Chapter 3 : Part 2 : “Bitch Betta Have My Money..”

Chris

“Yo I feel like fucking Nino Brown” Tyga dust imaginary dust off his black baggy sweater. “All I need is some gold chains and BOOM!” He clapped his hands together loudly,making Jazmine jump. “I’m that nigga!”

“You that loud annoying ass nigga” Drake said through clenched teeth while sweat beads poured down his face. “Shut the fuck up”

“Nigg-“

“Let’s not start this shit Tyga” My eyes burned through him as I rubbed Jazmine’s back. “Relax..” I whispered in her ear.

She nodded her head and inhaled deeply then exhaled.

“What? Why y’all all nervous now? Because we in the va-“

“Usually the niggas with the loud mouths end up dead or in jail so I suggest you shut up b” Jay said while he drove the van. “Nelly,show them the mics”

“Mics?” Onika raised one eyebrow.

“To disguise your voice” Nelly pulled some small headsets out of a black duffle bag then handed them to us. “Strap them on your ear and press the button on the side” 

All of us did as we were told.

“Okay now wh-” Trey paused while talking into the mic. “Oh my fucking God I sound like a chipmunk”

Robin giggled then covered her mouth. “Oh my God we all do!”

“Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttt” Tyga burst out laughing.

“Yo,stop” I held my laughter inside. “This is serious shit”

“Agreed but do you hear yourself right now?” Alex smirked. “It is pretty funny,I wanna keep these mics”

“They’re yours as well as the guns,clothing and masks” Jay popped a cigar in his mouth and lit it. “We’re getting close to the bank now”

“You can keep these ugly black clothes” Jazmine mumbled while tying her long braids in a bun.

“Right? These are so ugly ghetto horror movie” Onika rolled her eyes.

“And you’re so bougie poor black chick who is not from trinidad” Robin pushed her playfully.

“Get off me hoe!” She mushed her head. “You know my period is still on! Don’t fuck with me right now!”

“Okay I just thought about it,blood is draining out of your pussy right now…eww” Tyga turned his nose up. “A nigga is turned all the way off”

Onika’s cheeks turned a shade of red out of embarrassment.

“You know she’s going to cry herself to sleep tonight right asshole?” Robin pushed tyga. “Ugh,guys just don’t get it”

“What?” Tyga looked around in confusion. “Wh-“

“You know wh-“

“GOTDAMN IS ANYBODY TRYING TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!” Jazmine screamed at the top of her lungs.

All of us gasped at her.

“You said…gotdamn” Onika stared at her.

She cleared her throat and crossed her arms. “Well..because I’m frustrated. It seems like all of us are just taking this job lightly,we have to rob one of the most popular banks in New York. Does nobody understand how hard it’s gonna be?”

Everybody was just quiet.

“We’re just kids..” She whispered. “What if something goes wrong?”

“Do I hear doubts back there?” Jay asked calmly but all of us could tell he was pissed.

“No sir”  I pulled Jazmine closer to me. “Nothing is going to go wrong okay? I promise..”

She looked into my eyes then turned her head.

“Hey..” I turned her head to face me. “I mean it..gotdamn! I mean it..” A sly smirk formed on my face.

She blushed and sucked her teeth. “Ugh,be quiet..”

“Make me” I tickled her side.

She laughed a little and pushed my hands. “Stop,this is not the time nor place for that”

“Very true,we’re here” Jay parked the van a few parking spaces away from the front of the bank and looked back at us. “Are you ready?”

All of us looked out of the tinted windows at the cars lined up.

“Look at all these cars! I thought you said the bank wouldn’t be that crowded at night?” Drake stared in his eyes. “I guess you fucking lied”

“And I guess you want a gun in your mouth little nigga” Nelly clenched his jaw tightly.

“Chill” Jay touched his shoulder.

“Man..the disrespect from these little niggas is getting on my fucking nerves dirty. Real talk,you need to fix that shit” He turned his head and shrugged Jay’s hand off his shoulder.

“And you need to fix your shit before I fix it for you” Jay said with authority. “You know you don’t want me to do that now do you?”

He shook his head no.

“Exactly so get your shit together and get ready to disable these cameras” He gave him a black laptop then put his attention back on us. “I had no clue there was going to be so many people here but we’re here now so might as well get the job done right?” He looked to me for an answer. 

“Right” I put my ski mask on and everybody except for Jay and Nelly followed suit by putting their masks on. 

I picked my machine gun up and gripped it tightly as I stared at the same two burly security guards standing in front of the bank. 

“What’s the plan Chris?” Trey asked. 

“Tyga and Drake will handle the security guards while me,you,Jazmine,Robyn,Onika and Alex go insid-“

“How are we suppose to handle them exactly?” Drake asked.

I sighed and looked at his gun then in his eyes. “Got it?”

He nodded his head,gripped his gun tightly and swallowed hard.

“The cameras are disabled” Nelly announced. “You can go to work now”

“I don’t think you get it quite yet” I pulled the van door open. “But you will” I jumped out of the van,put my gun behind my back and started walking to the entrance.

“What are you doing?” Robin whispered to me. “Are we suppose to get out too?”

I ignored her and kept on walking. “I swear sometimes they act so fucking clueless” I thought as I heard footsteps behind me. I already knew it was Alex,Jazmine and Trey. They were the ones who caught on quickly.

I glanced back at them and nodded my head,letting them know to follow my lead.

They nodded their heads slowly.

I focused my attention back in front of me just in time for us to approach the security guards.

The same brown skin guard who had manhandled me earlier went to draw his gun when I smacked him in the mouth with my gun. “Bitch ass nigga”

“Ah!” He cried out in pain as he dropped his gun on the ground.

Trey followed suit by smacking his partner upside his head with his gun,instantly putting him to sleep.

“Grab their guns” I instructed.

Alex did as he was told.

“Why are y’all doing this man?” The brown skin one wiped blood off his lip. “And why do y’all sound like fucking chipmunks?”

“Those questions are irrelevant. What is relevant is if you stand up,I’ll put two rounds in your skull. Instantly rocking you to sleep forever” Jazmine said smoothly while pointing her gun at his head.

I glanced over at her. “Well gotdamn..not so wholesome after all” I smirked on the inside and out.

“Ple-ple-please” He stuttered terribly. “I-I-I have a famil-“

“Yo!” Tyga,Onika,Drake and Robin yelled as they ran over to us,causing people in the bank to look at us.

“These dumb mothafuckas” My blood pressure flew through the fucking roof. “Stay out here!” I belted out before I pulled Jazmine,trey and alex inside the bank with me. “Get on the mothafucking ground!” I raised my gun up and shot three rounds into the ceiling.

Everybody dropped to the floor out of fear.

“Ah..except for you sweetheart” Jazmine walked to the blonde clerk and pressed her gun to her temple. “If you even think about touching that red button,I’ll blow your fucking brains out”

“Same goes for you Teddy Pendergrass looking nigga” Trey waked to the brown skin clerk and pointed his gun at his head.

Both of them raised their arms up while sweat cascaded down their faces.

“That’s it. See it’s simple right?” I asked nonchalantly. “Follow our commands and nobody gets hurt” I noticed a woman pulling cellphone out of her purse.

“Tisk tisk tisk,always a naughty one bro” Alex ran over to her and banged her head against the floor. “The fuck did he say?” He banged her head again. “Listen to what he says bitch”

Everybody whimpered.

“Hey! Stop crying like little bitches! It’s annoying me..” I started walking backwards to Jazmine while I made sure I pointed my gun at every single one of them.

The fear in their eyes told me they weren’t planning on moving,they just wanted us to get the money and get ghost without anybody getting hurt.

“And you don’t wanna see him annoyed or maybe they do” Alex looked back at me.

“No,please” A elderly woman cried out.

“I don’t think anybody asked you driving miss daisy” Trey said with his attention still on the man.

“Nah they don’t wanna see me annoyed trust me” I pulled a black trash bag out of my back pocket and handed it to Jazmine. “We want everything in the cow”

“And everything in the registers” Trey handed the man a bag. “That’s your job kurtis blow”

“Wh-“

Trey smacked him across his mouth with the gun. “Don’t ask questions! Just do it!”

“Ye-yes” His hands shook as he pulled the money out of the register.

“While he’s doing that,you empty that cow” Jazmine jumped over the desk and pushed the woman towards the tall silver box known as the “cow”

The woman’s hands shook as she tried to unlock it.

“You got 30 seconds to open that shit before all of us put ten bullets in your body bitch” I said harshly.

“Ok,ok,ok please..” She begged and tried her best to stop herself from shaking.

Jazmine smacked her lips loudly. “Betty you are taking too long,your time is almost up” She pointed her gun at the back of her head. “Let’s go,the clock is ticking”

She finally got it open and our eyes lit up at the sight of all the money stacked up.

“Ho-ho-ho-how much?” She stuttered.

Jazmine looked back at me.

“All of it” I said sternly.

“You heard him” Jazmine gave her the bag. “All of it”

She quickly pushed all the money into the bag and gave it to Jazmine. “Pl-please just don’t hurt me. I’m only 21 please just take the money and leave”

“We will if you cooperate with us” Jazmine jumped over the desk and looked to me for the next move.

I pulled the woman by her hair over the desk and her body fell hard on the floor.

Jazmine’s jaw dropped. “Wh-“

I turned my back to her and stared at the woman who had mascara tear streaks running down her face. You would think I would’ve felt some sympathy for her but I didn’t feel any type of sympathy whatsoever for her. 

I glanced over at trey and nodded my head towards the man.

He caught the hint and pulled the man over the desk then all of us walked backwards to the door while me and Trey dragged them with us.

“If any of you try to call the fucking police this..” I pistol whipped the woman in the head,instantly knocking her out cold. “Will happen to you. Understand?”

They nodded their heads.

Trey pistol whipped the man in his head and pushed him to the floor. “It’s been fun,we should do this again” Trey saluted them then all of us took off running out of the building to find Tyga struggling with the burly security guard.

“St-st-stop! I swea-swear I’ll shoot!” Onika’s voice shook with every word.

“Please fucking do that” Tyga struggled to breathe.

I looked at Drake and Robin who looked damn near scared shitless. “Fuck..” I shook my head and tried to pull the man away from him.
“Get the fuck off him!”

“Fuck you!” He elbowed me hard in the stomach,knocking the wind out of me.

I fell back on the ground and tried my hardest to catch my breath.

“Get off of him!” Jazmine jumped on his back and punched him in the head continuously. “Get off of him!”

“Fuck you! You think I’m stupid? You’re not going to kill me!” He slammed his back into the wall.

“Ah!” Jazmine winced in pain.

I finally caught my breath and went to grab my gun when a gun shot ranged out.

The man’s grip around Tyga’s throat loosened as he slid down to the floor.

I looked at the small bloody hole on the side of his neck then back at Drake who’s gun was smoking.

“Oh my God..” Jazmine pushed the man off of her and walked over to me. “Is he dead?”

The man took one last gasp for air before his eyes rolled in the back of his head.

“Oh my God” Onika and Robin covered their mouths.

I shook the man and he didn’t even budge. “Shit..” I stood up and grabbed my gun. “We gotta go! Let’s go!” I grabbed Jazmine’s hand and all of us took off running to the van. We climbed inside and I slammed the door closed. “Drive! Fucking drive!”

Jay started the car up and sped away from the scene.

“Oh my God,oh my God,oh my God” Jazmine started hyperventilating. “What….did….we…just…do?”

“Killed a man..” Robin pulled her mask off,displaying her tear filled eyes.

“Out of self defense” Nelly said nonchalantly. “Did you get the money?”

“Fuck the money!” Jazmine threw the bag in his face. “We just killed a man! You said nobody would get hurt! You said that!”

Nelly’s nostrils started flaring like a bull.

“Chill,you did what you had to do. The man would’ve killed Tyga if Drake didn’t shoot him so stop tripping” Jay said sternly. “The most important thing is you guys got out of there in less than two minutes. Not bad at all,with a little more work you guys can get in and out in less than one minute”

“Fuck that,we’re not doing this again” Tyga rubbed his sore throat. “It ain’t worth it”

Nelly emptied the bag full of money out. “Sure about that?”

All of us stared at the money in complete awe.

Trey dumped the other bag out. “Shit,that has got to be over 20 thou”

“Actually,it’s over 30 thou..” Drake looked at me.

“Shit” Alex pulled his mask off. “I say that is fucking worth it”

“And 50 percent of that is ours right?” Onika reminded him.

“Yes,I’m a man of my word” Jay puffed on his cigar. “You guys put in the work so you guys deserve 50 percent”

“Quick! What’s 50 percent of 30 thou?” Robin wiped her tears away and snapped her fingers.

“I know,a whole lot of fucking money bitch!” Onika threw money in the air.

Robin burst out laughing. “Hell yeah!”

Suddenly,everybody completely forgot about us just killing a man. Money was all that was on our minds. Everybody tried to catch money except for Jazmine.

I moved closer to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

She shrugged my arm off her shoulder and stared out of the window.

“Jazmine,we did what we had to do” I said softly into her ear.

“You promised me” She cried through clenched teeth. “You promised me nobody would get hurt..”

I cut my eyes low. “Well I guess I should stop making promises if we’re going to do this for a living”

Her eyes damn near popped out of her head. “What?”

“Jazmine we made over 30 thousand dollars in less than two minutes” I said with a gleam in my eye “There’s no way I’m quitting this shit”

“Correction,we stole over 30 thousand dollars in less than two minutes” She turned her head.

“Whatever you wanna call it. We still got 30 thousand dollars in our possession right now. There’s no way in hell I’m going to stop robbing banks because you in your feelings and shit” I said coldly and slid away from her.

“Let’s get back to the house so we can count this money..”

A Special Short Story : “A Misfit Christmas”

Chris

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go..”

“Are they ever gonna play some nigga music? I mean shit! They’ve been playing James Dean ever since we’ve been in this damn mall!” Tyga spat as we sat on the benches waiting patiently for the girls to come out of the hair salon.

Me,Trey and Alex laughed a little.

“That’s not James Dean you ass,that’s Bing Crosby” Drake rolled his eyes.

“Excuse the fuck outta me and happy Hanukkah and Kwanza to you,you confused nigga” Tyga said with a slight chuckle.

Me,Trey and Alex burst out laughing.

Tyga joined in on the laughter. “Shit! Gotta buy you 8 gifts and a damn kufi hat”

Alex laughed harder as he fell off the bench.

“Fuck you Illiterate ass niggas” Drake stuck up both of his middle fingers.

“Oh come on man”Trey nudged him. “You know that shit was funny”

“And you know your ass is confused as shit” I held my hand out for Alex to grab.

“I’m not confused,I’m MIXED nigga get it right” He said with a nasty attitude.

“Sensitive nigga who the fuck you talking to like that? It must be some other nigga because I know it ain’t me” I cut my eyes.

“Nig-“

“Aight now stop,it was a damn joke. Hehe haha” Tyga shook drake’s shoulders. “Chill out,I’m mixed too”

“Whatever” Drake said dryly.

“Why you always got a attitude man?” Alex grabbed my hand and I pulled him up. “I’m the only white dude in our clique who gets picked on all the time but I don’t bitch about it”

“Look,tonight ain’t the night alright? I got a lot on my mind” He held his head down low as he stared aimlessly at the shiny floor.

“And I do too,what’s up with you not getting pussy Alex?” Tyga looked in his eyes. “When we go out,you don’t never get pussy. I wanna know why”

Alex didn’t say anything,he just planted an annoyed look on his face.

“I mean girls be coming up to your ass and shit but you never give them any play,I’m starting to think that you’re gay” He said bluntly.

“Yo,I ain’t gay..” He balled his fists up while his nostrils began to flare.

“So you feeling some girl in the house? Who? Jazmine? Onika? Robin?” He kept going.

Alex’s chest started heaving up and down.

“Look just leave him alone man..” Trey ran his hand across his cornrows. “He might just not wanna date right now or something”

“Or he might just not like girls” He said harshly. “Trey,when all of us go out..don’t we all get pussy?” He raised his eyebrows.

I stared at Alex,his face was turning plum red and the look in his green eyes was menacing. I knew the look all too well,he was ready to scrap.

“Ty why the fuck you always trying to start shit? Spare us that shit today,go shop for Onika or some shit” I waved the back of my hand.

“I already got all of her gifts an-“

“Tyga just shut the fuck up!” Drake snapped. “GOTDAMN! Shut the fuck up!”

“Nig-“

“Do what he says” I said sternly.

He flopped down next to drake and blew air out of his nose.

I could see the pain and anger in Alex’s eyes. I stood up and moved closer to him. “Hey,don’t listen to him aight?” I whispered in his ear. “I know you’re not gay.When you’re ready to have sex,I’ll take you to a strip club and let you pick the baddest bitch in there then pay her to fuck your slim shady looking ass”

He smirked and pushed me. “Fuck you”

I laughed a little then focused my attention on a jewelry store.

Alex and Trey followed my eyes. “What did you get your boo Jazmine for Christmas?” 

I sucked my teeth. “She ain’t my boo and I got her a few things but I feel like it’s not enough”

“It’s been two years now,me,you and Jazmine are 17 years old now. You need to go ahead and confess your love for her before some other nigga snatches her up” Trey said sternly. “Yo ass would be pissed if that happened” 

“And you know that baby fat is gone now,she’s turning heads left and right” Alex added.

“And I ain’t gonna lie..” Tyga scratched his head. “I-I thought about fucking her before”

“Me too..” A sly smirk ran across Drake’s face.

My blood started boiling. “I thought about fucking Robin and Onika too but you don’t see me doing it right? So chill the fuck out”

“Ooh sensitive nigga” Drake said sarcastically.

“You Fred Flinstone looking mothafu-“

An chubby older white man with a white beard and a red trench coat on bumped into me. “Excuse me young man”

“Yeah fucking excuse you” I said coldly. “Anyway,you Fred Flinstone looking mothafu-“

“You have a nasty attitude young man” His eyes made me feel very uneasy. “Why such a ugly attitude on such a beautiful holiday?”

“Yeah Chris” Alex wrapped his arm around the man’s shoulders. “You should be more nicer to your elders,I’m sorry for my brother’s rudeness sir. Please do forgive him and..” Alex hugged him tightly. “Merry Christmas” He pulled away from him.

He smiled warmly. “Merry Christmas to you too young man,I’ll be seeing you soon” He nodded his head then walked away.

“Uh..Ok” Alex said slowly then laughed. “Grandpa is tripping and me?” He held a red wallet up that had the initials “s.c” on it. “I’m a few dollars richer” He smiled wide and moved his eyebrows up and down then sat down next to trey.

“Yo tell me you ain’t steal that old man’s wallet” Trey laughed.

“I sure as hell did,my pockets are low right now. I spent all my money on y’alls gifts” He started looking through the wallet.

“I thought we was done with the pick pocketing shit. We’re now seasoned bank robbers and on our way to being seasoned killers” Tyga said proudly.

These two years had been nothing but bliss for us,all because jay put us on with his crew the money gang. We were known around New York as jay’s robbers who stole anything he asked us to steal,money,cars,drugs,etc. After all these years you would think we would’ve gotten caught like the normal robbers but we were far from normal. We were quick,smart and precise. Nobody ever saw our faces because we hid them behind masks,nobody ever heard our voices because we hid them behind a special mic that made us sound like chipmunks,nobody ever knew how our bodies looked because we hid them behind baggy clothes and nobody was ever fast or smart enough to catch us. We were in and out of huge banks in less than 50 seconds which amazed not only people on the streets but also the press. Our robberies were always on the news but our faces never were. Matter of fact,the police thought we were grown people. That’s how good we were. 

“I’m still on edge about this assassin shit” Drake whispered then looked around nervously. “Killing people is different than robbing them”

Jay now wanted to turn us into a group of teenage assassins,he had already made me shoot an innocent man which I did with no hesitation. I was ready to become an assassin because it meant only one thing..more money.

“I’m a little iffy about it too but I ain’t iffy about the money” Tyga rubbed his hands together as dollar signs flashed in his eyes.

“Ditto” Alex sighed. “This old man is crazy,he thinks he’s Kris Kringle”

Trey chuckled. “The fuck? What?”

He held his driver’s license up for us to see.

“Kris Kringle..” I squinted my eyes while I read the small letters. “Sleigh driver?” I screwed my face up.

“Yo get the fuck outta here!” Trey snatched the card out of his hand then held it up in the air as he read it. “I ain’t got my contacts in but shit..it does say that”

“How do you know if you ain’t got your contacts in? Tyga shook his head.

“Because nigga I know,I..” I tuned Trey out as a gold heart locket sitting in a window display caught my eyes.

I walked over to the display and stared at it. “Jazmine would love that..” I pulled my black wallet out of my jean pocket and counted my money. I had $300 on me. “Excuse me” I held my index finger up to grab the attention of a dark skinned woman who was dressed in a conservative cream colored pantsuit and coming out of the store.

“Yes?” She looked at me.

I cleared my throat. “I was wondering how much this locket cost” I pointed to it. “Do you know?”

“Yes,it costs $289” She tried to walk pass me but I grabbed her arm.

“Is that including tax?” I asked.

She sighed out of frustration. “No,including taxes it will probably be $292 or something like that. Excuse me” She yanked her arm out of my grip then power walked passed me.

I focused my attention back on the window and my eyes damn near popped out of my head when I saw the older man pointing to the locket as the clerk went to grab it.

“No,no,no” I opened the door and ran inside. I looked around the luxurious jewelry store for them,I spotted them at the counter. “Wait!” I ran over to them. “I need that” I tried to yank the necklace out of the woman’s hand but she had a tight grip on it. 

“Well you can’t have it” She looked at me like I was crazy. “This man” She pointed to the old guy. “Bought it already”

I chewed on the inside of my jaw to keep myself from snapping. “Ok,do you have anymore?”I let the locket go.

“No,this was the last one” She put it in a white plush box then a bag and gave it to him.

“Ok now hold the fuck up” I held my hand up. “You telling me that’s the last fucking LOCKET in this JEWELRY STORE? Why the fuck do you call yourself a jewelry store then? One fucking locket? ONE FUCKING LOCKET?” I slapped the bowl full of peppermints off the counter.

Her jaw dropped.

“Young man that is no way to act because you can’t get your wa-“

“Shut the fuck up and go the fuck on” I motioned my hand towards the exit,signaling for him to go. “I need the locket,I need that locket. So come up with another version of that locket quick before I turn into an angrier black man and play the race card,before the night’s over..I’ll have you on the fucking news. Keep fucking with me”

“W-w-w-“

“Calm down..” He touched my shoulder and my anger instantly went away while a warm feeling came over me. “You don’t have to be so angry Christopher,Jazmine will love the gifts you got for her”

I crinkled my eyebrows. “Ho-ho-“

“I know every child’s name. I’ll see you later” He winked at me then took his hand off my shoulder and walked out of the store.

My anger came back right away. “I know every child’s name? Fucking pedophile” I ran out of the store and he was nowhere to be found. I looked around the somewhat crowded mall for his face and even his red trench coat but didn’t see either one. “The fuck? Did he just disappear?”

“Chris!” Tyga yelled.

I focused my attention on them and noticed Robin and Onika was sitting with them. I walked over to them. “Aye,did you see that old guy come out of the jewelry store?”

All of them shook their heads no.

My heart fell into the pit of my stomach.

“Anyway” Robin popped her lips. “You like my new hairdo?” She whipped her straight dark brown,medium brown ombre hair.

“And mine” Onika whipped her curly black and pink hair.

“It’s aight” I said dryly. “You SURE you didn’t see him come out of the store?”

Robin and Onika smacked their lips.

“Guys are so rude” Onika rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “We get all pretty for y’all and y’all don’t even care”

“You call getting a ghetto weave getting pretty?” Tyga smirked.

“Ugh! I can’t stand yo skinny ass!” She spat then stormed towards the mall exit.

“But you fucking my skinny ass tho!” He picked his shopping bags up then held his right hand out. “Let me see the keys”

Trey put the escalade keys in his hands.

“Give us about 15 minutes” He winked his eye,signaling him and Onika was about to get it in then started making his way to the exit.

“That’s all you need is 15 minutes?” Robin raised her hands up to her mouth. “ONE MINUTE NIGGA GOING OUT THE EXIT!”

Everybody in the mall turned to look at tyga.

He stuck his middle finger up as he walked through the sliding doors.

Everybody started laughing except for me.

Alex noticed my behavior and stopped laughing. “What’s up with you?”

“I need to find that fake ass Santa Claus” I clenched my jaw tightly.

“What fake ass Sant-“

“Hey..” I heard Jazmine’s sweet voice and turned around then gasped when I saw that her infamous long “Poetic Justice” like braids were gone. Now,her hair was straight,cinnamon colored and a few inches shorter.

“Work it!” Robin snapped in a circle.

She blushed and fluffed her hair. “Do you like it?” She looked to me for an answer.

“It’s umm..” I stared at her in awe of her beauty,the color brought her smooth brown sugar complexion out nicely.

“You don’t like it..” She said sadly.

“No! I do!” I blurted out then calmed down. “I do..I just gotta get used to it”

She smiled a little. “Are you guys ready to go? I still have to wrap some gifts..”

“Yeah the mall is about to close anyway” Drake grabbed his bags then wrapped his arm around Robin’s shoulders. “You look beautiful” He kissed her cheek softly.

She blushed and looked down.

“Trey..” Alex wrapped his arm around his shoulders. “You look beautiful” He bat his eyelashes.

Trey burst out laughing. “Fuck outta here!” He mushed his head.

Alex laughed. “Yo,let’s go” He stood up and picked his bags up. “It’s getting too mushy in here,drake all in his feelings,Robin all in her feelings..”

“Chris all in his feelings about Jazz” Trey smirked.

Me and Jazmine sucked our teeth at the same time.

“Jazz all in her feelings about Chris” They said at the same time.

“Trey got gifts for every single one of his hoes” Jazmine smiled wide.

“I ain’t got no hoes” He dust his crisp black rocawear hoodie off.

“What do you call them skanks then?” Robin asked.

“I call them my associates” He winked at her then stood up. 

“I swear you think you a pimp” Alex shook his head.

“I am what I am my white nigga” He slapped his head playfully then grabbed his bags. “Let’s g-“

“Attention shoppers,the mall will be closing in 15 minutes. We ask that you gather your things and start leaving the mall” The woman announced over the intercom.

“That’s our cue to go” All of them started walking towards the exit when they noticed I wasn’t with them. 

Jazmine turned around and looked in my eyes. “Come on..”

I looked around the mall for the old man. “Nah,I can’t leave..”

“What you mean you can’t leave? Com-“

“I gotta find that old man” I jogged to the escalator and got on.

“Chris wait!” Jazmine climbed on it and ran up the few steps to get to me. “Oh my God,I’m on an escalator”

I looked back at her and she was sweating profusely. “ye..ah” I said slowly. “What’s the problem?”

“I hate escalators” She held onto the railing as she took deep breaths.

I squinted my eyes then turned around to face her.

“Don’t!” She held her hand up. “Don’t move! These things can crash!”

I held my laughter in. “Jazmine,it’s just an escalator”

“It’s stairs th-tha-that move” She stuttered. “That’s weird”

“No that’s normal,you’re weird” I moved a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Chill out,it’s not gonna hurt you and it’s not gonna crash”

She calmed down just in time for us to approach the top. “Come on..” I pulled her off the escalator.

She inhaled deeply then exhaled. “I’m alive..” She flashed her beautiful smile.

“Yes,you’re alive Jazmine. It’s a miracle” I joked then turned around and looked at the huge toy store. “Obviously this dude likes kids..”

“What dude?” She asked. “What are you looking for? Whatever it is,you need to hurry up and find it. The mall is gonna be closing in about 10 minutes”

I ignored her and walked inside the toy store. “Wow..” I gasped.

The store was huge and filled with all kinds of toys,the way they decorated it for Christmas was amazing. There was decorated white Christmas trees in every corner of the store,gold and silver garland on the ceiling,white Christmas lights on the ceiling and silver glitter all over the floor.

“This is beautiful..” Jazmine whispered in my ear.

I looked back at her,there was a gleam in her eyes that made me smile. “Come on..” I grabbed her hand and pulled her to an barbie aisle.

“I used to love barbie dolls when I was younger” She picked a black barbie doll up.

“Don’t front,you know you still like them” I teased.

She chuckled. “Ugh,shut up” She slapped my arm playfully.

“Na-“

“Chris!” Alex and Trey ran over to us.

“Shh” I put my index finger up to my lips.

“We need to go before we get locked in the mall” Trey whispered.

“Yeah,everybody is out of the mall and they’re getting ready to lock the doors” Alex added.

“Will being locked in a mall be a bad thing?” I looked in Trey’s eyes. “Think about it..” I put my index finger up to the right side of my head.

“You’re not thinking about stealing from the ma-” Trey paused as we heard foot steps coming from the backroom.

“Get down” I mouthed then scrunched down and pulled Jazmine down with me.

Trey and Alex followed suit and scrunched down with us.

“Ooh what are you wearing?” A woman said and I looked through the little space between the dolls at the middle aged blonde woman locking the backdoor. “Ooh a thong?” She turned the lights off then walked to the entrance. “That is so sexy honey” She punched in “347602” on the alarm then walked out of the store and locked the doors behind her.

I watched her walk away from the doors. “I’ll be right back” I whispered to them then eased over to the alarm and typed the code in then turned a switch on.

The trees lit up and the lights on the ceiling lit up.

“Wow..” Jazmine stood up and smiled. “This is absolutely beautiful”

“Agreed but we need to get the fuck out of here” Trey said angrily as he stood up.

“Why? We got this whole toy store to ourselves” Alex walked over to me then grabbed a candy cane off the tree beside me and took the wrapping off. “Who needs Santa Claus when we got this?” He bit the candy cane.

“Better yet,why not capture Santa Claus when he comes to leave gifts under the tree?” I walked behind the counter and sat down on the black office chair then propped my feet up on the desk.

“The fuck are you talking about?” Trey turned his face up. “Santa Claus is not real and I’m sure they got us on camera right now!”

“No they don’t,this mall is what I call lazy and cheap. They only keep the cameras on during the day,not the night. I know because I cased this place with Nelly before,they don’t even have security at night. Only during the day” I shook my head. “Backward ass niggas”

“Wow,I’m surprised nobody has ever tried to rob this place before” Jazmine said amazed.

“I didn’t say they didn’t have alarms,if somebody tries to break in,an alarm will go off” I opened the register and grabbed the money out of it,making sure I only grabbed the bills not the change and put the money in my pocket then closed the register.

“Or if somebody tries to get out while the alarm is on,I’m sure it will go the fuck off” Trey cut his eyes. “We need to go”

“Chill my cornrow head friend” I smiled wide. “I have the code,relax,enjoy all the toys while we wait for Santa Claus”

They looked at me like I was insane.

“Look” I sat up straight. “This toy store gives gifts to orphan children on Christmas day,it’s Christmas eve. I’m sure the goody two shoes,jolly white fella will be here to put gifts under the tree for the orphans”

An awkward silence filled the room.

“He’s real!” I blurted out. “Or at least I think he is,he got something that belongs to me and I’m gonna get it back”

Jazmine and Trey locked eyes.

“Uh yeah ok” Trey clapped his hands together loudly. “Drake,Onika,Tyga and Robin are waiting for us in the ca-“

“I ain’t going anywhere until I see that mothafucka” I said sternly.

“So you’re planning on being here until you die then?” Alex laughed.

“He’s real! I’m telling you that mothafucka is rea-“

“Chris,have you been drinking?” Jazmine asked,sounding concerned.

“No! He’-” I stopped in mid sentence when I heard the sound of bells jingling coming from the ceiling.

All of us raised our heads up slowly.

“Oh my God..” Jazmine whispered. “Do you hear that?”

“Ye-“

There was a sound of a loud thump against the ceiling while the bells stopped jingling.

“Hide” I mouthed.

They ran to the aisles then scrunched down.

I slid down on the floor quietly and waited patiently for the old white man to show his face.

Out of nowhere,he appeared by the tree with a red bag filled with toys.

I lost my breath as I stared at him. “How did he do th-“

“Oh my God!” Jazmine blurted out but he didn’t even budge.

“You can come out now kids” He put some presents under the tree.

I swallowed hard then stood up and glanced over at Jazmine who was shocked out of her mind. “I told you” I mouthed then focused my attention back on him,he was no longer wearing his trench coat. He was now wearing a red and white suit and black boots.

“You’re the weird Kris Kringle dude..” Alex walked over to him.

He laughed,sounding just like the Santa Claus cartoons. “That’s what they say,Merry Christmas son” He gave him a gold gift wrapped box with a big gold bow on it. “You’ve been wanting that ever since you were 4 years old”

Alex jaw dropped as tears blurred his vision. “You mean..” He opened the present up and tears cascaded down his red cheeks.

“What is it?” Trey and Jazmine walked over to him.

“It’s the red ranger” He held the power rangers action figure up and laughed a little. “I wanted this when I was 4 years old but my mom and dad didn’t have enough money to get it”

“And the elves didn’t make enough of those that year,they were very lazy” He shook his head while he grabbed another gift out of his bag.

“I cannot believe you are real..” Jazmine stared at him in awe. “I’m guessing we’ve been too naughty for gifts huh?”

“Hmm you know that answer in your beautiful big heart Jazmine and because of that beautiful big heart..” He looked at me. “Chris has bought you the gift you wanted”

She looked in my eyes. “Really?”

I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t know what to say,I was completely speechless.

He walked over to me and slid the small plush white box over to me then winked his eye. “Jazmine will give you the gift you so desperately want and Trey..” He snapped his fingers and the door flew open while the mall lights turned on. “Your present is a safe way out”

“Thank you Santa” Trey hugged him then ran out of the door with Alex close behind him.

He laughed so jolly then winked one more time and disappeared into thin air.

“Ok..we just met Santa Claus and saw him appear then disappear” Jazmine looked stunned.

“Told you he was real” I put the box in my green camouflage hoodie. “Come on,let’s get out of here” I jumped over the counter then grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the store to find people walking around the mall shopping and talking. “What the fu-“

“Attention shoppers,the mall will be closing in 15 minutes. We ask that you gather your things and start leaving the mall”The woman announced over the intercom again.

Me and Jazmine slowly turned our heads to look at each other. “Wh-“

“There you guys are!” Drake and Robin ran over to us carrying their bags. “The mall is about to close! Let’s go!” They pulled us over to the escalator then all of us ran down the escalator and was greeted by Trey and Alex who had the same surprised look on their faces as me and Jazmine. 

“What is wrong with you guys?” Drake looked back and forth between us.

“Nothing,you wouldn’t believe us if we told you” Trey said truthfully. “Let’s just get the hell out of this magical,evil mall” He started power walking to the exit.

Drake and Robin looked confused as hell.

“It’s a long story” Alex wrapped his arm around Robin’s shoulders. “Come on,I’ll tell you guys about it on the way out” Both of them started walking to the exit.

“Wait! How did you get that power rangers toy?” Drake ran behind them.

Jazmine laughed a little then looked at me. “Let’s go” She tried to walk away but I grabbed her hand. She looked back at me. “What?” 

“I have a gift I want you to open right now..” I pulled the box out of my hoodie.

She looked down at the box then in my eyes. “Chris,you didn’t have t-“

“But I wanted to,so bad” I laughed. “Please open it..” I put it in her hand.

She smiled then opened the box. Her eyes grew wide while her bottom lip dropped. “Chris..” She looked in my eyes with tear filled eyes. “This is beautiful..”

“Like you..” I took it out of the box and got behind her.I put it around her neck as the smell of her Strawberry and cream perfume tickled my nose. I latched the hook then kissed the back of her neck softly. “Merry Christmas..”

She grabbed the heart charm then looked back at me.”Thank you..”

I stared at her lips and bit my bottom lip.”Jazm-“

“Guys you HAVE to come see this!” Onika stood in the doorway,snapping us out of our moment. “Come on!”

Both of us ran out the sliding doors and smiled from ear to ear when we saw Santa driving his red and gold sleigh in the night sky.

I glanced over at Tyga,Drake,Robin and Onika with their jaws dropped damn near  the ground then at Trey and Alex with smiles on their faces.

I focused my attention back on Jazmine who was staring at the sky with a gleam in her eyes. “I love you Jazmine..” I whispered in her ear softly.

She looked in my eyes while tears cascaded down to her lips. “I love you too..” She whispered back then planted the softest kiss on my lips.

I broke the kiss when I felt something cold and wet on my face. Both of us looked up to the sky and watched the snow pouring down then looked at Santa passing by in his magical sleigh. 

“Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good night!”