Distractions (D. SWING)

25

No Chances

Body to body, I watch her chest softly heave in her sleep. "I love you," I whisper quietly. I only said it because I know she can't hear, I left her knocked the fuck out. She's been under me since I got in thirty minutes ago. When I got in the bed, she didn't even wake up. All she did was roll over and curl up beneath my left arm. I could never wake her up because she's finally getting a taste of what real sleep is like after running the game for ten, eleven years. Look how peaceful she is when she sleep, nigga. She's just beautiful. My internal smile falls at the sound of the phone to the left of me ringing loudly. Nel begins to stir as I quickly reach for it. I don't want her to wake up, she spent all night worrying about her grandmother while her and Buffy replanned our anniversary whole trip and she'd just fell asleep right before I pulled up. "Hello?" I'm trying to figure out who's out here calling my phone at almost five in the morning.

"De, you gotta come get me man! De, come get me! I'm in a phone booth off Parker Ave. Hurry up, man!"

"On my way."

Rolling out of the bed, I land on my feet. I grab the same pair of jeans I wore earlier and throw them on my body. I've successfully done all of the above without waking my girlfriend. I jog down the stairs, belt half buckled, and jump into whatever car is in the driveway– it happens to be the Range. Assuring my glock is sitting peacefully in the armrest, I hit the pedal to the floor. The sun still ain't up by the time I get to Jared. Leave it to me to make a thirty minute ride in fifteen and some change.

"Nigga, what the fuck you doing?" While I question, Jared slips into the car with everything but ease. "What the fuck are you doing, man?" Jared's head shakes. He's got a fat ass knot on his head, a busted lip and maybe probably is a black eye, shit, I'on know. It's hard to see in this light. "For real, what are you doing?"

"Just drive, De," Jared yells clicking on his seatbelt. I look him up and down tempted to push his busted ass out the car and back into the hands of whoever he's running from for talking to me like I'm his little bitch. "I only got half a clip left, just drive, De!"

Pulling off into the Newark streets, I scoff. "You ain't got too many more times to yell at me. I'll fuck you up at a stop light, don't get fucked up." I grit turning for a hard right. "Who did you piss off? You had to piss the devil off for this type of shit to be happening, so who you fuckin' with? I cain't keep saving yo' black ass, mothafucka." Pushing through the yellow to barely make it before the red light clicked. I don't know why I'm sitting here lecturing this nigga like he's my little brother. " 'Cause now you fuckin' with my time. You out here sacrificing me and my girl, 'know what I'm sayin'? You, of all people, should know that I'm not about to allow you to have Nel in no shootouts an– and drive-bys, none of that shit. Jared, who you piss off, my nigga?"

Jared mumbles, "I told I'm in debt."

"Nigga, the bank don't fuck you up like this! They take ya' house, yo' cars, not your life! You out here doing some low down shit." He stares off outside the window, refusing to look in my direction. He knows that he's fucking up. "Who you piss off, the Jamaicans?" Tell me why he was fuckin' with the kind of niggas that'll rape your moms and kill your dog. "Why you ain't say that shit to begin with?"

"No, the Haitians," Jared interjects.

"That's even worse, mothafucka'!" Jared's breath fills my car causing me to roll down a window, you'd think this man had a squirrel's carious sitting on top of his tonsils. "Talk, nigga, talk!" My eyes glance to the left and right, we better not be getting followed.

A deep sigh, his head drops in shame. "Look, man... I got into an argument with Vita. Gina went off and told her pops and they he went to talk to the local niggas. All them on my ass– all of them, De! I– I don't know what to do, man! Nigga, they gone kill me." An intoxicating wave of inquiry settles in my heart as my hand rests on the steering wheel. I'm not the kind of nigga to be right about everything all the time but I know when shit don't feel right. "I paid the Haitians to keep me cool and watch my back but they prices kept going up and up. Now, I owe them money and they want it now!"