Street Soldier

by Silhouettes

  As soon as I entered North High School, the security guard stopped me at the door. He was one of the more laidback guards, so I knew I’d be able to get in.

  “No can do,” he said with his arms folded.

  “Man, I need to go to the principal’s office.”

  “For what?”

  “I wanted to talk to Mr. King about returnin’ to school. He said I could talk to him.”

  “Did you make an appointment?”

  “Nah, but I was drivin’ by and thought it would be a good idea to stop.”

  The security guard gave me a suspicious look, then checked me for weapons. “Go,” he said. “And next time, make an appointment.”

  I thanked him and headed in the direction of the principal’s office. The security guard watched me, too, and when I opened the door to the principal’s office, the guard looked away. I quickly snuck off down the hall, and turned down another hallway. Ms. Macklin’s class was only a few feet away, and when I looked through the glass panel on the door, I saw her standing at the chalkboard. She was writing on the board, with one hand on her hip. The fuchsia dress she wore hugged every curve, and I couldn’t believe I was missing out. I looked at the students in the class and there was not one empty seat. I seriously thought about not going inside, and I knew if I did, all of the rumors about us would be confirmed. I no longer went to this school, so I didn’t give a fuck. I was sure Ms. Macklin would know how to handle this, and thinking about how bold I could be, I finally pulled on the door. I entered the room, and every single head turned my way. Ms. Macklin’s writing on the board came to a halt and she looked stunned to see me.

  “Excuse me,” I said to the class. “I don’t mean to interrupt.”

  I walked up to Ms. Macklin and put my arm around her waist. She attempted to back away from me, but my grip was tight.

  “I know you were at the crib when I stopped by the other night. Get at me when you can, ma, a’ight?”

  I pecked her lips, and as expected, she didn’t reciprocate. She knew she could get fired behind this, so she hurried to push me away. The students in the classroom were shouting out “damn’s” and “dang’s” to “uh-uh’s” and “no, he didn’ts!” There was much laughter, too, and as I slightly stumbled backward, I dropped a piece of paper with my address and phone number on it. I backed out of the room, continuously watching the shocked look on her face.

  I was happy when I left her classroom, only because I had a vision of my events for the night. I wasn’t sure if the security guard was looking for me, but I also wanted to stop by Coach Johnson’s office. I walked fast down the hall, then jogged down the steps to the lower level where his office was. His door was open, and when I looked inside, his head was lowered. He was looking at some papers in front of him. I knocked twice and his head went up.

  “Can I come in?” I asked.

  He stood up, slowly pulling off his jacket. “Sure,” he said. “You want to talk again? I didn’t think you’d be back so soon, especially after that last ass kicking I gave you.”

  Obviously, Ms. Macklin had him all fucked up. He seemed ready to kill for her, and this dude was fucking me up.

  “Man, like I said before, I ain’t got no beef with you. Sit down and chill,” I said.

  I closed his door, but Coach Johnson did not take a seat. He put his balled fists on his hips, asking why I was there.

  “I had to take care of somethin’, but, uh, I wanted to stop by and talk to you about some thangs.”

  “Speak.”

  “I usually don’t warn people about what will happen to them if they keep up mega shit with me, but since we may be seeing each other from time to time, I wanted to encourage you to back off. I suggest you find a way to cope with me laying the pipe to your mistress, and if you don’t, your wife may soon be without a husband. I’m just sayin’.”

  Coach Johnson smirked. “I . . . I can’t believe you, Prince. How did someone like you ever get so fucked up? You was my star football player, yet you chose to drop out of school and fall in love with your teacher? Who, by the way, is deeply in love with me. I just don’t get it, but when I was your age, I guess I did some stupid shit too. Nothing as bad as what you’re doing, but you’ll have to be the one who lives and learns from your own mistakes.”

  “How old are you, Coach Johnson? Thirty-eight, right? I can’t believe you’re that old and still confused about the meanin’ of love. It makes sense, though, comin’ from a man who claims to love his wife, yet disses her for a cheap thrill. FYI, Coach, I’m not in love with no one. I love to have sex with a woman who gives it to me good and knocks me off my feet. I don’t have to tell you about it, for you already know how it is. But pussy ain’t somethin’ I feel as if I want to kill a nigga over. There’s too much of it to go around, and what one female won’t give, another one will. I’m wise enough to know that, and as far as football is concerned, fuck you and the game. What’s meant to be will be, and there wasn’t a chance in hell I would keep playin’ for you to save my soul. With that, control yourself or get ready to be dealt with.”

  I turned to walk out the door, having nothing else to say.

  He cleared his throat. “I guess you know she’s pregnant, right? But then again, you wouldn’t know because she’s done fucking with you. No woman wants a man who doesn’t stand up and fight for her, nor one who walks out when he’s under pressure. Through consoling her the other night, that’s how I found out she was pregnant. I doubt that the baby is mine, because I strapped up. It could be yours or anyone else, for that matter, but that is what happens when you play with fire. As for you, young man, you got a lot of fires burning. I don’t know what kind of shit you shooting from your dick, but whatever it is, it’s potent. Rumor has it that you have four chicks pregnant—no, three, because one of them just had her baby. Now, you may have to add Patrice to that list. What you gon’ do with all these kids, Prince? Get a job and take care of them? Teach them good morals and values, make sure they get a good education, what? Nah, you ain’t gon’ do nothing like that. You gon’ leave them babies out there on the streets, lost as fuck like you and looking for a way to survive. Sadly, that’s the kind of nigga you are, and a street soldier you are not. Now, I got work to do. You can get out of my office, or I’ll be happy to call security to come get you out.”

  I wanted so badly to fire back at him, but I don’t know what stunned me more: the fact that Ms. Macklin was pregnant, or that there was possibly a child in this world who belonged to me. I put on my game face in Coach Johnson’s office, but when I left, I sat in my car, thinking hard. Ms. Macklin and I only had sex twice without a condom. One time I came inside of her, but the other time I didn’t. Well, I didn’t think I did, but fuck! What was wrong with my ass? Every time I touched a chick she got pregnant. I really wasn’t sure about being the father of nobody’s baby, and Nadine’s baby was the only one I really thought was mine. Everybody thought I was gon’ be a big time football player, and dollar signs were flashing. Maybe now they realized that shit wasn’t going to happen. Either way, I had to put some of this mess to rest. I was going to make some phone calls tonight, just to see what was up. As for Ms. Macklin’s situation, all I could say about that was damn! Coach Johnson very well may have been trying to cover his ass because he was married. I knew he didn’t want to throw no news like that on his wife, and it was easy to pin the baby on me. It was all good, though, and at the end of the day, the truth would come to the light.

  I sat on my sleeper sofa that night, making my first call to a chick at my school named Deborah. Unfortunately for me, she was the one who Coach Johnson said recently had the baby. When she answered the phone, I was at a loss for words. I could hear the baby crying in the background, and I listened to Deborah say hello again.

  “What’s up?” I said, clearing my throat. “This Prince.” She was silent for a moment, but then spoke up. “What do you want?”

  I rubbed my chest and swallowed. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was spea
king to her. “I heard you had your baby. People been sayin’ I’m the father, so I want to know what’s up.”

  “I thought you was, but you ain’t. My baby daddy go to another school, and he here with me now. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you some other time.”

  I released a heap of air from my mouth and sighed with relief. “Yes,” I yelled, tightening my fist and shutting my phone. Two down—Nadine and Deborah—and two, maybe three more to go. I opted not to call Monesha, only because I deep down did not believe that slut was pregnant by me. I hadn’t heard anything else from her or her father, so I left that situation as was. The other girl who was running off at the mouth was Ivory. I spoke to her, but she wasn’t backing down. I was the father, and that’s all there was to it. She was due in three months and was willing to go through with a paternity test to prove it. “Holler at me when the time comes,” was all I had to say.

  I felt good about getting some of those issues off my chest. By now, I’d hoped to hear from Ms. Macklin, but it was getting late. I didn’t feel like being cooped up in my apartment tonight, so I called Cedric to tell him I was on my way. He asked me to meet him at a pizza joint near his house, so I made my way there.

  I entered the pizza parlor, and spotted Cedric playing a pinball machine in the far corner. There were two machines, so I played the one next to his.

  “I gotta ask,” he said. “Did you really kiss Ms. Macklin in her classroom today? Everybody talkin’ about that shit, and I can’t believe you went out like that.”

  “Yeah, I did it. I just wanted her to know how much I’m diggin’ her. I dropped my number for her to call me.”

  “That was some bold shit, wasn’t it? I didn’t know you were feelin’ her like that.”

  “Yep,” I said, keeping it short.

  We continued to play the machines, and, afterward, we sat down with three chicks who went to our school and ate two large pepperoni and double sausage pizzas. All the chicks wanted to talk about was what had happened today at school with Ms. Macklin, the girls who claimed to be pregnant by me, and, of course, why me and Cedric had dropped out of school. They mentioned Romeo, too, and one of them claimed that her cousin was at the same jail facility that Romeo was at in Bonne Terre. She said that Romeo and his cellmate were lovers. I almost cursed that bitch out for lying, and it frustrated me that a rumor like that would travel so far.

  After the girls left, Cedric said he was going to take a leak and would be right back. I waited for him, and then we walked outside to our cars. We talked for a while, and then he got in his car and jetted. No sooner had I opened the door to mine than a brotha dark as midnight walked up on me, asking if I had a light.

  “Nah, bruh,” I said, gazing into his sneaky eyes. I knew what a thief in the night looked like, but before I could open my car door, he made a move. He pulled out a shiny blade, holding it to my throat. My arm was being twisted behind my back, and the way he held it caused severe pain to shoot up my arm.

  “Up your wallet and empty yo’ pockets, nigga! If you make a false move, I’ll cut yo’ goddamn throat!”

  The blade was pinching my neck, so I was careful not to trip. I reached into my pocket, then dropped my wallet on the ground. He dug in my pockets, and put the wad of money I had into his pocket. My car door was already open, so he punched me in my stomach, tearing up my gut with powerful blows. I fell to the ground, and all I could feel were the soldier marks he was delivering to my body. I could barely move, and my body was starting to feel numb. I shielded my face with my hands, but as he kept stomping me, my face and hands bounced against the concrete. Lying there helpless, I saw the nigga open my car door and check my car. The first place he looked was underneath my seat. Moments later, he came out with the bag of money I’d kept underneath there. He opened the glove compartment, and inside he found my platinum chain. I was so afraid that he’d see my silencer underneath the passenger’s seat, but his head jerked up when he heard a man ask if I needed some help.

  “Yes,” I strained to say, with blood gushing from my mouth. The brotha jumped out of the car, and just for the hell of it, his green and white laced-up Nike shoe kicked me right in my face. I swore I heard my neck crack, but lucky for me, it didn’t. All I heard were his footsteps running away. I rolled on my back, staring up at the dark sky. I had no idea how badly I was hurt, but the man rushed over to help me.

  “I’m going inside to call 911. Hang in there, brotha,” the man who was trying to help said.

  In no way did I want the police on the scene. I had my silencer in the car, and finding that alone would send me to jail for life. I eased up, tightly gripping my midsection. Slowly making my way to my feet, I sat in my car, trying to get myself together. I could feel what my face looked like, and I used my shirt to wipe it down. A whole lot of blood covered my shirt and my face burned like hell. Not as much as my stomach was burning, but, unfortunately, I wasn’t up to visiting no doctor. I had a gut feeling about this shit, a feeling that led me to Cedric’s house. I parked down his street, waiting to see if he showed. His car wasn’t there yet, but I knew it would soon come. I slid down in my seat, resting my head against the window. I was hurting so bad, and I hoped like hell that my suspicions didn’t pan out to be true.

  Almost an hour later, Cedric pulled in front of his house. He went inside, but nearly twenty minutes after that, another car pulled up. There were two niggas inside, and after the driver blew the horn, Cedric came outside. The first thing I saw when the driver stepped out of the car was his green and white Nike tennis shoes. Something horrible went through me. This was why I didn’t like hanging with a bunch of fake-ass niggas. Cedric had set my ass up good, or so he thought. He was gon’ pay for this shit. He and his friends sat outside for a minute, smoking a blunt and laughing. I actually saw dude describing how he stomped my ass on the ground, and he laughed hard as he must have been describing his final blow to my face. He slapped hands with Cedric, and with a cigarette dangling from ol’ boy’s mouth, I saw him count out some money, putting it into Cedric’s hand. Afterward, Cedric put up his fist and hurried inside. The other two fellas got in the car and drove off.

  Knowing exactly how much had been stolen from me, I was down to less than a hundred Gs. They took the bulk of my money, even though I hadn’t been spending much at all. I should have known better than to keep my money underneath the seat. I thought it was tucked away pretty good. The rest was at home in my closet, but I really didn’t feel safe with it being there. The landlord had a key to get inside whenever he wanted to, but there really was no other place that I could keep it. Mama’s house was not an option, because as much as she snooped around, I was sure she would find it. For now, I intended to leave the rest of my money exactly where it was, and never again would I keep that much money on me.

  Fifteen minutes had gone by, and that’s when I called Cedric.

  “Say, man,” I said in a soft tone.

  “Who dis?”

  “Prince. It’s Prince.”

  “What’s up, bro?”

  “After you left the pizza joint, I got robbed. Ol’ boy fucked me up, Ced, and I’m at my mama’s house right now. She gon’ take me to the hospital, but I need you to do somethin’ for me.”

  “I will, but are you okay? I mean, how bad are your injuries? You talkin’ about goin’ to the hospital and you soundin’ like you on your last breath.”

  “I feel like it too, but, uh, that nigga got me for almost two hundred grand,” I lied. “I saw him dump some of it in the Dumpster behind the pizza joint. Maybe he was hidin’ it from somebody, but see if it’s still there for me. I can’t even move right now, and I feel like my ribs are cracked.”

  “Damn, Prince, that shit fucked up. I’ll go check it out for you, and if it’s there, you know I got you. We gon’ find out who that nigga was, so don’t worry about it right now. Be well and I’ll get at you later about the money.”

  “Thanks, bruh. Thanks.”

  I hung up, knowing that Cedric would be lea
ving, thinking he’d gotten swindled by his friends. Sure enough, he left his house, flying to get to the Dumpster behind the pizza joint. I followed several car lengths behind him, and watched as he parked beside the Dumpster. His head was down, and as he was searching through the Dumpster, I started his way in my car. My bright lights were beaming, and I could see him squinting. He put his hand over his eyes to shield them from the brightness, but, by then, my silencer was already out of the window. I fired off one shot that whistled as it left my Glock, instantly dropping him. Just to be sure that he was a done deal, I slowly got out of the car, pumping more shots into his chest and busting it open. Blood splattered, and as I damn sure took care of him, it was time to see about me.

  Chapter 15

  As far as I knew, nobody suspected that I had anything to do with what had happened to Cedric. I was at the hospital getting bandages placed on my ribcage and stitches on the cut on my cheek that wouldn’t stop bleeding. My other bruises needed time to heal, and since my swollen face made me look like a monster, I wasn’t going anywhere. I stayed cooped up in my apartment for almost two weeks. The only time I left was to go dump the trash.

  I had written Romeo a letter, and when I got one back from him, I sat on the sofa to read it. Like all of his letters, it was short, and he claimed to be bored as ever. I noticed that he kept talking about his roommate a lot, and in the letter I’d written to him, that prompted me to bring up what the chick at the pizza joint had said that day. Romeo responded by saying, “Fuck them bitches. I hope you don’t believe that bullshit.” He also wrote, “Nigga gotta do whatever to stay afloat.”