Free Keyshia and Clyde by Treasure E. Blue Page B

’bout another three or four g’s.” He nodded more to himself and asked, “Why you asked about that, anyway?”
    She put on her best sass face and said without hesitation, “ ’Cause I should get half!”
    Clyde stared at her as she returned his look without so much as blinking. He thought about all he’d put her through, plus the fact that she’d come back to get in the mix with that fool when she could have bounced with the knot of money he’d offered her.
    â€œI’ll give you two thousand,” he said, stone-faced.
    â€œThree thousand, plus half the jewelry,” she countered.
    â€œThree thousand, cash money now, and another two when I get back to the city.”
    Keyshia paused and looked at his face for a moment, then agreed. “All right,” she said slowly. She extended her hand and said as she rolled her eyes, “But money in hand is the best plan.”
    Clyde knew this girl was game tight as he reached in his pocket and counted out three thousand in front of her and put it in her hand. She took the money and put it in one hand and extended her hand once again. Clyde frowned as if she were buggin’. “Fuck you still got your hand out for? I told you I’ll hit you off with the jewelry money later.”
    Keyshia looked him in the eye again and said, “Don’t think I forgot the wallet you stole from me at Marshall’s that day. It’s time to pay the piper.” Clyde could only envy her tenacity, and he chuckled.
    Inside the huge mall, Keyshia looked around in awe; she had never seen so many stores under one roof. They walked together slowly, undecided about what store they should patronize first, until Keyshia spotted Macy’s. Her eyes lit up and she turned to Clyde. “Oh shoot, they got a Macy’s!”
    Clyde didn’t see what all the excitement was about. “So, you act like you ain’t ever been to a Macy’s before. You never went to the one on Thirty-fourth Street?”
    Keyshia was still ogling the store and answered, “Yeah, I been there plenty of times, but this is gonna be the first time I went there with money!” She grabbed Clyde by the arm. “Come on!”
    Clyde stood by and watched Keyshia try on pair after pair of shoes and one outfit after another. Every time she tried on a pair of anything, she posed for Clyde and asked his opinion, which he gave her. For some reason, he enjoyed seeing her pick out clothes and shop wide-eyed like a child, as if she’d never had an experience like this before in her life.
    Glowing, Keyshia ran up to Clyde with yet another outfit on, waiting for him to give her his opinion. “Well”—she turned around—“how’s do I look with this on me?”
    Clyde noticed how whenever she was relaxed and calm, her country accent came out, but whenever she was angry, her language was straight out of the garbage can. He looked over Keyshia’s shoulder and watched a security guard standing fifteen feet away, watching their every move.
    Keyshia caught Clyde’s eyes and turned to where he was looking. She noticed the security guard acting as if he were concentrating on the rack in front of him. She turned back to Clyde and said, “You worrying ’bout Po-po behind you?” She sucked her teeth and told Clyde, “You ain’t got nothing to worry ’bout. We’s normal today, and you got to learn to play the role sometime. Acting like you belong here is how you get over.” She continued doing as she was and said, “Let that motherfucka look all he want, and ignore his ass. In the end he gon’ wind up feeling stupid.”
    Boxes of shoes were scattered all over the area where Keyshia sat. Trying on the last pair of shoes, she called the sales manager for the umpteenth time, and even Clyde knew the lady was getting frustrated with her finicky ways. “Yo, why you keep bothering that lady like