A Slum Love Crime. (A$AP Rocky Story)

Part Quindici

Numb. Everything felt alien and numb as Dom and I walked back to the car. Even I felt unfamiliar. My mind is usually flooded with worrying thoughts when things like this happen. But now, I couldn’t think or feel anything. I felt lifeless, like a puppet whose master had neglected to give it character.

Everyone in the van asked Dom how it went, and he told them that she didn’t know anything. He told them that my mother agreed that if being at home isn’t safe for me, then I could go with them. I couldn’t understand why he was lying for me, but I had a feeling it was for good reason.

“Rocky, you’re chief here. Tell us where the next stop is.” Yams, who took the wheel a few minutes earlier, asked. I noticed that he used my nickname for him. Everyone seemed to be using it lately.

Rakim, who seemed awfully thoughtful since I got in the car, stroked his bare chin. Then, as if he remembered something, he suddenly pulled a business card out of his back pocket and passed it on to Yams. “The address is on the back.” He said.

I took a glance at the card before he passed it, but the only thing I saw was Applegate Avenue. That’s really far from here. Then again, I don’t know where we are. So it’s far from home.

I fought the urge to let my head fall on Rakim’s shoulder. Instead, I twisted my body toward the other direction and curled up in a fetal position. I stuck my thumb in my mouth and closed my eyes to go to sleep. Hopefully, when I woke up, this would all be over.

Apparently, I was thinking of the wrong Applegate Avenue.

This Applegate Avenue isn’t even in New York—it’s in Massachusetts. It’s a suburban area. All the blocks are lined with trees that look like they’re reaching out long bony fingers at each other over the houses. By the time we got there it was a little after midnight. I barely wanted to wake up from my sleep, so Dom had to carry me out of the van and toward the short, cute yellow house that the rest of the guys were going toward. As I pretended to be asleep in Dom’s arms, I thought about the fact that Rakim hadn’t even looked at me when he got out the car.

He should be carrying me, not Dom.

“Come on, pick up the phone.” He muttered as we all stood at the doorstep. Instead of knocking, Rakim decided to call, since he wasn’t 100 percent sure we had the right house.

Finally, the person he was trying to reach answered the phone, and informed Rakim that he was coming downstairs. A light turned on in a room on the second floor of the house, and a few seconds later the door opened.

That was when I found out that it wasn’t a boy we were coming to see. It was girl.

“Izzy!” Rakim shouted, throwing himself at the girl for a hug. She laughed and told him to lower his voice. The other guys greeted her too. But when she looked at me, I looked down. I had nothing to say to her.

We were welcomed into her warm, cozy home. The walls were painted yellow and the wooden furniture was all the same color. There were no paintings on the walls besides a few Buddha illustrations and statues. It’s no surprise—this ‘Izzy’ girl looks a little Indian.

The guys and Izzy talked in the living room for a while, and I excluded myself. I wanted time alone to think, though no thoughts would come to mind. I was still in my numb state. Maybe I just need to sleep on it.

I yawned purposely, implying that I was tired. Izzy caught on to the message and excused herself to show me to the room I’d be staying in.

“You don’t mind sleeping in the attic, do you?” She asked. Her voice was pretty. I shook my head and she took me to the second floor, where a square part of the ceiling jutted out. Izzy pulled on the rope hanging from the jutting out part and a staircase fell out in front of us. She led me into the, surprisingly, well-furnished attic. It looked just like the living room, only smaller and cozier.