URBAN: Chosen By A Kingpin (3 page)

“Here you go.” I started laughing and pointing at him. “You and the bullshit man.”

“What?” He laughed innocently.

“Come on nigga don’t play. You already know I ain’t partying with your ass no more.”

Five months ago, I decided to take Black on an offer to go out and party. We used to party all the time when we were younger, but as we got older I usually kept myself married to the business. I am a businessman, legally and illegally. I have many ways of making money so that’s what I like to do. I just never got the point of spending money on an outfit to get to a club. Then later I have to spend money in the club and keep on spending money. It was just too much money leaving my pockets. I was never into that scene, but to each his own.

Anyway, one day Black told me to stop being an inside nigga and come out to play. I shrugged my shoulders and thought why not. So I bought a new outfit, came out and was having a great time. I remember I was talking to this beautiful woman. She had a nice body. She wasn’t built like Black’s cousin but she was damn near close. She was light brown skin, pretty round face, small boobs, but her ass was kind of big. Of course I had a thing for girls with round asses so I was all in her ear. I don’t even remember what the fuck I was saying, but I do remember looking at Black’s face. Someone was talking to him and was cool. The guy seemed alright but then he said something and even I could read from his body language that what he was saying to Black wasn’t nice. And then it happened.

For a minute, Black and I caught eyes. We didn't’ say a word to each other. We didn’t even signal each other. We had a whole conversation from a shared fucking look. He told me that he was going to get this nigga and wanted to know if I had his back. I just looked at him like of course I did, but try to tell him that he should keep his cool. But that’s not what the fuck happened. He just picked up a bottle of Dom and hit that nigga over his head. When the fight broke out, I made my way clear over to him pushing people off of him. Me and the rest of his boys were fighting and of course what happens next. Bang! Bang!

When the shots rang out, people were off running. I saw that it was the friend of the guy that was hit. He was trying to get to his friend and not even shooting, but when he saw me looking at him, he aimed the gun at me. Before he could pull the trigger, Black let out a shot and hit him in his hip. He fell down and Black looked at me.

“Come on, let’s fucking go!”

After that I never partied with him again. I never did get that woman’s number. I never saw her again. Sometimes I like to think that I made her up because before any of that happened she was so fucking perfect. She had her own place, she had a decent job, and she had no kids. Now I don’t mind a woman with kids, but it’ getting more rare to find a woman without any. So everything was going great and on top of that she was a freak. Every now and then she would just grab my dick through my jeans. She licked the side of my neck, which made me look at her weird but then she whispered

“I’m going to let you fuck the shit out of my face later.” And then moments later the guy approached Black and it all went down from there.

“Come on Jamal.” Black laughed. “You’re not going to let one incident ruin your New Year's’ Eve. I heard about this great New Years Eve party. Just imagine all the bad ass bitches going to be there.”

“You know I never really cared about females like that. You know how I roll. I fuck these bitches and then toss them to the side. You know bitches be the main reason why niggas get caught slipping.”

“Oh here you go.”

“Nigga you know I’m telling the truth.”

“But come on Jamal, what you doing for New Year’s.”

“I’m keeping my ass at home.”

“You not an old man for real Jamal. Come on out and play.”

“I like to play nigga, but you a hothead. You can’t keep your cool.” I gave him the eye. “You know you always on some shit.”

“I’m getting better at it.”

“Oh you going to counseling?” I laughed.

“Nah nigga, I started watching that chick Iyanla. That bitch was going to fix my life.”

I started laughing at loud. This is why I always stayed cool with Black. He always made me laugh. It was hard to stay mad at him. He may have been a hothead when someone bothered him, but more times than not, he kept his cool. If only I could guarantee that no one would mess with him tonight, but life doesn’t make such promises.

“Aight, I’m going to go with you, but it better not be no bullshit.”

“It won’t.”

“I’m out of here.” We exchanged hands again. “Text me with the details.”

“It’s going to be a good night.” His toothy grin had me a little worried.

“Oh yeah?” I said as he started to walk away.

“For sure. It’s definitely going to be a night you won’t forget.”

“Damn, the salon is packed.” Janet complained as we stood outside the salon.

“Girl, what did you expect?” I put some lip gloss on my lips. “You know everyone is trying to look great for New Year’s.

“I know, but damn, it’s so early. New Year’s is days away though. Why is it so packed today?”

“Because bitches thought just like us. They gonna keep their hair in curlers and the night of, they are going to let it loose.” I smiled. “Now come on, I have Sapphire and Gemini waiting for us. I told them that we were coming.”

“Oh so we not waiting?”

“Hell nah.” I laughed and we walked in.

As soon as we got in, Gemini went to Janet and Sapphire came to me. They started washing and deep conditioning my hair. As she was finishing blow drying my hair, Sapphire asked me what I wanted.

“I know I never get weaves but I actually want you to put in a few tracks.” I told her.

“What?” She was so shocked. “Oh my goodness.” Her thick Jamaican accent came out loud and clear. “What miracle is this? I thought you said because you had long hair that you didn’t need any weave.” She was giving me the side eye. “So what’s new?”

“Well, it’s about to be a new year, so I should try something new right?”

I passed my fingers through my long hair. It hit right above my bra straps. It was so straight because I always had a relaxer. I know everyone was going natural, but it wasn’t for me. I did cut back on how many times I relaxed my hair, but I couldn’t stop altogether. Janet has always been natural and her hair was longer and thicker than mine, but she kept her hair in weave to protect it. She always talked about how if you weaved your hair correctly it could actually help you, but she never won me over. It wasn’t until this whole switch idea came up recently, that I thought about it.

“Did I hear correctly?” Janet was in the salon chair to my left. “Are you letting her put a weave in your hair too?”

“Well yeah.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I did say we should do something new, so I’m really doing something new. I’m getting some weave.”

“Okay then. I will follow in your steps. I won’t put in a weave today.”

“You’re going to perm your hair?” Gemini asked but Janet started shaking her head already.

“Oh no, I never said all of that. I’m just going to let you straighten it with a flat iron.” She made herself very clear.

The two stylists went to work. I watched her braid some of my hair down and then saw her come over with some different tracks of weave.

“Okay this one is a brazilian. Your hair is a little fine and it will blend right in.” She informed me.

“Do what you have to do.” I smiled. “I trust you. I’ve been coming here for five years.” She nodded her head and went back. When she finished, I almost didn’t recognize me. I looked great but so different. I guess that was the point.

“What do you think?” Sapphire asked smiling because she was obviously pleased with her work and so was I.

“I love it.” I dug into my wallet and paid her $150.

“But it’s only $120.”

“I know.” I smiled back at her. I turned to my left and my jaw dropped. “Wow, bitch, I’ve never seen your fucking hair. It’s so thick and long. It’s inches away from your ass.” I commented. Janet just grinned and chuckled.

“You look beautiful too.”

“We should go out tonight.” My eyes lit up.

“What?” Janet closed her eyes as Gemini sprayed her hair with hair spray. “Why?”

“Because we look too good to stay in.”

“But where are we going to go? We going to go to some club?”

“Nah, we can just go straight to get some drinks.”

“Right now?”

“Right now! We should go straight from here.”

“I’m so tired.” She yawned. “You go ahead without me.”

“Ugh.” I handed her my house keys. “You’re so fucking lame.”

Right out of the salon, I went straight to the train station. I already knew where I wanted to go. There was this dive bar in Manhattan that Michael and I passed by once. We never went inside because Michael didn’t like the vibe but I did. It was so Mexican chic. The flag was everywhere, ladies were serving up shots called ‘Cucaracha’ and it was so cheap. The way everyone was acting I can tell the liquor was strong, but I never went in. Now that me and Michael were over, there’s no reason why I couldn’t go there now.

Standing in front of the bar, I felt the cold breeze hit me. I looked down at my outfit. All I had was a coat, some black tight jeans, and of course my reliable Converses. I saved all that girly shit for the nightclub, and I was super casual right now. I opened the door and sat by the bar.

“Hey, what can I get you?” The bartender asked me while he gave me a goofy grin.

“What do you have?”

“Well we have shots.” He started to tell me and I flashback to the girls serving “Cucarachas’. “We have these great frozen margaritas.”

“Do you have different flavors?”

“Of course.”

“How about strawberry?”

“Coming right up.”

He walked off to this blender and started making the concoction. I slipped my coat off of me and looked around. It was pretty dead. There was nobody around. I guess the cold weather could do that.

“Where are all the people?” I asked as he handed me the drink.

“The winter.” He gave me a straw. “When it get’s cold like this people don’t really like to come outside.”

“I see that.” I looked around again. “I came in here one time and it was so lively.

“Yeah, it’s a great place but you know the winter.” He sighed. “If people come here, it’s usually to watch the game.”

He pointed to a big screen that was on the other side of the bar. There was only one other guy that was there and he looked like he was really into the game. I didn't care much for sports, but I was bored and wanted to watch some TV while I sipped on this drink. The first sip I could clearly taste the tequila.

“This is so good.” I stood up and started to go to the other end of the bar. I grabbed my coat and sat down two chairs away from the guy. It was some sort of college football game. The more I drink the liquor, the more interested I got in the game. It was like the booze enhanced some things about football I never noticed, by the time I got to my second drink the game went from just football, but to something extremely sexual.

I licked the glass of my third drink and looked back at the game. When the men ran, I stared straight at their butts. When they jumped up, I couldn’t help but look at their crotches. And when they ran, their muscles bounced and moved in a majestic way. It was so beautiful it was almost like art. No, more like ballet. There was such purpose in the way that they moved. I never noticed it before . But then again, I never watched football while drinking margaritas before neither.

“You must really like football.” This deep sexy voice said behind me. I turned around slowly and saw it was the guy that was watching the game.

“No, not really.” I told him truthfully. “It’s just the more I drink, the more sexual they start to look.” He chuckled at my answer. “No look.” I pointed to the screen. “You see how they doing it in slow motion. If you look at the crotch hard enough you can see the dick print.” He laughed out loud and shook his head.

“I’m going to have to take your word on that.” He smiled. He had the kind of smile that if you weren’t smiling before, you’d start. smiling out of nowhere.

“You’re cute.” I was always straight forward, but when I was a bit tipsy I could pass a lie detector test without any problems.

“You’re gorgeous.”

“No, you’re really good looking.” I now turned all the way around. I took his hands in mine. “Where’s the wedding ring?” I asked him.

“What wedding ring?”

“Usually when I meet guys like you, they tend to be married.”

“Well you can see that I not only don’t have a ring but not even a ring imprint.”

“That doesn't mean anything. You know sometimes you don’t get an imprint if you wash your hands all the time or if you take the ring off as soon as you leave the house. For all I know, your wedding ring can be in your jacket pocket.”

“Go ahead and feel around.”

His smile grew even wider and he opened his suit jacket up. Did I mention he was wearing a suit? Well he is. I reached inside to much of both of our surprises. There was nothing there but I did feel that he was a guy that liked to work out.

“Oooh muscles.” I smirked at him and then bit my lip. “Pay for our drinks and let’s get the fuck out of here.” I told him while I put my coat on. “I’m only waiting for you for about two minutes, so if you’re not out there, I’m gone. Oh and leave a good tip.” I stood up and made my way out of the bar.

I waited for less than 30 seconds. The handsome guy came out of the bar. He had on a long thick wool jacket. It was so professional looking. He looked like some of the bankers that I come across since the law office where I worked was around Wall Street. He was so confident and tall with brown skin. He was a deadly combination of all the things I liked in a man.

“So you’re pretty confident.” He told me. “But you’re also pretty drunk.”

“And you sir,” I paused. “are a gentleman. Another dude would have just took my offer and fucked the shit out of me but you seem to care about me.”

“I don't’ take advantage of young women.”

“Is that right?”