Felix used to take women to Atlantic City for the weekend to impress them. Then he figured out he was silly for taking sand to the beach. With all the cocktail waitresses and showgirls prancing around in skimpy outfits, a playa like him was better off traveling alone.
“So, you guys,” Mike said halfway through our game. “Are you coming to see me in the play next weekend?”
“Damn, I almost forgot,” Felix said. “I’m supposed to be going out of town but I’ll cancel.”
Dwayne, Mike, and I were equally stunned. Usually Felix was all about Felix and wouldn’t alter plans for anyone.
“You’d really do that for me?” Mike asked.
Felix threw the ball into his chest. “Of course. How long have we all been boys? You’ve been wanting to do this acting gig for a while and now it seems like you’re about to get that big break. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
That much was true. Mike had made some waves in the industry but starring in the latest Strebor Entertainment play was as big as it got in the African-American community. This one was called Curveballs and Mike had one of the male leads. It was about a love triangle involving a female veterinarian, a famous baseball player and a homeless man. Mike was playing the pretty boy, the baseball player who’d been caught cheating on his fiancée after making it in the pros. She’d dumped him and sent him on his merry way. It was all good, the money, the fame, and the women, until he got hurt. Now he was coming back home, trying to win her back, but she wasn’t having it. Instead, she was crazy over a homeless brother she’d met by accident. It was written by a New York Times bestselling author and Mike had let me peruse the script. It seemed pretty hot and I was looking forward to attending. I’d already asked Rayne to go with me.
“I’ll definitely be there,” I told Mike. “You know I’ve got your back.”
Dwayne said, “And you can count me in as well. I already bought tickets for me, my folks, my grandparents, and my lady.”
“Who’s your lady?” Mike and Felix both asked in unison; nosy asses.
It had been awhile since Dwayne had considered a female “his lady.” He wasn’t a dog like Felix but he wasn’t trying to get serious with anyone either. He’d date but rarely brought women around us for an introduction. We’d only hear fleeting tales of this woman and that woman. How good she was in bed; how her culinary skills were because Dwayne loved to eat. His momma was one of those old-fashioned Southern women who believed she had to have a full-course meal on the table every night.
We were all standing there, having paused the game, waiting for a response.
“Her name’s Opal,” he said. “Opal Reid.”
“That name sounds familiar to me,” Felix immediately chimed in. “She’s not someone I used to bone, is she?”
While I knew Felix was joking—at least halfway—Dwayne didn’t appreciate the question. “Fuck you, Felix! Do you ever think with anything other than your dick?”
Felix chuckled and looked up toward the right, like he was heavy in thought. “Honestly, no. I think about money but most of the time it’s all about my dick.”
I laughed then, remembering Arjay’s comment about men only concentrating on money and pussy.
“What’s so funny?” Dwayne aske
d, about to get militant with me. “That’s the problem with you brothers. Life’s about more than sex. Half the brothers in the jail are in there because they were trying to impress some hoochie; support them because they’re too lazy to support themselves.”
Mike chimed in on that one. “I disagree. Sure, some men have been stupid enough to let a woman talk them into a life of crime but a real man makes his own decisions. There isn’t a pussy on the face of the earth that could make me sling dope or commit any type of crime.”
“Amen to that,” Felix said. “Those idiots are locked up because they fell for that easy money game. I love money but I work for my shit.”
Dwayne went there then. “What about all the innocent brothers locked up?”
“Hold up,” Mike said. “A minute ago you were preaching about how half the brothers in jail are in there because of women.”
“Yeah,” Dwayne replied, “and the other half are in there because they were railroaded.”
“Whatever,” I said in disgust. “Are we going to finish the game or what? I need to make tracks because I have something to do later.”
“Your new girlfriend?” Felix asked.
“Yeah, what of it?” I replied.
“Don’t get nasty, Yardley. I’ve apologized over and over about Roxie.”
“And I’ve told you over and over again, Felix, you can have Roxie and she can have you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I sit there and vibe with some of the brothers when I work the late shift and some of them are fucking brilliant. I’m telling you. They’re in there writing novels, memoirs, getting their education, practicing jailhouse law, all of that.” Dwayne was trying his best to change the subject back. “One young brother was valedictorian at his high school last year and now he’s doing twenty to life for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”