“It’s too early in the morning for dice.”

“It’s neva too early to take nigga’s money,” Ugie said, turning to face her. He put his closed fist by her mouth. “Now blow on these dice, and give daddy some good luck.”

“Nigga, please,” Arnessa replied, playfully pushing his hand away then suddenly jerking her head in the direction of the screeching tires on the navy van that was coming toward her. What the fuck? Before the van came to a complete stop, three men—one black, one Puerto Rican, and one white—jumped out with their guns drawn. All three had their badges hanging around their necks. Fuckin’ TNT early in the fucking morning, damn, Arnessa thought. She felt like kicking herself.

“You good, law-abiding citizens know the drill,” the white cop said with an evil smile plastered across his face. “Hands on your heads. You too, sweet thing,” he said to Arnessa.

She did as she was told. The Puerto Rican cop began patting her down. “Aren’t you supposed to call a female officer to search me?”

“‘Aren’t you supposed to call a female officer to search me?’” he mimicked. “Don’t worry, I won’t touch you inappropriately.” He cuffed her wrists behind her back then slowly ran his hand across her butt. Arnessa turned and glared at him. He winked his eye and smirked.

“Fuck you,” she spat.

The officer laughed as he threw her in the van along with all the guys. Ugie looked over at her, “Why you looking stressed? Ain’t nobody dirty. They just gonna hit us with a gambling charge. We’ll all get bail and be out in a few hours … unless you got warrants.”

“I’m straight,” she lied.

“Binds, Arnessa,” the short brown-skinned female officer yelled.

Arnessa quickly jumped up as the officer unlocked the door. “Yes.”

“You can go.”

Arnessa quickly exited the cell. What she thought was going to be a few hours in jail had turned into twelve. She quickly collected her property and left the building. Outside in the extremely cold evening air, Tasha waited for her friend while taking long slow drags from her Newport. Her long brown shearling was no match for the icy winds that were blowing, but she had to have a smoke in order to keep her nerves intact. Tasha took her last drag, flicked the butt onto the sidewalk, and turned to walk back in the building when she saw Arnessa coming out. “Yo, Nessa,” she yelled out. “Over here.”

“You slow as hell, b. What da fuck took you so long? They almost put me on a bus to the island.”

“Couldn’t you at least have said thanks before you start spazzin’?”

“Hell no! If they would’ve caught me with this shit inside of me, I would’ve been done.”

“Look, don’t start with your mouth. And I paid your bail over three hours ago.”

“You used some of that money from Dave?”

“Nah, he never called, and Rhonda said he never came through with their work. I did collect money from everybody else, though.”