“Oh, we gonna have to get this shit straight right now. You are the rudest person I have ever met. Here I am being a great citizen. I barely know you, and I let you sleep in my house, then you have the audacity to be a dick to me in my home. You know what? I should've let your black ass drive home and have an accident.”
Black started cracking up laughing at her. Nobody, but his partna's, joned on his skin color.
“Oh, so you think that shit is funny?” Meesa asked, laughing herself. He looked up at her, loving the way her face glowed.
“Nah, for real ma, thanks for looking out for a nigga.” Disbelief fell over Meesa. Black had actually said something nice to her.
“You're welcome, Black.” She said, with a smile. Black liked seeing her smile. It made her look even prettier than she already was.
“So anyway, put on your shoes so I won't be late.” She said, grabbing her book bag.
“What school do you go to?” Asked Black, already knowing. He had done some background checking on Meesa finding out tidbits here and there.
“I go to Flo Valley.”
“What you studying?”
“Oh, I'm studying fashion design. I might as well make a living at something I love.”
“What time you got to be there?”
“I have to be there at 9:00.”
“How are you getting there”?
“I'm going to catch the metro link.”
“We'll, I can take you and drop you off.” Pigs must be flying, cause Black was being a little too nice for comfort, she thought.
“If you want to.” Meesa answered, trying to play like she didn't care if he took her not. Knowing she did.
When they got to his truck, Meesa waited for Black to come around the car and open her door. He never did, thinking she was crazy. Ain't no way I'm gonna open a door for her trick ass, he thought. I should've known it wouldn't last long, she thought. She rolled her eyes and got inside anyway. Black started pumping R. Kelly and Jay Z's “Best of Both Worlds”.
The CD just so happened to be one of Meesa's favorites. She sang along, bobbing her head to the beat. Black looked at her out of the corner of his almond eyes. So she has taste in music too, he said out loud to himself.
Hearing him, she asked, “What did you say?”
“Nothing.” He answered, looking straight at the road. She hated when he did shit like that. He was so complicated and only with her. Meesa reached for the volume button and turned the volume down.
“What the fuck are you doing?” He asked angrily. Meesa sat with her arms tucked underneath her breast. Pissed, that she didn't understand him.
“Black, let me ask you a question. Why is it one minute we can be getting along, and the next, you're biting my head off?”
Ignoring her, he didn't answer. But Meesa kept persisting. Tired of him and his attitude towards her, she probed again.
“For real, Black, it's a simple question. Until a couple of days ago, we had never said a word to each other. And when I finally did say something to you, you acted all funny style in front of all your friends.”
“So that's it? You're mad because you got played? Laughing, he asked, “What did you expect for me to do?”
“What do you mean what did I expect you to do?”
“Exactly what I said.” Replied Black. “I don't want to hurt your feelings, but man, Meesa you know good and well how you and ya partna's get down.”
“What in the hell are you talking about Black? How do me and my friends get down?” Asked Meesa, mad.
Oh, so she gonna play dumb, he thought.
“How can I put this so I don't hurt your feelings? Let's see, for starters, you and ya friends are some paper chasing freaks.”
Meesa's eyes bucked, not believing what she had just heard him say. She couldn't believe he had just come to her like that with a bunch of bullshit. Nearing her school, Meesa was so ready to get out his funky truck.
Pulling up to the curb Meesa shot back. “Before you make stupid ass assumptions about people, you need to learn all the facts!” She slammed the door and angrily stomped to class.
Black didn't mean to be cruel to her, but facts were facts. Too many niggas had said that Meesa and her friends were freaks. Black knew not to believe all rumors, but after you hear something so many times, the shit had to be true. Despite the fact that he liked Meesa, no hoes were aloud around him. He had too much shit going on for him to have some chicken head come and fuck it up. Black was a drug trafficker. He took kilos of cocaine and dropped them off to their respective buyers. He didn't plan to make the shit a career, but the money was too good to quit. He had acquired three cars, a house, and money to save and blow. The police had been watching a nigga hard lately, and Black knew he couldn't take any chances.
Black was twenty-four and had been locked up once for possession of narcotics and a firearm. He served eight months, eight of the hardest months of his life. Dudes would try to check Black, thinking he would be soft. But them niggas had him fucked up. They slept on him just cause of his looks. He had to put it down on a couple of cats in the pen. He made his point clear, he wasn't to be fucked wit when he shanked this one dude.
The dude thought, just because he was bigger and buffer than Black, he could punk him. He came up to Black in the commissary and told Black to get up out of his seat. Black ignored him, thinking the cat would back off. But the dude had to be big and bad. So, when Black didn't get up, he stole Black in the back of his head. Black knew that this would be one dude he couldn't whoop, so he had one choice and one choice only. Knowing the cat was going to whoop his ass, he knew what he had to do. Shank that nigga, cause he knew it was him or the dude. He stabbed him in his stomach and punctured his liver. The officers didn't find the fork Black used. But they did find a fork and a knife on the big dude. Black had to be put in the hole for a total of three weeks. He wasn't charged with anymore time to his sentence because it was self-defense.
After that, the fella's respected him and didn't fuck with him.
But Black didn't give a fuck what niggas thought of him. He didn't fuck with none of them anyway.
Black stayed in his cell and read. Black loved books so he read a lot of books by black authors. He read Terry McMillan, Omar Tyree, and Sister Souljah. After eight months, he was let out on good behavior. When he was released, Black started getting back on the grind. He couldn't leave the life alone. Money came too fast and great. Black promised himself he would stop once he saved enough money, which was growing and growing each day.
The game was getting deep and Black couldn't afford any distractions, especially not any from Meesa's ass. But something about her drew him to her.
The way she approached him at the club the other night was a turnoff to him. Black didn't allow anybody to walk up on him that way questioning him. So that was the first strike against her. The second being she was a stack chaser and a hoe. He didn't understand how she could be so pretty and act that way. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. Meesa didn't try anything with him the night before. Considering he was high and tripping she could have.
Hoes know dudes are always horny as hell when they're high. But mommy hadn't tried anything. He knew she wanted him.
So why didn't she try and fuck him, he thought.
Understanding
June 24th, 2002 and Black's words were still lingering in Meesa's head. Now the stuff about her and her friends being paper chasers was true. But not true for Meesa anymore. She had stopped using men for money a few years back. Dudes still offered to buy her things,