by Saundra
I walked out of Krispy Kreme carrying a full dozen of hot and fresh doughnuts. Before I could even get out of the parking lot, I ate two of them. I was about to go in for number three, but my ringing cell phone interrupted me. Between trying to shut the Krispy Kreme box and balance the hot doughnut, I almost dropped my phone.
“Hello,” I managed to answer in the midst of my struggle.
“What’s up, Precious?” I recognized Keisha’s voice right away.
“Oh hey, Keisha.” I was shocked that she called me.
“What you into right now?”
“Nothin’ really.” I gazed at the doughnut in my free hand.
“Sounds like you being bored?” It sounded more like an answer than a question. “So why don’t you meet me at Baldwin Hills mall? I’m headed over there now.”
I knew it should have been an easy yes, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to hang out. Especially in a mall full of strangers. The doughnuts were enough happiness for me for now.
“Aye, what’s up? You rollin’ or not?”
“Why not?” came out of my mouth. It’s not what I wanted to say. But Keisha’s tone told me she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“A’ight, bet. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Now I had plans, something I was not used to having. Biting off half of the doughnut, I placed the other half in the box, then wiped the fast-drying icing off the tips of my fingers. I jetted out of the Krispy Kreme parking lot and headed for the mall. Finding a parking space outside, I made my way inside Macy’s. Keisha had texted me and told me to meet her there in the women’s shoe section.
“What’s up wit’ cha?” Keisha greeted me. By her statements over the phone and her greeting, you would have thought we were old friends.
“Nothin’ really,” I replied dryly. I hoped I didn’t sound mean, but I really wasn’t sure of what to say. I wasn’t in much of a mood to be conversing.
“I had to get you out that damn house. I’m sure you been locked inside.”
“Something like that. But actually, when you called I was over at Krispy Kreme picking up some doughnuts.”
“For real. Were they hot and fresh?”
“Yes, and good.” I smiled. It had been a long time since the last time I smiled. But it felt good.
“You gone have to share them shits, hot or not. I love Krispy Kreme.”
“Cool, you can have some.”
“Bet. Look at these Tommy Hilfiger heels. Bitch, they are cute as shit.”
“They are,” I agreed. “The question is, how much are they?” I reached for the opposite shoe and looked at the bottom. Just like I thought, they were over two hundred dollars.
“Fuck the cost, that doesn’t matter.” Keisha was blunt. I wasn’t sure why, but I liked that. “I’m getting these.” She gestured a sales person over and asked for the shoe in her size. “Precious, I’m a shopaholic. I try to control myself, but sometimes it’s hard.” The saleslady handed her the box.
“I used to love to shop too, but over the last couple of years I had to slow down while Dad got the finances back on track.” I wasn’t sure why I shared that with her. Maybe I needed to get it out.
“Sounds like when I was growing up. Except I just didn’t have shit at all.”
I was shocked to hear that, because in school she always wore the most updated styles. “In school you were always rockin’ the new stuff.”
“Yeah, see, you met me in high school—that’s when I was just getting my fresh on. Before that I was a bum. I’m talking about dingy pants and busted shoes.”
“I had no idea.” My tone was sad.
“It’s cool though, because in high school, like you said, I was fuckin’ ’em up with the gear. See, I took matters into my own hands. I promised myself then that shit would only get better. Fast forward to a bitch dropping stacks on whatever.” A grin spread across her lips.
After paying for her Tommy Hilfiger shoes, we made our way over to the jeans in the women’s department.
“These are cute. I got a blouse that would go great with that.” I was starting to thank myself for coming. Even matching things up that I was not going to buy felt good.
“You gone cop them Guess jeans or what?” Keisha asked.
“Nah, I’m good. I’m just window shopping today.”
“Why not? Maybe you can put that blouse to use. Go on, try them on,” she encouraged. I really didn’t want to spend any money, but the jeans were just hard to resist. I skipped off to the dressing room and returned to model the jeans for Keisha. “See, I told you, you hot in that shit. Precious, you need to get those.” Keisha boosted my ego.
I double-checked myself in the mirror and the pants were indeed hot on me, I had to admit it. “I really do like them. But I can’t see myself paying one hundred and twenty dollars for these.”
“Hey, just think of all the heads you gone turn . . . I’m gone get me a pair of these.” Keisha pulled out another pair of Guess jeans that were ripped completely at the knee. “I’m getting these too. My booty gone be lookin’ delicious in these.” Keisha turned her butt to the mirror and looked at it sideways. “I might wear these to the party. Aye, why don’t you go to a party with me tomorrow night?”
“I can’t.”
“Why not? You got plans or some?” Keisha was still staring at her butt in the mirror.
“No, I don’t . . . it sounds fun though.”
“And it’s gone be fun. Off the chain fun at that.”
We both grabbed the jeans and headed toward the counter. As much as I wanted to put the pants back, I had to have them.
“Let’s grab a bite from the food court,” Keisha suggested.
Hunching my shoulders, I said, “I’m good with that.” Inside the crowded food court, we grabbed some Japanese, then found a seat.
“So, please, tell me what you do for fun.”
“Fun . . .” I repeated. Her question was truly something for me to think about. I racked my brain for at least a minute, but there was nothing. “Fun.” I sighed. “I have to say I don’t have too much of that. I mean, I had fun with my dad; we used to laugh and we did everything together. But I didn’t really hang out with friends and all that. I was my dad’s only child, so he was always protective of me.”
“I guess that explains why I can never remember seeing you at a school game or dance. Hell, when I think about it, I only ever seen you at that damn dry cleaners.”
The way she said that, it made it sound bad, like I’d been locked away. But I never saw it that way. Then I remembered I had went out with a friend a few times in high school. “Actually, I went to a few games with my friend Liza Petro, but she moved away in tenth grade.”
“Liza? You were cool with her? I took a few classes with her in ninth grade. I remember her ass was a little bougie.”
I laugh. “Yep, that’s her.” Everyone thought Liza was stuck-up, and she could be at times, but she was nice and we got along great.
“But real talk, Precious, you can’t just sit in your house and rot. I know you don’t want to do anything right now, but you need to get out and live life. Hell, at least a little.” She was right, I knew it in my heart. But I felt as if I was not ready. And I didn’t know when I would be. “What are your plans now? You need to have some.”
“Yeah, I do. My plan since graduating high school has always been to attend college. And I still want to go. I thought UCLA was gone be it for me. But like I was trying to say earlier, things had changed for us financially before Daddy . . .” I paused. I couldn’t bring myself to say it. “Daddy was still trying to get things on track.” I wrapped it up.
“You know it ain’t too late to sign up for community college. Believe it or not, once upon a time I researched college. They have grants and all that to help you. You should sign up.”
Her mentioning community college made me think of what Dad had said. Community college may have not been the best option, but it was an affordable chance for me. “What about you? W
hy didn’t you ever sign up?” Keisha chuckled at my comment. “What’s so funny? If you put in the time to research, you must have been interested.” I had to know.
“Bitch, really, does it look like I’m about to sign up for school?” I couldn’t answer, but she finished her point. “Look, school’s great and all, but I gets money. I ain’t got time for that bullshit. When I researched that shit I was bored.” She spoke matter-of-factly. “But check this out, you need to come to the crib and hang sometimes. We gotta get you some fun in your life. And I mean ASAP.” She had changed the subject, just like that.
I couldn’t do nothing but smile. Keisha was fun. Being around her would keep my spirits lifted. Maybe hanging out with her was what I needed.
Chapter 7
It had been a full four months since my dad had been murdered and two months since I had started hanging out with Keisha. And honestly, it seemed that hanging with her was for the best. She was cool people and we had a lot of fun. It kept my mind off my dad too. If I wasn’t doing anything else, I would have thought about him twenty-four-seven. I had made my way down to the community college and signed up for classes just in time for the new semester. To my surprise, I was really liking community college; all of my professors were great. I wished I had signed up a long time ago. But it was too late for regret, so I wouldn’t waste time on the thoughts.
Today I had no classes, so Keisha had invited me over to chill at her apartment. After gassing up the Corolla, I pointed it toward Brentwood, where Keisha and her boyfriend owned a three-bedroom condo. I loved going on that side of Los Angeles; it was really nice. Dad and I used to drive down to Brentwood and he would take me shopping. This would be the first time I had ever visited someone in Brentwood though.
“What’s up, Precious?” Keisha’s boyfriend, Quincy, greeted me as soon as he swung the front door open. I had only met him once a few weeks before, when he came to Starbucks to give Keisha some money. He seemed really nice and she always had good things to say about him.
“Hi, Quincy,” I said.
“Come on in. Keisha in the kitchen.” Stepping inside the condo, I admired how elegantly it was decorated. They were living really nice, to say the least. When I was outside, I had noticed they had a three-car garage attached. Keisha drove a Mercedes, so I could only imagine what else they had behind those other two doors.
“Girl, you were supposed to be here two hours ago,” Keisha said as she came out of the kitchen.
“No, you said four, remember?” I reminded her.
“Fuck it, you know I don’t remember much.” Keisha chuckled. “Come on in the kitchen and help me out.”
“You want me to help? I told you, I ain’t a cook,” I joked. Inside the kitchen, I was loving the spread Keisha had set up. Turkey roll-up sandwiches, chicken Alfredo, hot crescent rolls, and sweet tea. “Keisha, you don’t need my help, this looks delicious. Pass me a plate.” I wasted no time digging in; I was hungry. I had skipped breakfast just so I would have an appetite.
“I got you.” She passed me a plate from the cabinet. “I can’t wait to dig into that pasta. I love my Alfredo.” She reached for a plate for herself.
“This place is really nice,” I commented, then took a bite off my roll-up. It was so good, the cream cheese that she had rolled the turkey in was to die for.
“Thank you. It’s a long way from where we come from, right?”
I looked around the kitchen at its decor. Nothing was cheap. “Yes.” I had to agree.
“I mean, your dad’s house is nice, but I came from the straight roach-infested side of South Central.” Her face was sad for a moment. “But I guess it was all worth it. Look at me now.” She tried to sound happy. But I could detect a lot of sadness. “So how is school going?”
“Good. Actually, better than I thought, with it being community college.”
“What’s wrong with community? Shit, it’s college ain’t it?”
“Yeah, but I always had this bad perception of community college based off other people’s experiences. Thinking it wouldn’t be organized and all that. But it’s been great. All the advisers got me going in the right direction with my courses. And the professors are great. So either I was lied to or I’m just lucky.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But now it’s the work I’m concerned about, the assignments. I think I forgot all about the thought that went into schoolwork. Now I remember why I couldn’t wait to graduate.” I laughed.
“Shiiit, you could have asked me and I could have reminded you. That, I won’t ever forget. I couldn’t wait to be out that motherfucker.”
“Right.” We both laughed.
“So what’s next though? You can’t put everything into school.”
“True, so I been considering getting a job. Something part-time.”
Keisha burst out laughing. “Bitch, doing what? Dry cleaning or some shit.” She continued to laugh.
“Ha, ha, whatever. You ain’t no comedian, just know that.” I gave a fake sarcastic laugh. “No, for real I was thinkin’ an office job or something. I can type like sixty-five to eighty words a minute. And I’m the bomb with Excel and different computer programs, period.”
“Ahh, damn, you ain’t tell me you was professional material. That’s what’s up. But see, me, I can’t go to nobody’s job. Motherfuckers can’t pay me enough to put up with them tryin’ to boss me around.”
“I feel you. The only boss I’m used to is my dad. But see, you are lucky, you living in a nice house, driving that nice Mercedes. How you do it?” I had to know. Keisha didn’t have a job to think of, but she was living it up.
“I would think you should have the answer to that.” She looked at me like I was naïve. “My man,” she blurted out. “Hell, Quincy takes care of me. But I been gettin’ money on my own for most of my life. Until Quincy came into my life, ain’t nobody ever gave me shit. The hustle. That’s got to be your motivation.”
I nodded my head in agreement, but I wasn’t sure if this advice suited me. The doorbell rang before I could respond.
“You wanna ride wit’ me over on Crenshaw? I have to pick up my friend Buffy.”
The mention of Crenshaw kinda had me pressed. I mean, I rode over to Crenshaw like to a business or something. But never did I venture into socializing with the neighbors. I’m from South Central and it was no joke. But sometimes other hoods didn’t welcome outsiders. I guess my facial expression revealed how I felt. Keisha started laughing.
“Aye, you ain’t gotta be scared, most of my family live over there. So you ain’t got shit to be worried about. You cool?”
“Yeah, I’ll ride,” I decided.
“Me and Buffy about to check on some hair with a wholesaler that she got a connection with. Cause I’m thinkin’ about opening up a hair store. Get some of that good Brazilian and Persian hair and it’s gone be on an’ poppin’.”
“That’s a good investment,” I agreed. I glanced at the kitchen door, where I could hear Quincy laughing with someone.
“Girl, that’s Quincy and his boy in there bullshittin’. Hold up for a minute while I grab my bag.” Keisha exited the kitchen and I followed her out.
Quincy’s laughter led me to the living room, but I didn’t go in. I could see them from the hallway. And damn, was Quincy’s “boy” fine as ever. They instantly stopped talking as I unwittingly grabbed their attention. Feeling uneasy, I tried to walk away.
“Aye, Precious. Come back, it’s cool.” I felt embarrassed and worried that if I turned around they might figure out what I was thinking. But I stopped and turned to face them. “Yo, this my nigga DaVon right here.”
“Hey.” DaVon dished out the cutest grin I had ever seen on a man.
“And like I said, this is Precious, Keisha’s friend,” he informed DaVon. But by the way he delivered it, I was convinced Quincy was not well versed in introducing anyone. Dude was hood as they came, but I was not mad at him.
“Hi.” I felt so shy I could barely get it out.
“What th
e hell y’all doing to my friend? Precious, you straight?” Keisha grilled as she appeared next to me from the hallway.
“Ain’t nobody doing nothin’, she good.” Quincy smiled. “Man, she swear she the boss up through here.” Quincy passed DaVon the blunt they had been smoking. The room was lit up like Cheech and Chong. I hadn’t been around weed smoke a lot growing up. My dad used to try to sneak and smoke it in the garage sometimes, but I knew from the school bathrooms exactly what it smelled like. So he really wasn’t hiding nothing from me.
“Quincy, shut the hell up.” Keisha twisted her lips up, pretending to check him. “Precious, you meet big-headed-ass DaVon.” She smiled in his direction.
DaVon sucked the blunt, allowed the smoke to slowly escape his lips, and chuckled. “Hey, Keisha.”
“What’s up, DaVon? You know I got to give you a hard time. Pass me the smoke.” She reached for the blunt and wasted no time inhaling. “Wanna hit it?” She passed it in my direction.
“No, I’m good.” I waved it off.
“Pass that this way.” Quincy reached for the blunt.
“A’ight, we out, we about to ride over on Crenshaw to scoop Buffy. I’ll be back later.” Keisha walked over to Quincy, then leaned down and kissed him.
I noticed DaVon staring at me. “Bye,” I said softly before exiting. Finally, when we were outside, I was able to breathe. I don’t know why I felt so nervous or even bothered by DaVon. I didn’t know him, and he didn’t know me. I wasn’t the type to get in her feelings about a guy. And some unknown weed smoker would not be the first. No way.
Chapter 8
Finals were coming up in a week, along with all my other assignments, and I was completely beat because of it. I silently thanked God I didn’t get a job right away as planned. The money that I still had from dad’s insurance was saving me. It wasn’t much, but it was right on time because there was no way I would have been able to hold down a job and school this semester. But this semester had definitely prepared me for the next. Now I knew what to expect, but for now, I had to ride this one out. I wasn’t worried about passing, I would be finishing the semester on the dean’s list. And I was proud of myself. The ringing of my cell phone pulled me away from studying.