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He looks like every other suit in the city. "He works on Wall Street and actually has money. He doesn't fake it."
"How can you tell?"
"His watch is a dead giveaway," I say, looking at what looks to be a Cartier. I saw a blue one in a magazine once that I fell instantly in love with. I never forgot it, or the seven-thousand-dollar price tag. "You and I both know that suit is not from a corner store or off the rack. It's tailor-made to fit his body and screams wealth. I bet he's terrible in bed."
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She drags her gaze down the length of his body. "He has a nice ass, though."
I can always count on her to notice a man's body. I point to a runner.
"He's a P.E. teacher for underprivileged kids and loves his job."
"Come on. A tourist?" I ask, unimpressed after she points to someone taking random pictures of the concrete jungle. "What about that one?"
"He sleeps with his uncle."
"Natalie!" I laugh, and cover my mouth. I look around to see if anyone heard her. One person is staring at us.
"What?" She shrugs, and sips her java like she was only talking about the weather. "I bet he bones his cousins too."
"You're so bad," I say with a smile. "Okay. Last one, then I have to head to class."
Her eyes scan the throngs of people trying to find the best one. "That one."
"A struggling musician with a killer voice. Oh, and he has a muse who walks around naked."
Her eyes light up. "Nice! Okay. Text me later. I might have to work tonight, but I'll try to be quiet when I get home."
"You don't know if you have to work yet? Like you find out at the last minute? That's weird."
She doesn't look at me. "I think I'll buy you some noise-cancelling earphones, just in case."
"But then how will I hear my alarm?"
She pauses. "Good point. Okay, scratch that. I'll just try to be quiet."
We hug goodbye and I thank her for my coffee, then we go our separate ways. We might attend Fordham together, but we take completely different classes and our schedules don't usually line up. I'm majoring in Developmental Sociology, and she's still undecided, or so she says. I think that's just to piss her parents off, though. I think she secretly knows but doesn't want to tell anyone.
After a full day of new classes, all I want to do is go through my syllabi and prepare for the semester. Instead, I'm hurrying around my room looking for my uniform because duty calls and my bills need paying. Between crying babies, shitty diapers, and washing and folding strangers' clothes at the laundromat, this education better pay off.
Got to love New York City. It's the only city in the world that can make dreams come true while eating you alive at the same time.
Chapter Three
The first couple weeks of school are always so much more exhausting than the rest of the year for me. Adjusting to new classes, homework, and two jobs, I guess it would be tiring for anyone.
The stress of life and reality. Welcome to Adulthood 101.
As I sit on the bus watching the world pass me by, a feeling of nostalgia settles in my heart. Queens is where I was born and raised, and the only home I've ever known. I may have been all around New York City and Long Island, but that's the extent of my traveling. I've never left the state of New York.
I breathe in the familiar neighborhood and take in the exposed brick homes and black wrought iron fences. I don't get to see Grammy as often as I'd like because of my schedule, but when I do, I make the most of it. She's the only family I have left and I plan to spend all day with her. I know she'll have made my favorite chocolate kiss cookies and she'll insist on giving me cash for my birthday. She tries every year, and every year I turn around and deposit it right back into her account.
Two more stops and the breaks squeak as the bus pulls to a hard stop just a block away from Grammy’s. I can already smell the sweets as I walk up to her little unit, and I smile to myself. Her barred windows are open and jazz music fills the air. One of her many cats is perched on her stoop and I bend down to pet the fur ball. She purrs and raises her ass in the air like a little hussy.
"Grammy!"
I step over the threshold with ease. This isn't the greatest part of Queens and the door needs to be locked at all times, yet it never is. Grammy says she grew up never worrying about that and she isn't going to start now. She's a stubborn woman.
