Black & Ugly (8 page)

because they act all bourgeois and shit when it comes to Ecstasy, talkin' about people be lunchin' out on that shit. What Sky doesn't know is that I buy all my pills from Jay and depending on how much money I have and what he wants, I don't have to pay. Every now and again, he'll pop one with me.

"Here you go, girl," Miss Wayne says as he passes the bob. "So, what time does it start, Miss Sky? I can't be cooped up too long with this outfit on. This thing's made for watchin'."

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"It started at ten thirty, so we're about an hour late.

We don't wanna be the first ones there, anyway. We gotta make an entrance," Sky adds.

"Who givin' it?" Parade questions.

"Donna. She throwin' it at her mom's house in DC," Sky answers.

"Uuuggh. You know she fucks with Silver's cousin, right?" I ask Sky. "I can't stand them crooks."

"I was thinking the same thing, girl," Parade says.

"I hope Silver and them ain't comin' either. They start too much shit."

"Girl, who gives a fuck if Silver and them comin' or not?" Sky says. "Silver and them are caked up. And somebody in your position shouldn't be choosy anyway, Parade. If you were smart you'd be tryin' to fuck with one of them. You always hatin,' throwin' monkey wrenches in shit," Sky continues.

She comes down on Parade hard as cold dog shit all the time. If me or Miss Wayne said something about it every time she did it, we'd never get along. Plus, Sky doesn't have to hang with any of us, but she does.

Besides, she's the only one in the group with a car. I mean, everybody knows that I fuck for money, Miss Wayne is a faggy and Parade ain't the cutest thing, but she never cuts us off.

"Well, I hope they don't come in and fuck shit up either," Miss Wayne interjects. "At least not before I meet my new baby daddy. Plus, I'm still mad at them for robbin' me."

"You ain't got no proof they did it," Sky says.

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"No proof?" Miss Wayne repeats as he moves his hands back and forth in disbelief. He is so extra, but it's always funny to see. "No proof? Bitch, Markee's young ass dropped his school ID on my living room floor. What more proof I need, chile? I woulda called the cops if all that shit wasn't stolen anyway." Girlfriend is so funny. That is his way of takin' some of the heat off Parade and puttin' it on himself. He's always there for her. Car or not, Sky don't give us half of the shit she gives Parade. And you can get Miss Wayne wrong if you want to, but he's liable to stab you.

He's the only faggy in the neighborhood the niggas tolerate.

Miss Wayne once slashed a nigga's face for calling him a faggy in front of his mamma after he sucked his dick the day before. Once he did that shit, he gained respect from the dudes around the way. He did it because he thinks faggies are stupid, and he'll tell you quick, "I'm far from stupid, darling." But try askin' him what's the difference between being gay and being a faggy and you'll be even more confused. Although he hates outsiders to call him a faggy, I've heard him use it with the few gay guys he hangs around. I guess it's like the word
nigga
among blacks. Some people simply can't use it. Miss Wayne ain't no small dude either. He's real light-skinned and looks more like a body builder than anything else.

Sound okay? Well, imagine a body builder in pumps and a spandex dress with a purse. Exactly! But I fucks with him 'cuz he keeps it real.

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~~~~

The party is crowded and you can barely move while the stereo rattles the windows throughout the house. People are poppin' and I am tryin' to scope the room to see who I can get mine from.

"Girl, this shit is terrible. We shoulda went to club Love," Parade says.

"I hate Love. This all right, girl. You gotta get some liquor up in you, that's all." I'm kickin' it with Parade when just as I suspected, Silver and his friends walk in and they are already startin' shit.

"You see 'em, right?" Parade asks.

"Yeah, girl. Damn, we can't neva go nowhere without them being around," I cosign.

"It's these neighborhood shindigs. We gotta branch out and stop hangin' with people 'round our way." Parade is talking but I am not listening because I'm tryin' to see who came in with Silver and them. They are already spread out and lookin' for shit to get into.

I hate them stupid-ass niggas with a passion. They do everything from stickin' people up to raping girls. The only reason people deal with them is so they'll leave

'em alone.

They haven't been at the party five minutes and already Markee, the youngest, smacks a girl because she doesn't wanna give him her number. That's how they are, and that's how they act all the time. Jackie, one of the brothers, came to me a month ago and wanted a blowjob. After I spent thirty minutes on this moth-42

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afucka, he jetted out without payin' me my money.

And then he had the nerve to speak to me the next day.

But you can't do nothin' about it because when you fuck wit' one, you fuck wit' all of 'em. So, instead of pressing him about my money, I took it as a L.

"Girl, that dude over there wanna holla at you," Sky says as she walks over to me.

It's the first time she came back since we got here an hour ago. She has two sets of friends, and although we've known her the longest, she sometimes treats us like we are charity cases. If Jewel, her other friend who owns a beauty salon, is anywhere we are together, she'll leave us until it's time to go home.

Sky can be real shady when she wants to. So, as usual, I'm with Parade holding up the food table and Miss Wayne is somewhere probably blowin' some trade off. Now that Sky wants something, she's come back.

Sky's tried to trick me off to dudes before, and at first I didn't mind. But then she started doing it like I worked for her or something, saying shit like, "I got a job for you tomorrow, be ready." She had a lot of fuckin' nerve. So I put an end to that shit quick. If we as tight as she say we are, she shouldn't be doin' that shit. I learned from it quick, not to mix business with friendship, so I told her the last time that I wasn't wit'

that shit and she ain't talk to me for a month. I know she knows better than to run game on me tonight.

"Naw. I think he with Silver, and you know I ain't fuckin' with them stupid-ass niggas," I respond.

"No, he ain't, Daffany. You think everybody in here
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wit' them. I told him I know you, and he wants to holla. Now you gonna make me look like I don't know what I'm talking about," Sky says. "He seems real nice."

"Nice, huh?" I ask, looking her over.

"Yeah."

"Well, I don't want to be bothered, Sky." I ain't sure, but I think her sneaky ass is up to something.

"Tell him I got a boyfriend or somethin'."

"I already told him you didn't. And just 'cuz he talk to Silver don't mean he hang with him. Why don't you like them anyway?"

"Does it really matter? Silver and them is not as cool with everybody like they are with you. I don't got no boyfriend they're scared of."

"Just like I thought, you ain't got no reason," Sky says.

"I have my reasons but mainly 'cuz they act stupid."

I didn't tell her that one of them stiffed me for my dough after I sucked his dick. My friends know what I do, but don't know who I do it with. With me finding out I got HIV, I'm glad I never opened my mouth to anybody, including my friends. All I need is one of these niggas lookin' for me every time they get a cough and shit.

"Yeah, she's right, Sky. Silver's boys act too stupid.

Markee just hit that girl over there 'cuz she ain't wanna give him her number. What is he even doin' here? He's like a kid," Parade says as she sips on her drink.

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"First off, Parade, I'm not talkin' to you," Sky snaps, pointing her finger in her face. "You wouldn't be sayin' shit if somebody was tryin' to holla at your tired black ass," she continues.