by Sa'id Salaam
Of course the bee went viral with death threats speeding across the globe via internet. Even girls in war turned Bosnia were shaking their heads. Once school was out there was nothing more the school could do. If the two groups bumped heads anywhere over the summer it was on. Somebody was gonna get killed!
Chapter 20
“Ayo Meisha! What’s up?” Zaria called out as Cameisha and her grandmother returned home through the court yard. “Come kick it with us.”
Cameisha tried to shoot a quick head nod for reply so Deidra wouldn’t catch it.
“Um Meisha, your friends are calling you,” she said knowingly.
“I don’t hang out with them grandma, I swear!” Cameisha said embarrassed.
“It’s ok baby. I know you need people your own age to talk to. And no matter what, stay true to you. Never be a follower,” Deidra warned.
She knew the girl had to develop her social skills to be well rounded in life. Unfortunately, the projects didn’t have much more to offer then Crystalline and company.
“Once we put the groceries away go spend a few minutes with the …uh…girls,” Grandma said getting stuck on the word. She was too old to say hoes like she really wanted to.
“Ok grandma,” Cameisha agreed as usual. She really had no interest in sitting on the park bench dong nothing ,but she could handle a few minutes.
Cameisha still enjoyed spending her free time learning. She was now fluent in Spanish and chatted with her South American internet friends flawlessly. If she could master that, surely she could stand to ‘kick it’ for a few minutes.
As soon as she learned ‘how’ to ‘kick it’.She googled it. According to her research, there really wasn’t much to it. She wouldn’t need any special clothes or gear, just ‘kick it’.
“Sup Meisha,” Crystalline asked scooting over so Cameisha could sit by her side.
“Chilin yo,” she replied quite authentically as she took the seat.
Cameisha was tickled to death to hear her new nickname Meisha. All the cool kids had either a nickname, or a ‘they call me’, or just an initial. She was now a cool kid.
“Bout time you come hang out with us. We been thumping with them Bronx River mutts all year with yo’ ass!” Zaria stated.
“Them hoes ratchet to death yo’! All them bitches do is sit on the bench in they projects all day!”Angle announced ironically.
Cameisha bit her tongue at the statement and just nodded instead. For the next hour she nodded, giggled and ‘that’s what’s up’, to the ghetto girls banter. A lot of what was said was foreign but still she soaked it up.
“There go your moms and Mi-Mi,” Angle said tapping Zaria to alert them to their presence.
“Zaria, I have things to do this evening you need to come here and take care of your child,” her slightly older mother announced.
Chill ma, why you sweating me dang!” Zaria huffed at the interruption. Her mother had plans to ‘kick it’ too and wasn’t bringing her grandchild.
“Aight yo’, I’ll be up in a second,” she relented.
“You have a baby?” Cameisha asked in shock and awe.
“Yeah man, me and Jo-Jo,” Zaria sighed. She didn’t spend much time with her child either, but at least she was happy about him.
“Me too,” Crystalline and Dasia said at the same time.
“How bout you?” She asked turning to Aqua.
“Naw, my mother had me fixed,” she said sadly. “I can’t have no babies.”
“Sup y’all?Y’all smoking?” Tay asked the crew through Cameisha.
Cameisha basked in his hazel eyes for a second before turning away. He was nice to look at but that’s all; she still didn’t like boys. He was cute though.
“Y’all bitches pony up so we can blaze,” Crystalline demanded sending the girls onto their pockets.
“I’ll let y’all get this ….ounce for the fifty, since I fucks with y’all,” Tay smiled, holding up a sandwich bag of brownish weed.
“That’s not an ounce,” Cameisha blurted out before she could stop herself.
“Huh?” Tay asked confused.
“You said an ounce, that’s not an ounce,” she said plainly since the cat was out of the bag.
“It’s not?” Tay said now pretending to be surprised.
“Nope, about a half,” she replied exactly.
“Aight, I’ll let yall have it for the quarter then,” he relented. “Since I fucks with y’all.”
“Here you go,” Crystalline said handing over the collection and accepting the weed.
“My ass broke yo’. We need to go boosting so a bitch can get her paper straight,” Zaria announced. Cameisha made a mental note to Google ‘Boosting’ as soon as she got in.
“For real though,” Crystalline agreed. “Yall bitches be ready tomorrow.We going down town.”
“Well, I gotta go upstairs now. My grandmother be buggin’ yo,” Cameisha announced in flawless ebonics.
“Stay and blaze one!” Angle pleaded.
“I can’t. I’ll see y’all tomorrow,” she said begging off, and unwittingly agreeing to go boosting.
******
Cameisha forgot to Google ‘boosting’ and had no idea what she was getting herself into. She met up with her new crew and prepared to go downtown. Since the school issued bus passes were worthless during the summer they set out on foot to Yankee Stadium.
As usual, Cameisha kept quiet and soaked up her surroundings. Crystalline was aggressive, loud and mean but it was just a front. Deep down, she was lonely, insecure and shy. She felt that dominating people was far better than being dominated.
Zaria had the looks of a young super model or video vixen depending on who got to her first. She was smart as well; smart enough to dumb down her looks to appease Crystalline.
Dasia was a bit of a plain Jane, the type dudes marry. Smart, but a follower who played her position. Again, the type dudes marry. She had an interesting quirk of coughing as she laughed. She had unnecessarily gotten the Heimlich maneuver several times growing up. Her ass was gonna be in trouble if she ever started choking for real.
Angle was as ratchet as her ratchet ass mother. She was destined to make babies and dwell in these same projects for the rest of her life. Might end up in a Queen Pen story.
Aqua was, well Aqua. She was a big pretty girl, who was a little slow. Thick and pretty like young Queen Latifa.She was taken advantage of by most men who came into contact with her. Her mother had her tubes tied at 13 because her husband kept getting her pregnant. Now she only fucked when and who Crystalline allowed.
Aqua was loyal and extremely protective, especially towards Cameisha who always heard her out no matter how insane the subject.
Cameisha noticed her companions clothing and wondered if she had rubbed off on them. Instead of the usual too tight or too short, they all wore loose fitting clothes. She still didn’t like her clothes fitting too snug because it drew attention to her body. Plus she needed a little room to move in case she had to kick somebody in the mouth.
The case wasn’t the same for the girls, they were dressed to steal. Their loose clothes would allow them to put on several layers of stolen merchandise underneath. They also carried large collapsible tote bags for even more loot. Finally, each girl carried an old fashioned can opener. These were used to remove the security devices the department store attached to the clothes.
Each girl was also armed with a list of specific items to boost for their paying customers. They could get one third to one half of the ticket price. Of course, they were going to steal a few items for their own children as well. Why do you think all the project babies stayed fly? If the poor residents couldn’t afford regular housing, they certainly couldn’t afford buying Jordan’s every couple of months for rapidly growing toddlers.
The girls made it to the train station and lurked near the token booth. Cameisha wondered why no one got in line and bought any tokens, she soon got her answer when they heard a train approaching.
&
nbsp; “Now!” Crystalline yelled and took off running. She hopped the turnstile like an Olympic hurdler with her girl’s right behind her.
Cameisha didn’t want to be the odd man out or get left behind so she followed as well. The clerk in the booth screamed as if the five fares would be deducted from her pay check or she would lose her job. Neither, was the case, she was just petty.
“Hell yeah, hell yeah!” Zaria cheered giving everyone high fives as the doors closed with them all safely inside.
Nine times out of ten you could catch a free ride in this manner, timing was everything. On that tenth time transit cops would be waiting on the platform when you got there. Once, some dunce who had just robbed a bank got caught hopping the turnstile. He had over a hundred grand on him but old habits die hard.
Cameisha laughed along with her friends as they cracked jokes on everyone on the train. It wasn’t really funny but it was fun and exciting coming from Longs Mississippi. A long, loud boisterous ride later, the pack of girls emerged onto 34th street and all the smiles and banter came to an abrupt end. It was now time to get down to business.
The girls fanned out in different directions and went to work. Cameisha followed Aqua as she hit the men’s clothing. She removed the security devices Cameisha thought was possible, and concealed them under her clothes. Next, expensive shirts disappeared with the jeans.
Satisfied with the haul, Aqua turned on her heels and walked briskly towards the exit. Zaria too had completed her task and walked out ahead of them. The girls didn’t speak, or so much as look at each other. Once you were loaded down you were on your own. They would kick it once they get back to the block.
“I struck real good! I’m getting some pizza and wings and cake! I love cake,” Aqua cheered once they were safely on the D train heading back uptown. It was clear she planned on eating her proceeds.
“Ohh, I got my son fly ass jeans! He gone be the flyest boy in daycare,” Zaria announced showing what was important to her as well.
Once they got back to the projects Aqua made a beeline to where the boys where hustling. When she started pulling the designer clothes out they scrambled to grab what they could.
“Let me get them ONE UMMAH jeans and that shirt,” Tay ordered. He locked eyes with Cameisha as he pulled out a sizable roll of drug money.
This time she didn’t look away. Aqua collected almost five hundred dollars from her haul. She gave fifty of it back for a half ounce of weed that Cameisha vouched for.
“Tay likes you!” Aqua sang as they left the trap.
“Oh,” Cameisha replied as if she didn’t know. In fact she liked him too she just didn’t know what to do about it.
Chapter 21
Heavy rain pushed the girls from their park bench perch to indoors. Angles house was the official headquarters for situations like this. Her mother Nita didn’t mind them smoking weed as long as she could get a pull or two.
The mood was festive from all the weed smoke in the air. Even Cameisha was giddy from inhaling second hand Kush. The munchies set in calling for pizza, hot wings, and of course, cake for Aqua.
Cameisha still wouldn’t take an active role in boosting but contributed money from the stash she and her father hustled up. It was her college fund but one could argue that buying weed was higher learning. Actually, she was learning social skills. Learning to follow so she could one day become a leader.
“Oh, this my shit right here!” Angle yelled as the latest D-Lite banger came on the radio. She jumped up and began gyrating to the music.
“Hey!” Nita sang and joined her daughter dancing. One by one they got up and danced to the hit song. Yep, even Cameisha.
“What kinda dance is that?” Dasia asked amused at Cameisha’s movements. Of course, the only dance moves she knew was the ‘fat-fat’ dance but she certainly wasn’t going to admit it.
“It’s called…the …um, Mississippi. It’s what we do back home,” she replied using her original accent as proof.
“Let me see,” Crystalline said coming next to her. She then mimicked Camesiha’s every move. The rest of the crew was next. Soon they were all doing the ‘fat-fat’ but just didn’t know it.
“Girl you need to come to Brandford Place with us tomorrow!” Zaria proclaimed.
“For real though. Brandford place is the shit!” Nita co-signed.
“Ma! You can’t be coming up in the same parties I be in!” Angle groaned. Her ratchet ass mother had no problem with hanging out with teenagers. They were after all, her peers mentally.
“What’s Brandford place?” Cameisha asked intrigued.
“It’s the shit!” Nita repeated.
Brandford place was more of a where than a what. It was actually a dead end street off of Burnside Ave a little further uptown. The last building on the block had an empty apartment that had been commandeered for use as a teen club.
Since kids couldn’t get into any of the grown up clubs so they’d made their own. Kids from all over the Bronx flocked to the spot each Saturday night. Five bucks got you in and it was B.Y.O.B., which in the Bx meant to bring your own blunts, burners and bandages.
It may have been all the glowing endorsements, or the contact high, but something made the recluse agree. She even surprised herself when she said ‘okay’.
“Girl, you ain’t going nowhere with us dressed like that!” Zaria exclaimed. The tone was friendly but she was serious.
“For real though. Just come by my crib and I’ll give you something to wear,” Dasia offered.
“You know we gotta represent!” Crystalline cheered. She was right too because it wasn’t enough for you to be a fly individually, your whole crew had to be right.
******
“Are you sure about this?” Grandma Deidra asked over dinner. She had already given her permission for Cameisha to attend the party, but was now she having second thoughts.
“I guess,” she replied, having doubts of her own now. It seemed like a good idea yesterday when she was caught up in the moment, but now, eh.
“Well, I know I don’t have to warn you about boys, and drugs and being careful,” Deidra said warning her about boys and drugs and being careful.
“No grandma,” Cameisha laughed at the slick admonishment.
After a shower, Meisha pulled her hair into a ponytail and pulled on her sweats. She was cool with how she looked but still headed over to Dasia’s apartment to get dressed.
“No! Way!” Cameisha protested looking at herself in the skin tight jeans Dasia offered. They were just as tight as the ones she had on.
“Girl you look good! And you got a fat ass, no homo,” Dasia complemented.
“Un uh, feels like I’ma get a yeast infection messing with these tight britches!”
“OK, first of all, these are pants not… britches,” Dasia laughed.
“Whatever they are I ain’t wearing them!” Cameisha huffed as she peeled them back off. “What else you got?”
The girls spent the next hour picking and rejecting items from Dasia’s extensive boosted wardrobe. Finally, they settled on capri pants and a designer tee.
“Now this hair,” Dasia exclaimed moving on her ponytail.
“Is staying just like it is!” Cameisha insisted. She still didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself.
The girls headed over to Angles apartment for the rest of the pre-party preparations. That meant smoking weed and drinking wine coolers.
“Un, uh girl you gotta smoke with us tonight!” Crystalline insisted when Meisha passed on the blunt.
“For real yo! You fucking up the rotation,” Zaria laughed.
“I ain’t never done it before,” Cameisha whined eagerly.
“OK, I’ma blow ya’a gun,” Aqua offered when the blunt had made its way to her.
“What I gotta do?” She asked as Aqua put the lit end of the cigar in her mouth and began blowing a steady stream of smoke.
“Breath!” All the girls yelled causing Meisha to rush to comply. She leaned
in and inhaled filling her virgin lungs.
“That’s it, now hold it,” Nita instructed just as she had taught her own daughter to smoke weed.
Cameisha obeyed and held the hot smoke for as long as it would stay down. Finally, it forced its way out in a coughing spell. When the hacking cough subsided she was all smiles.
“I feel it!” she giggled as the warming glow of the THC spread through her person.
“Damn right you do! This that Dro!” Crystalline bragged.
“It’s not Hydro Phonics. Actually it’s a nice mid grade of regular. Tennessee or Kentucky,” Cameisha blurted. Everyone just looked at her as if she spoke the phrase in Korean.
“Um…anyway, let’s bounce,”Crystalline ordered. They all fell in line behind her and exited the apartment. A crowded cab delivered them to the train station.
Now too cute to hop the turnstile, they all purchased tokens. Cameisha watched the darkened slums pass by underneath as the train rumbled uptown. Once they reached Davidson they got off and hoofed it over to Branford Place.
The thunderous bass line of an Erv-G song seemed to vibrate the entire tenement building as they ascended the stairs. Aqua paid the admission to the man at the door holding a Tech nine machine gun like it was legal.
Cameisha admired the hardware even though she preferred the H&K Mp-5 herself. He was the only security to speak of but not the only one with a gun. In fact, most of the packs of boys from different projects and hoods had at least one shooter among them. This was the Bx you know.
The girls entered the dim, smoke filled room and blinked it into focus. The first thing Cameisha saw was Tay gripping a microphone ferociously spitting violent lyrics that the crowd devoured. He acknowledged her with a head nod and went about his rhymes.
“Come on y’all, let’s turn this shit out!” Crystalline ordered marching to the center of the dance floor. When she broke out doing the ‘fat-fat’ dance her girls followed suit.