The Reason Why

by Vickie M. Stringer

  “Two females in your car, rolling through the hood, and you think nobody is going to pay any attention to us?” Pam asked sarcastically. “And even if we do find him, then what? I’m gonna just walk up to him and say, ‘Hey, stranger, here is your murder weapon back’? Girl, what if he shoots us?”

  “And you didn’t think about that when you accepted the damn thing?”

  “I didn’t accept anything!” Pam protested. “He stuck it in my purse!”

  “And you could have stuck it back in his face and told him you didn’t want it. Or you could have given it to the police.”

  Pam folded her arms and crossed her legs.

  “Okay, okay, you ain’t down for turning brother-man in,” Tomiko told her. “I’m cool with that. But damn, girl.”

  “Let’s just find him, and you can give it back to him.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, Tomiko, you ain’t scared of nobody. Hell, you carry guns in the back of your pickup truck down in Houston.”

  “Ha, ha, real funny. Does it look like I drive a pickup truck?”

  “Girl, you know y’all be hunting down in Texas.”

  “Pam, don’t make me front on Detroit, ’cause you know better. Even the babies carry guns in their diapers in that dangerous mother.”

  Pam laughed heavily. “Get off my city. I’m from Motown, baby!”

  “Girl, get your illegal-ass gun and let’s go find this nigga.”

  Pam took a sock, lifted the gun, and put it inside a paper bag. She was determined not to get any of her fingerprints on it.

  “You think it done killed somebody?” Pam asked.

  “Girl, let’s just hope it don’t kill nobody today!” Tomiko told her. “And by nobody, I mean us!”

  “Amen!”

  Chapter 3

  Be Careful

  Sunday afternoon in the hood, Chino and Fabian sat in their regular spot, in Fabian’s car, checking out the honeys. In the reflection of the passenger’s mirror, he saw two chicks walking up the street. They were both sucking on lollipops and switching their asses to get attention.

  “Watch this, man,” Chino told Fabian with a mischievous grin on his face. Once they got close enough, Chino leaned out the window and grabbed a handful of firm, thick booty that passed by him.

  “Fuck you!” the girl in the Daisy Dukes shouted.

  “You offering?” Chino quipped.

  “Hell naw, I ain’t offering you, asshole!”

  “Well, damn, I thought since you was showing off all that ass, you know . . .” Chino laughed with a smile.

  “Just ’cause I’m wearing these shorts don’t mean I’m a ho!” she retorted.

  “My bad!” Chino looked up and down at her body. “It’s just that you’re wearing a ho’s costume, so you can see how I made a mistake.”

  “Fuck you, nigga!”

  “Chicken head!” Chino shouted.

  Fabian laughed as he pulled away in his black Porsche 928 GT. “Man, you’re crazy!”

  “Man, these bitches are crazy,” Chino declared. “They putting it all out there on display, and get mad when you react to it.”

  “You can look, but not touch,” Fabian told him.

  “I’ll bet you if I tossed her ass a C-note she’d let me touch.”

  “Bet!”

  “Bet!” Chino told him.

  Fabian stopped the car and busted a U in the middle of the street. They pulled up on the two young ladies strolling down South High Street. One was wearing extremely high-cut Daisy Dukes that exposed nearly half her ass. She had on a half-shirt that tied at the midriff, which exposed her taut stomach and her perky breasts. Her hair was done up in a pixie cut, and she sucked seductively on a lollipop as she strolled the street. Her companion wore tight, form-fitting spandex shorts and a matching spandex top. The spandex bodysuit showed off her voluptuous figure and bodacious buttocks. She wore her hair in a mushroom, and she too sucked seductively on a red Blow Pop. The temperature outside was moderate for the fall, and people were out in droves taking in the warm weather. The hood was buzzing with activity today.

  “Yo, yo, yo!” Chino called out from the Porsche.

  “Fuck off!” Daisy Duke told him.

  “Naw, baby, that was my bad!” Chino said, in his most sincere voice. “I thought you were someone else.”

  “You sure in the hell did!” she snapped.

  “Aw, girl, don’t be like that,” Chino told her with a grin. “Let me make it up to you.”

  She continued to stroll away, but this time with a little more swing in her walk.

  Chino smiled at the show, leaned back inside the car, and looked at his boy.

  “The usual?”

  Fabian nodded. “Bet!”

  Chino pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and peeled off a hundred-dollar bill. He held it out the window. “Aye,” he yelled. “This for you, lil mama!”

  Daisy Duke turned and looked at Chino. Her face twisted up with confusion and disgust when she saw what he held in his hand. “What’s that for?”

  “It’s my apology to you.”

  She waved her hand dismissing him. “That’s okay, you keep it. I ain’t no ho.”

  “This is the way we apologize,” Chino told her. “When we mess up, we make it right. We come out of pocket as a penalty.”

  Daisy Duke thought about what he said and made her way to the Porsche.

  “I guess so.” She extended her hand and accepted the money. Before she could take her hand out of Chino’s he grabbed it slightly.

  “Let me make it up to you with a little dinner.” He smiled and eyeballed her body.

  “Dinner?”

  “Yeah, a nice romantic dinner somewhere. You pick the place.”

  She hesitated for a moment, then a smile spread across her face. “I guess.”

  “Well check it,” Chino said. “I’m gonna need to get your number so I can call you.”

  Daisy Duke took her hand back, dug into her purse and pulled out her phone number, which was already written down. “You better call me,” she told him, handing him the small piece of paper.

  “Bet!” Chino said. “I’m gonna call your sexy self tonight.” He definitely wanted to get into her high-cut shorts.

  “Okay, I’ll be waiting.”

  “I bet you will,” Chino said, biting down on his bottom lip. “Damn, girl, you really wearing those shorts. I couldn’t help but want a piece of that cake earlier.”

  Daisy Duke laughed. “You crazy!”

  Chino held out his hand. “You mind?”

  Daisy Duke smacked her lips. Normally she would have for free, but when she saw the wad in his hands, and that he was rolling in a Porsche, she complied. Daisy Duke had found herself a true baller.

  She turned to the side and Chino rubbed on her ass again, but this time he had her permission. He caressed her butt gently, and then grabbed a handful of butt cheek. “Damn, you fine!”

  Daisy Duke laughed.

  “Tonight, little mama,” Chino told her. He turned to Fabian. “Let’s roll.”

  “Damn!” Fabian exclaimed, pulling away. He pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket and handed Chino a hundred-dollar bill.

  “Thank you very much,” Chino said with confidence. “You just bought that pussy for me.”

  “Damn, at least you could have plugged me in with her homegirl.”

  “Damn, my bad,” Chino said. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you something.”

  “Yeah, something ugly or fat!”

  “Yo, check out the honeys in this red BMW,” Chino said. “They rolled up and down the street like three times already.”

  “Think they’re one-time?”

  Chino shook his head. “Naw, they too pretty to be police. Those are bona fide good pussies from the college.”

  “Woooweee!” Fabian held out his hand and Chino gave him a handshake. “You know I love square pussy. You get to fuck ’em, use up their daddy’s credit card, and then leave ’em in time for Valentine�
��s Day!”

  Chino laughed. “And I thought I was a dog. You’re a real Fido, you know that?”

  Fabian pulled up alongside the BMW.

  Chino leaned forward so that he could talk to them. “Hey, baby girl!”

  Pam turned to see who was talking to her. “Oh, shit!”

  “Oh, shit!” Chino said.

  “What?” Tomiko shouted nervously.

  “What’s up?” Fabian asked.

  “That’s old girl from last night!”

  “Girl, that’s him!” Pam shouted.

  “Pull over!” Chino told them and pointed to where they should meet.

  Fabian pulled over into a nearby store parking lot and Chino climbed out of the car. Tomiko pulled in behind them while Chino walked up to the passenger side of the car and leaned inside.

  “What’s up, baby girl?”

  “My blood pressure,” Pam said.

  Chino laughed. “You sure helped a brother out of a jam last night. I owe you big time.”

  Chino pulled out his wad of money and tossed five one-hundred-dollar bills into Pam’s lap.

  “What’s this for?”

  “What a five-thousand-dollar bond would have cost me.”

  “Girl, shut up and take the money,” Tomiko said under her breath.

  “You don’t have to give me anything.”

  “Thank you!” Tomiko blurted out over Pam.

  Again, Chino laughed.

  Pam folded up the money and handed it back. Chino was stunned. No female had ever given back his money and been serious about it.

  Pam reached down on the floor, under her seat, lifted the paper bag, and handed it to Chino. “I believe this belongs to you.”

  Chino opened the bag and looked inside. “You sure you didn’t use this?”

  “No!” Pam said, indignant at first, and then realizing it was a joke, broke into a wide smile.

  “You look like a killer,” Chino told her. “What’s your name, killer?”

  “Pam.”

  Chino nodded. “You look like a Pam. My name is Chino.”

  Pam smiled. “You look like a Rico.”

  “Ahhh, that’s my alias,” Chino confirmed with a smile.

  “You have an alias?”

  “Um-huh, that’s my out-of-town alias, when I go to get them thangs!” Chino rubbed his hands together and howled.

  “Boy, you’re crazy!” Pam shouted.

  “Pam, where you from?”

  “D-Town.”

  “D-Town?”

  “Detroit.”

  “The Motor City, huh?” Chino asked. “First female I ever met from Detroit. Congratulations.”

  “Congratulations or beware?”

  Chino laughed. “Oh, yeah, you’re definitely from Detroit. You got one of them fly mouths.”

  “I thought I was the first female you met from Detroit,” Pam challenged.

  “I done came across plenty of fly mouths in my day and you’re not an exception.” Chino glanced around, peeped his surroundings, then brought back up the subject at hand. “Look, I ain’t trying to get caught up in the hood with this jammy, so I got to get out of here.”

  “Bye.” Tomiko spoke harshly with an attitude.

  Chino looked at Tomiko, then at Pam. “But why don’t you give me your number so that I can properly thank you.”

  “Just say thank you, that’s fine.”

  “Not good enough,” Chino told her. “A general has to properly reward his troops so that they stay loyal.”

  “What makes you think that I want to be one of your little soldiers?” Pam asked, looking at Chino like he had lost his mind.

  “You do.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “Because you ain’t never met a nigga like me before.”

  “A dime a dozen in Detroit.”

  Chino shook his head and chuckled. “I doubt that. So, you gonna let me take you to dinner or what?”

  “Dinner?”

  “A picnic on the Scioto. I’ll make the sandwiches myself.”

  Pam laughed. “Okay, a picnic on the river? This I gotta see.”

  “Okay, so what’s your number?”

  Pam shook her head. “Give me yours.”

  Chino gave her his pager number.

  “My code is all ones.” Pam replied.

  “All ones?” Chino quizzed.

  Pam nodded. “Yep, I’m number one.”

  “We’ll see,” said Chino, rising up from the window. “We will definitely see.”

  Chapter 4

  Keeping Promises

  The following Tuesday evening, when Pam strolled out of the Friendship Village nursing home where she worked, her mouth fell open in surprise. Chino was outside waiting for her on a black and purple Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle. She could hear her mother screaming in her ear at that very moment about how unsafe motorcycles were.

  “When you said that you were going to pick me up from work, I thought that you meant in a car,” Pam told him.

  “What difference does it make?”

  “It makes a big difference!” Pam said, pacing. “I was expecting to be driven inside of a nice comfortable, safe vehicle. I wanted to hear the radio.”

  “I’ll sing to you,” Chino said.

  “You sing?”

  “No.”

  “Then what are you talking about?”

  Chino shrugged. “Wait till you hear this engine sing.”

  “I’m not going with you anywhere on this thing!” Pam crossed her arms defiantly.

  “Why not?”

  “Because these things are dangerous!”

  “This,” he pointed, “is a bike. Bikes are not dangerous, the rider is,” Chino explained. “If the rider does dumb and dangerous shit, then the bike is dangerous. I’m not going to do dumb shit with you on here.”

  Pam exhaled and rolled her eyes upward.

  “I promise you, no crazy shit.”

  Pam looked at Chino and lifted an eyebrow. “Nothing crazy?”

  Chino pressed his hand against his chest. “Would I lie to you?”

  “Yes!” Pam said, and then smiled. “Maybe.”

  “Never.”

  “I don’t even know you,” Pam said. “You could be the biggest liar in the universe.”

  “Hey, Chino does not lie. Not never.”

  “You’re referring to yourself in the third person?” Pam smiled again. “I see that you have your ego in check.”

  Chino laughed, and nodded toward the bike’s rear seat. “C’mon, big head. You’re burning daylight.”

  “Big head?”

  “Yeah. You know you got a melon on top of that poor neck of yours.”

  Pam’s mouth fell open and she hit Chino playfully. “Forget you! Is this how you treat your dates? You talk about them?”

  “Only the ones that I really like.”

  “Oh, really? So you really like me?”

  Chino nodded. “Yeah, you got a lot of appeal with you, youngster.”

  With that, Pam climbed on the back of the Ninja and wrapped her arms around Chino’s waist. Chino revved the engine and pulled out of the parking lot of Pam’s job.

  “So what’s with the old folks’ home?” Chino asked.

  “It’s a retirement home,” Pam corrected, emphasizing the word retirement.

  “It’s got old people in there, right?”

  Pam nodded. “It’s home to seniors who want a more relaxed lifestyle in their golden years.”

  “Damn, girl. Why you got to be politically correct all the time?”

  “Why you got to be so rude and boorish?”

  “Boring?”

  “No, not boring. Boorish.”

  “You calling me an ogre?”

  “No, you’re more the caveman type.”

  Chino had to laugh. She wasn’t impressed with his street status, or his dope money. She was real. And in his life, he didn’t meet that many real people, people who weren’t out for his money. “So what do you do there?” C
hino asked. “You like wash they shitty asses, and change they beds and shit?”

  “No!” Pam said, hitting Chino on his shoulder. “That’s nasty.”

  “So what do you do?”

  “I work at the cash register.”

  “The cash register? They got bread up in there?”

  “Yes, they have a store for the community,” Pam explained. “It’s not just one retirement home, it’s an entire residential community.”

  “Damn, so you a cashier and shit?”

  “Yeah. You sound like you got a problem with that.”

  “That’s a gig for niggas who just got out of the joint.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me!” Chino switched lanes and accelerated.

  Pam clutched his waist tighter and buried her head in his back. “Chino!”

  “It’s cool! Girl, I ain’t going but forty!”

  “Still, you gotta let me know when you’re going to speed up!”

  “You need to ride with me more often. As a matter of fact, I need to teach you how to ride.”

  “No, thank you!”

  “We going to start your lesson this weekend.”

  “I work on the weekends,” Pam told him. “And I definitely ain’t riding with you on this thing at night!”

  “That’s cool. I can teach you during the day.”

  “Didn’t you hear me? I have to work. Some of us have legitimate jobs.”

  “And some of us got bullshit house-nigga jobs, like we fresh out the joint.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with an honest day’s work!” Pam shot back. “Maybe you should try it sometimes.”

  “Maybe you should quit.”

  “Quit? Yeah, right! And who’s going to pay my bills, you? Are you going to take care of all my expenses?”

  “Yeah, I can do that.”

  “Yeah, right!”

  Chino pulled the clutch and downshifted. He broke the bike down to first gear and pulled over into a shopping center parking lot.

  “Why are we stopping here?” Pam asked.

  “Because I can show you better than I can tell you,” Chino said. He pulled out a wad of money and placed it in her hand.

  “What’s this?” Pam asked. “I told you, you don’t owe me anything.”

  “That’s not because I owe you, that’s what I’m giving you so you can quit that bullshit job.”