Faces of the Game, page 20
Chelle began writing her 200 page final exam for her Magazine Writing class. It was due three months later, but she knew that with 200 pages and only eight of them could be advertisements, she was going to struggle to get through it. Twenty of the pages were a research paper that had to be included in the front of the page, after talking to her little cousin Neese; she decided to do her final project on Hip Hop as a Culture. Neese told her that Hip Hop was the one thing that she loved, and she told her that there is more to Hip Hop than music, it’s a culture. Once she started her research on the Hip Hop Culture, she learned that there are four main elements to the culture; the Disk Jockey, the Master of Ceremony, Graffiti Art, and Breakdancing, sometimes Beatboxing is considered the fifth element but often it’s categorized with the MC. She started learning about DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, she was amazed at the information she discovered. While reading, she imagined herself in a park in Brooklyn, with the DJ breaking old school hits and the crowd bobbing their heads in unison. She could smell the air, and feel the muggy weather on a summer day with hardly any trees in the big city. Chelle enjoyed the research so much that she worked on the first element for the remainder of the day. She decided that she would write four pages on each element of Hip Hop, this was going to be easier than she imagined. At this very moment, Chelle fell in love with Hip Hop…
Chelle had no idea that the graffiti she use to see on the subways and the breakdancing that she saw on television, and in the gymnasium played such a big part in the culture of Hip Hop. It made sense for the Emcee and the Deejay to be components, that was self-explanatory but the other elements. As she was doing research, she came across an all-time classic record “Fuck the Police” by N.W.A. She dissected the song for the future of her research paper because she knew she might need it, this song was an act out against the unjust treatment that young Americans often felt they received from the judicial system and that too could be an ingredient to this flavorful culture called Hip Hop. She wanted to somehow incorporate fashion into her thesis as well, and she found a clever way to do so. She studied the trends of fashion and how they repeated themselves over the course of 10 years, it was quite interesting. The current trends were repeats from 10 years prior, and she didn’t even realize it until she took the time to study the cycle.
Chelle listened to one of her favorite Albums “Reasonable Doubt” and played “Can’t Knock the Hustle” while she straightened up her apartment. She had done enough school work for the day and she was ready to make things tidy and relax for the evening. “Can’t knock the hustle” played throughout the apartment as she finished vacuuming. Chelle rolled the vacuum cleaner into the hall closet and plopped on the couch. She grabbed the remote control and turned the volume down a bit. She decided to call her granny and see what she was up to. “Hey baby girl, what you up to?” “Nothing just got finished with a little homework and cleaning up, what about you?” “Nothing much, went into the garden and picked a few ears of corn, and tomatoes. I’m about to make me a little bit of dinner before I go to bed. What about you, what are you having good for dinner?” Chelle heard three loud thumps, her heart dropped and she disregarded her grandmother for the moment then she whispered “let me call you back”. Chelle walked slowly and very quietly to the door and she heard it again, THUMP THUMP THUMP. She was too short to look out of the peep hole, but her daddy had always told her to never do so anyway because people shoot through peepholes. Chelle was so nervous that her underarms started to tingle, her heart thumped harder than the knocks at the door, and she was so quiet that if someone were in the same room as her they wouldn’t have known she was moving. It took her about twenty minutes to get to the door, she couldn’t remember ever being so scared. She pressed her ear against the door and listened for a few moments. She opened her mouth to say thank you, but nothing came out so she just listened. Suddenly she heard someone lightly jogging down the steps, she sighed and walked over to the kitchen. She peeped out of the side of the window without touching the blinds, luckily her lights in the kitchen were off. She saw a man in a grey t-shirt neatly tucked into a pair of casual jeans with a black belt, when he turned the corner to walk to the parking lot she saw a bulk that looked like a handgun attached to his belt. Chelle leaned against the window to see what type of car he was getting into, it was a Crown Victoria. She nearly fainted, she walked over to the couch and sat down. When she realized that her knee was jumping high enough for her to slam dunk, she mentally calmed herself down and her body slowly simmered down. If I don’t calm down, I’m going to have a panic attack, oh my goodness Chelle stay calm, focus… She stretched out across her small couch and stared at the ceiling, for once nothing was on her mind just a blank stare. She felt faint and dizzy so she sat up, walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. She turned on the television and her favorite show “Sex in the City” was on, she felt a little at ease or at least the situation that Carrie was going through with Biggs on the episode temporarily took her mind off of what that alleged cop could have possibly wanted. Chelle turned her cell phone off, unplugged the home phone and grabbed a cozy blanket. She wanted to be comforted as much as possible and she didn’t want to be bothered with a single person.
Later that evening, Chelle turned her house phone back on nobody but the people closest to her had that number. She decided to call her grandmother back and talk to her while she ran her lavender oil and olive oil bath water. Chelle needed as much natural tranquilizing as she could get, she was stressed beyond measures. “Hey granny, what are you doing?” “Nothing much, I just got in the bed what about you”? “Running my bath water, sorry I had to go earlier someone was knocking on my door but I didn’t know who it was so I decided not to answer. They must have had the wrong apartment.” Chelle said. “That’s right, if nobody called then you don’t answer that door people are crazy these days. Did you hear about that man going around peeping in girls’ windows?” Her grandmother knew Chelle had to grow up, but she didn’t understand why she felt the need to live alone after Chloe graduated. “Yeah, I hear about that which is why I always live on the top floor. People crawl in windows and everything these days.” “I know it, that’s a shame.” Her grandmother added. “So what are you cooking for supper, or did you already eat?” “Oh nothing, I don’t really have an appetite for some reason.” “Are you sure you’re okay? You love to eat.” Her grandmother said in a sarcastic voice. “Yeah, I’m fine just so much going on right now.” “Well, baby girl just know that when the day comes where you can look back at the troubles, you’ll say ‘oh how I got over’ and then you’ll know that you made it across the finish line.” Chelle smiled, “I know granny.” “What did they say when the monkey cut his tail?” Her grandmother quizzed her on a silly riddle. “I don’t know” “It won’t be long now” her grandmother giggled. “That was wack” Chelle said laughing. “You’ll get there, just keep hustling’ baby girl.” Her granny had the warmest spirit, and the most encouraging conversation it kept Chelle going at the roughest times, her granny soothed her worried heart. “Ok, see you later alligator.” “After a while, crocodile.” With that they hung up the phone.
Shook
Chelle woke up from a peaceful yet light night sleep, she didn’t wake up in the middle of the night, but she wasn’t sure if she had ever even went into the REM stage of sleep. She decided that she would go to work for the day and do homework while she worked. She loved her kill two birds with one stone method, she couldn’t ask for anything better. After brushing her teeth, washing her face and lightly washing up she combed her hair and got dressed. She decided to wear a nice pair of khaki pants and an argyle patterned white and yellow J. Crew sweater with her brown solid leather Gucci loafers. She felt fresh which always lifted her spirits, there was nothing like going to work feeling like a grand or two. She grabbed her coffee mug poured a quick cup of coffee that she brewed while she got ready, and she was ready to leave.
When Chelle walked out of the door, she noticed a yellow piece of paper with a rubber band stapled to it, it hung off of the door knob. She grabbed it and locked the door. As she read the piece of paper, she almost tumbled down the steps because she was flustered at what she was reading. The carbon copied yellow sheet of paper was folded like a brochure, it read: FBI – Investigation Information: This document is to inform you that we are searching for someone you might know, Christopher B. Monroe, also known as Chip. If you have any information about this person and his/her whereabouts, please don’t hesitate to call us at 888-555-2526. If you speak to this person, please inform him/her of this message and have them call us immediately at 888-555-2990. If you are unaware of who this person is, please disregard this message. Please be advised that this message is being sent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and if you do not contact us with information that you know about this person, you can be punished by the U.S. Supreme Courts. As Chelle sat in her car, she became dizzy, her throat felt like it was closing and there it was; the anxiety attack that almost came about the day before. She started freaking out, her skin became very hot as if she had a fever, she began to tremble, and her lips became numb as they tingled, her underarms tingled and she couldn’t calm down. Sweat trickled down the side of her face, she kept saying “Oh God, oh God, oh my goodness, what’s about to happen.” She usually could calm down when she freaked out, but not this time it seemed impossible, her knee started jumping just as it did the day before but she couldn’t make it stop. She held her knee but it kept jumping, she was so dizzy that she couldn’t drive, she was afraid that she would have a heart attack or something to that extent. She cried right before she started praying, “God please help me to calm down, warm my heart, please Lord protect me from the cruel government. I don’t need anything like this to happen right before I graduate, Lord please protect Chip from danger and when that time comes Lord please allow him to transition into an inmate with grace. Lord protect everyone around me from harm, danger and hardships and Lord again I pray please keep me protected from the Feds. In your name, Amen.” She suddenly started to calm down, prayer works every single time. She called the High School that she worked at and told them that something came up and she was running late, she told them she would be there shortly. Chelle decided to go to Starbucks and grab a nice tall cup of gourmet coffee, a quick ‘pick-me-upper’. She sipped on the rich creamy latte and decided to enjoy the simple things in life all day. She was definitely turning off her phone for the day, nothing in the world mattered to her and she didn’t even want to talk to Chip she was unsure of how serious things would get if they found out she kept in touch with him.
She went to work and acted cool, they could tell something was wrong but nobody asked; the kids were rather quiet and the office clerk. Chelle was nauseated, but she held her composure with all of her might. Everything was a blur; Chelle didn’t even realize that class was over before she could snap into the swing of things. The bell rang; she walked over to the window to look outside she thought it would give her peace to look at the trees swaying and the wind blowing. When Chelle looked down, she saw five men dressed in blue and three dark black Crown Victoria’s. She became nervous at the sight of them; she ran over to the classroom door and locked it she immediately started throwing up in the trashcan that was placed by the door. The students for the next period stood outside of the door and waited for Chelle to open it, “Ms. Chellie are you okay?” One of the students said as she walked into the room, her clothes read a million bucks but her eyes read something else. She looked at the little girl and said, “baby girl don’t you ever let someone else’s situations become one of your problems.” She told everyone to have a seat and she dismissed herself for a moment, they already knew the deal and one of the students would take on the responsibility to take names. She went into the teachers’ restrooms and washed her mouth out; thankfully they had a mouth wash dispenser. She looked at herself in the mirror and firmly told her self aloud to get it together immediately. When she walked back into the classroom, the officers were standing in there. Chelle almost fainted, but she kept her composure she knew she didn’t have a choice. “Hi, what’s going on?” She questioned the Officers as she sat at the desk.
Thin Blood
“So my little sister Chelle supposed to be graduating this May, I don’t know how, she don’t ever go to class.” Chonda said to her Cousin Reese on the other end of the phone. “That’s good, I know she can’t wait.” Her cousin said happy for Chelle. “Girl and you know she still go with that boy, Chip. I heard the Feds were looking for him. She is going to get in trouble before she gets out of school, and she ain't a Angel herself.” Chonda continued gossiping as usual. “What, I didn’t know they still dealt with each other, girl she can get in trouble fooling around with him.” Reese said finally breaking down and engaging in the conversation. “Girl yes and you know Chelle used to go up and down that highway for them. She better hope she makes it to see her graduation, she might end up locked up right along with his ass.” By this time, Chonda was hoping to put a bug in Reese’s ear, this way it could possibly get back to someone who played cards at Reese’s house and Chelle might get in trouble if it got to the right person. Reese was smarter than that, besides she wanted Chelle to do good in life, although that wasn’t her blood cousin she liked Chelle. She never acted different; she was always the same humble and sweet girl that kept it real at all costs. She knew what Chonda was doing and she wasn’t falling too hard for the trick. “Well girl, let me go I have a lot of cooking and cleaning to do for the boys.” Reese said as she hung up with Chonda. “Ok, call me back when you get a chance too.” Chonda and Reese hung up the phone.
Chonda was bored, she scrolled down her call log and decided to call the other gossip queen out of her family Vette. Vette was known to gossip about any and every one at any given time, she knew a lot but she lied a lot too. You never could tell what was what with her, and that’s exactly what Chonda was looking for someone who didn’t mind getting the word out. Chonda had an evil streak in her and it was very active, she didn’t want her sister to outshine her and things were getting down to the wire. Although she had a soft spot in her heart and she didn’t want her sister to be in a rut, she didn’t want her daddy to be more proud of her little sister than he was of her. She always had an urge to be her daddy’s favorite, and truth be told he loved all of his children equally, nothing could ever change that.
“Hey what’s up?” Chonda said into the phone when Vette finally answered. “Nothing girl, talking to Hick crazy ass, hold on.” Chonda held on the phone for 5 solid minutes before Vette got back on the phone. “My bad, I’m back man I swear he is on drugs.” Vette said when she clicked back over. Chonda laughed a ridiculously silly ass laugh. “You crazy, what’s up though cuz?” “Girl so you know Chelle supposed to be graduating in May. I don’t know how though, she ain’t never in Greensboro to go to school, she don’t do no work and what she going to school for, I heard that you don’t even make any money in it.” Chonda was on a roll, she knew she could get a hype conversation out of Vette if nobody else went for it. “Girl, I know and you know she got caught on campus with that weed that time, I thought she got kicked out of school what happened that time?” Vette said back with venom on her tongue. They both got comfortable and prepared to talk shit for a while. “Chelle don’t even know what she want to do, I thought she wanted to be a teacher. Whatever happened to that?” Chonda asked rhetorically. “Exactly, girl and you know she use to mess with Chip or Clip whatever his name is. I heard them boys looking’ for him and she better stay away from his ass or she’ll be locked up too.” Vette was on a roll. “Girl you know she used to go up and down that highway for them, she better hope she don’t get locked up for some shit she did.” Chonda said excited at the idea alone. They went on and on for almost three hours about one person, Chelle.
Vette called their aunt, Snooks. “Hey are you busy?” Vette said into the phone when Snooks answered. “No girl, what’s going on?” “Nothing, Chonda called and told me the whole scoop with Chelle, she ain’t no Angel I tell you that much.” Vette said, starting the conversation off. “Oh I know that, you know Neese told Spunk that Chelle was somewhere stripping’.” Snooks said, adding fuel to the wildfire that had Chelle’s name spelled out. “Whaaat, I ain’t heard that one yet. How about she used to go up and down the highway and her boyfriend is on the run.” Vette was in unspoken cahoots with Chonda to defame Chelle’s name and possibly fuck up her future. “Girl, I can believe it. She always trying to act all innocent ain’t nothing innocent about her ass.” Snooks said, she was just as bitter because they felt inferior over nothing. The bad thing is, Chelle felt equal to them. She felt like all people were created equal and everyone chooses different paths, her relatives on the other hand always said she thought she was better than them when the truth of the matter was, they felt as if she was better than them. It ate them up; it seemed as if every time someone brought up her name they all had nothing but negative things to say about her. They told lies, they exaggerated truths and moreover they spreaded rumors about her to people in the community out of malevolence.
