Page 8 of Haze
Gideon shook his head with a grin on his face. “Where we goin’, man?”
“Bring me to the dealership. I need to see someone about this car,” Haze replied.
“You know that sale was final,” Gideon reminded with a tone Haze didn’t really appreciate. Gideon had told Haze repeatedlynot to get that brand of car, but Haze had been hardheaded since the day he was born.
“And whatthatmean?” Haze asked. They both knew he would get what he wanted before he left that dealership—one way or another.
“Aight, look, are you gonna keep your cool in there, or do I need to drop you off, bring wifey home, and be ready to get active?”
“I can’t promise I’ll keep my cool, G. They got me fucked up. I dropped over half a mil’ on that damn car. They gonna feel me today, one way or another.” Haze’s foot bounced as he fought to control the chaotic energy within him. He’d been dealing with his rage since he was young. It was never misplaced. He was just an emotional being, so when he felt shit, he felt it deeply. There was no middle ground. He was either on zero or one hundred, whether he was happy, mad, or sad.
“Aight. I’ll drop you off and then be right back. Try to keep ya cool ’til I get back,” Gideon responded.
They both knew that wasn’t going to happen. Haze was about to turn up as soon as they stepped foot in the dealership. Gideon knew him well enough to know that, which was why Haze was sure his best friend offered to drop him off first. Haze needed to get that shit out at the right people before he could be calmed down. If Gideon went in there with him right away and tried to stop him from popping off, it would only make things worse. They understood each other as well as blood brothers would, and Haze appreciated that Gideon knew exactly what he needed at that moment.
It didn’t take them long to pull up to the luxury dealership. Frost Dynasty Luxury Automotive was the best in Desmore Bay. Every baller, politician, and celebrity out of the Bay bought from them. Haze himself was a long-standing customer of the dealership. In the back of his mind, the more logical part, heknew it wasn’t the dealership’s fault. The car he’d bought was notorious for being unreliable and breaking often. The irrational part of his brain was ready to flip over every table inside that damn dealership.
When Gideon pulled up to the front door, he turned toward Haze and looked him dead in the eye. “I’ll be right back. Contain that shit best you can, bro. I’ll call up to the police department just in case.”
Haze waved him off. He knew Gideon meant well, but Haze wasn’t trying to hear none of that at the moment.
“Bye, sis.” Haze opened his door.
“Be good, Haze,” Glimmer called out before he slammed the door shut.
With a devious glint in his eye, he walked right into the dealership and stopped in the middle of the showroom floor.
“One of you funky mothafuckas need to get me a manager, right the fuck now!” His voice bounced off the sleek floors and high ceilings. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him, which made his frown deepen. “Y’all deaf or somethin’? Manager, now!”
Several people jumped and then scurried away. He hoped like hell they were going to do what he told them to do.
He stood like a statue in the middle of the floor, next to millions of dollars’ worth of cars, with a scowl on his face. The people left in the vicinity stole looks at him and tried to pretend like they were busy. Haze scoffed. They needed to get lost if they knew what was good for them.
Finally, a short Black man with a bald spot at the top of his head rushed toward him. Haze’s lip turned up at the sight of the unidentifiable stain on the man’s blue button-up.
“Sir, I’m a manager here?—”
“Let me ask you somethin’, lil nigga,” Haze said, cutting the man off and immediately putting him in a headlock. “You’re aluxury dealership, right?” The man yelped in response, and Haze kissed his teeth. “That ain’t answer my question, dipshit. Is this a luxury dealership or not?”
“Y-yes,” the man said, barely able to breathe.
Haze chose that moment to pace the length of the showroom, with the manager still tucked under his arm. He stumbled along next to Haze, audibly choking. People gasped and moved out of Haze’s way.
Haze peeped one woman picking up a phone, to call the police, no doubt. He used his free hand to point a finger at her. “Don’t even think about it, lady. I have another arm that’ll be happy to meet your neck. I love a good two for one.” He winked at her and resumed pacing. “Let me ask you something, dipshit. What does luxury mean to you?”
“T-the best.” The manager gasped for air as tears streamed down his face.
Haze snapped his fingers with his free hand. “See, that’s what I thought, too, but if that’s the case, why the fuck is my brand-new car that I bought from your lot last week sitting on the side of the road like a piece of shit that can’t start?”
“I-I?—”
Haze let go of the man and pushed him toward the floor. He grabbed the blunt that was tucked behind his ear and lit it. After taking a pull, he said, “Y’all either need to give me my money back or trade that shit in for something new.”
“Sir, y-you can’t smoke in here,” the manager said with fear in his voice.
Haze ashed his blunt right on the floor as he stared at the man cowering on the floor in front of him. “I’m really about to beat yo’ ass. You know that?”
The manager scooted back on his ass across the floor as Haze took slow, lazy steps toward him with a maniacal grin on his face.
