Testify

(2) Precaution

Ominous.

August peeled his eyes open. He tried his best not to let sleep takeover. He'd been up all morning and all afternoon 'servicing' folks. It was tiring but the sew he reaped was extremely rewarding and beneficial. He glanced around himself and spotted a bench that looked as though it only seated about four people. He took a seat and sighed to himself. What am I getting myself into, he thought.

There was no point in asking himself that, to be quite honest. He knew exactly what he was getting into and he had a good idea of what to expect. He wasn't trying to build a legacy or become a kingpin or whatever it is that these other people be doing out here. His main goal at the end of the day was to achieve enough money to feed not only himself, but his family. Although Melvin helped out, it wasn't frequent. It couldn't be frequent because then their mother would understand what was going on. She couldn't discover what they were doing or that was it.

He leaned back a bit, his head resting on the top half of the bench. Subconsciously, his eyes grew heavy and he began falling asleep.

"Psst," his eyes sprung open but there was no one in the distance. He glanced around. Still, no one. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. After all, he wasn't able to obtain the proper amount of rest and he heard that caused hallucinations. He closed his eyes again, a bit more aware and cautious this time.

"Psst! Say! Say!" The voice rang into his ears again. He peeled his eyes open again and this time, standing in front of him was a woman. Perhaps a girl. She had the face of baby. Her skin was sleek and brown. She looked like a true ebony beauty. Everything was perfect about her, that is until his eyes reached her arms. They were marked and ripped horribly. He tried hard not to furrow his brow and make a face but it was absolutely hard. The sight would send him into a corner to hurl up his heart but, he'd grown accustomed to this. Just with men.

She began fidgeting and scratching itches that most likely weren't even there; or real for that matter. Every now and then, she'd slapped herself as if there were bugs crawling against her skin. Angel dust, August said to himself.

"Look," she began. "I got..I got twenty dollars. Ima give it all to you, man. Just give me something that'll have me higher than a kite, man. Something that can make me feel good." She desperately begged. August stood. There was no way in hell that he was giving her anything that. Her belly was ripe and round, as if she was going to pop that kid out any day now.

"Nah, I can't." He said just above a whisper. August had become immune to a lot of things but, there was nothing that melted his heart more than to see a woman in the state of struggle.

The woman clung onto August's arm and began yanking at his nice shirt. "Please, man. I'll do anything." As if a buzzard went off in her head, her hands tried unbuckling his pant's zipper.

"What the hell?" He said aloud. He managed to get the woman off of him with the help of coaster. He didn't look happy either. Coaster mangled the woman away from August and carelessly tossed her to the side.

"Coaster, be careful damn! Can't you see that she pregnant?"

"Do it look I care? She just a crackhead."

"Exactly. She don't know what she doin'." August went on. "She need help."

"She don't need no help. Just give her what she want and let her go about her business." Coaster demanded. In fact, he insisted it. Don't get the game wrong at all, Coaster was one of the most caring and understanding people on the planet but, when it came to his money, he didn't care about anything; especially if it hindered him from making more of it. It was something like his weakness. It numbed him.

"No. I can't do it. You can do it but I won't."

"Why?" Coaster shrugged. He couldn't seem to understand why August was so passionate about his decision or why he was suddenly so defensive.

"What you mean 'why'? What if that was yo mom's or ya lil sister or even ya baby mom's? What would you do? Would you want some nigga giving her drugs? That baby'cah die, yeah." He said as he pointed in her direction. The woman just continued to claw at her neck unmercifully, barking out unintelligible things every now and then. At one point, she even began searching the ground for things that weren't even there.

"Is you tryna make money or not?" Coaster asked impatiently. August thought for a moment. He sighed and shook his head. "I'ah rather starve then do this. For real. I ain't dying." He said.

Coaster glared at August. Almost as if he were trying to lacerated him with his eyes or something. August stared right back but only out of subconsciousness.

"Alright man, aright. But she gonna get it from somewhere else anyway." August nodded. "As long as it's not from me." He retaliated happily. He sighed and looked over his shoulder. If Melvin knew what he was doing, he'd kill him.

* * *

New Orleans Slang That You May Not Understand:

'Yeah' and/or 'No': "In New Orleans, sometimes, when people say a statement, they just add 'yeah' or 'no.' I don't know why but we do it.

i.e: "Dogs can die from eating human food, yeah?" Or "You'on gotta write all that down, no?"

I know it sounds weird but you may hear August Alsina do it from time to time if you pay attention.

'Say': "When someone's trying to get your attention, most likely a boy, they'll be like: 'Say! Say, girl! Come here.' So.. Don't mind that.