7 Dates on 7 Nights Vol. II: Tuesday

 

 Well, I wouldn't really call it a date per se... actually, I'm quite confused as to what it was myself. Let me start from the beginning, there's actually a generally interesting back story as to how I met dude. It all started last summer...

 I was walking from my complex to the post office about 3 blocks away blasting my ipod and minding my own business. All of a sudden I see an x5 in the right lane driving down the strip in the opposite direction. He honks and signals that he's gonna make a U-turn to come talk to me (Oh God... who am I kidding though he has an x5...). I don't usually stop what I'm doing and wait for somebody to holla at me but I can't front, I was curious as hell to see who dude was. At that point, I hadn't been in the neighborhood too long and wasn't particularly familiar with anybody living there.

 Eventually he made his way over to me, pulled in to a nearby parking lot and came out to talk to me. He was brolic as a motherfucker. He asked the standard questions; "What's your name?; When did you move here?; Do you have a man?" etc. At that point I was seeing someone so I told him what the deal was but he remained persistent. He offered me a ride to wherever I was going but I assured him my destination was close and I'd rather walk it. He gave me his number anyways, told me to give him a call when I stopped messing with 'little niggas'. I didn't really think that much of it and went on with my day. I never called him.

 Fast-forward to the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Someone to whom I was close with in the hood found himself in some proverbial hot water. Long story short, he was hustling under some dude and was late on a few payments. He went incognito for a while after being threatened with his life on a few separate occasions. Come to find out he was moving product under my man in the x5. He (was) heavy in the streets for years apparently. Damn.

 Last Thursday I was on my way home from work and I stopped at the bodega corner store for some phillies and much to my surprise, guess who I ran into? He was with somebody in the passenger seat, young dude, so I assumed he was working. He proceeded to compliment me (yeah, I looked pretty fly that day. Stepped out the house with 5 inch stilettos in 7 inches of snow. It's nothin' though.) and ask for my number since I didn't know how to keep in contact with folk. No more than 10 minutes later I was bombarded with texts from dude. Talkin' about how he can't wait to do something and how he digs my swag. I was tired as hell that night and didn't feel like going out so I gave him a call and we talked for a bit. We stayed in contact texting and calling back and forth all weekend and he expressed he couldn't wait to take me out. Said he'd been thinking about me all the time. Wow, he's going super hard.

 

 Sunday night rolled around and he asked to do something but I had already made plans (see blog post below) so I told him most definitely this week we'll get up. I came home from work Tuesday, tired as hell from the day, weather was terrible and I had almost no motivation to do anything. I reached into my pea coat to grab the keys to my apartment and just as I was about to unlock the door, I felt something vibrate. I pulled out my phone. It was him.

 We made plans to kick it that night around 9 so again, I waited for the call telling me he was downstairs waiting for me in the lobby. He pulls up in yet another vehicle and I walk over and hop in. He explains he just uses this vehicle (HUGE truck, that's the extent of my automobile knowledge, kiddos) for touring purposes and that he's picking up his white range rover the next day. We talk about work and the area specifically. He lives in the suburbs and has a spot downtown but he grew up in the hood. My hood. He talks about his endeavors in the music industry, his label, book deal, websites, travels across the country and mentions one of his artists is dropping a single in the next week or so. I listen to the unmixed versions of a few tracks. They were hot. He explains that he's in the process of shopping him to a few major labels south of the border and has thus far gotten a very positive response.

 We hit up his crib in the burbs to pick something up and cop some trees. He gave me a copy of his book. I'm actually reading it at work right now. It's a fictional story about life growing up in the hood that loosely mirrors his own experiences. I'd post a link but I'd like to preserve some semblance of anonymity; even though he would probably love the promotion.

In Conclusion...

 Overall I had a good night. I was surprised at how eloquent and articulate he was. Pleasantly surprised. We talked about the business, marketing and promotion and I might now have the opportunity to get my feet wet in the industry. He's a genuinely nice guy and I look forward to seeing him again if for nothing more than to establish whether he has ulterior motives or not. Loyalty is paramount for dude and I feel like if I started to fuck with him I'd have to make a lot of drastic changes in my life and situation. We'll see what happens.