Hood Ornaments

He hadn’t had his phone long, but Tony became accustomed to it quickly. He knew all the bells and whistles on it and even figured out some things Dell didn’t know yet. So when he heard the sound of chirping birds, he knew it was a text from Tori.

Tony sat up in his little bed, grabbed his phone off of the large Tupperware bin that doubled as dresser and a nightstand, looked around his tiny bedroom and sighed heavily.

Everything was so small.

Constricting.

Like things were closing in around him.

He then looked around everything in the room and out into the hallway. His walls were paneled with dark wood-like paneling. His carpet was dark and it stretched out into the hallway where it met the mahogany stairs. His grandmother would polish them the beginning of every week so they were shiny. So shiny if Tony stood at just the right angle he could see his face in the banister.

Even though it was distorted.

Like a fun house mirror.

And right now he felt like a clown.

Tony looked at the phone again as if the display was going to change. Just like the phone, Tori and him weren’t together long, but he was becoming accustomed to her. She seemed to resent that. The last time her saw her was when he put Platypus through the pizza shop door.

She seemed disgusted by that.

And him.

He began scrolling through the phone, pressed a button and waited for Dell to answer.

“Yo,” was Dell’s reply.

“Sup?” Tony asked.

“Shit. You?”

“I was thinkin about going down to Malik’s; maybe hit up the waterfront,” Tony said as if he were unsure that’s what he really wanted to do.

“Well you want me to meet you or are you askin my permission or some shit?” Dell asked sarcastically.

Tony swallowed hard, “Nah you heard from Tori today?”

Dell smiled to himself mischievously, “Yeah she called me earlier to see if I had any stamps.”

“Stamps?” Tony asked as he flipped the lid open on his Tupperware bin and started rummaging through it to find something to wear. “For what didn’t you just go grocery shopping for Trudy?”

“Not food stamps you low expectation havin bamma.” Dell quipped back. “She needed to mail something off for school.”

“Postage stamps?” Tony still sounded confused as he draped his clothes over his arm.

“That’s normally what you mail shit with.”

“You think she really gonna go away to school?” Tony asked concerned.

“I dunno man, ain’t she your girl? Don’t y’all talk?”

Dell couldn’t help himself, but as he was busting Tony’s balls his phone beeped.

“Yo this my other line hold on…”

Dell put Tony on hold.

Tony was annoyed about being put on hold.

He always thought call waiting was rude. Especially since cell phones have caller-ID. Let people leave a message or call back. He had a firm rule about call waiting too. If he was on hold for longer than thirty seconds he hung up. He was just about to hang up when Dell clicked back over,

“Yo my bad dude. You’ll never guess who that was?”

“Tori?”

Dell sucked his teeth, “No bamma damn. It was Verizon wantin to set up an interview.”

“Oh shit, that’s what’s up,” Tony said with genuine sincerity. That made Dell feel like an asshole for bustin his balls so hard, “Yeah, I told them I would come in on Tuesday. But as far as Tori goes dude why don’t you just call her or shoot her a text?”

“So I can look like I’m sweatin her?”

“Aw c’mon, this ain’t one of those broads on the street dude; this is Tori. You know she don’t think like that.”

Tony changed the subject as quickly as he could. “So if I can catch up with Leek, you gonna come with us to the waterfront?”

“Yeah just call me when you find out.”

“Aiight.”

“One,” Dell’s standard reply.

Truth be told, Dell knew Tori better than anyone.

Except maybe Trudy.

That bothered Tony. He didn’t want Dell in their business anymore. He had to work on getting to know Tori better than Dell. He bounded down the stairs and out the door where the humidity draped on him like a cloak.

He was shocked there was so much activity in the neighborhood which overnight appeared as if it were dipped in a rainbow. Each stoop had a different colored plastic pool occupied by at least two kids in colorful bathing suits. Their respective parents sitting on plastic chairs watching them.

Walking down the block, Tony noticed the fruit truck already had its beach umbrella open along with plastic containers filled with honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple and watermelon mixtures. Cars, thumping with music, could barely turn the corners because their trunks were so heavy with speakers and other stereo equipment. But what Tony noticed most were the other people just appeared to be wandering aimlessly down the block with no direction, no destination.

Inwardly, Tony grew concerned because although he had a direction that day, what the hell was he going to do for the rest of the summer?

Yeah at first, he was gonna sit on the stoops for Sticks, but since Dell had a change of heart, there went that plan. And although everyone assumed he was real smart, the truth was Tony was afraid of college.

And unlike Dell, needed more time to figure out what he was going to do with his life. With those thoughts swarming his mind more than the people swarming the street, he crossed it and pushed open the door to the Verizon store. He was pissed when he found out the manager wasn’t in, but knew better than to let his emotions show. Upon leaving, he almost bumped into a guy dressed in Army fatigues.

“My bad, man” Tony said to the guy taking a step back.

“It’s okay. It’s crowded down here today,” the guy replied giving Tony a mock salute as he entered the Army recruiting office next door to the Verizon store. Tony stared at the door a long time deciding whether or not to go in. As if God Himself gave him a sign, his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket, noticed it was Malik and answered it.

“Yo Leek, I was just about to call you.

“Aiight, you headed this way?”

“Chea.”

The pair hung up and Malik walked up the basement steps to see his mother, Stacey, pouring coffee into two mugs. She didn’t look well, but at least she was dressed. Her boyfriend Dennis was wearing nothing but boxers while sitting at the makeshift kitchen table finishing up what appeared to be scrambled eggs and bacon.

“You hungry Leek?” Stacey asked while handing Malik a coffee mug. Both gestures were the most motherly things she has done in the past forty-five days. But at least she had enough energy to walk downtown to the temp agency every other day or so to see if they had work for her. That was an improvement too. The kitchen appeared to be clean as well, so Malik took the coffee mug and held his breath as he opened the refrigerator. He wasn’t sure what odor, or God forbid, creature would attack him once he opened the door. To his surprise, the fridge was sparkling on the inside and fully stocked with food. Even orange juice and fruit.

He kissed her on her cheek and replied, “Nah, I’ma probably get something downtown, Ma.” He then quizzically frowned at his mother while pointing to Dennis with his coffee mug, “He do this?”

Stacey slightly smiled and nodded as she kissed her son on the cheek. Malik was going to get milk to put in his coffee but was pleasantly surprised to find hazelnut flavored coffee creamer and poured some into his cup.

“Can you sit down a minute Leek? I got something I need to tell you.”

“I ain’t got no money Mama. At least not right now.” Malik said as he drug a chair away from the table to sit down.

Stacey put a hand on his shoulder, “I wasn’t gonna ask you for nothing, Leek. I said I got somethin to tell you.”

Malik smirked as he sipped his coffee, “I’m listening.”

“I’m pregnant Leek, Dennis is moving in and we are gonna get married in September.”

It was so quiet you could hear laughter from the kitchen next door.

Malik felt like his head was about to explode

Dennis sensing the tension, got up from the table, threw his paper plate away, mumbled an “excuse me” and shuffled his way up the stairs.

“Leek? You gonna say anything?”

Mother and son just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

“You know you gonna have to get clean in order for this baby to be healthy.”

“I’ve been clean for thirty days now Leek.”

Malik pointed to the ceiling, “What about him?”

“He kicked the minute I told him,” She responded more adamant than proud.

“What does he do again?”

“Construction.”

“You know that’s code for unemployed Mama.” Leek said sarcastically as he brought his mug to the sink.

Stacey chuckled sincerely, “I thought so too at first, until I found out he actually is a pretty big deal on the waterfront. He helped build those condos.”

“No shit?” Malik asked genuinely impressed.

At that point Dennis reappeared dressed in a t-shirt and khaki shorts,

“No shit,” he replied startling Malik. He went to pour himself a cup of coffee when he was interrupted by a knock at the back door. Malik looked up and saw Tony’s face pressed against the window and waved him in. Tony raised his bushy eyebrow as he noticed the cleaner kitchen. He gave Stacey as kiss on the cheek as Malik provided a nonchalant introduction to Dennis.

“Yo Leek, Verizon be on some bullshit, man. It’s a good thing I didn’t get you that application. Dell got called for an interview, but when I went in all of a sudden the manager isn’t in.”

“Well it is Saturday.” Malik replied.

Dennis finished pouring his cup of coffee and asked them both, “Y’all tryin to work this summer?”

Tony sucked his teeth, “Who ain’t.”

“Well I mean we could use a hand or two at the site. It would be temporary, so no benefits but the money’s good.”

“What would we be doin?” Tony asked.

“Whatever them Degos tell you to,” Dennis replied through a chuckle, “Be here early Monday morning. We’ll all go down together.”

Malik nodded.

It was gonna be one long ass summer