Read Online An Urban Drama by Roy Glenn - Free Book Online Page B

buttoned up my blouse and put my stuff back in the purse. I pulled out slowly into traffic and drove on, knowing that I had dodged a bullet big-time. But the fact remained that I had dodged it, and was on my way to do this thing.
 
Eight
    Now that I had it, it was time to make it work. Me and Teena posted up at a table in the back of Jimmy’s, the same hole in the wall bar where Lorenzo and Chris first took us. I remembered what Leon had told me. “The ones that are still on the street are the ones who gave the cops something to stay out.” And here they all were.
    I’d been low-profile since Lorenzo went to jail. First I was depressed, then I tried to be a dancer, so this was the first time I’d seen a lot of these people in a while. One by one, each one of them came up to me to show their respect. Their women asked me where I’d been and filled me in on all the latest gossip. Some wanted to see if I was doing okay on my own. Some of the fellas who hadn’t seen me in a good while told me how sorry they were that things went down the way they did. Some of that was sincere, some was bullshit, some of these muthafuckas were glad Lorenzo was locked up.
    Some offered their help, others offered themselves. Imagine what I must have represented to them; what a prize I would be. One of them had taken my man’s position, now they wanted me.
    “Look at these muthafuckas, Nina. All of them tryin’ to get with you,” Teena said.
    “All of them sold out Lorenzo to stay on the street.”
    “You sure you don’t wanna recruit none of these muthafuckas?”
    “Yup.”
    “Not even the cute ones?”
    “Especially not them. I thought about it, believe me. This is where I thought I was gonna start: with these mugs. But now, looking at them, seeing how they’re trying to play me, we don’t need none of these sellout muthafuckas to do this work for us. No, Teena, we gotta build our own team.”
    “We?”
    “Yeah, we. Or were you just talkin’ that together-to-the-bloody-end shit?”
    “No, I wasn’t just talkin’. You know that. But I was just thinking that since things had changed, you know, with you getting a whole lot more than you thought, and with you handin ’ me back five hundred of the four hundred dollars I gave you, I thought maybe shit had changed.”
    I looked at Teena; it hurt me a little to hear her ask me that. It was like she was questioning the strength of our friendship. “No, Teena, we’re in this together. We gotta build this team.”
    “Well, maybe you should tell me exactly what we means .”
    “It means we’re partners. Me , you and Shay are partners in this. I’m distribution, you’re recruitment, and you know Shay . . .”
    “Yeah, she’ll get done anything that needs to be done.”
    “So, the first person we gonna go see is Kenyatta,” I said to Teena and motioned for the waitress.
    “You just said you wasn’t fuckin’ with none of Lo’s people.”
    “I know what I said, but Kenyatta is different. That’s my girl. I was the one who brought Kenyatta to Lorenzo.” I laughed. “She’s been tellin’ me since the day Lorenzo got locked down that I needed to do this.”
    When I went to see Kenyatta the following day, it was like she was waiting for me. She swung open the door to her apartment before I could knock. “I hope your grand appearance at Jimmy’s last night means you’re ready to take this thing to a new level.”
    “Hello, Kenyatta,” I said and walked by her. “How are you today?”
    “Just answer my question, ho. What were you doin’ at Jimmy’s last night?”
    “That’s what I came to see you about.”
    “Talk to me.”
    “You ready to take this thing to a new level?”
    “Yes! Nina, I been ready. I just been waitin’ on you.”
    “Good. You still hold down that same stop?”
    “Of course.”
    “ What’s gonna happen if you change suppliers?”
    “Since we’re talkin’ business, let’s say you give me a reason to change suppliers.”
    “I’m in