I rubbed my temple. “Isis, if you’ve never missed work in the four years you’ve been working there, yo’ ass got more vacation time than Jesus took after resurrection. Call in and use them. They’ll understand.”
She popped one eye open. “Oh… yeah. Idogot hella PTO.”
“Good. Make sure you call in for therest of the week.There’s a chance we could be here that long.”
Adrian shot up like somebody yelled, “food stamps got canceled”, then immediately winced and dropped back down, grabbing his knee.
“Look!” he said, still hunched in pain. “I can’t be here another wholeweek,man… that’sChristmas!I got three kids I gotta see, three crazy baby mamas who don’t like each other,andmy plug gon’ be lookin’ for me!”
The room went silent.
Fuck the kids and baby mama confession… this nigga said his plug.
Adrian was a wanna-be jokester, so at first I wasn’t sure if he was playin’, but his expression was dead serious… like, stone-cold,swear-on-everythingserious.
Chesteria walked over slowly and stood right in front of him with her arms folded tightly and her eyebrow cocked like it had its own attitude.
“Nigga, did I just hear you correctly?” she asked, slow and surgical, like she was about to lay hands… or a curse. “You’re adrug dealer?!Like, really, Adrian? A damndope boy?!With three kids?!”
“It’s technicallytwobaby mamas, but the third girlactlike one. And Imighthave four kids. But two don’t got my last name, so it’s still kinda like…”
“Adrian, this is not the time for you to be remixing the math on your illegitimate family tree!” Chesteria yelled, cutting him off. “But yeah… you damn sure forgot to mentionthatbetween your fake-ass tool belt, your obsession with peppermint foot lotion, that knockoff cologne that smells likeambition and ammonia,and those holy socks—excuse me,thoseHallelujah 11s—you’re out here wearing that look like they been blessed by struggle! Answer this: You sell dime bags in gift wrap or something? And are you pushing weight or pushing lies? You up here worried about somebody picking up yo’ lil’ ziplocks like you Pablo in the suburbs and stressed over some half-melted edibles and a few dime bags like yo’ boss gon’ send a hit squad for a forty-dollar loss. Nigga, you don’t move weight; you move inconvenience. Boy, I done heard it all!”
That was the quietest Isis had been since we’d arrived… unless she was asleep. Hell, I was speechless too.
Adrian raised his hand like he was testifying in church.
“Man… times is hard!” Adrian snapped. “Everybody can’t be professors or pilots! Some of us out here trying to hustle just to keep Wi-Fi and noodles in the crib, you feel me? I ain’t ashamed!Rent due! Life due! Child support due! And EBT don’t refill ‘til the 8th! I’m hanging on by a thread and some hope!”
Chesteria didn’t laugh; she just looked at him with sharp eyes and a steady voice.
“Adrian,nobodyin here is laughing at yo’ hustle. We all gotta do what we gotta do to survive. And nobody in this cabin is better than the next person just because their bank account may be more loaded. Money don’t make nobody superior. It’s just thelyingfor me!” Her tone hardened. “You out here running the streets with expired priorities, three kids you halfway account for, a side hustle you probably exaggerating, and a limp that says you ain’t built for no type of manly work!” She pointed directly at his knee. “Even your body is tired of the lies. When your own knees start snitching, it’s time to sit down and reevaluate.”
Adrian looked like he wanted to say something smart but couldn’t find the words.
“Damn.” I chuckled darkly, shaking my head. “So you brought a wholeLil Break-A-Brickto our shit?”
“Bryce, I didn’t know!” Chesteria shot back, her tone almost matching mine.
I gave her a look, and she gave me one right back.
We both were Aries—rams, natural-born fire starters—so we stayed butting heads. That shit usually played out in both our favor, because we’d end up havingcrazy-ass sex afterward,making up on whatever flat surface was nearby. But now? That wasn’t even on the table. Truth be told, I couldn’t even be mad at her. That nigga clearly wasn’t keeping it real about shit. Hell, at that point, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he said he managed properties, but come to find out, he just jiggled doorknobs for the landlord when people are late on their rent. So all that anger? It shifted to him… instantly.
I faced Adrian. “Listen, if you on somefuck shit,you need to say it…now.'Cause if you brought Chesteria up here as a setupto rob her, hurt her, or bring heat toourcabin inanyway…” I took one more step forward, leaned in slightly, mug steady. “Just know that you… or any muthafucka bold enough to walk through that door will not leave here breathing. And I ain’t talkin’ tough; I’m talkin’facts,” I warned.
Adrian pulled himself to the edge of the couch, posture all messed up, eyes darting like he was reevaluating life.
“Look… Imight’velied about alottashit,” he admitted. “But I wouldneverhurt Chesteria. I swear to God. Everything I said about the kids and the baby mamas was true. Me selling drugs? Also facts. If I don’t get home by Wednesday,whenever I do, I’ma either gon’ be dead soon as I touch down, broke, or forced to spend the holiday locked in a house with no loud, no money, three kids, and at least one baby mama trippin’. Y’all don’t know pain ‘til your kids eat the last Honey Bun and yo’ boss call youwhile they screaming.”
I tilted my head. “So you’renota threat. You’re just a dysfunctional, barely-walkin’ corner boy with too much sperm and not enough sense.”
Chesteria exhaled and hit him with the final blow.
“That sounds like apersonal problem wrapped in probation.Don’t bring your lifetime movie energy to my cabin, Adrian.”
“Aight, listen,” I said, patience thinning to a razor’s edge. “I don’t give a damn what chaos you got going on outside this cabin, butin hereyou play it straight. No slick moves. No side deals. No surprise visitors. If anybody pulls up, or if I catch even awhisperof a setup, it’s lights out for you and whoever stupid enough to be attached to it… and I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout lights out because of a storm either.”
I held his stare.
