Ghetto Girls Too

by Anthony Whyte

  In the center of the room was a table covered in purple suede. On top of it was a golden urn. No one had opened the lid and everyone assumed that Busta’s remains rested peacefully inside. Light chatter circulated around the place and filtered throughout the atmosphere. The denseness of the crowd was made more oppressive by the presence of large floral arrangements.

  Everywhere one turned, someone was air kissing someone else or there were people locked in an embrace. The whole scene was overbearing and pretentious and reminiscent of the opening night of a Broadway play rather than a funeral. There were the famous and infamous pretending to get along. It was easy to spot the real gangsters, they were all decked out in dark gray striped suits. It was as if they not only shared the same barber but the same tailor. There were gentlemen escorting ladies and ladies looking for rich gentlemen to escort them.

  The common people stood milling around. Those without celebrity status were only allowed inside if they were related in some way to the deceased. They turned out to say their final goodbyes to Busta’s enigmatic personality from the world of entertainment. Some could have been close relatives judging by the way they wailed and cried.

  ‘Oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ were heard as the shielded face of different celebrities passed through to pay their respects. Most raised their shades when a parade of ladies, some Asian, some Spanish and some White sauntered to the casket and laid hands or lips on it before they turned away, only to be greeted a few steps later by waiters and waitresses serving chilled champagne.

  Eric and Sophia stood side by side wondering whether this was the kind of celebration Busta had in mind or was this concocted by some crazy relative. They were deep in discussion when Francisco Maruichi, with two buxom blonds on either side and a bunch of bodyguards behind him, stopped by to greet Eric.

  “Busta must’ve left the instructions for this in his last will and testament,” Sophia was critiquing when she noticed the group of people congregated in front of where she stood.

  “Mr. Ascot, how are you doing, my friend? Is this the Misses? She’s a doll,” he complimented as he gave Eric a firm handshake.

  “Mr. Maruichi, how’re doing? Yes, this is the Misses. This is my fiancé, Sophia Sullivan,” Eric said as he accepted an embrace that ended in a handshake. “Everything is going well, you know.”

  Maruichi extended a hand to Sophia. When she reached out, he bowed and kissed her hand.

  “It’s all my pleasure,” he said. Suave in a striped black suit, Maruichi presented the courteous and clean shaven side of him.

  “Eric, I’ve got a lot of old friends here so I’m gonna run and make my rounds. Why don’t you give me a call in a couple of days and we’ll talk. I may have something that you might like. Nice to meet you, Sophia. You’re a very beautiful woman. Goodnight.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Maruichi.”

  “Call me Frankie. Let’s keep things light.” Maruichi walked away his entourage in tow.

  “What an interesting friend you’ve got there, Eric.”

  “He was Busta’s man, Sophie.”

  “So does that make him your friend, too?”

  “Oh please. What’re talking about? He stopped by to say hi. C’mon, Sophia. Don’t start up with that bullshit again.”

  “Bullshit, huh? All I’m trying to do is find out what kind of friends you’ve been keeping just in case.”

  “Just in case of what?” Eric asked his tone seething with anger. Sophia turned to give him an evil stare but was greeted by Herb Thai, the newest rap sensation from Japan and the accompanying flash bulbs. Sophia was forced to check herself and remain cool on the exterior but as she extended her hand and smiled, she was boiling on the inside.

  “Hey, Eric, what’s good?” A suited member of the rapper’s entourage asked.

  “Ain’t nothing, Rob. You know, still trying to do this damn thing. How’s things with you, man?” Eric asked as he gave the immaculately dressed man with that familiar bling of success an embrace. “Rob, I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Sophia. Sophia, Rob. He’s competition so be careful,” Eric added as Sophia shook Rob’s hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Rob,” Sophia said.

  “I heard your new man spit. He’s nice,” Eric said.

  “Yeah, Thai really got sump’n, sump’n. I think he’s working with some shit. Why don’t you come down to the studio tomorrow, E-money? We’ll be there all day. I’ll let you hear some new joints. See if you really feeling the kid,” Rob said.

  “I’ll definitely try to pass through.”

  “C’mon, E, how long have I known you? Just come through, don’t front.”

  “Okay, okay,” Eric replied laughing.

  “Nice to meet you, Miss. Take care y’all,” Rob said and his group moved on.

  The stars popped out as the evening wore on. Each one paid the ultimate respect to the ashes in the urn. Some walked directly to the table on which the urn sat and touched it while others planted light kisses against the edge. Above the urn, stood a life sized picture of a young Busta. An announcement was made and several people began to eulogize and honor the memory of Busta.

  Eric was called upon to give his tribute. Dressed in his black Armani suit with black shirt, sporting no tie, he slowly made his way to the center of the gathering. Sophia looking beautiful by his side resplendent in a black Helmut Lang dress, her head held proudly, she cupped her hand in his. Eric looked at Sophia before he began to speak.

  “I want y’all to know that my good friend, Busta, was the most loyal person I’ve ever known. We came up together, Busta, my brother, Dennis, and I. I was the baby and right now, I’m the only one still standing.” Eric’s voice wavered and his eyes became watery when he mentioned his brother’s name.

  “You’re a survivor,” an audience member yelled. Eric dabbed at his face and squeezed Sophia’s hands ever so tightly as he continued.

  “When I was six years old, my brother and Busta were best friends. They were both twelve years old and all they used to talk about was who was gonna have more cars than the other, who’s gonna have the most houses and most women when they got older. About six years ago, I buried my brother and now I’m doing the same thing for his best friend. They both couldn’t have died in vain. Not from the same thing...bullet wounds. We’ve got to start growing old and dying of old age cause ain’t too much of us around and the kids are really going wild.”

  Sniffling was heard coming from all over the place as Eric continued his tribute to his fallen comrade. People were genuinely moved by what he had to say. With tears in his eyes, he glanced around at the attendees. There were hardly any dry eyes by then. Eric felt the love shown for Busta. “In a couple of weeks, we are gonna continue with something Busta started. ‘Reach for the Stars’ will feature all of the finalists from the talent show that he ran for our teens over the past ten years.” There was thunderous applause and whistling when Eric made the announcement. Slowly, the applause died and Eric called on a surprised Coco to say a few words.

  “Ooh, I think we got to get closer,” Josephine said and pushed her way through the throng of mourners and pretenders. “Excuse us, we’ve got to get up front…Excuse us...Sorry, don’t mind us,” Josephine said as the girls made their way to the front next to the urn. She moved closer to Coco. The crowd stared brazenly at the girls. Some of the people present wore confused expressions and wondered, ‘Who were these girls?’ Coco broke the awkward silence.

  “Hi,” Coco said greeting the crowd. “Me and my crew, Josephine and Danielle, may her soul rest in peace, we did a lot of battles sponsored by Busta and we won a lot of those battles. Busta always looked out for the kids from the get go. He always had a kind word for all of us. He truly understood us…we’re really gonna miss him.”

  “Peace y’all. I’m Jo and I just wanna let y’all know that we’ll be performing at the event mentioned by Mr. Ascot. So come on out and support. Show us some love,” Josephine interjected. Coco and Deedee hugged her and they all waded back throug
h the crowd.

  Eric called on some other people to say a few words. Some were long winded while others short and to the point. There were even a few who sang their condolences. The benediction was announced by someone introduced as a priest.

  “I hope they have a real priest and just not some nigga who comes in and is like: ‘My bitches call me Priest’ cuz I’m gonna be like: ‘Nigga get the fuck outta here wit that juvenile bullshit. This is grown folks affair’.”

  “Kim, I don’t think Busta would be having any front’n ass nigga who passes himself off as a priest, ahight, so take a chill pill. You been on that shit since we left the babysitter.”

  “I’m just saying, for as much as that brother did for our community, they should have a real mofucking priest or bishop or a reverend or sump’n cuz this ain’t no real funeral.”

  “Kim, chill, I got it,” Tina said.

  Busta may have departed the earth but his friends turned out in huge numbers to make sure that his memory was not forgotten. It went down like that, ashes to ashes dust to dust. It was a gala affair more befitting the opening of a play or movie than an actual ending of someone’s life. Busta’s ashes remained in the golden urn as the crowd thinned out. Celebrities went on their way, discussing business and forgetting what the function was really about.

  “Come out to the after party at my place,” a pimp dressed in gold told another. “If you think this was sump’n, you just wait and see when I make that heavenly trip.”

  “Amen, brother. I’ll see you there.”

  FORTY-TWO

  Eric and Sophia walked past the waiting pimps and was greeted by scattered evening showers. With the girls running in front, they made their way to the Range Rover. All hopped inside. As he was about to peel away, he could hear tapping on the window. Eric lowered it and saw Rightchus standing outside the Range clutching a forty ounce.

  “Yo, yo, what’s good my peeps?” Rightchus said, his eyes glossy as if severely under the influence. Eric nodded.

  “How can we help you?” Eric asked but Rightchus cut him off.

  “I know you not gonna be akkin like we ain’t never met? Remember your boy, the dearly departed? May his soul rest in peace…Busta introduced us. You know me. I’m like a rapper’s delight, you feel me? I was kicking sump’n for you and Busta, remember? You were like you wanna work wit me an’ all. You was feeling all that fire I was spitting,” Rightchus said and moved closer when he saw the confused look on Eric’s face. “Busta, me, you outside…I rapped…you liked it and…”

  “Yeah, sure I remember. And what did you say your name was?” Eric asked still unsure.

  “Yo, yo, yo ahight. I’ll spit it fo’ you. Huh, what, one time, check it and huh, hear me now... They call me Rightchus, holy terror delight…” Rightchus rapped as Coco and Josephine dropped a beat box sound for his impromptu accapella.

  “...suckas think I won’t bust a grape in fruit fight but I surprised ‘em hurr-where I go same suckas hugging da wall all tight...don’t wanna see me cuz I will fight...busting hurr-thing in my sight...and I don’t need no six guns, just me an my knuckles I’ll shoot a fair one...c’mon man see me an I’ll wobble you an’ I still ain’t done...”

  “Whoa,” Josephine yelled.

  “That’s enough right thurr, Rightchus. Ahight!” Coco yelled applauding.

  “Yeah, yeah say no more, dogs” Eric said and handed Rightchus a fifty dollar bill. “You good now, right?” Eric asked as Rightchus jigged when paper touched his parched hand. He whirled, elated when he glanced at the numbers.

  “Oh baby, today was a blessed day for me. God bless you, my brother. Coco, I see you my girl. Who’s that next to you?”

  “You remember Jo from Da crew?” Coco asked. Rightchus thought for awhile.

  “Sure do, sure do. Your face did look familiar, ma. You’re back in da city, huh?”

  “Yes, finally,” Josephine answered.

  “Welcome back. Ya know Rightchus ain’t got nothing but love for y’all.”

  “Ahight, Rightchus,” Coco yelled.

  “Take care of yourself,” Eric said. Rightchus moved closer and gave him a handshake.

  “Drive safe. There are cops all over the place, ya heard?”

  Eric gunned the engine and they were out. He steered the vehicle into traffic as he watched Rightchus in the rearview mirror. Eric could see two men speaking to Rightchus from a gray Caprice. Probably the police chasing Rightchus off the street for panhandling, Eric thought and kept driving.

  “I’m hungry. Anyone else?” Eric asked.

  “I’m kind a famished too. Oh, Uncle E, I wanted to know if I could attend this album release party. It’s on Friday,” Deedee asked.

  “I really don’t see why not. Whose album is dropping?” Eric asked.

  “Silky Black’s new joint,” all three girls echoed then laughed. Eric chuckled and eyed Sophia sitting next to him. She continued to stare straight ahead.

  “I guess all three of you were invited, huh?” Eric asked smiling.

  “Uh huh,” all three girls chorused once again.

  “Did anyone have any suggestions in mind about what to eat?” Eric asked.

  “Could you drop me at my place, please, Eric?” Sophia asked abruptly putting to rest the buzz Eric had created regarding food. All of a sudden, you could hear a pin drop.

  “Why, do you wanna get…?” Eric started to ask as he recovered from the surprise of Sophia’s request. It wasn’t so much the request but the manner in which it was made.

  “I’ve got some paperwork that I’ve got to catch up on,” Sophia said. When she saw the disappointment shading his doubt, she added, “Eric, you know this weekend was hectic and today was the worst.”

  Eric drove in silence to Sophia’s place. She got out of the vehicle and Eric spoke to the girls as he followed her into the building.

  “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be right back,” he said.

  “Josephine, nice to see you and Coco again and Dee, I’ll be seeing you later. Goodnight,” Sophia said.

  “Goodnight. Take care. Nice to see you again,” Josephine smiled and waved.

  “Don’t work too hard. You hear me, Sophia?” Deedee blew her a kiss.

  “Ahight, Sophia, I’ll see you,” Coco said then Sophia waved and walked away with Eric by her side. From the car, the girls could see them walking close but couldn’t hear what was being discussed.

  “Yo, she’s stressed,” Josephine said, watching as they went through the entrance. Inside, Eric waved at the doorman.

  “Good evening, Paul,” Sophia said and then checked her mailbox. Eric waited on her. “Oh, Eric, there’s no reason for you to ride up with me. The girls are waiting and I’ll be…”

  “I’ve got a surprise for you,” he said moving closer to Sophia.

  “Please, I’ve had enough of your surprises to last all eternity, Eric. No more, please.” Sophia was busy protesting and did-n’t notice as Eric unveiled a small jewelry box. He opened it and when the sparkle from the diamonds hit her face, her mouth fell open but sound failed her. Eric stood with the oblong shaped black box opened to reveal the glow of perfect diamonds. Sophia gasped

  “Oh…oh my…oh my…this is beautiful. What? Why?” The diamonds glittered and Sophia struggled with her words.

  “It’s for you. Take it,” he said. Sophia reached out and touched the necklace laced with diamonds.

  “Oh my, this must have cost you a fortune, Eric,” she said as he reached behind and clasped it around her neck. That maneuver placed them face to face with each other and Eric could see her tears in her eyes. “Even when I’m trying to hate you, you make it difficult,” Sophia said. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the elevator arrived and they both stepped inside. She pressed twelve and then hugged and kissed Eric harder than she had planned. It wasn’t easy for her to withhold anything from Eric. He was trying to be someone and go somewhere with his life. Emotionally, she wanted to stand by her man but there was the professional side that
could not be avoided. Should she open up to him and ask the tough questions? The impetus of her fear came from the information she received from her trusted friend and business associate, Michael Thompson. Sophia slowly realized that she was reluctantly approaching an impasse in her life and a future with Eric depended on her decision.

  “I love you and I know sometimes I make it difficult but that’s what’s gonna make us stronger as a couple.”

  They kissed at length. The door to the elevator opened on her floor and slowly started to close. Eric used his foot to block it. As the door started to close a second time, they laughingly jumped off just in the nick of time.

  “We were almost taken for a ride, huh? Goodnight, Eric,” Sophia said dreamily walking to her door but Eric was right behind her and she fell once more into his arms. They kissed long and hard again until he could only smell her scent. Riding on a sudden resurging cloud of romance, Eric floated into Sophia’s apartment.

  “What about the girls?” Sophia asked as Eric planted his lips on hers cutting off her speech. “You’ve got to go and make sure the girls are home safe, Eric. Call me later, all right?”

  “Alright, I’ll call later,” Eric said on his way out the door.

  “Thanks so much for my gift. It really cheered me up,” Sophia said and hugged Eric.

  “You’re welcome, love,” he said then she closed the door after him. He whistled all the way down to the lobby and waved at the doorman as he went by. “Have a very good evening,” Eric sang as he exited through the front door. Outside, the girls sat in the car and saw the swagger that accompanied Eric’s gait. It was a little past ten and they were all hungry and looking forward to dining out.

  “Your uncle is looking kinda happy, yo.”

  “Yep, looks like homey gonna have it his way tonight. Get him some trim tonight.”

  “You guys are soo bad. I can’t believe you’re just sitting here and talking about my uncle and his fiancé like that,” Deedee said looking out the window as her uncle approached the vehicle. “You could be right, though. He does look kinda happy,” she said then got out and went to sit in the front.