Lol 😂
This short story reminds me of a combination of both of these.
Let's Buy Some 'Hood Snacks
https://gangstalkedcreoleauthor.blogspot.com/2022/03/lets-buy-some-hood-snacks.html
&
Uncle "D"
https://gangstalkedcreoleauthor.blogspot.com/2021/12/uncle-d.html
Timberwood: Short Stories Edition - Vol. 36
Cornelius was in the office, fighting for his work paycheck that Timberwood kept playing with. It was his BIGGEST paycheck to date. He figured that it was due to covert racism in the cult, & them hating his ebony dark skin. He argued with Mrs. Mary Ethel in the office & started cussing her from A to Z. He fought TOOTH & NAIL & raised so much HELL. He almost got arrested, trying to fight for his paycheck. The cult cheated him. Sadly, he NEVER got that lovely paycheck of $5,821.62. Usually, he would earn less than 1/2 of that.
He angrily stormed out of her office & yelled, "Dis ain't no modern day slavery! Like, WTF!?"
His best friend, Matthew, & a few other guys said, "Don't worry, Cornelius. We gotcha back, bruh. Gawd got somethin' betta in stow (store) 4 ya."
The guys were talking loud, like a bunch of high school football players in a locker room after losing a game. Aurelio suggested that they all go defy Timberwood's cult rules & create their own entrepreneurial businesses, anyway. Some of the guys started up their own businesses, such as an auto mechanic business, a barbershop, a restaurant, a food truck, a hair & nail salon, a massage business, you name it.
Mrs. Vanessa was EXTREMELY happy to finally fulfill her dream of opening up her hair salon that Timberwood kept trying to sabotage for years. Taschika & a few of the women joined her. They all explained their situation to the public & ran a fundraiser both in person & online. Taschika encouraged everyone to pray very hard & told everyone that they were fighting up against a bunch of devils.
At this time, Cornelius was still big & overweight. People tried to compare him to BIGGIE Smalls. Cornelius humbly said that he didn't want to take that throne away from the REAL Christopher Wallace. They also tried to compare him to Fat Albert & Big Worm from the movie, "Friday". They called him, "The Food Truck Man".
Cornelius took out a small business loan for a food truck. He got everything in the works, got his business license, & then everything started poppin'. He moved back to his hometown, New Orleans, Louisiana from Portland, Oregon, & plenty of the other Timberwood members left the cult to follow suit. They all started businesses in different places.
Cornelius was pretty shy & nervous on the 1st day. He set up the food truck at that park on N. Dorgenois St., off of St. Bernard Ave. in the 7th Ward. It wasn't a food "truck", but it was a repurposed, redesigned & redecorated New Orleans Tours tour bus that he ran like a food truck. Sort of like how people take school buses & transit buses to live out of, for "van life". He was decked out! His name is Cornelius Christopher Cook, so he named his business, "Crescent City Critters", because of the city's reputation for such good seafood. He was a DAMN GOOD cook, also.
At first, he started off with red beans, rice & sausage, fried chicken, hot sausage sandwiches & burgers, po' boys, jambalaya, Mexican tamales & tacos, & okra gumbo. Then he expanded the menu as his business grew. Everyone kept telling him to open up a nationwide restaurant & publish a cookbook. The desserts were frozen cups, ice cream, 3 flavors of pound cake, chocolate chip cookies, & snowballs. He also sold snacks & hot dogs. Whatever snacks in the 'hood. Ramen noodles, chips, pig feet, spicy pickle, etc. He had NO IDEA where this would lead him. It was the 1st week of summer vacation, so he got EXCELLENT business! His friend, Matthew, joined him. They worked together as a duo. They knew each other from Covenant House.
It was Matthew's idea for them to use the ice cream truck songs to let everyone know when they were in the area. Whenever the tour bus came, & the neighborhood residents heard the music, they blasted out of their homes, like as if they were running to see Michael Jackson or something.
As a joke, Cornelius dressed up like Big Worm, the 1st day. Everybody thought he WAS Big Worm, but he wasn't. Some of the kids thought he was Fat Albert, but he wasn't. Matthew was dressed up in a clown suit. That 1st day, in order to draw everyone to the business, Mrs. Vanessa, Taschika, Teresa, Teresa's cousin, Tracie, Denise Sanders, & a few other women, were braiding girls' hair for free, & the boys got free haircuts by Ronald, Toury, Kendell, Sardius, Kurl, Carlos & a few other guys. It was June 2. Ronald's birthday. The children under 12 ate free & also got their hair done/cut for free on the 1st day. They got free face painting, too. They played games & blew bubbles. You would've thought it was a Christian church outreach or a Summer bazaar or something. The turnout was EXCELLENT! Everything peaceful. No arguing, fighting or shooting. No crime.
One day, when Cornelius & Matthew set up shop, there were these 2 kids. The girl looked like she was 5 years old, & she had an 8-year old brother. Their dad, "Doody Bruh" sent them to the bus for some snacks. He monitored them from a short distance the whole time they were at the bus.
Matthew answered the 2 siblings. They were 1st in line. The girl was chewing on her fingers. She had coarse, blonde hair, blue eyes & rosy cheeks. Everyone thought she was an albino. Her brother looked pretty much like Cornelius. Oddly, they both had the same parents. The girl looked just like her dad (the dad also looked albino, but he was just HIGH YELLOW), & the boy looked just like his mom & was black as tar. That's how those Creole peoples' genes operate.
Matthew said, "Alright. Nah, what 'chall want?"
The girl said, in a shrill voice, "Um... My name is Moniece, & my brother's name is Quindon. Can we have a popsicle & some pecan candy & some grapes & some bubble gum & some peanut butter & some cake & some marshmallows & some Barq's Red Creme Soda?"
Matthew was taken aback. Cornelius overheard what they said. He cut his eyes & was like, "What? What she think? Dis a grocery store or somethin'?" He couldn't help but to laugh hysterically. The parents really did name those kids after Quindon Tarver & Moniece Slaughter.
There was a rough, raggedy ghetto lady right behind the kids, popping, smacking & clicking her gum so loud that you would've thought she had a megaphone. The older man right behind her was trying to tell her that he thought it was SO sexy for women to do that. 🙄
Everyone was entertained by the interaction between Matthew, Cornelius & the 2 kids. The kids held up the line for nearly 2 hours (especially the girl) out in that hot heat until their dad had enough & came & got them. The dad, "Doody Bruh" apologized & ordered 3 hot sausage sandwiches, some chips & snowballs, & then he took the kids back inside of the house.
One day, Cornelius had a medical emergency & had to get rushed to the ER. His health was on the line. This caused him to be forced to change his diet & begin exercising. After the medical scare & diet change, he & Matthew lost so much weight that they became so skinny that they could hula hoop through the smallest rubber band that you can find. Cornelius went into an emotional depression & felt like he was unknowingly killing people by selling bad food. He changed the "food bus" business name to, "Fighting For Life", & he started selling smoothies, juices, acai bowls, salads, wraps, sushi, nut butters, etc. People in the hood started getting healthy. No more fried fish po' boys. Kristina started up her own health & wellness business, emphasizing on consuming & using natural products (both internally & externally) as God intended. Her husband, Tharen, was a personal trainer.
No occultism, New Age, VooDoo, black magick, Satanism, Freemasonry or witchcraft. The former members spread the truth to everyone, warning people against joining Timberwood. It made worldwide news. Timberwood couldn't successfully suppress it THIS time! All of Timberwood's dirty laundry was aired out. Everyone in the hood opened their eyes & learned the truth. They started bettering their health & treating each other better. Less fighting & killing. No more shootings, robberies or any other crimes. This spread towards other hoods in America, & then people started acting more civilized. The crime in this country reduced DRASTICALLY!
Ezekiel Smith & (Kristina & Taschika's brother) Chris got together & snuck behind everyone's back & snitched to the cult about them leaving & successfully running their own businesses. Timberwood had EVERYONE'S businesses shut down, but not for long. The neighborhood found out about it, & they had a Jazz 2nd line as a way to protest Timberwood's tyranny. Everyone mourned the food truck. The entire neighborhood full of people were wearing T-shirts, called "No Timberwood In The Hood". They kept chanting, "Fuck Timberwood"! Everyone's businesses were able to prevail, & then Timberwood became dismantled. No more Timberwood. Some of the members had NO CHOICE BUT to go back & get regular jobs. LITERALLY flipping burgers at McDonald's!
THE END