LOVE HANGOVER

Back in Brownsville again. In his old hood more in this past month than in decades. He sat again in the McDonald’s, a place he detested, to meet with a man lost in his memories. D understood the feeling. Though it was only a short walk away, D wouldn’t set foot on the corner of Livonia and Mother Gaston. His reluctance made him feel like a punk, but that fear in his gut couldn’t be pushed away. It felt DNA deep.

He sat sucking on the ice at the bottom of his Coke cup, cursing his timidity, when a shadow crossed the table and Ride sat down.

“Looks like you found my girl,” he said.

“That’s her, huh?”

“And that was me in the photo,” he confirmed.

“So,” D asked gingerly, “have you hit her on Facebook?”

“I did. A couple of other folks I know on Facebook did too.”

“And?”

“And she didn’t respond. Then she shut down her Facebook page.”

“I take it Eva doesn’t want to be in contact with you.”

Ride stared out the window. “Damn bitch,” he said under his breath.

“Is she afraid of you?”

Ride peered at D and the bodyguard tensed his body, thinking the bigger man might swing at him. “She shouldn’t be,” Ride growled.

“But it seems like she does.”

“I left some money with her. Looks like she used it to move to Los Angeles. That was her plan for us. Guess she couldn’t wait for me.”

“What now, Ride?”

“Gotta get out West. Not right away though . . .” His voice trailed off. “I like that kid Ray Ray. He’s smart. Has some heart.”

D shook his head. “Maybe too much.”

“You can never have too much heart,” Ride countered. “People gonna chip away at it every day. You need as much as you can get. Speaking of which, I hear you have a problem with some people.”

“What have you heard?”

“That there was a shooting scenario and you were a witness, and that some people are nervous you’ll implicate someone’s meal ticket. That sound close?”

“Real close.”

“I imagine this must be on your mind a lot. Must worry you having that kind of pressure.”

“You know the hood cats who stepped to me?”

“These youngsters don’t know how to keep their traps shut. Cops don’t need to go undercover anymore. They just go on YouTube and decide what felony they wanna prosecute a nigga for. Truth be told, I know some heads. I can speak to a few for you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“No. I see you, D. I see what you’re about. I didn’t give you a lot to work with but you came through for me. Now that I’m out, I’m seeing how things work. It’s a different world. Brooklyn’s different.”

“No question about that,” D agreed.

“So D, I need a job.”

“I don’t follow you.”

“I need a job. Something to tell my PO. Something to tell my mother. She’s worried that I’m gonna re-up for incarceration. Me and my cousin both.”

“Do I know him?”

“He was the guy you saw watching me the other day.”

“You were real mysterious about who he was.”

“I know. It feels like a pussy move to have him shadowing me, but Mom Dukes has him reporting back to her.”

“He’s a human ankle bracelet.”

They both laughed, relaxing into an unexpected camaraderie.

“Shit yeah,” Ride said. “But after all that time in jail, I’m used to being watched. So let me know what you can do. I’ll get back to you about that shooting scenario.”

“Ride, if my security company was doing better, I’d give you a shot in a heartbeat. If anything comes my way, I got you.”

Ride stood and embraced D. As the ex-con walked away, D realized he had a new friend.