FOURTEEN
Next morning while waiting on the bus for school, Coco scanned the streets of her neighborhood looking for any sign of Rightchus. She had left her mother fast asleep. Coco suspected that it would only be a matter of time before her mother would be up and back on the streets searching for a high. Her only lookout, Miss Katie was in the hospital recovering from a stroke.
A bus pulled to a stop and she readied to board. She kept her eyes peeled for Rightchus as she stepped on. Coco found a seat and slipped away in her headphones tripping on her own voice spitting lyrics.
By the time she entered the school building, she realized that the news of her arrest had preceded her. Everywhere she went Coco heard the whispers behind arched eyebrows and saw fingers pointing. The tension was enough to initiate a nicotine crave. Coco searched her pockets then remembered she had left her cigarettes in the hood. Coco bopped to the corner store but when she tried to cop a loose one, the vendor gave her static.
“I’ve been copping loosies for years, yo. Habib, you know me, yo. I’m a senior at da school down the block…” Coco said. The store vendor did not budge.
“All you say is good. However, we are under strict order not to sell you any beers or cigarettes, Coco. You are a rapper. You are somebody famous. I did not know this. Even the police know you.”
“What police? Who’re you talking…?” Coco started to say but the store vendor quickly interrupted when other customers started to complain.
“Two DT’s one black one white… that will be one dollar, sir… two detectives. If you’re not getting anything else, you must leave the store. You cannot hang here!”
“Fuckin’ Habib jerk! Damn, why didn’t I remember to snatch madukes’ cigarettes?” She was making her way back to school when Deedee ran toward her and hugged her.
“What’s good, Dee?”
“Coco oh my God, Coco what’s really good, girl. Coco you haven’t called and…”
“Chill and I’ll tell you all about it, yo. But before I do, you got stogies, yo?”
“Uh huh, here,” Deedee offered Coco the pack.
Quickly she extracted one and immediately lit it. Her cheeks collapsed from the pulling action.
“Oh, you really needed that huh?”
“Word, in da worse way, yo. Shit was bananas I’m tellin’ you, Dee.” Coco announced. “Miss Katie is still in the hospital. Dee, she had a stroke, yo.”
“For real? How bad is she?”
“I don’t know the details. But they doing all kinds of test and stuff.”
“I’m sorry to hear about that, Coco…”
“My head is too tight for me to be up in class, but I know I gotta go. Dee, I can’t be late. I’ll tell you all about it later, ahight yo.” Coco yelled as she disappeared inside the building.
Deedee stood with a quizzical look on her face. She glanced across the street and saw two pairs of eyes behind sunglasses peering at her. They were sitting in a black Caprice. She glanced back, and then made her way inside the school.
Throughout lunch, there was a closed meeting in the principal’s office. Coco slouched in the chair staring in bewilderment at the principal. A Guidance counselor, teacher, and the vice-principal explained that the school board no longer considered Coco eligible for any scholarships.
“I think I’ve done well in this school. I’m always on the dean’s list and all my grades are way above average, you said so yourselves.” Coco responded.
“We agree Coco. But policy is policy and I’m afraid by you going and getting arrested you violated the strictest code of the school and therefore you’re no longer eligible to participate in the scholarship program.”
Coco skipped afternoon class and hung with a group of kids in the hallway until the end of the school day. Deedee encountered Coco leaving school after the last bell had sounded.
“Coco, Coco, wait up.” Deedee yelled excitedly.
“Dee,” Coco flashed the peace sign and walked over to Deedee.
“Where were you I was looking for you at lunch and…”
“I had to see that guidance counselor bitch, Martinez and the principal. It’s all fucked up.”
“You look like you could use a ride somewhere, Coco?”
“Yeah, that’ll be cool if you can drop me home right quick. I wanna go to the hospital and see Miss Katie, but I gotta go home and look out for madukes first. She’s up to…” Coco paused.
“Miss Katie is really bad huh?”
“Miss Katie,” Coco started then paused. “I mean I really don’t know, Dee. Shit’s crazy… po-po came and bagged my ass. You gotta another stogie for me, yo?”
“Sure Coco,” Deedee obliged. Both lit their cigarettes. “Why were you arrested for the shooting? It was that other girl who had a gun, I don’t understand?”
“They say they found a bag a weed. Fucking Hip Hop police, they ain’t nothing but two ol’ lame ass dicks. They came at me cuz o’ the shooting but they came on some next shit too, yo. Figure I’m gonna rat on somebody or sump’n. They got me in some type of probationary program, and gave me some mean-ass PO. Then when he tested me, of course it came back positive. I mean I can’t even smoke no weed, yo. I’m stressed, I can’t smoke weed and I can’t drink. Things so fucked up, I can’t even cop a stogie from da corner store. The Habib was-n’t even trying to see my money, yo.”
“Speaking of seeing you, those two officers from the investigation at my uncle’s apartment were sitting out here today. I caught them watching us from their car.”
“Say word? Why da fuck am I under this crazy surveillance, yo. I ain’t no criminal. Shit’s bananas!”
“They putting you through a lot, huh Coco? They got worse crimes going on out there and they picking on you. That is crazy.”
“Tell me about it. They already spoke with Martinez and the principal. They asses be tellin’ me I’m better off getting a GED or applying for job corps. Those haters actually told me it would be a waste of my time to even apply at a junior college. Are you fuckin’ kidding me? I have to give up my education for a bag a weed? Give me a break.” Coco said.
A black Mercedes came to a stop before them. The car joined traffic.
“One tenth and Lennox,” Deedee said telling told the driver to take Coco home.
The Benz came to a stop outside her apartment and Coco was ready to get out.
“Coco if you want I’ll get the driver to wait and then give you a ride to the hospital,” Deedee suggested.
“That be cool, yo. I’ll check upstairs and be right back,” Coco said running from the vehicle.
A few minutes later, she returned with a cigarette dangling between her lips. Coco was about to get inside the car then abruptly changed her direction and quickly walked to the other side of the street. Deedee’s eyes curiously followed Coco who was talking with Rightchus. Deedee let the window down in order to hear the conversation.
“Don’t be selling her that shit. You hear me bum-ass nigga, don’t be seeing her. Or I’m a come see you and fuck your shit up…”
“Cuz you see me in da street doin’ ma thing, don’t mean you know me, ahight, Coco?”
“Rightchus, I’m telling you. You ain’t shit but a crack-head.”
“And I’m tellin’ you just cuz you see shit this way don’t necessarily mean they that way. I’m tellin’ you if your mother wasn’t a crack head you wouldn’t be calling me one. I remember when your mother used to wake up crack head crabby, looking for me. She was soo skinny you could see her brain stems coming out da back of her head.”
“Just remember nigga, I will come looking for your lil’ ol’ ugly ass…”
“I do you a favor, I’ll tell you where them bitches, Kim and her girl, Tina hangout. Them is who you got beef wit’ Coco, not me. I ain’t busting no gun at you.”
Coco shook her head and walked back to the car.
“Is everything alright, Coco?” Deedee asked.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s all good. I just had to straighten out some shit wit that Shawty wop. Can I get a ride over to the hospital, yo?”
“How’s your mom?”
“She wasn’t even upstairs.”
They reached the hospital a few minutes later. Deedee gave Coco a pack of cigarettes. Coco pocketed them.
Inside the hospital there were people scurrying back and forth. Impatient patients chasing exhausted doctors, hiding behind the nurses. She sought the information booth, gave Miss Katie’s name and was directed to the eighth floor. Coco’s palms sweated as she checked the name outside each opening in her effort to locate Miss Katie. A nurse caught Coco wandering.
“I’m tryin to find Miss Katie Patterson… ah… she’s…”
“Patterson? Hmm I don’t think she’s able to have visitors yet. Are you a family member? We could make an exception, but I know she’s still in intensive care…”
“Coco what’s going on?”
Both Coco and the nurse turned and saw Rachel Harvey. The immediate smell of alcohol let Coco know that her mother had been drinking. Coco quickly tugged at her mother’s arm and dragged her away.
“Thank you,” she said to the nurse.
“Mommy you’re such an embarrassment.” Coco started to speak but went silent when she saw a group of doctors and nurses. They reached the elevator landing and waited.
“But Coco they had me waitin’ what was I supposed to do?” Rachel Harvey said in hushed tones.
“Wait…”
“It made me a lil’ unbalance when they told me that Miss Katie might not make it. Coco, I couldn’t take it. I had to go and get a lil’ nip of sump’n… that’s all.”
“Shush, ahight… what d’ya mean Miss Katie may not make it?”
“When I got here it was about one o’ clock and I had a chance to conversate with the doctors an’ all…”
“And what?” Coco asked when an elevator came and her mother stepped inside. “This one’s going up. We’re waiting to go down.”
“What goes up must come down,” Rachel Harvey said. Most of the other riders laughed.