Durty South Grind (22 page)

He could have sworn that he heard an
mmm-hmm
coming from one of the lines. But he didn't let who he guessed it to be, Janet Bea, being sassy, get to him.

He knew that his mama had heard it too, but she chose to ignore it as well. “That's good, baby, that's good. Just keep your head on the right path this time and stay away from those guys that like to get you in trouble. You know that we all love you, you hear me.”

“I know, Mama, I know. I'm gonna do it right this time. I promise.”

“I sure do hope so, baby. I sure do hope.”

He took a peek at the kitchen clock on the far wall. “Hey, Ma, I hate to run like this and stuff but I've got to run up the hill to catch the bus that should be about to pull up to the stop any minute now. Tell Jimmy and Mike I'll holler at 'em soon. Gotta go; gotta go.” He had heard them squabbling about which one was gonna get on the phone next.

“Okay, baby, I'll tell them. Now you call your mother every now and then to let me know how you're doing; you hear me?”

“Yes, Mama, I'll do that. Love ya.”

“Love you, too, baby.”

“Yo, Bea, I'm gonna call ya from the Decatur station after I hit these offices so you can tell me how to get to your house. It'll probably be around four or five o'clock, I guess.”

Janet grunted, “Okay, I'll be home from work around four or so. Call me then. I might be in the mood to pick you up. I said that I
may
be in the mood; I'm not sure but I might.” Her tone was sassy as usual.

“You hear how your daughter talks to her beloved brother, Mama? A lot of sisterly love there, huh?” he said with a slight smile on his face.

“Uh-huh, I heard her. Stop being like that, girl. Go ahead, sweetie, and take care of your business. I'll be looking to hear from you soon, okay?”

“Okay, I'm out. I love ya.” He hung up the phone and looked at the clock before he sprinted out the door.

It took a lot longer than he expected—the whole day—to get around to all the places. He had regretted not bringing a book or something to read through the long strung-out progress. He did manage to get a temporary social security card and sweet-talked a lady at the DOC office to help him trade his prison ID card for a Georgia ID. He even talked a stern-faced old biddy at the Office of Human Resources out of some emergency food stamps and a $175 check to get on his feet. He finished off his active day getting an appointment at a downtown office on Peachtree Street to talk to some organizations that helped ex-cons to get on-the-job training. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

By the time he had wrapped up everything, he was mentally and physically spent as dusk was settling in at the Decatur MARTA station.

Sparkle was sitting on a bench in front of the bus stop massaging his tired eyes, waiting for the 23 Candler Road, when he saw none other than Ms. Violet strolling across the street. He had to blink a couple of times to make sure it was her before he lowered his head and tried his best to stifle a laugh. Just as simple as you please, home girl was waddling across the street toward him in a
maternity dress. If he hadn't known any better, the size of her belly and the strained look on her face would have anyone thinking that she was about ready to drop her load right then and there.

She was halfway across the street when she looked up and saw him. From the expression on her face, it was evident that she was just as surprised to see him. She immediately swerved her eyes all around, checking out the scene before a sly smile edged to the corner of her mouth. She waddled wide-legged straight to his bench, holding a huge shopping bag in one hand, while the other one held her bloated belly in place. She plopped down beside him as a loud exaggerated sigh escaped from her lips.

She squeezed her eyes together as she shifted around on the bench, trying to get comfortable. After finally getting settled, she wheezed in a whisper out of the side of her mouth, “Whatcha doing down here, looking all spent out?”

The veteran street player in him had him radaring the area to see if anyone was paying them any attention or was within ear-shot before he gently reached over to touch her belly. “How's the little guy or gal doing in there?” He had a “well, I'll-be-damned” look on his face.

She gave him a smile as she looked down and started rubbing her stomach while she let out a motherly sigh. “Ah man, the little bastard has been kicking the shit out of me all day long.”

He arched his brow in amazement. “Where ya coming from, a doctor's appointment?”

She played right along and rolled her eyes slightly. “Naw, I've been doing a little shopping for this new addition to my life.”

He couldn't help but to laugh. “Girlfriend, you're something brand-new. You know that, don'tcha?” He was really starting to get attached to her vitality.

She was feeling something special happening between them as well as she lowered her gaze. “Not really, I've been doing it for a while now.” She began looking around to see if anyone was paying them any attention before she lowered her eyes again and gently pulled back a large pleat in the dress.

He looked into the crack she had revealed and saw a large ball of plastic strapped to her body that was fully loaded with clothes bunched tightly together. He recognized it immediately as a masterful piece of boosting equipment. Looking back up into her now smiling eyes, he said, “Yeah well, I see that you've been quite busy there.” He took another peek at the bundle and added, “Oh hell yeah, you've been on your job, for sho.”

She let out a short snicker, cocked her head to the side and practically whispered, “Uh-huh, a bitch has got to keep the green flowing; know what I'm saying?”

He looked away down the street and stifled a yawn. “Damn, it's been one long-ass day.”

She nodded in agreement, showing signs of being bone-tired herself. She bent over and rested her elbows on her knees she had spread far apart because of the contraption strapped to her stomach. “Sho nough has, hasn't it?”

“Shiiiit, long for you also from the look of things.”

That brought a cute smile to her face and she flicked a wrist at him daintily. “Aw hell, honey, it's exciting and fun but sometimes it gets to be a real job, stealing folk stuff. Everything gets boring after awhile.” She smiled, scanning the area as she lifted some pleats on the side of her dress to reveal the large plastic bubble contraption full of stolen wares.

Sparkle leaned forward and rested his elbow on his knees along with her. “Yeah, I guess it does after awhile.” Out of his side view, he could see the Candler Road bus approaching and despite being
overly impressed, he braced his hands on the bench and started to push himself up.

Before he could get up, she reached over to caress his hand lightly and whispered, “You wouldn't happen to have a little something-something on ya, wouldcha?” Her eyebrows were hopefully arched.

He gazed down at her hand and slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. He felt them staring straight into his soul, as a tingling warmth spread throughout his whole body. Damn, he hadn't felt anything like that in many years.

After a moment, he broke her hypnotizing stare by reaching into his pocket to fumble the few rocks left over from him dipping into bathroom stalls throughout the day. He removed a couple of twenty pieces and pressed them into her small hand, grasping them firmly as he did so. He sighed heavily. “You know something, shawtie. I can't quite put my hand on it, but I got this odd feeling that we're sorta like one and the same. Like I've known you for a lot longer than I actually have; shit feels strange.”

She narrowed her own eyes before she looked away shyly. “I got that very same feeling about you. Felt it the other night, too.” She paused for a second as her smile rose from her cheeks to her eyes, meaning those feelings she had expressed were genuine. He also felt it as he heard her add, “You reckon there's something to this here?”

“Uh-huh, there's definitely something to it for sure,” he replied as he stood up. The bus was loading its last passengers. He winked at her. “I'll make it my business to catch up with you in a few, shawtie.”

“Hey, what about…” she started to say as she nodded toward the rocks palmed into her little fist.

He waved her off, got on the bus and headed for the back.
After settling in the seat, he looked out the window but she had magically disappeared. His face flushed with confusion as he looked up and down the street, trying to spot her. As the bus was about to pass the corner of the social security building, he saw her easing her plastic bubble belly into the driver's seat of a green Thunderbird.

After Ms. Violet had settled into the seat, she looked up as the bus was passing by. Spotting him in the rear window, she rolled the window down, stuck her head out and waved. She even surprised herself when she broke out into a wide smile when he waved back. The smiles stayed on their faces as the bus rolled out of sight down the sloped street. She started rubbing her fake stomach, wondering if she was rushing things. She quickly decided that she didn't really care if she was; she wanted that nigga and she was going to get him.

After surviving a bumpy ride over the railroad tracks, Sparkle sat back contemplating how he was going to lock old gal in. He leaned forward in the seat, resting his elbows on his knees, having drawn his conclusion. From that look in her eyes, he already had her. It was now only a matter of when and where. And the closer to the future, the better, as far as he was concerned.

A few minutes later, when he disembarked in front of the apartments, his attention was drawn to some loud honking from across the street. He immediately recognized Debra's bracelet-laced arm waving out of the window as she pulled into the BP service station.

“You ready for some poker, bro?” JJ leaned across the seat, shouting over some Busta Rhymes flow booming from the speakers. He waved him to the car. “Man, you got here just in time. Get your ass in the car; it's already popping over there.” His head was bopping steadily to the funky beat.

Sparkle jumped in the backseat and they headed toward I-20. As soon as they made the turn onto the expressway, his thoughts immediately turned to the Red Roof Inn sign. He tapped JJ on the shoulder. “Yo dog, last night when I was heading back to the crib, there was a whole rack of police down there making folk jump into the pool and shit. Man, who in the fuck are the Black Cat and Red Dogs?”

JJ arched his brow, eyeing him in the rearview mirror, before replying seriously, “My nigga, since we got locked up, they done come up with some nasty drug squads. Aw man, those bastards are straight-up terrorizing shit; bad news, dog, real bad news.”

Sparkle stared at the bust scene until it faded out of view before he responded, “You know what, dude? I couldn't help noticing a little bitty muthafucka stomping around like she was running some marshal law-type shit. Who the hell was that? I got some really fucked-up vibes watching that shit, man.” He sat back and lit a Kool cigarette.

Debra shook her head, answering, “Bro, if I was you I'd stay as far away from that drug thang as I could.” She paused and rolled her eyes at JJ, who made sure that he was concentrating on the road ahead. She pushed on, “Hell, even I know about that little monster bitch.”

“Monster what? Monster who?” Sparkle asked, swerving back and forth between them.

She spun around in the seat. “That crazy-ass ho, Lieutenantkicka-nigga-in-the-face Woo. Bro, that ho's got the baddest of the bad shutting shop at the thought of her fucking name. Whew, she rough, yo.”

“Damn, she really some kinda bitch, huh? Fuck, she hard like that?”

“Hell yeah, she hard like that, and more,” they said in unison.

Sparkle sat back; he had heard enough. It was time to concentrate on what moves he was going to use this time in the poker game.

As they pulled into Al's circular driveway, Debra said, “Hey, I forgot to tell you that your girl, Yolanda, was out here the other night. She's probably in there tonight.”

“Johnny B's Yolanda?” Sparkle asked.

JJ jumped in. “Damn, those two been doing it since the kindergarten, aight they? At least that's what I done heard.”

Debra spoke over her shoulder as she pressed the doorbell to the garage. “Shit, how a bitch put up with a nigga like that all these years amazes me.”

Sparkle and JJ looked at each other and hunched their shoulders mouthing,
women,
before Sparkle said, “Damn, I betcha they are still killing each other.”

“Every day, every motherfucking day.” Debra giggled as she pressed the bell again.

Out of his peripheral vision, Sparkle noticed the curtain flutter at one of the windows. He didn't say anything, figuring it was one of Al's forms of house security. Instead he smiled. “Uh-huh, they've been doing that from way back. Shit, way back to those days when we used to play doctor under the tent blanket trying to get the stinky finger.”

Debra laughed. “Ooh, ya'll was nasty back in dem days, for sho. Doing the su-la su-la, humping like ya'll was really fucking something. Uh-huh, with baby finger dicks and baldheaded pussies. I used to wonder if that old stuff was for real.”

“Hell yeah, it's true. Moses and 'em was probably getting the stinky fingers and those folk up in the manger. Then again, don't be sitting up there like you didn't do it.”

“Oooh ya'll, so damn nasty.” Debra frowned.

“We nasty? Ya'll the nasty ones,” JJ added, snickering. Debra wrinkled her nose and continued to press the button. Suddenly the porch light started blinking, causing all of them to jump before the door cracked open. A blonde, red-boned honey stuck her head out the door and looked over their heads at the surrounding neighborhood like she was expecting one of the neighbors to be playing I Spy. Seeing no one she opened the door only enough for one person at a time to pass through as she said in a husky voice, “Ya'll coming in or what? I can't stand here all night; damn.”