Treading the Waters, Part 38

Photo of a classic car parked in New Orleans

Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk / flickr

When we were last with Gerald in New Orleans he was maneuvering the social circles of the streets with Greg and Minew, his two closest friends, together at his side.

Minew had a car like a Batman car. Pure steel. When we come in the project, go anywhere, Minew was driving. We riding around. Everybody hollerin’, lookin’ gansgterly. 

We wearing our Kangol hats, Coca-cola outfits, Damage. It was the 90s, Guess, Zodiac, all them kinda clothes. The hustler clothes. That what we call it.

And Valley. Valley was the worst shoe they could ever put out in the market. They used to call them Valley 1, Valley 2. When I mention Valleys, it kinda shake me cause a lot of my friends got killed over them Valley shoes.

But the Ace! I got a pair. My brother was in the military and before I knew it he brought a pair home and he give ‘em to me. I didn’t even know what they was.

I’m standing at the bus stop. Me, Greg and Minew. We kickin’ it. One night they say we goin’ out. So I get up, I gather myself together. 

We bust out, what I mean by “bust out”, we bust out to go out to the club. 

Everybody holler, “Damn, those some bad mothaf***as you got on!”

I say, “What?”

“Ace.”

I say, “Ace??”

They say, “Man, n***as gonna get you out of ‘em. They like 4, 5 hundred dollars. They glow.”

They glow. I’m sitting there thinkin’, “F*** ‘em.”

We bust all over this club they call Spade. Everybody like, “Whoa! What’s up, Third?”

Everybody lookin’! They look at me like, “What the f***? Didn’t you just get out?”

Minew say, “I told you. This mothaf***a is on fire!”

Everybody talking to Greg and s***. Girls, kickin’ the bobo. Most of the girls in the club gettin’ ingnant, talkin’ s***.

I always drink gin and juice, that’s what I drink. Greg and they drink the same s*** when we kickin’ the bobo.

When we go into the club this shady, even the owner gets scared. They know we be totin’ guns or whatever.

Sometimes we gamble in the back. We play poker, we shoot pool. I am a pool shark. I’m all about the hustle. Dice, so-so. I play a little cards. But, pool was my thing.

All us sit back in the gambling shack. We all get chips and s***, we play.

Every time Minew lose, he always wanna stick it up. 

“I gotta get my money back!”

Greg be like, “Man, f*** it, you lost.”

But he’s a robber. He is like, “Man, y’all lay on the floor like you just playin’.”

Now, he don’t want to stick us up, he wanna stick the whole house up. He gonna take our money but he gonna give us some money back.

I’m like, “Man, we can’t do this.”

Still can’t stop Minew.


To be continued. Gerald’s first book, “Still Standing: How an ex-con found salvation in the floodwaters of Katrina,” is available on Amazon.com.

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