You Don't Know Me

‘We ain’t even looking for beef,’ I goes. ‘Actually I was just seeing if I could put some business your way.’

He pauses for like a minute like he’s trying to think it all through. He ain’t sure whether he’s being messed with or not. Then finally his eyes go bright.

‘Well why the fuck didn’t you say so? And so it’s no hard feelings blood, first one free,’ he says smiling now and reaching into his pockets for a ball.

‘Nah man. Not that kind of business.’

‘Well I ain’t selling fucking trainers.’

‘Nah, I mean it is this kind of business but he wants to buy a block innit,’ I say pointing at Curt with my elbow.

‘A whole kilo?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Fuck off,’ he says and turns as if to go.

‘Serious,’ I say and just then Curt makes as if to walk off like he’s had enough. It feels like I am juggling balls. Any minute now I think one of them is going to slip out of my fingers.

‘Nah man, hang back,’ I goes to Curt then I turn back to Jamil. ‘Man’s good for it.’

Curt stops and waits looking from me to Jamil. He is playing this just right. Jamil and his mans stop in their tracks. It’s like they can see money flying around. Binks especially is proper panting.

‘Lay it down for me,’ says Jamil and then in that moment, I know he’s hooked in.

Curt and Jamil huddle together a little closer and start speaking low at each other. At first it’s just general chit-chat about prices and shit and then when we notice Jamil beginning to relax, I give Curt a little side-eye and we start reeling him in.

‘Nah, let’s fuck this off,’ Curt says eventually. ‘Fifty gees for a kilo? This guy’s taking the piss.’

‘Take it or leave it man. You’ll get fifty a gram after you cut it up innit. That’s doubling up easy. I got to make my own slice though too you get me?’ says Jamil, arms folded.

‘What purity you giving me though? Eighty per cent?’

‘Fuck off. Forty.’

‘Forty per cent and you want fifty K? Do I look like I just came out my mum? I can get eighty per cent for fifty K no problem. What kind of fucking slice you carving up blood?’ Curt leans over him using his huge bulk to intimidate the man.

‘No way you can get eighties for fifty K. No fucking way.’

‘I can even get you eighties blood. Sixty K if you want it.’

‘I’m selling, not buying,’ says Jamil pretending he’s all cool about it but you can tell from his face that he is interested.

‘You got to buy though innit? You gotta buy and either you ripping me off or you being ripped off. Simple as that. Tell you what though, I never took you for a kid. Mandems telling me you connected and you just a kid selling street deals. Soldier innit,’ says Curt and then he nods at me and walks off. ‘Let’s bounce.’

As we walk off I see that witness who came into court saying that she heard me arguing with Jamil. I didn’t even know she was there till I saw the CCTV. But when she came into court I realized that I know that girl from time. She’s okay, you know. Now I can understand why she might have thought that it was a bit on top at this point. There were plenty of loud words being spoke and bare waving arms so I don’t blame her for what she said. In fact to my mind she is kind of a witness in my favour. What she is saying kind of proves what I am saying. There was an argument. Well kind of an argument but what she don’t say is what it was for. What I can do that she can’t do is to say that.

Anyway, there is a few seconds as we are walking away when I am thinking to myself have we blown it? Curt is whispering at me, telling me, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay, he’s on the hook’, and to keep walking, but I’m not sure. Then as we are nearly on the road, Jamil comes jogging up, shouting for us to stop.

‘You got a deal then blood,’ he says. ‘Fifty-five K. Eighty per cent.’

‘Sixty,’ goes Curt, ‘I ain’t unloading a kilo for five K.’

‘Okay sixty,’ Jamil says not missing a beat. ‘How long you need?’

‘You got the dollars? Next week then. Where you want to do it?’

‘Nah, tomorrow man. I got the P right now. At one of my yards,’ says Jamil and points vaguely in the distance like his place was just there.

‘Nah man, too soon,’ says Curt all calm. ‘Okay three days. My yard. I got a trap going round the block. These are my digits. Check me laters,’ says Curt getting out his BB, you know, BlackBerry, as he’s speaking.

There’s a few seconds where no one is talking. Jamil’s got his head down typing in Curt’s number. Shilo and Binks are just watching but you can tell they’re feeling useless. Finally Jamil looks up. ‘Who’s your crew?’

‘Glockz innit,’ Curt says.

‘Guess your crew don’t mind getting their girls jacked if you hanging with him,’ he says, pointing his head at me.

Curt shrugs his huge shoulders like he doesn’t give a shit one way or another.

‘Unless you Glockz too?’ he says turning to me.

‘Nah man, I ain’t rolling with no crew. I’m just giving my mans a bit of a favour. I ain’t part of this. And for your FYI, I ain’t got Kira. But I am looking for her, blood. So if you know anything …’ I goes and with that I was gone leaving the two of them to work out the details.