Around the Way Girls 9

by Moore, Ms. Michel

  “Oh,” was King’s reply. “Well, I broke up with Vita tonight.”

  “What?” Breezy laughed.

  “Damn don’t look so sad,” King teased.

  “Nah, I’m not laughing because you broke up with her. It’s just crazy how I tell you that I broke up with Montez and then you turn right around and tell me that you gave Vita her walking papers.”

  “Yeah, well she wasn’t as nice as Montez,” he admitted. “She went in on my ass. Even threatened to get her cousins to jump me.”

  Breezy’s hands went up over her mouth. “What?” she exclaimed becoming afraid for his safety. “What are you going to do?”

  “Nothing.” He waved his hand. “I ain’t thinking about them niggas. She is just blowing hot air because I don’t want to be with her.”

  Breezy let out a sigh. “I sure hope so.” She didn’t like the sound of that at all. King started back massaging her feet. “Oooh that feels so good.” She leaned back like she was in heaven with her eyes closed.

  “Breezy, please don’t say things like that because I can’t take it right now. I can’t promise you how much longer I will be able to practice self-control.”

  Her eyes popped open. “Boy, stop it!”

  He laughed and continued to massage her feet for a little while longer before rising to his feet. “Well, I am going to go on and finish cleaning up and then hit the sofa.” He kissed her on her forehead. “Good night.”

  “Why are you going to bed so early?” she asked looking disappointed. “I wanted to talk for a while before we went to sleep.”

  “Actually, I just need to get away from you for a while because my hormones are going crazy and it’s obvious that I need to try to keep them under control. Look at the mess that they already got me in with Vita.”

  “True.” Breezy laughed, appreciating the respect that he had for her. “Good night, big head.”

  King left the room and she got undressed and crawled into bed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Two weeks later ...

  Breezy walked into the gymnasium humming, oblivious to the three girls standing in a group watching her with angry glares. She walked past them and went into the locker room to get changed. As she walked over to her gym locker she sang the hook to Ja Rule’s “Always on Time” and a few of the other girls joined in. She turned the dial on the combination lock. “‘Baby, I’m not always there when you call, but I’m always on time. And I gave you my all, now baby be mine.’”

  Vita and her two cousins, Rachael and Michelle, entered the locker room and walked directly over to Breezy, who was rummaging through her locker singing. Vita nodded to Michelle and Rachael. One of the other girls who had been singing with Breezy knew that the three girls were up to no good by the way that they all had come in and walked up behind Breezy. She opened her mouth to warn her but was too late. Michelle punched Breezy in the back of the head as hard as she could and then she and Rachael both proceeded to beat her. The attack had caught her totally off-guard. She fell to the floor and balled up into a fetal position with her arms up over her face.

  Vita stood off to the side laughing and egging her cousins on. “That’s right, beat that bitch’s ass! Stomp that ho!”

  The same girl who’d attempted to warn Breezy jumped in the fight and tried to break it up because everyone else was just standing around watching. “Somebody help me!” she yelled as she tugged on Michelle. Two other girls started to help her break it up and someone else ran out and got the gym teachers.

  Ten minutes later all four girls sat in the principal’s office, with two of the school’s security guards standing between them. Vita looked over at Breezy. “How’s your head feeling, bitch?” She laughed.

  Before Breezy could respond, Principal Fenner intervened. “Ms. Newsome, you are already in enough trouble. I am going to ask that you shut your mouth.”

  “For what? I didn’t touch anybody,” Vita snapped.

  “No, but you instigated the entire thing. Several of the girls in the locker room said that they saw you tell Michelle and Rachael to attack Brionna while she had her back turned.”

  “They’re lying.” Michelle smacked her lips.

  “So why did you all attack Brionna then?”

  Michelle looked over at Breezy being sure to make eyes contact with her. “Because she like going around messing with things that don’t belong to her.”

  “Oh my God, are you serious?” Breezy jumped to her feet but was immediately asked to sit back down by one of the guards. “Y’all jumped me over a boy who don’t even want her. The fact that y’all would jump me over a dude says a lot about every one of you!”

  “And the fact that you go around fucking other people’s men says a lot about you.” Vita shot back. “I bet you will think twice the next time that you think about fucking with somebody’s man!” Vita and her cousins all laughed.

  “Laugh now but I bet I’ll be laughing last because I plan to press charges against every one of you!” The girls got quiet because they hadn’t expected that. Breezy looked back and forth between Michelle and Rachael. “I bet you two pit bulls will think twice before putting your hands on someone.”

  Principal Fenner nodded his head. “I don’t blame you one bit. This violence has to stop!” he began and then pointed to Breezy. “Look at those scratches on her face and that knot on her head. It could’ve been worse.”

  “It should’ve,” Vita mumbled not wanting to hear the mess that he was talking.

  “You have a lot to learn, Ms. Newsome. Violence is never the answer to any problem. You are sitting here in front of me in a world of trouble, about to be suspended from school and have charges pressed against you, all over a boy. Did you ever stop to think that you don’t have to fight for someone who loves and wants to be with you? Now you are in all of this trouble and he is still going to be living his life, doing what it is that he needs and wants to do. While you, on the other hand, are suffering the consequences for your action.”

  “So? And?” She shrugged her shoulders.

  Principal Fenner let out a sigh and decided he wouldn’t say anything else until the parents arrived. He realized that the young lady in front of him was headed down the wrong road if someone didn’t step in and do something fast. When the parents arrived they were informed of what had taken place.

  DaVita’s mother, Dianne, was so disappointed to find out what she’d done. “DaVita, you know better than to do some mess like that! Michelle and Rachael, you two know better as well.” She scolded all three girls but mainly her daughter. “You cannot make anyone want you and fighting surely isn’t going to make him want you.”

  “I agree,” Annette spoke. “I’m not trying to be mean or nasty but you girls are going to pay for what you did to this child. She is under my guardianship now and I refuse to let this go. When we leave here, I am taking her down to the police station so that she can file charges on every one of you. You need to learn that there are consequences for your actions and you are about to learn starting today.

  “Vita, I halfway want to sympathize with you because you are the mother of my grandchild but I realize that I have to treat you the same as these two in order for you to learn before it’s too late. Maybe this will help shape and mold you into a more mature young woman, which in turn will make you a better mother for that baby you are carrying in your stomach. You can’t be running around like this, doing mess like this once that baby is born. What kind of example would you be setting for your child? I know that you want the best for that baby, don’t you?”

  Vita rolled her eyes and tears fell. Annette’s speech had gotten to her. “Of course I want what’s best for my child,” she snapped still trying to act tough.

  “In that case you need to get your act together and stop doing mess like this.”

  Vita didn’t say anything; she just sat there with her head down crying.

  Principal Fenner suspended Vita, Michelle, and Rachael for fifteen days apiece. Breezy didn�
��t get suspended because she never hit anyone and they all attacked her. She still decided to take the rest of the day off from school.

  “I’m not going to press charges,” Breezy told Annette as they walked to the car. Her lips were swollen, which caused her words to come out distorted.

  Annette looked at her. “What do you mean? Those girls need to pay for what they did to you. If you let them get by with this, they will do it again to someone else.”

  “I can’t because Vita is pregnant and I don’t want to put her through any unnecessary stress. I think she knows what she did was wrong. I could tell by how she broke down in there.”

  Annette hit the unlock button on her keychain remote to unlock the car doors. They both got in and she turned to Breezy. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m sure.” She nodded her head. “I just want to go home, take something for this headache, and lie down.”

  “All right,” Annette agreed. “I swear you are better than me because I would be pressing charges on all of them with the quickness.”

  “Yeah, well I’ve learned that sometimes you have to sit back and allow God to handle things. They will get theirs. If you ask me they are already getting theirs because while I will be at school getting my education so that I can graduate and better myself, they will all be at home and may possibly fail for missing so much work. I am about to have one of my short stories featured in a book and one of my poems featured in my favorite magazine. I have a job, I am surrounded by people who love me, and I refuse to stop until I reach the top. I’m winning and the best payback that you can ever get on anyone is to continue winning. Those girls hate me because they ain’t me. I saw jealousy in all of their eyes and to be honest I felt sorry for them. They’d rather see me being beat and dogged to secure some type of popularity among their peers because with me in the game they feel threatened.” She shook her head unable to understand. “Those girls scream all day how they are the baddest bitches when really they are the most insecure bitches.”

  Annette laughed as she started the car and put it in reverse. “Baby, you are a mess, with yo’ old soul.” She continued to laugh, feeling blessed and proud of the gift that God had given her in Breezy. She was a good kid and she felt blessed to be a part of her life.

  When they got home, Breezy took a shower and lay down.

  King couldn’t wait to get home after hearing what had happened to Breezy. He’d called her phone to check on her but hadn’t gotten an answer because she’d turned her ringer off before lying down. He rushed through the door and was greeted by Annette who was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

  “Hey, Ma,” he spoke dropping his book bag down at the door.

  “Hey, son.” She noticed his urgency to get down the hall as he speed walked past the sofa. “She’s asleep,” she called after him as he headed down the hall.

  He didn’t reply; he just continued down the hall and pushed the door open to his room. Breezy was knocked out with her mouth opened snoring. He could see that her face was swollen and bruised. That angered him because he felt partially to blame. What bothered him the most was that he couldn’t do anything about what had taken place. He let out a sigh. Not wanting to wake her, he kicked off his shoes and got on the bed behind her. He kissed her on her cheek and wrapped his arm around her, causing her to stir in her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open and she turned and looked behind her.

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked unaware of the time.

  “School is out.” King replied enjoying how she felt in his arms.

  “Don’t you have to work?”

  “I took the day off.”

  “Why?”

  “To be with you. Now hush up and go back to sleep. You sound like you’re high.”

  “I’m fine, you can go to work. I took some Tylenol for my head and it made me groggy.”

  “I know you’re fine but I’m still not leaving you so hush up and go back to sleep.”

  “Okay,” she mumbled and closed her eyes. A few seconds passed before she added, “I love you, King.”

  “I love you too, Brionna Lee.” He wrapped his arm around her a little bit tighter and they both drifted off to sleep.

  “I don’t know what we are going to do with those two.” Annette shook her head as she and Curtis stood side by side in King’s doorway watching him and Breezy sleep so peacefully.

  “Plan their wedding,” Curtis replied and they both laughed before closing the door and leaving the two lovebirds to rest.

  Down 4 Whatever

  by

  T.C. Littles

  Prologue

  “Hey, Mike, man, ya might wanna go in there. I heard a few shots.” Spook walked across the street seeing his niece burn rubber on two wheels around the corner.

  Not wasting another second, Mike grabbed the pistol from his waistband, busting the window out. Shattering glass everywhere, knocking the remaining pieces of broken glass from around the frame, the fact that no one from inside screamed at him entering the house like a madman sent an eerie sensation up his spine. “Keep a lookout, Spook.”

  Climbing in, Mike wasn’t prepared for what he saw. Running to her side, he grabbed up his only flesh and blood cousin, holding her dead body. “I’ma send her your way,” he whispered and closed her eyes knowing exactly who was responsible. Not giving a ghetto fuck about the one other body laid out only a few inches from them, he kicked ol’ boy out of pride knowing he had to have been the reason behind all of this.

  Chapter One

  Corielle aka Cori

  “Could you please shut up and drink this damn bottle?”

  The young mother next to me shoved a plastic bottle with a dirty nipple into her infant child’s mouth despite the milk streaming out onto her chubby cheeks, which had rashred chubby cheeks. More like a rhetorical question, irritated that the baby wouldn’t stop screaming and crying, the young, inexperienced mother flipped her daughter over onto her lap in an attempt to rock her to sleep.

  “Sorry, she got a fever and shit but my petty-ass caseworker cut her Medicaid off. Otherwise, we’d be at the hospital.”

  Looking at me for pity, I was too busy holding my breath at the pissy smell of the obviously soiled diaper. “Oh, you cool, it’s nothing,” I lied, making sure my Textgram posted letting people know I’d be doing check stubs today on special. Looking up, hoping to see another seat in the overcrowded Department of Human Services office, I wanted to be anywhere but near this musty broad and her crying kid. “I’ll save your seat if you want to go change her.” I came up with a quick alternative for getting a break from the strong, offensive smell.

  “Oh naw, she got two more times to pee in this diaper. Until my cash gets cut back on we struggling,” she explained as she continued to shake her knee, not making the little girl any less cranky. “I ain’t got it like that.” She laughed.

  “Damn, that’s all bad.” I shook my head but not feeling sorry for her. In my life, emotions were reserved for the weak and I was far from that. “I know somebody who gets down with Walmart cards if you need to get a case of diapers or whatever when your worker gets your case right.” Seeing an opportunity to get money, I knew the ghetto girl was just as wrapped tight in getting a hood scheme as I was into pulling one off.

  “Oh straight up? That’s what I’m talking about! Hell to the yeah. I need one of those bitches like right now!” Sitting the whining child into the filthy stroller, she pulled out her refurbished Android to input the number she thought I was about to give her.

  “How much you trying to spend on a card? Double that to spend.” I put her down on the scheme, knowing I was ready to deliver.

  “You got the hookup like that?” Her eyes brightened. “I’ve got twenty-five dollars on me now, so what’s up?”

  Normally people who got down with scams didn’t dabble in petty amounts, but I took it all. You could come to me with ten bucks looking for a hookup and I’d find you one. “Then you’ll have a card worth fifty dollars th
at you better get to as soon as you leave this dungeon.”

  “Let me get your number, too. I can keep in contact and spread the word. This was a real good look.”

  “Yeah, lock me in. I gets down but this is not the place for me to run down my resume.” Cutting our conversation short I really wasn’t interested in her smelly, germ-infested kid or if her woes were worked out. I’d gotten her money and a person to refer me to others; she could peace be gone for all I cared. I was like a vulture when it came to hustling. And by it being the first of the month, I was scoping for money spenders in all forms: big bank, little bank, or borrowed bank. I wanted it all.

  “Tandalaya Jenkins!” The door opened as a big-bellied black woman popped out with a manila folder in hand. “Tandalaya Jenkins!” Shouting with crumbs falling from her mouth, the alleged “better than us” social worker tapped her foot with little patience.

  “Here I go, I’m coming,” she yelled, jumping up, struggling with her grimy belongings and reeking daughter.

  I blatantly held my nose, catching a whiff of her musk and funk as she moved around. I hope her trifling ass gets some soap and deodorant off that card, too.

  “Thanks, girl. I’m about to jump fly tonight.” She looked over her shoulder, continuing to huff toward the door like she could read my mind.

  “Uh, uh, okay,” I half replied, finally able to breathe since she was out of nose reach. Watching the young girl waddle to her worker and behind the closing door, I glanced at the wall clock hoping my worker would be appearing next. Sitting back in the orange plastic waiting chair, I didn’t know how much more of this poor-people place I could stomach. Even though it was only 8:15 in the morning, as usual the DHS was turned up live with scallywags, loud snot-nosed kids, lazy bums, and even a few homeless people waiting to get turned down for not having an address. Dressed in pajama pants, a pair of Ugg boots I’d lifted out of Nordstrom, and a North Face fleece jacket, I smacked loudly on my chewing gum, agitated that I had to be here. My worker be on that straight bullshit with these early appointments. I can’t take it with her! I could’ve dropped this shit in the drop box and been back in my bed by now. Continuing to watch the scene, shaking my head at the rainbow of ratchetness that was flooding through the doors, I couldn’t wait to turn these papers in and get up out of here. For some reason or another, even though we were all from the same hood, cut from the same cloth, I considered myself to be too good for this.