Page 56 of Street Heiress 3
I think this hit me for a lot of reasons. Uzi felt like my personal therapist up there, explaining exactly how I felt when I stepped into this warehouse months ago. All those feelings that she spoke on were the feelings that I had. Just angry, and hurting, running around like everything was okay with me, but these big green eyes were going to tell on me every time. I knew that Uzi didn’t give me this award because of favoritism. I really did change with this course. I was nowhere near the same personthat I was when I walked in here for the first time, after serving my time in jail. To see that change in me, and to look at me as a woman of steel meant a lot to me.
“Come on, Riot girl,” Uzi said to me over the mic.
I was able to get it together, and I stood up out of my seat. I walked to the front, shaking everyone’s hands again, and when I made it to Uzi, we embraced one another. She let me know again that she was proud of me. She put a custom plaque in my hand. I was just expecting another certificate.
Wiping at my eye with my right hand, I held the plaque in my left, looking down at it. This is how it was written…
The Iron Woman Award
Awarded To
Riot St. James
For hard work, dedication, and resilience
Awarded By Uzi’s Gurlz Initiative
After looking at it, I went ahead, and stood next to Uzi, so that we could take more pictures. After they got enough pictures, I headed back for my seat.
This event was hosted outside. The weather was nice today, so none of the girls were complaining about the Florida heat. We were out here in the back lot of the warehouse. Usually, we would come out here to do drills, and all it ever was out here was a bunch of land. This afternoon, it looked different. She transformed it into something softer for this ceremony for us.
The way she had our chairs lined up in rows made it feel like graduation. She went with the colors black and pink, so all throughout the outside space, there were a bunch of pink and black balloons, that framed the stage area. Off to the side, those same colors were used for the linen runners on the long tables, that held all kinds of catered foods, and desserts. Drinks, and everything were lined up over there too. From the decorations alone, you could tell that Uzi spent a pretty penny. This didn’tsurprise me though. Everything that she did, she would go big, so this was right up her alley.
She wanted to keep it small and intimate, having just the members of the class, along with the staff here, so it wasn’t like our families were off to the side, coming out to celebrate this moment with us.
The ceremony part was over, and Uzi told us that we could start opening our gifts, eating, taking advantage of the photo booths, and everything else that was here for us. Since I was so thirsty to see what was inside of this duffle bag, I ended up standing out of my chair, and I placed the bag on the seat.
A lot of the girls were digging inside the bags, wanting to see what Uzi gifted us. The first thing that I pulled out was a beautiful hot pink leather jacket, and on the back of it, it read, ‘Uzi’s Gurlz’. My name was custom on the front of it. Right there were a name tag would go. I held it up in the air, turning it around, really trying to get a feel of how nice it was.
I pulled out a hot pink silk pajamas afterwards, and this really had me drooling because I could see me walking around the house now in this two pieced silk pajamas that had the same ‘Uzi’s Gurlz’ stamp on it, but with my name on the front.
Custom house shoes were inside as well. When I saw the hot pink gun bag, that’s when I rubbed my hands together, ready to see what was in there. It was a fully bedazzled pink, and black Glock. The gun was nice as hell, as I held it in my hands, sliding the slide back, making sure the chamber was empty. It was so pretty that I would probably just keep this hung around the house for decoration. I couldn’t see myself bringing it and carrying it with me every day.
There was pepper spray, a pocketknife, and a taser inside. Just any small knickknacks that we were going to need to protect ourselves. I pulled out a comb, thinking that it was just a regular comb for my hair, but there was a blade attached to it. Damnnear three minutes passed, and I was still pulling shit out of the bag. It made all the sense in the world now why this bag was so heavy.
Once I went through all the things, I placed them back in the bag, and I didn’t leave out right away, like I usually would. I stuck around. Grabbed a plate, so that I could fix me something to eat. I didn’t know the girls here like that because I didn’t really talk to them. I remember Uzi telling me that I didn’t make myself approachable, so they were probably afraid to talk to me.
I saw that there was an open chair at one of the tables, so that’s where I went. With my food in my hands, I sat it down, and you would be surprised how nice bitches could be, when I just put myself in a situation to look friendly, and not have this mug on my face all the time.
The entire table spoke to me. I spoke back, and as they were talking, I even jumped in one or two times.
I sat out here with them for about an hour, until my phone buzzed, and I saw that Demi was texting me, telling me that she was outside. She was the one coming to get me today. She wanted me to hang with her, and Daylani. I told her what my plans were for the day, so she agreed to come pick me up.
I texted her back, letting her know that I was coming. After that, I tossed my plate, and my cup in the trash, grabbed my purse, my duffle bag with all my gifts, and my award. I would have to head back into the warehouse, so that I could get out from the front door. Uzi, and some of her staff members were standing around, talking, and laughing amongst each other. She saw that I was coming over, so she stopped in her conversation with them, and she made her way over to me.
“You heading out?” she asked me.
“Yeah. My best friend is out there. Thank you again for everything, Uzi. I appreciate you again for the award, and for being patient with me. I know that I wasn’t the easiest personto get through when I started, so thank you for not counting me out. I’m going to miss this class. I felt like I was a part of something when I came down here. I used to look forward to coming out here in the mornings,” I shared with her, and my words made her smile.
“You don’t have to make this the end for you, Riot. I got so many girls that’s coming for the next class that’s getting ready to start up in a couple of months. On those mornings when you don’t have anything to do, you can come out and help train. You love being in the range, so you can get on staff, and help in there. They going to respect you in here. With the award you won, the shit they probably already know about you in the streets, and how good that trigger finger is, they’ll have no choice but to respect you,” she told me. I fucked with that idea.
On those mornings when I wasn’t busy, I didn’t mind coming down and helping. The street shit that I had going on with Dolo, that typically wouldn’t start until the afternoon anyways.
“Alright. We can do something. I’ll call you so that we can work it out,” I let her know, and she smiled, telling me that that was cool.
I hugged her, and then I made my way inside the warehouse, so that I could walk out from the front. Demi was already parked. I quickly rushed over to her car. Not because I was ready to see her, but because I was ready to see Daylani.
I opened the back door, thinking that Daylani would be in the back, in her car seat, but she was up front. Demi was holding her, jumping her up and down in her lap, and her little butt was just laughing, and gurgling up a storm. When she saw me, her bottom lip immediately started quivering, and she went into a bull blown crying match. I knew that was her way of telling me that she missed me. It’s been a couple of weeks since she last saw me, and every time that I was gone for too long, this would be her reaction towards me.
