Chapter 4
GROWN UP: ONE YEAR LATER…
“Make sure you cut the hair on my face real low this time. You always forget,” Dexten said as he eyed Pretti while she was lining up his forehead. She didn’t say a word as the clippers took over. She loved the sound of clippers; it was so soothing to her.
“Did you hear what I said, Pretti?”
“Hold still, Dexz, and stop talking,” Pretti said sternly.
Dexz smirked and then closed his eyes. He knew she hated when he talked while she was cutting his hair, but she never listened to him when she had those clippers in her hand.
She was always trying a new haircut on him.
He always liked the haircuts she gave him, but she never did his sideburns and face the way he wanted.
Dexz decided to let her work her magic, so he did as he was told.
Five minutes later, Pretti turned off her clippers, tapped Dexz, and then handed him the mirror. He checked out his crispy line, like always, but frowned when he saw Pretti hadn't touched up his sideburns and face like he asked.
“You didn’t get my face like I told you, woman…”
“I know I didn’t. I think you look hot with hair on your face, so let it grow out. It makes you look grown, and since you will be eighteen soon, it would be a good look,” Pretti said as she swept up the hair off the floor. He knew she still had a crush on him, but he never fed into it.
“But it’s not about what you want. It’s what I like, so if you don’t trim my face next time, I’m going to go find me a male barber that listens.” He smirked as he reached in his pocket for the fifteen dollars he owed her.
“You’ll never find a barber better than me, homeboy.” She snatched the money from his hand.
At that moment, Rhonda came walking into the kitchen.
She was approaching fifty, and she still went to clubs and bars at night.
She had a house full of foster kids but left them unattended once the clock struck nine in the evening.
Pretti kept sweeping as they watched Rhonda walk to the refrigerator to grab a beer.
“You in my kitchen cutting hair again. I hope you got my money,” Rhonda said as she stood near the kitchen, eyeing Dexz and Pretti.
They were now the oldest kids in her home, so she charged them for everything, even though she collected money from the state for them.
Dexz and Pretti hated it. They had a few more months until they could leave her house, and they couldn’t wait.
“I only cut Dexz’s hair in here, and he only gave me fifteen dollars. I needed to buy hygiene stuff with the rest of the money I made, so I don’t have anything to give you.” Pretti swept the hair in the dustpan and tossed it in the trash.
“Well, give me the fifteen he just gave you. I need some money to get in the club tonight.”
“Rhonda, didn’t you just get seven grand from the state? Why you want to take her fifteen dollars?” Dexz chimed in. He hated her greedy ways and had no problem calling her out.
“Nigga, don’t get me started on how much you owe me. That little twenty grand your mama gave me to watch your ass been gone, and I know you be sellin’ dope! So, watch who you talkin’ to before your ass be on the streets or in jail,” she threatened.
“Well, I’m not giving you my fifteen dollars. I need it.” Pretti rolled her eyes.
Dexz could feel the tension in the room. For the last two weeks, Rhonda had been on their backs about small amounts of money. They started thinking she was on drugs because her behavior was off. She always collected money from them, usually once a month, but it was becoming daily.
“Bitch, you’re going to give me that money. You ain’t entitled to shit in this house.” Rhonda grabbed her by the shirt and tried to go through her pockets, but she pushed her away.
“Bitch!” Rhonda snapped. She raised her hand and slapped Pretti across the face. Rhonda hadn’t laid hands on Pretti in so many years that it shocked her.
Dexz acted quickly and pushed Rhonda to the floor.
“What the fuck did you slap her for, you stupid bitch?” Dexz shouted as he helped Pretti to her feet.
Rhonda stood up and rushed Dexz and Pretti.
The three of them fought like cats and dogs in the kitchen.
Rhonda had Pretti by the hair as she pounded her in the face.
Pretti was only 5’1 and weighed one hundred and twenty pounds, while Rhonda was 5’9 and weighed almost two hundred pounds.
Dexz was her height, and he had had enough of the fighting.
He grabbed Rhonda from behind and body-slammed her to the tile floor.
Rhonda shouted from the pain she felt in her back.
“Get the fuck out my house, and don’t come back! Y’all ain’t shit and won’t ever be shit! Fucking bastard kids!” she shouted, sending all the kids out of their rooms.
Pretti and Dexz wasted no time packing what they needed the most and leaving everything else behind. The two of them left the house with rolling luggage and backpacks on their backs.
As they walked down the main street, neither of them said a word to each other as the wind brushed across their faces.
The weather was cold, but the fire inside them from what had happened kept them warm.
After two miles of walking, they finally sat at a bus stop and watched the cars go by.
Dexz knew he had to come up with a plan because he wasn’t going to let Pretti find her own way.
He knew the streets were dangerous and didn’t want anything to happen to her.
Looking over at Pretti, he saw that she had finally broken down. Tears flowed from her eyes as she shivered in the cold air.
“Don’t trip, best friend,” Dexz said softly. He took off his hoodie and gave it to her. Cold weather didn’t bother him, and it was colder in New York.
“We’re homeless, Dexten! What the hell are we going to do?” She cried out.
“I’m going to call one of my boys to see if he can rent us a room.
I was going to wait and tell you when our birthday came, but I’ve been saving to get that barbershop you wanted.
I figured I'd spend my last dime investing in you. You are a smart-ass girl, even if you don’t think so.
I know you can run a business at a young age, but shit is about to be tight, so I’m going to use the twenty grand I saved so far to take care of us.
We ain’t about to be homeless. I got us.
I promise.” Dexz used his index finger and raised her chin.
Pretti looked him in the eyes, and Dexz returned the stare.
“You were really going to buy me a shop?” she asked in her usual soft tone.
“Yes, you deserve it. I don’t see why not. I’d invest in your dream and make sure you succeed.”
“Why do you care so much about me if you don’t want to be with me?” she asked, in a moment that she thought was right.
“I do like you, but I got too much shit going on in my life to make a commitment to you. You are my best friend, and you know that. Plus, now isn’t the time to talk about this. Just know I got us, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She sighed. “Okay, Dexz. Don’t be mad when I’m taken. Call your friend and get the room. It’s that time of the month for me, so I need a bathroom that’s clean.”
She wasn’t happy with his answer, but she decided to let it go. That was going to be her last time shooting her shot at him. She was moving on and pushing him into the friend zone. Just like he looked at her as a sister, she was now looking at him like a brother.
An hour later, Burner Man pulled up in a black Audi in front of the bus stop.
She had seen him around before but thought he was an older thug who was probably mean.
She had never said two words to him, but the way he started talking to her when they got in made it clear he knew a helluva lot about her.
“What’s up, Ms. Barber? It’s finally nice to meet you in person. I been seeing you outside for years, and this nigga always talkin’ about Pretti this, Pretti that. For you not to be his girl, he buys you a lot of food and shoes!” Burner Man laughed as he drove off into the night.
“He’s my best friend. That’s what he’s supposed to do,” she shot back at him.
“Nah, that’s what ya’ man supposed to do. Nigga do more shit for you than his girlfriend. Why you don’t do nothin’ for Kayla, man? She a hoe, but she loves you.” He continued to laugh.
Burner Man’s mouth was running like water.
Dexz had never told her about his girlfriend.
She thought he was single or just slept around.
She didn’t know he had something official.
He was still with Kayla, and their relationship had gotten deep.
She had gone from just fucking him and feeding him to letting him stash dope in her house and having her bag it up for him.
He would never put her in situations he had his girl in, but he knew Pretti wouldn’t understand, so he never spoke about his relationship to her.
She was innocent when it came to street business and the type of relationships she had with certain people.
“Yo, bro, you need to chill,” Dexz said to Burner Man, slightly agitated.
“Nah, he don’t need to chill. I didn’t know you had a girl… I thought I was your best friend. Why don’t I know about her?” Pretti crossed her arms.
“Because it’s not important.”
“Yeah, whatever. Must not be too much of a girlfriend…”
“Well, all I know is I’m coming by to get a cut by you tomorrow.
This nigga be out here NY fly, tryna outdo me, and he only seventeen!
” Burner Man was twenty-three, but he had love for Dexz.
He always cracked on him about how fly he was.
He had been in California for a while, but his NY swag was embedded in him.
Burner thought it was dope and even started dressing a little like him.
“I got you. Just come by wherever we’ll be staying…”
After hearing he was hiding a girlfriend, she had all her questions answered. Although he was looking out for her, she had nothing else to say to him for the night. When they were checked into their hotel, she showered and got ready for bed.
$$$$
The next morning, Pretti woke up to the smell of McDonald’s breakfast and weed. When she opened her eyes and looked over at Dexz’s bed, she saw him smoking a blunt with his eyes pierced on her.
“‘Bout time you woke up. I got breakfast and our morning blunt,” he said as he handed it to her. No matter what, they smoked a blunt together in the morning and ate breakfast at McDonald’s.
When she sat up to hit the blunt, she felt her head pounding, and between her legs were soaked. She knew she had slept too long and had bled through her sweats. She was embarrassed, so she continued to lie in her red spot while she hit the blunt.
“Damn, girl. Rhonda fucked you up. Your eye is black.” He looked at her swollen left eye.
“Oh my God, for real?” She reached for her phone and turned on the camera. She couldn’t believe how purple her eye was, and she was so angry. “No wonder my head is hurting. I’m going to need some ice and some sunglasses. I can’t miss school tomorrow.”
“Well, you’re going to have to. I talked to Rhonda this morning. She don’t want us back, but she still wants money from the state. She agreed to not report us missing if we don’t tell anyone what happened, and she keeps getting her checks.”
“And you agreed to that?” She raised her eyebrow.
“Yeah, I’m not trying to go to no fucking group home when we out this shit in three months. Fuck them checks; that bitch will get what she deserves one day. Right now, we gotta focus on us, so you can’t go to school until your eye is healed. If the school sees that, they will be asking questions.”
“I remember the first time Rhonda laid hands on me. I had just moved in and asked her what she was going to do around the house. She slapped me, and from that day, I did everything I could to keep her from putting her hands on me again. I had never had anyone lay hands on me before. I’ve been from a group home to an orphanage, and I’ve never had a fight.
Everyone wanted to be my play mother or sister as my protector.
Yesterday showed me I have to start standing up for myself before I become a weak bitch,” she admitted.
“I can teach you how to fight.” He smirked.
“Yeah, I want to learn how to fight and use a gun before I’m eighteen, so I’m definitely going to need your help.”
“I got you… But I want to apologize for not telling you I had a girlfriend. I didn’t think you wanted to hear that.”
“Why? Because you know I wanted to be with you? Because now I don’t. You like what you like, Dexten. I can’t be mad if I’m not your type, so I’m moving on. I wish you the best of luck with your girl.”
“That’s the thing, you are my type. So much, I can’t be with you while I’m struggling. I want to give you the world, but I can’t do that right now. The girl I’m with, there are reasons why I’m with her. I’d never do you like I do her. So just be glad I don’t want to be with you right now, love.”
“Yeah, I hear you…” She handed him the blunt, wrapped the cover around her, and walked to the bathroom. She didn’t want to hear anything he had to say about him not wanting to be with her, so she showered to get her mind together.
When she came out, Dexz was sitting at the table eating his food. She sat across from him, not saying a word. She wondered what his girlfriend did for him that she couldn’t do. Then she remembered she was a virgin. She probably was satisfying his needs in ways Pretti knew she couldn’t…