|S U S P E C T|

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Kirk was being annoying so I left his house to go get food. The perfect remedy for all pains.

"So , what you got for me , ma?" Some random guy walked up to me while I was eating at my favorite Chinese restaurant.

I dropped my fork onto the plate. "I don't know what you talking about." Word couldn't have gotten out that fast. People couldn't have found out about me selling already.

"Come on , you know what I mean. I heard you moving work." He was being annoyingly loud , a couple of people even turned their heads.

If I knew selling drugs was gonna be this complicated I don't know if I would've started....okay , maybe I still would've.

I wiped my hands off with a napkin and got up from the table. "I don't know what you're talking about , man." Walking out of the restaurant I headed towards the subway. I still had that $500 from last night that Kirk let me keep. I'm gonna go see if I can find my mom a nice watch.

I know she's gonna love it.

///

I went to the Michael Kors store for my mom's watch. The sales lady helped me find one called the Bradshaw GoldTone Watch. It's all gold with a black face , I knew it was my mom's style.

I had her gift wrap it and I took it back to Kirk's house. It was about eight o'clock now and I didn't have to be out again for a while. I wondered around exploring the place, seeing as Kirk wasn't home. I didn't go in his room though , the door was locked. But I found a closet with a bunch of boxes I didn't feel like looking through. He had a bunch of DVDs in the living room and they were all really old.

"This guy is the epitome of lame." I mumbled , plopping down on the couch. Watching tv seemed to be my only choice for entertainment right now.

///

"So , where are we meeting this guy at?" I questioned. We were in the car to go meet Kirk's friend Bishop.

Who names their kid 'Bishop'? It was probably a nickname but still , who would pick that one?

"Don't worry about it." He mumbled.

Five minutes went by before he pulled over next to a diner. The fluorescent sign hung in the window flashed 'Open' but there were only three people sitting inside.

That's probably because it's ten o'clock at night on a Tuesday though. We walked into the diner and headed towards a booth in the back. There was a guy there , who I'm guessing is Bishop.

"What's up , Kirk?" He stood and shook his hand.

Bishop was about 6'1 with dark chocolate skin. He had tattoos up and down his arms and peircings in both ears. His pants sagged below his waist , and his plain white t-shirt was accented  by the thin gold chain he wore.

"What's up , ma?" He nodded at me.

I was getting kind of tired of people calling me 'ma'. I don't remember giving birth to any of these losers.

"Hi." I smiled and waved despite my mental rant.

"Aight , so I ran the whole situation down to you on the phone basically. But , I guess if you got any thing to add you can." Kirk explained , glancing at me.

I shook my head. "I'm good."

Bishop stared at me curiously. "Why you got a hood on?"

Chuckling , Kirk patted me on the shoulder. "She gets cold."

Bishop nodded , not buying that at all.

"Y'all ready? I got plans later , man." Kirk got up from the booth not actually giving us a chance to say whether or not we were ready.

He dropped us off a couple of blocks away , I didn't know where I was so there was no way I could leave without him now.

"What's your name , shorty?" Bishop asked once we were alone.

"Dreyah."

He nodded. "How old are you?"

"17." I shrugged , not understanding why he decided to make this a freaking interview.

I still wasn't too happy about how Kirk felt that I needed someone out here to watch me. My best bet would've been to just have a gun but I guess this can work too , at least I don't feel so alone.

"What you got?" A woman walked up to me. She was very fragile looking , dark dry skin , clothes that weren't necessarily dirty but looked old and shabby , sunken eyes usually on those who had been starved , and she scratched up and down her arms as if she thought there were bugs all over them. She was basically your average Tyler Perry movie drug addict.

"What you need?" I had thought a lot about what I'm getting myself into since last night. It lead me to realise that I needed to be more hard. Hard eyes , hard stance , just an all around hard exterior.

So , while Kirk was out today doing what ever he was doing I sat in his livingroom on Netflix watching all of the legendary thug movies. From Paid in Full , Belly , and Fresh , all the way to Juice. I learned to at least look like I wasn't to be messed with.

"I need something good."

Staring at her , I waited patiently for her to hand me my money. When she did I sent her down the block a bit for what she wanted and off she went.

"You can't just make the transaction so out there in the open  , shorty." Bishop commented leaning on the wall.

I rolled my eyes. "I usually don't. What you want me to do the handshake thing?" I joked , but he stared at me like he was serious.

"I don't really know how to do it that well yet." I admitted.

He smiled at me for a while before walking towards me. "You can't just be out here all inexperienced. We gone practice , come on."

What the hell....

"Um , what if someone comes up for a buy?"

"Then I step back , and you make your sell." He held out his hand , signaling it was time to start the "practicing".

So , we did. Every time someone walked up , he would back up and when they left he would come back and we would practice some more.

He taught me that the key to the handshake was to make sure when your hand is in theirs , use the tips of your fingers to secure the money and let the product fall into their hand. It helped a lot , by the end of the night when Kirk came pulling up I had perfected the handshake and made a lot more money than the night before.

There was a lot more more business tonight despite the switch in corners. I sold to more people and I had a feeling it would only get better.

"How y'all do?" Kirk asked from the drivers seat.

I had taken the backseat this time so Bishop was in the front.

"She did real good. I think we may have a queen pin on our hands." Bishop spoke , smirking.

Kirk chuckled. "Maybe."

///

And that's all folks!

-NB

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