by Kiki Swinson
“And so what?” Carmen blurted out the moment she arrived to the table. She sat a McDonald’s bag down on the table. “Here’s your food,” she said to Rachael before taking a seat.
“So, what did the security guards say?” Grandma Hattie asked.
“They just wanted me to reassure them that I was going to keep Rachael with me so the other two girls wouldn’t bother her. They want to try to avoid all altercations and the paperwork that goes along with it.”
“What did they do about the other girls?” I asked.
“They said that they were going to escort them out of the mall since they were the ones who started the whole mess with Rachael.”
“That’s good,” Grandma Hattie said.
“They ain’t gon’ do nothing but go back to Tidewater Park and tell everybody they chomped me down.”
“Who cares what they say!” Carmen interjected. “Just as long as they don’t put their hands on you.”
“I second that motion,” I commented.
We sat there at the table for about fifteen more minutes so Rachael could eat her food. I sat back and listened to the advice Carmen and Grandma Hattie gave Rachael about her ordeal. Some of it I agreed with, the other part of it, I thought was unrealistic. But once the family counseling session was over, we headed back to the parking lot so we could return to Norfolk.
I had to admit that it was one interesting day. The time I spent with my grandmother was wonderful. But those incidents with Rachael and Carmen fussing in Macy’s and Rachael about to fight those young girls were a bit much. I was thinking I’d had enough of my two cousins, at least for a couple of days. I couldn’t bear the thought of hanging out with those two at the same time anymore. It was too much for me to handle. Next time, they would have to be separated. No exceptions.
Shopping around Town
Yesterday was a pretty bizarre day. I had to endure a lot of bullshit I would not have otherwise dealt with if it wasn’t my family. Thanks to them, though, I never got out to look for a place to live. I decided this morning that that mission would be accomplished today, so I called Carmen and asked her if she could escort me on this errand. She happily obliged, so I picked her up around noon and we headed out.
It was a chilly afternoon. The weatherman said it would be thirty-five degrees today and he had not lied. With the wind blowing like mad, it felt like twenty degrees. I prepared for the brisk weather before I left the hotel, throwing on a pair of leg warmers, D&G jeans and a wool turtleneck and a pair of D&G snow boots with fur lining. I topped it off with a cream-colored wool pea coat by Chanel.
Carmen was sweating the hell out of me when she first laid eyes on me. “Girl, you got to let me borrow some of your clothes,” she said.
To which I replied, “I don’t lend out my clothes. Never have and never will.” And then I quickly changed the subject. “So, where are you taking me?” I asked while I was driving out of her neighborhood.
“I am going to show you where they just built some nice-ass condos down near Waterside. Now, I know they’re expensive, but I also know you can afford it with all that money you make being a big-time lawyer.”
“Yes, it has its perks.” I said, knowing damn well my ass was on a fucking budget. Those million dollar checks I used to get were long gone. And being on the run didn’t help my situation because I had to pay for the hotel and shell out money to continue riding in the damn rental truck. I wanted to spread my wings and live like I used to live, instead of watching every fucking penny I spent. This money had to last me until I could clear my name.
“So, what are you trying to do? Buy or rent?” Carmen asked.
“I only want to lease a place right now because I’m really not sure about how long I’m going to be in the area. More importantly, since the economy is so bad, I shouldn’t jump on the first thing smoking. Never act like you’re desperate around real estate agents because they feed off shit like that. So, I am going to be easy and lay back and see what’s going on.”
“How much are you willing to pay?”
“I’m not sure. I guess it all depends on the area and how the place looks.”
“Okay. Well, I know this man who owns a couple of the duplexes out there where I stay—” Carmen began to.
“Oh no, honey. I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but I wouldn’t ever move in your neighborhood.”
Carmen burst into laughter. “I wasn’t talking about you getting a spot out there where I live at, silly. What I was about to say was, the guy who owns a few of the spots out Huntersville told me he had a few in some other neighborhoods, too. So, make a right turn on the next block and I’ll get his phone number off one of his FOR RENT signs he got posted up in front of his properties.”
I made a right turn at the next block as Carmen had instructed.
“You see that FOR RENT sign to your left?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, pull over right in front of it so I can write down the number,” she said.
I pulled over to the side of the curb in front of an old, run-down ass apartment building while Carmen scribbled the number on the back of an old receipt she found inside her handbag. And while she was doing that, I looked at this two-story building with a fire escape on the side. From the looks of it, the building had four units and only two of them were occupied. The front doors of the two units that had tenants were filthy as hell. They looked like there was mud plastered all over them. The sight of it was disgusting.
What made matters even worse was when Carmen and I witnessed one of the front doors to a unit open up and a fairly decent-looking, light-skinned, full-figured women with short hair who looked like she was angry with the world came out holding an armful of clothing. She stepped to the edge of her porch and threw the clothing down on the ground. Moments later, a man who was about the same height as she was came behind her yelling to the top of his voice. It became very clear that those were his clothes she had thrown to the ground.
“Why the fuck you throwing my shit outside?” he roared, as he rushed by her to gather his things up.
“Because you are getting the fuck out!” she screamed. “I’m tired of your no good cheating ass!”
“This is my house, too. I’m not going anywhere,” he protested.
While he was bent over picking up his clothes, homegirl snuck up behind him and attacked him. She threw punches at his head like a wild woman. And immediately after he felt the first blow, he dropped his clothes, covered his head with his arms, and ran for cover. “I hate your lying ass!” she screamed as she ran behind him.
Carmen and I looked at each other and shook our heads in disbelief. But I couldn’t resist making a comment. “This is another reason why I wouldn’t live out here,” I said.
She laughed at me and said, “Let’s go.”
After what I had just witnessed, I was a little apprehensive about her making the call to this realty company, but I sat back and let her do her thing while I got us out of her neighborhood.
“Can I speak to Ed Williams?” I heard her say and then fall silent. “Can you tell me when he’ll be available because I am looking to rent one of his properties,” she continued, and then she pressed the speaker phone button so I could hear the entire conversation.
“What area?” I heard the woman asked.
“Anywhere but Huntersville,” Carmen said.
“Okay . . .” the woman said, and then she paused for a second. “What kind of rental property are you looking for?”
“Tell her a condo,” I whispered.
“Does he have any condos?” Carmen asked the woman.
“Yes, ma’am, he has a couple of condominiums in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.”
“What part of Virginia Beach?” Carmen asked.
“He has two condo units in Newpointe Condos, right off the Newtown Road area. And he also has several units in a development called Columbus Station, which is right off Virginia Beach Boulevard near the Towne Center and Columbus mov
ie theater.”
“Oh, you’re talking about the Pembroke area of Virginia Beach Boulevard.”
“Yes, that’s exactly where I’m speaking of.”
“How much are the condos renting for in Newpointe?”
“The upstairs unit is renting for nine hundred a month. And the downstairs unit is renting for eight-fifty.”
“Can you tell me why one place is higher than the other?”
“The upstairs unit has a fireplace so you’re actually paying for that amenity.”
“Well, how much are the units in Columbus Station?”
“They all are going for twelve hundred.”
“Ask her when can we see the unit in Newpointe,” I whispered.
“Can I set up a time with you so I can check out the place in Newpointe?”
“You sure can, but which one are you referring to?”
“The one with the fireplace,” I whispered to Carmen, who repeated what I’d said.
“You can see it today if you like. I can meet you there in about an hour, if that’s okay with you.”
“Yes, that’s a good time.” Carmen took down the address and thanked the woman.
“You are most certainly welcome! And so you know, my name is Cindy Radcliff,” the woman said.
“And my name is Yoshi,” Carmen said, then hung up.
I was driving around in circles waiting for Carmen to get off the phone and when she finally did, I went straight into question mode. “How far is Newpointe from here? Is it nice out there? And how is that neighborhood?”
“I haven’t been out there in a while, but it was nice when my homegirl used to live out there.”
“How long ago was that?”
“About three years ago.”
“How far is it from where you live?”
“It’s about a fifteen-minute drive if you take the highway. Now if you want to rent one of those new condos down near MacArthur mall, then you are going to definitely come out of your pocket with at least twenty-one hundred a month.”
“I’m not trying to pay someone else’s mortgage.”
Carmen laughed. “I know that’s right!” she commented.
“So, will this lady ask to run my credit?”
“Girl, please! That company is so bootlegged, it’s ridiculous! All they gon’ ask you is if you work. You say yeah. Then they gon’ ask you where. Just tell her you’re an attorney and you’re here visiting your family, but you want to rent a place while you’re here.”
“I don’t want to get into all of that with her. Where I am from and why I am here isn’t any of her business. I just want to keep it simple and keep from telling her more than she needs to know.”
“Well, shit, just tell her you own a business.”
“Wouldn’t I have to show her proof that I owned one?”
“Didn’t I just tell you that company was bootlegged? All they care about is the money. They gon’ make you fill out an application, but they don’t do credit checks. All they need your information for is so they can file it in their records, just in case they get audited. That’s all. There’s nothing else to the process. I mean, do you know how many niggas who sell drugs get places from them? They don’t give a damn about where you get your money from. All they care about is that you pay your rent on time.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said, wondering what kind of lie I was going to tell the rental agent. I thought about asking Carmen to get the place for me in her name, but I decided against it because I didn’t want her asking me a whole bunch of fucking questions, getting suspicious.
To kill the length of time we had to wait to see the rental property, Carmen and I got a bite to eat from Ruby Tuesday on Newtown Road. I ordered the lump crabmeat sandwich with fries and a sweet ice tea. Carmen ordered the firecracker fried shrimp with a baked potato along with a glass of sweet ice tea.
Now that I had Carmen alone, it was killing me to know what she went to jail for. But before I eased that question out, I said, “If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?”
Carmen thought for a second, then said, “I would have finished school and went on to college.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Well, if I would have finished school and went on to college, I wouldn’t have gotten mixed up in the streets.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“Yoshi, I used to be in those streets hard. I dropped out of school and became a stripper at this club called Platinum. I was eighteen years old then. I worked there for about two years, and while I was there I started getting high, tricking, and doing private parties. The side money got good, so I left the club scene altogether. Now, why did I do that? From that moment, my life turned upside down. I turned to the streets and became a full-fledged prostitute. Niggas were disrespecting me and beating my ass and I even got raped.”
Shocked by the thought of Carmen getting raped, I looked at her with as much sympathy as I could muster up. “Oh, my God, I know that must have been awful.”
“Yes, it was a traumatic experience, but I’ve learned to deal with it.”
“Where’s the guy who raped you?”
“I couldn’t tell you where that bastard is. That White man beat me so bad he knocked me out cold. He damn near killed me, if you want to know the truth.”
“So the police didn’t make any arrest?”
“I don’t think the man was from this area because when I looked in the mug shot book, his picture wasn’t there.”
“What about DNA? Couldn’t they use that?”
“No, they couldn’t because I’d slept with three other men before I tricked with him.”
“Oh, my God, Carmen, you mean to tell me you didn’t use condoms?”
“I normally did, but that particular night I ran out.”
I reached across the table and grabbed hold of Carmen’s hand. “What did you learn from that experience?”
Carmen sighed and said, “I learned that I need to value my life. So after I got out of the hospital, I vowed never to return to the streets, and I didn’t.”
“I heard Grandmother say you went to jail. Is that true?”
“Yes, I did six months for grand larceny. At one point, I used to steal clothes and sell them on the street, but that all ended when I got busted.”
“Girl, you were a tough cookie, huh?”
Carmen smiled. “I was just reckless with no sense of direction.”
“Well, I’m glad you finally came to your senses because life is too short to be making foolish decisions.”
“You ain’t ever got to worry about that again. I have been clean from drugs for over six years now and I don’t plan on ever going back to that lifestyle. It feels good to be able to walk around with your head held high and cats in the street aren’t calling you a ho or a crackhead.”
“I’m sure it does,” I told her, and I meant every word of it. We chatted for a few more minutes and before we knew it, it was time for us to head on over to meet the agent.
From the restaurant, it took us only five minutes to get to our destination. And when we arrived, Cindy Radcliffe was standing outside the residence waiting patiently. She was a petite woman with the frame of a high school cheerleader. Her eyes were blue and her hair was styled in a bob cut with blond and copper brown highlights. She was very pretty and her attire was well put together.
After I parked the truck in the visitor’s parking space, I pulled out my Gucci sun-shades and placed them over my eyes before Carmen and I got out and headed toward Cindy.
She smiled and greeted us with a warm hello. “Thanks for coming out. Hope you like the place because it is really nice, especially with the new amenities.”
“What are amenities?” Carmen whispered to me.
“She’s talking about new appliances,” I whispered back.
Cindy pushed the key inside the front door and opened it up, with Carmen and I following. The living room area was right inside the front do
or, and the dining room area was only a few feet away from the living room, so the place wasn’t as big as I had imagined. There was a skylight over the living room, plus there was a fireplace as Cindy had mentioned. But it wasn’t top of the damn line. Next, we entered the kitchen. That too was small as hell, but I figured it would do. Thankfully, the master bedroom was really big and it had a vanity area with a walk-in closet, so I smiled when I saw that. There was also another bedroom. It was kind of small, but the way I looked at it, it could serve the purpose of either a guest room for Carmen, when she wanted to come by, or office space. Either way, it would come in handy.
Once the tour was over, Cindy escorted us back to the living room area. “What do you think?”
Carmen looked at me and said, “I think it’s nice. But it’s up to my cousin here.”
Cindy took her attention off Carmen and looked at me. “So, what do you think? Is this someplace you would like to live?” she asked.
“It’s a bit small from what I am used to. But I guess it will do,” I replied hesitantly.
“Where do you live now?” Cindy asked.
“I’m currently at my grandmother’s house,” I lied.
“Where is that?” her questions grew.
“In Norfolk.”
“So what do you do for a living?”
Hearing her go into question mode got me a little nervous, but I remained calm and answered her. “I’m in retirement right now.”
She smiled. “Aren’t you a bit young to be retired?”
“Trust me, I’m not as young as you think I am,” I told her, and turned to walk away. I walked back into the kitchen area, hoping she would get off the fucking subject about what I did for a living. Shit, I couldn’t tell her I was a fucking big-time attorney from Miami. I’m sure she watched the news, I didn’t want to blow my cover.
“I like the fact that there’s black appliances in the kitchen.”
“I know. Isn’t it pretty?” Cindy replied.
“Yes, it is,” I said.
“So, what do I need to do to get the place?” I wondered aloud.
Cindy took a piece of paper out of her briefcase and handed it to me. “Take this application and fill it out,” she said. “And when you’re done with it, call me and I’ll pick it back up along with a check for the deposit and first month’s rent.”