Page 5 of Fire & Roses: Harli

“Uh huh. Well, I’ma take yo’ winnings, and I’ma get the fuck ASAP before the airhead version of you return.”

“I swea’ he ain’t comin’ back, but I hope you do come back so I can beat you again.”

“We’ll see. And trust this was a fluke, the jitters gone, so you maybe eatin’ my dust next time.”

“I’ll happily do that too, as long as I get to see you again, Harli.”

“Ehh, maybe. See ya around, Trench,” I smiled before putting on my helmet and driving away with an array of emotions consuming my body as I headed to Golden Shores.

Chapter 4

Trench

As I stocked the shelves with some new arrivals, images of Harli crept into my mind. It had been a week since our race, and I hadn’t seen her on the scene since. It weighed on me that my behavior scared her away after she’d just made her return. Thinking that H was a nigga, I decided to bust his balls after the race to see if I could get another one out of him. When it was revealed that he was actually she, and a fine ass she at that, I was dazed like never before.

It was something about her that I couldn’t shake, and I was starting to feel like a junkie jonesing for their next hit, not being able to see her. I don’t know if it was the fact that she was one of the best racers I’d ever come across, if it was the fact that she didn’t play with a nigga at all, or if it was how fine she was underneath that helmet. It could be a mixture of all three, and I needed to be around her again. Opportunity was taking too long to present itself, so now I was ready to put soldiers on the ground to find her.

The chime of the store’s door went off, signaling a customer had walked in. When I looked up, it was my nigga, ‘Scoe. Getting down from the step ladder, I dapped him up before locking the door. I was managing the shoe store alone today, so I decided to take a break to chop it up with him. When I joined him in the back, he was already rolling up, and that couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We gotta step out back ‘cause my mom peeped the weed scent last time,” I explained.

“That’s cool with me,” ‘Scoe agreed. “I told yo’ ass that last time when you were talkin’ ‘bout we could smoke in the back. You must think I be having play play weed. Nawl, nigga this that good strong shit. It’s gonna funk up the place.”

“Shut yo’ ass up, I ain’t need no lecture.”

“Oop, someone’s in a pissy mood. Wassup witcha, Trench?”

“Man, aside from the same shit different day. I can’t get ole girl outta my head.”

“Ole girl? Who you talkin’ ‘bout? Ya folks finally did good with the match makin’?”

“Nawl, Harli. Shawty from the race the other week.”

“Harli? From Golden Shores?”

“I don’t know where she from, but you think you do?”

“Yeah, that’s the only biker chick named Harli that I know.”

“Bro, you gotta take me to Golden Shores ASAP.”

“We can go after you clock out.”

“Nawl, fuck that we goin’ right now!”

“Ah, shit. Let’s bounce then.”

On the way over to Golden Shores, we smoked the blunt that ‘Scoe rolled. It helped me relax because I was so anxious about what was to come. I’d never been in the position to put forth any effort when it came to women. Most of the women from when I lost my virginity at fifteen just threw themselves at me. Now I finally find a woman that got a nigga acting out of character, and I just had to have her.

The drastic difference between Silver Stone Estates, where me and my family lived to the hood where Golden Shores stood was noticeable. There were no white picket fences, with magazine style, homes lining the sides of the roads. Instead, there were rows of brick apartments with kids running about. When we got out, I hoped we didn’t have to go to each building looking for her, but whatever we needed to do, I was down for it. This was the only Hail Mary I had to get on Harli’s radar.

“Now, you sure you wanna get tingled with a girl from the hood, ya know given your folks?” ‘Scoe inquired as we walked deeper into the concrete jungle.

“Hell yeah,” I answered with much conviction. “I see her for her, not where she comes from, but I don’t want my folks to have her feelin’ some type of way and try to judge a nigga off that.”

“Exactly what I was thinkin’. Hell, I assumed shit until I got to know yo’ ass. A nigga definitely thought you were a coon ass nigga cosplayin’ a real nigga like me.”

“Well damn, tell me how you really feel, my G. I think I should keep the fact that I got money, so she doesn’t try to front on a nigga. I want that real authentic her like I got that night we raced.”