The Reason Why by Vickie M. Stringer Page B

her tripping, and she was strapped in for the ride. “Chino . . .”
    Chino walked into the living room and pulled out the only textbook she had inside her pack.
    â€œ World Civilizations !” he exclaimed. “My best subject!”
    Pam laughed. “Yeah, I’ll bet.”
    â€œGirl, I used to teach world civilizations,” Chino said smiling, sitting in the bed next to her. “What do you want to know about?”
    â€œWe’re talking about ancient Egyptians.”
    â€œMy people!” Chino said. “Invented all the important shit.”
    â€œLike what?” Pam asked, lifting an eyebrow.
    â€œOh, you trying to test me, huh?”
    â€œWhat did they invent?” Pam asked. “Name one thing.”
    â€œThe motorcycle!”
    â€œBoy, get the hell outta here!” Pam laughed, trying to shove Chino off the bed.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œSee, that’s what I’m talking about. How in the hell are you going to help me study?”
    â€œBecause I’m the man. Let’s see.” Chino reached for the history book.
    Pam pulled it back.
    â€œThat’s okay, I don’t need no book to tell me about my people. We’re an oral people anyway. I don’t need no white folks to tell me that we were the first to navigate by the stars,or to invent the science of astronomy, or to domesticate animals, or to irrigate based on the seasons along the banks of the Nile.”
    â€œChino!” Pam said. Her mouth fell open.
    Chino laughed.
    â€œHow do you know those things?”
    â€œGirl, don’t underestimate me.”
    â€œChino!”
    â€œYou think that I’m just some dumb-ass street nigga, don’t you?”
    â€œNo, I never thought that. I know you’re smart, but . . .”
    â€œBut I shouldn’t have any book-smarts, huh? I shouldn’t know as much as my big-headed girlfriend? I shouldn’t know that Akhenaton was the first to proclaim one true god and thus invent monotheism. I shouldn’t know that the Egyptian pyramids were astronomically aligned, or that the pharaoh Sesostris had conquered the entire known world. I shouldn’t know that Hatshepsut ruled as a man, or that Thebes was the center of Egyptian religious life, or that the Greek deities were copies of Egyptian ones?”
    Pam’s mouth remained wide open.
    Chino pulled the book out of her hand. “Now c’mon, Pooh, let’s study and get you an A on this exam.”

Chapter 12

Right Place, Right Time
    â€œI love New York!” Chino shouted out the window. “New York, New York, big city of dreams!”
    Chino ducked back in the car; the biting December air was too much to bear hanging out of a moving vehicle. Chino and Joe Bub Baby rolled down the busy streets of Manhattan. One thing he loved about the city was its energy. It could be two or three o’clock in the morning, and Manhattan would be lit up like it was broad daylight. He particularly loved rolling through Times Square and the massive Port Authority Terminal to check out the wide variety of characters who hung out in those places. New York was like a zoo for humans. One could find a variety of different species wandering about.
    â€œYo, check that out, dog!” Joe Bub said, pointing to the white cats that had multicolored Mohawks.
    Chino shook his head. “Only in New York.”
    â€œYo, let’s roll through Harlem.”
    â€œMos def, but we can do that later. First we gotta meet Fabian’s cousin.”
    â€œA’ight,” Joe Bub agreed. “Aye, what’s that cat’s name again? Dragons, Dragoon, Dragoose?”
    â€œDragos, fool!” Chino spat. “This is my plug, remember that. You just along for the ride, so you be quiet and let me do all the talking.”
    â€œBet,” Joe Bub told him. “Hey, C, let’s hit that club The Roxy while we up here.”
    â€œI’m cool with that.”
    â€œSo old boy is