Chulito Read Online Free PDF

happening. “It’s been almost a year and I miss the shit out of him.” Kamikaze let the shade drop as he turned to face Chulito. “Check me out, getting all open and shit about Willie.” He got up from the bed and shook himself like a dog shaking off water. “Whew!” Then he put an arm around Chulito. “Besides, if they caught you with the stuff they couldn’t do much. You are like what, fifteen, right?”
    Chulito nodded. “My birthday was last month.”
    “They would have just taken the shit and the gun and called your mommy to come pick you up.”
    Chulito crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
    Kamikaze stepped back. “Oh, sorry, bro. Didn’t mean no disrespect. You can handle yourself. You proved that shit straight up and down.” He pulled out his wallet and removed two one hundred dollar bills. “Here, go buy yourself some sneakers.”
    “Nah, that’s cool.”
    “Bro, don’t disrespect me.”
    Chulito accepted the two crisp bills as Kamikaze smiled. He looked at the posters on Chulito’s walls of Fat Joe, Big Pun, Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez. They connected over their favorite rappers and songs. Chulito couldn’t believe that he was chilling in his room with Kamikaze like they were old friends. His mom would definitely lose her cool if she caught him in the house.
    “Yo, Chuly-chu, can I call you that?”
    Chulito nodded.
    Kamikaze said that he liked Chulito’s instincts and his clean, tough rep in the hood. Then he said that he needed help running deliveries.
    “Are we in business or what?”
    Chulito shrugged. He was afraid because, like every kid in his neighborhood, he knew drug life was rough. He had taken a puff from a joint every now and then with the fellas, but he’d never bought drugs or been this close with a dealer before. But he was also excited because he would get mad props from the fellas when they saw him rollin’ with Kamikaze and he would have his own loot so he could help out his mom who worked in the lunch room at the local elementary school and made just enough to take care of the basics. Besides, now that Carlos was gone, the only thing he had to look forward to for the rest of the summer was hanging out on the corner with the fellas or getting a minimum wage summer youth job.
    “Man, whenever I get away from those motherfuckin’ cops I feel great. I get horny and hungry, and since you a dude, even though you got a nice little bump back there…” He burst into laughter, “I’m just messin’ with you. I ain’t no faggot.” Chulito flinched and his ears got hot. “Let’s go eat. My treat. And we could talk more about my proposition.”
    They drove to Step In Diner in Parkchester and ate steaks. Kamikaze drank Coronas with lime, and Chulito had Cokes with lemon. Kamikaze let him sneak a couple of sips from a Corona, but Chulito didn’t like it. Kamikaze was about ten years older than Chulito and it was like hanging with that experienced older cousin or cool uncle that Chulito wished he had. By the time Kaz paid the check, Chulito was well on his way to becoming his boy. That summer, he rode with him and accompanied him on special drops and pick ups. Chulito’s head swelled with pride when he earned enough trust to be taken to Kamikaze’s crib, where no one was ever taken. Kamikaze was a loner who never spoke about family or parents, and he never claimed any of the kids he may have sired. It was as if Kamikaze had no history, past or connections. He only had the game.
    Chulito was treated like blood and Kamikaze took him shopping to up Chulito’s game from bootleg clothes to $300 Diesel jeans, Hilfiger jerseys and Kenneth Cole gear. He relished spending most of his days with Kamikaze and felt like a member of the Terror Squad when, even though he was underage, he strolled into the night clubs alongside Kamikaze. He felt protected in the no nonsense way that Kamikaze looked out for him. Just as importantly, he felt like he mattered when he was