ted woke up with the sun shining full force on his face. blinking, he sat up, a gold nugget pendent dangled from his neck and sat like a small gold bird in his chest hair. slowly, the night before came back to him. 54. some blonde, sucked him off, he took her home. they partied. where was she....

'baby?' he called to no one in particular. no answer. she was gone. he stood up, nude. the waterbed undulated as he stood and stretched. he walked over to the silk slacks he had on the night before, reaching for his personal stash. Shit. The bitch must have taken it. fucking slut. it wasnt like the 8th she took was a big deal, it was just the principle of the thing. cocaine was making niggers out of white people.

ted strolled over to his component set, setting the needle in the groove of the record allready on the player. the hard drumming introduction to 'heart of glass' came pouring out of his hidden recessed speakers. ted boogied, by himself, into the kitchen, stepping over recent copies of hustler, embedded deep into his maroon shag carpet. then, he stopped cold.

the freezer door was wide open.

suddenly, ted felt a rush of something he hadnt felt before. an odd sensation, cold running down his back like his waterbed had sprung a leak during his sleep. the bitch couldnt have..could she?

slowly, disbelievingly, like a kid on christmas walking toward a barren tree, ted approached his freezer. and let out a huge sigh of relief. the packages were still there. the bitch hadnt been THAT stupid. or had she?

he looked closer. there were 8 packages there. thats good, but they were haphazard, as if they had been rearranged. he took them out, one by one, then noticed the baking soda on its side on the drainboard. angry, ted pushed the now empty container of baking soda onto the floor and dropped the packages onto the drainboard, where they landed in a cloud of white smoke.

teds eyes widened to the size of half dollars...and he ran a finger over the drainboard around the packages. gingerly, ted brought the finger up to his mouth and ran it between his upper lip and teeth, which immd went numb. his bowels loosened slightly, and Ted suddenly felt somewhat faint. the bitch had opened one of the packages and taken some of his product. looking down, one hand gripping the counter for support, Ted saw the empty box of baking soda.

out loud, to no one, Ted groaned.

'im a fucking dead man.' he said.

and Blondie played on

<---- til its over. 1986. WE REMEMBER


Mzungu Aende Ulaya — Mwafrika Apate Uhuru