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Nestled on the corner of 51st and Mosley Avenue stood a carefree vendor tending to his milkshake stand. He sat in the middle of the cart, underneath a large parasol with a cow face caricature painted on top of it. The vendor drummed his hands to the beat of a hip hop instrumental booming from a small speaker. The milkshake shack, affectionately called "Cow Down" was set up to look like a minibar in the middle of the sidewalk. A counter top for customers horseshoed around him, while a small sink kept used glasses clean, and a table for all of his milkshake equipment were lined up at his disposal. Ice cream and dairy products were kept in a freezer underneath the table, away from potential vultures trying to nab a quick freebie. It was a very confined space to work with, but he's been doing this gig for so long it's damn near effortless at this point. 

"Ayeeeeee!" A teen hollered from across the street. The tanned vendor instantly recognized the voice and turned around with a smile. "You still open, Loto?"

"Hell yeah!" Loto shouted back."Get over here, O-Z!" The teen smiled as he rushed over. Loto tightened the knot of his lime green bandana headband before exchanging their ritual fist-bump-hand-slap handshake. "Oreo?" Loto simply asked, even though he already knew the answer. 

"Oh you know I gotta have the Oreo, bro-bro!" O-Z's laugh was infectious. "I need to cool down, especially after the heat my lady put on me!" The kid was a riot. O-Z was the kind of guy that started the party as soon as he got there, wild'n out as much as possible without getting the shit kicked out of him, or thrown out. That's pretty much everyone's mantra in the slums; teetering on that edge without actually falling, or getting pushed off - at least until your luck ran out. With the finesse of a bartender, Loto whipped up O-Z's Oreo shake and put it in a plastic cup. O-Z flashed his gold grill with delight as he grabbed the drink and practically inhaled it. 

"Shit, man breathe." Loto chuckled. 

O-Z let out a satisfied 'ahh' sound. "Bruh, I don't know if you sprinkle crack on it or not, but that right there is primo!"

"It's also not free." Loto made a gesture with his hands that told O-Z to cough up the bill. 

The teen frowned. "Man, you think I'd play you like that?" A wad of cash appeared from the pocket of his hoodie and he started counting through the hundreds, twenties, and tens. "You family, Loto." 

Loto glanced at O-Z's wealth barely held together by a couple of flimsy rubber bands. "Payday?" He simply asked, knowing better. O-Z wasn't exactly a 9-to-5 kind of guy. That kind of money came from a different kind of hustle, a very dangerous one, especially nowadays. 

O-Z nodded. He placed a twenty dollar bill on the counter. "That's all you, bruh." 

"If you say so, big time." Loto said, scooping up the bill. "What you got going on tonight?"

"There's a party down in Crenshaw Market, across the street at the abandoned complex on 23rd. Ill Mindz crew is performing. Supposed to be a lot of honeys comin through, man. You should go."

Loto stashed the twenty dollar bill in his jean pocket and as he did, he felt the enveloped invitation that was also there. "I gotta be somewhere tonight." 

"Oh, what?" O-Z perked up, leaning in. "You got a date? Bring her!"

"Nah."

"Nah? Nah, what?" 

"Your mom doesn't want to go out tonight. She wanted to stay in and listen to Barry Manilow or whatever the hell.." Loto smiled, to which O-Z cursed back playfully, yelling: "Gimme back my twenty, ya bish!"

Just then, a lanky Asian guy on a bike rode up to the Cow Down. "Whattup, Shin!" O-Z nodded over to him. Loto took off his apron and grabbed his hoverboard. 

"Hey, Shin. Thanks for covering for me." 

"No problem, Loto. Sorry I couldn't get here sooner." Shin got off his bike and set it aside the Cow Down cart. 

O-Z's eyes lit up and pointed at him. "Ya girl got you all messed up too!?" 

Shin's face gave a look of surprise. "What the hell, how'd you know?!" 

"Ha! Cause same shit happened to me! We're all out here strugglin!!!" O-Z's laugh was loud. Loto gave his goodbye handshakes to Shin and O-Z. 

"You two love birds take it easy, ok?" Loto nodded to them both. 

"Yeah, well...when you're done doin whatever the hell you're doing, head to Crenshaw!" O-Z was persistent, but Loto wasn't taking the bait. 

"I'll try, man." Loto glanced at his watch. [i]Oh, shit...I'm late.[/i] He powered on his board and let it hover on the sidewalk before he jumped on it. The thrusters sputtered, and as quickly as he gained his balance, he was off to his destination.