Riot was in the class group chat, just like the rest of the women, so she knew to come to today’s class in her workout gear. I put it in the chat yesterday evening, letting the girls know that we would be working out today. So many of the women heard workout clothes, so they used this as their opportunity to come, wearing little too no clothing, or the clothing that they did have on, it was very revealing. I wasn’t surprised that that wasn’t the route that Riot took. I knew that she didn’t dress like that.
She was dressed in a fitted, long sleeve athletic top from Nike and because the top was clinging onto her the way that it was, you really got to appreciate the smallness of her waist. The shorts she had on were from Nike, and they had high splits on the side. Fresh Nike sneakers were on her feet, and you could see the Nike socks that went above her ankles. Her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with a black visor on top of her head. You could tell that she’d rushed to get here. Like, she still looked pretty as she always did, but she was probably rushing and forgot to cover up all the passion marks that were on her neck that looked like bruises.
“Overslept, or over fucked?” I knew it was going to be Benelli to call her out.
My sister couldn’t help it. Mind you, Benelli wasn’t close with Riot the way that I was. They’ve talked a couple of times in past classes when Benelli would come, but it was mainly just about training, when Benelli would come down, and help.
When Benelli made the comment, Riot grunted, while making a face like she would have rather been anywhere else in the world right now, than here, listening to my sister call her out. I chuckled while shaking my head.
“You still have time Riot. Probably like thirty minutes of time. Go over and join one of the groups,” I let her know, and she scurried away.
“Why the fuck would you even say that?” I said to Benelli, taking a seat down on the grass. She laughed, while getting down as hell, sitting next to me.
“Oh, because it’s true. And you say she fuckin with Dolo, right?” she inquired, and I nodded.
“God, to be twenty- one again, fuckin on a rich nigga. I swear I’m not daydreaming about a life that I used to have, but I just remember that time in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll choose wife, mother, and entrepreneurship any day, but Uzi, I remember that fast life at 21 years old. Riot a hot girl, having fun with Dolo. No kids, getting money, and you can look at her and tell that she fuckin now. I just hope she don’t pop up pregnant. That’s when you slow all your shit down,” Benelli stated.
“I had that talk with her already. Nelli, you should have saw Dolo the other night when he came to the house. It was right before his Mexico trip. You could see it in his eyes that his ass was in love. Then, I ran into Riot at the gravesite, and she had that same goofy in love look on her face as Dolo. When Loco and Dolo was on the phone the other night, Dolo was telling Locoabout the trip and how everything went. He told Loco that he loves Riot,” I shared, and when I said it, Benelli smiled.
She’s been around, so she knew Dolo. She knew that there was a time in his life when he was a wild boy. I’ve been around him to hear his phone ringing, seeing the amount of bitches that would blow him up at a time.
“You know how it goes with niggas though. Sometimes, it just takes that one girl to come around and change a man. Men change their ways for who they want to change them for. Look at your husband, mine, Nyne’s, and even Beretta’s man. Them niggas were dogs. They changed though. See, back in my twenties though, you know I didn’t have any kind of faith in niggas. Dolo is what? Twenty-five? At twenty- five a nigga going to cheat. That’s how I’ve always felt,” she told me.
“You think so? Granted, I do know that younger dudes do have it in them to cheat, but it just depends on the man. You know I don’t want to put all niggas inside one box. Skyro was eighteen when he got with Beretta. He was young, making dope boy money, living on his own, but he was still faithful. Beretta never came at us with a sob story, telling us that he was fuckin around,” I voiced.
“Beretta had three sisters that he had to worry about, so Skyro don’t count” she said, and I chuckled.
I laughed because I thought back on all the threats that we used to dish out to Skyro when he first got with our little sister. That was our baby. We didn’t want her to get hurt, so we used to come at Skyro crazy, telling him that we would kill his ass. A part of me feels like he believed us, and he didn’t want to test the waters, so what Benelli was saying could be true, or the nigga just loved his girl too much and didn’t want to step out on her.
We talked about it for a little while longer, and then I got up, so that I could help with the conditioning. I went around, helping where I could, but mainly the instructors were workingwith the girls, getting them to do the exercises that I’d drawn out for today’s class.
The thirty minutes that were left flew by. You would have thought that I had these girls in a boot camp training class with me, that I loved to do. I worked out hard, and I didn’t give them an exercise that was even half of what I would typically do. You had girls that were leaned over, throwing up, some were lying on their backs, as I stood to the front, talking to them, just debriefing today’s class, and letting them know what I expected from them in our next class. Once I dismissed them, they all started piling out, headed back inside.
Riot was the only one that didn’t get up to leave. She was lying on her back, with her arm draped across her forehead, as her chest rapidly heaved up and down. This girl could shoot a gun, do all the gun drills that I needed them to do, but when it came to working out, or any kind of physical activity that we would do, that wasn’t her strong point. Notably, she came late, and only did 30 minutes of the work out, but by the way she was carrying on, you would have thought that she was on time like everyone else, and had gotten the full hour and a half work out in.
“You worked out for thirty minutes. Why you breathing like you about to fuckin pass out?” I asked, squatting, so that I could be leveled with her. There wasn’t a drop of sweat on her body. Just breathing hard and barely did shit.
“Because that’s what the fuck it feels like. Let me know in advance when you having another conditioning class, so that I can stay the fuck home. I feel like I’m about to fuckin die,” she said, rolling over, so that she could lay on her stomach.
“I told ya’ll in the beginning that it wouldn’t just be gun training. You knew that it would be physical training too. You need to sit up. Laying down going to have you catching a cramp,” I let her know, and like she didn’t even hear me, she continuedlaying down on her stomach. Her breathing wasn’t as hard anymore, but you could tell that she was still out of it.
She eventually rolled back over on her back, and then she sat up. She extended her legs out in front of her, while placing the palms of her hands behind her.
“I’m going to post the flyer in the chat, but to celebrate the month of the class, I’m planning like a bowling event for all the girls. It’s going to be next weekend,” I shared with her, and when I said it, she groaned, keeping her eyes on me, and tilting her head to the side.
“Uzi, it’s been over a month, and I don’t talk to none of these girls. I’m probably not going to come. Don’t take it as me acting funny, either. I really appreciate you for working with us, giving us structure, and the knowledge that you’ve poured into us about gun safety. I already knew the basics when I got here, but you educated me more, and I’m thankful for that. I don’t do the social events though. I’m not a social person. You know that,” she said to me.
“You don’t put yourself in positions to be social. You’re standoffish, so the girls here are probably scared to even approach you,” I said, knowing that that was the reason because I used to be the same way.
Hell, technically, I was still the same way, but I’ve gotten a little better over the years. Having kids will pull you out of your shell. My kids were involved in all kinds of sports, and it was mainly Zuri and Oakley that were always getting on me, telling me to be nice, and friendly to the other sports moms.
“I hear you. I probably still won’t come though,” she said, and then she stood up from the grass, and I did the same.
“How was Mexico?” I asked, changing the subject as the two of us were walking back inside the warehouse.
“It was good. That was my first time out of the country. First time on a plane too. You been before?” she asked me, and I laughed.
“Plenty of times. My mom was from Mexico, so I spent a lot of time in Mexico, especially in the summer. Mexico is beautiful. My grandmother still lives there, so I take my kids every spring, and summer break, so that we can visit the family that I have out here,” I told her, and she nodded to that.