by Ni-Ni Simone
Brooklyn laughed, and oh I hated that I loved his laugh.
I continued, “Oh, you think this is funny? I’ma joke now?”
“No,” he answered in a serious voice, takin’ a step too close to me. “I don’t think you’re a joke. I think you’re purty. And I think you like me, but for whatever hard-to-get reason you wanna push me away. And as far as ole girl. I met her at the party. And I left her there.”
Now what are you gon’ say to that? I don’t know. Think. Think. Think. I can’t. Wait, I got it. “Whatever.”
“Yeah, you say ‘whatever’ when you know I’m tellin’ the truth. Check it, Bricks.”
“Yvette,” I corrected him.
He stepped completely into my personal space, lightly placed his forehead against mine and whispered, “When you’re ready for me, let me know. But see this li’l back and forth game, I’m not good wit’ that.” He boldly kissed me on my forehead, before walkin’ away and leavin’ me frozen in place.
27
Love Saw It
Just say, hey, Ms. Glo . . .
No.
Okay, okay. I got it. I’ma just be like, hey, Ms. Glo, wassup?
No.
She is not my homie. Just say, hey, Ms. Glo, can I speak to you for a minute? Yeah, that might work. Suppose she says no? She ain’t gon’ say no.
I don’t know that.
She’s not.
Ugh!
My thoughts made me madder by the minute. Meanwhile, Tasha and Reesie ran their mouths all the way home, about where Ebony could be and why she didn’t come to school today. I really wanted to tell them to shut up, but I ain’t wanna seem insensitive.
“I’ma stop by there on my way home,” Reesie said, as we stood on Ms. Glo’s porch. “I want to be sure she’s still breathing. ’Cause you know her mama is a li’l touched. And y’all don’t know this, but Ebony’s stepfather and her grandmother both died in the same year. And they all lived in the house together.”
I blinked, confused. “That’s sad and all, but what does them dying in the same year have to do with anything?”
Reesie said, “The same year? And they all lived in the same house. Together. Now Ebony has disappeared.” She arched a brow. “Without a trace. What does that sound like to you?”
Tasha nodded. “You got a point, Reesie. All three of us should go over there and see what’s up.”
“Time out,” I said, holding my hands up and placing my right palm over my left fingertips. “Time out. Y’all been watchin’ too much TV. This is not 21 Jump Street. And if you tryna say Ebony’s mother took her out, then what is we goin’ over there for? So we can be the next to go? I ain’t tryin’ to die. Nah. I ain’t doin’ that.”
“She is not going to take us out,” Reesie insisted.
“If she killed her own daughter, what do you think she gon’ do to you? No thank you, ma’am. If you come back, I’ll know how it worked out for you. But me? I’m goin’ in the house, where it’s safe, with Ms. Glo and my baby.”
“Well, I’ma go,” Tasha said. “I’m just not gon’ go inside to see Ebony. She can come to the door.”
“Bet. We’ll walk around the back and knock on her bedroom window,” Reesie said. “That way, if we hear or see anything suspicious, we can haul ass.”
“Why can’t you two just call her on the phone? Or better, wait and see if she comes to school?”
Reesie answered quickly. “That’s too long. Plus, I need to know if she’s dead before my brother, June Bug, makes his ABC store run. Just in case I need a small bottle of brown liquor to pour out.”
“That’s a good point,” Tasha agreed.
“Okay. Well, y’all let me know, and I’ll bring the teddy bear and the balloons. But until then, I’m tired and I’m goin’ in the house.” And I left both of their crazy behinds standin’ there.
Just say . . . Ms. Glo . . . Ugh!
It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to say to Ms. Glo, I just didn’t know how to say it.
I tossed my backpack on the floor in my room and kicked my sneakers off. Then I walked to Ms. Glo’s bedroom and leaned against the door frame.
Ms. Glo leafed through a Jet magazine, as Kamari rolled around on the foot of Ms. Glo’s bed, easy and free, full of giggles. Kamari rolled to the edge of the bed and just when it seemed she were about to fall, Ms. Glo kicked her leg out to stop Kamari from hittin’ the floor. And Kamari would do it all over again.
“That looks like fun,” I said.
“Mommy!” Kamari jumped off the bed and ran over to me, huggin’ me around my legs. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I said.
Kamari was bubbling over with excitement. “I got ice cream. Went on the swing. We sang One-Two-Three song.”
“Wow! That sounds like an amazing day!” I looked over at Ms. Glo. “Hey, Ms. Glo, how was your day?”
“Restful.” She smiled. “How was yours? You look sleepy.”
“Funny,” I chuckled, “I am sleepy. I haven’t had any sleep today. Tasha will be right back. She just went with Reesie to Ebony’s.”
“Okay. You didn’t want to go?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I wanted to come inside and see Kamari. And talk to you.”
“Talk to me about what?” She placed her magazine on the nightstand.
“I just wanted to say, umm,” I hesitated.
“You just wanted to say umm what?” she pressed.
“That, umm . . .”
“Say what’s on your mind.” She tapped the empty space on the bed next to her. “Come over here. I won’t bite. When Tasha first got here, this used to be her favorite spot.”
I crawled onto Ms. Glo’s bed and into Tasha’s favorite spot. Ms. Glo draped an arm over my shoulder, and although I felt tense, like I needed to get a grip and walk away, I felt safe. Like this was where I was supposed to be.
Kamari was back to rolling across the foot of the bed.
I said, “I just wanted to say, thank you for lookin’ out for me and Kamari.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that. That’s what I’m here for. Although I should not have lied to your caseworker. I don’t want you or Tasha to ever think that lying is okay. But at the same time, I didn’t want you to think it was you against the world.”
“I just thought because I messed up, that was it for me.”
“No, life isn’t like that. Family isn’t about throwing you away after one mistake. Mmph, and besides, I was sixteen before. And if I told you some of the things I did, you wouldn’t believe it.”
“Like what?” I smiled, not able to imagine Ms. Glo being any different than she was right now.
“Oh, baby, I used to be boy crazy. Talk back to my parents, fight, run away, until I got hungry and had to go home. And I did a few other things that you don’t need to know.” She laughed.
“Is that why you wanted to have a home like this?” I asked.
“I wanted to make a difference. My son was grown and off with his own family. And I felt like I had love I could give to other kids. Kids who needed a home.”
“Like me.” I yawned.
“Like you, Sleepy Head.” She smiled.
I lay my head on her shoulder and said, “Before I was locked up, I used to live with my grandmother. Well, she wasn’t my grandmother; she was my brothers’ and sister’s grandmother, but I called her Nana. And she was a trip. She used to let me know e’ryday that she could call the state at any time to come and get me and my baby.”
“I know that had to hurt you,” Ms. Glo said.
“It made me feel so angry. I used to be so mad at the world. Didn’t want anybody to say anything to me. Didn’t even want people lookin’ my way. I just felt trapped. Like the days, weeks, months, and seasons were passin’. But e’rything for me was still the same. Stale. Miserable. Just messed up.”
“How do you feel now?”
I stared off into space, sorted through my thoughts, smiled, and said, “I feel like mayb
e e’rybody is not all bad.” I closed my eyes, givin’ in to an overwhelming need to curl up and sleep. “Yeah,” I said, “I feel like maybe somethin’ good might come out of this after all.”
28
Rump Shaker
Saturday
From the moment I walked into College Park Roller Skating Disco, I knew it was e’rything a fly time was s’posed to be. The DJ was ill, the crowd was hyped, and the place was packed.
J. J. Fad’s “Supersonic” pumped through the speakers as me and Tasha walked over to the skate rental booth, handed the chubby dude behind the counter our tickets and collected our skates for the night.
“You ever been skating, Yvette?” Tasha asked, as we sat down on a red plastic bench and laced our skates.
“Well, not in a roller skating rink, but me and my cousin, Isis, used to skate through the hood all the time, especially when her brother paid us twenty dollars to keep an eye on his corner boys. We would happily skate through the block, on our way to the candy lady’s house, or to get some weed, or to lick off the bodega for some jelly bracelets and a Right On! magazine.”
Tasha laughed. “That sounds like the bomb time!”
“It was.” I continued. “One time, I was about eleven, maybe twelve, and these down-south boys moved in on Face and K-Rock’s—that’s Isis’s brother and his friend’s—territory. So Face and K-Rock paid me and Isis a hunn’id dollars to put on our skates, scope the block, peep where the down-south boys kept their stashes, and watch their movements.”
Tasha’s eyes opened wide. “Y’all did that?”
I smiled, feelin’ proud. “Yeah, we did that. You and me both know the streets is not a game. And you can’t just show up on the scene and take over somebody else’s block. Nah, it don’t work like that.”
“Not at all. So, don’t stop there. What happened after that? ’Cause I know somebody got their wig snatched back.”
“Yeah. Isis and her brother robbed them cats.”
“Isis? I thought y’all were the same age?”
“Yeah, we are. But that don’t mean we was ever kids. In Da Bricks, ain’t no kids. Isis knew how to pop off, how to fight, and how to bust a cap like a man.” I smiled. “Her mother and father taught her that.”
“Word?”
“Word. But after Isis and Face robbed the down-south dudes, those dudes retaliated by killin’ Isis’s li’l brother, Schooly. E’rything fell apart after that.”
“Dang. That’s messed up.” Tasha shook her head. “You miss Isis?”
I hesitated and my mind unexpectedly wandered into thoughts about the good times me and Isis once had. Then I remembered she was one of the reasons my rep was ruined. “Hell, no, I don’t miss her. Forget Isis.” I laced my skates and stood up. “There go Reesie and Ebony.” I pointed.
“Let’s go meet ’em,” Tasha said, and we skated to the center of the rink, beneath the spinning and mirrored disco ball, shoulders bouncin’ and feet movin’ to a funky beat.
“Y’all look cute,” I said to Reesie and Ebony as I stood back and snapped my fingers.
“’Cause that’s what we do.” Reesie smiled. “Y’all fly too.”
“Heyyyy! Fa’sho!” Tasha did a quick Running Man dance to show her approval.
Ebony smiled. “Y’all see how we rockin’ the same thing? And we didn’t even plan it.”
We stood back and took in each other’s outfits. We all wore oversized sweatshirts that hung off one shoulder. Mine was electric green; Tasha wore hot pink. Reesie’s was fire red; and Ebony rocked neon orange. Each of our sweatshirts was paired with white stirrup pants.
“That’s ’cause lovers of hotness think alike,” Tasha said. “Amen!” Me and Tasha slapped high five.
I said to Ebony. “It’s good to see you, homie. How are you feelin’?”
She wiped invisible sweat from her brow. “Better. I don’t know what I ate at that party, but I was down for the count. For real.”
“These two were straight buggin’. They thought . . .” I took in Reesie’s and Tasha’s don’t-say-another-word faces, and I didn’t.
“We were just worried, that’s all,” Tasha said.
“We’re glad you’re better.” Reesie danced in her skates.
“Me, too!” Ebony agreed.
“Set it off I suggest y’all!,” blasted through the speakers.
“Oh, hold up. Wait a minute. This is my jam!” Tasha said.
“Nope,” I replied, “this is all of our jam!” And we all grooved. Actually, the whole spot was lit.
Skate teams did poppin’ routines. Even a few old heads was bustin’ it out. Then there was us, whoppin’, bouncin’, break dancin’, doin’ the Runnin’ Man, the whop, splits, and even showin’ off an ole school hustle, all on skates.
I saw a few cuties checkin’ us out, and for a minute, I could’ve sworn I saw Li’l Herman in the mix.
I stopped skating and stood still enough to grab Tasha by the arm and whisper in her ear, “Did you invite Li’l Herman here?”
She frowned, then whispered back, “Heck no. What, I look desperate to you? That boy will never get another chance with me. He could be on fire and I wouldn’t even spit on him!”
I rolled my eyes ’cause I’d heard that before and knew it was a lie. “Umm-hmm. Yeah. Okay.”
“Why’d you ask me that?”
“I thought I saw him at the concession stand. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. What matters is my how tight the DJ is!”
We waved our arms in the air and returned to groovin’ around the rink. The DJ played L’Trimm’s “Cars That Go Boom.”
We danced and skated until we were all exhausted. The four of us rolled over to the concession stand. Each of us grabbed a burger, an order of fries to split, and fountain sodas that were a mix of Cherry Coke, Sprite, and orange.
“So, Ebony,” Reesie said. “What’s up with that li’l chocolate tenderoni you kicked it to at the party the other night?”
“I talked to him last night, girl!” Ebony said, givin’ Reesie a high five. “We talked until the sun came up about everything.” Her eyes scanned all of us. “I think he might be the one, y’all. I think his last name ’bout to change.”
“That’s wassup!” Tasha said, excited. Then she sipped her soda.
Reesie opened a mustard pack, squeezed it over her burger, and said, “That’s real kind of you, Tasha . . . considering.”
We all look confused. “Huh?” I asked, reachin’ for a fry. “What’s real kind? And considering what?”
Reesie took a bite of her burger, then said—with a mouth full—“It’s real kind of Tasha to be happy for Ebony.” She licked mustard from the right corner of her mouth. “Considering Li’l Herman used her like a stamp.”
Tasha was livid. “Excuse you! You always goin’ two steps too far. For your information, Li’l Herman didn’t use me! So don’t try to play me. ’Cause I know you don’t want me to tell everybody how you came to me crying ’cause you found out Jerelle was only fourteen.”
“Fourteen!” Me and Ebony screamed simultaneously.
“How’d you find that out?” Ebony asked.
Tasha answered, “When his twelve-year-old girlfriend called Reesie’s phone and told her that if she called her man one more time, she was gon’ whup her old ass!”
Reesie took another bite of her burger and said, “See, this is how rumors get started. ’Cause first of all, Tasha, you’re loud and wrong. One: I wasn’t crying. I have bad allergies. Two: Jerelle is fourteen and a half. And three: That wasn’t his girlfriend. He called and said he broke up with her. And anyway, why are you beefing with me? I’m on your side. I’m ya homegirl. So don’t try and put me on blast. That ain’t right. I would never tear the drawls off your business like that. And you know I’m the main one who would watch you jump on Li’l Herman and make sure don’t nobody else get in it. And if you want to, you really could steal on him now, especially since he’s comin’ this way.”
Tasha’s eyes bucked
like a deer caught in the headlights. “What?” She sucked in a breath, clearly tryin’ to fight off a smile. “What do you mean Li’l Herman is coming this way? He’s here?”
“I knew that was him,” I said, and just as I motioned to turn around, Tasha grabbed my arm.
“No. Don’t look. He might see you,” she said.
“So? I don’t care if he sees me.”
“I care.”
“Why?”
“’Cause I don’t want him to see me.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“’Cause we gotta look busy. I don’t need him thinking I’m moping around and missing him. ’Cause I’m not. I barely even think about that boy. He ain’t my type no way.”
I paused, ’cause obviously this chick forgot that we lived together, and just last night I’d listened to her, for half of the night, whine about how she really liked him, how he was almost her man of the week, and how she didn’t know if she’d ever look at homeroom the same. I guess all of that slipped her mind.
“So what do you suggest?” I said. “When he comes over here, we should act, what, ’sleep?”
Reesie snapped her fingers. “That’s a bomb idea. We could do that.”
“We gon’ act asleep in the skatin’ rink?” I twisted my lips. “With all this noise and loud music? Seriously? Be for real.”
“Let’s just act like he doesn’t exist,” Ebony said.
“Better idea.” I gave Ebony a high five.
We all turned around and resumed eating our food and talkin’ about Ebony’s new boo, Black Conscious.
Li’l Herman walked over to our table, then took his fist and knocked on the edge. “Hey, wassup?” he asked.
Not one response. Screw him.
“Hey y’all,” Li’l Herman said.
Nothing.
“That’s real foul, yo,” Li’l Herman said with an attitude. “I can’t believe this. After I got all four of y’all into the concert and took you to the after-party.”