Chapter Thirty
Once on the highway, Tone, the middle-aged driver, made sure to do the speed limit. No way did he want to risk getting pulled over by the state boys. As Nolan settled back in the passenger seat, he finally felt he could breathe. It was like he’d been holding his breath since the first gunshot rang out. He was no longer a virgin to bullet mayhem. One guy, he hit in the leg. With an oh-well-fuck-him attitude, Nolan didn’t know where he went or how he was. Yet, the shooter knew for a fact that the dude on the ground crying for his mommy would never walk straight again . . . if he even walked at all. And old boy that took one in the stomach would need a shit bag for some time to come. And nine outta ten, somebody to help him put it on since he was now blind in both eyes. Nolan felt no remorse, laughing to himself. The only thing he hated was that he’d wasted all that money on food and liquor and had left it sitting on Popcorn’s car.
Taking his cell off of vibrate, Nolan saw a slew of text messages and missed calls. Now a safe distance away, he’d return Popcorn’s calls and see what the status was with what popped off outside of her house. Snoopy would have to wait. But first, he wanted to call his girl Kapri and let her know he was headed her way. It was almost three in the morning, but he knew she wouldn’t mind. They’d stayed up talking all times of the night throughout the summer. Plus, this was an emergency.
“Hey, Nolan, what’s going on? What time is it?” Kapri’s voice was groggy. She had been asleep for hours. Having an early-morning class, she wanted to make sure she was well rested.
“Hey, brown eyes, so, guess what?” Nolan said in a hopeful tone. After all, he had nowhere else to go, so at this point, all he had was hope. “I’m heading your way. I’m coming to see you.”
Kapri thought she was hearing things. She must’ve heard wrong. After all this time of talking on the phone and promises of visits, Nolan claimed he was truly on his way. She sat straight up in bed. “You coming here, up to school? When?”
“I’ma be there in a few hours, cool?” On edge, he waited for her response.
“Yeah, crazy boy, of course, it’s cool. I got a class in the morning, but I guess I can miss it. I can’t wait to see you.” Kapri was stunned but elated. She and Nolan had not laid eyes on each other since that day they first met, but it was like she’d known him forever. All of the long hours they spent on the phone, she was in love. And even if it would not last moving forward into the future, right now was good enough for her.
“All right, bet. I’ll make it up to you missing your class, I swear to God. I’m just geeeked I’ma be able to kick it with me girl.”
“Nolan, you ain’t gotta swear. I’m just glad to see you again. And yeah, I can’t wait.”
“Me too.” His voice softened to almost a whisper as he was feeling wanted and loved by someone unconditionally for the first time. “So, I’ma jus’ hit you when I get on your campus, and you can give me directions from there. Until then, go back to sleep.”
That was settled, and Nolan was ecstatic. Once he reached Kapri, he knew she could give him some insight on what moves he should make next. Even though D-Boy hustler was making money hand over fist, he was glad to be leaving Sandusky and all the turmoil that came along with living there. But before he wrote that town off forever, he needed to call Popcorn. Then maybe Snoopy’s off-the-chain ass to say goodbye. After all, spending time with them wasn’t all that bad or torture. Besides, Popcorn could give him a read on what went down after he got ghost.
“Mac! Mac! Is that you? Oh my God, why you ain’t been picking up? I thought you was dead or something. Where the fuck is you? I been calling you like a motherfucker!” She was going ham, not giving him a chance to answer even one of her multiple questions.
“Damn, girl, why would you think I was dead? Where that come from?” Nolan played it off as if she were bugging. “I was asleep.”
“Nigga, asleep, my black ass. I know you was outside my house earlier with that shooting bullshit. So stop playing stupid with me. What the fuck, I know it was you.” Popcorn argued with an attitude that he was acting dumb. “You know the police was knocking on my damn door.”
“Okay, so what they want? What they say?” He finally started coming clean to a certain degree, knowing she knew the deal or at least some of it.
“How do I fucking know? I ain’t even open the damn door. I don’t wanna be caught up in all that shit. Niggas shot in between the houses and shit. Flashing lights and ambulances. Nigga, that’s the shit they drag bitches down to the station for hours grilling them about. I went outside to look at my fucked-up car real quick before the cops pulled up, and that’s how I know it was your fake ass over here!” Popcorn’s voice got louder as she got off into her supposed boyfriend’s ass.
“Why you think that so hard?” Nolan wanted to see her reasoning.
“Uuum, let me think. Probably because them bags you left on my damn hood.”
“Oh yeah, damn, okay, then. So, yeah, I was there. And them ho-ass niggas from down the street tried to go in on me. They tried to catch me slipping.”
“Yeah, well, Mac, from the looks of things, you the one that came out on top. But I guess you always come out on top, huh? You slick like that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nolan puzzled. He knew she was pissed since he had to lay two niggas down right outside her door, but that wasn’t his call. They acted, and so he reacted.
“Why don’t you ask that bitch that work at the park with me that bullshit? The one you was with the other night. Yeah, Mac, the one you been fucking while you been fucking me! Ask her! Yeah, we talked. We talked for a good while, you snake-ass nigga.”
Nolan didn’t know what to say. After months of doing this and that, he was busted. The only thing he could do was shake his head. This just wasn’t his night. Although Popcorn and Snoopy were both cool females to hang with to pass the time, they weren’t Kapri. They weren’t wifey material. They were both something to just fuck on. “Okay, so, now what? It is what it is. What you want me to say?”
“Oh, for real? It’s like that? You trying to be all cold-blooded and boss with it? Well, guess what? I’m pregnant, and so is ole girl,” Popcorn announced as if she felt she’d had some knock-down-and-dragged-out information.
“Okay, and? What you telling me for?”
“Boy, what you mean?”
“Look, both you stupid hoes can give them babies back to God. Or raise ’em ya damn self! A nigga like me ain’t trying to hear none of that,” Nolan casually replied as if he were speaking on nothing of great importance.
“Oh, it’s like that?” Animosity was in her tone, as well as it should have been.
“Yeah, it’s just like that,” he sneered with certainty.
“All right, then, Mac, I’ma tell the police it was you. I’ma bring ’em over to your damn house too. So, let’s see you boss up about that,” Popcorn loudly threatened with fury and hurt at the same time.
“Oh yeah? Well, good luck with that, bitch. Knock yourself out. Do what you gotta do. And your new best phone friend, you can tell her that too. I’m out.” Exhausted, Nolan hung up and then blocked her number. He followed suit with Snoopy as well. There was no need to read any of the multiple texts or listen to the sure-to-be hot-talk voicemails. Whenever he got to Kapri, he’d toss the cell he’d been using and buy a new one, new number and all. He would cut all ties. And Popcorn could go to the cops all she wanted. Only thing she could say is she was fucking some nigga from Detroit named Mac. Closing his eyes, Nolan anticipated and speculated what the next part of his life would hold after touching base with Kapri.