THINK DIFFERENT
Almost four years later…
“What’s up, baby? A nigga missed you.” Kissing his first and middle finger, he pressed them against the headstone for his girl and set a single rose on top of her marker.
He squatted, eye to eye with her name, jaw instinctively locking tight. Although his eyes misted, he didn’t allow one tear to slip before a weakened smile broke out over his full lips.
“You know how I feel about this city. I told myself I wasn’t ever coming back to this mothafucka after what they did to you, but here I am.
” Although she couldn’t answer him back, he knew she could feel him.
“It took a long time, but I’m where I’m supposed to be now.
” Nodding, he swiped his pants leg and stood tall over her grave.
“I love you,” he whispered, pivoting on the heel of his black suede Valentino sneakers and trudging slowly back to his parked car.
Once he was settled in the leather seats, he reached for the blunt in his ashtray and put it to his lips.
Sparking the tip, he inhaled and turned the volume to the max while Tupac’s Picture me Rolling rattled his trunk.
His grandparents lived about fifteen minutes from the cemetery, so his next stop was to slide up on them and see how they were doing.
The 36th block of Oakland was a lot quieter than he remembered.
He’d spent most of his life on this street.
Wheeling past some of the houses, he noticed that a few of them were up for sale, and until he got closer to his grandparent’s spot, he didn’t see not one old person on the porch.
Growing up meant that you had to watch a lot of your OGs pass away.
He remembered not being able to even sneak off the block or have a little tussle with the next motherfucker without word getting back to his people.
Around here, it really did take a village to raise a child.
An average metal fence surrounded the two-story home.
Since it was left open, he pulled into the gravel driveway behind the red Cadillac that belonged to his grandfather and killed the engine.
Putting the rest of his blunt out in the ashtray, Eazy snatched the keys from the ignition and pushed his driver’s door open.
About two houses down, a dog barked in a doorway, and he could hear kids playing, so he assumed they were in the backyard.
“Is that lil’ Eazy?” A gruff voice called from behind him when he approached the side entrance to his grandparent’s home.
Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted old man Whistler on his back porch, and the pungent aroma of his weed struck the air. A bottle of Marek Reserve sat on the table, and he gripped a filled glass.
“What’s good, Whistler?” Eazy leaned against the fence and chucked his chin at him in greeting.
“This weed for one,” he said, inhaling with a laugh and examining his joint. “Been a long time since you pulled up around here. Still got hoes driving by looking for you.”
“No shit? Good dick lives rent free in a bitch’s head.”
“Fucking right. A bitch will forget everything but a nigga that fucked her good.” Whistler coughed from his last inhale. Eazy chuckled and shook his head. “I tell ’em to send they mamas and aunties this way. Only the ones with strong jaws and good knees, though.”
“You a fucking fool!” Eazy hollered.
“Stay out of trouble,” Whistler warned, finally looking him in the eye. “Summit and Taci need you around here.”
Eazy nodded and pushed himself off the fence so he could go check on his people.
“I’ll see you around, old man.”
“I might be old, but this dick still twenty-five,” Whistler joked.
Approaching the main door, he saw that it was open through the storm screen door.
It was normal for his grandparents to be lackadaisical like this with their security.
Neither of them ever worried about a motherfucker running up in their home.
There were plenty of times as a kid when him and his homies would blow in and out of this door.
Summit and Taci stayed cursing them out.
“Eazy!” Essence squealed when she spotted him stepping into the house.
She took in his muscular frame, and her full lips widened into a smile before she threw her arms around him. Holding her back, he gave her a squeeze and inhaled her Marc Jacobs perfume.
“What’s up, E.” He couldn’t help but smile and try to catch his breath since she wouldn’t let him go.
“What are you doing here?” Finally nudging away, she swatted his chest and looked him over in his denim jeans and V-neck shirt with his signature leather over his back.
“Got a new gig over at the Hellum Gallery.”
“Are you for real?” Essence was surprised.
“Yeah.”
“So, you’re here to stay?” she pried, looping her arm through his and tugging him into the kitchen.
“Something like that.” He swiped his beard.
“I just finished dinner. There’s some fried chicken and fish, spaghetti, and potato salad. Have a seat.” She tossed the dish towel in her hand over her shoulder and nodded to one of the four old school diner style chairs at the matching square embossed glass top table.
Eazy slid his leather jacket off and placed it on the back of one of the chairs before going to the big farm style sink and washing his hands. He grabbed a paper towel from the holder nearby to dry them and tossed it into the can next to the back door.
“I wasn’t expecting to find you over here.” Pulling out his chair, he dropped into it and watched as she moved around, making a plate for him.
“Yeah, well, shit happens. Taci’s been sick, leaving Summit alone to care for her.
He still has to work, so he can’t always be here.
We tried having an in-home caretaker, but that wasn’t working.
People are weird for no damn reason,” she complained, stacking his plate accordingly before walking it over to him.
Eazy reached for the fork that his sister also provided and prepared to dive in.
“Aht, bless the food, fool!”
Scoffing, Eazy shook his head, thinking he was just going to disregard her when a hand fell on her hip, and she shot a chastising glare his way.
Closing his eyes, he said a quick prayer before peering up at her, hoping she was satisfied.
Essence smiled and slid into a chair across from him.
She propped her chin in her hand and rested an elbow against the tabletop.
Starving from the long drive, Eazy dug into his food, barely taking time to chew while his sister studied him through narrowed eyes.
“So, you really came back here because of a job? Like a legit one?” she questioned. “And don’t lie. You know I know you about as well as anybody.”
“It’s business, and none of yours,” he pointed out, giving his attention back to his food.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” She perked up, and he lifted a brow.
Things with Essence were strained before he decided to leave.
After losing Niva, she wanted him to leave the streets and everything he lived for alone.
He loved his sister dearly, but she didn’t get it.
Not only was what he did a means to his own survival, but it exhilarated him.
It gave him an odd sense of purpose she would never understand.
“I need some help. Between work, taking care of them and all their day-to-day shit, I barely have time for anything. I need a break sometimes, but I know I can’t trust just anybody to look out for them. Not like me or you.”
“What you need me to do, E?” He chewed thoughtfully on his spaghetti. “If it’s finances, I got some shit put up, but I don’t know if I can cover all medical expenses myself.”
“Right now, that is the furthest thing from my mind. Her getting treatment is not the issue. Just keep an eye on them during the day. I got a nurse, Kissa, who comes over a couple of times to week to check on Taci. Summit just isn’t present.
I don’t know where he is, or what he’s doing with his time, but he’s rarely here. ”
“You saying that shit like you think he got a secret family out there or something,” Eazy remarked.
“I see you still telling my business.” Their grandfather spoke up, strolling into the kitchen in a pair of black slacks with a gray pinstriped shirt tucked into them and fresh lace up loafers on his feet.
“Hmph.” Turning her nose up, Essence looked him over. “Don’t do me, Summit. You know I got no problem saying what I say behind your back to your face.”
Summit Campbell wasn’t a flashy man, but he had style and always presented himself in a professional manner. His favorite diamond pinky ring gleamed on his finger as he propped the door open to his old school Maytag fridge.
“And I got no problem taking you over my knee like I did when you was little, running around here starting shit and telling everybody’s business. Should have been a damn reporter,” he muttered.
“You know what, I’m not even going there with you today.”
“You need to go and find a man or some friends. Sitting around here all the time all mean and celibate.”
Essence’s mouth fell open as he pulled a carton of sweet tea from the fridge.
“Kiss my ass, Summit!”
“Somebody need to. It ain’t me.” He shook his head, pulled a cupboard open and reached inside for a glass.
“I’m going to see if Taci is hungry.” Essence jumped up from the table as he filled his cup. “You can make your own damn plate. Grumpy ass.” Scoffing, she stomped out of the room, leaving Eazy chuckling and shaking his head.
“Why you giving her hell?” Eazy asked his grandfather when he joined him at the table.