G.A.B.O.S. (Original Version)

Chapter XVII

Six Trey absent-mindedly bobbed his head to the beat of 50 Cent's P.I.M.P. as it blasted through the speakers of his Audi Q5. He squinted his eyes to combat the sun's bright rays and leaned forward slightly, attempting to read the sign beside the traffic lights. "One sixty-seventh," he whispered to himself before looking down at the address that he'd typed into his phone. He'd stopped depending on his GPS to lead him to his destination over thirty minutes before.

Making a left turn, he shook his head. "I knew I should have just rode with Lynise." If it wasn't for the last minute moves he'd decided to make, he would have. He didn't know anything about how Miami's streets worked and he was pretty sure that he was driving in circles at that point. Noticing that he'd used over half a tank of gas, he picked up his phone and dialed his cousin's number. He put the phone on speaker and waited as it rang.

"Hello?"

"Joaquin, que pasa, lil nigga?" Six Trey asked.

"Six? What's up?" Joaquin asked happily. "You were supposed to get here yesterday. Are you in Miami yet?"

"I am, lil man. I need your help. I'm on one hundred and sixty-seventh street. I see a big green house on the corner on my left side, and a corner store on my right. Which way do I go?"

"Straight. Keep going straight, and then make a right at the intersection. The second house on the right is ours."

"Got you. I'll see you in a minute." Six Trey hung up and followed the instructions that he'd just been given. He smiled when he turned onto the corner that his cousins lived on and saw his mother on the porch with Nina. He parked his car quickly and hopped out of it before jogging over to them. He pulled his mother into a tight hug. "Wassup, Ma?" He embraced Nina. "What do I call you, cuz? Marisol or Officer Balenciaga?"

"What are you talking about, Six?" Nina replied, returning his hug. She was happy to see her old partner in crime, especially since it had been over two years since their last encounter. "We're not kids playing cops and robbers anymore. Unless I have to arrest you, it's Marisol."

"That's what you're calling it? Cops and robbers? It didn't seem like a game to me when I had to get you two out of jail for shoplifting when you were teenagers," Mariah quipped with a smile. "Y'all were some badass kids."

"Ma, I never stole anything. It was all Marisol."

Nina shoved Six Trey playfully. "Whatever. What would I be doing with a pack of extra-large condoms? Your lying ass. You know you didn't need any extra-large condoms."

"I'm not gonna say too much with Ma right there, but ask your home girl Tatiana from Cole High about a nigga. I told you that you shouldn't have hung out with her. She was a-what's that retarded shit these dumb-ass kids are saying these days? She was a thot."

"She wasn't before she met you." Nina grabbed Six Trey's hand and led him into the house. "Joaquin, Six Trey is here!"

Joaquin emerged from his bedroom with a grin. He walked up to Six Trey and put out his hand.

Six Trey smacked his hand down. "I ain't your homeboy, nigga. Show me some love." He pulled him into a hug. "Marisol, what are you feeding this dude?" He squeezed Joaquin's rock-hard biceps, which complimented his overall slim frame. "I didn't know even spics could get muscles like these."

"You're gonna stop calling us spics," Joaquin warned.

"You gotta throw hands if you want me to stop, lil man. Better yet, I know Marisol has you in that jujitsu shit. Show me some of that before I leave, alright? Now, show me to my room."