Adrian and me just finished puttin’ plastic over the windows to cover the bullet holes somebody fired in here yesterday. Miss Wayne and Dayshawn asked Big Boody Brandy did she do it but of course she denied doin’ anything of the sort. It’s cool with me though. I’ll find another way to get back at her ass.
Although the black Hefty trash bags over the windows looked super ghetto, I knew we wouldn’t be gettin’ them fixed anytime soon so it would have to do. Any money we had ‘round here was used for drinkin’ and druggin’.
When we were done, I plopped down on the sofa and rubbed my feet.
“Where the fuck is Dayshawn? He got us in here doin’ all the work.”
“Wit’ Miss Wayne. You know they gettin’ the stuff for the cookout tomorrow.”
“Oh yeah.” I say sitting on the floor. I didn’t feel comfortable sitting on chairs because Big Boody Brandy let it be known ‘round Galveston that she was still after me. And I didn’t want to risk the chance of the next bullet goin’ in my head.
Yesterday got out of fuckin’ hand. First someone shoots up our windows and then Marlene passes out thinkin’ Adrian was shot. Turns out he fell in the cranberry juice from Wayne’s cup when it spilled on the floor.
“Where you goin’?” I say seeing Adrian running back and forth into the bathroom to style his naturally curly hair.
“I’m supposed to be hanging with some friends tonight. You wanna come?”
“What am I…a charity case?” I say with my hands on my hips.
“No…I just don’t want you to be alone tonight. With all that shit goin’ on with Big Boody Brandy.”
“Who are you hangin’ with anyway?” I ask. “I thought you were tryin’ to hook up with your best friend Chris to
fake
not be interested in wantin’ him no more.”
“We cool,” he says in a low voice. “But it’s not workin’ between us.”
“Really?” I smile happy the little princess doesn’t get her way
all
the time.
“Yeah…and he has made it clear that he wants to be with his baby’s mother. He not even paying my rent no more at my apartment so I had to give it up and since I ain’t got no job, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. You think Day will let me stay here until I get on my feet?”
“Day?” I say. “You need to be worryin’ about me. I’m the one who pays the bills around here.”
“Well…you think you can let me stay here?”
“Maybe…‘pends on how much fun I have tonight…what’s they names anyway?”
“Levi and Corey. I met Levi on the site and Corey is his friend. Both of them are thug cute.” He brags.
“People say that shit all the time,” I say wavin’ my hand. “And they turn out to be a hot ass mess.”
“I’m serious. Levi and me hooked up before so it’s all good. I know what he looks like. We may go to the movies or somethin’.”
“The movies?”
“Yeah…unless they can come here.”
“They can come over,” I tell him trying to think of something cute to wear. “What you wearin’?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well don’t dress fem, Aid. You look too much like a girl when you do that and it defeats the purpose of them wantin’ to be wit’ a man. I’m not hatin’ I’m just statin’.”
“I guess you’re right,” he says reluctantly.
I needed a head start if I was going to shine and I didn’t want him tryin’ to look more beautiful than me. And because everyone always raved about how pretty Adrian was, I decided to put on my tight red leather skirt, my black and white tiger pumps and my black top. Then I grabbed my blond wig with the Chinese bang cut in the front to really set things off. It always looked right against my chocolate skin.
When they finally got there, Adrian opens the door wearing white pants, a white shirt with a few buttons opened at the top and his white Louis Vuitton leather shoes. He looked a little butch and it’s just what I wanted.
When they walk fully inside, I was shocked to see two fine ass men standin’ before me. Adrian was right! They
both
were just my type.
One of them grips Adrian tightly around the waist and kisses him softly on the lips. “This is Levi,” Adrian says holdin’ his hand, lettin’ it be known that she had the best of the two.
Levi has light skin with grey eyes and he chose to wear blue jeans and a red t-shirt. He reminds me of Miss Wayne, if he was butch and I want him. So I look deeply into his eyes and give him the look that says,
‘I’m ready when you are’
.
The other one, who I figured was Corey, has a smooth brown complexion and braids. He had a real ‘thug look’ goin’ on wit’ some swag to boot! Lookin’ ever so relaxed in a black V-neck cashmere sweater, blue jeans and Nike boots, I know he’s my speed.
“Stop being rude, Adrian,” I say as I walk toward them switching my hips from left and right. Adrian has nothing on me when it comes to my flirt game. “Offer them a seat.”
They sit down on the sofa and we sit on each side of them.
“What’s up with the plastic on the windows?” Levi asks.
“It’s a long story,” Adrian tells them looking at me.
“Oookkaaaay.” He says looking suspiciously at the windows. “So…what’s up tonight? What are ya’ll tryna do?”
“I don’t know…a movie maybe?” Adrian adds.
They look at each other and smile. I know then that they have no intentions of puttin’ us on their arm in public.
“I was thinkin’ we’d just chill here,” Levi says. “But we do wanna know what kind of stuff ya’ll like to do for future reference.”
I cross my legs and lick my lips. “Don’t ask a question you’re not ready for.”
“Why is that?”
I giggle and give him the ‘fuck me now’ look. “Well your question can be taken a lot of different ways.” I reply.
“Well, take it in the best way that works for you.” He says lickin’ his lips.
“Mother Tyrone, can I talk to you for a second?” Adrian asks standin’ up.
“Not now, darlin’. Mother is entertainin’ guests.”
“Okay…uh…well, Corey,” he says tapping him on the leg, “tell Tyrone a little about yourself, since you’re here to meet him.”
When he opens his mouth, it blows the hell out of me that he has a serious stutter problem. “Wa…wa...what you wanna know…know….know…about…about…me?”
I laugh and say, “For starters I wonder how long it would take you to ask another question?”
He looks at Adrian and then at his friend. “I…I…I’m working…working…”
“You know what, honey, how about you just smile. Talkin’ really isn’t your thing.”
“Mother, you being rude,” Adrian says.
“Remember where you are and who I am,” I remind her. “For somebody who ain’t got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of you need to relax before you find yourself out on the street. This my house.” I shut her ass down, smile and say, “Anyway…Corey knows I’m just playin’ with him. Don’t you, honey?”
He nods and I’m thankful he’s not tryin’ to speak again.
“Are you guys hungry? I’m thinkin’ of makin’ my famous fried chicken, candy yams, rice, greens and 7-Up Cake. What ya’ll think?”
“Wow,” Levi says, “I think I don’t believe you gonna make all of that for us.”
“Then you don’t know me
yet
,” I smile. “Besides, cooking is how I express love.” I say placin’ my hand on my chest. “Well…one of the ways anyway.”
He chuckles.
“Th…Th…Th…That sounds…,” Corey stutters.
“Good. That sounds good,” I say finishin’ the sentence for ‘Stutterin’ Stanley’. “Now relax yourself before you pass out. Let me cater to you.” I turn to Adrian and say, “Adrian take their shoes off while I prep the meal.”
Eager at a chance to show my sexy, I take my shoes off too and show my tiny cute size thirteen feet. Then I rinse the chicken, put the yams in the pan and begin to clean and wash my greens before placin’ them in the pot. Lastly, I place a troth of grease into a fryin’ pan and wait for it to bubble. Then I look behind me, and when I’m sure no one is comin’, I remove flour from the cabinet and push it deeply to the bottom of the trashcan. When the preppin’
and
fakin’ is done, I decide that I’m ready to perform.
“Oh my God!” I cry out lookin’ frantically through opened cabinets.
“What mother?” Adrian asks runnin’ into the kitchen. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t have any flower. I can’t believe it. There was an entire pack here yesterday.”
“You want us to get some?” Levi asks enterin’ the kitchen too. His show of affection and concern makes me want to fuck him even more.
“No, you guys are comfortable.” I say to him. “Your shoes are off, you’re listenin’ to music…I wouldn’t feel right askin’ either of you to run out here to no store.” Luckily when I look into his and Corey’s eyes, I can tell that runnin’ around town looking for flour is the last thing on their minds. But I’m not surprised. In the process of perfectin’ my plan, I waited for them to get good and comfortable before fakin’ like I didn’t have flour.
“I can go get it,” Adrian says reluctantly.
“You sure?” I ask him.
“Yeah. It’ll take me thirty minutes to get there and back.”
In my mind, I’m thinkin’ thirty minutes is plenty. “Works for me.”
Adrian gets himself together and walks out the door, the moment the door closes I say, “Well, while she’s gettin’ the flour, I figure you guys could enjoy some hors d'oeuvres.”
Levi smiles and Corey stands up.
“What did you have in mind?” Levi asks.
Let’s just say by the time a minute passes, I was standing in the middle of the floor with Corey’s dick in my ass and Levi’s dick in my mouth.
“Damn you feel good as shit!” Corey says, no stutter. It’s amazin’ what good boo-gina can do for a speech impediment.
I was puttin’ the slob down on Levi’s dick and I smile when I look up and see his eyes roll to the back of his head. The funny thing is, I didn’t put the entire stick in my mouth yet. When I do, trust me, it will be a wrap.
“Mmmmm,” Levi moans, “damn you suckin’ that shit good, nigga. Keep that shit right there,” he says pawning the back of my head pushin’ his dick to the back of my throat. Irritated my wig is movin’, he throws it to the floor and says, “Fuck that shit. I want to feel your head, nigga.” He continues pushin’ deeper. “Open that mouth wide and suck this shit!”
I know he wants to choke me, but it ain’t happenin’. I perfected the art of suckin’ dick before I knew how to walk on my father and uncle. So I don’t care how far back you push, or how big your dick is, I can open my throat wider.
Doing a quick time check by lookin’ at the clock on the wall, I can see we have ten minutes left before spoiled little princess comes in here and discovers we started the party without her. So if I want to please them both and get my shit off too, I was gonna have to reach deep to pull out my inner freak.
So I found my rhythm. First I pulled Levi closer toward me, so that the entire shaft of his dick remained in my mouth, then I wound my hips and squeezed the walls of my boogina so that Corey was right where he needed to be. Next I jerked my dick repeatedly not missin’ a beat.
When I felt my body shiver, I knew I was about to cum. And right on point, I felt Levi’s creamy load fill my throat, Corey’s oil slide down my ass and my own wetness fill my hands.
We were done
and
we didn’t get caught. All we had to do was hurry up and get dressed before softy came back. We were almost in the clear until Adrian walks through the door and sees me adjustin’ my skirt, Levi zippenin’ his pants and Corey wipin’ the cum off of his jeans.
We stop what we are doin’ and stare at him in the doorway. And to think, the clock says we had two minutes left.
Damn.
Me, Parade, Daffany, Dayshawn and Tyrone are out on Miss Dayshawn’s deck. The temperature dropped a little so it was a little chilly but we were okay. So many people were in this backyard earlier in the day that we were happy that now it was just us.
My body is here but my mind is focused on the call I got earlier from the person who is caring for my mother. They say she’s gettin’ worse and that I should go and see her before it’s too late. But right now, I just can’t. How do you lose the person who has been your rock most of your life? I don’t know.
“Where’s Adrian?” I ask Tyrone.
“Somewhere actin’ like a bitch. She mad because the two thugs she brought over here last night wanted me instead of her.”
“Wait a minute, how come that don’t even sound right?” I ask.
“’Cause ya’ll stay thinkin’ twinkie sexier than me when she’s not. I’m not hatin’, I’m just statin’.”
“Girl you can feed Parade and Daffany that bullshit if you want to, but I already know the deal. ‘Cause ain’t nobody in their right mind choosin’ you over no twinkie. Unless you offered them some dick first.”
We all laugh but Tyrone looks at me strangely. Normally he can take my jokes but tonight there’s something behind his stare that makes me think otherwise.
“You alright?” I ask him. “’Cause you lookin’ mighty hard.”
“Oh…yeah…I was just thinkin’ about somethin’.”
My mind wanders as Miss Tyrone proceeds in tellin’ her stories again, as if we didn’t just have that uncomfortable moment.
I step to the side and smoke my cigarette. A habit I picked back up recently. Something was bothering me and I wasn’t sure what it was. All I know is that the moment I got off the plane the feeling was worse.
As I continue to smoke my square, I glance over at Parade. She’s laughin’ so hard at Tyrone it looks likes she’s about to shit herself. And Miss Daffany is damn near on the floor reliving Miss Tyrone’s antics as he talks about the usher at the funeral.
“I think he wanted to fuck me. I mean, why else would he come for me about sitting down? Maybe he was the one lookin’ instead of everybody else and couldn’t help himself.”
“You always makin’ somethin’ to be what it ain’t.” I tell him.
“Don’t act like I ain’t fuck the preacher at the funeral before.”
“Here we go again with your Hollywood Chronicles.”
Just then Adrian walks up the back steps with Marlene holding him up. Adrian’s pissy drunk.
“Was that Tyrone talkin’?” he says with slurred speech. “Because if it was I wanna tell ya’ll somethin’. Don’t ever leave your man ‘round him.”
Marlene sits Adrian in one of the chairs on the deck and says, “I been through hell with twinkie today. He drank a whole bottle of Kettle One by himself. Now I need me a drink after that shit,” he continues walking to the table full of half empty liquor bottles. “Ya’ll got anything left?”
“You aight, honey?” I ask Adrian ignoring Marlene.
“I’ll be fine. Just wish I had more real friends like you.”
“Girl, are you still talkin’ ‘bout the shit that happened last night? ‘Cause if you are you need to know them niggas wanted to fuck me the moment they got there. Don’t hate me…hate the game.”
“Girl, leave Twink alone and finish your story,” I say, hoping they miss me with all the other bullshit.
“Anyway,” Miss Tyrone starts rolling his eyes at Adrian, “one day the preacher asked me to go along to visit his grandmother at this nursin’ home. I was one of his regular members and use to play the organ for his church sometimes. For real, I don’t even know how he knew I was in the life because I was a butch queen back then.”
“Bitch, you use to wear two gold hoop earrings and red lip gloss.” I remind her. “Just ‘cause you dressed it up with slacks and a button down shirt don’t make it no different.”
“And don’t you forget I have a son and a wife, motha Wayne. So trust me, he was not suspectin’ me for no queen.”
I shake my head.
“I remember that shit with the preacher.” Miss Dayshawn adds. “He use to call the house sometimes. Sayin’ he was callin’ to pray over you and save your soul.”
“Mercy, that’s a mess.” Marlene says grabbing a drink. She always eating and drinking without puttin’ in on shit.
“That’s fucked up that you lumpin’ all preachers together because all of them not the same.” Miss Day says.
“Fuck all of ‘em…they the biggest pimps in the world.” Miss Tyrone disrespects. “So I don’t care how you try to clean it up. They pimp their congregation just like they on the stroll. Anyway, we couldn’t fuck in a hotel or nothin’, cause someone would recognize us. So I use to go with him to the nursin’ home to visit his peeps.
“His dear sweet grandma ma was half blind, deaf and stupid so we use to take her out of the bed and push her up to the window to look out of it, that way the bed was free.” He laughs. “As long as her face felt the warmth of the sun on her cheeks, she ain’t know nothin’ ‘bout her grandson the preacher partin’ the black cheeks behind her back.”
“Bitch, you goin’ to hell!” Miss Dayshawn says.
“I don’t think they’ll have him there either.” Marlene adds, pouring some more liquor in her cup.
“What is your point with this story, Tyrone?” Miss Dayshawn laughs. “’Cause right now all I can say is that you crazy for this shit right here.”
He looks up for a minute and says, “Oh, shit! I forgot. What the fuck were we talkin’ about again?”
We all burst into laughter.
Having enough of Miss Tyrone, I turn my attention to Miss Daffany. She appears to be doin’ well but I can tell she is taking the burial harder than she thought.
When Miss Daffany suddenly stands and leaves Miss Tyrone’s conversation, I know immediately somethin’ else is on her mind. She sits on a lawn chair and I sit next to her.
Smiling she says, “What are you looking at, Miss Wayne?”
“Did I ever tell you how proud I am of you? It’s like you’re a new person now. I’ve never seen you glow so much in your life.”
“You mean it’s been a long time since you’ve seen me clean for so long.”
“That too. But also you’re takin’ care of yourself now and got a new boo.” Her new friend is HIV positive and loves the ground Miss Daffany walks on. She met him at a support group for people with the virus.
She waves me off and says, “Miss Wayne, don’t start being mushy.”
“Bitch, I’m bein’ real. I’m not tellin’ you nothin’ that ain’t true. You know that’s not the ole girl’s style.”
“It’s still tough hearing it.” She lowers her head. “Nobody ever really told me that they were proud of me, in my entire life.”
“Well maybe now you deserve it.”
“I don’t know where I would be without you.” She looks down at her hands. “You didn’t give up on me. Even when I treated you like shit, you fought for my life. I never knew that kind of love existed. Mama was so selfish.” She pauses. “I remember when your mama use to buy me clothes,” a smile spreads across her face, “and she found out my mamma was selling them for drugs. She busted up in my house and told mamma that she wouldn’t get in the way of her killing herself, but she’d be damn if she was gonna stand by and watch her take what was mine and kill me too. Mama never took my clothes again…none your mother bought for me anyway.”
When she mentions my mama, I grow sad.
“Have you talked to her yet? Or gone to see her?”
“Miss Daffany, I keep tellin’ you I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Okay…okay,” she smiles. “I see you still not ready.”
“Daffany, please.”
“It’s dropped.” She smiles. “Do you know we’ve been through so much together, Wayne? First when Sky was murdered,” she utters softly looking around to see if anyone was listening. Speaking of Sky’s death is still taboo and we hardly ever talk about that night, “and then with Parade and Smokes tryin’ to kill her…not to mention you saving my life by coming in that drug house to rescue me. I took you through a lot, we both did, but you never left our side.”
“I’M SICK OF LOOKIN’ AT YA’LL RIGHT NOW! I NEED SOME DICK!”
“Bitch, calm your ass down!” I say to Tyrone.
Miss Tyrone waves me off and proceeds in running his mouth. That is one funny fish.
Out of nowhere Miss Daffany says, “You miss DC don’t you?”
I drop my head before lookin’ back into her eyes. “I don’t know if I would say
miss
…but there’s somethin’ that makes me want to be here.” I cross my sexy legs and wiggle my blue sequin pump, which matches my blue sequin top. My True Religion jeans hug my curves.
“Well do you miss your friends?”
I pause and say, “I do but I don’t. You know I have my gay friends back home, too. But here, there’s a lot of backstabbing, lying and other shit I can’t tell you about right now.” I didn’t want to give all the details of the shoot out the other night because I knew she’d just worry.
“Then maybe you wanna stay, to be closer to your mother. You know, to bring closure to your relationship?”
“Miss Daffany, please!”
“Miss Wayne you have to deal with it. You help everybody else with their problems but don’t want nobody helpin’ you with yours. Please tell me what’s goin’ on with your mother? Why don’t you talk about her anymore?”
“Not now, Daffany.”
“I hope ya’ll not over here being mushy.” Miss Parade says leavin’ the loud ass queens to themselves. She sits in an available seat next to me interrupting the conversation and I’m happy.
“BITCH, I’M TRYIN’ TO TELL YOU! MISTER HAD ME FUCKED UP! HOOOONNNNEY, THE OLE GIRL DON’T PLAY!” Miss Tyrone continues stompin’ around in his black stretch jeans, no shoes and a white tshirt. His five o’clock shadow showin’ against his dark skin and his hair sticks straight up in the air.
“We can hear you fine without the bullhorn!” He was drunk and really feeling himself.
“Just ‘cause you lesbians want to exclude yourselves from our conversation, don’t try to rock…(one snap)…my…(two snaps) boat!”
And then she strikes a pose.
I fan the air.
“Gone with you!” I tell her before redirectin’ my attention to my friends. “We weren’t talkin’ about nothin’, Miss Parade.”
“Yeah. Nothin’.” Miss Daffany says rubbing Parade’s swollen belly. “Just want to know if Miss Wayne’s gonna leave us.”
“Are you?” Miss Parade questions leanin’ in toward me. She looks cute wearing the one-piece jean jumper that I brought her last month. “What about my kids? What about Daffany’s baby? What are we going to do if you gone?”
“Hold up!” I say placin’ my hand against my chest. “First off the ole girl ain’t say she was leavin’ either of you.” I point, waving my finger between them. “Second of all, I don’t recall bein’ either one of your baby’s daddies.”
They laugh.
“Well if you’re not thinking about leaving, why she say that?” Miss Parade asks.
When my phone vibrates I pull it out and check the number. It was Jay, Parade’s pressed ass husband. Don’t get me wrong, I like him, but we needed those few extra days we stayed here so that Daffany could feel closer to her mother’s spirit. But here he was callin’ Miss Parade every second of the day. And every time she got off the phone with him, she’d be upset. So tonight, I was having none of it.
“’Cuse me, darlin’s.” I stand up and walk to the far end of the deck for privacy.
“Who’s that?” Miss Parade questions.
“Your husband,” I joke.
“Stop playing,” she says waving me off, not believing me.
Well I tried. I shrug.
“Yes?” I say into my phone with my hands on my hips.
“Wayne, where’s my wife?” Jay yells, my God-kids playin’ loudly in the background. “She don’t need to be runnin’ ‘round DC when she carryin’ my seed.”
“Jay, please! That nut you deposited ain’t been a seed in nine months. Anyway, we’re still here and she’s okay. She’ll be on a plane tomorrow but I don’t want you upsettin’ her. So unless you calm down, I’m not givin’ her the phone.”
“Are you fuckin’ crazy or just stupid?”
“Are you gonna calm down?”
“Fuck no! I wanna speak to my wife!”
“Sorry I can’t do that. Bye, bye,” I hit the end key and when he calls back, I turns the phone off altogether. I’m so happy she left her phone at the hotel I don’t know what to do. Just ‘cause you’re married don’t mean you’re a slave. She needs to breathe.
Just when I was about to rejoin them, through the glass door I see Miss Tyrone tusslin’ in the kitchen with Miss Paul. Paul stayed competing against me in the ball circuit. Knowing every category I tried for, ‘cept for the Lengendary category, I won. That rusty bitch never won shit!
“Unlock my door, bitch!” Miss Dayshawn yells through the glass tryin’ to slide the door open. Apparently Paul has locked us out on the deck.
“Fuck is happenin’ now?” I ask him.
“He’s gettin’ beat!” Miss Dayshawn says.
“I know that but why?”
In the corner of my eye I see Miss Parade and Miss Daffany moving toward the door.
“Stay over there,” I instruct them with my hands. I don’t need them being anywhere near this drama. Who knows if Miss Paul is packin’ heat.
“Miss Tyrone ain’t been payin’ the bills and I ain’t know.” Miss Dayshawn says to me. “Now Queen Paul wants us out of here tonight. Where we gonna go at the last minute?”
“First off why you lettin’ Miss Tyrone handle the bills? You know she ain’t good with responsibility.”
“I know but his wife use to give us money for the rent.”
“You mean to tell me Shannon still carryin’ his ass and paying his bills?”
“Sometimes.”
“Well what about the credit cards? You not gettin’ them no more?”
“I didn’t want to tell you, Wayne, but I lost the connect I had at M&T bank. He got fired for givin’ me customer credit information. They tryin’ to prosecute him now and everything. I still have an inside connect but he’s acting scared and barely answers his calls. It’s just a matter of time before he stops helping us too.”
Miss Dayshawn’s connect at the credit card company was how I ran my credit card schemes on the side. Thank goodness I had the legit business because I don’t know what I would’ve done.
“That’s heavy, Miss Day. You should’ve told me!”
With the news he was bringin’ me, I forgot Miss Tyrone was gettin’ kicked around like a NFL football. Just as I look inside, we see Miss Tyrone’s entire bare ass being smushed against the sliding glass. Paul has ripped the old fish clothes’ right off her body.
“YUCK!” We all say lookin’ at the crustiness that is her behind. A small circle of fog forms around it.
“Damn it! That bitch is beatin’ Miss Tyrone’s ass for POINTS!” I say.
“Somebody go help her!” Miss Adrian screams coverin’ his mouth. Miss Adrian is so pretty and so feminine, that sometimes you forget she’s a boy even though he doesn’t dress in drag
all
the time. “It’s gonna kill her!”
“Ain’t nobody gonna kill nobody!”
I take off my shoes and hop down the stairs. Then I walk around to the front of the house, take the plastic off the window next to the door and unlock the door. Once inside, and without wastin’ time, I grab Paul’s barracuda lookin’ ass by the shop-mart weave she’s wearin’ and punch her so hard in the face, she smiles.
“Listen, I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but you picked the wrong time to pull some shit like this!” I maintain my hold on her hair and she’s bent at my feet.
“Yeah, bitch!” Miss Tyrone screams jumpin’ around, naked from the waist down. “What you gonna do now?”
“Miss Tyrone, be a queen and go put somethin’ on! Your pussy is showin’ and you scarin’ the fuck out of everybody outside.”