“I should try and fuck Skinny,” Mondo said, standing outside of E’s apartment, smoking a joint with Rex. As he exhaled, a thick cloud of smoke curled around his face and filled the star-studded sky above his head. The wind carried the smoke away, leaving only the pungent smell of marijuana in the air.
Rex choked and coughed, causing the lung full of smoke he had just inhaled to sputter out in short bursts. “Man, you bet leave Rick Kid alone before he fuck you up,” his voice straining through the pain of his lost hit.
“Man, fuck that,” Mondo replied, blowing off Rex’s warning. “They bleed just like me.”
“You keep on, you gone get right what you looking for,” Rex warned again, shaking his head, pulling the joint back to his lips.
“Man, give me my joint back, nigga,” Mondo said angrily, snatching the joint from Rex’s hand. Just then, two Maximas pulled up, tires screeching to a halt. E stepped out of the first car, Richard and Skinny out of the second.
“Ay Maybay,” E said, walking through the grass towards the house. “How many pills you sold?”
Maybay snapped his head in E’s direction, jaw twitching. “I think seventeen.”
Taking notice of Maybay’s twitching jaw, Richard raised an eyebrow and asked, “How many you pop?”
“Brah, I only popped three all day.” The peaceful, nonchalant feeling the drugs were giving him seeped through into his statement of defense.
“How many pills you gave that nigga to sell E?” Richard whispered in E’s direction.
“I gave him thirty out of the hundred you gave me,” E replied. Suddenly, thinking of the pills, E remembered the cash he had on him. “Here your sixty dollars off the pills you gave me this afternoon,” he said, pulling the cash out of his pocket.
Richard took two of the twenties and waved the other twenty away. E was already paying a price much lower than the rest of the guys, but E was his right hand man.
E smiled at Richard, grateful for the extra cash. “Brah, why you always treat me so good?”
“Cause ya my lil’ Brother,” Richard grinned back, giving E a playful slug on the shoulder.
Skinny walked through Richard and E’s roughhousing towards the front of E’s apartment. “Baby, I’m gone use the bathroom.” Her stomach was doing flips from all the alcohol she’d drank at Gina’s. The acidic burn of vomit rose up in her throat. Afraid she wouldn’t make it to the bathroom in time, she quickened her pace, holding her stomach. As she staggered up the steps, she heard Richard answer from behind her, “A’ight.”
Richard looked after Skinny as she stumbled up the stairs. For a moment, he wondered if he should follow her, but then dismissed the thought. She had made it up the stairs okay, and she would only be offended if he followed her. It was one of the many things he loved about her; she didn’t need him, she wanted him. Smiling slightly at the thought, he turned his attention back to E.
“Ay brah, ya gone bring Sis with us to the afterhours?” E asked, trying to determine the seating arrangement for the night.
“If she want to come,” Richard shrugged. “I’m gone ask her if she want to come when she come back outside.”
E turned in the direction of the guys crouched along the wall of his apartment. “How many y’all niggas coming to the afterhours?”
“Just me, Rex, Smoke, Dirt and Mondo,” Maybay answered, speaking for the whole group.
“Damn,” E said, turning back towards Richard. “We gone need three cars then if sis coming.”
Skinny cut in. E had not seen her walking up, now she spoke from right behind him. “I ain’t going,” she said, cutting into the conversation. She had just lost her dinner, so she felt a little better than she had a few moments ago, but her stomach was still doing flips. “I drank too much at Gina’s house. I want to go home and lay down.”
“A’ight then,” Richard answered, a little concerned. He pulled Skinny into his arms, brushed her forehead with his thumb and searched her slightly glazed eyes. He was looking for even the slightest sign that she couldn’t handle driving herself. Seeing no indication that her driving would be unsafe, he said, “Drive the gray car home.”Still holding her in his arms, he turned his head over his shoulder. “Brah! You left something in that mother fucker?”
“Naw brah,” E answered. “But I’m ‘bout to go get the choppa out the house and put it in the car we riding in. Get the Uzi too ‘cause you know Short don’t check me at the door.”
Richard thought silently for a moment as he handed Skinny the keys. “Yeah, you right, cause they ain’t gone let us bring that choppa in the club,” nodding.
“Y’all niggas take that big ass Uzi in the afterhours?” Mondo asked doubtfully, interrupting the conversation between E and Richard.
An eerie silence blanketed their group as everyone turned their attention on Mondo. Richard and E exchanged a glance silently asking each other, who this nigga think he is?
Richard released Skinny from his arms, a cocky half-smile on his face, and turned his full attention towards Mondo. “Yeah,” ridiculing Mondo’s idiocy with his tone, “and the choppa gone be in the back seat, cause if something pop off and we run out.”
Richard turned back towards E, shooting a quick, ominous glance back over his shoulder at Mondo. “Brah, where you say you know this nigga from?” Richard asked.
“He cool,” E waved his arm in dismissal. “Don’t worry ‘bout that shit.” Affectionately, he smacked Richard’s shoulder and headed off to prepare the cars for afterhours.
Richard wanted to trust E’s judgment, but something about Mondo didn’t settle right. Still watching Mondo from the corner of his eye, Richard turned back towards Skinny. “It’s four-thirty, baby. Meet me back here at noon.”
Skinny leaned in for a kiss, “A’ight baby. See ya later,” and headed for the car, Richard following behind her. As he pulled the driver’s side door open, she turned to face him again. “And if ya’ get some shone, call me so I can get some head from that hoe.”
Richard grinned and smacked her rear end, prodding her into the car. “I got you baby girl.” He leaned into the car to give her one last kiss and said, “I love you girl.”
***
Everybody knew the young man making his way through the smoke-filled afterhours. Women ran their hands up and down his white shirt; a few even clawed at his Polo jeans, hoping to coax him onto the dance floor. Men greeted him with smiles and dap. But all the while, through all the distractions the afterhours had to offer, Richard continued to make his way closer to the bar. “Princess!” he tapped his fingers on the bar and smiled, “Wuz up, Auntie?”
The bartender’s face lit up at the sound of Richard’s voice. “Nephew!” she exclaimed, placing the glass she’d been washing back into the sink. “Wuz up? Ya want something to drink?”
Smiling slyly, Richard held up a full bottle of Hennessy Skinny had left in the car. “Naw, Auntie. I’m good on drink, but I need some gar’s and seven bottles of water.”
“Okay,” Princess started lining up glasses, filling them with ice. “I’m gone give you ten Dutch’s, seven waters and some cups of ice, a’ight?”
“Yeah, that uh be good for now, Auntie,” Richard nodded and handed her a hundred dollar bill. As he turned towards the tables, where the rest of his group had headed, he took in the scene. It was a busy night; that promised good sales. And everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves: smoking weed or glass, sniffing coke, dropping pills. He could even assume that a few patrons sat huddled in the bathroom, shooting up; they always were. All of that promised good sales tonight as well. Richard inhaled deeply, allowing the dank air to fill his lungs. You could almost get a high just breathing the afterhour’s air.
He smiled to himself as he spotted their table. Just as he had reached their table, a female voice calling his name cut through the crowd. Richard snapped his head in the direction of the voice, trying to determine its source. He spotted the dyed cornrows first, then the small upturned nose and large, luscious lips. It was Joy, one of the strippers from Take-One, and she was closing the distance between the two of them quickly, despite the large crowd in the room.
“Wuz good, Joy?” Richard asked when she had reached where he stood. Instinctively, he placed his money back into his pocket.
Joy stood so close to him, he could have buried his face in her exposed cleavage. “Boy, you ain’t gotta be putting your money up when you see me.” She traced her finger down his arm.
Flicking her hand away, he forced himself to focus his eyes on her face instead of her bare flesh. “Girl, that’s just a habit.” He sat down in one the chair, trying to put some distance between the two of them. “What’s on your mind though?”
“You know what’s on my mind.” Joy cooed seductively, trailing her fingernails down his face.
Richard pulled his head back, repulsed by her continued advances. “Girl, I done told you. I ain’t trying to have you fucked up ‘bout the kid.”
“I think you’d be fucked up ‘bout me,” Joy said, coming in for another advance. Just before she closed the gap between them, Princess intervened, placing her body between Joy and Richard.
Princess used her hips to bump Joy out of the way. “Nephew, here go your change.” She shot Richard a knowing smile as she handed him the money.
Richard smiled and winked back, knowing that Princess had intentionally saved him from Joy’s clutches. “Auntie, give Maybay fifty dollars. You keep the change. A’ight?”
“Okay Maybay, here ya go.” Before leaving, she called over her shoulder in a sing-song voice, “Call me if you need something.”
Richard snickered and turned his attention back to a dejected-looking Joy. “Ms. Joy,” he said, trying not to let the amusement seep through his voice. “I knew I had something to tell ya.”
“And what’s that?” Hurt was still evident in her voice, but a glint in her eyes reflected a small remaining shred of hope.
“I got some pills,” he said. “So if you and your coworkers need some, holla at my little brother.”
Joy winced at the words, but quickly recovered. She hoped the deflated feeling inside stayed away from the surface, but looking at Richard, she guessed that it must be displayed on her face. As he held her gaze, he looked like he felt sorry for her. She had been waiting in line for Richard from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. She wondered what Skinny had to offer that she couldn’t? Hurt, angry and irritated, she hid her face by turning towards E. Her back now faced Richard. “All right,” she said, pulling her cell phone out. “Give me your number so I can call you when we need some at the strip club.”
Now out of the line of fire, Richard glanced around the room. He was looking for his very first sale of the night. But not far from their table, Richard noticed another familiar face coming towards them.
“Rich Kid!” Ron called, making his way through the crowd, bumping people out of the way with his shoulder. “Wuz good, nigga?”
Richard greeted Ron with a smile and some daps. “Ain’t much, nigga. I’m just chilling.’”
“I see ya got some bad bitches with you, too,” Ron said, noticing the slew of girls that had flocked over to their table, Joy included.
“Yeah, man,” Richard replied. “I do what I can, you know?”
Ron nodded in understanding. “Well, look here. I got a bottle of Patron in the car if you want a little, nigga.” He smiled as Richard’s expression of gratitude surfaced. Ron hadn’t really planned on drinking it, and he figured it would be a good way to connect with the up and coming man on the streets. He’d heard good things about Rick Kid, and what better way for Ron to pass on his legacy than to reward a newer, younger version of himself?
“Yeah, let me get that.” Smiling, Richard stood. “You know I love that white liquor.” He knew Ron had been hustling for a long time. To receive this much love from a man of Ron’s stature could only mean one thing: Richard really was making a name for himself on the streets.
“A’ight, here go the keys,” Ron said, handing a set of keys over to Richard. “You got to go get it yourself.”
“No problem,” Richard shrugged. “What car you riding in?”
“Ask Marvin. He’ll show you,” Ron grinned with satisfaction as Richard looked down at the keys in his hand and faded back into the crowd.
Once Richard’s trance had finally ended, he looked up to find no one there. Realizing that Ron must have left, Richard started to look for Marvin.
Once Marvin was located, he and Richard headed outside to Ron’s car. Richard’s face lit up with surprised envy as Marvin pointed towards a Benz CL 600 Coupe. He walked towards the car slowly, taking in every inch of its shiny exterior. Finally opening the back door, he reached in to grab the bottle. He inhaled the sweet smell of new leather. He couldn’t wait to start making the kind of money it took to own a car like this one.
Certain that Marvin must be tired of waiting, Richard pulled himself away from the intoxicating scent, closed the door and pushed the lock button on the remote. As he reluctantly handed the keys back to Marvin, Richard again heard his name. At first, he thought he might be hearing things; he hadn’t heard that voice in months. But as he turned to where the voice had come from, Richard noticed a figure walking towards him. The figure was too far away to make out the face, but he didn’t need to see who was calling his name. He would have recognized that voice anywhere.
“Son-Son!” Richard yelled, walking towards the voice. He couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. It was Balle, otherwise known to Richard and his crew as Lil’ B. Richard had adopted the boy, took him in after his parents had abandoned him. Never mind the fact that Lil’ B was just a little younger than he was; he loved the boy like a son.
“Wuz good, Pa?” Balle asked, now standing in front of Richard. The two young men embraced in a half hug, each of them smiling ear to ear.
“When you got out?” Richard asked, gently smacking Lil’ B on the shoulder.
“I just got out tonight.”
A short moment of silence surrounded the two. Richard considered asking if Lil’ B had heard about Big Wine’s death, but thought better of it. Lil’ B did know and considered giving his condolences, but his own grief over the loss of his grandfather figure threatened to cause a display of emotions, and Lil’ B had learned early on that behavior like that was unacceptable, especially in public.
Clearing his throat, Richard was the first to break the awkward silence. He figured there wasn’t any sense in standing around mulling over the loss. Life goes on, after all. “Let’s go party then,” he said, forcing a smile and motioning for Lil’ B to follow him.
As the door to the afterhours opened, loud music filled the streets. Once it closed, the party continued as Richard, Lil’ B, E and their friends smoked, drank, danced and enjoyed all that the afterhours had to offer.