Soul Circus(45)
“You shot some off, huh?”
“A few.”
“To make that impression you were talkin’ about?”
“Nah, I didn’t need it for that, turns out. I just shot off the gun in the air a few times, late last night, like it was New Year’s or the Fourth of July. I was high and I wanted my money’s worth, is all it was.”
“Okay, then.” Foreman slipped the Taurus under the seat. “Pleasure doin’ business with you, Twigs.”
Foreman watched with amusement as Durham’s eyes flared and his bird chest filled with air.
“I don’t like that name,” said Durham, his voice rising some. “I don’t want you callin’ me that anymore.”
“You don’t want me to, I won’t.” Foreman looked him over. “You need a ride somewhere?”
“Nah, man, my short’s just down the street.”
“Where you stayin’ now?”
“I’m up with a friend, why?”
“Just like to know where you’re at, case we need to hook up.” Foreman smiled. “Man returns his strap after one day on a five-day rent, he might just become my best customer.”
“Yeah, well, you need me, you can reach me on my cell.”
“Take care of yourself, dawg.”
“You, too.”
Foreman watched Durham walk down the hill, going in the direction of his “short.” The only cars he’d be headin’ toward was the ones parked outside the Metro stop. ’Cause that’s where he was going, any fool knew that.
Still, raggedy as Mario Durham did look, there was something different about him today. Stepping up and saying that he didn’t want to be called by that bitch name no more, for one. And his walk was different, too. He wasn’t puttin’ on that he was bad; he felt bad for real. Like he’d just got the best slice of pussy he’d ever had in his life, or he’d stepped to someone and come out on top.
Foreman was curious, but only because he liked to have all the street information he could. Knowing where the little man was staying, that was a bone he could give his brother, Dewayne, and get some points for it, if it came up. It was real useful to be holdin’ those kinds of cards, if you could. Mario had said something about laying up with a friend. Had to be that boy they called Donut.
Donut was a “dummy” dealer down by where he lived in Valley Green. He sold fake crack, wasn’t nothin’ but baking soda dried out, to the drive-though trade from Maryland. Those kids got fucked over, then were too afraid to come back into town for some get-back. Still, Donut was gonna get his shit capped someday for what he was doin’. Foreman had seen him and Mario together a few times, walking the streets.
Foreman’s cell rang. He unholstered it and hit “talk.”
“What’s goin’ on, boyfriend?”
“Ashley, you up?” Her gravelly voice told him she still hadn’t wiped the sleep out of her eyes.
“Got woke up by a call. It was that dude, Dewayne Durham?”
“Talk about it.”
“Says he needs something from you, if you got it.”
“Boy’s on a buying spree.”
“He says he don’t want nothin’ fancy. And no cutdowns or nothin’ like that. Says he doesn’t want to pay too much, ’cause it’s not for him. It’s for this kid he’s got, they call him Nutjob.”
“Jerome Long,” said Foreman, knowing him as a comer in the 600 Crew. He hung tight with his partner, a boy named Allante Jones, a.k.a. Lil’ J.
“Dewayne says he wants somethin’ today.”
Foreman thought it over. He had the Calico, the Heckler & Koch .9, and the Sig Sauer, and that was about it. He was low on product now. The H&K and the Sig would retail for more than Dewayne wanted to spend. That left the Taurus under the seat. Dewayne didn’t have to know that this was the gun Foreman had rented to his dumb-ass brother. Wasn’t like it had a body hangin’ on it or nothin’ like that. The gun had been fired, but it wasn’t hot. Foreman would just need a little time to clean it up.
“Call Dewayne, baby. Tell him to have his boy meet me at the house in an hour or so. And get yourself dressed, hear?”
“Why don’t you come back here and undress me first?”
Foreman felt himself getting hard under his knit slacks. He did like it when she talked to him that way.
“Tell Dewayne to make it an hour and a half.”
“I’ll be waitin’ on you.”
“Want me to pick up some KY or somethin’ on the way?”
“We won’t need no jelly. I’ll get it all tuned up for you; you don’t have to worry none about that. Hurry home, Ulee.”