Read Online Still Candy Shopping by Kiki Swinson - Free Book Online Page A

it anyway. My main concern was my dope and my money, and since both were taken by Brenda’s nephew, I was out of fucking luck.
    I walked side by side with Slim as we made our way down Okeefe Street. We walked past a dozen people as we strolled through Huntersville. But it didn’t matter, because when people saw you with your pimp, or saw him beating your ass, they would do absolutely nothing to help you. That was just how the game was played. If I’d known that Slim was a pimp, I never would have crossed the threshold of his house. I fucked up! I made that bad judgment call, and now I had to deal with it and find a way to get away from this psycho.
    When we arrived at the spot on Church Street, Slim got everybody’s attention. The two young chicks from earlier were there, along with two more. The other two women looked younger than the ones I saw at the house. I stood there in awe as Slim introduced me to his little fucking girls. I already knew that the chick with the purple hair was Jennifer. But the chick with the red hair didn’t introduce herself to me because she was so fucking wrapped up in getting permission to change locations. So when Slim spoke, I paid close attention. He turned toward the chick with the red hair and said, “Paris, this is Faith. She’s one of my new bitches, so I want you to watch her and make sure she doesn’t go anywhere. Now if she tries to run off, I want all of y’all to jump on her and kick her ass. Do you understand me?” he asked.
    In unison, everyone said OK and nodded, except for Paris. She asked him if he was going to be close by.
    “Don’t ask me any stupid questions. Where the hell you think I’m gon’ be?”
    Paris didn’t respond. She took a couple steps backward like she was trying to avoid any conflict. The other two chicks didn’t say one word. They stood before Slim and waited for him to dismiss them. But before he did that, he looked at them and asked how much money they had made.
    As I mentioned before, the other two chicks looked younger than Jennifer and Paris, but they looked like they were working with a little more common sense, so I waited to hear their answers.
    “I just made seventy-five dollars,” one said.
    But the other one had a sad song to sing. “Slim, you know it ain’t military payday. It’s been slow since me and Sabrina been out here,” she explained.
    Slim wasn’t buying her story. He got in her face like he was about to bite off her fucking nose. “Tacora, do you think I give a fuck how slow it is out here? If Sabrina can make it happen, so can you! Now you better get yourself together before I fuck your ass up!” he snarled.
    After Slim threatened Tacora, she and Sabrina walked across C Avenue and stood in front of the Shop & Go convenience store. As they walked away, I looked at them from head to toe. Sabrina and Tacora were both every attractive young girls. They had caramel complexions and pretty brown eyes. And even though they looked like they were still in high school, they had the bodies of grown women. They wore their tiny skirts in the sleaziest way possible. These young girls looked way better than I did. And I was sure that they would generate more money than me too. So I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why Slim recruited me. Was it because I was older and I probably knew the streets better? I couldn’t call it, but whatever it was, I was sure he had it all figured out.
    Before Paris escorted me to her post, Slim schooled me about how I needed to work the streets. “When you get your first trick, let that nigga know off top that you ain’t about to pull off in his car. You can get inside the passenger seat and take care of his business, and then you get the fuck out. But you gotta make sure he pays you first. Is that understood?” he asked.
    I nodded. Then Paris chimed in. “Have you ever been on the strip before?” she asked me.
    I nodded once again.
    “Do you ask your dates if they the police?” she