“So, wassup? Why am I here?”
He pulled a colorful package from the pocket of his suit jacket and handed it to me. Upon close inspection, I knew it was a Za bag. I was hot, but I played it cool.
“So, they had this on them?” I asked.
Tim folded his arms across his chest with a tight expression, on some real principal shit. “No. They didn’t have it on them, but these bags have been floating around the school the last two weeks, along with their names.”
“So, they in here off the strength of hearsay?” I followed up, hoping that he wasn’t on no bullshit like that.
“I brought them in to see what they knew.”
“Like an interrogation?”
“No. Like a conversation. I wanted to give them both the benefit of the doubt. As I mentioned, their names have been the ones linked to the distribution of these packs.”
Although I knew they were likely behind what was going on, I didn’t like that it was being implied without evidence of them making a sale.
“See, that word distribution implies that they’re actually making sales. Again, something you have no knowledge of but have heard rumors about. Copy. You then have the parents called to come down here and do what, Mr. Malcolm?” My tone had shifted to something serious.
“I figured we all could get down to the bottom of this together by making a collaborative effort to find out what the boys know.”
“Bet.” I turned back to them with the bag held up in the air. “Y’all selling this shit on school grounds?”
“Nah,” Cortez answered first, and KJ echoed his statement.
“Nah.”
I could see the look of disappointment on Tim’s face when I turned back to him. “So, what now?”
“I’m not so sure.”
“Yeah, you gon’ have to give me more than that cause I’m not feeling them being reprimanded for something you’re not sure about. So, while you figure that out, I’ma take them home for the day. Let you sleep on it. But they’ll be back tomorrow. And if for any reason you feel they shouldn’t return tomorrow, you can let me know, and I’ll have my attorney contact the superintendent to find out the best way to proceed.”
By the way his forehead creased, I knew he wasn’t feeling my response. Nodding slowly, he held his hand out again for me to shake.
“We’ll see them tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.” I handed him back the bag and turned to the boys. “Let’s go.”
Cortez practically jumped up from his seat, relief written all over his face, like he’d gotten away with something. Little did he know, I was gon’ get on his ass as soon as we hit the parking lot. KJ stood slower, tense. He knew he wasn’t in the clear yet. Unlike Cortez, he still had to deal with his mother.
I walked ahead of the two out of the office and into the hallway.
“Unc, we…”
“Don’t speak, Cortez,” I said, keeping my eyes straight ahead.
He went quiet immediately. We walked out of the building in silence, and I didn’t speak until we were in the car. I didn’t bother starting it up before my gaze landed on Cortez first.
“You deadass?”
“What?” He played stupid, and I punched him in his chest. “Ahhh.” He hunched over in pain.
“Play dumb and I’ma box yo’ ass right in this car.” We were always tough on the boys in our family. Everybody got beat the fuck up and loved on in the end. It was a balance that made us Sullivan men. “Why you out here moving stupid? Correction, why y’all out here moving stupid?” I cut my eyes back at KJ inthe rearview mirror. “Y’all out here selling Za bags like y’all some corner niggas. Fuck is going on?”
“It ain’t ours,” KJ said with a straight face.
“Bullshit. I ain’t the one y’all need to lie to. If you gon’ keep it a stack wit’ anybody, it need to be me, so I can help y’all find a way outta this shit.”
