questions and answers

I called home yesterday afternoon to check my messages and heard this:

"Ay Monique, it's your boy Tiny. Holler at me when you get this message."

I wasn't quite sure what he could want and figured if it were anything important he would have called my cell.

Later, on the drive home, Ms Stella reminded me about the message. I called the spot from my cell phone and Pusha answered on the first ring.

"Ay girl, what's up?"

"Damn nigga, you answered that shit on the first ring. Are you on the phone or something?"

"Nope. I saw it was you so I picked it up."

"Oh. Well, Tiny called me earlier today and left a message on my machine. Do you have any idea what he wanted?"

A pause and then -

"Nope."

"Oh. Well is he there?"

"That nigga is asleep."

"Oh. What are you doing?"

"Not shit. Watching the game on tv. Smoking."

"Where's my blunt? You need to bring it over right now. I know you have chronic."

"I do. But I don't think there's a flight out to Mexico that I can catch tonight."

"There you go. If you scared, say you scared."

"Oh, ain't nobody scared. I would come over but I don't have the truck and the Monte Carlo is trippin'."

"I thought you said you were getting it fixed?"

"I was but ole boy tripped out and never called me back. It's cool though. I got somebody else coming over tomorrow to work on it."

"Oh. Where's Sally Mae?"

"I guess at her people's house. I don't know. I don't keep up with her like that."

"Whatever nigga. You drive her car enough. You are keeping up with her somehow."

"Ok. Whatever you say."

"Mm hmm. Anyway, call me later. I'm on my way home."

"You call me when you ain't scared."

He hung up real fast so I couldn't respond. We do that to each other all the time. I sat there looking at the phone laughing.

I was sitting at the foot of my bed drying off after my shower when my cell rang again. It was Pusha.

"Hello?"

"Why you ask me about Sally Mae?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Because you are always in her car. Driving me around in her car. I just wonder."

"Wonder what?"

"Where she is when you are doing all of that."

"Why do it matter?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Yeah. "

I paused for a minute.

"Because it's kinda fucked up in a way."

"Fucked up for who?"

"For her. I've watched you dog that girl to shit. And she just keeps taking it. Now you have separate living spaces and still you are always in her car."

"So?"

"So maybe I feel a teensy bit uncomfortable kicking it with you in her car."

"Why? She wasn't your homegirl. Y'all wasn't friends. You knew her through me."

"Still I've sat in her house."

"Correction. You sat in my house. She was just staying there. I pay the bills."

"You pay the bills in two spots now."

"So?"

"So how come we haven't been to the new spot yet?"

He holds the phone.

"You can't answer that, can you. Usually you are at the spot in her car. Which would lead me to believe she is at the new spot waiting. That night you stayed gone and I was with your mom and nephews she called like three times asking Lil Pusha where you were. She obviously was looking for her car or looking for you."

"So? I still don't think you should be concerned about that. You let me worry about Sally Mae. You just worry about being naked when I get there."

I laughed. "Are you on your way now?"

"Nah, I'm just fucking with you. It made you laugh and change the subject though."

"Boy, you are a fool."

"You probably got wet when I said it."

"I was already wet when you said it. I just got out of the shower."

"Oh, so you are already naked."

"Yep."

"Hm. Maybe I should come over."

"Nope, maybe you should say goodnight. I have to go to work in the morning."

"Oh. You need to be a hustla like me and you wouldn't have to worry about that."

"I am a hustla like you. It's just my hustle is legal."

"Goodnight Monique."

"Goodnight Pusha."