by D. Gamblez
Then we drank. And drank some more. Then a little more. And it was the best thing I ever tasted.
We showed up to prom in fashion that night at 7:00 on the dot. Dre’s tie was the perfect prediction because as the black Cadillac limousine pulled into the parking lot and rolled up to the front entrance of the Wort High School, all eyes were definitely on us. Dre had even convinced the chauffeur to play the car stereo as we pulled up, blaring 2Pac’s All Eyez On Me loud enough so that the trunk rattled from the bass of the factory Boss speakers.
As the chauffeur opened the door for us, every last one of the haters and bust-downs, playas and dime pieces, snitches and bitches were looking in our direction, and when they saw who exited the limo, their mouths dropped open and just hung there as if Jesus himself had just showed up and showed out.
“Look at all these fake-ass ma’fuckas out here acting like they on sumthin’,” Dre said as he took me by the hand and led me through the crowd of teenagers standing out in the parking lot trying to show off their rides, outfits, and dates before the sun went down. But we bypassed all that nonsense and headed straight inside, claiming this as our night.
“I’m not thinking about none of these phony-ass niggas,” I assured Dre. “Only nigga out here I see is you, boo.” He did not respond, but when I looked over at him, he was smiling. I smiled, too.
That’s right, Dre. You got me, baby. I’m yours. I just hope you’re mine, too.
“Well, if it ain’t Dre and Audi, the It couple of 2003,”Raheem, one of Dre’s homeboys and his best friend from childhood said as he walked up and shook Dre’s hand before pulling him in for a half-embrace, then he leaned in to give me a quick peck on the cheek.
“Man, ya’ll look like the next Puffy and J. Loup in this piece, yo,” Devonte, Dre’s other homeboy, said as he and a girl named Lyrical Gatz approached, rounding out the crew. Devonte was dressed to mirror Dre, but his suit was midnight blue. Lyrical was dressed in a blue suit as well, but she wore blue and black Nike’s, and she had on a black Furry Kango hat. But she was still as fly as the rest of us.
“Shit, ya’ll niggas look flyer than a ma’fucka, too,” Dre smiled, shaking up with the rest of his crew. Raheem, Devonte, Dre, and Lyrical. Lyrical had short-cropped black hair like Nia Long’s character in the movie Friday. She kind of looked like Nia Long, too, just a tad taller. Plus, Lyrical was only into girls, so they all saw her as one of the guys, and they were all as tight as they came. Secretly, they referred to themselves as the Tru Aetna Boyz, but they were not gangbangers or anything like that, it was just something they had started in their early childhood years.
The Gucci Girlz were there, too. Coco was with Lyrical, Makita was with Devonte, Cherish was with Raheem, and I, of course, was with Dre.
“Aye, chica,” Lyrical said to me as she took me by the hand and spun me around, stopping momentarily to check out my ass. “Damn, that ass is P-H-A-T, baby girl.”
“Back yo’ ass up off my girl, Lyrical,” Dre said, pulling me close.
“Yo’ girl?”Lyrical asked with an inquisitive brow as they all began to tease Dre. I looked over to see if it bothered him that they were claiming us as a couple, but the look on his face gave me the impression that he could not have been happier.
“Enough of that,” Cherish said, pulling Raheem out onto the dance floor. “Your ass is going to dance with me, boy, before I even think about breaking you off a piece of this kit-kat tonight.”
We all laughed as we, too, made our way onto the dance floor.
Dre
I held Audi close as we slow danced to Zapp & Roger’s hit song: I Wanna Be Your Man.
* * *
I let my hands play in Audi’s long, brown hair as we slow danced in rhythm with the rest of the people on the dance floor. I knew how to dance because, before my father died in a car accident on his way to work eight years ago, I used to watch him and my mother dance to old folks music all the time.
“I can’t believe we ended up here, at the Wort High School prom of 2003, after all we put each other through while we were growing up,” Audi whispered in my ear. “It’s like a Disney fairytale or something.”
I pulled her away so that I could look in her eyes. “Just like in Beauty & the Beast,” I added.
She smiled curiously. “Which one of us is the Beast?”
“Well, clearly I’m way more finer than you, so that could only...”My voice trailed off when I saw Diego, a pretty-boy type who was Puerto Rican and who spoke with broken English, staring daggers at me from across the room. He was leaning up against the refreshment table like he owned the place. He was dressed in a red suit, black shirt, red tie, and red Stacy Adams. His gold chain flickered whenever the lights of the disco ball rotated and landed on it.
“Let me go grab you some punch,” I told Audi, but she had already put two and two together.
“Come on, Dre,” she pleaded, pulling me closer to her. “It’s not worth it. He’s just jealous because I’m with you and not with his lame ass anymore, that’s all.”
“I ain’t thinkin’ ‘bout that fool, ma,” I lied, pulling away from her. “I’ma be cool, for real.”
“What’s good, fam?”Raheem popped up beside me as he had assessed the situation from across the floor.
“Ain’t nuthin’, my nigga,” I said, dabbing him.”Just wanna see what this wetback, bitch-made ma’fucka’s talkin’ ‘bout, that’s all.”
When we reached the refreshments table, I grabbed the ladle and poured some punch into one of the plastic cups.
Man, it seem like everybody and their mama using these red Solo cups.
“Think you shit ‘cause that bitch you got, nigga? “Diego said to me in his broken English way.
“What the fuck you say to my nigga, bitch-made ma’fucka?” Raheem spat, getting in Diego’s face.
For the briefest of seconds when Diego turned to the side, the flashing lights glinted off of the gun that was tucked in his waistband.
In my mind, I saw what what was about to place, so I shoved Raheem out of the way and let loose a flurry of punches to Diego’s face not a second after.
Caught off guard, Diego dropped the gun he had pulled from his waistband and it clattered across the floor.
“Oh, shit!” Diego exclaimed loudly as he, to hit the floor hard, trying desperately to cover his face from my continuous onslaught.
When I saw the gun, I kicked it underneath the table, then kicked Diego in his privates, then picked him up and slammed him through the table, punch and cookies spilling out over the floor in every direction.
Devonte ran up and joined in as Raheem began stomping Diego.
When people noticed that there was a fight going on, they began whooping and hollering. I am not sure how everyone else felt about being the center of attention, but I for one despised it. I hated when people acted in that kind of way, yelling and hollering for no apparent reason other than to be a part of something that they were not originally a part of to began with.
Plus, it was stupid to do so as it drew way too much unwanted attention. I mean, if everyone knows that you are not supposed to be fighting in the first place, why make all the noise to draw attention to it? Nothing but sheer stupidity, you ask me.
When the lights came on, Raheem, Devonte, and I slipped back into the crowd because we knew whoever was caught fighting was getting suspended or expelled.
When I found Audi, she was on top of Diego’s current gold-digging girlfriend, raining down blows on her face, doing the exact thing she was trying to prevent me from doing. The girl was trying desperately, but failing to block Audi’s well-timed punches because Audi had a hold of her fake weave, doing her best to rip it out.
Lyrical stood guard with her chrome .45 in her hand to make sure no one else got involved. But even if Lyrical was not there, they knew better; the Gucci Girlz were right there, ready to throw down if need be.
I grabbed Audi off the poor girl when I heard the voices of teachers coming in our di
rection, and hurried out of there before they spotted us.Everyone followed Devonte’s lead as he and Lyrical blocked the teachers from getting through so that Audi and I could get ghost.
I removed the half-empty bottle of champagne from the ice bucket so Audi could put her hand in it to help with the swelling.
“Fucking hating-ass bitch gonna try to sneak me from behind,” Audi was saying, still upset about the whole ordeal. “Beat that bitch’s ass, though, didn’t I?”
“What the fuck? You talk slang now?”
“What? Nigga, please, I been talkin’ slang since I was a shorty. Shit, I grew up in on the same streets as you, in the same hood, so don’t act like you don’t know what’s up. I don’t talk slang ‘cause I choose not to talk slang, ‘cause I wanna be way more sophisticated than that. Just ‘cause a bitch from the ghetto, don’t mean she gotta be ghetto or sound ghetto, you feel me?”
“A’ight, shawty, I feel you. You ain’t gotta bite a nigga head off ‘bout it. Anyway, how you gonna tell me not to start no shit with Diego, but you start shit with his girl right after?” I laughed.
“I didn’t start shit; that bitch started it. But I damn sure finished that shit, huh?” she spat. “Fuck Diego and that little nappy-headed light-skinned Chihuahua-looking bitch. Bitch ain’t nuthin’ but a ho anyways. Shit, fuck that stank-ass bitch. Yeah, this bitch gonna come up to me the other day and say, “‘Audi, I don’t want you to be mad at me, girl, but you know me and Diego hooked up last night, right?’ I looked at the bitch like ‘what the fuck you telling me for?’ and straight walked off on the bitch. Should go back and break my foot off up in that bitch’s nasty ass, is what I should do. Stomp a mud hole in that ho. For real. Gonna make me break my damn nails. Mari just did these motherfuckers too. Damn, I hate that bitch! I swear, if I see that bitch—”
“A’ight, ma, calm down, damn. We got ‘em, shawty,” I assured her. “Wanna grab sumthin’ to eat for we get back to the crib? I know yo’ crazy ass done worked up an appetite after that shit.”
Surprising me as it was completely unexpected, Audi turned to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, climbed on top of me until she was straddling my lap, and kissed me.
But it was not a peck on the lips like the day before, no, it was a full on kiss.
Every ounce of anger I had left over from the fight with Diego left my body as we drifted to a place where no one else existed. When she finally pulled away from me, I knew that we were going to be together for a long time.
“You’re my man, now?”
“Naw, shawty,” I said, watching the sadness creep up her face before I continued. “I’m yo’ king. And you my queen.”
“Damn right I am,” she said with conviction, then she kissed me again, but this time I took control and laid her on her back in the backseat of the limo and gave her my most libido-affecting kiss I had ever given a girl to ensure her panties would drop immediately after.
“Wait, wait, Dre,” she said suddenly.
Feeling her body tense up, I knew she was not ready to be intimate with me. At least not tonight, she was not. “Hey, you wanna just sit here and chill and talk and drink a little bit?”
As we sat up and separated, she hung her head low as if she was ashamed for not being ready for intimacy. “I’m sorry,”
Hearing her voice breaking, I felt a pang of guilt and all I wanted to do in that moment was hold her and reassure her that she had absolutely nothing to be ashamed about.
“I just want it to be special when it happens,” she explained. Then she glanced up at me quickly. “Not that this isn’t special with you or anything, it’s just that−”
“Audi...” I reached over and pulled her into my arms gently. “Listen, I know you and I have never been this close before, but don’t ever think for one second that I don’t respect you more than any other girl in this hood. Shit, more than any other girl in this world, is what I meant to say.”
“Really?” Her eyes were hopeful.
“Really, really, ma,” I assured her. “If you want that time to be special, then that time is what it will be. I don’t give a damn if I gave you a million dollars and took you around the world on a yacht, if you ain’t ready, you ain’t ready. Moments don’t determine when the time is right, what you feel in your heart is what determines that. So we good, okay?”
“Really?”
“Shawty, if you say ‘really’ one more time...”
That elicited a small chuckled from her. Then her expression became one of serious. “Thank you, Dre. For not getting mad, and for understanding. It means a lot to me.”
“You mean a lot to me, Audi.”
That earned me a deep and passionate kiss. Afterwards, we talked and drank wine and talked some more. We did nothing but those two things until the limousine pulled up to the curb outside of Audi’s house.
“Goodnight, Audi,” I said before planted a gentle kiss on her lips.
“Goodnight, Dre,” she said, returning my affection. “See you tomorrow?”
“Before the sun next leaves footprints across the sky,” I said.
“Isn’t that from a movie?”
“Jason’s Lyric,” I answered with a smile.
“Yeah, I like that movie. Maybe we can watch it sometime. Together, I mean.”
“For sure,” I said.
“Well...goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” And with that she exited the limousine and walked quickly to the door.
I waited until she was let inside by Marisol, waving at them both as the limousine pulled off.
After I dropped Audi at at her house I instructed the limousine driver to take me home.
I had gotten the girl, now all I had to do was get my affairs in order. I was doing all right, but I needed some real money. I just had to figure out how to do it without getting caught up in some nonsense. And I thought knew just how to do that.
I picked up the car phone I had requested from the car company as part of the rental agreement and I punched in a familiar number. Rolling up the divider so as not to have my business heard by the driver, pondered on what I was going to say.
“Who the fuck’s this?” my brother Damon answered with attitude on the first ring. “Kina? You best not be playin’ on my ma’fuckin’ phone again, bitch, or I’ma beat that ass like I told you I would. Told yo’ ass I ain’t fucking with yo’ stupid ass no more.”
“Naw, my nigga,” I said through a bout of laughter. “It’s me. Man, you really need to get yo’ hoes in check, fam. They got yo’ head spinning.”
“Shut up, little nigga,” he retorted, laughing as well. “My shit secure. On lock, feel me? Just these nappy-headed hoes be sweatin’ a nigga, that’s all. What up with you, though. Heard you finally got Audi’s big-booty ass on lock. ‘Bout time, my nigga. Thought you was gonna let Diego tap that ass first for a minute there. Proud of you, little bro. Wish I was there to give you a proper celebratory party and shit, you know?”
“Yeah, I hear you, fam,” I said. He could not come back to G.I. because the Gang Unit was out to get him as they still had a warrant for his arrest from when he was suspected of being one of the city’s major suppliers of heroin.
“Anyway,” he said, sensing my mood change. “What you calling for? We ain’t scheduled for another pick-up until next week.”
“That’s what I’m calling you about,” I decided to get straight to it. “I wanna run more than just one key of coke from here on out. I’m talkin’ at least ten keys every other day instead of our usual agreement of two keys every other week. I’m hungry out here, fam. I done graduated from school, done made Mama real proud, but now I wanna eat, my nigga. Me and my crew out this bitch starving, feel me?”
“Fuck that gotta do with me, little nigga?”
“Ain’t got shit to do with you, big nigga,” I said mockingly. “But I ain’t tryin’ to fuck with no other ma’fucka out here, so... Look, my nigga, I ain’t tryin’ to clean yo plate or no shit like that. I mean, no disrespect by s
peaking on yo’ business and shit, but you got a whole ma’fuckin’ buffet. I’m just tryin’ to get a little snack or sumthin’. We ain’t tryin’ to get full off you, just sumthin’ me and my crew can munch on.”
“A’ight, my nigga. Chill with all that ‘buffet’ and ‘snack’ bullshit. Sound like you tryin’ to open a ma’fuckin’ restaurant or some shit. So you wanna up yo’ game, huh? Provide for yo’ little crew and shit, huh?”
“Just tryin’ to pay it forward, my nigga,” I said simply.
He was silent for a long while. I knew he was twirling over the thought of bringing someone else into the mix, but I also knew he would ultimately say yes to the deal. He trusted me more than anyone, so if I wanted to bring someone in on our arrangement, then he would trust me to make sure that I could trust them.
“A’ight, my nigga,” he said. “Just remember, I move forward, not backwards. Don’t take this deal and then come back a week or a month from now saying you can’t handle it. There is no going back to our original deal, feel me? You fam, but I needs that paper.”
“Real talk, big brah,” I nodded, then realized that he couldn’t see me. “I’m down. A hundred percent down. So how you want to do this?”
“I want you to get a car. Nothing flashy. Sumthin’ inconspicuous like a Honda Accord or sumthin’. Anything that the cops want pay much attention to if they see it more than once, a’ight? And don’t be all G’d up either. That shit make niggas stand out like sore thumbs. Also, I want ya’ll to take turns picking this shit up. Then ya’ll take turns delivering it. Rotate that shit, feel me? Two people do the pick up, then two different people do the drop off, got it?”
“So you saying if me and Lyrical pick the dope up, then Devonte and Raheem will drop it off? And then we rotate that order every other time?” I asked to make sure as I did not want a mistake to get any of us unnecessarily jammed up.
“That’s official, my nigga,” he confirmed.”One last thing... Only person to pick up the money is you. I don’t need nobody knowing where my spot is, feel me? I don’t care if everybody knows where the spots to pick up the dope is at, ‘cause I’ma be changing those every time, so...But I only keep my scratch with me, you feel me? Can’t trust no ma’fucka when it comes to that shit. So, the only nigga to pick up the payment is you, a’ight?”