Dope Girl: The Beginning

by Sa'id Salaam

  They, of course added their own flare to it and made it their own. All the other girls watched in envy, mad that they didn’t get the scoop on the newest dance. This was only the epi-center, all in attendance would take it back to their hoods and it would spread like wild fire.

  “What’s that called?” A girl worked up enough nerve to ask.

  “The Mississippi,” Zaria said breathlessly as she worked it. The girl stood next to her and did what she did until she had it down.

  “Hate them bitches,” Tovia grumbled at the attention the High Bridge girls were getting. Lola couldn’t help but cringe upon hearing the ‘B’ word used. She had gotten her ass whooped so thoroughly because of it she hadn’t used it since.

  “Me too,” Lola said even as she mimicked their dance moves.

  “Let’s step to those bitches!” Tovia demanded and led the way. She pushed onto the dance floor bumping girls out the way.

  “Fuck is your problem?” Zaria spat, ready to thump. Her girls saw what happened and rushed to her side. The two groups squared off and began yelling at each other. This was to get their blood pumping and ready for battle.

  Before they got a chance to set it off, the apartment erupted in violence. Dudes from Sound View Projects had a long standing beef with dudes from Co-op City. Now that they were in the same place it was going down.

  That’s black folk for you, a comma is enough to divide them and once divided they have no problem killing each other. The particular feud began long before any of them were born. These kids had no idea what they were dying over, but die they did.

  ‘Brrrrrrrt’, a semi- automatic something belched spraying the room with bullets. Kids scrambled to get out anyway they could. That meant squeezing through the front door and climbing out the fire escapes.

  It’s an unwritten rule that when a party gets shot up you head home. There’s no time to re-group or take a head count, go home! Luckily the journey was imprinted on Cameisha’s brain so she rushed towards the train station.

  “Ayo Meisha! Come on!” Tay called holding the door of a gypsy cab open. The Spanish driver yelled rapid curses at him to close it so he could pull off.

  It only took a split second to weigh the options of train versus cab before she joined him in the back seat. She calmed the driver in flawless Spanish and gave him their destination.

  “You Puerto rican?” Tay asked, assuming all Spanish speakers were.

  “No,” Cameisha replied stopping just short of saying Mexican. “I took Spanish last year.”

  “Aight, Aight so what’s up ma? You got a man?” he said dropping his voice a few octaves to sound like one.

  “No,” she giggled shyly.

  “Well you do now. You my girl from now on,” Tay said firmly, nodding his head since he agreed with himself.

  “Um, ok,” she nodded. “What I gotta do?”

  “A lot,” he replied seductively then switched gears.“We gonnago on a date tomorrow so dress fly.”

  “OK,” then came the reply again causing Tay to think about asking for more.

  Once they arrived at the projects, Tay paid the driver and they got out. An awkward moment that could have led to a first kiss was quickly ruined by her friends.

  “Ayo, Meishawhere Crystalline?” Dasia asked, in her usual theatrics. She had a way of making any and everything sound major. Everything with her was ‘yo!!’, ‘oh shit!!!’, or ‘check it!’ Drama queen with a capital D.Q.!

  “Tomorrow,” Tay ordered and slipped away into the darkness.

  “I just got back, where everybody else?”Cameisha replied scanning the projects. Just then Aqua and Zaria appeared in the court yard.

  “Where Angle and Crystalline?” Zaria demanded. “We took the train and ain’t seen ‘em”.

  Chapter 22

  “Hmpf!” grandma pouted as Cameisha entered the living room. She was heated about this so-called date she had agreed to.

  “Grandma…” Cameisha whined with a chuckle. “If you don’t want me to go I won’t go.”

  “No, no go ahead, have fun,” Deidra acquiesced. It wasn’t so much the date she was concerned with it was ‘the who’. She knew the cute curly head boy sold drugs. Ninety percent of the males from these projects sold drugs at one point or another. It was like a right of passage. TheGhetto Barmitzvah. No, her main problem was all the curly headed little babies running around the projects.

  “I spoke with Auntie D.G. last night,” Cameisha offered knowing that would soothe her nerves.

  “Ayo Meisha!” Tay called up from the courtyard.

  “Bye grandma, I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” she cheered ready to hit the door.

  “Chile, I wish you would let some nigga holla’ for you! Or honk a horn or tell you to meet him!” Deidra barked.

  “Boy, if you plan on taking my granddaughter anywhere you better come up here and get her and bring her back right here! untouched!” She yelled down to him.

  Cameisha started to protest but grandma had her ‘no protest’ look on her face so she sat down. A minute later Tay tapped on the heavy project door.

  “Yes, may I help you?” Deidra asked as she pulled it open.

  “I’m supposed to be taking Cameisha to the movies,” Tay smiled in an attempt to charm the lady.

  “Hmpf, what time will you be returning her home? Right here, to this apartment where you get her from?”

  “The movie starts at two, so around five?” Tay replied. He needed to get back early himself so he could hit the trap. It was the first of the month and government money was in abundance.

  “Forty thirty,” grandma demanded just to be difficult.

  “Grandma!”Cameisha groaned in embarrassment.

  “Don’t grandma me! And definitely don’t great-grandma me! You feel me?”

  “Bye grandma,” she laughed shaking her head as she left.

  Tay walked her the long way through the projects before heading over to Ogden Ave to catch a taxi. This was done to show off the fact that he had bagged the exclusive new girl. Even though Cameisha had lived there over a year, her rare appearances still classified her as new.

  Cameisha had hoped they were going downtown to the iconic Times Square to catch a movie, but when Tay led her to the D train instead of the one heading downtown, that meant Fordham Rd. Tay was a hood dude and preferred the ghetto shopping district to the tourist trap.

  “You hungry?” He asked detouring into a pizza shop.

  “A little,”she replied even though she was starved. Aunt D.G told her that if a man wanted your time he had to feed you so she skipped lunch.

  Cameisha mimicked what Tay did and shook a pile of parmesan cheese and red pepper on her greasy slice of pizza. They both folded them lengthwise and let the excess oil runs off the paper plate. Combined it was enough grease to fry a chicken. Iced tea that tasted nothing like ice tea washed down the pizza and they were off again.

  “Ayo check this ma!” Tay exclaimed at the sight of a gaudy piece of jewelry in one of the slum jewelry stores that dotted Fordham Rd.

  Cameisha followed him inside as he admired the large medallion crusted in cheap diamond flakes. The Jewish jeweler was skilled enough to set the chips in white gold that made them flash like superior grade stones when the light hit them.

  “Five stacks yo, I’ma cop this by the end of summer. That’s my word.” Tay swore.

  “It’s nice,” she lied to appease him. At that point the idea of extravagant jewelry was silly to her. She had done enough research to know that diamonds were neither rare nor expensive.

  “Nice? This shit is dope!” Tay corrected. He paid homage to the piece for a few more minutes before tearing himself away.

  “OK, we got ANIMAL or TRAP HOUSE,” Tay said skipping the middle movie listed on the marquee.

  “I wanna see THE PREACHERS WIFE,” Cameisha insisted. She would have been content with the other two but Aunt D.G. told her that if a dude is really feeling you he’ll sit through a chic- flick with you.
/>   “That’s what’s up,” he agreed and approached the ticket booth. Cameisha pumped her fist ‘yesss!’ as she followed.

  Aunt D.G said that if a man was feeling you he would buy you whatever you asked for from the concession without comment or complaint. She tried him up and pointed at stuff she had no intentions of eating. He bought it all without a word. He was feeling her.

  Cameisha was so distraught and disgusted by the drug induced antics of the Preacher’s Wife she got up and walked out. It was an award winning adaptation of the bestselling book but it hit too close to home. Watching a woman subject her children to abuse to soothe her craving was too much. It was her life.

  “What’s wrong yo?” Tay asked as he caught up to her outside.

  “I hate that bitch!” Cameisha fumed.

  “Yeah she was that bullshit,” Tay agreed assuming she meant the character on the screen. In truth she meant the character from her own life.

  This was the first time she thought of her mother in a long time. She didn’t ever try to stop the tears from falling once they began. Aunt D.G. said a good cry was like a douche for your soul;whatever that meant.

  “You aight?” Tay asked slipping a comforting arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and let it all out.

  By the time they reached the Grand Concourse, Cameisha’s soul was spring time fresh and she felt better. He stuck out his hand causing a taxi to cross all lanes of traffic and stop in front of them. Hand in hand, in silence, they rode back over to High Bridge. Tay planned to get a kiss this time and she planned to let him, but…

  “Ayo Meisha come on!” Aqua yelled as the couple emerged from the cab.

  “Crystalline got shot last night! We heading to the hospital now,” Dasia added.

  “Go head yo’. I’ll catch up with you later,” Tay sighed. He rushed off into the drug traffic before she could respond.

  The crew of girls squeezed into another taxi and raced to the hospital to check on their leader.

  “I thought she was with you?” Zaria demanded to Angle.

  “Un,uh, when them niggas started bussin’ we just bounced. I got in the cab with some dude and stayed over his house,” she shot back defensively.

  “What dude?” Dasia asked excitedly, “You fuck him?”

  “I don’t know his name, and of course I fucked him. He paid for the cab and smoked a blunt with me!”

  Cameisha frowned at the prospect of having sex with a dude you didn’t even know. Aunt D.G. said the coochie was a commodity and you get its worth. Hers was priceless.

  “Crystalline Johnson!” Zaria demanded as they stormed the information desk.

  “She’s in 701, medical ICU,” the nurse replied grimly. The girls had no idea of what ICU stood for and thus no idea how bad off their friend was.

  “701.” Zaria relayed even though her crew was close enough to hear for themselves. She turned away and marched towards the elevator as the nurse called behind them.

  “Hey! You girls can’t go up there!” She yelled to their departing backs, “security!”

  The crew didn’t ignore the warning they were too concerned about their friend to hear it. They rushed into the first available elevator and raced up to the 7th floor.

  “In here!” Dasia called out when she read the room number over the door. They followed her into the room and stopped dead in their tracks.

  “The fuck!” Zaria spat at the sight of Crystalline.

  “Fuck wrong with yall?” Crystalline asked with a week laugh.

  “You aight yo?” Aqua asked.

  “Hell no! I got shot!” she croaked, “high as a mother fucker from whatever they got my ass on!”

  “Where you got hit?” Dasia asked as they finally approached her bedside.

  “In the back yo’. Yall bitches left me!” She frowned.

  “Left you!? Girl yo’ ass was the first one to dip! You hit that fire escape like yo’ ass was on fire!” Angle laughed.

  “Speaking of hot asses, I seen you dip in a cab with some nigga.”

  “She fucked him too!” Aqua reported.

  “I was right behind you ‘til my shit just went numb. I ain’t even feel the shit yo’.My legs just stopped working,” Crystalline relayed. The fact that she had been hit in her spine and would never walk again wasn’t passed along yet.

  The hospital staff wanted to inform a parent or guardian before giving the grim news to the patient. Of course, they would have to wait until her mother got in from her own night on the town. She too went home and fucked a dude without getting a name. He did smoke a blunt with her though so it was all good.

  “You guys can’t be in here!” the security guard said sternly from the doorway.

  “Your friend needs some rest so the medication can work and she can go home,” a young handsome black doctor added. His pretty presence prevented the outburst that was sure to follow the guard’s statement.

  “Okay,” they all sang flirtatiously together.

  “Y’all fall back. I’ll be home in a day or two,” Crystalline ordered. She stopped short of saying as soon as I can feel my legs again.

  ******

  “What now!” Zaria griped when they returned to their projects. It looked like the whole 44th precinct was milling about.

  “Look it, oh shit!” Dasia said pointing towards the parking lot. The police had a group of men and boys attached to one long chain. They were being led into the back of a waiting paddy wagon.

  Tay was at the end of the chain. He made eye contact with Cameisha and shook his head. He and the rest of the dealers got caught red handed with dope, their summer was over.

  Chapter 23

  Cameisha still had almost all of the ten grand her father had left her when he left. Add that to her grandmother supplying all her needs and breaking her off lovely, and even she couldn’t explain why she was clad in baggy clothes heading downtown to boost. She often accompanied her girls on the mission that kept them in weed and weave but never participated, until now that is.

  Since Crystalline was still in the hospital Angle assumed the role of H.B.I.C. Nonetheless, they respected Cameisha’s intelligence and deferred to her when thinking was needed.

  “You ok?” Aqua asked, seeing her friend conflicted by her thoughts.

  “Yeah, I’m cool” Cameisha lied. Internally she was at war with herself. She was heading to do something that went against everything she was taught. Then again, she had been taught how to deal and kill so why not steal.

  “Here, get this stuff in these sizes, Sincerity pays top dollar,” Aqua advised as she handed her an order. Being a big girl she did well with the men’s clothes.

  “OK,” she agreed, frowning at the foreign names on the list. Cameisha studied the list and put it in a pocket as the train pulled into the 34th street station.

  They may have traveled in a group but once they entered the store it was each man for himself. The girls fanned out in search of high ticket items that would fetch a good price in the hood.

  Cameisha found the high end boutique that held the items on her list. A can opener wasn’t required her because these clothes didn’t have security devices, they had security guards. The amateur thief stood out like a sore thumb to the trained security guard. She immediately keyed in on her as she shot her eyes in all directions.

  After making direct eye contact with the plainclothes agent Cameisha began to load up. She had memorized the list and made quick work of hunting down the clothes. She tallied up the tag prices and was above a thousand dollars in hood prices when she turned to leave.

  The security guard called other security guards as she followed Cameisha beginning to the exit. There was a nice little welcoming party waiting for her when she arrived.

  Angle saw what was going down but was loaded with stolen gear herself and unable to warn her. Instead, she watched helplessly as she got apprehended.

  “Come with us,” one of the two agents said as they took Cameisha by the arms.

  One look a
t the burly men dismissed the thought of making a break for it. Instead she dropped her head and let them lead her to the security desk.

  Cameisha meekly obeyed and began pulling the stolen merchandise from her clothes. The Serge entered each price into an adding machine on his desk as she handed it over. A yellow smile spread on his weather beaten face when the tally reached over a grand.

  “Ladies and gentleman we have a felony!” He announced to the delight of his underlings.

  “What’s your name girl?” The female officer demanded.

  “Tyw… Cameisha.” She stammered.

  “I don’t see her in here,” the woman advised as she flipped through their list of known boosters.

  “I better strip her sarge,” the male guard announced lustfully. He had no idea how dangerous a proposition that was. Quite a few new thieves allowed him to strip search them out of fear. Cameisha was more afraid of being naked than going to jail.

  “Let’s not!” the sergeant frowned, “why are you stealing from my store!”

  “I don’t know sir,” Cameisha admitted truthfully. She had no idea herself why she’ddid it. “I ain’t never did it before.”

  “Well you got two choices, you can go to jail or call a parent to come pick you up,” Serge offered. He lived long enough to tell bad kids from followers.

  “Jail please,” Cameisha replied to his surprise. No one he’d ever given the option to chose jail. That settled it for him.

  “What’s your phone number!” he barked as he picked up the old fashion phone on his desk.

  An hour later Deidra stared down at her granddaughter like she had three heads, as the sergeant displayed the stolen loot on his desk. Cameisha couldn’t bear to face her so she quietly sobbed looking down at her shoes.

  “Officer pass me the two hundred dollar scarf so she can wipe her eyes,” grandma said curtly.

  “The fact that she would rather go to jail then face you shows me she knows better,” Serge began. “I hope she has learned her lesson, have you?”

  “Yes sir,” Cameisha nodded, sounding every bit the country girl.