Lookin' For Luv by Carl Weber Page A

baby! It’s been a long time, boo.” She sounded excited.
    “Yeah, well, you know I’ve been a little busy. But I’ve been thinking ’bout you a lot.” He lied, opening his nightstand drawer to see if he had any magnum condoms.
    “You have? So when we gonna get together?”
    “We can get together right now if you like, baby. All you have to do is bring your fine ass over here.”
    “I’m on my way. Oh, Tyrone, do you think we can get a little something to jump-start our party?” Throne didn’t notice the desperation in her voice.
    “Don’t worry, baby, I’ve got two forties of Old E on ice as we speak.”
    “Oh, that’s great,” she answered weakly. “But I was thinking maybe we’d try something a little stronger.”
    “Sure, baby, no problem. Why don’t you come-on over? I’ll slip out and get us a bottle. What you got a taste for, rum? Maybe a little gin?”
    “Naw, man, I don’t wanna drink. What I really wanna get is some crack.”
    Stacey’s words hit Tyrone like a ton of bricks. The last thing he had expected from her was that she wanted drugs. He hadn’t even known she smoked the stuff.
    “You serious?” he asked.
    “Yeah, I’m serious.” Her voice became very animated. “You act like you never had sex after you smoked crack. That shit is the bomb!!”
    Yeah, it is the bomb . He thought about how good it would be to hold a stem and take a long hit of some really good crack. Just the thought of that first hit reaching his lungs made his forehead perspire.
    “Come on, boo, let’s get a few dimes.” Stacey’s voice was becoming even more desperate. “I promise you, I’ll suck your dick until you pass out!”
    Tyrone didn’t care about having sex now. His thoughts were on getting high. There was nothing any crack addict wanted more than to obtain that first high, and he had a chance to get there. It had been almost four years since he’d smoked crack, and he figured he could get high, get that feeling again, and then stop smoking the next day. His palms were sweaty as he reached on his nightstand for his wallet. Opening it, he saw two ten-dollar bills. He knew it wasn’t enough for both of them to get a good high.
    Glancing across the room, he spotted two one-hundred-dollar bills on his desk. They were supposed to be deposited into his checking account to cover his child support checks.
    “Ay, Stacey, you got any money?” He knew the answer to the question before he asked it.
    “Hell no! Don’t tell me you ain’t got no money, Tyrone.”
    “I got money.” He walked over to the table, pocketing the two one-hundred-dollar bills.
    “Good, I know some guys right by your building that got slammin’ dimes.” Stacey’s voice was a mixture between relief and excitement.
    Tyrone was getting really worked up now. His mouth was dry and he couldn’t wait to feel the warm smoke fill his mouth and lungs. He didn’t want to talk on the phone anymore. He just wanted to get high.
    “Look, Stacey, we’re wasting time talking on the phone. Just bring your ass—” He stopped himself in midsentence as he caught sight of the picture of his two daughters on the wall.
    “Tyrone? You there, baby? I’m on my way over now, Tyrone.” She could sense something was wrong. There was a long silence before he answered.
    “Stacey, don’t come over here. Don’t come over tonight or any other night, ’cause I don’t get high no more.”
    Tyrone hung up the phone quickly before she could try to change his mind. He sat on his bed and stared at the picture of his girls. Opening the Bible that was lying on his desk, he said a silent prayer, thanking God for one more day of being drug free.
    As he lay on his bed, his thoughts wandered to Alicia and Kevin. He wondered what his life would be like if Alicia had been with him instead of Kevin. Imagining her in the sexy red dress she had worn when they first met, he knew he would be the envy of many brothers with a woman like that.
    What the hell am I