Dirty Work: Part 1

***

The girls came out of the H&M store clutching several shopping bags. It was the fifth store they had been to on 125th Street. They felt like queens as they tried on different outfits and paid cash for the best. One Hundred Twenty-Fifth was always active and fun. They had a girls’ day out, laughing and clowning around, piquing the fellows they came across. Three beautiful girls smiling and dressed nicely—they were a girl group in the public.

After they were done shopping, the girls wanted to show off their new clothes right away and do it someplace crowded. They thought about the park—St. Nicholas Park. It was late afternoon and the perfect time to stunt and shine. So, they hurried back to the buildings, changed clothes, did make-up and hair, and then climbed back into Brandy’s old gray Chevrolet Malibu and headed toward the park.

***

St. Nicholas Park was crowded with sweaty Negros playing a pickup game while girlfriends and admiring ladies watched from the sidelines. The crowd was screaming and playing children occupied the playgrounds while their parents sat nearby and talked amongst themselves.

There was a slight breeze in the park, and it was a welcoming one for those exhausting themselves with activity.

But the place to be was where the men played chess. Some of the smartest people in the city came to play on the stone chess tables in the park. There would be crowds of people around, watching move for move. It sometimes looked like a basketball tournament was happening, or like observers quietly witnessing a golf tournament. Like golf, chess was a quiet game, and lots of money was involved.

Eshon and her girls strutted into the park and made their way toward the playground, where the men were seated playing chess at the stone tables.

Immediately, the girls received catcalls and lingering stares. They showed off skin and cleavage, but not too much, wanting to leave something to the imagination. Their sneakers were Nikes, white and clean. Their hair was long and silky, even if some of them were wearing weaves. But they all felt good and sexy. The boys were watching them, hungry for their attention, and they ate it up like it was a good scoop of ice cream on a hot summer day.

From a short distance, Eshon saw Kid in his wheelchair, playing a game. He looked pensive. The men around were all ages, and a few were drinking jasmine tea and eating muffins made by Mr. Harry Walker, a regular at the park. Kid was playing against a guy with a white beard reminiscent of Santa Claus. He was mostly jolly and cheery—when he wasn’t losing—and he was a great player. The men were playing for a hundred dollars a game, and already The Kid had won four hundred dollars.

Eshon and her girls approached.

Kid was always focused on his games, scrutinizing every move and continuing to win, but there was one person that could distract him from an intense match, and that person was Jessica. When he saw her standing nearby, looking sexy in a white tennis skirt and sleeveless shirt, his concentration broke. He looked at her and smiled far and wide. He had a serious crush on the L.A. native.

“You know he likes you, girl,” Eshon whispered in Jessica’s ear.

“And what I’m supposed to do with a cripple?”

“You can get creative,” Eshon quipped.

“Ha-ha, you funny, bitch. You take him then.”

“I want his brother. You know that.”

“And I want a man that can walk, not some crippled hombre with dead legs and a dead dick,” Jessica said seriously.

“You foul, Jessica.”

“No, you foul, muchacha. I know what I like, and that’s a hombre that can please me good. Why we here anyway? I wanna see some real niggas in this park.”

“Do you then,” Eshon said, defeated.

Brandy just stood to the side, listening to them talk and not bothering to put in her two cents.

Kid was happy that his dream girl Jessica was finally watching him play a game. Now he had to show off for her and win another one. He waved her way, a simple hi, but she didn’t wave back. She stood there, deadpan and not interested in men playing chess.

Kid didn’t take any offense at it. He put his focus back into playing his game. He was thinking five to six moves ahead.

Before he knew it, Jessica had walked away. Brandy too.

Eshon remained behind. She found chess somewhat interesting. Besides, she didn’t mind getting closer to Kip’s brother. Maybe he could tell her where he was today.

Half an hour later, Kid won the match by controlling the center of the board. It was a strategy that consisted of placing pieces so they could attack the central four squares. He also had his bishop controlling the center from afar. His opponent wasn’t happy, but he paid Kid the hundred dollars he owed. Kid was undefeated. He did a spin in his wheelchair and boasted.

Eshon laughed. He couldn’t walk, but he had an upbeat attitude.

“I want a rematch. Make it two hundred this time,” the white-bearded man said.

“One moment.” Kid wheeled himself from the table and rolled toward Eshon. “Hey, where’s your friend?” he asked, speaking about Jessica.