The Reason Why

by Vickie M. Stringer

  “What?” Chino asked. “What the fuck you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about getting over on your homeboys and shit!” Joe Bub shouted. “We want to drive Benzes and shit too! Break us off! Show us a good ticket! Nigga ain’t paying nothing and charging us an arm and a leg!”

  Chino couldn’t believe what he had just heard. All he had done for Joe Bub, and he had the nerve to complain. “I’ll tell you what,” he looked at the man, “just pay me the rest of my money and get your shit from somewhere else!”

  “Nigga, get it like Tyson got the belt!” Joe Bub challenged.

  “What?” Within seconds, Chino charged Joe Bub, knocking him to the ground. The two of them wrestled on the ground. Chino got loose and swung, striking Joe Bub in his jaw. Joe Bub swung and struck Chino in the side of his face. Rock, Infa, Ant, Chris J, and Corey rushed over and pulled them apart. Chino charged at Joe Bub Baby again, tackling him. The two of them exchanged blows until they were once again pulled apart.

  “That’s it, nigga!” Joe Bub snarled, touching his bloody lip. “We through. We don’t have shit to say to each other no more!”

  “I want my money, nigga!”

  “Yo, you can have that bullshit! I’ll send that shit to you by Ant!”

  “Bet!”

  “Bet!”

  “You niggas better get your own shit, and your own connects!” Joe Bub shouted. “You can’t come up with this nigga’s foot on yo necks! He’s winning all the way around and ain’t sharing none of the love! We struggling to score two keys, and he’s rolling in a hundred-thousand-dollar Benz and flossing and shit!”

  Ant pulled Joe Bub away, leading him to his car.

  “Get your own shit, my niggas!” Joe Bub continued.

  The crew was left staring at one another in silence. Finally Infa broke the ice.

  “Fuck that hating-ass, Gerald Levert wannabe-ass nigga!”

  The crew burst into laughter, but inside, each of them felt different. Chino felt the most awkward. He wondered if Joe Bub had said what the others were thinking. Were his boys really jealous of him? Had they been discussing his money behind his back? Suddenly he felt that he had to leave. In the back of his mind, he wondered who he could still trust. Rock was loyal and so was Chris J and maybe Infa. He knew Corey was a follower, and Little Mike’s loyalty was without question, and for sure, he could trust his Pooh. She was the one person in the world that he knew for a fact had his back. He needed to find her, lay his head in her lap, close his eyes, and rest. The only problem was that Pooh was still living on campus. She would be stuck in the dorm because of the curfew. Her living situation was bullshit, and it would have to change. He needed his Pooh. And when he needed to get to her, she would have to be able to be gotten to. He would change all that. Besides, he needed new digs anyway. That punk-ass nigga Joe Bub knew where he laid his head. He needed a new pad, in order to keep the wolves at bay.

  Chapter 22

  Wife Me

  “What are you doing?” Pam asked.

  Chino continued to lead the blindfolded Pam up the stairs, carefully guiding her so that she wouldn’t hurt herself. “Just keep walking.”

  Chino pulled out his keys and opened the door to his new apartment. “Step inside.”

  Carefully doing as he asked, Pam spoke. “Can I look now?”

  “Yeah.” Chino removed the blindfold.

  Pam gasped as she gazed around the room. “This is beautiful!”

  “This is our new place.”

  Pam quickly turned toward him. “Our place?”

  Chino nodded. “I want you to move in with me, Pooh. I got us this condo. It has amenities, and a view overlooking downtown. At night, you can see the lights in City Center, and they look beautiful.”

  “You want to live together?”

  “Yes, Pooh. I don’t want you to have to worry about a curfew, or about your roommate, or where you’re going to sleep if her man comes over. I just want you with me. I want to wake up with you in my arms every day. I want to go to sleep feeling you next to me.”

  Pam strolled to a massive wall of windows and looked out over the city. It was dusk outside, and the city’s night lights were coming alive. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”

  “Ready for what?” Chino asked. “Ready to move in with me? Nothing changes, Pooh. There’s still no pressure. I just need you here with me. Like I said, it’s me and you against the world, baby girl. I want you safe here with me, and I need to be able to come home, crawl up in bed, and have you rub my head and let me know that everything is going to be all right.”

  Pam nodded. She understood completely what he was saying. It was her and him against the world. If they were going to do battle against that world together, then it only made sense for them to share a castle together. Moving into a luxurious condo wasn’t the worst thing in the world that could happen to her. In fact, moving out of that noisy dorm would afford her the chance to get more studying done. No more having to gather her books and head over to the library for some peace and quiet. No more worrying about coming home and finding the secret signal telling her that her roommate was inside getting busy.

  “Check this out, Pooh!” Chino said excitedly. He pointed toward the kitchen. “It has one of those giant metal refrigerators that you like.”

  “Stainless steel,” Pam said, correcting him.

  “It’s got a view and three bedrooms and two living rooms and three bathrooms,” Chino said. “This is the place for us to start our life together, Pooh. Say you’ll do it. Say you’ll move in with me.”

  Pam hesitated at first, then nodded.

  “Yeah!” Chino shouted, lifting her into the air and spinning her around.

  “I wanna check everything out.”

  Chino set her back down and waved his hand around the apartment. “After you.”

  Pam turned and slowly began to explore her new digs. She walked through her kitchen, through her dining area, through her living room, and into one of the secondary bedrooms. “This is pretty big.”

  “It’s bigger than the rooms in my old apartment,” Chino told her.

  “It’s bigger than my dorm room,” Pam said. She continued to explore, walking through a Jack-n-Jill bathroom into another secondary bedroom. She explored the bedroom’s walk-in closet. “Dang, this is big!”

  “I want to use one of the extra bedrooms as a weight room,” Chino said. “I want to get my buff on.”

  Pam looked at Chino, shook her head, and walked out of the bedroom. Down the hall she opened the double doors to the master bedroom. She found a surprise. Chino had scattered rose petals all over the floor.

  “Chino!” Pam said, placing her hand over her heart. “What is this?”

  “I don’t know.” Chino shrugged.

  Pam was all smiles as she followed the trail of rose petals into the master bath. There was a large Jacuzzi tub inside the master bath. The rose petals led to the tub, and several bouquets of roses sat in vases surrounding the tub. Sweet aromatic candles were lit and arranged throughout the bathroom. A silver wine chiller sat on the edge of the Jacuzzi, with a bottle of Moët chilling inside it. A crystal dish filled with strawberries that had been dipped in chocolate also sat on the edge of the Jacuzzi.

  “What is all of this?” Pam asked.

  “I wanted us to celebrate our new place and our good fortune, Pooh. We’ve been blessed.”

  Pam kicked off her boots, unbuttoned her blue jeans, and dropped them to the floor. She pulled off her hoodie and her T-shirt and tossed those as well. Next came her socks, and then her panties. She turned and wiggled her shoulders, indicating to Chino that she wanted him to unfasten her bra.

  Chino was shocked at her boldness. This was unusual for his shy little Pooh. Her coming out of her clothes like this was way out of the ordinary. He swallowed hard as he unfastened her bra. Pam climbed into the warm bubble bath.

  “Are you going to just stand there?” she asked, waving her finger at Chino, motionin
g for him to join her. “This tub is more than big enough for two.”

  Chino kicked off his Timbs, jeans, and his hoodie. He quickly tossed off his boxers and wifebeater and hopped into the tub, sending bubbles everywhere. Pam laughed.

  “You’re so silly!” she told him.

  “Ever watch Captain Nemoy?” Chino asked.

  “Captain Nemoy? What’s that?” Pam asked, flicking water in Chino’s face.

  Chino slid beneath the surface of the water, blowing bubbles as he continued to try to talk. “They did some wild shit beneath the sea . . .”

  Chino bit Pam on her toe.

  “Ahhhh! Chino, stop!” Pam said laughing.

  Chino came up from beneath the water. “Did you see that?”

  “See what?”

  “There’s a shark in here.”

  “Boy, stop!”

  Chino started making the noise from the movie Jaws. “He’s going to get you. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.”

  Pam laughed again. “Chino, you are silly. You know that? You are really crazy.”

  “Crazy in love with my Pooh.”

  “And your Pooh is crazy in love with you.”

  “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “That’s the first time you ever said that.”

  “What?”

  “That you love me.”

  “Did I have to say what was obvious?” Pam asked. “That would have been like me saying the sun came up today.”

  Chino looked at his innocent Pooh. “C’mere.”

  Pam turned and lay against his chest while he began to massage her shoulders.

  “Uhmmmmm,” Pam moaned, becoming relaxed.

  “You like this?” Chino whispered in her ear.

  “Yes,” she said softly. A silent moment passed between the two of them, until Pam spoke again. “Tell me that it’s always going to be like this.”

  “I can’t say that.”

  “Why not?” Pam turned her head to look at Chino. Her heart started beating fast, as she wondered if something was wrong.

  “Because it’s going to get better than this,” Chino said softly, kissing her on the lips. “Pooh, we’re on our way up.”

  “You talked to Joe Bub yet?”

  “Fuck him!”

  “Make it right with him, Chino.”

  “Why should I?”

  “Because he’s one of your oldest friends. Money comes, money goes, true friends are forever.”

  “He’s the one that let money come between us. He’s the one who’s jealous.”

  “Take it from me, Chino. You don’t want to have a room full of money and no one to share it with. You can’t talk to your money, shoot ball with your money, or count on your money to have your back if shit goes down.”

  Chino nodded as he listened to Pam. She was right. He knew where he stood with his friends, and where his friends stood with him. Rock was solid, and so was Chris, Infa, Young Mike, and Ant. He and his boys were solid. It was just that Joe Bub Baby had let jealousy cloud his judgment.

  “That nigga know he was in the wrong and he will come back around again. And if he don’t, then fuck him.” Chino was adamant. In fact, money was one of the few things in this world that told the truth. It was money that talked, and bullshit that walked. “Let that bullshit-ass nigga beat his muthafucking feet.”

  Chapter 23

  Expensive Taste

  Pam strolled through the furniture store examining the prices on the furnishings. “Damn, Chino! They want three thousand dollars for this sectional! And they want three thousand dollars for that three-piece living room set.”

  Chino shrugged nonchalantly. “You want nice leather, you have to pay for it. What comes with that three-piece set?”

  “A sofa, love seat, and easy chair. The chaise is another eight hundred bucks.”

  “I like the sectional,” Chino said, wrapping his arms around her. “We can curl up and watch the projection screen TV.”

  “I can’t believe you paid almost ten thousand dollars for that thing!”

  “I always wanted one of those, Pooh. Ever since I was a kid.”

  “And that laser disc player?” Pam smiled. “You always wanted one of those too?”

  “They didn’t have anything like that when I was growing up. We just had rabbit ears and I was the damn rabbit.” He laughed. “You wanted to watch a movie, you had to sneak through the back door of the movie theater.”

  Pam laughed.

  “You ever did that before?”

  “Nope.”

  “Don’t tell me you never snuck inside of a movie theater before?”

  “I said no!”

  “Aw shit! We gonna have to sneak inside of a movie theater, Pooh.”

  “I am not sneaking into any movie theater, boy!”

  Chino slapped Pam on her behind. “You’re going to have to start living a little, girl. We gonna sneak inside one of these days, you watch. I’m going to make a gangsta out of you yet.”

  “A gangsta?”

  “Yeah, we gonna be like Bonnie and Clyde.”

  “Didn’t they get killed?”

  “They lived, Pooh. They lived life for real.”

  “They were criminals.”

  “And what am I, Pooh? Am I just a criminal to you?”

  Pam shook her head. “You know what I mean. Stop putting words in my mouth.”

  “We gonna live life to the fullest, girl. We ain’t gonna be scared of nothing. That’s what it means to be a gangsta. Gangstas ain’t scared of shit. Gangstas go for theirs. Nothing stops them, and they don’t let nothing get in their way.”

  “I can live with that,” Pam agreed.

  “What do you think about this, Pooh?”

  Pam examined the dining room set Chino was pointing at. “It’s kinda old-fashioned.”

  “Old-fashioned? I like it. It’s classic. Like something you would find in rich white folks’ houses. See, white folks know the secret. They buy traditional shit, not trendy shit. They shit still be looking good twenty years from when they bought it and then they pass shit down for generations. That shit becomes valuable family heirlooms. That’s how we need to roll, Pooh.”

  “Chino, that looks like something my grandmother would pick out. It’s dark cherry wood, with a dark cherry wood china cabinet. What about this one?” She looked toward something less traditional.

  “That’s made out of glass and chrome!” Chino said. “What kind of china cabinet is made out of chrome and glass?”

  “I like modern furniture!” Pam protested.

  “What about this one?” Chino asked, pointing toward another dining room set. “It’s a good compromise. It’s light-colored, birch wood. It looks modern and classy at the same time.”

  “How is this going to match with a green leather sectional?”

  “How about we get the beige leather sectional, or the burgundy one?” Chino asked.

  “I like that lime green one.”

  “We got two living areas. We can put the lime green one in one room, and the beige one in another.”

  Pam nodded. “Ooooh, this vase would look pretty with that sofa. And I like that bombé chest too!”

  “We can get both of them, the dining room set, and both of those sectionals.”

  “We need some end tables, lamps, and coffee tables.”

  “What about the stone coffee table and end tables? The ones shaped like elephants, with the glass table tops.”

  “Ooooh, I like those!” Pam told him.

  “We need to go by a gallery and pick up some art. African-American and African art.”

  “What do you know about African art?”

  “I like sub-Saharan masks and shields and carvings.”

  Pam smiled and touched Chino lightly on the cheek in amazement. “You keep surprising me.”

  “We need some bar stools too.”

  “I like those metal bar stools with the leather seats.”

  “Hello, may I h
elp you?” a salesperson asked.

  Pam stared at Chino.

  “Yeah, we’ll take those two sectionals over there, that bombé chest by the entrance, those two giant vases right there, and that dining room set over there.”

  “Wow!” the saleslady exclaimed. “Have you applied for credit with our credit department yet?”

  “Chino, don’t go there,” Pam whispered.

  “It’ll be cash,” Chino told the saleswoman. He used every bit of self-control he could muster to keep from telling her off. “You know colored people don’t have no good credit.”

  “Chino!” Pam shouted.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Chino smiled. “She assumed that we needed credit, baby. Like we didn’t have the money to pay for this shit right now.”

  “My apologies, sir,” the saleswoman told him. “Usually when customers make such a large purchase, they finance it and make monthly payments.”

  Chino shook his head. “Forget about it. We just need it delivered as soon as possible.”

  “I can write up your ticket over here.” The saleswoman pointed toward a counter.

  “Oh, you gonna give me a ticket?” Chino asked. “I usually get my tickets in New York.”

  Pam elbowed Chino, and both of them laughed. The saleswoman looked lost. Chino pulled out a ten-thousand-dollar stack of one-hundred-dollar bills and handed it to Pam. “Take care of the bill, Pooh. I gotta run to the little girls’ room and tinkle.”

  “Boy!” Pam said laughing.

  The saleswoman looked at Chino strangely.

  Chino headed toward the restroom, and Pam placed the stack of bills on the counter. She had never held that much money in her life. She loved having the salespeople’s full attention. She loved the power she felt having that amount of money. Whatever Chino did, and however he did it, he must have been very good at it. The money that he had made her curious. Now more than ever, she was intrigued with the drug world, and the enormous amount of money that the drug game generated. She wanted to learn more.

  Chapter 24

  Diamonds Are Forever