Free Game Over by Winter Ramos

years later. He introduced himself to me as Fab. At that time, he was in the beginning stages of his successful career. The first thing I noticed about him was his smile, chipped tooth and full lips. They were hot I admitted to myself silently. He worked them attractively as he talked to me. My eyes couldn’t leave them. We soon exchanged numbers.
    That night, I was under the impression that Fab wanted to get at me. The way he spoke, his body language, his words; all of it was smooth and attractive. Besides, how often does a man exchange numbers with a female without intending to get much more? After two weeks of talking on the phone and exchanging two way pages, he never said in exact words that he wanted to hook up with me. The conversation seemed more like the type two friends would have with each other. Still, I felt he had a crush on me. 
    At the time, Fab was on a promo run for his new single “Can’t Deny It .” He was traveling from city to city. When he was headed back to New York, he hit me up and wanted to hook up. By then I’d gotten a 2000 silver Honda Accord coupe funded from my dudes, but mostly from Paul. I drove from Delaware back to NYC to pick up him and his managers, Cheo and Webb, from Newark Airport. I knew Cheo and Webb from my younger days so I felt comfortable around them, especially Webb. We’d had a lot of dealings with one another, where we all chilled together, so it seemed only right. Also, Fab and I weren’t sleeping together so we were just homies kickin’ it like we’d done back in the hood.
    From the airport we drove through Queens to their two bedroom apartment. Now, obviously, after everything I’d seen and every one I’d been around in the industry, I had high expectations for Fab’s apartment. I was expecting floor to ceiling windows, sunken marble floors, expensive wall to wall furniture, walk-in closets full of clothes, two-storied ceilings. I expected his shit to be hot. After all, he had a song and video getting major airplay all over the radio and television.
    Boy, was I wrong.
    The spot resembled little more than a hole in the wall. There was absolutely no living room furniture. Clothes, dirty socks and sneakers were thrown everywhere. The kitchen sink was filled with dirty dishes. Flies were all over the place. Fab’s bedroom consisted of a mattress sitting on the floor and a box fan in the window. There was absolutely nothing Fabulous about Fab’s spot. The place was disgusting.  
    I don’t know why I did it. Maybe it was just the woman in me, but I put on some rubber gloves and started cleaning the house without anyone asking me to do so. The guys looked at me like I was crazy. I didn’t care. I just felt like maybe my cleanliness would rub off on them. By the time I was done, the entire spot smelled like Pine Sol.
    Even though the accommodations weren’t the best, since it didn’t bother the guys, it didn’t bother me. Since I cleaned it, I was able to deal with it. Besides, if I could get used to a dorm full of funky broads, I could deal with an apartment that housed three dudes. Shit, if anything, I enjoyed myself. Everything was sweet. We sat on the hard floors eating Chinese food, talking Hip Hop, watching movies and just vibing until we fell asleep. That night, I slept on the mattress with Fab. Think what you want but that’s all we did on that mattress. Sleep.
    The next morning came around. Fab had some things he needed to do in the city. His record label, Elektra , had booked him at a nice hotel. I drove him and the others to the hotel and waited. After they checked in, we all rolled out again and headed to the studio. Just like the night before at the apartment, I just fell in place. They treated me like I was one of them. They never tried anything. When they passed the blunt, I was included in the rotation. When they poured a cup, they made sure mine was filled too. They didn’t bite their tongues about anything so I didn’t bite mine neither.