“Dang, man, what did your moms pack in here?” Devin asked, as he struggled trying to get the oversized brown box through the revolving doors.
“Probably the kitchen sink.” Lucas chuckled as he handled his own weighted box.
Today, Lucas and his mom, Peggy, were finally leaving the hood and moving to the Upper West Side, into a modest two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo.
“In a building as fly as this one, I’m sure the apartment comes with a sink,” Devin shot back, as he made his way through the other side of the door, and surveyed the sand-colored marble lobby with its recessed lighting and colorful landscape paintings in exquisite gilded frames.
“Excuse me, young man, but where do you think you’re going with that box?” the doorman asked, pointing at Devin.
“Yo, we going upstairs. My man Lucas here,” he nodded his head in Lucas’ direction, “just moved in,” he said, and continued walking.
The doorman sprang from behind his marble command center, and blocked their path. “I don’t think so!” He looked at them both as if they had landed from Jupiter.
Lucas and Devin both put their boxes on the marble floor, and then Lucas said, “It’s true, my mom bought unit twenty-one D, and we’re moving in today,” he explained.
The doorman squinted his eyes at Lucas, as if doubting his claim. He then went back behind his desk, flipped through a notebook, and asked, “And what’s your name? I need to check the move-in list.”
“Lucas Williams, and my mom’s name is Peggy Williams.”
The overweight doorman ran his fat finger down the list of names, and stopped when he saw Lucas’ and his mother’s names. “Yes, you’re on the list, but you’re not allowed to move anything in or out of the front door,” he said with a chastising tone.
“Why not?” Devin asked, before Lucas had a chance to respond.
“All moving and deliveries must go through the service entrance,” he said, putting emphasis on the word, and pointing his chubby hand toward the rear of the lobby.
“And how were we to know that?” Lucas asked, with an edge to his tone, annoyed that this lard-eating-piece-of-flesh was talking to him like he didn’t belong in this part of town.
“The movers know,” was all he said.
Devin and Lucas had gone ahead of the moving truck, and had no clue where the service entrance was located. “Since the movers aren’t here yet, can you tell us how to get to the back?” Lucas asked calmly. He realized that having an attitude with this dude was useless. Besides, he didn’t want to get started off on the wrong foot. This was his new home, and for better or worse, he had to make the best of it.
“Go out the front, make a right, walk down about a quarter of a block, and you’ll see the side entrance. There’s a buzzer on the outside of the door; ring it and I’ll let you in. Once inside, you’ll see a bank of service elevators; use those to get to your floor. You got it?”
Lucas nodded his head yes, and then turned to Devin. “Come on, man,” he said, picking up his box, with Devin following suit.
“Ole boy is guarding the place like it’s Fort Knox or something,” Devin said, once they were outside.
“Yeah, that’s why I didn’t want to move over here. These people are so snooty. Just imagine if the doorman has a ’tude, what the neighbors are like? I hate this bougie world,” Lucas said as they made their way to the service entrance.
“I feel you, Bro. Why y’all move here anyway? What was wrong with your old crib?”
“My moms said that we had outgrown our old apartment. When we first moved in, I was a little kid, so she gave me the bedroom, and slept on the couch. She’s been wanting to move forever, but we never had the money. Now with my advance, we could finally afford to move out. I told her I didn’t want to move, and that I’d give up the bedroom and sleep on the couch, but she said no. She also said that this place is closer to my new school, and that I can walk instead of taking the subway.”
“That’s right! I almost forgot that you won’t be going to PS-45 anymore. When are you starting Walburton?”
“After the shoot.”
“When’s the shoot gonna be?”
“Day after tomorrow. I can’t wait; it’s gonna be off da chain!”
“Don’t forget you promised that I could come.”
“I didn’t promise nothing,” Lucas teased.
“Don’t trip, man,” Devin said, with a serious expression on his face.
“I ain’t tripping. It’s just that Kevin said that it’s a closed set.”
“WHAT? Stop lying,” Devin said, raising his voice.
Lucas busted out laughing. “Gotcha! Man, you should see your face. Look like you just lost your puppy. Calm down. I’m kidding. Of course you can come.”
“See, man, you ain’t right. You got my heart pounding and whatnot.”
“Sorry, but after dealing with fatso at the desk, I needed a good laugh. The shoot starts at nine a.m., and will probably go all day and into the night, so you can come after school.”
“Man, I ain’t going to school that day. I’ma fake a cold, and once my peeps go to work, I’ma sneak out. I ain’t about to miss all them honeys dropping it like it’s hot.”
“Speaking of honeys, I met this babe the other day. I didn’t actually meet her…”
Devin cut him off. “What does that mean? Either you met her or you didn’t.”
“She was with Ro. We just gave each other the look. I didn’t introduce myself, and neither did she.”
“Aw, snap!! If she was with Ro, then she must be a chickenhead!”
“Why you say that? Ro ain’t no chickenhead; she’s pretty cool. I’ve known her since first grade. That’s my girl, she’s smart as hell, and volunteers in her spare time,” Lucas said, coming to Roshonda’s defense.
“Well, every time I see her, she’s with that skank Trina. And you know that Trina be giving it up to anybody that asks. All you gotta do is look at her hard enough, and she’s ready to drop them drawers.” Devin laughed.
“Yeah, that may be true, but Ro don’t sleep around. At least I ain’t never heard no stories about her, and you know that if she was giving up the cooch, we’d know about it.”
“True dat; true dat. Anyway, what about the honey she was with? What she look like?”
“Man, she was phine, with a ‘p-h’! She has thick hair that she wears loose, and you know how I like that natural look. And she wasn’t all dolled up like some of them chicks that be trying too hard. She was real low-key. She wore this old army jacket, rolled up at the cuffs. It was too big; probably was her dad’s. Anyway, her eyes were big and brown, and her skin looked like maple syrup dripping off a short-stack,” Lucas said in a dreamy-like voice.
“Dang, man, sounds like you digging her.”
Lucas blushed. “I guess.”
“Does she live uptown?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before.”
“Maybe she just moved into the neighborhood.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Why don’t you call Ro, and get the four-one-one?” Devin asked.
“’Cuz I don’t wanna seem like I’m lame. I can’t be calling around asking about some chick that I don’t even know,” Lucas said, suddenly changing his head-over-heels tone back into an “I’m-da-Man” tone.
“True dat; true dat. Yeah, you don’t wanna come off as desperate. Chicks don’t like no wimpy desperate dudes. If she was with Ro, I’m sure you’ll see her again.”
“Yeah, man, I’m sure you’re right.”
As Lucas pressed the buzzer at the service entrance, he couldn’t help but think about Ro’s friend, and wonder when he would see her again. And next time, he planned on doing more than just looking.