Page 13 of Blake University HBCU Chronicles: Archer & Destiny

Archer

The hallway in Cove City Heights smelled like weed, cheap body spray, and musk. It was located near the center of campus. Archer made the bulk of his money at Cove City Heights and Blake Hall. He walked down the hallway with his hoodie up and headphones in; no music played, he just used the earphones as a deploy to keep people from speaking to him.

He utilized his time wisely whenever he came on campus. Today, he popped in and out of classes and actually showed some sort of interest in it. Last night, he re-up’d and planned on selling out by nightfall. The box of pills sat heavily in his backpack. This was considered a bulk drop for him. Inside was Adderall, Oxy, and a few Benzos for the ones who liked to float through their work instead of studying.

He chuckled at the mere thought of his father finding out that his close friend, Dr. Cosby, was the one supplying him with all of the drugs that he needed in order to make a profit. Dr. Cosby was also fucking Karen, another well-kept secret that Archer held onto. The secret that he kept tucked made Dr. Cosby give Archer whatever he asked for plus his own secret connect to Cocaine, another drug that college students liked to have during parties.

He knocked twice on the dorm room and waited. Seconds later, the door swung open fast. A tall lanky guy with acne scarring all over his pale face appeared at the door looking nervous. Archer had seen him before at one of the frat parties. Behind the lanky guy were three other boys that lounged on mismatched futons, and an unmade messy bed with clothes all over it.

They had PlayStation controllers in their hands; their eyes were red as hell. The room smelled disgusting like no one washed their ass.

“Yo, finally dude! Did you bring all of it?” One of the guys on the unmade bed asked. He sat up anxiously as the tall lanky boy shut the door behind Archer.

Archer walked in without answering him. He hated mess, Archer took pride in always keeping his space clean. He placed the bag on a cluttered desk beside a half-eaten pizza box. He unzipped it slowly, then pulled out five tightly wrapped bottles. He laid them out like sacred offerings as he pointed to each one.

“Oxy, Addy, Valium, and the rest of the shit is there, all clean and sealed. Don’t waste my fucking time.” Archer said. He was ready to go; the smell of the room and all of the clutter made his skin crawl.

He zipped his bag back up and put it back on his back, readjusting the straps.

One of the caramel skinned guys that was shorter with a big gold chain that looked too big for his neck leaned forward. His grin didn’t quite reach his eyes. Archer could sense that he was about to say some dumb shit by the way his top lip quirked up.

“You the nigga that’s been chilling with the chubby chick in the wheelchair?” He sniggered after his question, his friends looked at him with wide eyes.

Archer didn’t move or blink, he straightened up then licked his lips. His gaze was sharp enough to cut through the guy’s fakeass smile. Archer wanted to knock the braces out of his mouth for trying to be funny with him. Bringing up what he did in his personal time sounded too close to this man clocking his moves, which wasn’t something that Archer liked at all.

“Where’s my fucking money?” He asked flatly. He stepped closer to the guy who asked about Destiny.

The room got quiet as the guy behind him fumbled through a drawer. He pulled out a thick envelope then passed it to Archer. Everybody watched Archer rip the envelope open. He counted through his money without rushing then tucked the envelope into the front of his hoodie.

“She got a name.” Archer said very calmly.

All of the men looked at him confused.

“You ask about her again or disrespect her…I’ll make sure your bitch ass can’t walk, too.” He tapped the front of his pants with a shit eating grin stretching his face.

He didn’t go anywhere without his nine-millimeter. People on campus already knew he had money. Especially the ones like the guys inside of the room who just bought in bulk. Archer wanted someone to get testy with him. He could fight well but if someone ever tried to rob him, he didn’t mind putting a bullet through their skull.

The guy laughed nervously; he raised his hands in mock surrender to Archer. Inside, he was shitting bricks.

“Damn, bro. I was just playing?—”

“I didn’t come in this bitch with a smile and a basketball, though.” He turned on his heels and walked out without another word.

Back at his own place,he tossed his hoodie over a chair then pulled out his phone. He had a missed call from Destiny, he smirked without realizing it. Destiny had become a part of his routine. They talked almost every night now. Sometimes for an hour, and other times, Archer would realize that they would be on the phone for plenty of hours talking about nothing in general.

He admired Destiny and the way that she carried herself. He learned that she loved to paint, color, and go on nature walks to clear her mind whenever she was battling her depression. She loved to talk about her classes, her pain flares, and how her professor kept treating her like she was unable to do small things around the class. Destiny loved her parents as well, and he loved all the stories she told him about them.

Archer listened, and when he didn’t speak, Destiny talked more and got him right back into the flow of conversation. They hung out twice since the lounge. Destiny sent him a meme about late night drives and R&B music playing. Something came over Archer, and the next day after their conversation, he took her on a beautiful ride around town at night.

The next time he took her out was to a jerk chicken spot. That time was very intense. Archer refrained from kissing her lips after she allowed him to feed her a bite of her food. It was the most intimate thing he’d ever done with a woman in his life. Although it was small, there was a magnetic pull that was hard for him to fight and maintain the respect and friendship that he wanted to keep between the both of them.

Archer liked her laugh, how real and down to earth she was. The Destiny that he got to know didn’t have a filter, she didn’t play games and spoke her real feelings about different things without holding back.

His phone buzzed again.

Destiny: You alive or nah?

Archer smiled at the message then typed back quickly just as his doorbell ranged.

---