Pimped Out

My childhood best friend became a pimp. I'm still not clear on how, or why, that came about. Gums went from being an innocent joker who prided himself on being a hustler on the basketball court to leading a life as a hustler on street corners. His new lifestyle dawned on me at a cookout when I got to meet one of his hoes.

Gums and I lived on the same street for three years. After my family left the neighborhood, Gums and his folks moved to an entirely different section of the city. In the process, we lost regular contact. When Gums and I reconnected at the aforementioned cookout, I was both happy and sad to see him. We had really grown apart. I was 19 and he was 24. Gums' silly side was still intact, but I couldn't get over the fact that my childhood best friend suddenly fit all of the negative stereotypes of young black men.

Gums had multiple gold rings on his fingers and a thick herringbone chain around his neck. His language was different too, as he seemed to make a conscious effort to throw "nigga" into every sentence. I was baffled. Things really got interesting when he introduced me to Blondie.

She was a short, vuluptuous, fair-skinned, Brazilian girl who barely spoke English. Naturally, she wasn't a blonde. I could see shades of brown under her bleached hair. Despite the excessive powder Blondie used to make herself seem even whiter, I thought she was very pretty. Whatever Gums ordered her to do got done without hesitation or questioning. She followed him around like a puppy, but quietly.

After I got settled in at the cookout, Gums asked if I wanted to take his brown-eyed beauty off to one of the empty rooms for free. I declined. The other guys, including Gums, started giving me a hard time about it. Eventually, I gave in and took Blondie for a spin.

Blondie: What do you want me to do, baby?
Me: Nothing.
Blondie: But he telling me to make you feel good.
Me: I don't want you to do that, though. Let's just talk.
Blondie: I no really speak English. Why you wanna talk? I no beautiful?
Me: Yes, you're very very pretty, but I don't get down like this.
Blondie: Down like this? What's that?
Me: Why are you doing this???
Blondie: I come from Brazil. I no speak English. No family. I have to make the money. He give me the place to live.
Me: I'll tell him we messed around. Is that okay?
Blondie: (confused) O..kay.
Me: So you have no family here?
Blondie: I did, but no more.
Me: They moved back to Brazil?
Blondie: No. My sister, she was here with me but her boyfriend kill her.