by Ni-Ni Simone
“And he got friends with him,” Tay raced behind Seven as I continued to try and get away.
“But Toi—” Percy ran in front of me.
“Nope.” I wiggled my neck and tried again to walk away, again.
“Nope? You didn’t let me finish. I was sayin’—”
“Not gon’ happen.” And once again I tried to escape, but my legs were surrounded.
“What’s not gon’ happen—”
“Me and you, that’s what!”
“Girl, you know you want me!” Percy screamed and don’t you know this fool had the nerve to have an attitude? “I don’t even know why you fightin’ it,” he carried on, “you know I’m hot,” he pounded his chest, “delicious and nutritious, er’body want a taste of this tender crisp.”
“Lil’ Bootsy!” Ms. Minnie, Percy’s mother, lifted up the living room window and screamed his nickname. They lived next door to the community pool. As a matter of fact, they lived so close that you could be in their house and have your feet in the pool at the same time. She slapped the palm of her hand with a rubber slipper. “Lil’ Bootsy, get yo’ fake ass playboy behind in this house and wash these dishes! Left my dern kitchen a mess!”
“Mama, why you got to act like that?” He looked around, and if I ain’t know any better, I would think this fool was embarrassed. “And stop calling me Lil’ Bootsy!”
“Percy Elwood Jenkins,” Ms. Minnie snapped, “who in the bubble gum ass you talkin’ to? You better break yo’self fool, and recognize!”
“I guess I can leave now, Lil’ Bootsy.” I rolled my eyes and the next thing I knew, Percy had tripped me and I was headed for the pool face first…oh…my…God!
“Whooaa ma!”
Someone’s large masculine arm wrapped around my waist, attempting to save me from the water, only for him to fall in right behind me. So much for Brick City having a superman. You know I was pissed, right? “The least you could’ve done,” I said as I wiped the water from my eyes and blocked out the shock, surprise, and laughter of the people around me, “was not fall in behind me. You just made it worse. At least I could’ve played it off by myself.”
“Excuse you? Was that a thank you? ’Cause technically I ain’t have to do nothin’ for you. Last I checked, you weren’t my girl.”
Immediately, I looked up. I’d know that voice anywhere. Harlem. I swear I was melting in his arms. But wait…hold it…didn’t he just read me? Yeah, I believe he did. “Excuse you, Uptown, but you can calm down.” Don’t ask me how, but some kind of way my arms slid around his thick neck and my fingers locked. “’Cause last I checked, I didn’t ask to be your girl.”
“You should’ve called.” He gave a me a sexy look, his eyes meeting mine half staff while he looked down at me. “Maybe you would be my girl by now.”
“Yeah, right.”
“So, you still wit’ ole boy?”
“Psst, please. That boy was hella crazy.”
“Is that a no?”
“Of course it’s a no.”
“Ai’ight.” He smiled, “so why didn’t you call me?”
“Because—”
“Because what?”
“I don’t know.” What the hell was I talking about? I knew good and well if this dude asked me to marry him, I was gon’ do it. “Look…maybe…I should go. Thank you for trying to help me.”
“Where are you going?” he pulled me back to him.
I stared at him, trying to figure out why I was trippin’ over him so hard.
“What you thinking about?” He stroked my cheek. “A minute ago, you were Miss Fresh and Fly and now you melting in my arms.”
Heck, I’ve been melting in your arms. “Nothing.” I shook my head, my wet hair splashing against my shoulders. “I wasn’t thinking about anything.”
He laughed, “Still at IHOP, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ma come through tomorrow.”
“Alright.” I went to pull away again and he pulled me back.
“What?” He placed my arms back around his neck. “You got something against chilling right now?”
I wondered if this was too good to be real. “Nah, nothing’s wrong with us…chilling right now.”
“Straight.” He kissed me on my forehead and I almost passed out amidst my kitten heels, shades, and Blow Pop floating in the water. He rubbed the sides of my hair to the back and we started kicking it. Just like that. In the middle of the pool, as if we were always supposed to be here, with my hair slicked down like silk, my Daisy Dukes soaking wet, and the DJ playing Teedra Moses’ “Be Your Girl,” the very song that I just realized was spilling all of my secrets.
6
“Okay,” Tay said as she drove us to work. “How big, how long, and don’t spare any details.”
“What,” I paused and looked at her, “are you talking about?”
“You know—Harlem’s Tarzan, his Johnson, the pipe!”
“You are soooo nasty.” I laughed. “I don’t believe you. I know you don’t think he was getting more than a free feel in the pool? I am not a ho.”
“And you ain’t a virgin either, so spill it.”
“It was nothing. We just kicked it.”
“So you feelin’ him?”
I blushed. “Yeah, he’s cute.”
“It’s obvious that he’s cute. I said, are you feelin’ him?”
“I don’t know him.”
“Okay,” she turned the corner, “let me say it like this. Are you over Quamir?”
“Girl, please. Ain’t nobody thinking about Quamir,” I lied Although each day I thought about him less and less, I still thought about him. “Life goes on without Quamir.”
“Does he call about the baby?”
“No.”
“Typical.”
“Exactly.”
“Oh,” she said a little too excited as we pulled into the IHOP parking lot. “I knew I had something to tell you.”
“What?”
“Remember Ronnique from my home room last year?”
“There were two Ronniques. Which one?” My silver bangles jingled down my right arm as I opened the door and got out.
“I said my homeroom,” she stressed as we walked toward the building and walked in.
“Oh, yeah. I remember.”
“Okay, well Quiera, who lives in my building, told me that Ronnique is best friends with Deeyah.”
“So,” I sucked my teeth long and hard, sounding just like my West Indian grandmother. “And?”
“You’ll never guess who Deeyah’s god-sister is.”
“Who?”
“Shanice.”
“Who?”
“The broad you beat up, the one Quamir was messing with.”
“For real?”
“Fa sho’, and guess what else?” She popped her eyes wide.
“What?”
“She a ho.”
The biggest smile in the world ran across my face. Finally, Tay had good news. “How you know?”
“’Cause Ronnique told me. Apparently, Shanice was asking Deeyah did she know you and it went from there. You know how chicks talk. Anywho, according to their li’l crew, Shanice doesn’t know whose baby that really is and she just put him on Quamir because she thought he was some stand-up cat or something like that. But booyah, she found out he wasn’t crap just like them other tricks.”
“Excuse you?”
“You know what I mean.” She winked her eye. “So maybe that ain’t Quamir’s seed after all.”
We looked at the restaurant’s employee board and made mental notes of our stations.
“It doesn’t even matter,” I grabbed a pen and order pad. “Quamir can roll over and die for all I care. We are through.”
Tay rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, “Toi, it’s me. Tay. You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I’m serious.”
Tay shook her head. “I just can’t believe you haven’t heard from him.”
“I’ve giv
en up. I don’t even care anymore.”
“Why?” Tay teased. “’Cause you sweatin’ Harlem?”
“You are such a hater.” I laughed.
“I don’t hate…I state—”
“Anyway,” I cut her off. “You know I got the dances from Beyoncé’s “Get Me Bodied,” down pat. I puts ’em all to sleep.”
“Yeah, right.” Tay snickered. “You should’ve seen me, Seven, and Shae the other night at The Arena. It was teen night and we were off the hook!”
“The Arena?” I was taken aback. “Y’all went to The Arena and didn’t invite me?”
“Every time we ask, you can never go.”
I had an attitude. “I don’t believe this.”
“Don’t be mad. We didn’t want you to feel bad, so we didn’t say anything. Don’t be mad.”
I fostered a smile and did my best to push my hurt feelings to the side. “I’m good. For real, it’s cool.”
“So, can you show me the dance? I been trying to learn it forever.”
“We need to get to the floor. You know the manager gon’ bug in a minute.”
“No, he’s not.” Tay insisted. “We have a few minutes.”
“Okay, you show me first what you were doing the other night. And if we have time, I’ll show you what I can do.”
“Bet.” She started breaking it down and as I watched her, I wondered if I could ever recapture the way she must feel: carefree, not bogged down with adult responsibilities, able to do what she wanted with her money and not have to worry about milk and Pampers. I wanted to feel like that again. Like a regular teenager on top of the world, like nothing else mattered but what I wanted to do. And just as I was beginning to feel like I was almost there and could touch it, our manager walked in the back and yelled, “Ladies, you have customers waiting!” and I was forced to come back to reality.
7
“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!” My brother screamed at the top of his lungs. “What the hell is this?”
My mother stormed down the hall. “I know this boy ain’t cussin’ in my house!”
Welcome to Sunday morning at the McKnights’ crib. This was our before-church ritual; my mother would pick out my brother’s clothes and he would lose his mind because he hated them every time. Thank God I had to work—well, actually I didn’t have to work. I just lied so that I didn’t have to go to church and I could have peace of mind, go back to sleep, and then maybe go to the mall or something.
As I packed Noah’s bag for him to go with my mother, I heard her yell, “Man-Man, you cussin’ up in here?”
“Damn shame,” Cousin Shake said. “Not even on a Sunday morning can these skeezoids give their nasty-ass mouths a rest!”
“I don’t care what you say,” Man-Man insisted. “I ain’t wearing this!”
“I tell you what,” my mother spat, “if you don’t wear that suit, then you will not be having a Kool-Aid stand.”
“Ma,” he held his arms out, and the cuffs of his sleeves raised half way up his arms. “Look at me…look…at…me. You know this is too small and why, why do I have to keep wearing fire trucks, dogs, and cop cars on my clothes? I’m ten years old ma. All the kids gon’ tease me if the cuff of my sleeve slapping me in the head!”
“You look adorable.”
“I look stupid!”
“It’s worse than that,” I added, walking into the kitchen with Noah on my hip.
My mother shot me the evil eye. “You look like a respectable young man.”
“Kids don’t know good clothes when they see ’em!” Cousin Shake yelled. “In my day, we made clothes out of leaves.”
“And you still wearin’ ’em, too!” Man-Man yelled at Cousin Shake.
Cousin Shake blinked in disbelief, then looked around and started skipping in place. “Don’t hold me back. Please don’t hold me back!”
“I’m not wearing this!” Man-Man started undressing and in an instant he stood there showing off his fake tattoo of blond chest hairs and his royal blue Superman underwear. “I’m tired of reppin’ for 5-0. You like it so much, you wear it! But since you insist that I gotta go to church and you won’t let me change my clothes, then this is how I’m going.” He poked out his chest. “I’m wearing exactly what I got on.”
I just shook my head because I knew what was next. WHAP!!!BAM!!!BOOM!!! And like magic Man-Man was dressed. My mother grabbed the baby and they headed out the door. “Play with me if you want some, too!” my mother said, closing the front door behind her.
I ran into my room and watched them pull off down the street. Then I walked over to my bed and fell backwards on to it. Ahhhh, I couldn’t believe this. This was magical. I could go back to sleep, and when I woke up, sneak to the mall. Now, this was what I call Sunday morning worship. I picked up the remote to my AC, snuggled under the covers, and let my head melt into the pillow.
“I think Josiah is cheating on me!” made me jump out of my sleep. My heart felt like it was racing as Seven, Tay, and Seven’s best friend Shae swung my door open and stood at the foot of my bed. “Wake up!” Seven screamed. “Did you hear what I said?”
They had to be crazy, they had to be. I didn’t even respond. Instead, I took my pillow, covered my face and let out a muffled scream. All I wanted was some sleep and here…she reintroduced me to misery.
Tay snatched the pillow off my face. “Your sister has an emergency!”
“Jesus!” I said as if I had a seventy-year-old body that ached. “Jesus!”
“You’re so selfish!” Shae snapped. “Always have been.”
I sighed with my eyes still closed. “Y’all better stop playing with me.”
“We’re not,” Seven sucked a glob of snot back into the bridge of her nose and plopped down on the edge of my bed.
I opened my eyes and shook my head.
“I really think Josiah is cheating on me,” she said.
“Sounds that way to me,” Tay insisted.
I sighed. “And why is that?” Apparently this was the part where I was supposed to be patient and forget about my own problems or something like that. “What’s been going on?”
“You know I’m still a virgin.”
“The whole world knows that, Seven,” Tay said. “Tell her something new.”
“Taylor,” I said, tight-lipped, calling Tay by her whole name. “Be quiet.”
“I’m just saying.”
“Hush,” Shae said. “Let her talk.” She rubbed Seven’s back. “Go ’head, Seven.”
“Well, for the last month he hasn’t asked for any booty.”
I wanted to scream, ’cause he got tired of you saying no! But instead I said, “So?”
“So?” They all said simultaneously.
“So?” I said for confirmation. “And?”
“You’re her twin,” Shae said, “you’re supposed to feel her pain.”
“And all you have to say is so?” Tay scrunched her top lip.
I promise you I just wanna take the back of my hand and slap these broads. “What…” I spoke slowly, “happened?”
Seven wiped her eyes. “I went up to his school and his bags were packed.”
“Typical niggah,” Tay snapped, “tryna sneak out on a bitch.”
“Was all that called for?” I looked at her. “You need to stop getting people all hyped up.” I turned my attention back to Seven. “So what if his bags were packed. It’s the summer time.”
“But he’s in the basketball program—they stay until the end of July.”
“Did you ask him where he was going?”
“No, I just saw some chick staring at me like I was crazy. And then there were these dudes and the next thing I know Josiah was gone and he didn’t even say goodbye. No kiss, no whisper about when I was going to give him some. Nothing. And then he calls and suddenly gives me a new address saying he moved off campus.”
Now this caught my attention.
“He’s living with some slut,” Tay said. “I betchu.”
“Then why wo
uld he give her the address?” Shae asked.
“I don’t know.” Tay hunched her shoulders. “I don’t have all the answers.”
I sat straight up. “You said it was a chick?”
“And dudes.” Seven cried.
“Forget about the dudes, unless you think…we’re dealing with some down low freaky-deaky stuff.”
“I ain’t even think of that, Toi,” Tay said. “That is true.”
“Heck no, my boo ain’t on the low-low!” Seven yelled.
“That’s what they all say,” Tay insisted. “But for real for real, it’s a whole lotta dudes walking around with hydraulics in their pants. One minute they’re up and without warning,” she dropped to the floor in a Beyoncé bounce, “they done dropped down.”
“Get up.” I looked at Tay like she was crazy.
“Not Josiah.” Seven sniffed.
“Okay, so back to the chick,” I said. “She was looking at you crazy?”
“Yeah,” she answered.
“And this is the first time Josiah hasn’t asked for any booty?”
“It’s been going on for a month.”
“A whole…entire month?” Tay snapped. “My Gawd, break that down for me now, you said one month?”
“Thirty days,” Seven said. “Seven hundred and twenty hours, forty-three thousand, two hundred minutes—”
“And a whole lotta seconds—” Tay added.
“That he ain’t asked her for no booty,” Shae interjected. “We got a problem.”
“Oh…my…God…” I stood up.
“You see my point?” Seven cried.
“Hell yeah,” Tay’s eyes popped out. “He playin’ the hell outta you!”
“I don’t believe Josiah.” Shae shook her head.
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” I asked her.
“I don’t know.”
“Well,” Tay sucked her teeth, “we gon’ have to roll up on him and bust him out.”
Immediately, Seven broke down. “I knew it.”
“Shut up cryin’ now.” Tay started pacing. “If you roll up on Josiah cryin’, he gon’ think you a weak punk.”
“I’m not no punk.” She wiggled her neck.