Page 17 of On Everything
Pernelle cursed him out and he finally stepped to the side. As I entered the apartment, his tongue smacked against his teeth like he was looking at an eight oz steak. I hugged Pernelle and sat on the couch beside her while Elijah walked over to the window that overlooked Castle Hill Avenue.
“Emoney, that Bentley that was outside is gone now. We may not get a chance tonight.”
“Or any other night. You know who the fuck that car belongs too.”
Emoney looked over towards me.
“Matter of fact, let’s cut this conversation off for right now. We will talk about it later. I actually have another plan for us, something easier.”
“Alright, that’s a bet.”
Elijah continued staring out of the window. I’m not dumb and Kairo been told me that Elijah and Emoney were supposedly robbing people now. I’m sure that’s the reason their apartment is actually furnished with new furniture and a big ass tv in the living room. They didn’t have any of this shit just a year ago, and I remember when they used to sleep on an air mattress that would be a pallet when they woke up.
“Bitch, Elijah told me that the Marlin Anthony Memorial Basketball tournament at Watson is supposed to be popping this year. How many teams you said are registered, Elijah?”
“Twenty-two. Me and the boys going to smoke all they asses though. We don’t give a fuck who they have coming.”
“So, do you want to go, friend? I think it will be fun to get you out the house there as your coming out party.”
“Well, as much as I appreciate your party invite, I was already going to the tournament because I have to work at it. The center is doing community outreach and asking for donations in the process. I will be out there with a tent selling shirts for $25 a pop.”
“Oh, damn. Well, good luck with that. I'm sure no one is buying a goofy ass shirt with stick figures holding hands over the sun.”
We all burst out laughing at Pernelle’s stupid ass. I knew she wasn’t lying, and I would be out there tomorrow for no reason at all. At least it was easy money that I didn’t have to make inside the center.
For the next few months, I'll take all the over time I can get.
I stayed over Pernelle’s place longer than I intended too and she and Emoney were leaning on each other sleeping now that Elijah was gone. It was well past the 5:00 time that my apartment was supposed to be straightened up, and I was now anxious to see if anything had been done for me. When I peeped out the window, I could see that the sun was almost set, and the darkness had started to cast over the buildings in the near distance. I took a gulp of the lump in my throat and then stepped out of the door, telling myself I’m not the first woman to walk alone in the Bronx at night. As much as my mama warned me about it, there were times she had no choice but to do this same thing herself.
When I made it to the corner of Pernelle’s building, I had the option of going to my building or visiting the bodega to grab something to eat tonight because I definitely wouldn’t be coming back out. When I looked around, the block seemed pretty chill for right now, and when I spotted a patrol car roll by, I figured niggas wouldn’t be on no goofy shit with NYPD on the prowl.
I tugged at the bottom of my shorts and then walked to the right, going to the Bodega to get food.
When I walked inside, the doorbell jingled at the top of the door. The air in here was thick and greasy with a smell of worn-out incense in the air. I passed by the wall with all of the missing kids plastered on it first before my girl Silvia saw that it was me who had walked in.
“Ciara, how you been, girlfriend?”
She greeted me as I reached down to pet Santana, the cat they kept here to be lazy if not anything else. I’m not sure what Silvia and her husband named him, but to the hood, he was Santana. He was an overweight black cat who still wasn’t half the size of these rats running around here.
“Hey, Silvia. You good?”
I asked, still moving around the store.
“Yeah, I’m good. I haven’t had to kill any rats or beat nobody’s ass today, so I would say that today has been a good day. How are you? Why you pretty self out this late?”
“I’m coming from my homegirl’s spot.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Chopped cheese though, Papi.”
I told her husband, who manned the grill. With the chopped cheese, I had a taste for a strawberry Fanta because they had the best sodas here. The fridges in the back may hum loud as hell, but they keep these drinks way colder than any other bodega. My mama always told me to never bring her a Dr. Pepper home from anywhere else when we lived in Castle Hill growing up. Alot of the shit I do now as an adult, I saw her do growing up. Shit, even be dumb over the wrong dudes.
I saw my mama put up with so much shit from men that I thought she was in a legally binding contract where she couldn’t leave them. It would be men with nothing that she would take care of and move into our house when we barely had anything. There were so many times a man would disrupt our lives by getting us kicked out, and one even burned down our unit that was in Castle Hill cooking crack.
Another part of the reason I put up with Kairo is because I compared the shit he did to what my mama went through and convinced myself back then that Kairo was just a normal man. I know if I have a daughter I want to lead her by a good example. So, thank God he never blessed me with a living child while married to Kairo.
Stepping to the back cooler in the store, I opened it and stood there for a hot minute just enjoying the breeze. Last night was probably the only time I felt good air in a minute because Ant’s AC in his unit blew ten times as cool as mine.
