dent in the side, a number of scratches and dings, and, worst of all, Moms was rolling on three custom rims and one factory rim: straight hood!
“There’s my baby boy.” Moms flicked her cigarette butt out the window and hopped out of the car. She ran and jumped her teeny five-foot-two petite frame into my arms. I stood over six feet tall, towering over her. I lifted her off her feet, hugging her tight. “I missed you so much,” she said with tears of joy in her eyes as she kissed me on the cheek. It took me back years. I felt like I was five years old again.
“Come on, Ma. Ain’t no need for crying. I’m home now.” I dried the tears from my mom’s face and we headed to the car. When I got in the passenger’s side, I couldn’t believe the inside of the car was worse than the outstide. My leather was scratched and ripped, the steering wheel stitching was holding on for dear life, and my GPS screen was cracked.
“Ma, what happened to my car? It looks like Hurricane Katrina ripped through it! You couldn’t take better care of it?” I knew Ma was never one to care much about cars but poor “Lexy,” as I used to call her, looked so bad, not even a crack-head would consider breaking into her.
“Breeze, I know I didn’t just take an unpaid day off of work to come and pick your behind up for you to question me about no damn car, boy! You can walk home if you don’t like what you see!” she said, smirking, knowing I didn’t have much of a choice but to shut up and take it.
“Whatever, Ma! Take me to see my kids,” I commanded.
“Lord, Breeze, I don’t know why you don’t just leave that girl alone. She took all your money and turned her back on you while you were in jail. Now she out there running around with some old rich man they call Mr. Biggs. That girl has always been about money. Boy, you ain’t realized that yet?” my mom said, full of attitude.
Moms ain’t never liked Maria. She felt Maria always thought she was better than our family. Maria grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She went to the best schools, had the best clothes, and rubbed shoulders with people in high places. She had a master’s degree in psychology but never worked a day in her life. Her mother was a Spanish woman who worked as a school superintendent. Her father was a white man who owned a construction company that was contracted with the government to build government buildings.
Now you compare that to the life I and my family knew. Moms was a single mother from the day I was born. I ain’t never knew my daddy, and I ain’t sure if he ever knew about me either. According to my grandmother, my moms was crazy in love with Daddy from the first day they met. They spent every minute they could together until she got pregnant. My grandmother said she never asked what happened between them, but all she knew was that my moms got pregnant and he was gone. My grandmother told me my moms fell into a deep depression after that. She did the best she could to raise me, while Moms spent countless nights drinking and hanging out at the clubs. As much as she tried to keep up with me, I was never home. I grew up in the projects, and was practically raised by the streets. School was never my thing, so I dropped out as soon as I was old enough, and started my hustle on the streets. Before I knew it, I was hood rich. That’s right, I had riches, just as much as Maria’s family, but I got my riches solely from selling drugs. As Moms said, Maria was about the dollars. If not for those riches, I would have never pulled a girl like Maria, or had her hand in marriage.
“I just wanna see my kids, Ma,” I said, even though deep inside I wanted to see Maria just as bad.
“Well, you gonna have to find that girl first. She sold the house.”
“She did what?” I couldn’t believe what my mom was saying to me.
“You heard me.” Ma pulled out a Newport and lit it. “That greedy, money-hungry, mixed-breed bitch sold the damn house, Breeze. She left me and your grandma cramped up in that old house in the hood. That mixed breed sold that big-ass house you left her! Why you so worried about her anyway? You need to be worried about how you gonna live cause we both know that drug shit didn’t work out too good for you the last time. While you thinking about that, think about where you gonna live, ’cause we both know Momma’s house is too small for all of us,” my moms ranted.
“What? When? Why you ain’t tell me?” I asked, only caring about the house and totally ignoring my moms, other statements.
“Breeze, did you hear anything I just said to you about how and where you gonna live?”
“Yeah, but that’s not important to me right now. Why didn’t you tell me Maria sold the house?” I redirected my moms back to the house situation.
“I didn’t want you to worry while you were locked up. You had enough things on your mind.” Moms took a long pull off her cigarette, then blew the smoke out the window.
I couldn’t believe Maria would stoop that low. I bought that house because she wanted it so bad. Everything in there she handpicked: furniture, appliances, carpet, all the way down to the fucking light fixtures. Then as soon as a nigga got locked up, she sold the shit! The more I thought about that shit, the angrier I got. I spent the rest of the ride deep in thought.
“We’re home,” my mom said, breaking me out of my trance.
I shook my head as we pulled up to my grandmother’s house. I was back to the same place I’d started from. The same damn ghetto I grew up in, and the same old-ass house with broken shutters and chipped paint. It was like I was sixteen years old all over again. I glanced around my hood, and all that shit was still the same too: same niggas on the block and same hood rats chasing behind them trying to trick for a few dollars. Only difference with them was that they looked like life had kicked their asses and they was tired as hell. Niggas had scars and faded tattoos, while the hood rats had nasty stretch marks and fucked-up weaves and wigs. That’s when I realized a nigga really ain’t have shit left: money was gone, friends gone, wife gone, kids gone, house gone, cars gone.
“Hey, Breeze!” I heard a chick shout out as I got out of the car and headed up to my grandma’s house.
I looked to my right to see a small-framed chick with a phat ass. Goddamn! I thought as my dick began to rise. I couldn’t put a name to the face and the bitch wasn’t even all that cute, but, I gotta say, after five years in the pen, that bitch was lookin’ like Halle Berry and Salma Hayek rolled into one.
“What up, yo?” I said as I gave shorty a nod as soon as my moms was inside the house.
“You don’t even know who I am. Do you?” she asked as she got a little closer.
“Nah, baby girl. You look familiar, but I can’t call it.” I was straight up with the chick.
“See how niggas do? Fuck and buck. You took my damn virginity in your grandmamma basement, nigga!” she snapped while playfully punching my arm.
“Oh, shit! Trixy?” I said, remembering that day like it was yesterday.
“Goddamn right. What up, fool?” She gave me a big hug.
“Ain’t shit. Just happy to be home,” I said sincerely.
“Oh, yeah? This your first stop?”
“Yep.”
“What? Where your niggas at? Your wife? All your bitches? Before you got locked up you had a whole entourage. Where all them people at now? They suppose to be throwing you a welcome home party, greeting you with money, clothes, your favorite food and pussy all night.” Trixy spoke like the true hood rat she was.
“Yeah, but you know how it go: money gone, niggas gone. Ain’t nothing, though. A nigga a’ight,” I lied. Deep inside I did want all that, and it was fucked up it didn’t turn out that way, but I wasn’t gonna let that petty shit break me.
“Well, welcome home, baby,” Trixy said while hugging me tight.
Just the feeling of her titties against my chest was enough to make a nigga wanna bust, but I nonchalantly hugged her back and said, “A’ight, li’l momma, I’ma catch you later on.”
No sooner