The Reese

Raymond started his Sunday morning at about 8:00am. Right out of the gate, he was just a bit on edge. He had become accustomed to dealing with situations that would put a normal man in fight or flight, so today was no different in that regard. The streets of St. Maurice Heights didn't really allow one to relax much if they wanted to grow old. A constant state of hyper vigilance had become his baseline demeanor.

But today, and for the next several days, he had the unfortunate responsibility of looking after someone who did not carry himself with this type of caution and awareness: his younger cousin Ka'von. His father, Raymond's uncle Trey, had asked him to look after him for a week or so to "get some man in him," but Raymond instantly recognized this as bullshit. No man in their right mind would willingly send their son to The Reese. Anything that could be learned here, you'd be better off not knowing.

The reality of this situation was that Trey wasn't ready to raise him. He had basically had him tossed on his porch after his grandmother died and his mother decided she couldn't raise him on her own. Raymond had known his uncle Trey to be a functioning addict since his childhood, so he expected this would go even worse than it had so far. To his amazement, Ka'von said his dad had stepped up for the past six months.

Even still, Raymond was convinced his uncle Trey wanted a week to go on a binge. How long could the man keep it under wraps? At least he had enough sense to send his son off. Raymond saw too many households in the hood that had no business having kids in them

He wasn't happy about being a pawn in this whole plan, but he had a soft spot for his cousin, and hoped he actually could teach him a thing or two. The kid didn't deserve what he'd been through so far, but then who deserved any of what they got out here? Raymond hadn't even had it that good, but he saw Ka'von as someone who had a chance to break out of all this if he kept on his path. Despite being tossed around and not really knowing love, he made good grades, kept a light attitude, and had a good head on his shoulders, for a 15 year old. But whether he liked him or not, he didn't want him slowing down his business getting both of them in some shit they couldn't get out of.

"Wake up man we fidna roll out." Raymond walked over and lightly shook his younger cousin awake

Ka'von stirred awake on the couch. "Man what is it 10:00am? You fidna to roll out. I'm fidna keep catching these zzz's on this couch man."

Raymond grabbed a piece of his cousin's short, frizzled hair and pulled. "First off, that's my couch you on. Second off, you roll when I roll. Now," he grabbed his cousins wrist and laughed a little as Ka'von swung at him jokingly, "we fidna roll out."

"Alright alright PAL," Ka'von said sarcastically, "Lemme get some shorts on."

Raymond grabbed his bag and packed some things while Ka'von changed, and was already outside ready to lock up when Ka'von came hustling out. "Man why we in such a rush anyway? Actin' like you got shit to do today."

Raymond started walking down the street, his cousin following behind him like a yappy puppy. "Cuz, you wouldn't know what I do in a day. If you quit your bitchin, I'm tryna get down to Philly's and buy you some breakfast."

"Alright, alright, bet. You know you coulda just asked a man if he wanna go grab some breakfast 'stead a shaking me awake and all tho right? Not complaining, just saying."

Raymond laughed a little, "And you know you coulda thanked a man for opening his home up to you and tryna keep an eye on you out here, but I aint heard that yet. JUST SAYING."

"Alright, alright, I see where you at. We'll see how the breakfast is tho," Ka'von said, sarcastically refusing to give thanks where he knew it was due.

He'd never let him know, but Ka'von looked up to his cousin. He hadn't grown up with much of a positive male figure, and Raymond was about the closest thing he knew. Even just the way he walked down the street. He walked dead down the middle, his head held high. When he entered a building, he somehow commanded respect. With a tall lanky frame, Raymond wasn't the Deebo of the block, but Ka'von had never seen his cousin look scared of anyone.

After a few blocks, Ka'von saw the Philly's sign on top of a run down looking corner store. He didn't hold out much hope for a good breakfast. Raymond went inside and dapped off the cook, Laurence as they walked in the door. "What's up my man, where you at?"

"Not much man chillin. What's good witchu? You heard about this situation with Kev or what?"

"Man I heard a little something yea know, but look, I aint tryna talk about...."

Laurence interrupted him with a tone of urgency in his voice. "Man you need to be. I hear Kev in there singing like a bird. You might be needing to get ahold of that 'for you got problems...."

Raymond cut him off hard. "Man look....I SAID I aint tryna talk about all that right now. I got my little cousin here. Right now, we gonna enjoy ourselves some breakfast and keep the conversation light, ya heard?"

"Alright I heard man. Whatchall want? Two breakfast plates?"

Raymond just nodded, pulled out a bank roll, and broke off 30 bucks to Laurence. He proceeded to walk behind the counter and grab them two cups of black coffee. He handed Ka'von his and fixed his own with a mound of sugar while Laurence whipped up the plates. They sat at one of three booths in the tiny place. Ka'von looked up at the menu to see that the breakfast plate was only $8.95. He hadn't seen his cousin get any change.

"Man what was all that about?" Ka'von asked.

Raymond shot him a stupid look and paused. "Man didn't you just hear me tell that man we gonna have some breakfast and keep the conversation light?"

For once, Ka'von had nothing to respond with. He tried to hide his smile as he caught himself gossiping. It wasn't five minutes before Laurence brought their plates out.

"Look," Raymond said as he salted his hashbrowns - he softened his tone of voice in a way that was somehow more serious than his normal fussing demeanor -- "This aint a joking around moment. You gonna be staying with me for a little minute, and there's always something going down here. There's things you need to know about, and things you don't need to know about. As a general rule, if you don't need to know about, you don't fucking ask. Keeps you safe."

"Alright I got you cuz. So that's a thing you don't need to know about?"

Raymond looked at him stupid again. "Man you thick...."

"Whatchu tryna say cuz?" Ka'von paused, smiled, and looked up at the ceiling as the irony of his question hit him.

They both looked at each other and laughed at his blunder.

"For your info," Raymond said, "That is a thing I do need to know about. He just aint the dude I need to hear it from. And it aint a thing I need to be thinking about during breakfast. You gotta find some peace in your day when you can."

"Alright, I heard that. I heard that. Thanks for breakfast cuz. And the couch. 'Preciate it."

Raymond motioned towards the condiment trey. "You gonna wanna put some of the Philly's sauce on your eggs. Aint nothing better than that Philly's sauce."

They sat in casual conversation and caught up life as the enjoyed their breakfast. Raymond's phone went off at least 3 times on the table while they ate. At one point Ka'von thought he heard another buzz go off in his pocket too.

"You know you can answer that cuz?"

"I'm having a conversation right now man I'll get to it when we done eating. Gotta find some peace in your day when you can." He finished his food first and stood up. "Hang tight for a sec tho. I gotta go holla at Laurence real quick, and we'll roll on outta here." He brought his bag with him as he went back to the kitchen.

He came back out of the kitchen after what felt like less than 30 seconds. Ka'von couldn't imagine what they had talked about in that amount of time. "You ready fool?"

"Yea man that wasn't bad. Thanks again. Whatta we got goin on today?"

"Nothing big. Make a couple stops, talk to some folk. Maybe we get done a little early and we'll go shoot....or you know, catch a movie or something. We'll see how things shake out."

"Alright, alright, bet. You know I'm fidna light you up at the range tho right?"

Raymond smiled at him, "Like I said, we'll see how things shake out."

They left Philly's and walked about south through the hood. Raymond waved to some folks and had some small talk here and there as they walked. The first stop they made was inside a small, unassuming apartment building with about 10 units. Raymond walked up to Unit 6 on the ground floor, inserted a key into the lock, and opened the door.

Ka'von, confused, asked, "Cuz? You moving soon or something?"

Raymond didn't make eye contact. "Nah man I'm just gonna take a leak real quick."

That didn't exactly answer Ka'von's question as to why he had a key to a separate apartment, but he figured that went in the 'things you don't need to know' category. He got even more confused when they walked inside to an empty apartment, no furniture, nothing. He hung out in the living room for a minute while his cousin went in the bathroom, and in a few minutes they were out and on their way to the next stop.

After about 10 blocks Ka'von started getting restless. "Cuz, you aint figure on takin the whip for none of these stops? Gotta be the only clown with a drop top that go everywhere on foot."

"Shush youngin. Witcha lazy ass."

"Man this aint lazy, this efficient!" Ka'von piped back. "Over a hundred years of engineering advancements. You know a car has little explosions going on in all the time, and they figured out a way to make them little explosions move you forward. It's a modern miracle man! But nope, two feet good enough for you. Fuck science."

"Nah man look, I gotta educate you about everything out here. First off, this shit keep you in shape. Second, you never know who you gonna see out here. Keeps me in the know. And most important, you think I want the whole hood knowing my business?"

Raymond let out a grin before saying "I like walking."

"Alright, alright, I'm just saying a man's feet getting tired over here."

"Like I said, lazy....we right here tho."

Raymond turned and walked down a driveway with a Challenger parked outside. As he walked up, a very distinctive looking woman opened a door around the side and came out to meet them. She was short, thick, and most noticeably, white. She was wearing a gray tank top that hugged her tight and formed a V leading up from her waist to wrap around her tits. It was tucked into some colorful athletic shorts that showed off a full thigh tattoo. Her face was fair, and she had wing-tipped eye liner on and hair that faded seamlessly from black on the top to red on the bottom. Some knee high socks was the cherry on top of the whole picture.

The driveway had a brick partition in it that partially blocked the view from the street. Raymond leaned forward on the roof of the car, and the woman came around to stand on the other side.

"Godddd Dammmnnnn....." Ka'von sighed under his breath as she approached. Raymond turned back and shot him a look. Before he could say anything, the girl shot back at him. "Shhheeiiit. Maybe in like 10 years and 50 lbs." She turned to Raymond. "Ray Ray, who's the kid?"

"This my cousin Ka'von. He's gonna be rockin with me for a little while. Ka'von, this is Flo. We in her crib, so show her some respect."

"Sorry ma'am. I'll see you in 10 years."

Flo laughed, "Oh lord, you just like your cousin."

Raymond had known Flo since she moved into the neighborhood at 3 years old. She was a few years younger than him, so he had seen it all unfold. It was a pretty classic story for someone to wind up in St. Maurice Heights. Dad left, Mom fell on hard times, and they couldn't afford anywhere else. It's likely that at some point or another, her mom had the intention of doing a few hard years and getting her kids to a safer life, but she developed a crack cocaine addiction during that time, and any hope for a return to normalcy quickly faded.

Flo fit right in though. They shared a few classes in high school, mostly because she was ahead of the curve and Raymond could barely stay in school enough to pass. He never heard her complain about the fact that her mom was absent and her brother raised her until he developed an addiction of his own, or that she was the only white girl in the entire school.

She just took it day by day and figured it out, and that's what it took to make it here. Sometimes he wondered what her life would have become if her mom hadn't been forced to move here. Maybe she could have really made something of herself. But on the other hand, she flourished in an environment where so few could, so maybe this was what she was made for.

They got close during his junior year, right before he dropped out, but the gap between a 14 and a 17 year old made it to where he looked at her more like a little sister, even though she was already built. She was naturally born with a thin waist and as much ass and legs as thick as you could possibly fit on her little 5'2 frame. In the past year though, she had added two perfectly proportional fake tits that gave her an almost cartoonish hourglass figure. Every time he saw her, he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

They didn't see each other as much after he dropped out, but Raymond had stepped up to the plate a few times when she had gotten herself in some trouble trying to grow up too fast. With a body like that, she couldn't help but attract some attention, good and bad, and it took her a while to figure out what attention she needed to turn down. By time she was 17 she had guys in the hood fighting over her every day, and every chick was jealous of the white girl with more ass than them.

She caused a lot of trouble back then, but she had come into her own now hat she was in her early 20s. She got a house dead in the middle of The Reese and was holding it down on her own. She liked the action. Raymond could only make an educated guess what she had done to get it.

She wasn't in the game, just around it, and he hadn't seen her work outside of her flying out to be in a few videos. She wasn't no dancer, and that line of work doesn't pay off houses and fake tits, so he could do the math. The way he figured it though, if she had some clown paying her rent, more power to her. Everyone here was just trying to figure out how to make it through the day, and Flo was killing the game.

She turned to Raymond. "Aight Ray so you came her just to holla at me or you lookin for something?"

"Well if I'm coming your way you know ima holla a little bit." Raymond smiled at her.

"Yea but you always just buttering me up for something. You a lil teasing ass gossip queen." She shot him a side eyed look.

"Look I could gossip with anyone. Come true, I don't even like gossip. It just keeps giving me a reason to drop by. You know I aint that smooth so I gotta find something to talk to you about."

Flo gave him a side eye. "Bitch please...fa one, you know you think you smooth as all hell, so don't be playing like you don't come for some info,"

Raymond interjected, "Maybe, but I come for the show too." He looked her body up and down.

"FA TWO" she put up an index finger. "I know you heard about this shit with Kev."

"You right, you right. I'm tryna figure out how much we need to be on top of that." Raymond dropped the flirtatious demeanor.

"Look, I aint gonna suga coat it. You needa be on top of it. Either you gonna pull some strings," She paused, choosing her words carefully with the kid around, "Or find a way to pull out, 'cuz Tuti on the inside telling me he gonna roll. He already talking mad shit blowin' your spot up, and if the pigs don't get something outta him first, aint gonna be long fore he get word out to the dope boys."

"Yea that's what I was afraid you was gonna say." He paused and thought for a second. "How many, ummm, 'strings' you think Tuti got on the inside?"

"Ray I aint fidna get in all that. That aint gonna take long to get back to me. You gotta have your own strings," She made air quotes as she said the word, "or jump. Since we talkin' 'bout it, we aint even talkin' 'bout it. Ya heard?"

Raymond picked up the flirtatious tone again. "Girl you know I'm just dropping by to holla atchu while me and the kid out. You know I can't resist."

Flo posed for him. "You better recognize. You know a bitch always here for you if you needa lay low though. You earn that." She smiled at him leaning over the car, her eyes sitting only a few inches from his.

"Yea....good as you make it sound though, I'm hoping it don't come to all that."

"Well even if it don't, why don't you call me and pretend it did." She smiled, still looking him right in the eye.

"Girl if it wasn't for all the problems that come along with you know I'd be in there."

"You know this pussy be worth it though." Flo clapped back, and Raymond threw his head back, somehow blushing. "One day when all these other fools clear out cuz they aint moving like you though, wifey still gon' be here for you."

"Yea but how many of 'dem fools you say that to tho?"

"You know it aint none but you fool."

He kept looking her in her eyes for another minute, before backing off the car knowing she was telling the truth. "By Flo."

"Bye Ray Ray."

Raymond casually poked his head out from the brick partition to see what was on the street before waving and walking away. They were barely out of the driveway before his cousin started up.

"Cuz...the fuck was that!? Tell me you hittin' that"

Raymond came back in a somewhat serious tone. "Man hold that noise. You play too much."

"Man this aint playing. You crazy if you aint tryna hit it. Fine ass little snowbunny like that....You aint gonna step up to the plate then I'ma have to for ya."

Raymond batted his cousin across the head with the back of his hand. "Man, I said you play too fuckin' much. That's enough 'a that."

"Alright, alright. Sheesh. I'm just saying I'ma have to move out here if all the girls be bad like that."

"Cuz....Aint no one as bad as Flo. Not just the body. That girl bad from the top down. But trust me, that aint no reason to move out here. Matter fact, this aint no place to move. Aint nothing happen here I'd be living in if I could get out."

Ka'von took a more relaxed, serious tone. "I know you be telling me. But serious though, I aint tryna press. Just man to man, why you aint jump at that. Girl was all over you."

Raymond softened up. His cousin did play too much, but he was always willing to teach a lesson, and could tell it came from a place of genuine curiosity.

"Flo just too important. She know everything just because of who she is, but aint no one know she got it all figured out. She be playing dumb and shit when she need to and then can take you to court on your bullshit if you aint payin attention. Why you think I call her Flo? She make the whole game flow."

"Oh so that aint her real name?" Ka'von asked

"Nah I think her momma named her Stacey or something. I started calling her that years ago once I figured out how she was moving. Now everyone be calling her that. Like she claimed it as her own. Funny thing is tho', aint no one really know what it mean. They still call her that thinking she some dumb bimbo."

Ka'von laughed. "Alright that's good cuz. I see. But real talk." He paused making sure he was still coming across as respectful as possible, "why that mean you can't get with her?"

"Little dude, you don't shit where you eat. You aint never heard that? But on top of all that, that's just more trouble than its worth."

"I thought you was saying she was solid tho?"

"Oh Flo? Flo solid behind me as they come. It aint her, but every clown in The Reese wanna get with her. I aint just talking bout getting some pussy neither, fools really be falling out, leaving they bitch over her. She probably got a death toll just from the way she look. Aint no pussy worth them problems."