and it was with the prettiest girl you ever did see.
black girl!
curls and curls and curls
fuzzy flip flops, big purse, smelled of perfume and sunny days
picked her up in the hills of hollywood, and we needed to run some errands she told me
i bought this benz to get on the most expensive platform but those trips are rare
and i thought my car was too old, but sometimes lyft makes exceptions
i was playing old school smooth jazz from wes montgomery
blue note records with the windows down zig zagging through the canyons to sunset
smack dab on some holiday because the roads were smooth and empty
and first thing she said once we get rolling is
oooh – i like that music
she rolled up her window, so i rolled up mine and caught that familiar aroma of cocoa butter
do you mind if i vape? she asked, rolling the window down again
the presumptive close
fine as you are, i said. you could snort all the blow i have in here
and i tapped the glove box
ahahahah you crazy, she said and took a drag from her colorful plastic vape
wes was playing that thick guitar with its rich deep tone and we just watched the people of west hollywood then hollywood go about their free day
and i asked, do you believe in god?
she said of course
and i said, He is good.
amen she said while inhaling, holding, and blowing out a thick stream as we approached the hollywood freeway on-ramp, shockingly bereft of cars
is this a zombie movie we’re in? i asked gesturing at the absence of traffic
oh thats because i ordered the lyft lux no traffic option, she said and laughed like mike: he he he
i have this theory that i may have shared once before about native californians, that they are extremely mellow and down to earth because
if they grew up here
they have seen it all at an early age.
even though she had a lot of things to do that day
she was also chill
not scattered
and so we went south then east then west then south
talking about race, soul food, tacos, bell hooks, college, snapchat and most interestingly how she took three busses to get to high school
hour-and-a-half each way
while trying to look cute, but not too cute for the pervs in the six busses.
wes led into jimmy smith’s swirling bebop organ.
there were times when there wasnt anything to say and nothing was said.
rarely does that happen but there it was.
on the final stop she left smiling as brightly as i was
even the benz smelled better than it should.