Alice Returns

Last night, I was sittin with my homegirl, Keisha (eating a fruit salad and getting foggy) and we got to talking about our favorite children's stories. Mine has always been "The Gift of the Maji" -- google it.

Hers on the other hand was Alice and Wonderland. I was like "Really? So you like mushrooms and happy pills?" And she was like, "uhm.. I'm a mother now Dex, I only smoke weed. And I can only do that every other weekend when my kids are with their Daddy or with my Mama"
Then I was like, " Bitch please *giggle*, yo kids is in the other room right now" as I passed her the fogg machine.

She took a puff, looked me dead in my eye and said, "yeah, but that's waaaaay in the back and its 3 in the mornin. Mama cant fly on one wing alone".

I grinned.

She gave me the side eye, and said 2 of my favorite sentences - in the language of the skreets.

"Dexter, u wanna roll? Did u bring yo camera"

I immediately thought of this set of pics that I never got around to editing..... I told her to get about 3 pulls while I connected the camera to her 52 inch flat screen (did I mention that she lives in the Projects?) 'cause the othe side of Manhattan is a Galaxy away form the life she lives.

Her eyes lit up. She turned into the Keisha I met when I first got to NYC. The uber fabulous ethnically vague girl (I still don't know if she's Black, Pueto Rican, Mixed, Jewish, Arab, Italian, Trini , Indian.... You cant tell from lookin at her) walkin down 125th street lookin like Alicia Keys 1.0 - braids and all.

"Yeeeeeeeeeees MAMA!" she yelled. Then, she whispered in the MOST conspiritorial tone, "Dexter, These Men?".

I hit the fogg machine, looked her right in the eye and said, "Baby, they are anything they want to be. "

And we laughed.