Coffee & Criminals

3. Don't Say My Name

After the NYU tour, Ade and I decided to walk back home after getting off near the Brooklyn Bridge from one of the night buses. The area of the crash was heavy with traffic and yellow police tape. A few officers stood by, using their flashlights to see and guide cars through the lanes that weren't shut down. The police cruiser that had flipped was still there, in the same position of damage. The metal parts of the car were twisted and mutilated, glass shattered across the gravel streets.

I spent the last five minutes trying to put the pamphlets and applications I had gotten from the university into my bag, and Ade wouldn't slow down. It was hard trying to walk and shove things in there at the same time. I had to hold my bag with one hand, the papers with the other, and keep walking without stumbling over my own two feet.

"Hurry up." Ade called, a few feet in front of me. He had his hands shoved into the pocket of his jacket and whistled merrily as if he did not have a care in the world.

Glaring at the back of his head, I finally managed to get the papers into my bag (it was my favourite bag because it had a little braided strap and came with a matching lunch box. If you hadn't already guessed, I have a lot of favourite things.) without crumpling them up. Zipping it closed, I had to jog to catch up with Ade.

"You're a real dick, you know that?" I grumbled, falling into step with him.

Ade only grinned back. "I'm your  dick."

"Ew, I don't want your dick."

He stopped and stared at me. "You literally just changed my words around to make it dirty, Florence! I did not  say that."

"You're right." I patted his shoulder nicely. I did put Ade through a lot and I felt bad about it. After all, he was nice enough to show me around. Of course, even if Ade hadn't offered to take me along, I would have come along anyways. Friendship at its finest. I'm a great person, really. Ade just had to realize that sooner or later. "Hey, I have a question. When you get a boner, does it hurt? Like the thing? Does the thing hurt? Does the pee-pee hurt-"

"The only reason you're alive, Florence, is because murder is illegal."

"It's a serious question!"

"I'm not answering you."

"Ade!"

"What?" He groaned.

"I think I stepped on a bug."

"Oh, no." He said heartlessly.

"Hey, hey, hey." I sidled closer, accidentally on purpose shoving him off the sidewalk. Ade glared at me and climbed back up, trailing along with stifled annoyance. I was annoying, I know. It was just so fun to make Ade angry. "Did you see what happened to the Lane diner this afternoon?"

"The one next to the Espresso House?"

"Yes."

"No." He looked up, confusion flitting across his face. I felt one of his hands gently press against my lower back. At first, I thought it was a nice gesture until he began pushing me to walk faster. He wanted me to walk faster. What a polite way to tell me. "What happened?"

"Well, did you hear about the Brooklyn Crowns?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah." Ade nodded. "They're some type of mafia, aren't they? Based in this city, I think. I heard about them on the news this morning. Fascinating stuff, really. Did you know that the leader of the Crowns went to prison after his trial for cocaine smuggling, but he was only there for two days before breaking out? It was a real high security prison too, located in the middle of nowhere. He also initiated one of the biggest prison breaks in history, rumour has it. He and eighteen criminals broke out of Iris Penitentiary in Michigan a couple years ago, but the prisoners that Sterling helped turned out to be all of the guys who committed petty crimes like having weed and such. I also heard that half of 'em weren't even registered in the system- the cops had been holding them just because they wanted to."