Halloween.
I went as Ghostface. Full mask, black robe, the whole thing. It made sense. Nobody knows who you are, nobody expects anything from you, and if you need to disappear into a crowd it's the easiest costume on earth to do it in.
I drove to the party and walked in alone.
* * *
First person I spotted was Lexi.
Bob Ross. Full costume, afro wig, paint palette, the little PBS painter beard. I stood there for a second just looking at her.
She was so lame sometimes. In the most specific, genuine, completely her way. I kind of loved it.
I was about to go say something when I saw her and Rue move fast toward the back of the party. That look people get when something's wrong.
I'm nosy. I followed them.
* * *
Gia. And that twin from the carnival.
Rue had him by the tie, pulling him through the kitchen. Lexi right behind her. They pushed into a room and the door closed.
I waited.
Couple minutes later the door opened and he came out looking like he'd just gotten a lecture from God. Pale. Eyes a little red.
I let him get about four steps down the hall before I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into the a room.
I closed the door behind us.
He turned around and clocked the Ghostface mask looking back at him.
"You think I'm a pussy, nigga?"
I punched him in the stomach. Not trying to knock him out, just enough that he felt it in his whole body, enough that he folded forward a little and had to grab his own knees.
"Stay away from my sister."
While he was still hunched I slapped him. Open hand, across the back of his head.
Then I walked back out into the party like none of it happened.
Ghostface does what Ghostface does.
* * *
I found everyone I knew spread across the party. Kat with Ethan somewhere. Cassie in her Alabama Worley costume looking like she was dealing with three things at once. Maddy watching the room.
Somebody asked if I was going to rap.
"Yeah. Maybe."
Thirty minutes later I was in the living room.
* * *
I'd picked a beat while I was waiting. Something harder than the last party. More locked in. The kind of beat where the bass sits low and there's no softness in it anywhere.
People crowded in fast. Word had moved from the last time.
I pulled the mask up just enough to get the mic close, let the beat run two bars, and came in.
Ayy, bitch, what up?
they block, it's time to slide, fuck 'em up.
More people moving. Someone near the back was already recording.
Ayy, lil' bro walking up, masked up, suited up. Catch 'em by the store, up the pole, shoot it up.
Switch up on a Glock, make him hop, double dutch. Lil' bro over cold, he got two poles, doubled up.
The energy in the room was different from the last time. Harder. People weren't just listening, they were in it. Somebody in the front was bouncing on every bar.
Glizzy that's my dog, he'll catch you, bite you up. Treat the opps like blunts, hit a cut, light 'em up.
I hit the pocket and slowed down just enough to let it breathe.
Don't hype him up 'cause he'll die. Have your whole block cry, his balloons in the sky.
A few people went quiet at that one. The room didn't stop but something shifted. The difference between party energy and something realer.
Now the opps want me dead, so I tell 'em, come try. But I slide first, all they hear is fah, fah, fah, that's that nick', nigga.
Somebody yelled from the side. The crowd was loud now, filling in between bars.
Like a track star, I'm on my block really runnin' shit. I do this shit in real life, boy this shit is not a skit.
I caught a glimpse of Lexi through the crowd. She wasn't bouncing. She was just watching me with that still expression she had sometimes, the one where you couldn't tell if she was impressed or worried or both.
'Member putting tape up on the mag' just to make it fit. I remember sliding every day, I wasn't at the park.
I ain't have a lighter, but I really had to make a spark. Keep that iron on me like my real name was Tony Stark.
People lost it at that line. A few people repeated it.
All you see is spark spark spark, I'm tryna leave a mark, nigga.
I came back to the hook and this time when I hit it the whole room was already there.
Ayy, bitch, what up?
They yelled it back. Loud. Like they'd been rehearsing.
They say they on they block, it's time to slide, fuck 'em up.
The room repeated the second half of every line on its own now. I didn't have to cue them. By the time I hit the final hook they were running it back with me word for word, twenty people shouting it like they'd known it their whole lives.
Ayy, treat the opps like blunts, hit a cut, light 'em up.
I let the beat play out and stepped back.
The room went up.
* * *
I pulled the mask back down.
People were slapping my back, saying stuff, asking questions. I gave one-word answers and moved through it. I wasn't trying to perform after the performance.
I found a spot near the wall and stood there with a drink.
Across the room I saw Lexi still looking at me. When I looked back she didn't look away. She just gave me this small thing, not quite a smile, more like an acknowledgment. Like she was filing something away.
I raised my cup at her.
She shook her head a little and went back to watching the party.
I stayed until things started winding down, then I found my keys and walked out.
Still in the mask.
END OF CHAPTER TWELVE
Song waddup PGF Nuk Polo G