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When I turned to take my seat, I saw Dame walking toward the table, flanked on either side by the white women I’d seen rushing to the door to greet him. Benji was just steps behind.
Dame, who was still in the same clothes he’d worn to the school, walked along laughing with the females and I watched the faces of the white men in the room turn from possible excitement to a bit of disdain at how closely the women were glued to his sides.
“So, ladies ... give me a call and we’ll see what we can do,” Dame said, spinning the girls around simultaneously and then releasing them. “We’ve got to get you two fine females in the next video. Fly you out to L.A. and everything.” His voice sounded fake and inflated, much more playful than it had at the school, and even though I wanted to be disgusted with his puffed-up playboy rendition, he was obviously toying with these women. Only they had no clue.
“Benji, please make sure I never see them again,” Dame said when the women, beaming and blowing kisses, finally departed. “Cocaine ain’t good for you.”
He and Benji laughed, but I was less enthused. Dame put his arms out to embrace me, but he must’ve noticed my internal frown.
“Oh ... cocaine.” He laughed lightly. “That don’t mean the real thing. I meant fine-ass white broads ... you know, like slang, Ms. Cash. Don’t act like you don’t know.”
I looked at Benji, who was standing beside him now and he nodded along with Dame.
“Like cocaine, fine-ass white broads,” he said pointedly, “make brothers act crazy and give away all their money.”
He and Dame burst out laughing and even I had to giggle.
“Finally,” Dame said as I inched closer to receive his hug. “I mean, you’re a teacher, you have to get metaphor and simile and hyperbole and all of that.”
“Yes,” I said, “but the cocaine is a stretch.”
In a loose and friendly embrace with Dame for just two seconds I noted again how tight and imposing his chest muscles were. He smelled spicy and clean, like something green in the woods, wild, yet tame enough to tantalize. I pushed away quickly.
“Everything all right?” Benji said to Dame.
“No doubt.” They gripped each other like five times. Benji tipped his cap to me and turned to walk out.
“Does he have to approve of all of your guests?” I asked as the waiter pulled out my chair again and we sat down.
“Man, you’d be surprised what fools will do nowadays,” Dame said. “I can hold my own, but they be out looking to bring me trouble. Five-ten fools all together. I ain’t no punk, but it’s too much money on the line for me to get locked up for stomping some fool.”
“So you let Benji do it?”
“He has a license to ill and kill ... like Bond. But for real, I was just happy I could take him along with me on the road. We came up together. I know I can trust him. That’s my boy. Whenever you see Benji, know that I’m just two steps behind,” he said as the waiter put down the menus and asked what we’d be drinking.
“Really?”
“You can believe it. He has my back.”
“That’s good to know.”
“So, where’s Mr. I-Love-the-Kids?” Dame asked after we ordered our drinks.
“Oh ... Evan’s ...” I paused and looked down at my phone to see I had a new text:
CAN’T MAKE IT. GOV JOHNSON CAME TO MEETING. RIDING TO HIS LODGE FOR DRINKS. I KNOW YOU CAN HANDLE DAME. GIVE HIM MY BEST.
I took a deep breath and looked back at Dame. “... not coming,” I finished. I tried not to look disappointed, but I knew I was rolling my eyes. I knew this would happen.
“Okay,” he said, unmoved.
“I know he set the whole thing up, but sometimes his schedule just—”
“You don’t have to apologize for him,” he said, sliding off his hat and setting it on what would’ve been Evan’s seat. “I know all about schedules. And really I didn’t feel like politricking tonight anyway. I’m home and I just want to relax. None of that star stuff ...”
“That’s not how you looked earlier ...”
“That wasn’t work. That was pleasure. See, those white girls actually buy my CDs. They don’t want nothing from me but a little attention. It’s all good.”
