by Earl Sewell
“What is that?” LaShaunda asked loudly.
“Shhh. Girl, you have got to learn how to keep your voice down.” A frown tugged at the corners of my mouth.
“Sorry, my bad. What is that?” she asked again. I flipped the switch and was surprised that it was still charged.
“A stun gun,” I said, pressing the trigger. The device made a haunting crackly, buzzing sound.
“Dang. You have more rough edges than I gave you credit for.” LaShaunda was clearly awestruck by the device and the fact that I had one. “Where did you get it?” she asked.
“From a girl I used to hang with. We had a big fight,” I answered.
“Who won?”
“Does it really matter?” My expression hardened.
“It depends. It’s like this. Growing up in Milwaukee, if I got into a fight with a chick and beat her down, I knew she would come back and with more people to get revenge. I actually saw a fight where one chick stabbed the other with a screwdriver.”
LaShaunda’s comment made me think about my father and the incident he had had with an attacker who had an ice pick. “Well, I doubt if I’ll ever see that girl again. I don’t live in the same neighborhood anymore,” I said.
“Let me see the stun gun.” I handed the device to her. She toyed with it for a moment and then said, “I’m going to hold on to this.” LaShaunda placed the stun gun on her hip using its belt clip.
“Fine,” I said, looking around to be certain that no one was paying us any attention. I reached into the bag again and removed a smaller bag with straps that zipped up. I then began to whisper. “Okay, here is the deal. I’m a pickpocket,” I informed her.
“Sweet.” She smiled.
“Most of these people are drunk or well on their way to getting drunk. I’m going to go into the crowd, get what I can and then come back out. You are going to meet me under that tree over there.” I pointed to an area that was not near foot traffic. I’m going to give you the merchandise to hold. If someone tries to take it, zap them with the gun and run like hell, and then text me to let me know what went down. You do have a cell phone, right?”
“Yeah, I have one of those prepaid phones and I hate it. So be on the lookout for a better phone for me. What about you? What if you get caught?” she asked.
“I can handle myself. Besides, I won’t get caught. With this many people, I can be invisible.”
“That’s it? That’s all I have to do?” she asked.
“Yes. Just keep your cool. We’ll take everything to a pawn shop that I know where they don’t ask questions. We’ll split the take.”
“Cool.” She beamed with anticipation.
* * *
The sun had started setting and LaShaunda and I were heading back to the train station. I had collected nearly $100 in cash and had swiped a respectable amount of jewelry, credit cards and other electronic devices. We laughed and talked about how we would spend our money once we sold the merchandise to the unquestioning pawn shop owner.
“So what’s the first thing you’re going to buy?” I asked as we crossed the intersection.
“I’m going to hook myself up with some new clothes. I’m tired of walking around in these old hand-me-downs,” LaShaunda remarked.
“Yeah, I’m going to get me some new clothes, as well. I’m also going to get some nice perfume and some shoes,” I said.
“Dang, I’m hungry.” LaShaunda rubbed her stomach as it growled.
“There is a Subway on Michigan Avenue. Do you want to walk over there?” I asked.
“Are you treating?” LaShaunda’s voice climbed an octave.
“Yeah, I got you.” I beamed.
When we arrived, it was very crowded on the inside. Many of the partygoers had decided to grab something to eat before getting into their cars or catching public transportation.
“It’s jam-packed in there. Why don’t you wait outside and I’ll go in to get our food,” I suggested.
“That’s cool with me. I can’t stand it when people are too close to me,” LaShaunda said.
“What kind of sandwich do you want?” I asked.
“Get me the Big Philly Cheesesteak with everything on it, a bag of Doritos and a Coke.” LaShaunda rubbed her stomach again as if she were starving.
“Okay,” I said before I stepped inside. I was glad she had agreed to wait outside. I didn’t want her to catch a glimpse of the wad of cash I’d stolen and feel entitled to a percentage.
Twenty minutes later I exited Subway with our sandwiches. LaShaunda couldn’t wait until we got on the train to eat. We decided to sit down on a bench outside the store. We had both finished half our sandwiches when we heard the sound of the train horn. I glanced in the direction of the train tracks, then took a quick look at my watch and realized our train was approaching.
“Damn, come on, LaShaunda. That’s our train.” I began running as fast as I could. The train platform was about two hundred yards in front of us, and we still had to run down several flights of steep stairs to get to the level of the platform.
“Slow down. I can’t chew my food, run and carry this backpack all at the same time,” LaShaunda complained.
I didn’t bother to look back. My only concern was catching that train. If I could reach it, I’d stand in the doorway and hold up the train until LaShaunda arrived.
“All aboard!” I heard the train conductor shout out as I began my descent of the stairs.
“Wait!” I called out. Just as I reached the platform, the train doors closed and the train pulled off. Out of breath and exhausted, I sat down on a nearby bench. A few minutes later, LaShaunda arrived.
“Now I’ve got stomach cramps,” she griped before releasing an odorous belch.
“Excuse you,” I said and fanned the stench away from my nostrils.
“Sorry,” LaShaunda said then slipped the backpack off and sat it between her legs.
“When is the next train coming?” she asked.
“In an hour. It will be dark by then. I’m going to hear about it,” I said with blurry-eyed fatigue.
“Why don’t we walk over to the ‘L’ station? We could catch it down to Ninety-Fifth Street and then hop a bus, which will take us the rest of the way,” LaShaunda suggested.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure if there is a bus at Ninety-Fifth Street that will take us all the way back,” I said.
“Please. This city is full of bus routes. I’m sure there is a bus that will get us back before nightfall.” LaShaunda sounded sure of herself.
“Are you sure?” I was more uncertain than ever.
“Tell you what. We could walk over there to the ‘L’ Station and ask the person in the booth if there is a bus that will get us to where we need to go. If they say no, then we’ll walk back over here and wait,” LaShaunda suggested. I had another idea. It was to go and hail a cab and have the driver take us home, but that would cost at least $50 and the potential of LaShaunda discovering that I was hiding cash from her.
“Okay, let’s walk over to the train,” I said, rising. LaShaunda picked up the backpack and we headed toward the subway station.
When we arrived, the train was sitting on the platform with its doors open.
“Come on, let’s get on before it pulls off,” LaShaunda said, rushing toward the doors. As soon as we stepped on, the doors closed and we took a seat. Breathlessly I said, “We didn’t get a chance to ask about the bus schedule.”
“We can ask once we get to the end of the line,” LaShaunda said as the train began picking up speed.
“If there isn’t a bus for us at the end of the line, I’ll have to at least call home to let my aunt know where I am,” I said, dreading the thought of explaining why I came downtown.
“Girl, I can’t wait until I turn eighteen. I won’t have
to deal with people being in my business. You know what I’m saying?” LaShaunda asked.
“Yeah. I do. When you turn eighteen, you have total freedom. No one is on your back. No one is trying to control your life. You can do whatever and it’s cool,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s what it was like when I was hanging with my crew back in Milwaukee. It was hard, but we made it, you know.” LaShaunda smacked her fist into the palm of her hand. I smiled, allowing the thought of pure freedom to seduce me. The train zoomed alongside the Dan Ryan Expressway for a moment before going underground. The loud roar and the jostling of the train car had begun to make me nauseous. I glanced toward the other end of the train car and noticed several people talking loudly and using every word in the book to get their point across as they crossed over from another train car into the one I was in.
“Did you hear the sound when his head hit the ground? It sounded like a coconut hitting concrete,” I heard the guy say. He was the first one through the train car followed by three other people.
“It’s a good thing we got out of there before the police came,” I heard a female say. Her voice sounded familiar to me, but I didn’t know why.
LaShaunda leaned toward me and whispered, “What’s up with those fools.”
I said nothing, just shrugged my shoulders as I tried to see who was behind one of the guys. They took a seat not too far from where LaShaunda and I were sitting. When I saw Toya Taylor, I gasped.
“What’s wrong with you?” LaShaunda asked. I immediately turned my face away from the group and glared at the floor.
“Damn,” I hissed and hoped that Toya would not notice or recognize me.
“Viviana, what’s wrong?” LaShaunda’s big mouth had just blown what little cover I had.
“Shhh,” I said, wanting to disarm her mouth.
“Oh, hell to the no! Viviana. I know that’s you!” I glanced at Toya who had decided to approach me.
“You know them?” LaShaunda asked.
“Yeah, just be cool,” I said. Toya positioned herself directly in front of me. I leaned back in my seat and looked at her. She looked so much harder than I remembered. There was now a keloid scar that ran from her ear down toward her shoulder. Her teeth were far more yellow than I remembered and her lips were at least several shades darker.
“It must be ass-whipping day,” she said. I knew her words were an invitation to a fight.
“For who?” LaShaunda shifted uncomfortably as Toya’s friends approached us.
“What’s up, Toya?” I asked, trying to be cordial.
“What’s up?” Toya shouted at me is if I had called her a dirty name. “What? You think I forgot about what you and that old lady did to me? You two broads damn near blinded me when you sprayed mace in my face. It was two against one that day.”
“Toya, you’ve got it twisted.” My heart jumped in my throat.
“I got it twisted!” she shouted at the top of her voice. “I got it twisted!” she repeated herself.
“You need to calm down,” LaShaunda said as she came to realize just how serious the situation was. She tried to rise, but was pushed back down by Toya’s friends.
“Toya, let it go,” I warned her as I knuckled up my fingers. I didn’t relish the idea of getting into a brawl on the subway, but when I glanced around quickly, I noticed that several cell phone cameras were recording the argument. I knew that if we fought, footage of it would be instantly uploaded to the internet.
“Oh, so you almost take my eyesight away from me and I’m supposed to forget about that mess? Just drop it and not get justice?” The corners of her mouth had curled downward. I was about to stand up when Toya swung at me and nailed me with a solid right to my jaw. My body fell into LaShaunda’s, and Toya jumped on top of me and began throwing wild punches, hitting my shoulder, my ribs and my face.
“Oh, damn!” I heard other passengers shout out. I also heard a bunch of movement. I assumed others were getting out of the way.
“Let them fight!” I heard someone who wanted the brawl to continue shout out. I managed to push Toya off me and get to my feet. I took my stance. Rage rushed through my blood as the ringing in my ear grew louder.
“Come on! Are you scared? I’ve learned how to fight, too.” Toya’s expression hardened. She tried to throw another punch, but I blocked it and caught her with two quick body shots with my right fist. Toya decided to fight dirty and she grabbed my hair. We tumbled into one of the closed doors. She pulled my hair toward the floor and rested her body weight against my back. I was in a very bad position. All I could see were shoes. I somehow managed to reach up and grab hold of her clothes and I began tugging.
“You’re not so bad!” Toya taunted me. I let go of her clothing, thought about what I could do and then it came to me. I began punching her right side, below her ribs. After about ten hits, she let go and, before she could set her feet, I landed a shot to her face. Toya shouted out in pain. The next thing I knew, her goons jumped in and began punching me wildly. I stepped back, but I had nowhere to go. I covered up as they pounded my body.
“That’s enough!” I heard a passenger say, but Toya and her friends wouldn’t stop. I started to squat down toward the floor to avoid the sting of the punches, then I heard a crackling sound. I wasn’t sure if it was from the ringing in my ear or something else.
“Oh, damn!” I heard someone howl out. Toya and her friend stopped punching me. LaShaunda must’ve slipped the backpack off when Toya’s friends were not looking and grabbed the stun gun. She nailed a guy with it, and he hit the floor. Toya’s other guy friend lunged at LaShaunda, but he was met with an electric shock to the forehead.
“It’s on now!” I said to Toya as I rose up. I pummeled her for a good thirty seconds before a male passenger got involved.
“Mind your business!” I growled as I continued to work Toya over at a blistering pace. The barrage of punches had bloodied her nose, split her lip and caused a cut to begin forming above her left eye.
“Stop,” the passenger pleaded. While I beat up Toya, LaShaunda had zapped Toya’s third friend with the stun gun and had been kicking them while they were on the floor. When the train came to a stop, LaShaunda grabbed the backpack and yelled out, “Let’s go!” Without hesitation, I rushed off the train. As I hustled down the steps I worried about how I was going to conceal my scrapes and bruises. I knew they would not go unnoticed and I didn’t want to answer questions about what had happened to me. I definitely needed to come up with a quick plan.
thirteen
MAYA
“Maya, do you know where Viviana is?” My mother had walked into my room. I was in my closet sorting out my outfits and trying to determine what I would wear for the first week of school.
“I have no idea. Maybe she’s run away,” I said, pausing for dramatic effect.
“That’s not funny, Maya. You should be just as concerned about Viviana as your grandmother and I are. I told her to come directly home and she disobeyed me.” Judging by the frown upon my mother’s face and the agitated tone of her voice, I knew that my mouth had nearly landed me in as much hot water as Viviana. My mother exhaled and then exited. I knew Keysha had mentioned she saw Viviana at the music fest earlier but that was hours ago.
As crazy as I realized my thinking was, I wanted to dress in such a way that I would make Misalo regret what he had done. I wanted to make other guys notice me so that Misalo would become jealous. I knew that wouldn’t be too hard since everyone had probably received photos of me in my underwear. Although my photos were ancient history because I had heard, through a post on the internet, that there was a video clip circulating of a girl at my school doing a striptease. I was certain that the guys at school would be begging her to give them a private show.
“Guys,” I muttered, wanting to curse the moon, the sun and the heavens. “Just w
hen I thought I had my relationship figured out, it got ruined like mud being splashed on a white wedding dress.”
* * *
By 7:00 p.m. it was dinnertime and Viviana had not returned home. Both my mom and grandmother had called her cell phone several times, but had not gotten through. I sat down to eat and couldn’t have cared less about my cousin or where she was. Grandmother Esmeralda was standing at the back door, looking down the driveway for any sign of Viviana. She looked worried, as if someone had just given her bad news.
“Maya, Anna, come with me.” The urgency in my mother’s voice startled me.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I exhaled my annoyance about anything concerning Viviana plus interrupting my meal.
“We are going to drive around the neighborhood to see if we can find her. You two know where all the hangout spots are, so I will depend on you to direct me.”
“I’ll wait here in case she comes back,” said Grandmother Esmeralda.
“I don’t hang out like that,” I said to her with a frown.
“Yes, but you still know where other kids do,” my mother remarked. In my mind, having to go hunt for Viviana was just another reason for me to not like her.
Me, Anna and my mom got in her car and headed off toward a popular pizzeria. When we arrived, there were plenty of people there, but we did not see Viviana. I saw several people I knew from school, and my mom insisted that I get out and ask if they had seen Viviana.
“Mom, they don’t even know who she is,” I griped.
“Ask them anyway. In case they’ve seen her before. She’s been living with us long enough for her face to become familiar with people,” my mother said. Feeling embarrassed, I got out of the car and approached a group of Misalo’s soccer friends.
“Hey, guys,” I greeted them as I walked up to their table, which was situated outside the pizzeria at a makeshift sidewalk café.
“Hey, Maya,” said Hector. He was one of Misalo’s friends who had sent me a text photo of himself wearing only his boxer shorts. His message to me had said, “I can give you all this and a lot more. Misalo was stupid for letting a super-freak like you go. Come see what it feels like to be with a real man, baby.” The memory of his photo made me cringe.