Birth of a Dark Nation Read Online Free PDF Page B

whatever."
    "Nobody's ever accused me of that before," I
laughed.
    "First time for everything, right? Now just
relax. We gone order some food, watch some TV like you like, and
get to know each other and shit. You say this new for you, well
it's new for me too. A nigga wanna get shit right the first time,
ya dig?"
    I nodded. And blushed a little bit. This dude
was different. I liked it.
    We ordered some General Tso's chicken and
vegetable fried rice and watched the rest of the news with a few
awkward interruptions for "getting to know you" types of questions.
By the time the food arrived, the ice had finally been broken, and
I felt free to delve a little deeper.
    "So, you ever get worried about getting in
trouble for selling your movies?" I asked. I savored each bite of
the spicy chicken dish.
    "Not really. Po-pos ain't thinking about
nothing less than weed. Bootlegging shit ain't hurting nobody.
Niggas in the hood ain't got no money for shit no way, so these
studios ain't missing no loot." He shoveled a helping of rice into
his mouth.
    "That's true. And plus, the Internet
practically put shit you want right in your lap."
    "Yeah, true that."
    "You ever thought about using USB drives for
movies instead of CDs and DVDs?"
    "How dat work?"
    "Like, say you sell your…clients, I
guess…sell them a USB drive for cheap, and then whenever they want
something new, you upload it to their drive from a laptop or
something."
    "That could work. But I still gotta have
discs for the niggas that ain't got no computers."
    "True," I said. "I guess you got this under
control, you don't need my advice."
    "I like how you think, though."
    "Thank you man. Hey, you ever thought about
doing a job that, you know, has benefits?"
    "Like a nine to five?"
    "Yeah."
    "You hiring?"
    "No."
    "Then no."
    "Damn, just like that?"
    "I got my income man, I'm good. For now at
least. And I got some experience doing construction and shit like
that. Landscaping. Even worked on a trash truck for a little bit.
But I'm good right now. I can pay my bills."
    "I feel you. It's cool."
    "What about you?"
    "What about me?"
    "I get the feelin' you ain't into yo job all
like that, either. When you gonna move on?"
    "You hiring?"
    "Naw."
    "Then I'm good." I winked.
    "You funny."
    We talked more, about a lot, but at the same
time, nothing big at all. It was nice just getting to know the
basics from somebody who was so simple and uncomplicated. He was
just a dude making his own way. Nothing special.
    But he was very handsome, and even through
the thick DC slang and accent, I could tell he was also very smart.
He had a way with words that was intriguing.
    By no means am I saying that he was beneath
me, or that I was better than him in any way. All I am saying is
that he was different from anybody else I had ever had an interest
in. He shared things without saying them explicitly and provoked me
without being spiteful.
    He was cool. And I could tell he felt the
same way about me.
    We talked so long into the night that I fell
asleep right there on the sofa. Like a perfect gentleman, he put a
blanket over me and walked up the stairs, letting me sleep
alone.
    Although I slept rather fitfully, plagued by
dreams that I couldn't remember once I woke up in the morning, I
still woke with a sense that I was in a safe place, with someone
who cared about me just up the stairs.
     

 
Happy Hour
    Cissy did her best to cultivate donors for
Magdalene House. Her latest venture was a happy hour at a venue on
U Street. The corridor had once been a burned out strip where no
business would thrive, but with the addition of a metro station,
the once dead street became something of a young professional
hotspot in DC.
    Steve and I committed to helping Cissy man
the event when the rest of the staff shied away. It didn't surprise
us. When it came to the staff, they didn't do anything beyond
regular work hours unless something was in it for them.
    The three of us walked up to the venue with
its soft neon lights