Pink Lips (30 page)

Once the bus arrived, Zeek stepped up on the bus and took the first available window seat. He still couldn't believe he'd been fired. He shook off the thought as his eyes started to water again.

“Damn, I'm such an asshole,” he said as he thumped his head against the glass.

He peered dejectedly out of the window as the bus left downtown and headed back to his neighborhood. His surroundings altered drastically as the business buildings turned into rundown row houses, and the professional working class shifted to corner boys and drug addicts. Zeek shook his head as the U.S. Capitol came into view. The immaculate structure represented a country that attracted millions of tourists from around the world. It also symbolized the power and security that every country respected.

Damn, there's such a thin line between wealth and poverty. I gotta find a way to get in between,
Zeek thought as the bus moved deeper into the hood.

Zeek arrived back at his house but didn't bother to go in. He sat down on the porch steps and tried to clear his head. He was so distressed from losing his job that he didn't want to make it worse by sitting in an empty house. All Zeek's friends were at work so it made him feel even worse about being unemployed again. Zeek decided to call his girlfriend and tell her the bad news. He knew she would understand. Zeek needed someone to talk to, someone who could console him.

Zeek pulled out his cell phone and was about to dial her number until he saw his best friend, Lonzo, walking toward him. Zeek
forgot Lonzo went to work around this time of morning, and was caught off-guard as Lonzo quickly approached. He pushed his phone back into his pocket and decided to wait until Lonzo was gone before he called his girlfriend.
I can't let him know that we're back together yet,
Zeek said to himself as Lonzo crossed the street.

“Zeek, what are you doin' here, man?” Lonzo asked as he approached the walkway.

“Young, I got fired,” Zeek said, giving him a defeated look.

“What you get fired for?” Lonzo asked with slight irritation in his voice.

Zeek started to shake his head out of disappointment as he waited for the words to leave his mouth. “I was late for work again. I missed the damn bus. I tried to hurry up and clock in, but fat ass Dan caught me. I was only like five minutes late. I don't think he should have fired me over that, though.”

Lonzo shook his head in amazement that Zeek didn't see his job termination coming. “Come on, Slim. You know you was fakin' wit' that job. You were always late or not showin' up. People see that as being irresponsible.”

Zeek knew what Lonzo had said was right, and that was his whole reason for wanting to make a change. Zeek wished he could be more like Lonzo; he always had it together. He'd had the same job for over five years and never missed work. Even though Lonzo had been Zeek's best friend, they were totally different when it came to their work ethic. Zeek could have easily admitted he deserved what he got, but he didn't.

“I ain't sweatin' it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I can always get another job. That place wasn't for me anyway,” he assured Lonzo.

“Man, you know how hard it is to find a job right now? It took you months to get the one you had.”

“True, but what 'bout ya spot? Ain't they hirin'?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah they hirin', but I'm not tellin' them about yo' ass. You ain't gonna have me lookin' bad. Shit…you need to see if you can get your job back at the copy center.”

“Come on, man. I knew you since kindergarten and you won't stick ya neck out for me?” Zeek asked as he held his arms out wide, completely stunned by Lonzo's disposition.

“Nope. The way you carried every job in the past gives me enough reason not to. So if I was you, I'd try to get back in that rental office you used to work for.”

Even though Zeek badly needed a job, he knew for certain that going back to the rental office wasn't an option. “Naw, I'm good off that. There was nothin' but bamas in that place. Those people got on my damn nerves.”

“Well, any job beats sittin' on this hot-ass porch for the summer. If I was you, I'd get off my ass and make it happen. Ya dig?” Lonzo rebutted.

Instead of Zeek taking heed to what his boy was saying, he decided to blow him off. “Yeah, whatever,” Zeek said as he waved Lonzo off and looked away.

“Maybe you should look into doing some modeling or acting. You already got the body for it and the ladies think you're cute. Shit, if anything, you can at least be able to work with beautifulass women. What man wouldn't want that perk?”

Zeek did have that butter-brown skin and muscular physique that the ladies appreciated. His only drawback was that he never had any money.

Zeek looked up at Lonzo and shook his head. “Me be a model? Man, that's the dumbest shit you ever came up with.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Lonzo said as he checked his watch. “I'll get up wit' you later. I got to get to work before I'm late my damn self.”

Lonzo gave him dap and made his way down the street, while Zeek stayed on the porch with plenty to think about. Zeek then bent over, placed his hands on his face, and sighed. “What the hell am I going to do?”

P.O. Box 6505

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

© 2014 by Andre D. Jones

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means whatsoever. For information address Strebor Books, P.O. Box 6505, Largo, MD 20792.

ISBN 978-1-59309-562-8

ISBN 978-1-4767-5662-2 (ebook)

LCCN 2013950694

First Strebor Books trade paperback edition May 2014

Cover design:
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Cover photograph: © Keith Saunders Photos

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