at her. She took whatever it was and we ran to the front door. It was locked, but a lot of people were out front so we just stayed with them. I looked around. Darien was gone.

  After a while the restaurant security opened the doors and everybody inside spilled out. It was chaos all over again. Everybody was everywhere all screaming, yelling and talking at once. Cars started driving and horns were blowing. Pick-up rides began driving up and then the place got even worse.

  The police were trying t
o get the traffic in order as more police cars arrived. Two ambulances and a fire truck pulled around the side of the building. Then somebody said that the police were gathering witnesses to the stabbing.

  I finally found Ursula. She had been in the club and had no idea what had happened. We started walking toward where Darien had parked the car. When we got there, the car was gone. I looked at Ursula as Sierra looked at me. We didn’t know what to do next. She called Darien on her cell while we moved to the side and waited.

  The place was like something out of a movie. People were running, shouting and there were police cars everywhere. “He’s not answering,” Ursula said. “Let’s go back to the restaurant.”

  “We probably can’t get back in the club,” I told her.

  Ursula sighed heavily and shook her head. “I don’t know what else to do. It’s way too far to walk.”

  “Is there a bus or a train or something?” I asked.

  Ursula shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t know Charles County.”

  “Maybe we can find somebody to give us a ride home,” I said. We started looking around to find somebody we knew. Ursula tried to call Darien again but still got no answer. “The police are starting to pull people again. Come on, let’s walk down to the corner.” We’d just turned to walk away when I heard somebody call my name. I turned but didn’t see anybody so we kept going.

  “Yo, yo, yo, Kenisha over here! Come on, get in. Hurry up!”

  I was never so glad to see Li’l T in my life. The three of us ran to the car he was hanging out of and got in. It was the size of a shoebox, but it didn’t matter. We all crowded in and the driver took off just as more police cars were coming.

  It was Li’l T’s cousin’s car—or rather his mother’s car. She didn’t know he had it since they both snuck out to go to the club. Big T, Li’l T’s cousin, had just gotten his license, and they were celebrating. Big T took off as soon as we crowded in. Unfortunately, Big T had no idea where he was going. We got lost three times trying to get back to the city, but as long as we weren’t back at the go-go club I didn’t care.