Page 66 of Stay Dangerous

“You fucked with them?”

“Nah,” he chuckled. “And foreal, you shouldn’t either. Can’t nothing good happen from tryna grow up too fast.”

I looked out of his tinted windshield, toward my house. “Trust me, I know. But it’s a little too late for that.”

The car was quiet about that. Not even the hum of a running engine was heard. When it got uncomfortable, I looked over and found Trippy staring at me with an emotion I’d only seen from Rico, but I knew it well.

Pity.

“How serious are you about rapping?”

My brows furrowed, caught completely off guard. “Why?”

“You got bars, Freckles.”

“Then why did you take me home?” I heard the whine in my voice, but I didn’t care.

Trippy grinned. “Yo homegirls prolly gonna fuck Grime in the bathroom tonight,together. PC and I gon’ prolly be into some other shit too. Ain’t nothing good for you there, especially if Fave was really all on you.”

I rolled my eyes and went for the door, but Trippy locked it.

“But,” he continued when I glared at him, “If you serious about rapping foreal, and that wasn’t no fluke, be at the stu at eight sharp tomorrow morning. Won’t be no groupie bitches or thirsty niggas, and then you can see what it takes, if you ever get serious.”

My eyes expanded entirely too big for my face.

Being in the studio with the Native Sons?!?! Never mind I would be up entirely too early for a summer day; that was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

“You serious?”

“On crip. Eight AM sharp though, Freckles. If you’re late I’m not opening the door for you. You got a ride?”

“I-I can take the bus. I know the Garvey Boulevard bus goes all the way to East Kenton.”

“Good,” he nodded. “Get off on Freedom Court and then walk two blocks west, and it’s the corner building.”

I committed the directions to memory as I cut my lips to keep a smile off my face. “Okay. See you tomorrow Trippy.”

He saluted me and unlocked the doors. I climbed out, and ran inside my house when I realized he wasn’t going to leave until I was indoors.

I didn’t scream until I locked the door behind me.

Sleeping was impossible. I was too wired up, and too afraid to oversleep to dip into my whiskey reserve.

So after I showered, I spent the entire night writing verses.

I couldn’t find my old composition book, so I grabbed a new one and began filling the pages as I listened to all my favorite mix CDs.

The sun had gone down. Auty’s room had quieted. The block quieted. But even through hours of writing and switching sitting positions, I couldn’t calm down until after three in the morning.

And still woke up rested at quarter to six.

Slicking my weave into a ponytail, I pulled on some acid washed leggings and a Stüssy shirt. It was still a heatwave, but it was a little cold in the studio, so I grabbed my jean jacket from the back of my desk chair, pulled on my Coach crossbody, and locked my room door before climbing out the window.

I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble if my parents were home, but I didn’t want to tell anyone where I was going. I had felt like it should have been a secret, even though Trippy didn’t say so.

East Kenton was mysterious. I never in a million years thought I would have actually met G$, and wasn’t surprised that the twins had history with them and didn’t say anything. They were notoriously exclusive, and even him inviting me back shows I killed the freestyle.

Besides, Dad’s gambling addiction was back with a vengeance, and I doubt he was above trying to leverage any more money he could use to piss off at the casino.