Street Pharm Read Online Free Page A

and why we staying there.”
    Alyse shook her head. “That’s why America has so many enemies, because we have to be on top! What about changing our reputation so that we’re seen as a peaceful, caring country?”
    “Never gonna happen,” I said.
    Before she could say anything, the bell rang.
    As I was packing up my books, I could tell Alyse was watching me. But when I looked up, she turned away.
    I timed it so that we got to the door at the same time. Letting her go ahead of me, I said, “Sounds like you know your stuff, honey.”
    “Thanks. And do me a favor?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Don’t call me honey.”
    *  *  *
    I went to all my classes that day. I ain’t done that since elementary school. After Global History, I went to Earth Science, Gym, Math, and after lunch, a double-period of English. I was done by 2 p.m.
    Alyse was in all my classes except Gym and Math. She tried mad hard not to look at me, but I bet she was feeling me like I was feeling her. She had smooth, cocoa-brown skin, sweet pink lips, and a nice set of curves. The girl had style and class.
    Too bad I wasn’t looking for no girlfriend. If Young Drug Dealers of America were real, it would have a rule: No girlfriends.
    Now I ain’t saying no sex or no homegirls. But I think anything that takes your attention off the business is dangerous.
    My first girlfriend was a nut job named Tekeva. She spotted me one day in the park and put the word out that by the end of the day, I’d be hers. Tekeva had no problems getting me behind the clubhouse.
    “Y’ever kissed before?” she asked me, hands on her hips.
    “All the time.” Inside, I was shaking, but on the outside I kept my cool. “You?”
    “Son, I been tonguing since the fifth grade.”
    She didn’t know that I was in the fifth grade.
    “What’s wrong with you, son? You shy or something?”
    “Me?” No one ever called me shy before. I wasn’t gonna let anybody do it now. I took a step closer.
    She did the rest. Grabbing my skinny shoulders, she squeezed me tight. I got all excited, feeling her little tits rub against my chest and her grape bubblegum breath in my face.
    She kissed me. I tilted her head just like I seen on TV. Then she went and ruined it by opening her lips so wide, I thought I’d fall in. Her tongue shot inside my mouth.
    She pulled back. “Kiss me back, dumbass!”
    “I ain’t no dumbass. I’d kiss you back if you gave me the chance, bitch.”
    After that, she decided I was her man. She thought she could follow me anywhere she wanted, bug me while I was playing ball, and beat up any girl who talked to me.
    When I realized that cursing her out and running away wasn’t enough to get rid of her, I knew I had to do something. The problem? I didn’t hit no girls. The solution? Pay a girl to do it for me.
    My cousin Keyona was fifteen years old. We called her TLM: Tall, Lean, and Mean. She said the price of beating up Tekeva was three dinners at McDonald’s. Three dinners! Since Keyona ate like a horse, that could be a lot of cash. So I got Keyona down to two dinners, and she kicked Tekeva’s ass out of my life.
    All my ladies since then was Tekevas. They wanted to be Queen of the Streets, and getting a piece of Ty Johnson was part of their master plan. Well, I told these girls I wasn’t gonna be their ticket. If they wanted diamonds, go get a sugar daddy. And if they wanna get paid, go do some hustling.
    You gotta be mad careful with women. Don’t make promisesyou can’t keep. You use the L word and they’ll throw it back in your face. Mom is still going on about promises my dad made years ago.
    Now I ain’t saying that a young hustler can’t ever have a girlfriend. But I say wait until you’re twenty-one, get her tested for all the diseases you can think of and some shit you never heard of, and set her up right. When I’m twenty-one, I’ll have time for a girlfriend. Until then, I’m staying away.

NOT ANOTHER DEAD WHITE GUY
    T uesday I went to my first two