Page 63 of Mr. Calloway

I found myself driving down a street that used to be my stomping grounds. That was when the days were good. Reducing my speed, I stopped when I spotted Best in her front yard. Best Harmon, the one person I knew could probably get me out of this rut, but I had tarnished any and everything that would give her the heart to help me. It didn’t matter how bad I wanted to hit the brakes and scream, "Call off the dog.” None of it mattered. My pride was too heavy to do so.

I sped by and continued trying to figure out a way to beat that jungle nigga at his own game. I drove until I ended up back at Naheem’s. No one stood outside like the time before, which I found odd. I parked the car, got out, and went inside the building. The hall reeked of piss and poverty. Had things gotten so bad that Naheem didn’t see a way out of this? We all had fallen from where we started, but it was only I who was left standing. It had to account for something.

As I made my way up the steps, I checked back to see if maybe one of Jungle’s people had come in. However, it was merely a homeless man dragging his feet and a cart.

“Say, man, do you have?—”

“I don’t have shit!” I snapped as I continued up the steps.

When I reached Naheem’s dilapidated door, I used my strength to push it and step inside. I glanced around, not sure what had truly led me here. Just as quickly as I changed my mind, a blow to my head sent me stumbling forward. Everything around me moved in a spinning motion. I touched the side of my head and glanced at my hands to see deep red blood.

“The hell,” I mumbled.

As I glanced up, a blurry vision of what I thought was a dog of some sort confused me. Or was it human? I couldn’t tell, but his voice was rather familiar.

“Ju-ju- Jungle?”

Another blow to my head, and suddenly everything went black.

Samara

Paige came from Morgan’s kitchen with cute blue and orange drinks. “Sleepover ready!” she squealed. “I made the cutest Zoo-Cove drinks.”

Morgan rolled her eyes. “Zoo-Cove?”

“Yes. It represents those who are a part of the Zoo and those who are a part of the Cove.”

“Girl, what?” Phoebe laughed.

Alyse plopped next to me. “I like the idea. It’s like bridging the gap between the two. You’re on the blue side, Morgan, and Samara is on the orange, while Paige, Phoebe, and I are a bit of both.”

To hear them talk about the Cove and Zoo made me think about Dio. I wanted to tell them that he and I were no longer together but didn’t know how. I knew they were all excited about what was to come now that the older Zoo men were allowing the younger ones to lead. While they continued arguing over blue and orange, I sent Dio a text saying I wanted to see him. I needed to make sure that even though a pause was placed on our relationship, our friendship still remained intact.

Phoebe reached over and grabbed a drink. “I don’t care what side I’m on. As long as Xavier and I are good, so am I. I swear his mouth makes you want to scream, but so does his?—”

“Phoebe!” Alyse screamed as she blushed.

Morgan smacked her lips. “Girl, please. You act like you and Peanut not finding somewhere to fuck every other day.”

We all laughed until Paige handed me a drink. “Are you and Dio good? You know, with everything that happened with your mother.”

I took a sip, only to see they all had now focused on me. “We’re cool,” I lied.

“Mmkay, girl. That doesn’t sound reassuring, but okay,” Phoebe said.

Just as I was about to respond, my phone lit up with a text from Dio, letting me know he was outside Morgan’s house. How the hell? Then I thought about all the other girls being here. I set my drink down and stood up.

“I’ll be right back, y’all,” I told them.

Morgan shook her head. “That nigga outside, ain’t he?”

I didn’t respond as I walked out the door. When I got out to the front, his G-wagon sat there with all his tinted windows rolled up. I hurried to the door and got in.

“Let’s go for a drive,” he said and took off.

“Um, I was having a sleepover with the girls,” I told him.

He took a quick glance at me and placed his focus back on the road. “It won’t take long, Mars. Besides, you said you wanted to see me.”