Myself and I

by Earl Sewell

“Whatever,” I said, not taking his comment very seriously. “Are Barbara and Jordan gone?”

  “Yup.” Mike spun around as if he were Ne-Yo, or some other hot performer.

  “Where are you going anyway?” I asked.

  “To a party,” Mike boasted.

  “Which party?” I asked, wondering if he too was going to be at Jerry and Erin’s party.

  “The one that the two new guys are throwing,” Mike said.

  “They invited you?” I recalled Jerry saying that the party wasn’t going to be really big, just a few friends from his old neighborhood.

  “Not exactly,” Mike said.

  “What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?” I asked.

  “Sabrina’s girlfriend Katina lives directly across the street from the new guys. They invited her and asked if she’d bring a few friends with her. So she called Sabrina and invited her and she in turn invited me.” Mike stopped glamorizing himself long enough to focus on me and say, “Why do you ask?”

  “Because Jerry, the younger brother, invited me to come as well,” I admitted.

  “Cool, then I really shouldn’t have an issue getting in,” Mike said.

  “No, I suppose not.” I exhaled.

  “I’m going to have so much fun,” Mike said excitedly.

  “You’d better not get into any trouble,” I warned, because I knew Jordan would kill us both cemetery dead if he had to deal with any more drama from either one of us.

  “What could possibly go wrong? It’s just a little kick-back party. I’m going to dance, hang out with my girl and just chill,” Mike said.

  “That’s all you’d better do,” I replied, giving him a little big-sisterly advice.

  “So, are you going to get dressed or give a lecture like Jordan?” Mike asked mockingly.

  “It won’t take me long.” I walked back to my room.

  I lied to Mike, because it took me like forever to figure out what I wanted to wear. Now that I had my own money and had been shopping like crazy I had so many different outfits to select from, but I was having such a hard time making a final decision. Eventually I settled on a pair of white front-patch-pocket shorts that were really cute because of the flap pockets and wooden buttons. They also clung to my now curvaceous legs. All the swimming had paid off big-time. For my top I chose my multicolored cinch-waist striped sweater with hand-pointed stitching, a V neckline and short sleeves. For shoes I chose my brown crisscrossed wedge heels. I made sure my skin was well oiled, because pool water is notorious for drying out skin. I added my accessories, made sure my hair was perfect and added some sweet-smelling perfume and sexy lip gloss. I did one last body check in the mirror to make sure I looked totally irresistible and finally stepped out of my bedroom well over an hour later.

  When Mike and I arrived at the party, his girlfriend, Sabrina, and her friend Katina were already there. They were in a corner near the television sitting on two fold-up chairs. As soon as we walked over to them, a song called “How Low” by Ludacris began playing.

  “That’s my jam there!” Katina immediately stood up and began dancing seductively.

  “Damn, Katina! When did you learn how to do that?” Mike’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, and I could tell Sabrina didn’t appreciate his interest in Katina’s dance moves.

  “Why are you looking at her like that?” Sabrina asked, ready to slap Mike if he didn’t have a good answer.

  “You guys work that out,” I said and stepped away. I wanted to see what the house looked like. I walked out of the family room and into the dining room. That’s where the DJ had set up his equipment near a row of windows. I stood there and listened to music as several high school and college-age girls rushed into the room and began showing just how low to the floor they could go with their dance moves. Before I could blink an eye there were dudes standing close to them, waiting to get their grind on once the girls got done squatting and wiggling their behinds.

  “Come on, girl. How low can you go?” Some dude with an Oakland Raiders baseball cap cocked to the side and a bottle of beer in his hand stood in back of me and began swaying to the music.

  “I don’t know you,” I remarked snidely and stepped away. He didn’t have a difficult time finding a girl who was willing to put on a show for him. I wandered out of the dining room and down a corridor past a bathroom to an enclosed patio, which led out to a wooden deck. There were more college guys back there playing cards, drinking and grooving to the music.

  “Hey, shorty.” Some guy with hazel eyes, curly hair and a sly grin reached out from the card table and grabbed my hand. “Do you eat lots of Lucky Charms? Because you look magically delicious.”

  “OMG! That was so funny I forgot to laugh.” I tried to make him feel stupid.

  “Then you must be the sexy tiger with the stripes because you look great!” he continued on with his lame pickup lines.

  “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you that I’m allergic to B.S.!”

  “Ooh, shawty got you with that one!” said one of his buddies, who was sitting next to him and laughing hard.

  I walked out onto the wooden deck that overlooked a sizable man-made pond. There was a flock of Canadian geese swimming around and squawking.

  “You’re the lifeguard, right?” Erin, Jerry’s brother, came up beside me.

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “So what do you think?” he asked.

  “About what?”

  “The party?”

  “It’s cool. I like being here,” I admitted as I turned and saw what appeared to be a wave of teenagers heading toward the house.

  “You a want a beer or something? There is plenty to drink. We’ve got wine coolers, a keg of beer, gin, vodka, some weed. What’s your pleasure?” he asked, looping his arm around my waist on the sly.

  “Nothing right now,” I said, pulling away from him. It just felt kind of sleazy that he’d try to make a move on me, knowing his brother and I had been talking.

  “Do you know where Jerry is?” I asked.

  “He’s around. Check in the basement,” he suggested.

  “Okay, I’m going to go do that,” I said and turned to walk back in the house.

  “Hey, lifeguard,” he called out to me. I looked over my shoulder at him.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Keysha,” I answered.

  “You have a sexy ass, Keysha,” he said glaring at me lustfully as he blew me a kiss. I didn’t know whether to feel self-conscious or flip him my middle finger. I just shook my head disapprovingly and continued on.

  The deejay was now playing a song called “Cupid Shuffle,” and everyone began to groove and dance to the music. In a matter of moments the size of the crowd swelled to the point where there was barely enough walking space to move from one room to another. When I finally squeezed my way back into the family room I saw Maya.

  “Is this party off the chain or what?” Maya yelled above the music.

  “Yeah.” I leaned close to her and spoke directly in her ear. “Have you seen Jerry?”

  Maya now leaned in and spoke in my ear. “No. But Wesley and Lori are here, and he asked about you.”

  I rolled my eyes. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned and saw Antonio.

  “You look hot.” Antonio smiled at me lustfully as he swayed his hips like he thought he was going to get a chance to grind my behind.

  “Where is Priscilla?” I asked.

  “She couldn’t make it. She’s sick.” Antonio spoke loudly enough for me to hear him. I was about to say something else, but he spotted Lori and quickly excused himself.

  “What was that about?” Maya asked.

  “I don’t know, girl. Do you see the way he’s hunting Lori down?”

  “Yeah, that is strange. Something is going on with that,” Maya said suspiciously.

  “Where is Misalo?” I asked.

  “He went to the bathroom,” Maya said.

  “Oh, okay. I’m going to try and find Jerry,” I sai
d.

  “Okay, I’ll see you around.” Maya gave me a quick hug and I moved past her. I finally located the steps that descended into the basement. There were even more people down there dancing. I searched the crowd for Jerry and finally spotted him standing behind the bar with a drink in his hand talking to a group of guys. I made my way over to him and the instant he saw me he shouted my name.

  “Keysha!” He came over and gave me a hug. He smelled like a mixture of cologne, tobacco and sweat. “Guys, this is the awesome girl I was telling y’all about.” He draped his arm over my shoulder and kissed the crown of my head. I looped my arm around his waist.

  “Keysha, these are my buddies from Buffalo Grove. That’s Tim, Mel and Carlos.”

  “Hello,” I said, and smiled. Tim had blond hair and green eyes. Mel had brown hair and brown eyes and Carlos had black hair and brown eyes. They all had athletic builds and seemed decent enough.

  “What are you drinking?” I asked Jerry.

  “It’s just a soda. You want one?” he asked.

  “Yes.” I felt hot from all the people and their body heat. Jerry opened up a cooler chest that was at his feet and retrieved the drink.

  “I thought you said this was going to be a small party,” I asked.

  “Hell, I did,” Jerry said, laughing. “I don’t know where all of these other people are coming from, but it’s cool as long as everyone is having a good time.”

  “I noticed that there is no furniture in the house,” I said.

  “It’s all in the garage out back. Me, my brother and a few of his friends moved it all back there so it wouldn’t get damaged. Trust me, Keysha, we thought of everything.”

  “This guy and his brother always threw some kick-ass parties when they lived in Buffalo Grove,” said Tim as he reached down into the cooler chest and pulled out a can of beer. He popped the top and began guzzling it down.

  “Do you want one?” asked Carlos. “We’ve got plenty.”

  “No, thank you,” I said, not feeling the need to get all liquored up.

  “Would you like to go someplace where we can have some privacy?” Jerry whispered in my ear. I nodded.

  Jerry and I maneuvered our way back upstairs to the main level. The house was practically bursting at the seams with people. The music was loud, and people were jumping around and tossing their hands while moving to the beat of the music. Girls were grinding their behinds against guys who were more than willing to let them. Jerry and I made our way upstairs to his bedroom. When he opened the door there were a bunch of Erin’s friends who Jerry knew standing around smoking weed.

  “All right you guys, come on, get out,” Jerry ordered them to leave.

  “This is a kick-ass party, man,” said one of the weed heads.

  The smell of marijuana was overpowering, so I walked over to his window and opened it up. By the time I turned around, Jerry had locked his bedroom door and was removing a spray can of air freshener from a shelf in his closet. Jerry then plugged his iPod into a docking station. He selected some music and walked over to me.

  “Come on and dance with me.” He took my hands into his and pulled me into the center of the room. I placed my hands on his shoulders and threaded my fingers behind his neck. He pulled me in close and placed one hand on the arch of my back.

  “Do you know how fine you are?” he whispered.

  “No. Why don’t you tell me?” I said, suddenly feeling desired.

  “The first time I saw you I knew that I wanted to be with you,” Jerry admitted.

  “How did you know that I even wanted to be with you?” I asked.

  “I knew you were impressed with me when you watched me dive.” Jerry’s arrogance started showing.

  “You weren’t all that,” I said, trying to deny what was probably true. Jerry lowered his eyes and prepared to kiss me. When our lips met, I opened my mouth and waited for the dance of the kiss to begin. We kissed nonstop for the remainder of the song. By the time the next song began playing Jerry had wrapped his hand around my waist and led me over to his bed. Suddenly I was lying flat on my back with him on top of me. We kissed deeply, and the passion between us was starting to get intense. I surrendered my most sensitive body parts to Jerry, my earlobe and neck. When he kissed me there, goose bumps formed on my skin and I immediately cradled the back of his head so that he wouldn’t stop. Suddenly, someone began pounding on Jerry’s bedroom door.

  “Just ignore it,” Jerry insisted as he kept kissing me. The pounding got louder.

  “Jerry, are you in there?” the person on the other side asked. Jerry tried to ignore him, but the person knocking tried to gain entrance by turning the doorknob.

  “Jesus Christ! I’m going to beat down whoever this is,” Jerry said, getting up to open the door. I peeked over his shoulder and saw that it was his friend Carlos.

  “Dude, you’ve got a problem brewing downstairs. Some guys brought some pit bulls to the party and want to have a dog fight.”

  “What? Are you for real?” I overheard Jerry ask.

  “I’m telling you, dude, they’re about to do the damn thing. People have started placing bets.”

  “Who are they?” Jerry asked.

  “I don’t freaking know. It seems like people are just coming from all over the place. I think other folks are calling up their friends on their cell phones and telling them about the party,” Carlos explained.

  Jerry glanced over his shoulder at me. “Wait right here, Keysha. I’ll be back,” he said as he stepped out into the crowded hallway.

  I sat upright and placed my right cheek in my right hand and exhaled. A short time later I looked up and saw Wesley pushing open the door and peeking around.

  He smiled when he spotted me. “Wesley, what are you doing? Are you drunk?” I asked.

  “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said. “I never thought I’d find you in one of the bedrooms, though.”

  “Whatever, Wesley,” I said not wanting to get into a debate with him about what I’d been doing before he came in. “Why are you looking for me?” I asked, thinking that he was drunk out of his mind.

  “To let you know that I did it.”

  “Did what?” I asked, completely clueless as to what he was referring to.

  “I stood up to Lori. I broke up with her,” Wesley said, as if that was one of the most difficult things he’d ever done.

  “Well, you should have, especially if you weren’t happy,” I said, commending him on manning up.

  “I’ve also decided to do as you suggested and check myself back into rehab.” Wesley paused. “You were right about me, Keysha. I’m going to stop trying to be a hero for everyone else and be one for myself.” I didn’t know what to say. It was obvious that Wesley had had a breakthrough, and I was happy for him. I rose to my feet, walked over to him, closed my eyes and embraced him as a friend.

  “So this is why you’re breaking up with me, so that you can get back with this whore!” I popped open my eyes and found Lori standing at the door.

  “You are truly a certified—”

  “Keysha!” Wesley interrupted me. “I got this.”

  “Lori. You’ve been running over me ever since I’ve met you, and I can’t let you do it anymore!”

  “Wesley, you’re only saying that because you’ve been listening to the bull crap she’s been filling your head with!” Lori’s eyes were ablaze with hatred and rage.

  “You can’t handle the truth! That’s your freaking problem. When someone tries to give it to you straight, you twist things around. You’re the type of girl who prefers to believe in lies. You’re deceitful, Lori. That’s why I’m through with you. You can drop off the face of the earth for all I care.” Wesley roared like he was her daddy. When he was done, all Lori could do was fold her arms across her chest and throw daggers at me with her eyes.

  “Keysha.” Wesley looked over his shoulder at me. “I’ll see you around,” he said and then left.

  “I’ve just dec
lared war on you, Keysha!” Lori wrinkled up her face and pointed her finger at me before exiting the room.

  Once Lori was gone, I shut Jerry’s bedroom door and locked it. “This is crazy,” I said to myself as I processed what had just taken place. I walked over to Jerry’s window and took a peek outside. I was totally shocked with how many people were outside trying to get in. The crowd had grown to concert size, and folks were getting rowdy. Right then and there I got an unsettling feeling and decided it was time for me, Mike, Maya, Misalo and Sabrina to leave. A crowd that size was surely going to initiate a call to police.

  When I opened Jerry’s bedroom door, there were so many people jam-packed in the hallway that they naturally piled into Jerry’s room so that they’d have a little wiggle room. After squeezing past a ton of people I finally made it back down into the family room. I searched the crowd for Mike and Maya but didn’t see them.

  “What’s going on, baby? Is this party off the chain or what?” It was my little stalker, Alex. Someone had given him a beer and he obviously thought it made him look and feel older. I hadn’t seen or heard from his behind since he nearly drowned Priscilla.

  “Boy, what are you doing here? And why are you drinking?” I yelled at him with authority.

  “I’m having fun, just like everybody else. Everybody knows about this party!” Alex boasted.

  “Listen, Alex. You should go home. This party has gotten way out of control.”

  “What are you talking about? This party is off the hook, baby. And you’re looking extra thirsty in those shorts!” Alex said, then reached out to stroke my thigh. I twisted his earlobe.

  “Take your little ass home!” I shouted in his ear before letting him go.

  “Hell, no, I won’t go!” he shouted back defiantly before disappearing.

  “Mike!” I spotted him and called out his name. He made his way over to me.

  “Keysha, it’s time to go. A fight just broke out in the back.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “As serious as a terrorist attack,” Mike said.

  “I have to find Maya,” I said with desperation in my voice.

  “I don’t know where she is. It’s way too crowded in here to search for her. Go outside and call her on her cell phone,” Mike suggested. Suddenly all hell broke loose. The fight in the back had swelled into an all-out brawl. People were being pushed and crushed against the walls.