We stayed for a minute, runnin’ through shots, lettin’ the DJ take us wherever he wanted. Then we slid to another spot across town. Soon as we walked in, I ran into a few old faces. There was more daps, and more love. Me and Zaniyah didn’t stay long, but just enough to hit a couple dances and finish another drink before I was ready for the next move.
Our last stop was one of my favorite strip clubs. The whole place smelled like money and coconut oil soon as we walked in. I barely got in the door before one of the dancers spotted me and came over all smiles.
“Where you been hidin’, Pressure?” she said, givin’ me a hug.
“On my billionaire grind,” I told her. “Don’t tell nobody though.”
She laughed, then yelled for the waitress to bring me a bottle on ice.
I dropped the duffel bag on the couch, unzipped it, and pulled out a fat stack. I peeled off a few hundreds and handed it to Zaniyah.
She looked at it with her eyes wide. “For me?”
“Nah, for us,” I said, leanin’ back like it wasn’t nothin’.
She went right to throwin’ like she been practicin’. She was hypin’ the dancers, leanin’ over to talk in my ear and pullin’ me up to move with her. I was tryna act like I wasn’t pressed, but she had me smilin’ the whole time. At one point she laughed so hard she almost dropped the rest of her stack, and I had to catch her wrist.
“Aye, don’t play with my money like that,” I told her.
“It’sourmoney. Remember?” she shot back, throwin’ another handful in the air.
We sat in the strip club watchin’ the bills float down slow, music still hittin’ in the background, and I realized I wasn’t ready to call it a night yet. Zaniyah wasn’t though, so we stayed a little longer, tossed the last of her stack, and I grabbed my bag.
When we stepped out, the air felt good after bein’ inside all that heat and smoke. She had her heels clickin’ on the pavement, still grinnin’ like the night was just gettin’ started.
“You hungry?” I asked, walkin’ toward the car.
“Starvin’,” she said without even thinkin’. “You know I ain’t ate since earlier. And please, no fancy stuff. I’m talkin’ greasy.”
I laughed. “Say less.”
We slid into the car, and I pulled off toward one of those 24-hour spots I been hittin’ since forever. The drive-thru line was wrapped around the buildin’, but that didn’t bother me. I leaned back, rollin’ up another one.
“You got any sisters or brothers?” I asked.
“So,” she said, turnin’ to me. “You wanna know what’s crazy?”
“What’s that?”
“I’m adopted.”
I paused mid-roll, my eyes flickin’ over to her. “For real?”
“Yeah. Since I was three.” She shifted in her seat like she was deciding if she should even tell me this shit, but then it started pourin’ out. “My birth parents… let’s just say they weren’t in a position to take care of me. My mom was young and in a bad situation, my dad was in and out of trouble. The state stepped in, and I ended up with the Harrisons, an amazing, loving black family.
I sparked up, listenin’.
“They’re amazing people,” she went on. “Middle class, big on education. They never made me feel like I was… less theirs because of how I came to them. They gave me everything I needed to be successful. But it wasn’t perfect, you know? Growing up in a neighborhood and going to school where I was the only adopted kid in my school… I had to prove myself constantly. People had these assumptions about me before I even opened my mouth.”
“And you proved ‘em wrong, right?” I asked.
She laughed, soft but proud. “Every single time. Straight A’s. Debate team. Captain of the track team. I got a full ride to college. I could’ve gone anywhere, but I stayed close to home because I wanted to give back to the community I grew up in.”
I nodded, ‘cause that shit was very impressive. “That’s why you teach?”
“Yeah,” she said, smilin’ wider now. “Third grade. My kids are everything to me. Some of them come from rough backgrounds, and I make sure they know they’re capable of more than people expect. I push ‘em but I love on ‘em too. I want to be the person for them that I needed when I was their age.”
For a minute, I just watched her talk. The way her eyes lit up when she spoke about her students… it made me like her even more.
