Durty South Grind (32 page)

Sparkle frowned slightly. “I got this K-mart jacket on, don't I?” He wiped an anxious hand across his mouth to hide the smile that was edging up.

It must have been contagious because Rainbow faked a cough with his fist to stifle his own laugh. “Yeah, nigga, you K-mart, aight.” Then he looked down at his feet and started scratching the back of his ear as he peered down the street. “Damn, you even got yourself some insurance man shoes on.”

“Fuck you, man. I had to bow down and ask old man Lewie for these joints, man.”

Rainbow arched his brow. “Damn, that old dude's still around. Shit, I thought ya'll two didn't get along.”

“Uh-huh, the old grouch is still kicking. Shit, I told him I was going job hunting and wanted to look presentable, and this is what his old ass came up with.” Sparkle said made a loud slurping sound through the straw.

“And he believed that shit there?”

He was tempted to turn to face him but caught himself. “Hey, fuck Lewie; let's get back on the sting. I'm a little pumped here, dog. We play it the same way as always from back in the day, right?”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow said as he handed him a Sears name tag over his shoulder.

Sparkle cuffed and frowned at the name on it. He couldn't even begin to pronounce it. He held the card away from his face. “Who the fuck…man, how you say this shit?”

Rainbow laughed again behind his fist. “U…ban…jig, just like it sounds, fool.” He placed a hand on his shoulder and added, “That's right, homes, you are of African descent. Ancient history, my man.”

Sparkle gritted at the hand pressing his shoulder. “Aw, man, why didn't you tell me about this dumb-ass shit earlier?”

Rainbow snorted. “Shiiiit, what difference does it make who the fuck you is, dog? You still ready for the point, ain'tcha?”

Sparkle practiced a couple of lines in a foreign accent and rolled his neck. “Whatcha think?”

“I think that you still a pro, nigga.” He looked down at his watch. “Got to go, hero, just browse around in the store until you see me with a couple of hillbillies. I'll be heading up Peachtree with a dude or dudes because you know that these crackers in these construction hats don't be trusting a nigga one on one.”

Sparkle had heard enough. He was pumped and ready to get it
going, so he cut him off, “I gotcha, I see you and the vics and shoot up to, uhhh damn, where do I go?”

Rainbow frowned and patted him on the shoulder again, then took a deep breath sighing. “He's buying DVD players and shit like that.”

Sparkle squinted with understanding and started rubbing his thighs and knees, ready to roll. “Okay, gotcha, I'll be there. Let's do this.”

Rainbow rolled his eyes to the sky, spun away and strolled down Peachtree.

Sparkle waited about five minutes after he had lost sight of his boy, before he started fidgeting and walking up and down Peachtree. After ten anxious minutes, he bought a
Sports Illustrated
and plopped back on the bench and started flipping pages. Five more minutes and his patience had worn paper thin as he began to wonder if Rainbow had called it off. Then he saw his boy bebop-ping down the street with two, yep, two white construction workers, who looked like they were straight off the farm. Talking about hillbillies, these dudes were exactly that.

He nonchalantly laid the mag on the bench and crossed the street, heading toward the Sears across the street from Five Points. He didn't waste any time browsing around as he went straight to the elevator, checked the directory and hopped on one of the three cars available to the sixth floor where the appliances were located. He quickly scanned the area with the radar of a veteran store thief on full alert for any store security, nosey salesman or anyone who may show him unwanted attention. He began to browse along the aisles as if he was interested in the products. At the same time, he locked the prices in his mind in case one of the vics needed to know.

He was about to make his third round when he saw the construction
hats bopping up the escalator. The fluttering in his stomach took him by surprise for a moment, until he realized that they were the butterflies.
Ah, it is on for sho now,
he thought as he turned away and reached in his pants pocket to get the name tag and pinned it to his coat pocket.

He saw them coming his way out of his peripheral vision and walked over to stand close to an elderly couple looking at some televisions and pantomimed a conversation with them. When they got within earshot, he abruptly turned away, speaking in his best foreign accent “And-a dey will-a be on sale for only one-a more week, but just take-a your time. I could a really use da-a commission.”

Rainbow was smiling as he walked up to him and leaned forward to squint at his name tag. “Hello there, my man, Mr. Uh, U. ban…aah whatever,” he said with a wave of his hand and a wink at the vics. The hillbillies, straight out of Mayberry, acknowledged his wink with one of their own. Continuing with the smiley face, Rainbow said, “These fellas here wanna check out some of these DVD players, iPods and aaah.” He looked toward the vics as if he was a little puzzled, then put the friendly smile back on. “I tell ya what, ya'll gentlemen go with my friend—damn, I can't never get his name right—he'll show you all the stuff I was telling you about.” He paused to look around in a conspiratorial way before he leaned closer to them to whisper, “Just remember that everything you choose is like half price, so calculate this stuff like real fast. We can't be hanging around here all day, you know.” He spoke with a smile and another wink that was returned by the vics in unison.

As Rainbow walked away, Sparkle cleared his throat to draw their attention so that he could duck behind one of the columns by the escalator. Once he had disappeared, Sparkle heard one of
them whisper, “Gee, George, he's one of them there Africana dudes. You sho we can trust him?” That was Sparkle's cue to look around like he was kinda scared that one of his fellow employees might be paying them attention. He leaned over and touched the smaller of the two on the elbow and whispered, “Could ya'll please a keep a your tone down? I can't afford for to-a let nobody know what I'm-a doing-a here.” He paused to look around some more to make certain no one was watching. “I've almost made enough money to-a get-a my little sister over here-a to-a this-a wonderful country of yours.”

He still had it. He could tell the vics went for that shit hook, line and sinker by the way they started looking around themselves. Sparkle smiled to himself as he noticed the co-conspiratorial looks on their faces. It let him know that his boy had worked his magic on them and it also put him at ease to continue with his part of the scam, so he led them over to the DVD/VCRs. “Ya'll can check-a out-a these here. There's some iPods over in the other aisle if ya'll want to see some of them, too.”

The bigger of the two, a redhead with lots of freckles across his nose, dressed in cement-stained khaki pants and a blue plaid shirt, pulled on his ear and said in a deep country drawl, “How much dose thangs gonna cost us, man?”

Sparkle blinked a few times. “Everythang you see can go for sixty percent of the price tag.” No sooner had those words slipped out of his mouth, he knew he had made a booboo.

They looked at each other quizzically before Big Red said, “Your friend, Jimmy Ray, said we could get stuff for half price.”

“Jim…” He caught himself right away. “Jimmy Ray said that, ooh well, I guess he really likes ya'll dudes if he willing to cut his part off that much then.” The sudden look of shock on their faces let him know that he'd lost most of his accent. He was quick to
regain himself though and added, “If-a Jimmy Ray says-a fifty percent, then fifty percent it is then.”

Evidently Big Red's greed overrode his suspicions and he grumbled, “Okay then, how about letting us get about twenty of them DVD/VCRs, printers and cameras and—”

Sparkle cut through him, “Wait a minute dere. Ya'll sho do want-a lotta stuff. I hope ya'll got a van or something.” He had a concerned look on his face, but what they didn't know was that he was setting up his escape.

They looked puzzled at each other before the little guy said, “You mean Jimmy Ray didn't tell you what kinda money we were spending?”

Sparkle did his best to hide the surprise on his face. He chanced a look over to Rainbow, who was sticking his head out beyond the column spying them.

He must have felt what was going on because he immediately held up two fingers, indicating how much they were supposed to be spending. Sparkle rubbed his finger under his nose and held up six fingers with his eyes bucked wide open. Rainbow mouthed “wow” and then ran his thumb under his neck to indicate bringing the sting to a close.

Sparkle saw the little guy getting ready to turn his head in that direction. He quickly cleared his throat, smiled at him and took out a pad from inside his coat and started jotting down the items they had chosen. After the quick calculation, he said, “Ya'll don't-a mind holding on for a moment do you? I'm gonna call Jimmy Ray-a so he can tell his cousin what to expect-a.”

They both nodded their consent so he walked down the aisles and called his boy to let him know what was up. He whispered, “Partner, these boys got nearly six g's, dog.” And then he said out loud for their benefit, “Okay, we'll see you in a few then.”

Rainbow maintained his composed look. “Hmm, that's good, dog. They said that they had two g's but it looked about twice that much. But hell, that's even better. Gone back over there. Let's get this thang over with.”

He walked up a few minutes later and pulled Sparkle to the side. “Oh yeah, check this out. They may try to split up and each of them try to roll with one of us. You got to pull both of them to you because I'll have the money mitted by then. You ready?”

“Shit, no problem, dog, no problem,” he said full of confidence. He turned from him and walked straight up to the little blond guy, figuring him for the leader of the two since his khaki pants were starched, pressed and cement speckle free. He had a name “Greg” pinned to the pocket on his shirt. “Mista Greg, why don't you go handle your money biz with Jimmy Ray, while me and Big Red here-a recheck-a this list.”

Greg patted Big Red on the shoulder and departed with a grunt.

While he checked the list with Big Red, he positioned himself where he could see Rainbow when he got his mitts on the loot. Didn't take his boy long at all and his eyes lit up when he saw Greg pass him a green money bag from under his shirt.

Rainbow arched his brows at him as he slid the bag into his coat. Sparkle hunched Big Red on the elbow. “Hey, I forgot to tell Greg something. Could you go get him for me?” It was time for the shake-off.

Big Red eyed him suspiciously for a second before setting upon the task. When they walked back together, Greg hit Sparkle with what he dreaded. “I'm gonna go with Jimmy Ray downstairs—”

Sparkle cut him off immediately with a sound of desperation in his voice. “No, no, no, his cousin won't make a deal with anybody but him. Come, we go to do the paperwork.”

They looked at each other strangely; long enough for Sparkle
to feel a little unease and doubt creep into their faces. He didn't give them a chance to concentrate too much. “Hey, if-a ya'll wanna call-a it off, it's cool.” He looked around nervously like he was making sure that none of his co-workers were watching. “Aaah, man, a that's aight. I'll go get your money-a back. I can't do-a it like-a this because ya'll is a-making me a-nervous now. That's okay, that's okay, deal's off, deal's off.” He started walking toward Rainbow who was about to step on the escalator.

Greg grabbed him by the elbow and said anxiously, “Okay, okay, we do it your way,” as beads of sweat started to form on his upper lip.

‘W yeah, man, it's gravy now,
Sparkle thought as he nodded. “Okay, a-my a-way,” he said, pointing his thumb to his chest. He gave a thumbs-up sign to Rainbow's departing head, as it disappeared down the escalator. Only he knew that he would wind back around to keep check on how things went until Sparkle made a successful shake-off; in case any trouble started.

He watched along with them as his head no longer showed and then nodded for the pair to follow him. When they got to the elevator, he stopped and bopped himself upside the head. “Godayum I-a almost-a forgot. I still got to get the inventory forms to make this thing legit. I'll be right back-a in a second.” He beamed a brilliant smile and started away until he felt Big Red walking with him and then put his hand on the doorknob to the business office. Sparkle quickly turned around with a frown on his face. “No, no, I can't-a take-a you-a in the office. Draw too much attention. I'll be right back out,” he assured him with a manly pat on the shoulder.

Red looked back at Greg with a puzzled frown, but all he got from Greg was a hunch of his shoulders and a what-else-can-we-do look. Sparkle nodded and entered the office feeling their eyes
stabbing him in the back. As if it was an everyday affair, he walked up to the counter and asked the clerk for a credit application. Out of his peripheral vision, he noticed them staring at him. When the clerk bent below the counter to get the forms, he turned to them with an anxious look on his face and waved them away.

When they disappeared around the corner, Sparkle made his move and gently pushed the door open. On the balls of his feet he made a quick exit across the floor to the stairway. As he eased the door shut, he looked across the room to see Rainbow rushing down the aisles to the escalator. Closing the door he ran all the way down the stairs to the street level and cruised toward the exit. Just as he was about to step on the automatic door pad, he looked back to make sure that nobody was following him.

He saw several heads looking upward. A low murmur erupted as several shoppers turned toward the racket. He squinted his eyes, not wanting to believe what he was seeing and immediately bucked them wide open in astonishment when it registered on him that Rainbow was tumbling down the escalator. A moment of pure panic seized his chest before he was able to react, but he regained his composure fast and started toward the escalator to help his boy.