by Chrissy J
Chapter 2
Once I’d gotten my outfit out which consisted of dark blue Chip &Pepper ripped up skinny leg jeans along with a blue Gucci shirt and my matching Gucci sneakers, “What the hell is taking Hershey so long to call me?” I thought as I sat there nodding my head to the sounds of Sanchez’s “I can’t Wait.” I was an old soul when it came to music. I was ready to get out of my mother’s house. Hershey’s ass still hadn’t called me to let me know what time she and our home girls were leaving Harlem. Hershey finally called me at 7:30.
“Talk to me Hersh.” I picked up my phone after grabbing my things so I could jump in the shower. I walked out of my room with the phone to my ear.
“Bitch we’re about to leave, I hope your slow ass is dressed,” she yelled into the phone causing me to laugh. Walking to the bathroom, I heard the house door slam.
“I’m jumping in the shower now, I’ll see you in a minute chica,” I told her hanging up. I turned the shower on and let the hot water steam the bathroom up while I sat on the toilet smoking my blunt. I heard my mother talking on the phone; she was probably on the phone with my cousin Harlem’s mother Trina telling her everything that was going on between her and Whitey. Harlem is my Uncle Rock’s only child. Rock was my father’s oldest brother from my Granny; he was killed over a dice game in Queens when I was three.
I jumped in and out of the shower and put my robe on walking out of the bathroom towards my room. I bumped into my mother coming out of her room. She asked me where I was getting ready to go. I told her I had made plans with Hershey to go out to the Key. I swear she almost had a damn heart attack. She said I was too grown for my age and that she was going to call my father and have a long talk with him. She claimed she didn’t want me growing up too fast and she wanted me to live with her, but both she and I knew that wasn’t going to happen. My father was not letting me live with her and Whitey, which was the end of that. Walking to my room all I could do was shake my head at my mother. She claimed she didn’t want me growing up too fast but every chance she got she was leaving me in the house to babysit my little brothers so she could run the streets like she was still in her twenties. I locked my bedroom door and turned my iPod back on to Sanchez’s “Never Dis Man.” I’m a true West Indian, my Granny and Nana would jam to all the old reggae and Soca music every Saturday. So, Harlem and I along with my father’s oldest sister Joy’s three kids would be in the house dancing and singing along with our grandmothers. My Nana and Granny who is my daddy’s mother are best friends and have been best friends for over 30 years. They both came to the US together from Trinidad, bringing their kids from the island so they could have a better life in America. My father and my mother had known each other their whole lives. They grew up together. I think that’s why it never worked out for them; they knew everything about each other.
I finished getting dressed by 8:30; I was out the door by 8:40. I was not going to stay in the house on a Friday night babysitting no one. My mother was heated, she told me I had to be in the house no later than 1:00 because she still was going out. I just laughed walking out the door. I got into the first cab that stopped. I was on my way to the Bronx where the Skate Key was located. Sitting in the back of the cab, I thought about my life and what it would’ve been like if I’d had both my mother and father together under the same roof. If my little brothers were from my father instead of Whitey.
“$55 dollars,” the cab driver said interrupting my thoughts. I reached in my Gucci bag then handed him sixty dollars while jumping out of the cab.
“Your change,” he yelled out the window but I kept walking to the front of the line to get inside the Key. The bouncers knew who I was so I was let inside without a problem. Looking around for Hershey I spotted her posted up near the food court with our homegirl Tima. I walked in their direction but that was a struggle in itself because I was getting stopped by everybody that knew me from school or the hood.
“Bout time,” Hershey said hugging me and checking out my outfit like the damn fashion police. She nodded her approval and moved to the side so I could hug Tima.
“FDR was bumper to bumper,” I told them ordering us some nacho’s and three super-size all flavor sodas. We got our stuff and walked to the other side of the Key where we could sit and watch everybody. The Skate Key was popping, everybody from Harlem and the Bronx were in that bitch, even Kevin’s fine ass. I knew what he was doing inside the Key; that was where he did some of his business. I still had the biggest crush on him but he straight ignored me. Hershey’s boo Ty was there on the floor skating and flexing for the ladies looking like a straight fool.
“Damn Harlem is out in here tonight,” I said drinking my soda. I didn’t come to the Key to skate. It was like our own teen club besides Club Speed that held Teen Night.
“I know, we rep our hood hard,” Hershey said and we slapped each other five. I smelled him before he made his presence known. I looked at Hershey who was smiling like a Cheshire cat; she gave me a head nod towards the way Kevin was coming from. He and Mark came over to where Hershey and I were. He asked what I was doing up in the Key and if my father knew I was there. Everybody knows Hershey is the outspoken one out of the two of us so it wasn’t a surprise when she said some fly shit that had all of us laughing.
“Well damn Inspector Gadget. Mel knows she’s here,” Hershey said sucking her teeth. Mark busted out laughing first. Mark is Kevin’s best friend and he was with him that day two years ago; he was friendlier with both Hershey and me. He’s alright in the looks department to me but to other females, he was a dime with his light bright ass and red freckles and red hair.
Kevin gave Hershey the evil eye, then shut her ass up after he told us shit be popping off after the Key let out and he was only looking out for us. He asked if I had a ride home and I told him I was in Brooklyn for the night. He asked some more questions but I gave him short answers while looking at the people skating and not paying him no mind. “How dare he act like we cool, when this is the first time he’s even said more than hi and bye to a bitch,” I thought rolling my eyes at him with a suck of my teeth. I can’t front and say I wasn’t happy the nigga was checking up on me even if it was for safety reasons. Kevin told me to hit him up when I was ready to leave. He and Mark walked off leaving Hershey and I standing there both shaking our heads. Hershey started laughing at me; she knew I was doing the happy dance inside. I turned to look at Hershey and smiled real big. I was so hyped that I didn’t even realize that I didn’t have his number, and I wasn’t going to call my uncle for it.
"Damn girl you can’t stop blushing, I bet your panties are soaked,” Hershey laughed while drinking her juice and swinging her hips to the music.
“Fuck you bitch, I can’t even hit him up cause I don’t have his number.” I shook my head feeling defeated
“And my name is Hershey Ann Jones, I got that for you boo,” she laughed winking at me. I pointed to Ty walking towards us. Ty was cute in an average kind of way. He looked like Kevin Hart if you asked me. He was funny as hell, the only difference between him and Kevin Hart was Ty was taller than he was and built a little bit more. He came over to us sweating and said what’s good to me then grabbed Hershey in a bear hug kissing her. They’ve been together since Hershey and I were in the eighth grade. I nodded my head to him and waited until Hershey was done talking to him, which I knew was going to end up with them arguing like always. The whole time we were standing there, he didn’t once walk over to check up on her. Only after he spotted Kevin and Mark talking to us did he want to come ask her how long we’d been standing there. Hershey let him have it; she told him if he weren’t so busy showing off for those Bronx bitches he would’ve known that we’d been standing in the same spot for almost two hours. She was in pissed off mode and all Tima and I could do was laugh. Ty knew what type of girl his chick was and he always got clowned on for being a punk when it came Hershey; she was too fucking mean to him and I had told her about that shit before. I told her a nigga didn’t want
a girl that was too bossy or acted like the man in the relationship. She calmed down some but everybody knew Hershey and I had short tempers and any dumb shit ticked us off. Ty’s excuse was always the same; he was hanging with his boy Bishop’s sexy self and Prime’s grimy ass. I couldn’t front Prime was sexy too, I just didn’t like him because he was sneaky, both of them were. Hershey smirked, she was so full of it and I was the one to always call her out on it; we partied until the DJ played the last song which was that damn Cha-Cha slide. Everybody was standing outside the Key pairing up with guys and the guys were getting numbers. Hershey gave me Kevin’s number that she had stolen from Ty’s phone. I called Kevin’s cell phone and a girl answered his phone and tried to flip on me. I politely told her that he told me to call him and I was not the one for the game. I heard Kevin disrespect her for answering his phone, but that type of shit didn’t impress me one bit. She had every right to question the female on the other end of her man’s phone. Kevin got on the phone and told me not to move after I told him where I was standing. Hershey lit a blunt and we smoked while we waited for Kevin to come and pick me up. Hershey was salty about me being in Brooklyn and not in Harlem where I belonged. I saw Kevin’s red Dodge Charger pulling up in front of the Skate Key and passed Hershey the rest of the blunt.
“Alright Hershey I’m out, I’ll call you when I get in the crib,” I said hugging her then getting inside the car. Hershey put her head in the car and looked Kevin dead in the eye; all her joking went out the window.
“You better make sure my homie get home,” she said. Kevin laughed but stopped when he saw the look Hershey was giving him, he saw and heard the seriousness in her voice.
“Hershey I got you, now take your ass home before I call Sandy,” Kevin said pulling off. I looked at Kevin and admired him while he drove. His eyes were straight on the road but he must’ve felt me staring at him because he smirked. I didn’t know what to do or say, I had a lot of shit running through my head. That was the first time I was ever alone with the man and I had butterflies in my stomach. Kevin asked me if I was at my mother’s house for the whole weekend and I told him, “Hell no.” I was only there until the next day when my father would pick me up. I also told him I could’ve gotten in a cab back to Brooklyn so he didn’t get in trouble with his girl. He turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Diva you know damn well you don’t give a flying fuck about me getting in no trouble. As long I’m here with the Princess, that’s all you care about,” he said. There was truth in his statement. I really didn’t care who that Gina chick was that answered his phone. I laughed and tired not to blush but my cheeks had to be on fire cause he just nodded his head, winked at me, and kept driving on the FDR. I faced him to ask a question but he beat me to it. He said what I wanted to say all those times he’d ignored me.
“I know you want me Diva; because I know I want you. You scared your pops and uncle are going to say something?”
“Did he just say he wanted me?” I asked myself breaking into a sweat. I told him he was scared my uncle and father were going to say something. He just looked at me and grinned devilishly. I couldn’t hold it in any more. I broke it down to him telling him he knew I was feeling him from the very first time I saw him and he just sat there and confirmed that he was feeling me too. The truth was finally out. Kevin was feeling me and I couldn’t have been happier. I had dreamed about that day and what would happen if I were ever alone with that sexy man. I wanted to know how long he had had those feeling for me; or if he had just started catching feelings for me. I had so many unanswered questions I needed the answers to but the lump in my throat wouldn’t let me voice anything, so I sat in the passenger seat staring at him.
“Diva I’m not scared of any nigga that bleed just like me. I just have respect,” he said
As he continued driving towards Brooklyn, we sat in silence the rest of the way to my mother’s block. There was a million and one thoughts running through my head. Kevin looked at me after pulling up in front of my mother’s building and parking. Whitey was outside in his Jeep on the other side of the street talking to a bunch of dudes from the block. All of their eyes turned to see who was driving the bright red Charger. I sat inside the car staring out the dark tinted window at all those so call thug niggas while they stared like they’d never seen a fucking car before. Kevin turned the radio to 105.1 and Donell Jones’s “Where I Want to Be” came thru the car speakers. I looked at Kevin; he had the sexiest grin on his face. Just sitting in the car talking, and getting to know Kevin was a big deal for my fifteen-year-old heart. I felt like I had known him my whole life. He didn’t hold out when it came to answering all the questions my nosey ass wanted to know, he also told me about Gina. We had to be sitting out in the car for an hour or two when we heard my mother.
“Diva you better get your ass outta that nigga’s car,” my mother yelled out the window with her ghetto ass.
“That’s your mom?” Kevin asked looking over me to look at my mom. I shook my head taking my seat belt off, and unlocking the car door. I felt Kevin’s hand on my bare arm pulling me to him.
“Give me a kiss,” Kevin said pulling me to him.
“You want a kiss?” I asked looking in his gray eyes. He moved towards me, we were inches from each other and I pressed my lips on his. His tongue founds its way inside my mouth. It felt like heaven. I thought I saw the moon and stars. I felt him pull me in closer to him. My panties were soaked with my juices. I pulled away from him and stepped out of the car turning and winking at Kevin. Walking to my mother’s building, I felt like I was on cloud nine. Kevin waited until I was inside before he pulled off. I knew all those niggas were wondering who I had dropping me off at one in the morning. Whitey was staring at me extra hard. He had probably called my mother and told her I was in the front sitting inside the car, with his hating ass. I walked up the stairs to my mother’s door; letting myself inside the apartment I smelled cigarettes and weed in the air. I shook my head and continued walking towards my room.
“Who was that nigga you were driving with? Do I have to tell your father you’re being hot in the ass?” she yelled. She was walking out of the kitchen where she had been smoking a blunt and getting ready to leave with her home girl Candy. I sucked my teeth and rolled my eyes staring at the wall behind her. She wasn’t about to blow my damn high with her holier than thou bullshit. I told her the guy’s name was Kevin and that he worked for my uncle. She yelled some more talking about she was going to call my father and ask. “I bet you are going to call my father,” I mumbled as I walked into my room. I took my Gucci sneakers off and sat my bag on the bed. I grabbed my bath stuff and went to the bathroom. I jumped in the shower and thought about the kiss with Kevin. I was on cloud nine; I couldn’t wait to tell Hershey what happened between Kevin and me. I snapped out my daydream about Kevin and myself getting married and having cute little babies to find Whitey standing inside the bathroom with me. I felt the cool air from him opening the door. I cracked the glass shower door and went straight ham on him; all he could do was say he needed to use the bathroom. That nigga had the nerve to ask me who I was inside the car with, as if he was my damn daddy. All I could do was laugh at that clown and tell him to get the fuck out the bathroom. He stood there with a faraway look scaring me; he nodded his head then walked out slamming the bathroom door. I jumped out of the shower, threw my robe on, and walked to my room. I locked the door and sat on my bed. “My Daddy” by Beyoncé started playing from my phone. I already knew my father was calling. “That lady be on it hard,” I thought standing up from my bed and grabbing my Cherry Blossom body butter then sitting on the bed. I answered the phone on the third ring. My father was only calling to make sure I got in the house safely and to ask what I was doing inside Kevin’s car. I told him Hershey and I had bumped into him and Mark at the Skate Key and he offered to drive me home. He said that was all right and for me to be ready when he came for me in the morning.
After getting dressed in my paj
ama’s I walked out my room and went into the kitchen. Whitey was in there with his homeboy Dre, sitting at the table smoking a blunt. I noticed the way both he and Whitey kept staring at me and I wanted to hurry up and get out of the kitchen. Two sneaky motherfuckers in the house with me alone was not the move. I rolled my eyes while taking a can of soda out of the freezer. I looked at them while I walked out the kitchen and hit my Bluetooth.
“Hershey talk to me,” I said, walking back inside my room. She called to see if Kevin drove me straight home and if I was all right, oh yea and to be nosey. She wanted every detail of my drive to Brooklyn with Kevin. All I could do was laugh and shake my head at my homie; I told her about the kiss Kevin and I shared. I also told her about Whitey’s ass coming into the bathroom while I was in the shower and just standing there like something was wrong him. She asked me if I was going to tell my father, but I declined and told her I was going to let it ride, but make sure it never happened again. If my father knew Whitey violated me in any shape or form, my little brothers wouldn’t have a father. She told me she and Ty had bumped into Kendu. Now that was a name that rung bells in Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens, and Atlanta. Kendu was 25 years old, around 6’0, nice body that was well built with a sexy six-pack, long Cooley hair, and bluish gray eyes. His skin stayed with a glow. A brown cinnamon complexion; he was so sexy and he knew it with his cocky ass. He kind of looked like the rapper Bleu DaVinci from BMF. I asked her if she was staying the night at Ty’s house and she told me they had gotten into a big argument while they were at Willie’s Burger’s. She explained why they were arguing, after I told her she was too mean. She said after seeing Kendu and his brother, Ty caught an attitude with her for smiling in their face. I hung up with my crazy bestie and remembered the day I first laid eyes on Kendu. Hershey was the only person that knew I loved me some Kendu. Shit, what young girl from Harlem wasn’t in love with his sexy ass. I could still remember the first time I saw him. I was under the dyer in one of my father’s jump off’s beauty salon when he walked through the doors. Every female in the salon was fixing up her shit, even the hair stylist was staring wide-eyed at him as he, and his brother walked to the back of the shop to where the owner Rita was sitting. After a brief conversation with Rita, Kendu walked to the stylist that did his braids. He must’ve felt me staring at him hard because he turned my way and winked at me, that made my day. I remember running home and telling Mary how I met the man of dreams; I didn’t tell her who he was but I let her know that one day I was going to marry him and give him a house full of babies. She laughed and told me to calm my little ass down. I laughed at the memory and dozed off.