Single Ladies

Ever since Darious stopped working at the store, it had been super boring for Tammy at work. Her new coworker was a female who could barely speak English. The limited conversations they had were primarily about work, and nothing else. Tammy sighed as she thought of Darious. She missed his humor, which made her workday enjoyable, and passed the time. However, she knew that him moving on to his new job at Charlotte Medical Center was a good look.

“Yo, I’m bringing all this shit back,” a voice yelled from the other side of the counter, startling Tammy, whose back was turned.

When she turned around, she was relieved that it was Darious standing there with his fist over his mouth, laughing at her. “You was scared as shit.” He laughed.

“Shut up,” Tammy said, reaching over the counter and punching him in his arm. “What are you doing here anyway?” she asked.

“I got off early today, and I figured I’d take you to lunch. I already talked to ya boss, so you good,” he said and smiled.

Tammy cleaned up her workstation and let her coworker know that she was going on her lunch break. She wasted no time taking off with Darious. She only had a half hour, so they walked across the street to McDonald’s.

“Yo, I need to talk to you about something,” Darious said, taking a seat in the booth with Tammy.

“Uh-oh. That don’t sound good,” she said and took a bite of her burger.

Darious smiled, assuring her that it wasn’t bad at all. He just had something that he needed to get off his chest before it killed him.

“I’m in love with you, Tammy,” he said, looking into her eyes.

The burger that Tammy was chewing on seemed to expand in her mouth. She grabbed her Sprite to help wash it down.

“I don’t . . . Well, wow.” Tammy had a hard putting her words together.

Darious smiled and took her hand. “Every night that I get home from work and walk through the front door, I be hoping that you’re there sitting on the couch waiting for me. It takes me every bit of an hour to get to sleep once I’m in the bed, because I can’t stop thinking of you, and wondering if you’re thinking about me. I think about all the ways I wanna make you happy and try not to do anything that would make you unhappy,” Darious said.

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Tammy felt warm all over. She was feeling something for him too, but she wasn’t sure it was love just yet. He made her feel incredible. It had been so long since she’d felt adored, and protected. He had given her the resources to provide for her kids, made sure everything was straight, and had the bedroom game beyond incredible. Everything he had just expressed mirrored what she felt about him as well. She checked her watch; thirty minutes seemed like only five at the moment.

“Can we talk about this later?” Tammy said, touching Darious’s face. “I gotta get back to work, but I definitely want to talk about this.”

“Yeah, yeah. I will call you later,” Darious said, taking a sip of his soda.

“We can talk at my house. Come by tonight around nine o’clock,” Tammy told him. Inviting Darious to her home was a huge step. She had never allowed any man to walk across the threshold other than Chris.

She took a few more bites of her burger, and placed the rest on the tray. “I guess I need to get back over there.”

Darious took the tray to the trashcan and extended his arm to Tammy. “Yeah, I guess so. You sure about me coming over?”

Tammy shook her head and kissed his cheek. “I’m sure,” Tammy said, and then kissed his lips.

Ralphy pulled up to the block, jumped out of the Range Rover, and dapped all his homies who were standing out there. Being back in the hood had never felt better, and now that he was back on dope boy status, the hood was loving him once again.

Killing Dre had made the decision to get back in the game easy. Catching that body brought back memories of the power he had held back in the day in the streets. Scoop had looked out for him by giving him a couple of ounces of heroin on the strength of his game. Like a chick seeing her man after his bid, the streets had welcomed him back. Once he got the taste of what it felt like to pull down them stacks, Ralphy had not looked back.

“Damn, big homie, what it do?” Scoop said as he walked out of the store to meet Ralphy.

“Ain’t shit, li’l nigga. Business as usual,” Ralphy responded, letting Scoop know that he was there to pick up his money.

“Damn, playboy, I hate when you talk to me like that. I’m starting to feel like you treatin’ me like the rest of these niggas out here. Don’t forget who got you back in the game, homeboy,” Scoop said, walking over to his car and grabbing the small backpack from his back seat.

Scoop might have said it in a joking way, but he was serious about what he said. When Ralphy got back in the game, he stepped on the gas and rose over his peers in a very short period of time. Ralphy’s street hustle was that of a Princeton scholar, which pushed him above the rest.

Ringo Street used to be Scoop’s, but now it was Ralphy who was supplying the block. He had also picked up Thomas Road, Belmont Avenue, and the Academy Projects. Scoop knew firsthand how Ralphy could kill and destroy people who stood in his way. So for now he could only stand down, and submit to his takeover. Ralphy grabbed the back pack and headed back to his SUV.

“Yo, what up wit’ homeboy?” one of Scoop’s homies asked as he watched Ralphy pull out of the parking lot. He stared at the truck; he had heard the way the dude had spoken to Scoop, and found his tone to be arrogant. “That nigga think his shit don’t stank,” the young’un said, taking a pull off his Black.

“Yeah, well, the rise of some folks can make them think they can’t ever fall,” Scoop said before walking back inside his store.

Chris waited in line in front of his counselor’s office to get inside, so that he could make a social phone call unmonitored. What he had to say couldn’t be said over the regular inmate phones, because someone was always listening. Here in the counselor’s office, anybody could say whatever they want freely without worrying about it coming back and biting them in the ass. Talking reckless on a fed phone can get a nigga a whole new indictment.

When Chris finally got into the office and was approved for the call, the only person he wanted to call was his little brother, Outlaw. When it came down to Chris, Outlaw would do just about anything for his big brother. Outlaw wasn’t sweet by a long shot; at the young age of nineteen, he had half the neighborhood scared of him, and the other half respected his G.

“Wassup, li’l bro,” Chris said into the phone when Outlaw picked up. “My counselor gave me a phone call,” he told him, letting Outlaw know that the line was secure. “Yo, I need you to take care of something for me,” Chris said, lowering his voice some so the counselor wouldn’t hear him.

“Yeah, whatever you need, big bro. Just let me know.”

“Yo, I think my baby mom got a nigga around my kids. I need you to swing through the block and see what it do,” Chris instructed.

“Say no more. I’m on top of it like yesterday. You good, bro? I’ma put some money on ya books when I get off the phone wit’ ya,” Outlaw said.

“Nah, bro, I’m good. I just need you to take care of that situation for me,” Chris said, looking back at the counselor.

He hung up and nodded to his counselor. Just like that, he had taken care of whoever was trying to be in Tammy’s bed and around his kids. Outlaw would take care of it quickly, and without questions.