I guess while we're on the topic of pimps (or at least people who dress like pimps), this the perfect time to tell another one of my war stories. Gather round, children and senior citizens.
It was 2004, a year after I graduated from high school. I was best friends with a dude named Rusty at the time. He was a big dude, kinda like a slightly smaller, less uglier version of Kimbo Slice. We were kinda like a modern day version of Abbott and Costello. Or maybe Kenan and Kel. Or maybe Laverne and Shirley. Or maybe Lucy and Ethel... I really don't know, it depends on your view. He was the smart one and I was the stupid one (although secretly you could say it was the reverse, I only pretend to be naive in real life).
So anyway, Rusty lived in the ghetto. Okay, we BOTH lived in the ghetto. Sorta. He lived in a 10-story apartment complex and he was on the fifth floor. Every time I visited him I had two choices - either take the extremely narrow stairs which could hurt anyone ankles on a good day, or ride the elevator which always smelled like a combination of stank feet and urine. I tried taking the fire escape to avoid either option but I couldn't reach the ladder, as I was about a foot too short.
Rusty had a neighbor. Quite a special neighbor. He was a pimp. Yes, you read that right. He was a modern day (circa 2004) pimp, and boy, did he dress the part. Wore so much purple he could easily put Prince, Grimace, and Barney the Dinosaur to utter shame. Dude had the whole damn ensemble - had the customary purple and pink three piece pinstripe suit and a long faux fur coat to match. Had the big ass pimp hat with a purple feather sticking out the top, and had some slamming alligator skin shoes. Looked sleek as shit and smooth as butter. I didn't know the guy's name nor did Rusty ever tell me what it was, so let's call him Rufus.
Rufus had your typical pimp personality - albeit an obnoxious one. He had a nasty attitude and never spoke to anyone unless they were strictly female, and would only acknowledge a fellow male with a simple grunt and a nod. If he ever did speak, he had a really commonplace deeper-than-deep voice that would make a prison inmate squeal in intimidation. Not to mention he had a snazzy operation going on in his apartment (or, in that era, they called it a "crib" I think, unless that was predating the 2000's). Well, snazzy as in terms of looks... I was able to only once get a glimpse inside for about five seconds while visiting Rusty, and I saw a pink florescent shade of lighting along with a shelves containing an assortment of oils, ointments, and lotions. Also saw that the carpet was made out of some kind of tiger skin or maybe it was raccoon skin? Who the hell knows.
Like I said, snazzy as in looks. Not so snazzy was the godawful SMELL coming from the apartment - for that brief five seconds after Rufus opened his door, my nose was struck with a stench so powerful it nearly knocked me out on the (CENSORED) spot. It was a culmination of hot garbage, weed, corn chips, vaginal discharge, and possibly Ben Gay (or maybe some kind of underground analgesic that I have no knowledge of). Since he was a pimp it was no surprise he constantly had women over at his place, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I didn't even want to imagine the thousands of STDs and strains of sativa that was being passed along inside that apartment like a hypodermic needle at Woodstock. The guy was practically running a whorehouse and he was reaping the benefits. In short, Rufus was a jerk and an asshole, and nobody liked him. Hell, I barely knew the guy and I didn't like him either.
But Rufus got his comeuppance. One day when I visited Rusty, we were about to leave to go and chill outside. Right as we were making our exit, Rufus came out of his apartment and was carrying a trash bag to take the garbage chute. He looked at us while he nodded and grunted, our noses struck with the powerful and horrific stench of sex muck and a montage of marijuana. Just when either of us couldn't take it anymore, Rufus opened the door to the garbage chute - and a gigantic roach came flying RIGHT out of the darkened trash chasm.
I watched Rufus as he opened his mouth in an "o" of sheer horror and surprise, and the cockroach promptly taking flight and landing DIRECTLY on Rufus' agape and hanging tongue. You couldn't make shit up like this even if you tried. It all happened so fast yet it was so surreal - the roach was planted right on Rufus' tongue and attempted to climb inside his mouth for much needed warmth. Rusty and I watched on in disbelief as we witnessed Rufus scream in the most feminine and nearly bitch-like squeal that ever left a black man's lips.
Rufus quickly tucked his right hand in his sleeve and swatted the roach off of his tongue and started stamping his feet up and down in place, turning around and looking at us with wide-eyed distress. The passionately perturbed pimp attempted to communicate with us while his tongue hung out, strings of saliva sliding down like a wayward waterfall, as he maliciously muffled out loud "WOACH ON MUH TUNG, WOACH ON MUH TUNG!" (Roach on my tongue! Roach on my tongue!) followed by a shrill scream as if he were anally penetrated for the first time without consent. He wailed and shivered and performed a a jazzy jig while flailing his arms, repeatedly smacking his tongue with his hands as if he were trying to prevent germs from infesting his mouth, but it was too late. Better him than me, I suppose.
I've never seen a pimp express himself so poetically. The roach landed on the floor and skittered across to the stairwell never to be seen again, and Rufus promptly ran off toward the hallway of his apartment and slammed his door shut with a bang, and we could clearly hear another loud feminine-like howl behind it. My friend Rusty and I looked at each other, as we proceeded to burst out laughing our asses off something fierce, to the point where it took us nearly fifteen minutes to gather our composure afterwards. I never saw Rufus ever again after that.
So what's the moral to this story, kids? Well - never become a pimp. The other moral to this story? Always bring a can of Raid with you before you toss out the trash in the garbage chute. To be quite honest, you'll never know what's going to fly out of there when you open the door. The last moral to this story? Keep your damned mouth closed at all times when going to the garbage chute.
Thank you and goodnight.