Premature Pleasures

a novel by Alexus Rhone

Chapter One

I wanted some attention, so I hooked up with the 'ho clique'. I thought I could handle it. But I grossly miscalculated the costs. As I face the consequences, I’m hopeful brighter days lie ahead.

Here is my story.

One day my daddy came home and loved my mama with harsh words and clinched fists. That night we left to make a home in South Park Village, Houston, Texas. As mama searched for a parking space, I caught a glimpse of our Savior leaning over the balcony smoking a cigarette. Carefree was her first, middle and last name. We called her Aunt Sis, or Auntie for short.

"Hey!" she yelled wildly waving her arms like we hadn’t seen her before now. Her strong, throaty voice caught a group of passing teenage boys off guard.

"Damn, she loud."

Mama lightly tooted the horn. "Tre, grab your things. Ned, wake up, boo."

Auntie came downstairs dangling the cigarette between her lips. "Hey, lil’ mama." I rushed toward her and fell in her arms. Finally, a secure place.

"Hey, man." Auntie reached for Ned’s chin and kissed his forehead while I continued to cling to her for dear life.

"Mmm," he mumbled, rubbing away just enough sleep to see his way clear to the stairs.

"Hey," mama said.

"You all right?" Auntie spoke softly.

"I am now." They embraced briefly. Melodrama wasn’t their style.

After we carried our luggage upstairs, I joined Ned in Auntie’s spare room.

Mama placed an ice pack on my forehead. "Go to sleep." Her swollen, busted lips hindered the usual flawless annunciation of her words.

"But I’m not sleepy, mama."

"You will be. Just close your eyes and lay down."

"Please let me stay up and take care of you, mama. I don’t want you hurt any more."

"Shhh…I’m okay. We’re okay now. Don’t worry about anything." I studied her eyes for reassurance, trying to look past the puffy, black and blue areas surrounding both of them.

"Can you see your way to the door? If not, I can help." The red slits between her eyelashes that use to be big, brown, clear eyes couldn’t have offered enough space for her to see.

Exasperated, she placed a finger in front of her mouth. " ‘night, Tre." She kissed Ned and me and left the room, closing the door behind her. I sat in bed debating whether to disobey mama and go to the hallway where I could hear better. My heart finally settled when Auntie laughed and mama joined in. Their giggles were a lullaby to me. Only then was I sure she was okay.

We stayed with Aunt Sis’ for about two weeks before moving into Foxwood, a neighboring complex.

On the first day in our new home, I stood under the breezeway looking out wondering what circumstances led my new neighbors to South Park before me.

Hundreds of kids. Thirty women. Three men.

No invitation came from the girls to play jacks or hopscotch. The boys on bikes ignored me, too. So, I hung out alone praying for the day when the kids in the square would enjoy the pleasure of my company.

The Village could hardly be described as "project living." I mean, we had it a heck of a lot better than James, Florida, JJ, Thelma and Michael. We took cover from the blistering Texas heat under medium-sized elm trees. We swung and seesawed in complex parks. Swimming pools accommodated the least advanced to the most advanced swim skills. Lighted tennis courts provided us a smooth surface for skating.

Each home, I think, served three meals a day. All the kids wore decent clothes and shoes even though most of us only had a mama. Each of the twelve sections in Foxwood formed a square. The enclosed sections created a play area for everyone in that square. It was hard to pass through without being noticed.

I would eventually grow to hate all of the eyewitnesses.

Chapter Two

"Quit hogging the ball, girl. Dang. You always take too long to throw it back,"

Lisa said. She and Ned were my only two playmates. Of the two, she resented me the most for acting like a girl.

"Yeah, Tre. Keep the game going," Ned added. He never challenged her on anything. At their request, and with all my might, I hurled the ball back towards Lisa. She ran in towards where she thought it would fall and still missed the catch.

"Ugh!" Lisa grunted, rolling her eyes up. Ned put his head down. "Trekela, why don’t you go play with somebody else," Lisa ordered.

That’s fine with me. I preferred watching TV to playing Lisa’s rough and tumble games anyway. The preparations to fulfill her dreams of being a linebacker or quarterback were brutal on my body.

Heading back towards the square, I bumped into my next door neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson with their two kids Kayla and lil’ Mike.

"Careful!" Mr. Wilson shouted as I turned around in time to miss running into his front. Always dressed business-like, he was one of the three men in the square.

"Sorry," I said.

Lil’ Mike favored Mr. Wilson, while Kayla looked like him around the eyes, but had her mama’s pooched mouth.

"Hi Trekela! How’s your mother?" she asked, sounding like Mrs. Howell from Gilligan’s Island.

"She’s okay."

"Tell her ‘hello’ for me, darling."

I walked in the house. "Hey mama."

Staring intently at the television, she ignored me. Reaching for the box of tissues behind her head situated on the end table, she accidentally knocked over her glass of wine.

"Damn!" She turned the glass back up in its upright position.

"I’ll get a towel. You want me to pour some more wine for you?"

"No no, Tre. Thanks anyway." She smiled faintly and focused back on her program. Before the spill caused the wooden table to buckle, I sopped it, trying not to smudge the beveled-glass top. The purple wine looked a lot like grape juice. I wondered if it tasted the same. There was enough wine still in the glass to see for myself.

Just as I lifted it to conduct my own taste test, without warning mama sat up from her lounging position on the sofa, screaming to the top of her lungs. I jumped up and dropped the glass, afraid of what she’d do to me for drinking alcohol.

"I’m sorry, mama."

"Burn him up! Burn his ass up!" She wildly encouraged a black-eyed Farrah Fawcett to pour gasoline on the bed where her adoring husband lay totally at peace.

"We’ll return in a moment to ‘The Burning Bed’ after these messages," the TV announcer said before cutting to a commercial. Mama rushed past me into the bathroom. I fell on my hands and knees to scrub the brown shag carpet. From the living room, I could hear her crying.

After placing the wet towel in the dirty clothes hamper in my bedroom, I went to the bathroom and tapped lightly. "Mama, I’m sitting right outside the door if you need me, okay?"

More time passed, yet I still had no friends. Ned seemed in great company with Lisa. The more I got to know her though, the less I liked her. She always had to have her way. Whatever games we played, she picked. The toys we played with required her blessing. I now understood why the other kids hated her. Since she was bigger than Ned and me, and carried herself like a boy, we didn’t want trouble. I mean, we were still the new kids in the square.

But that got old.

One day while sitting on Lisa’s steps shifting my focus back and forth between Lisa and Ned to my left and the kickball game in the center of the square in front of me, I noticed Lisa’s behavior changed for the worse.

"Ned, I told you to kick it straight," she fussed as she got down on her chest to reach for the ball under the car. "I can’t get it. My arm’s too short."

And belly too thick.

"Quit standing there looking stupid. Come get this ball. Dang, it’s your fault," Lisa ordered. Ned obeyed.

"Crawl underneath, stupid. You’re shorter than me. I hope you do better next time. ‘Cause if you don’t, you’ll be right back in this position." She shouted her commands at Ned, bending forward to direct instead of kneeling down to assist.

From where I sat, I strained to hear if Ned defended himself. It didn’t matter. I refused to sit by any longer letting her talk crazy to my little brother. I knew Lisa was mean, but could she top the drama I’d bring?

Where is my cake knife?

"Lisa!" I yelled.

From the corner of my eye I saw the pitcher hold the kickball, temporarily halting the game. "Hold up, y’all," he loudly whispered.

"What? Why you screaming my name like you losing yo’ mind, girl?"

"Look, cow, I don’t appreciate you messin’ with my little brother!" I stood defiantly on her steps daring her to make the next move.

"Who you callin’ a cow?" She challenged my unspoken dare with quick steps toward me.

"I’m callin’ you a cow, you fat, yella’ heifah!" I screamed walking toward her, too. In order for me to save face, I had to at least give the appearance that I was the craziest.

"Uh-oh." The crowd murmured as they followed and eventually surrounded us.

We stood face to face, shouting and cussing each other out. Some of the teenagers held our arms behind our backs so we couldn’t get to each other before time. They wanted drama, intense and satisfying. There was no telling when the next ‘tete a tete’ would happen. So this had to last as long as possible.

"Hold up, y’all. Let’s go ‘round the corner," one of the older kids suggested.

"Yeah, ‘cuz we don’t want nobody’s mama tryin’ to stop this," said another one as she held out her hand for her friend to give her five.

Everybody was pumped. They lead us around the corner, on the other side of the washateria. I’m finally getting some attention. And I wanted to make sure to give them their moneys’ worth. This could be my ticket in finally.

Once in position, they pulled two leaves off the bushes by the washateria. They placed one on my shoulder and one on Lisa’s. "Okay, whichever one a’ y’all is the baddest, knock the leaf off the other’s shoulder."

Before she could finish giving the instructions, I knocked the leaf off Lisa’s shoulder and went straight into a "windmill" all over her. Madness enveloped us.

Because I was so out of control, I couldn’t see a thing. Occasionally I felt my fist hit firm flesh. Her body was like a microphone, sounding off with each punch landed. When my licks came across more air than body, I looked up to check my position only to see people rolling on the ground holding their stomachs laughing as Lisa sprinted home in tears. At first, I felt sorry for her and ashamed of what I’d done. But that was short lived, especially after I realized there were hands all over me, patting me on the back, trying to give me high five and so on.

"Trekela, you can fight girl!"

"I bet that bitch won’t bother you no mo’."

How’d they know my name?

"Trekela, where you from?"

"What grade you in?"

"You know how to play jacks?"

The questions came faster than I was able to respond. So I said nothing, just continued to huff and puff, relishing in the moment.

Eventually, the crowd broke. Surprisingly, the older girls stayed around. Keisha and Erika were the ringleaders.

"Come on, Trekela. Let’s go sit on yo’ steps," Keisha said.

"Wait a minute." Erika stood in front of me straightening my clothes and stroking my hair back into place. "There you go. We don’t want any evidence of your wild side to show through." She smirked.

We sat outside and talked for what seemed like hours. In that one conversation though, I got the skinny on everybody. Talking to them made me see how nothing in this complex is a secret. Eventually, it all comes out.

"Ooh, it’s hot as hell out here. Trekela, can we come in yo’ house?" I couldn’t believe they wanted to come and hang out with me.

"Hold on. Let me ask my mama." I ran in the house all excited. I couldn’t tell her about the fight though. She didn’t approve of fighting, even in self-defense. But that policy wouldn’t work in the Village.

I knocked on her bedroom door and walked in. "Mama, can my friends come inside to play some of my games?"

"Unh-unh, Tre. Y’all stay outside. I don’t feel like all that noise." She pulled the covers over her head.

"Well, can I go to their house then?" I asked desperately searching for middle ground. Now that some of the older girls accepted me, I needed to find a way to stay down.

"No. You don’t know those people," she said, not bothering to lift her head from underneath the covers to see in my face how important this was to me.

"Mama, please?" I begged, jumping up and down in the doorway of her room, almost in tears.

"Tre, I said ‘no’. Now go sit down somewhere."

I went back outside embarrassed. "Y’all I can’t have company right now. My mama don’t feel good."

"Damn. Well, you wanna come to our house?" Keisha offered.

"No, I can’t do that neither."

"Yo’ mama mean. But that’s cool. We’ll see you later." They all walked away. I couldn’t tell if they felt sorry for me because of mama or because they couldn’t spend more time with me. Either way, things were looking up. I was finally in.

Chapter Three

Keisha and Erika proclaimed themselves "queens" of Foxwood. While Keisha lived one section over from me, she always hung out in my square. Erika lived in a whole other complex. I wondered why she stayed with Keisha on and off at times. Looking at them you couldn’t tell they were cousins. Keisha, with skin the color of midnight, reminded me of the African dancers that perform every year at Palm Center. Chocolate, graceful and curvaceous. Erika, on the other hand, reminded me of a tomboy, slightly on the thick side. Despite her blotchy light skin and glossy cat-eyes, she was still easy to look at. Everything they did, I wanted to do. Everywhere they went I wanted to go. We mostly hung out in my square, doing each other’s hair, listening to Love 94.1 FM and talking. I learned so much from them, mostly about boys.

Both of them had boyfriends they talked about all the time. Shedrick and Milton.

Shedrick lived in the front part of our complex. Him and Keisha had been going together since school started. Erika’s man Milton lived in Crestmont. I liked him the best. He was cool with me, always treating me like I was part of the crew.

Now whenever Keisha or Erika put on lipgloss, that meant Shed or Milton would be in the square some time that day. Watching them walk up was an event by itself. As soon as they knew we noticed them, they’d break into their pop-locking routine, throwing the wave back and forth to each other so they each had a moment in the spotlight. When the routine got old and the spotlight dim, they’d laugh and give each other five, trying to play off their little act.

"Look at them. Always showing out," said Keisha.

"Unh-huh. But you know them niggas can dance!" Erika said turning to Keisha and me with both her hands out. We slapped them in agreement.

"Wait y’all, here they come. Act like you don’t see ‘em." We all stared into space, looking around like nothing was happening.

"Oh so you gon’ act like you don’t see a nigga," Shedrick asked with his arms extended. "Keisha, brang yo’ fine ass over here and give me some sugar."

At first she looked at him like he was crazy. Who did he think he was talking to her like that? Make his behind come to you, Keisha, I thought. Before my thought was complete, she was in his arms, tongue kissing like nobody’s business. Milton, Erika and me looked on wondering how long they were gonna act like we weren’t there. Milton took Keisha’s seat on the steps, kissing Erika on the cheek, then reaching out to give me five.

"What’s up, cuz?"

"What’s up, Milton," I shot back cool posed, trying to play down my giddiness.

"What’s up with you, lil’ mama? Over here actin’ all quiet and stuff. You ain’t happy to see a brotha?"

He called it right. She was acting. When he’s not around that’s all she talks about. Now that he’s in her face, she’s playing that role. Whatever.

Keisha and Shed finally came up for air from that sloppy looking kiss he planted.

Keisha wiped the smudged lipgloss from around her chin and up under her nose.

"What’s up, Shed," I said trying to sound cool and see if on this visit I had grown on him, too.

"Hmmm? Oh yea, what’s up lil’ bit," he offered like he didn’t want to be rude, but still didn’t wanna speak. Punk.

We sat on the steps for a while talking to each other. Well, Keisha, Erika and me talked to each other, while Shed and Milton clowned amongst themselves. What was the purpose of us sitting together if we didn’t share the same conversation? From the looks of things, I was the only one concerned. Shed and Milton were cracking up over something. Keisha and Erika ignored them.

"Say, why don’t we walk to the store? A nigga’ is thirstier than a mug, man."

Finally something smart from Shed’s mouth. I was tired of sitting on the steps

anyway. My butt hurt.

We walked to Sunny’s. Shed walked with his arm around Keisha’s neck and his mouth in her ear the whole time, probably talking nasty. Erika and Milton walked real close to each other, but didn’t touch. I felt like an outsider since I didn’t have a man.

Come to think of it, did they even ask me to tag along with them on their date? Dang.

When we got to the store, I realized I didn’t have any money. Keisha and Erika were covered. But who’d cover me?

Oh well. I hung out in the front of the store by the cashier until they were ready to go. The cashier looked familiar. I wanted to get a closer look, but I could see through the big, round security mirror by the door that he was staring at me. Apparently he thought he knew me, too.

"Want anything, Trekela?" Milton startled me from behind.

"That’s okay. I don’t want anything," I lied.

"Alright nah." He winked at me then walked off.

Erika was so lucky. I wanted a boyfriend like Milton. Tall, pecan-brown colored-skinned, with thick, curly hair crowning the top of his head, he was what Auntie called "easy on the eyes". He walked so tall and strong, like nothing could take him.

Above everything else though, he was just so nice, a real gentleman.

As we walked back, they discussed their plans for the evening.

"Say, there’s a party at SPN tonight. KJ from Love 94 is deejaying. You know we gots to be there."

Leave it to Shed to plan something I couldn’t go to. He probably did it on purpose. Didn’t seem to bother anyone else though. They lit up when they found out KJ would be there.

"Ooh, Erika, let me wear yo’ black jeans with the matching tank."

"Nope! I ain’t even wore ‘em yet."

"Come on, Erika. Do me this one solid," Keisha begged.

After further negotiations, Erika consented. Keisha couldn’t contain her excitement. She danced around doing booty movements.

"You so fast, Keisha," Erika said, shaking her head. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"It’s getting late. We need to go get our stuff together. We’ll meet y’all at Keisha’s place by 8:00 PM," Shed said. "Y’all better be ready on time, too."

"Unh-unh. Wait a minute. Hell no, you can’t come to my house. My mama’ll be there," Keisha said remembering she wasn’t as grown as she thought. "We’ll meet y’all at the front section. Then we’ll walk over to SPN together."

Shed sucked his teeth and looked at her, suddenly remembering the seven-year age difference between them. "Damn. All right. We’ll see y’all at eight. You betta’ be there on time, too. I don’t wanna have to kick yo’ ass." With that, he turned on his heels, threw his hand in the air dismissing everybody. "Let’s roll, Milt." The two of them disappeared with less buffoonery than earlier. It didn’t matter. The brothers still had style.

"Why you let him talk to you like that," I overheard Erika ask Keisha as they walked off to prepare for their evening.

"Shut up, Erika."

"Bye y’all," I yelled. They obviously forgot I was standing there. Neither of them said anything back. I could see they were arguing. Later on they’ll kiss and makeup. I know them. I went back in the house, dreaming of the day I’d be old enough to go out. It wouldn’t come soon enough.

I turned the TV on. "What’s Happening" was almost over. Handsome, yet slightly on the goofy side, Dwayne was my ideal man. I fantasized about never feeling threatened with him as my boyfriend. I couldn’t picture him ever hurting a woman.

After "What’s Happening" went off, some white TV show came on. I don’t know why the studio audience laughed so hard. Nothing they said or did was that funny. I turned the TV off and went to the kitchen where mama cooked dinner. The frown on her face indicated her head still hurt. Or, maybe she missed daddy.

I watch my world unravel from under the small opening outside the kitchen.

Daddy stumbles into the house, walks into the kitchen and whispers something to Mama as she stands at the stove heating grease to fry chicken. I’m glad to see him acting like he loves her.

"Leave me alone, Sylvester," mama said.

That’s a strange response. My signal goes up. Then he approaches her again, whispering in her ear. This time she screams out through tears, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

That which before quietly brewed underneath finally surfaced.

"Mama!" I scream.

Daddy punches her in the stomach. She falls forward. My world fell apart. He grabs her by the hair and pulls her into their bedroom with mama screaming and crying out in pain, but not fighting back. He locks the door behind him so I can’t follow them. Mama continues screaming, at times getting louder.

What is he doing to her? And I can’t help her. I kick the door, screaming and crying until my stomach started hurting.

"Mama… please…daddy… no…" I cry over and over. I am helpless.

I run to my room to get Ned. He sleeps carefree on the top bunk, unmoved by the drama going on between mama and daddy.

I go back to their door, but can’t hear anything. I panic.

"Daddy, please let me come in!!#", I scream. The door opens. His clothes are all messed up, self-inflicted no doubt. He is sweating up a storm and never looks at me. I can tell the pitbull rage hasn’t left. I lunge in front of him trying to get to the bathroom to check on mama. She sobs quietly, sitting on the edge of the tub, her face buried in her hands.

"Ma-ma?" I approach her slowly, my vision blurred from the tears, my words broken by hiccups. As she lifts her head, I hardly recognize her. Black and blue bruises, traces of blood are all over her face.

"Ma-ma, your face…" I touch her. She pulls me close to her and puts her finger over my mouth. Tears still stream, but we try to keep it to a minimum. We don’t want to upset the demon now possessing the man I call ‘daddy’ and mama call’s ‘sweetie’ anymore than he already is. Softly sobbing but more at ease now that I know mama is okay, I think about how different this scene could be right now if mama had allowed that hot chicken grease to be her defense.

"Shut up all that goddamn crying, both of you!" Daddy yells. But I can’t help it.

Mama tries to console me, but I only cry harder. In a fit of rage, daddy jumps up, grabs me by the arm as mama looks on in horror. Effortlessly, he tosses me into the wall in the hallway and re-locks the door.

"Please God…please God…please God…" I plead as I camp outside their door, waiting on Him to answer. Eventually, daddy walks out the bedroom, then out the apartment and slams the door. I rush to mama’s side to console her.

"Mama, are you okay? Mama, let’s leave before he comes back. Let’s just go."

She looks in my eyes, tears streaming. As she strokes my hair, she lifts her head and closes her eyes for a few seconds. She looks back in my eyes and smiles.

"Mama, you need some help?"

"No," she said, not looking up.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said dryly, again, not facing me.

It seemed like forever since we left him. I wondered what was he doing right now? Did he know where we were? If so, why didn’t he call?

Ned came in breathing hard, sweat pouring down his face. He’d just finished racing. Knowing him, he came in last place. But that never stopped him from trying. He went straight to the kitchen.

"Hey mommie," he smiled.

"Hey man," mama smiled back looking down at him. She hadn’t seen him all day. "You hungry?"

"Yes, ma’am," he said, rubbing his stomach. Mama was amused by his gesture.

Watching them interact made me wish I had someone who thought I was special, too. I missed Sis. Lightner. She was the only person I could think of who made me feel treasured. When I entered a room she’d lean over to whoever was close and say ‘See there, now here comes my baby!’

Sis. Lightner was an old lady who picked me up for Sunday School and church every Sunday when we lived with my daddy. She wore a white nurse uniform with the matching hat. I don’t know how she knew mama. She didn’t live in our complex and she looked too old to work. Yet each Sunday, she’d come get me. Before walking into church, she’d give me a peppermint candy.

"Don’t eat ya candy in church, baby, okay? You look so beautiful this morning.

You’re God’s special angel, you know that?" she said to me each Sunday.

And I believed her. There was something about the way she looked at me. She had a real relationship with God. I wanted that for myself. I wanted that for my family.

Chapter Four

Erika went back home. No telling when I’d see her again. But she’d be back.

So, Keisha and I started hanging out. I loved Keisha so much. I wished I could be just like her. As we walked home from the store one time, we passed by Shed’s apartment in front of the tennis court.

"Hold up, Trekela. Let’s stand here for a minute. I wanna see if Shed is gon’ come outside or not." We squatted behind some tall shrubbery, looking crazy. The silence didn’t help. We were so obvious.

"What do you like about Shed?" I asked, wanting to know how someone as beautiful as Keisha could settle for someone as trifling as Shed. He didn’t seem anywhere near her level. Looking at them you couldn’t tell they’d have anything in common, except their environment. Maybe that was enough.

"He’s sooo fine. Plus, he kisses real good. He’s the one who taught me how to kiss. The boys at my junior high school are so immature. Their asses are still into Matchbox cars. No ma’am. I need a real man. Everybody wants Shed. But he only wants me."

I’d hoped for a more meaningful answer. You know, something that would explain why we’re camped outside this nigga’s apartment hiding in the bushes. I still wasn’t over him threatening to kick her ass for something as simple as being late to their meeting spot. Even if she was late, she was worth the wait. But maybe he didn’t think so. Or worse, she didn’t.

Shed built quite a reputation for himself with the ladies. Every baseball cap he owned was branded with the playboy symbol. I never saw him with anyone other than Keisha. But there were lengthy periods when we didn’t know where he was. Take for instance, right now. Keisha was trying to play cool about it. I could tell she was bothered, no hiding that. Moments like this reminded me Keisha was still a little girl herself, trying desperately to play like she was grown. Right now, she was failing with a capital "F". "Trekela, I wanna tell you somethin’ because you’re like my best friend now." Really?!# I went crazy with excitement on the inside, but I played it cool.

"Sure, Keisha. What’s up?"

"Chile, guess what Shed asked me?" she said with her mouth pursed and twisted. Whatever it was, she wasn’t having it.

"That fool had the nerve to ask me when was I gon’ ‘prove’ my love to him. And you know what that means."

Unh-huh. She was about to be grown for real.

"What should I do?"

"The way you was looking just a second ago, I thought your decision was made," I said attempting to sound mature. I gave my effort an "A".

"I don’t wanna lose him. I’ve never done it before, not all the way. I mean, I’ve let guys grind on me. But you can’t get pregnant from that."

This conversation was getting deep, too deep for me. My knees hurt from squatting in the bushes. I took a seat on the dirt. Hopefully, it’ll wash off my clothes.

Being here with Keisha gave me another view of relationships. At this moment, they didn’t seem worth all the trouble. Most of the time everything appeared cool. I wonder how her mama feels about…never mind. I don’t even need to take that thought any further. Hollywood lied to us everyday on TV with images of mothers and daughters being able to talk openly. Humph.

Keisha joined me on the ground. I knew Shed wasn’t worthy to receive what Keisha could only give once in her life. Keisha was smart enough to see through him. Why was this decision so difficult for her? I hated being the one to tell her the right thing to do.

"In my opinion," I said, "you should go ahead and do it." Far be it from me to do what I hate. "Really?" Keisha asked, holding on to every word that came from my lips.

"Unh-huh. I would," I lied.

She let out a sigh of relief. We looked at each other, looked up at our immediate surroundings and fell out laughing. Enough of this mess. We got up from the dirt, dusted our shorts off, and walked back to the square chatting about nothing. As we cut through the parking lot, a car came up slowly alongside us, blasting music. We tried to play it off, but whoever this was wanted us to notice. The car pulled up enough for us to sneak a peek through the passenger window. We looked inside on the sly. It was the cashier from Sunny’s, the corner store. I knew I recognized him. He lives in the back section of the complex. He exchanged knowing glances with Keisha. There was history between them.

But I didn't wanna know it.