Chapter 3
I was parked a few houses down from Denzelle’s house. He was a low-level drug dealer who thought he was the shit. I didn’t know when he found time to sell drugs because all I’d ever seen him do was drive around town trying to pick up young girls. I couldn’t believe Ramina fell for his weak ass.
Apparently, Denzelle called Ramina when he got home each night around midnight after taking a shower. It was almost that time now, so I expected to see him pulling up soon. This wasn’t the best neighborhood, so my head was on a swivel as I waited.
Finally, a car turned into his driveway. I watched while he did everything but get out of his car. Finally, the driver’s side door opened. He slowly approached his house, carrying a duffel bag and walking as if he’d been drinking or indulging in some of the shit he sells.
Once he’d been inside for a few minutes, I started my car and drove around to one of the side streets. I grabbed what I needed from my bag and crept into the alley. Since Denzelle’s house was on the corner, I didn’t have to go far.
His backyard was unkempt, so I had to be careful where I stepped. I reached his back door and took out what I needed to pick the lock. Less than a minute later, I slowly opened the door.
I heard the shower running and headed to the bathroom. In one swift motion, I kicked the door down and charged inside. Of course, he was caught off guard, giving me the advantage. Before he could process what was happening, he was wrapped in the plastic shower curtain, getting his ass beat.
“I hate muthafuckas who prey on young girls. Bitches your age won’t fuck with you, so you go after the ones too dumb to know you ain’t shit!”
As I ranted, I punched him repeatedly. I couldn’t see the damage I was doing because of the shower curtain, but when he stopped moving, I stopped punching. I removed the plastic from his face to ensure I hadn’t killed him.
Before leaving him with the water raining down on him, I hacked up a wad of phlegm and spat on his face. He groaned when it landed on his forehead, but he couldn’t do shit about it. I left him in the bathroom to figure out what to do next.
As I headed toward the back door, leaving a trail of water, the duffel bag he was carrying looked to be on the kitchen table.
After a quick peek inside, I put it on my shoulder and ran my ass all the way to my car.
With the amount of cash I suspected was in the bag, I could have a block party for the kids in my neighborhood before the end of the summer and take a break from robbing these worthless ass niggas.
At least twice a year, I threw a block party for the neighborhood kids.
“Rowdy! Rowdy! Wake up!” I heard my sister shouting.
“What the fuck are you yelling for? What time is it?”
“It’s seven. Zelle’s been calling my phone all night.”
“I told you not to talk to that nigga again.” I rolled over and put my pillow over my face.
“I haven’t answered, but he keeps calling. What did you do?”
I sighed and removed the pillow. My sister looked petrified, but this was partially her fault.
“Block his number and calm your damn nerves. His ass shouldn’t be calling you anyway, after what he did.”
She still looked worried, but she swiped her finger across her phone screen a few times before looking at me again.
“I’m scared, Ro. Can you take me to work?”
“Yeah. Give me a minute.”
“Can you pick me up? I get off at three.”
“I’ll be there.”
She left my room, and I released a breath.
I was covered from head to toe when I broke into Denzelle’s place the night before, so he didn’t see me.
I doubt he recognized my voice because we weren’t cool like that.
He’d probably connected the shit I’d said while beating his ass to what he’d done to Ramina.
Regardless, he had no solid proof it was me.
I got up and relieved my bladder before washing my face and brushing my teeth. I kept on the shorts I wore and pulled on a T-shirt. When I left the bathroom, I bumped into my mother, who looked to be just returning from her morning walk.
“Hey, Ma.” I leaned down to kiss her cheek.
“Good morning, Son. Where are you off to this early?”
“Your daughter needs a ride to work. You want to go to breakfast when I get back?”
“Sure. I’ll be ready.”
“Let’s go, Mina!” I shouted as I headed out the door.
She rushed out about two minutes later and flopped into the passenger seat.
“Did you eat?” I asked as I backed out of the driveway.
“No. I didn’t have time.”
Without asking her what she wanted or where she wanted to stop, I pulled into the drive-through of the first coffee shop I saw. She ordered some kind of cold latte and a cinnamon roll. By the time we arrived at the recreation center where she worked, she’d eaten the whole thing.
“I’ll be here at three to pick you up.”
“Thank you. Bye. Love you.”
“Love you more.”
I waited until she was inside to drive away. When I returned home, my mother was waiting in the kitchen.
“What did you do, Rowdy?” she asked calmly yet very sternly.
“What are you talking about?”
She stood and shoved me against the counter.
“Where did you get that bag of money? Are you selling drugs? You better not be selling—”
“Ma, calm down. I’m not selling drugs. You know I would never do that shit.”
“Where did the money come from? Who did you rob?”
I wanted to ask her what she was doing in my room, but I knew better. I was grown as hell, damn near a foot and a half taller than my mother, and paid the majority of the bills in this house, but she would knock my ass out in a heartbeat.
She figured out a long time ago how I got most of my money. When I was in high school, she was doing laundry and putting my clothes away. She came across a bag with a nice amount of cash, a black jogging suit, a black ski mask, black sneakers, and black gloves.
As soon as I walked into the house after school, she was on my ass and wouldn’t let up until I told her the truth. She was pissed, but she didn’t turn the money down when I gave it to her to buy groceries or pay bills.
Dawn Noble worked as a night janitor at a hospital.
She made a decent wage, but had a hard time making ends meet because she didn’t want us living in the hood.
Although she managed to keep us out of what some deemed the worst neighborhoods in the city, we still lived in an area that was just below middle-class.
I didn’t want her working two or three jobs to feed us and keep a roof over our heads, so I did what I thought I needed to do.
My father was serving a life sentence for murdering his wife, who my mother knew nothing about until he was arrested, so he was no help. Ramina’s father was killed in a botched robbery when she was three years old.
“Don’t worry about it, Ma. Nobody knows it was me, so we’re safe.”
“Ro, you’ve been doing this for years. While I appreciate what you do for our family and our neighbors, your luck is gonna run out one of these days. Seymour didn’t think it would happen to him, and we both know how that story ended.”
Seymour was Ramina’s father. My mother had a thing for bad boys back then and was stuck raising their children alone.
“Why would you put that negativity out there? Seymour was an idiot. I’m good at what I do.”
“You’re good at fixing cars too. Can you focus on that and stop taking what doesn’t belong to you?”
“The people I take from are poisoning the community. They deserved to be robbed. Plus, it’s not like I’m tricking off the money. I’m using it to help you pay bills and help the very people they’re poisoning.”
She sighed with worry. “I agree that they’re bad people and deserve no good, and I like that you use it to help others, including us, but every time you take their money, you’re putting yourself in danger.
Plus, there was a lot of money in that bag, and someone will be held accountable for it missing. I don’t want it to be you.”
“It won’t be, Ma. Do you want to go to breakfast, or not?”
She hesitated but eventually agreed. I thought that conversation was over because she didn’t bring it up on the ride to her favorite breakfast spot. After we were seated and had ordered our food, my luck ran out.
“Your uncle David wants you to come and work at his shop,” she said as if we’d been talking about him.
“Uncle David lives in Onyx City.”
“I’m aware of that, Son. You could move there and work in his shop. He’s retiring in a few years and needs someone to take over.”
“Well, maybe when he retires I’ll consider it, but I have no interest in moving.”
“Son—”
“Ma, I don’t want to go back and forth with you. Can we just enjoy a nice breakfast together?”
“Fine.”
“Thank you.”
The mood was a little tense until our food arrived. Thankfully, once we began eating, we were able to enjoy a nice breakfast.