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After a nod, he finally gave me his eyes again. And I could clearly see there were some tears sitting in his ducts, the sight making my chest tight as Ahmad said, “Man, thank you, Hawk. For real.”
Since he was tearing up for good reason, it was easy for me to smile as I responded, “You’re welcome, bro,” giving him a quick dap before I told him, “Now let’s go shopping.” And once he heard that, Ahmad couldn’t get out of my car fast enough, his excitement making me chuckle as we finally headed in to Just Kickin’ It.
The sound of the bell over the door was loud enough to alert Yani who was just finishing up with another customer, the little smile of acknowledgment she shot my way making my chest tight for different reasons as I waited for her to peel from behind the counter to really greet me. But instead of doing that, she approached Ahmad first, being extra cheery when she extended her hand and said, “You must be Ahmad. I’m Briyana. It’s nice to meet you.”
Returning her handshake, he politely responded, “Nice to meet you as well, ma’am.”
“Ma’am?” she repeated with a frown, making me laugh as I tossed an arm around her shoulder while telling Ahmad, “Briyanahas been a sneakerhead for almost as long as you’ve been alive.”
“Which only makes me sound even older,” she groaned before peeking up at me to sarcastically add, “Thank you, Lance.”
To be real, with how good she was looking and the way she was looking at me, I was tempted to thank her ass right back until Ahmad busted out laughing, Yani and I both confused as I asked him, “What’s so funny?”
“I ain’t never heard anybody around here call you by your government,” he explained amusedly, still giggling as he added, “She must got special privileges, or somethin’.”
“You could say that,” I admitted, peeking back over at Yani with a knowing look that had her smirking as she pulled away from me to do her job.
“So… is there anything in particular you’re looking for? Or do you wanna just browse for a little bit?”
Nodding, Ahmad responded, “Yeah, I’ll do that. Thank you.” And before I knew it, he was already off to look at the wall of shoes, leaving Yani with nothing to do and leaving me with an opportunity to speak to her privately.
“You ain’t got no business lookin’ this fuckin’ good at work,” I told her, my compliment making her grin even as she responded, “How am I supposed to look, Lance?”
Before I could answer, the bell over the door chimed again. And since Yani was the only one working the floor as far as I could see, I knew we had to press pause on our conversation; though I still couldn’t help leaving her with a little somethin’ when I said, “You lucky you got another customer you gotta tend to. Otherwise, I’d take your ass to the back right now.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” she tossed over her shoulder casually like I wouldn’t turn that threat into a promise, watching her walk away only further motivating me to be about the action. But considering that was only part of what I was here for, I was forced to shake it off so that I could check on Ahmad who seemed to be in heaven as he took in all the store had to offer.
When I made my way over to where he was standing in front of a row of Air Force 1s, I was expecting him to tell me which ones he already had his eyes on. But instead, the first thing out of his mouth was, “I knew you’d have a bad one.”
I was so caught off-guard by his comment that I stumbled a bit when I responded, “You talkin’ about Ya… Briyana?” shaking my head as I continued, “Nah, we’re just friends.”
Glancing over at me with the most unconvinced expression, Ahmad responded, “That’s cap.”
“It ain’t,” I argued, not expecting him to have such a solid rebuttal when he replied, “Come on now, Hawk. If a baddie like that has special privileges, you either already got her or you’re actively tryna get her. Either way, I see you, big homie.”
Since I couldn’t really defend myself,and really didn’t have a reason to, I decided to change the subject by asking, “Which shoes you thinkin’ about getting?”
“I don’t even know, bro. They all so fire,” he answered before going down the line and telling me about the sneakers that stood out to him the most.
Through that conversation, we were able to narrow down his options to six shoes. But since only five fit into his budget, he was still left with a tough decision to make, going back and forth about it to himself as Yani approached us and asked, “Y’all doing alright?”
I assumed Ahmad was going to ask for all six in his size in hopes of eliminating whatever wasn’t available. But instead, he grabbed four of the shoes and asked, “Do you have all these in a size twelve?” before picking the fifth one up to add, “And then these in a… six and a half?”
Confusedly, I repeated, “Six and a half?”
“I gotta get my shorty right too, you know?” Ahmad responded with a smirk that had my eyebrows raising as Yani sang, “Aww. How sweet. Lemme go see what we have in the back.”
With that, she took off to check the stockroom. And I didn’t realize Ahmad and I were both watching her until he said, “Yeah, I see why you sweatin’ her so hard. She thick as hell.”
“Aye, watch your mouth,” I warned, only to end up laughing when Ahmad quickly responded, “My mama said hell is a destination, not a cuss word.”
“That ain’t how you meant it though,” I told him amusedly, making him think twice as I pulled him under my arm and started scrubbing the top of his head until he started laughing like me. Then he went back to the wall of shoes to point out which pairs he thought I needed for my collection, lowkey giving a scholar-like presentation for each that had me politely sending Yani back to the stockroom to grab a few of them for me the second she’d returned with Ahmad’s kicks.
By the time we were finished, I’d somehow ended up spending damn near as much as I’d given Ahmad, the wait at the register while Yani finished ringing up my purchases giving me room to tease, “Since you made all these recommendations, that means you’re buying mine too, right?”
Holding up his own bags as if to say his hands were already tied, Ahmad trailed,“I mean…”that response making me chuckle a bit as I told him, “I’m just messin’ with you.” And once my transaction was complete, I was glad I’d been mindful enough to clear out the trunk space in my whip since we’d surely be needing it; though our exit wasn’t immediate after Ahmad asked, “Aye, Hawk. Can we get a pic right quick?”
“Yeah, for sure,” I answered, Yani volunteering to take a couple for us on both his phone and mine. And after giving him a chance to check them out and then show his appreciation to Yani for helping us, I told him, “Ahmad, I’ll meet you at the car, aight?”
