Petey then stood and gave a few words.
“You know, play boy, you my strong peoples. Over ‘da years my respect fa’ you done grown more than I eva’ thought it could. I remember you from snatching chains ‘dats about forty-nine stacks cheaper than da one you wearin’ right now.” In unison, the table burst into laughter. It was clear they all had history. “I remember my dude, Rock, tellin’ me to watch out for ‘dis light skinned kid who was robbin’ fa’ jewels. Memba ‘dat, Divine?”
Azmir nodded his head and smiled, apparently at the recollection of it.
“Yeah, ‘cuz, I told Divine and ‘dem, I’ont give a fuck how young he is, I got sum heat fo’ ‘dat ass if he run up on me or my duke!” Petey said in laughter, referring to Azmir. He always protected Azmir. I quickly surmised after meeting him, that was his role. As if it were more than a friendship, like an assigned position of some sorts. “Well, Im’ma just say happy thirty-fifth birthday and give you ‘dis. I got mad love for you, homie. You been a strong soldier in da field.”
Petey handed Kid a smaller wrapped gift. Upon opening it, we learned it was an eighteen karat rose gold Audemars Piguet watch—or in this case—timepiece. I was floored. I knew that brand of watch without diamonds can run about fifteen to thirty grand, but when you add in the bling, I was out of my league.
Can Petey afford that with his strip club earnings?
Everyone clapped and affirmed the value of the gift as Kid reached across the table, giving Petey the same dap that he had just given Wop minutes ago. I could tell Kid was overcome with emotions, as he should have been. These were extremely profligate gifts! What next?
Petey motioned to Azmir and I was beside myself in anticipation of what he was going to say and give. Azmir stood.
“Kid, you’re a solid soldier, far surpassing my expectations. I’m not a man of many public pronouncements, but I will say that you’ve done well and are a vital piece to The Clan. May your loyalties remain true and your belly stay fat. Happy birthday.”
Chanell squealed, breaking my attention away from Azmir. That’s when I noticed the heavy anticipatory expressions across the table—I mean, I saw mouths open and some even looked as though they were holding their breath!
I turned to see Azmir pulled out a five by seven sized wrapped case and was handing it over to Kid. More jewelry? Is that Kid’s thing? Kid seemed to have taken forever to open the box and I realized that I wasn’t the only one to feel that way when one of Syn’s girls yelled out, “Hurry the fuck up, Kid!”
I can’t lie, a nervy side of me brought on by the mimosa shot her a look of, Shut the hell up and stop acting like a damn hood rat! because I knew much of the reason for her suspense was due to the fact that Azmir was the gifter. Shoot! Even I was on edge in anticipation.
Kid opened the box and discovered a car key fob with a huge emblem on the ring that I wasn’t familiar with. He read from a piece of paper, barely audible to those at the table. That was until he screamed, “A fucking Aston Martin One-77?”
The table went up in a roar. I was frozen at the table, steeling in my seat, unable to move.
What in the…?
“Holy shiiiiiiiiiiit!” Wop screamed and jumped his five foot seven inch frame from his seat at the opposite end of the table from me.
The other Clan guys were right behind him in their shock, approval, and envy of this over the top gift that had just been bestowed upon Kid. I really didn’t know much about the dynamics of this group, or The Clan for that matter, and felt that it was an odd phenomenon.
I swear, I felt like I was at the table of an organized crime family with their interactions, but knew the thought was silly and didn’t wrestle with it long.