The Stick Up Kid

Money To Be Made

Fast-forward an hour and Libya and I are pinned in detention. We made it to school just in time to hear the late bell ring. My sister sat in the row to my right with her head flat on the desk. I was leaning back in my seat half asleep staring at the blank board. Detention was jam packed like usual.

            Lucky for me I brought some cough syrup I mixed with alcohol. It was cleverly cloaked in a 20-ounce soda bottle. Ever since I got to detention I’ve been sipping on it, and now I’m about trashed. My eyes could barely stay open and my body moved slowly. I felt like I only had enough strength to bring the bottle to my mouth, which was exactly what I did.  

            Libya lifted her head and looked at me. Her eyes were burning with anger until she saw the soda bottle on my desk. She must have realized what was going on because she reached her hand out like I was going to give her something.

            I knew what she wanted, but played like I didn’t. Libya cleared her throat, still staring at me. I used my head to motion to the bottle saying ‘if you want it, get it’ in body language. My sister didn’t hesitate to comply. She leaned over and snatched my drink right off my desk.

            “Yo KT!” I heard someone shout. I looked behind me and saw Raquan, my best friend enter the room. “Aye you miss bus the huh?”

            “Yea man,” I smirked.

            “No talking!” Mr. Drew, the detention hall teacher yelled. He eyed Raqaun and me down. My friend shrugged his shoulders and walked in my direction. He wanted to sit by me, but there was a guy in the desk to my left.

            “Aye let me get right here dog,” Raquan said, standing in front of the kid beside me.

            “For what?” the guy asked.

            “So I can get at my man real quick,” Raquan pointed to me. The guy looked at my friend oddly. He wasn’t trying to make the move. “Com’ on nigga, aint nobody trynna punk you man.” I could tell Raquan’s temper was growing.

            “Didn’t I say no talking!” Mr. Drew exclaimed, getting up from his chair. Raquan rolled his eyes and glared at the kid in the desk he wanted. The kid sighed and got up from the seat.

            “Damn… was that hard?” Raquan taunted.           

            “What eva nigga,” the guy retorted.

            Raquan faked a punch at the guy behind his back. “Bitch ass nigga,” he mumbled while sitting down.

            Raquan was dark brown skin, has notably large eyebrows, and piercing black eyes. My cousin told me there’s no such thing as friendship, but Raquan was the only person to ever claim the title of friend from me. We were close with each other since he first moved to my neighborhood, which was ten years ago.

            Raquan leaned closer to me and studied my face. “What you been sippin’ on cuz?” he asked. “You look high as a mug.”

            “I am,” I replied. “You know how I be doin’. Brought somethin’ good from the crib.”

            “Yea I know, I know.” Raquan nodded. “Aye but tell how you miss the bus though? I was on board when he swerved on ya’ll. Ya’ll niggas was standing there lookin’ stupid.”

            “If you saw us, then why you aint tell that nigga to stop,” Libya interrupted, bringing herself in our conversation.

            “Man stay ova there nigga,” he snapped.

            “How you gon let that man do us like that,” she continued.

            I nodded in agreement. “Yea Quan.”

            “Aye man fuck ya’ll! Like he was gon listen to me. He don’t even like me,” Raquan argued. “Look man, bump this. I got somethin’ important I need to talk to you about.” Even though he changed the subject, I could tell Raquan was serious. His whole demeanor changed. He glanced around the room real quick, making sure no one was ease dropping. “Aye dog, I got a lick for us, big boy money too.”

            “How much you talkin’?” I wondered.

            “Man like… no less than a stack a piece,” he answered. “My cuz got the drop on this dude. Said he bang 3-5, but he pussy though. He be slangin’ on Main, by our side. My cuz said all we gotta do stick the chrome to this man and he drop his drawers if we told him.”

            “Yea right,” I doubted. “You talkin’ bout Tymark right?” I asked, referring to his cousin.

            “Yea,” Raquan nodded.

            “Man he think everybody pussy,” I said. “Remember what happened last time?”

            “Com’ on bruh, that was a miscalculation dog… on yo part,” Raquan stated. I shrugged my shoulders with nothing to say, because it was part true.

            “What eva man. You know I’m down for it,” I agreed. I really had no choice, who could pass up a chance to get a free thousand dollars?

            “Good, Imma hit Tymark up and we can get somethin’ poppin’,” Raquan grinned.