Where I Want to Be

I waited a second or two expecting the phone to ring again but it didn’t I guess baritone probably started to take out his frustrations on her. I picked up the next number and called it. It was a number from Williamsburg. I waited three rings and as soon as I was about to hang up “Heh, hello” a voice abruptly said. “Hey may I speak with Nicki?” “This is Nicki. Who am I speaking with?” “This is Kaviay. From the club the other night.” “I’m sorry (giggle). What you look like?” she said. I began to think, she really must a holla’d at a lot of cats up in the club. She was sure that she wasn’t going to be alone. Being sarcastic I said “That many huh?’” “Naw, but I was a little tipsy that night.” She said sounding ashamed. “I’m about 6’3”. Athletic build. Golden-brown skin and curly hair. I looked like I’m mixed. Well I am mixed.” “Yeah I remember you. What are you mixed with? Are you Puerto-Rican or something?” she asked inquisitively. “Naw, half-Black and Filipino.” As if she knew the answer she said “Your Dad’s black right?” I simply said yes and changed the subject because I really didn’t want to talk on the phone. I just wanted some company. I asked her if she ever came to Hampton and when could I see her. She quickly replied “I’ll be out there tonight! I’ll stop through then.” Here was the college student’s favorite question. “Do you got any friends?” I asked. “My boy Spence will be here. This is his house.” She said she did and I gave her directions because it was on. Without hesitation I began to get up. We had been asleep all day. I woke Spence all the way up told him the plans and got in the shower. Once I got out, I tried to find something to wear. In your youth your outfit is one of the most important things in your lifestyle. I didn’t want to put on anything too fantastic. She was coming over, we weren’t going out. I had to look comfortable but not bummy. So I found a pair of old jeans and a DDTP T-shirt I got from DC. I put on a pair of slouch socks and tried to put on some cologne but someone had been in my stash! I was looking for my Cool Water but it was tapped out. So I put on some of Spence’s Fahrenheit. I put my chain around my neck, my earrings in my ears and my class ring on my finger. I went to the kitchen to find something to eat. No luck, we were living a bachelor’s life. To make it even worse it was a combination of the college life and the bachelor’s life: we had no food and no money. Hunger pains made me yell. I asked Spence if he had any money. You know the answer to that was a resounding no! Luckily both of us had parents who stayed in the city and we were quite spoiled. Being the youngest of all our siblings; we just decided to go home for dinner and meet backup later. I went to my parents’ house and he went to his. When I got home I was greeted with the regular greeting “Welcome home stranger!” My Dad said as I entered the door. He was a deep voiced jolly, heavyset man. Even though he was in his early sixties, he was managing to do all the hard work around the house and still do 40 hrs a week at the post office. My mother was a fiery Asian women with a no nonsense attitude, crossed with a heart as big as could be, having the ability to tackle everyone’s problems. “I was just stopping through” I lied. “How appropriate” my Dad teased, “just as we were fixing dinner.” “Well I just figured you guys would be home if I came through ‘round now.” They proceed with their knowing comments and did what any caring parent would do; fed me! Then the beginning of the end came about. My mother said “You know, there are some things that need to be done around this house. I know this is your Christmas break, but put some time away to help out with the yard work and we need our Christmas lights put up and…” she began to ramble on. That’s why I hated coming home. Couldn’t I just enjoy my break? If I knew this was going to happen I would’ve scrambled and found a way to go the Bahamas with the rich H.U. cats. Then came those magical words all college students hate to hear from their parents. “So how’s your grades? Is there going to be any reason I’ll be surprised this year?” My father said. Honestly I didn’t know the answer to the question. I had dropped one course because I couldn’t wake up for it. Other than that I had done pretty well in my courses. Still waiting on an answer; “Well son?” “I don’t think so.” I said leaving myself room to be wrong. “What do you mean? You don’t think so! You don’t know your grades?” starting to get upset. “Well I did pretty well in my courses and I just didn’t check on my final grades because, well because…” “Because what?” he said. “I just didn’t! I don’t think I got but maybe one “C” in Biology. Everything else was A’s and B’s.” I explained. “Well since you stopped playing football, I expect that you stay on the Dean’s list, get a damn job and …” that’s about all I heard. Right about then I was irritated enough to just look blank in the face and drift off into space, thinking about anything but what he was saying. What is it about parents that make them repeat themselves? I think I’ve been hearing the football season is over and get a job speech for a little over 5 years now. Finally dinner was served and we all sat at the table. My father blessed everything from the family and the food to the world hunger problems in Somalia. Being a family of eaters, the conversation stopped for a while. My peeps could throw down in the kitchen. I mean we had a Filipino dish, Adobo Chicken (it’s a soy-sauce and vinegar based product) and rice (I don’t know if it was a Filipino or a Black thing but we always had rice). After I finished my food, it was customary for me to put the leftovers away, bust them suds and try to get the hell out of dodge. Finally after I rushed through the dishes, I hit Spence up and got ready to head back his way. He told me that Nicki had called three times already and she had friends with her. He also said that he heard a baby in the background. “Was it hers?” I asked. But Spence didn’t know. Anyway they would be to his house in less than an hour. I had to hurry. On my way out the door I was greeted with the “DO YOU EVER STAY HOME?” speech. I didn’t have time for it so I just listened as patiently as I could to what my Dad had to say. When he was finished, I just said, “Well I gotta go to Spence’s house and hoped he wouldn’t stop me as I got up from the couch. Luckily he was in a good mood and just told me to go ahead. We lived in a suburban community called Hampton and I was driving like I was in the big city. I must have been doing at least 60 in a 35. But I was pressed. Just about as pressed as Nicki was with all those phone calls. Spence’s house was about a ten-minute drive from my parents’ house. I drove straight down Queen Street, hit Pembroke and flew down Woodland. When I got to Spence’s it was 8:49. “What the hell took you so long?” he asked. We walked into the screen door and before I could answer and before the screen door even closed, a car drove up. It was a white Neon. There were three girls in the car and a baby seat. I walked outside to greet them and before I hit the grass I could smell the grass. Damn that dank they had was potent! I looked in the car and was amazed at the smoked out windows not to mention the fact that they had a child in the car with them. Nikki jumped out the car with a short purple shirt on and she had a Luke booty in those Sergio’s. She was about 5’2’ and only 19 with a three year old son! At least I knew she was fuckin’ (that’s the first thing guys think when a girl has a kid). I invited them all inside and we went into the living room and began to play spades. Her son went immediately to sleep. He was probably high from the contact. I know they were high. They were just laughing at everything. Spence and I were slapping cards so hard that one of the girls joked that we were going to break the table! I was trippin, when we started playing