In Search Of - A Childish Gambino story

Chapter 4: Put It In My Video

Donald

“YOOOO NIGGA! Stop playin! You tryna get me sniped out here,” Swank yelled, grinning from ear to ear.

I laughed as I adjusted my headset and furthered my relaxed position on the couch. “Maybe if you could get a kill streak higher than four I’d actually be worried about covering your ass,” I replied calmly. My controller vibrated as bullets wizzed by my soldier’s head. “Got you now, you little piece of…,” my automatic went off; I watched with grim satisfaction as a dude on the opposite team fell into a twisted heap in slomo like a Power Ranger. 

There was a collective “oooohhhhh!” as all four screens replayed the kill again, I got the winning shot.

“How dope is it that you always get these beta games,” Fam asked, pulling his headset down to his neck.

“I mean, Call of Duty has been sending you their shit from the jump. Modern Warfare Four? This shit has literally only been a myth for the longest, my nigga,” Chance added, his words somewhat muffled by the blunt in his mouth he was sealing closed.

“Celebrity perks, bitches. Let me know when you get on my American ass royalty level,” I retorted in a level voice, but I couldn’t hide my grin as I snatched the blunt from Chance’s hands right as he was getting the first hit in. I heard some angry words coming through as I hit it for myself, but he was too busy choking on smoke to get anything out.

“Damn, son. This your first time?” AJ chimed in, walking out of the kitchen with an armful of munchies satisfiers. Everyone fell out laughing, the blunt continued in its rotation.

“Okay, but onto serious business. I didn’t just invite you niggas over to eat the rest of the food in my fridge and get stoned. We have shit to take care of,” I eyed all of them levelly, making sure I had their full attention.

“You better be feelin some type of way, Donny G,” Chance chided in a kiddish voice.

I rolled my eyes. “Nah, forreal, I already have the dates lined up to borrow Bosh’s house for the film. But until we finish lining up who’s gonna be acting in it, I’m fucked,” I shot back. He ‘Ye shrugged me and reclined further on the sofa.

“Fuck you need actors for? We’re class ass stars right here!” Swank was so entertained by his own joke, he laughed for a solid minute straight before I finally slapped him on the back of the head and snatched the blunt from his hand.

“Look, niggas. Of course y’all can be in it, it only makes sense. But I’m still looking for a girl. None of these chicks you’ve lined up so far have a lot of potential,” I muttered, nodding at the long line of headshots scattered about my coffee table, amongst leftover SOLO cups and the guts from some rellos.

I regretted it almost as soon as I said it, Chance’s eyes lit up mischievously. “Of course none of these bitches are good enough for you, you’re only looking for one bitch,” he probed, barely able to hide his excitement.

“Oh yeah, Chance was tellin us about some bitch you had in your room homie,” Fam added, “what happened? She bounce after you went trippin over Andrea?” This got some snickers. I was only a day out of the hospital and still getting shit about her.

I side-eyed both of them and got up to go get some beer out of the kitchen. “The real question is, did you smash?” Chance interrupted, craning his head over the back of the couch to gage my reaction.

“They’re not all bitches, you shouldn’t talk about women that way,” was all I had to say in response. There was another collaborative “ooohhhhh!” but this time it took on a cooing tone as the four burst into another fit of high ass snickers. Coons.