Author: B-Low
"CHANGING PLACES Vol #1"
Chapter 1
A Good Thing Turned Bad
The streets of the Windy City in the late eighties were filled with drugs, prostitutes, pimps, hustlers, and gang bangers. Growing up in this area was a challenge to those who populated it, which were basicly poor black people.
Life was especially challenging for a young female by the name of Davida Brooks. Being eye candy to every brother in the hood created a popular demand for Davida, and gave her this attitude of “I know I look good." Davida was a fairly good girl outside of her thing for smoking weed, partying, and dressing in the latest fashions. Her male friends provided her with these things frequently, competing to win her prize. Nevertheless, she did have a lil game about herself that was inherited from the lifestyle of her street savvy father. She knew that the only thing a man wanted from her was what was in between her legs.
She would go out with a guy for a few months and then set him up by having one of her friends approach him so she would have a reason to break up before they had sex. All she was interested in was finding someone who was willing to support her habits and provide the things she desired. Davida wasn’t into sex because she was still a virgin, but that didn’t keep the boys from trying.
Everyday on her way to school for the past few months this boy would always try to get her attention. He would say things like, “What’s up lil moma" never getting her to pay him any mind. Talking to guys in her neighborhood was against her rules. She didn,t pay him any attention at first trying to stick to her guns, but Harold was persistent and charming unlike most of the guys who lived in her neighborhood. Harold wasnt discouraged though, he was a player.
She eventually determined that he was kind of cute. And she knew that he wasn’t standing on the corner to just be hanging out. Harold had some hustle about his self, in her book that meant he could be victimized. The next time Harold spoke to Davida she responded, which was a shock to Harold seeing the way she was always acting stuck up. He took advantage of this opportunity to lay his game down. “Damn, I didn’t think you could talk." “I just haven’t been having the best days lately," she lied. “ If you don’t mind me asking, did something exciting happen in your life or did you just snap out of your state of depression. You know what, you don’t have to answer that." Davida couldn't help but to cut a grin seeing Harold cheesing the way he was. She said, “I feel better now.” "All that matters is that you’re talking now, and what is even better is that its to me. You think you feel good enough to start talking to me everyday now?" “Yeah, if you talk to me, and not holler, hey lil mama!" “Well, im going to need your name for that, what’s your name so I can holler it when I see you?” “What’s your name?" “Harold, and yours?” “Davida.” “You gonna let me call you?” “I don’t give my number out, but you can give me your number." That was another one of Davidas’ rules, not to give her number out. Harold thought that all girls say that same thing and never call, but in any case it would be her loss if she doesnt call. He gave her the number anyway and zeroed in on her butt shaking as she walked away.
Davida was hesitant to call because she start thinking about what she was about to do to Harold. Having thoughts about how it may turn out, caused her not to call him. For a whole week Harold didn’t speak when he seen Davida even though she was looking better and better to him everyday that passed. He said to his self “I have to have that girl."
The next time he saw Davida he charmed her. Harold gave one of the youngens a dollar to walk up to Davida and give her something. It was a note he had written taped to a rose along with a Isley Brothers tape he had bought. Harold had coached the youngster to say “Good things come to those who wait." Davida was overwhelmed with the type of emotions she didn’t usually allow herself to feel. She read the note that said: I couldn’t talk to you, but I needed you to hear the way I feel about you, just in case you cared. So, listen to this and think about me. After reading the note she lifted the rose to her face and heavily inhaled, then smiled. No boy had ever bought her roses.
Harold watched from inside the corner store with a devilish smile upon his face. Davida thought about giving him a call later after sniffing the roses a tenth time. While at home, Harold had crossed her mind constantly and she finally came to the conclusion that she could bend the rules a little bit this one time, being that he was soo sweet, cute, and a hustler. Finally she called Harold. They spoke on the phone until 1:00 a.m. talking about themselves. This wasn’t like Harold, he was strictly about freaking, not falling in love. They made plans to see each other the next day, and all that night the only thing she could think about was Harold. When the time came for them to meet up, Davida had gotten herself fixed up and mentally prepared to deal with him in case he tried to make a move on her.
Harold picked her up and explained that he had a picnic planned for the day. This move got him plenty pussy on dates. When she got in the car it smelled just like weed. Davida hurriedly asked if he had smoked all the grass up because she wanted to hit it. Harold told her to open the ashtray and the weed and papers were in there. She rolled up, lit it, and thought “oh yeah, I got me another one, but I might have to play him a little longer because this weed is fire." By the time they got to the park they were blowed. To her surprise Harold had everything in order for the picnic. Throughout the entire time of the picnic Harold was making moves on Davida but she rejected every one. Harold was outraged after he dropped her off because he had struck out.
The following three times he took her out, he still had no luck. Randomly, Harold had asked Davida to a Patti LaBelle concert. She gladly accepted his offer. While going to pick her up he stopped by the pawn shop and paid for the chain he had put on layaway to surprise her. When he pulled up, he honked and Davida came right out. When she opened the door to sit down she seen a box sitting on the seat with a ribbon wrapped around it. She said “What’s this?" “Just grab it and get in." She picked the box up and sat in the car. Harold said “I wanted you to look and feel extra special tonight so I got you something to make that happen, open it." She opened it and her eyes lit up at the sight of the gold necklace with the moon medallion dangling from it. “You like it?" She said “yes!" “Well, lean over here and let me put it on for you." When she leaned over, Harold connected the chain on her neck then kissed her softly. She didn’t try to reject his kiss because she thought the gesture was sweet, but quickly thought to her self that no matter how nice the gesture was, he still wasn’t getting any coochie.
They enjoyed their selves at the concert. He was furious that Davida asked to be taken home right after the concert was over. He had thoughts of getting it on tonight and it wasn’t looking good. On the way home Harold asked Davida with a confused expression on his face “Don’t you want to be my girl baby?" She replied “Harold I like you but im just not ready for a relationship yet, and I don’t think you are either." Harold argued that, but Davida didn’t change her feelings. Harold was pissed and tired of playing Cassanova.
Harold had a problem with PCP (wet, gorilla piss, water). When you smoked this drug it would make you do some crazy things, like get naked. He knew she liked smoking weed, so he plotted to dip some of the joints that he was going to smoke with Davida to get her out of her clothes.
Davida called on a Friday and said she wanted to go out. He told her “cool” but reluctantly because he usually made good money hustling on Fridays. When he picked her up he knew she would ask about some weed. When she did, he told her “baby I already got one rolled, look in the ashtray." She lit the stick and said “this weed smells funny”. Harold told her that it was indo and it was supposed to smell like that. About three minutes later she confessed that she was high as a smoke detector, and didn’t want to go to the club, she just wanted to chill.
Harold had already been driving towards the park. Before they got there she had already started tripping and stripping. The park was empty, which was perfect for what Harold had in mind. Harold tried to kiss on her but she denied him, so Harold knowing that she was high and tripping off the PCP forced his self on her. She struggled a little but he pinned her down. When he finished, Davida saw the blood from where her chastity had been stolen, and freaked out. She jumped out of the car and start running thru the park yelling “I lost my baby!” Harold was laughing because he knew the drugs had her tripping. She actually thought that she had just experienced a miscarriage. Harold ran after her and grabbed her. She hugged him and started crying hysterically. He told her to come with him, then he made her put her clothes on inside of the car. Afterwards Harold drove off heading towards the hood, smiling because he got what he wanted.
Harold was going to take her over Squeekys’ house until she came down off of the PCP. He was happy because he had finally scored and knew that she wouldn’t remember a thing after she came down. On the way there she start having hot flashes and passed out. He pulled over and brought her too by splashing the Gin that he had in the car on her face. By the time he got up the road a few miles, she passed out again. Only this time when he tried to bring her back to consciousness she wouldn’t wake up. He opened her eyelids and her eyes were rolled back in her head and he didn’t think that she was breathing. Harold panicked and a hundred different things started running thru his head. The first thought was, I am going to go to jail for murder. He pondered for a minute, then he decided to put her in the alley where she lived.
Davida had PCP in her system and junkies were found dead oftenly in this area, the police would assume she died of a drug overdose. He made sure no one was out, then took her out of the car. He sat her down with her back up against the wall of the building and whispered to her “baby im sorry," then got in his car and drove off.
Harold had never killed anyone and this situation had him stressing. His PCP habit got worse, then worser. He left the West Side and relocated to the South Side. He had become so depressed that he start doing other drugs and eventually evolved into a crackhead.
Chapter 2
The Consequences Of Your Decisions
Davida was still high and sat in the alley for a whole day and a half balled up holding her knees, petrified thinking that she was lost. She eventually tired and fell asleep. When Davida regained her consciousness she realized where she was at and got up heading towards her apartment. She was wondering why in the hell she was outside and tried to recall how she got there. The smell from the Gin was still on her which was puzzling because she didn’t drink. She noticed that there was blood on the crouch of her pants as well. When she got in the house she checked the clock to figure out what day it was. Then, she checked the calendar and seen that it wasn’t time for her period yet. The swelling from the rape had gone down so she stood dumbfound wondering why she was so sore. While taking a shower she thought about what could have happened and nothing came to her. While drying off and looking for something to wear she seen the flyer to the club that she was going to that night.
Slowly things start coming back to her. The first thing she did was call Harold to see if he could help her remember what might have happened. When she phoned Harold the number was disconnected. She start thinking back on that night. She remembered having Harold to pick her up, and she remembered getting in the car with him. She also recalled smoking the weed and the weed smelling funny. She then realized he had taken advantage of her. But why, when she was starting to like him, she had even been considering letting him be her first. About a week had passed and Davida had been feeling sick lately throwing up and fatigued, and on top of that her period was four days late. Confused, she picked up the phone and dialed the hospital to make an appointment. She was concerned about the possibility of having contracted a STD. When she went to the hospital, her doctor, Dr Kowolski did a thorough check on her and had asked her if she had been assaulted. She did have some bruises on her from the struggle she put up, but she still denied his observation. He then told her she was fine except for the fact that she was pregnant. "WHAT!!"
She left and broke down in tears as everything start coming to her. The only thing that was going on in her head was the question of if she should keep the baby. Morally she knew that it was the right thing to do by keeping it, but from a financial standpoint she couldn't afford to.
The discovery of her pregnancy had shook her up and she became kind of religious reading the bible every day. She decided that aborting the baby would be wrong in the eyes of GOD. Although she loved her bible and her religion she knew that she had to support her child. Davida decided to get a job and start hustling on the side selling weed. She knew a lot of people who smoked through her former weed smoking days. She figured she could earn enough to get by during the pregnancy.
She did pretty good for a while. The guys in the hood would buy from her just to try to sleep with her. This, she used to her advantage. She had worked her job until she was seven months which was the time her employer relieved her. She was too big to bend and move, and too tired to be effective. After reaching this condition the neighborhood thugs robber her. They only retrieved one hundred dollars because that was all she kept in the house at one time. One of the robbers hit her in the mouth trying to see if she was lying or going to come off of some more money. From that point on she had a life change. She became disgusted with anything associated with drugs or the streetlife, it was just too dangerous.
When she bore her child, she named him Melvin. Melvin was a ugly baby, but she still loved him. Davida always read to Melvin and tried teaching him everything she could, mindless of his age. He was a smart lil dude. Davida didn’t want to leave her son with anyone so she started her own business with the money she had saved so she could stay at home with him. She knew how to cook very well so she started a catering service out of her apartment. She would make plates for the people on the block, then she start baking cakes and cookies putting them in corner stores and restaurants giving the owners a small percentage of her profit.
Davida did o.k. for a few years making ends meet. She was resourceful and bought all of Melvins clothes and the things she needed second hand to save. As Melvin got older Davida kept him at home and taught him at home, because she didn’t want to send him to school due to what he might learn. She took night classes to receive a degree in child psychology. Melvin was a good child because he wasn’t exposed to anything bad. Davida kept him busy in the house. She would have him perform the chores she laid-out and when he finished he was instructed to read for a hour. She would also have him washing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, and made sure he kept his room clean and organized. He would have to copy a page of the dictionary if he didn’t do as told. That dictionary was copied more than once over the years.
When she took Melvin out with her he would notice other children playing together. He didn’t have any friends and wondered what it felt like to have friends. He start watching the children play from the window in their apartment and fantasized about playing along with them in the streets. He was becoming curious.
Davida had Melvin trained to go to sleep before she went to school at night. One time he had gotten up in the middle of the night, awaken by gun shots. Melvin awoke and seen a light coming in from outside and went to the window to look out of it. When he looked out he seen children in the street playing. They were used to the gunshots and just kept playing amongst themselves.
Melvin looked at the time and went looking for his mom, but she wasn’t in the house. Melvin got scared and stayed up crying all night for his moma. When Davida came home and found him in the condition he was in, she consoled Melvin and explained that she has to leave at night for a couple hours. She told him that if he wakes up and doesn’t find her, don’t be alarmed because she would be back soon.
Sooner than later it got to the point to where Melvin would get up when his mom was away at school, just to look out the window and watch the children play. Melvin wanted to play with the others so bad he start opening the window just to listen while the kids played. One of the young boys noticed that he was always in the window and yelled up to him. First Melvin was embarrassed that he was caught spying and moved away from the window. The boy gathered the rest of his friends and told them that tomorrow Melvin would be looking down on them. "Watch and see," he said
Sure enough when the next day came Melvin was in position. This time the boy yelled up to Melvin not to be scared when he spotted him. He ducked down and hesitated a minute before finally inching his head over the window seal. The young boy asked Melvin his name and he told him. The boy said “My name is Petey." Instantly he made a friend from a distance. "Hey Melvin, why don’t you come out and play.” “I cant.” “Why not?” “Because my mom wont let me.” “Call her to the window and let me ask her!” "She’s not home right now.” “Then how is she gonna know?” Melvin thought about that for a minute. Then Petey said “Come on Melvin she wont know, just don’t lock the door so you can get back in the house before she comes home, that’s what I always do.” “I don’t know Petey” “Come on mann, we need another player on our team” “But I don’t know how to play kickball.” “I’ll teach you, just come on."
Melvin put his shoes on and made sure the door wasn’t locked before he went downstairs. Petey told Melvin to watch him and to just do what he did when they started the kickball game. He explained the rules to Melvin as they went along. Melvin caught on quickly of course since he already had an ideal of how to play from watching out the window. The kickball game turned into football, then turned into hide and go seek. It had gotten late but Melvin was having so much fun he never realized that night had fallen until he heard Davida yelling “Melvin Brooks bring your ass over here right now." Petey and the others were startled by the tone of her voice. Melvin looked at them and thought "I knew I shouldn’t have came out of the house." Davida start swatting at his behind in front of everyone, holding him by the arm all the way upstairs. When they got in the house she whooped him with a belt and sent him to his room.
A little later she came in and spoke “I ought to be still beating your butt for leaving that door open like that. Boy don’t you know somebody could have came in here and took everything we own, then went and sold it for a …..,” she caught herself before she said it because she didn’t want him knowing about that stuff. Davida was glad she was graduating soon because she was starting to worry about Melvin.
Melvin never snuck out after that for a long time. He would just watch the kids play and whatever else took place in the street. Melvin watched from his window the same kid he snuck out to play with, murdered by a loose pitbull. He was looking out the window and seen a teenage boy walking two massive looking pitbulls. As he stopped to holler at one of his partners an argument occurred in the barbershop and a gun fight broke out. One of the men ran out of the barbershop and the shooting was taken out into the street. Stray bullets were flying and the guy who was holding the dogs lost his grip as one of the pits panicked and pulled away from the sound of the shots. The little boy that Melvin had made friends with from the window ran by one of the dogs. The dog attacked him as he was trying to pass, and when the dog bit Peteys leg he fell to the ground. The dogs were street fighting dogs and were trained to go for their victims neck. The dog attacked Petey's neck next and locked on it. By the time someone realized it, the little boy was being bitten. The dog had been on him for about ninety seconds. He was choking the boy and had mangled about a forth of his neck. The owner got up and ran over to try to get the dog to take off his lock. He wouldn’t let go so the guy from the barbershop raised his gun and shot the dog. The owner of the dog start cursing and voicing threats. He ran off though, before the ambulance and police arrived because he knew he would go down if he was still around when the police got there. When the ambulance arrived Petey was dead. That incident really convinced him to stay in the house.