Little Red Riding Hoodie by Frederick K. Foote

Shit and spit, puppy dog tails and slimy snails. Six lazy-ass brothers and who gets stuck delivering broth and bread, steaks and ale to that mean as a snake, bad breath, flatulent old bitch? At least in the woods I can do a doobie, fly high, make the time go by.

I’m tripping on a trip trying not to trip. This is some mellow shit – what the hell is that down the path? Cousin Fox, nooo too big. Uncle Bear, nooo too small. Oh, no, it’s Brother Wolf. I would rather fool with the fox or bear with a bruin than deal with his jive. I know he’s going to want to get a hit, swap spit, talk shit.

“Yo, Red what’s up? That hoodie is sick. Let me get a hit of that.”

“Is you always bumming? You never got no weed, no dope, no hope. You always flat broke.”

“Red, Red don’t be so cold. I got shit that will change your life, end your strife, turn you from a street girl into a wife.”

“What you got is a weak, no name game, a sad ass rap, limp assets—“

“Hey, hey that ain’t true. That last part’s a lie – what you got in the basket? Something we can share?”

“Don’t change the subject and give me back my smoke.”

“Hey, I ain’t greedy just needy.”

“You greedy and needy.”

“So, you want me to help you with that basket? It look heavy as a heartbreak.”

“What I need to be is alone. What you need to be is gone.”

“Hey, chill, Red, chill. Shit, if I wanted that basket I could just take that bad boy and be on my way and ain’t shit you could say.”

“Oh, really. Like James Brown say, ‘Try Me.'”

“Yeah, but he also say it’s a ‘Man’s World.'”

“And ‘it ain’t nothing without a woman or a girl.'”

Wow! Red you make me feel like a ‘Sex Machine.'”

“Yeah, sure, but I got to roll on up out of here, and I ain’t your, ‘Prisoner of love.'”

“You going to be like that, huh? What if I say, ‘Please, Please, Please?'”

“Later for that. I got to get on the good foot, step onto the ‘Night Train.'”

“I hear you. I can dig that. You black and—“

“And I’m proud—“

“And we can say it loud.”

“Later Red. I’ll see you around.”

“Not if I see you first.”

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Frederick K. Foote, Jr. was born in Sacramento, California and educated in Vienna, Virginia and northern California. He started writing short stories and poetry in 2013.

He has published over one-hundred stories, and poems including literary, science fiction, fables and horror genres and a collection of his short stories, For the Sake of Soul was published in October 2015 by Blue Nile Press. Another collection of short stories, Crossroads Encounter, was published on May 5, 2016, by Choose the Sword Press.

To see a list of Frederick’s publications go to: https://fkfoote.wordpress.com/

Photo credit: Terri Malone