Read Coldhearted & Crazy Online
Authors: Michel Moore
Coldhearted & Crazy (5 page)
“Hey, y'all! What up, doe?” Kenya, obviously turned up, jumped out the car looking like who did it and why. Her hair was out of place and her clothes were slightly wrinkled, looking as if she had slept in them.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Uncle never raised his voice or even cursed in front of his nieces, but he had been pushed to his limit and was pissed off. “You look one hot mess! Have you lost your damn mind out here or what?”
London got terrified not knowing what her uncle was going to do, knowing his reputation for violence, but not Kenya. She was didn't give a shit what he or anyone had to say about what she did or who she did it with. Not even blinking, she stood tall in her uncle's face ready for whatever. She had that Roberts blood pumping through her veins just like her uncle and his brother, her daddy, did and Kenya feared no man or woman for that matter. Maybe it was that fat blunt that she had for breakfast or the wine from the night before still circulating in her system giving her liquid courage, but whatever it was she started to laugh.
Ty, terrified as his girl's uncle noticed the ignition column of the car broken and a screwdriver on seat, knew better than to try to go up against the seasoned criminal everyone knew was a cold-blooded killer if need be. He wised up real fast and peeled away from the curb as quickly as he had pulled up, leaving Kenya to face her own demons so to speak. Ty knew the twins' uncle only by his ruthless reputation on the streets and knew he wasn't for any foolishness, so he couldn't help but exhale as he made it down the block to the stop sign without a bullet in the back of his head.
“Have you been out all damn night with that lowlife car-stealing bastard?” The twins' uncle roughly grabbed Kenya by her shirt, waiting for an answer.
Kenya's defiant laughter quickly turned into pure shock as he lifted her upward. “Let me go, let me go!” she cried as she tried unsuccessfully to snatch away from his strong grip.
“Listen, little girl! I don't give a sweet fuck how grown you running around here pretending you are! Let's get this straight. I'll kill you dead first and anyone else who tries to lead your ass down the wrong path. Do you fucking understand me, Kenya?” Their uncle was furious as the veins started to jump out the side of his neck.
London, desperate to not have any trouble, came in between two of the only people she truly called family and began crying. “Please don't do this, please. Not on my last day here,” she continuously pleaded.
Seeing both of his nieces in tears made their uncle's rage slightly soften, but it was obviously his sentiment, for what he'd told Kenya remained the same and by the evil side eye he gave her she knew to take heed. “Come on, London, let's get your stuff loaded and get going.” He grabbed the last few items off the porch and got back in his truck without so much as glancing in Kenya's general direction at all.
“Well, sis, this is it. I'm gonna miss you, Kenya.”
“I'm gonna miss you too. First Mom and Pops, then Gran, and now you, but I ain't tripping.” Kenya tried to force a smile as her heart broke. “I'll be good holding it down.”
“Kenya, I'm only a phone call away. Matter of fact, I'll call you as soon as I get there.” They hugged each other as the tears continued to flow.
“If you need me,” they both said at the same time like twins often did.
“One love.” London smiled.
“
Say U Promise
,” chanted Kenya.
London jumped in the truck and the girls kept their eyes glued to the other one until the truck turned off the block, heading upstate.
London
Even though they'd left early in the day, after eating lunch it was getting dark by the time they reached the campus. Understandably, London also had to go and say good-bye to all of the neighbors she had grown to love over the years. She had stopped by Gran's church and thanked everyone for the money that they had collected for her sendoff. London told them that she didn't need it, but the congregation wasn't trying to hear that. Her grandmother had helped each and every last one of them and their families. So their giving what little bit they collected was all in love.
Overwhelmed, London took a good look around the campus as they drove up. “Wow, it's a lot bigger than what I remember from my visit on the tour we took in our senior year.” Taking out a small pack of papers, she was puzzled. “Well, I know I'm supposed to be in Davis Hall dormitory. So let's see . . .”
They followed all the signs posted along the side of each twisted street corner. When finally they found the building, London leaped out the truck and jogged up to the double glass door. As she entered, she saw plenty of new, interesting faces milling around looking just as confused as she was. After standing in a long line at the front desk, it was her turn to give the lady her personal information.
“Hello, I'm Amia London Roberts. I'm trying to check in.”
The young lady behind the desk punched her name into the computer and retrieved London's keys, room assignment, and some important information booklets that would make her transition into college life easier. Keys in hand and a huge smile on her face, London skipped back out to the truck, telling her uncle that they could pull around the back entrance of the building and unload. In the company of at least ten other excited families, the pair patiently waited until it was their turn to use the big freight elevator.
“All right then, baby girl, let's get you settled in.”
Her uncle was in a much better mood than earlier when he'd had that big blowout confrontation with Kenya, and London was glad. One half of the elated twins started to grab her things up in her arms, placing them on the elevator as other cars, trucks, and vans pulled up, waiting their turns.
He is the best uncle in the world. Thank God he has my back!
London lovingly thought as they carried load after load up to her new dorm room.
After they were finally done, her uncle started to get a sad expression on his face. “I'm gonna miss you, baby girl. I want you to represent for the entire family. Your father and mother would be so proud of you if they were here!” He fought back the tears thinking about his dead brother and the circumstances of his death. “I'll know you'll be the smartest one here. We're all counting on you.”
“Don't worry, Uncle, I won't let you down. I don't know about being the smartest, but I promise I'll study hard and do my very best.” London hugged him tightly and before he left out the dorm room door, he reached in his pocket, blessing her with five one hundred dollar bills.
“Uncle, I'm fine. Seriously, I have enough money to get by,” she pleaded as she backed away from his extended hand.
“Okay, London, dig this here. I'm gonna tell you what your daddy always told me: as long as you black, you don't have enough money. Now take this and put it up for later!” He then forced the money into her hand, refusing to take no for an answer.
London smiled and told him that she loved him while they both emotionally fought back the tears.
As he was leaving, London's new roommate, unbeknownst to him, was making her way down the long hallway. The struggle she was having was real. The young teen was having trouble with all the bags and boxes that she was attempting to carry and kick down the hallway by herself. Unfortunately many of her belongings were falling out of her arms and onto the floor.
“Dang why did I bring so much damn stuff?” she spoke out loud, not caring who might have overheard her talking to herself.
“Maybe because a real woman needs a lot of personal items to make strange places feel more like home. How about that?” London's uncle beamed as he bent down to help the overdeveloped young girl gather together her things.
“Wow, thank you so much, sir.” She smiled and picked up the bag she was carrying, throwing it back over her shoulder. “I'm just down the hallway I think.”
As she watched the numbers getting higher and higher, London's uncle, being a man, watched her body and the way it moved like a hawk.
Damn, I need to go back to school!
He couldn't do shit but shake his head as his manhood automatically jumped.
“Hey, this is it here!” Fatima yelled as they burst through the door that was still cracked open. “I made it.”
London, who was unpacking, turned around and saw her uncle standing in the doorway with a huge grin on his face.
“Hey, girl! I'm Fatima James, your new roommate.” Out of breath she dropped all her things on the floor and blew up in the air.
“Hello, Fatima, I'm Amia Roberts, but please call me London.” The two gave each other a short brief hug. “Oh, and I see that you must have met my uncle.”
“Your uncle? Well yes, I guess did, well sort of.” Fatima started to trip over her words as she noticed just how handsome her knight in shining armor really was under the bright room lights.
Knowing he had caught the young girl's eye, he reached back inside his pocket, peeling London off another hundred from his rubber-banded stack. “Well, ladies, I guess I'll leave you two to unpack and get to know each other.” Of course, he made sure that Fatima was watching as he strutted his older self back toward the door. “Put some snacks in the fridge for both of you.” He then winked his eye at his niece and blew a kiss at Fatima.
“We will. Bye, Uncle. Have a safe trip back!” London was almost speechless by her uncle's blatant flirting with her roommate.
The girls started pulling different stuff out of their boxes and bags to add their own individual personal touches and own flair to the room. While London's side of the room had a lot of pictures of her small family, which consisted of Gran, Kenya, and her uncle, reference books, notebooks, and a few stuffed animals, Fatima had snapshots of Africa and pictures of her Muslim parents in various racial and religious freedom marches they had taken part in. Fatima also had a lot of bumper stickers bearing black pride slogans and tons of books about African Americans. London naturally wondered why Fatima didn't choose to attend an all-black school since she was obviously pro-black.
“Wow, you sure have a lot of books. It's like you have your very own library.” London flipped though all of the various titles, somewhat in awe of Fatima's interest.
“Yeah, girl, I love me some books. I stay up hours reading.” Fatima smiled at her new roommate. The girls knew, right then and there, they would grow to be good friends. “Hey, I am starving. Let's get something to eat. And then we can check out the campus at the same time.” Fatima rubbed on her empty stomach.
London eagerly agreed with her roommate. “Okay, but let me try to call my sister first and let her know that I made it here safely.” She reached in a box and handed Fatima a picture of Kenya. “This was taken at the park this summer.”
“Damn, this is your sister? You're a twin? Girl, I thought that these other pictures were of you at the club or something with your hair down and makeup on!” Fatima couldn't believe they were two different people. Fatima smiled at London. “Go ahead, girl, and make your call to your alter ego. I'll be down in the lobby.”
London picked up the phone, dialing home.
Kenya slowly walked up the stairs looking back one last time as she saw her uncle and sister fade out of sight. She put her key in the door and started to make her way into the empty, sure-to-be lonely house. Stopping in front of the mirror in the front hallway, she took a good, long look at herself. “Well, it's just you and me now. It's time to do you, get your shit together, and hold yourself down.” Kenya said it over and over out loud as if she was trying to convince herself of it being true. Taking a deep breath, she had to smile thinking about London and all she did to make both their lives better since Gran's passing. The house was clean as a whistle and smelled like it had been scrubbed top to bottom. London, thankfully, had washed all of the dishes and skillets, cleaned the carpet, and washed all of her sister's “dirty for weeks on end” clothes. London always knew that housework was never really Kenya's thing and had hooked her up one last time before going off to school.
Good lookin', sis.
Kenya nodded as she passed by London's graduation picture that was sitting on the mantle next to her own.
Tired from partying from the night before and not having much else to do, Kenya went over to the new couch she'd bought and fell across it, feet in the air. She then reached for the remote to her high-definition plasma television that she'd had mounted on the living room wall. It had so many buttons on that damn remote it would take a brain scientist, let alone Kenya, a year to learn how to use them all. Kenya, almost penniless, against London's advice, had used most of her insurance money Gran left her to freak the house out. It looked like a magazine layout. In between all the mall shopping and a used car that was on its last leg already, the wannabe hood diva was damn near broke.
At this point, especially considering what had just taken place, Kenya knew that she had all but cut herself out of her uncle's bottomless pockets. Luckily the household bills were paid up for a month or so, but Kenya realized she had to get on that money trail and make a few things happen if she wanted to continue to floss wherever she stepped out to.
Never outside the hustle loop for long, Kenya already put up on a quick way to make some fast, easy cash in hand. Ty, with all his schemes and scams, claimed to have the inside hookup, so why the hell not! Shit, she wasn't slow to the game by a long shot, but stripping? Kenya thought about it as she stared at her checkbook that was a few zeros from balancing out. Heads Up was the hottest strip joint up in the D. Everyone knew that it was the spot where real playas would meet and greet. It was no big secret that there was nothing but wall-to-wall loot in that motherfucker, and girls not half as pretty as Kenya, some not built like shit, getting paid out the ass. From flashy hustlers and blue-collar factory workers to plain-style fucking trick-ass niggas from around the way, they all knew that they had to come correct with their paper game to even walk through the doors of Heads Up, not to mention hanging out in the VIP. That was a given, flat out.
Kenya, trying to get in the zone, switched to the uncut video channel on cable and turned the surround sound up on double bump. “Fuck that shit!” She was hyped as she moved around the room as if she was the star of the evening. “I can do all those dances and make my ass bounce too.” She pranced in the mirror and turned around to watch that motherfucker move. “I'm the shit, fuck 'em hoes! They can eat shit and die! I'm gonna make my ends up in that place as soon as I get my foot in the door!”
Exhausted from performing for herself, Kenya started to run her bathwater while she continued to get her dance on. When the water was just right, Kenya slowly undressed and eased her sweaty-ass into the hot, bubble-filled tub. Kenya, trying to get turned up as she daydreamed about her new desired profession, lit her blunt of Kush and lay back.
I guess I can call Ty's ho-ass tomorrow and see what's really good with Heads Up.
Lost in her thoughts as she listened to the music still echoing off the walls and got buzzed, the house phone rang twice as she was soaking. “Fuck whoever it is,” she mumbled, blowing smoke rings into the air. “I'm chillin' the most.”
Kenya, caught up in her own new world, had missed her twin sister's call.
“Hey, girl, let's go.” London found Fatima talking to a group of other students who also lived in the dorm. They all introduced themselves and talked for a minute or two.
Fatima, having had just met her roommate, could easily tell by the look on London's face that something was wrong. Without reservation, she questioned London. “What's the deal, black girl? Is everything all good on the home front?”
“Naw, nothing much is wrong. I was just wondering where my sister is, that's all. She didn't answer the phone.” London then got it in her head that she had to stop worrying so much about Kenya and let her live her life. After all, from this point on she wouldn't be there every day to watch over her. “Hey, girl, come on. I'm hungry, let's roll out.” London changed her expression and attitude, while trying to sound cool. “She'll call when she calls!”
The pair of new roomies left the dorm, laughing and joking all the way to a twenty-four-hour greasy spoon on the edge of campus that some of the other students, all upperclassmen, had told Fatima about. After a long meal filled with conversation about both of their lives, including what had tragically happened to London's parents and her beloved grandmother on graduation day, the girls took their coffee to go. Although London really missed Kenya and her best friend Amber, she had a feeling Fatima would stick by her side no matter what.
“So, girl, I see all these pictures of your family, including that fine-ass uncle of yours, but I don't see not one picture of you and your man. What's up with that? You don't strike me as the lesbo type, so spill. What's the deal with that?” Fatima was waiting for an answer as London sadly started to look down at the floor. “Wow, I'm sorry, girl, did I say something wrong?”
“No, not really. It's just that people always ask me that. My sister was the one born with all the style and flair. She has all the good looks and gets the guys. I guess I'm just used to blending in the background when it comes to me and Kenya.”
“Oh hell naw! You must be high or something. Y'all look exactly alike. So how can you think that she's the shit and don't think you are?” Fatima damn near snatched her roommate in front of the door mirror leaning against the wall and pulled the rubber band out of London's hair. “You need to open those pretty eyes and see what everyone else sees. That flawless skin, a pretty smile, and this long-ass hair! Girl, most sisters would pay good dough for a pack of weave this long!”
London felt good for once about what she saw in the mirror thanks to Fatima. Starting now, she would try to have more confidence in herself. London knew that she needed to stand on her own without Kenya and be more assertive, and believing in herself would be the first step.
When they finished unpacking and talking, it was almost close to daybreak. The freshman orientation started at 9:30 a.m. sharp, so the two girls decided to get some much-needed shuteye. They both wanted to be on time so Fatima set the alarm. For a change, since Gran's death, London didn't have to be the mother hen.