Page 15 of Stand on That

Vani wasn’t my girl, and me only dealing with her hadn’t even been on purpose. She was at my house at least three nights a week. We were spending so much time together, that her parents pretty much demanded to meet me. I didn’t even lie to my own parents about who or what I was, but I wasn’t trying to give her people heart attacks. That was the only reason I lied and told them I was a barber. Our meeting lasted about thirty minutes and by the time I left, I was shaking her father’s hand and giving him some weed from my personal stash.

Vani didn’t get on a nigga’s nerves. We had fun together and good sex. There really hadn’t been a need for me to deal with anyone else. Maybe I had never been in love, but I didn’t understand how a person could come along and make someone change their mind on something they deeply wanted. Bree wasn’t wrong for wanting a husband and kids. Maybe that would be me in four or five years, but if she really wanted those things in the near future, she was wasting her time with me. The worst thing in the world would have been for her to be okay with not getting those things and turning around in two or three years and resenting me.

One of the seven wonders of the world should have been why women really thought good pussy and fire head would make a man change his mind. They had that all the way wrong with me. I’d been having sex for a long time, and I had more good pussy than bad. I was never moved by good sex or a pretty face. That was what let me know Vani was special. It was her overall vibe that I couldn’t get enough of. Her looks and pussy only added to that.

She was a bad lil’ something, and she was fine just the way she was. But I’d slowly been upgrading her, and I could tell. I also loved that she loved wearing heels. Seeing those dainty ass feet in some fire heels and her pedicured toes made my dick jump every time. She was also gaining that happy weight that females complained about. My baby was getting thicker than cold oatmeal. I gave her money almost every day so since we’d been dealing, I’d never seen her repeat an outfit. I’d damn near never seen her repeat a pair of shoes.

As long as she stayed exactly how she was, I knew Bree wouldn’t be the only female pissed with me. If I continued to not have the desire to deal with other women, then making it official with Vani would be the only thing that made sense. When I left Bree, I headed to Azarius. Our mothers were best friends, so we grew up together. We weren’t blood, but we may as well have been. Honestly, I rocked with Azarius harder than I did with some of my actual relatives. He was going to ride with me to Zoe Land to holla at my homie, Purpose.

Zoe Land was one of the littest parts of the city, if you were welcome there. A whole community of Haitians that had their own culture right there in one area. Restaurants, grocery stores, laundromats, barbers, braiders, you name it. A nigga could go to Zoe Land and have a ball. They had good weed, bad chicks, banging food, and a dope vibe. Zoe Land could be dangerous as well depending on the situation. One day it could start out as heaven and turn into hell by midnight.

I had been copping coke from Purpose for almost two years, and I was about to turn Azarius on to him. Rarely, did Purpose take new clientele. He wasn’t thirsty for people to sell dope to. He had them lined up wanting to do business with him, and he was selective about who he chose. He only served a handful of people. He only had to. The people he did allow to purchase his product spent enough money with him monthly that he didn’t have to put himself out there too bad, and he still made money hand over fist.

I had asked him about meeting Azarius once about five months ago, and he told me he’d let me know when he was ready. In the meantime, Azarius copped weight from me, but he was ready to step his game up. I didn’t sell whole bricks. I busted my shit down, so it was time for him to graduate to the big leagues. And since he was my brother, and I wasn’t a hater, if he was gon’ get money, I was going to put him on to the best plug in the city. While Azarius waited for Purpose to decide whether or not he wanted to rock with him, he just copped work from me. His ass called me to re-up every few days, so Purpose agreeing to meet him right before I left for Antigua was great for Azarius.

When I pulled up at his mother’s house, Azarius was seated on the porch steps smoking a blunt. Like me, he lived out the way. It took thirty minutes to get to his home from his mom’s house. Mad people knew where we hung out at. If it wasn’t family, not even ten people knew where we actually lived, and that was how it was going to stay. I had been in my townhouse for a year, and Bree and Vani were the only women I’d ever taken there. Vani was the only one that had ever spent the night. I was contemplating giving her lil’ ass a key, but I had to be sure before I did that. Real sure. Rather than jumping the gun, I was gon’ hold off for another few months.

Even if I was going to do dirt, I wouldn’t take the female to my crib but still. Giving a woman a key was a big step, and I had to be sure I was ready for all that. Vani had been cool so far, but we weren’t in that deep yet. Any woman’s crazy could be activated once she fell in love with a man. Speaking of which, I hoped Bree remained mature and unproblematic because I didn’t have time for the BS.

The moment he spotted me, Azarius stood. He pulled his pants up on his waist as he walked to my car with the blunt dangling between his lips.

“What up G?” he asked inside the car. He looked over like he was inspecting me. “Bree let you walk away without bruises I see.”

I chuckled and backed out of the driveway. “Bree ass never gave you the impression she was crazy. I don’t even know why you thought she’d play with me like that.”

“Shitttttt,” he drawled. “I’ve seen the demurest women get gutta with a nigga. You been rocking with Bree for a lil’ minute. I don’t care what either one of you say. In her mind, you were damn near her nigga.”

“And that’s what I don’t get,” I shook my head. “I guess I talk just to exercise my tongue. My aunt legit stopped talking to a dude ‘cus he drank too much. He wasn’t even an alcoholic. He just drank more than she cared for, and she left him where he stood. A person has a right to want whatever they want. Women have to start standing on that shit and stop thinking putting the pussy on a nigga will make him change his mind ‘bout some shit.”

“That sound too much like right,” he chuckled. “They claim they not with the games, but they be ignoring the hell out of red flags for the sake of dick and feeling like they have a man. Shit is crazy.”

“I dropped Vani some food off yesterday while she was braiding Hailey’s hair. This is the second time shorty done asked about you.” I changed the subject. Azarius shook his head with a grin.

“I’m not messing with Hailey. She move like a nigga. We’ll either be out here seeing who can do the most dirt, or I’ll end up with my foot in her ass. She’s a red flag for sure, and I’m not ignoring that shit.”

That got a laugh out of me. “Let me find out you scared. You think she your match?”

“Man, hell nah,” he frowned. “I peep game. On my mama, I’d be a fire ass psychiatrist. I know how to read people. I take what I hear about people with a grain of salt but from what I see, she’s the type that gets off on making niggas fall for her ass then hurting their damn feelings. She’d hurt her own before she hurt mine, but I’m not even ‘bout to play with her like that.”

“Yeah, you scared,” I laughed while he sucked his teeth.

“Fuck outta here. Just ‘cus Vani got you out yo’ body don’t mean we all fall so easily.”

“You know there ain’t shit easy about me fuck boy. Vani got a lil’ power. I give her that. Never said me being serious with a woman was out of the question. I just had to find the one that made me want to be serious,” I schooled him as we approached Zoe Land. Even the air smelled different on that side of town.

The moment I turned in, the young niggas perched on the white stone wall that separated Zoe Land from the street nodded their heads at me. The car that I made moves in during the day didn’t have tinted windows. I didn’t even risk it with legal tint. I rode fishbowl like a muhfucka because I didn’t want the police using any excuse to pull me over. I rarely even smoked while I drove when handling business. If I had dope on me, it was very rare that I smoked in the car unless I had a lil’ shooter with me that would take the dope, jump out, and run. I wasn’t exactly old, but my ass wasn’t running nowhere. I smoked way too damn much for that. I’d have to eat the charge if I was alone in the car.

That was a risk that came with hustling. My life was hectic, but I tried to always take the time to eat good, travel, smoke good, drink expensive liquor, and live life to the fullest because I never knew if the time would come that my freedom would be taken. I wasn’t broke, but I was far from the highest on the totem pole. If the time came for me to lay down, I’d do my time like a G. There would be no telling. I wouldn’t even rat on a man that I couldn’t stand. That wasn’t in my DNA.

“You sure this nigga cool?” Azarius asked as I busted a left.

“Purpose?” I asked with bunched brows.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, he cool. Why you ask that?”

“Just checking. I’m not up for no nigga coming at me on some mob boss type shit trying to son me and talk to me like I’m dumb or something. I’ll keep copping work from you before I kiss a nigga’s ass.”