by Renee, Mimi
After a shower, Bright told her sisters and brother to stay inside and play the Xbox until she got back, and that she would bring their favorite treats backs from the liquor store.
“Can we eat dinner if you’re not back by five?” Deja, the next oldest in line, asked.
“Yeah, and make sure they don't get in any trouble too, Deja. You’re the next oldest, so I'm depending on you to have my back and watch theirs,” she told Deja, and then passed her a ten dollar bill.
“I'm on it, big sis!” Deja, smiled, assuring Bright.
“I'm depending on you, Deja. I'ma make a quick run with Larry, then we'll be outside sitting in his car, so don't y'all try to pull off no slick stuff, either,” Bright said, walking out the door.
Sitting in Larry's freshly painted Mustang after grabbing strawberry-banana smoothies from Jamba Juice, Larry and Bright were caught up sharing a juicy tongue kiss when Bright noticed Terrence rolling up her street. She hadn't seen or called him in a couple of days, so she was sure he was looking for her. Fuck, Bright thought, this nigga can't be popping up on me like this, I should have asked him to buy me a fucking cell phone to avoid all of this. Feeling as if she was about to piss on herself, Bright dropped down in her seat and yelled for Larry to go. She was hoping and praying that Terrence hadn't seen her.
Larry sped off then yelled, “Why the fuck am I speeding off for, and why are you hiding, Bright?” Larry kept an eye on his rearview mirror and on his surroundings. “What the fuck is goin on, Bright?” he asked,
growing frustrated.
After thinking up a quick lie Bright blurted out, “My Uncle just drove up the street, Larry, and if he sees me with a guy, he gone be tripping big time,” she said nervously as she peeked over her seat to see if Terrence was following them. The last thing she wanted was for Terrence to bust her out and put her on blast. If Larry found out what she was up to, she knew she would lose him for good. “Is he coming this way? Did he see us, Larry?” Bright asked.
“Who dude in the Escalade on them twenty six inch rims?”
Larry asked her.
“Yeah him, is he following us?” she quickly asked.
“Naw, he kept going straight. Now get up, Bright,” Larry said, giving her a ridiculous look. “You got me thinking we about to get sprayed or something.” Larry paused for a second to figure out what direction he was going to turn, then he turned right on Butler street. “If that's yo Uncle, Bright, why didn't he park and go inside instead of just driving by?” he asked suspiciously.
“I have no idea why he didn't stop, Larry, I thought maybe he seen us,” Bright said, making sure Terrence was clear out of sight. “But it’s not unusual for my uncle to check on us while my mother’s at work, he does it all the time,” Bright said getting back into her comfort zone.
“I can understand your uncle's position, Bright, fly ass niece like ya self, he probably wants to make sure dudes ain't just all over you,” Larry laughed. “But me and Unc gone have to meet, moms like me, so I'm sure she'll put a good word in for me. I'm a reputable kind of guy,” Larry teased.
“You don't know my uncle, Larry, he's crazy! He still gives my mother a hard time about dating, and he definitely doesn't want me seeing any guys right now,” Bright said convincingly, nodding her head. “He just wants me to focus on school and worry about boys later.”
“Well, after we get married it's gone be all good, I'll be part of the family...you know what I mean?” Larry said proudly,“Yes baby, just me, you, and our babies,” she fantasized. “But until then, we're gonna have to be careful, because that fool rolls around with a pistol,” Bright said, hoping to pump fear in Larry's heart.
Uncomfortable with the idea of going back to her house and chancing another run-in with Terrence, Bright talked Larry into going to his house, since his mother wasn't scheduled to get home until nine p.m. inside; they fooled around and made love for hours. When they finally came up for air, it was close to five p.m. “You want something to eat?” Larry asked. “I could make us some burgers or something,” he said after he stepped out the bathroom, drying his hands off on a paper towel.
“No,” Bright moaned. “I just wanna lie in your arms for a little while longer and look in your eyes,” Bright said, wanting to feel the comfort of being in Larry's arms again. When she was in his arms, she felt whole and complete.
“Larry laughed, “That’s funny, I was just thinking of doing the same thing.” Larry swept Bright off of her feet, then laid her back in his bed, and held her tight in his arms. Bright was his boo, and he had very strong feelings for her.
“I love you so much, Larry Lane,” Bright said, looking deep into his eyes.
“And I love you too, Bright Lane,” Larry replied. Then, after a passionate kiss, the two got lost in deep conversation.
********** “Deja, go inside the house with that knife now!” Treasure yelled, trying to contain the situation that had arisen between Deja, Ryonna, and a group of girls that were trying to jump on Ryonna.
“Those bitches gotta a problem with my sister, then they got a problem with me!” Deja yelled, holding her knife in stabbing position. She wasn't gonna stand for anybody thinking they were going to punk or jump on her little sister. And just like she told the group of rowdy fifth graders before one of the other neighborhood kids ran over to get Treasure for help, if they touched her sister, she was gonna get to slicing and dicing, and she meant it.
By the time Treasure and Suge made it around the corner, the little girls’ parents and older family members had already made their way over to the scene. Seeing Deja with a knife in her hand caused an eruption from the parents who felt their children's lives were being threatened. The chaos and loud noise that were taking place was loud enough to wake up the dead, and even with Treasure and Suge on the scene, the problem still seemed to grow bigger and bigger.
“That little bitch better be lucky that she didn't use that knife on my baby!” An angry parent yelled, pointing and yelling at Deja, causing an uproar from the other parents.
“I wish she would have used that muthafucking knife!”
Another chimed in.
Deja had tears in her eyes. She was so mad that she wanted to fight, stab, and swing at the next person that yelled at her. “If that little bitch would have touched my sister, I would have sliced her ass up, so she better be lucky!” Deja yelled back to the lady that called her out of her name. How dare that grown lady call me, another woman's child and a little girl, a bitch? She thought, growing angrier and angrier.
“Take Deja in the house, Suge!” Treasure yelled, trying to calm the situation down. Once she had seen Suge take the knife and grab Deja up, she directed her attention to the angry mob of people in front of her. “Why would you call a kid out of her name? That was so fucking immature!” Treasure began to yell in the direction of the woman that called Deja a bitch. “Yo grown ass out here going hard on a little kid like y'all wouldn't have done the same if y'all were in the same position. All five of these little girls were trying to jump on one little girl and her big sister came out trying to defend her. She wasn't gonna stab anybody, she was just tryna scare them off of her sister!”
“These kids’ mama ain't never here, and they little bad asses always out here getting into shit, cussing and disrespecting adults, especially them damn boys. So I'll call the little bitch what I want, especially if she even thought she was gone stab my child!” The woman yelled with an attitude, popping her neck and stepping into Treasure's direction.
“Lady, don't come get up in my face, cause I don't mind fighting adults, and sending they asses to jail either. So to avoid all this extra shit, get y'all kids, and I'ma get mines. And if y'all have a problem, come holler at they mama and my auntie Rose in the morning!” Treasure snapped back with attitude. Before long, Treasure and the lady were face to face yelling and arguing when Bright and Larry pulled up.
“What the fuck is going on?” Bright yelled, breaking through the crowd with Larry on her heels. Sh
e had received a call at Larry’s house from her mother, yelling and screaming at her for leaving her sisters and brothers unattended.
“Your fucking sisters and brothers are the problem!” The lady yelled, then pushed Bright out of her face and onto the ground. Bright falling on the ground sparked off the forceful blow that Treasure took to the lady’s face.
“Bitch, no you didn't!” She yelled, igniting a block fight. Larry helped Bright off the ground and without saying another word, she begin to swing in the direction of the angry crowd that was attacking and trying to take Treasure down. Seeing this, Suge, Deja, and Ryonna ran down the stairs to aid them. Suge fought her way through the crowd to help her friends while Larry tried to break the fight up and pull Bright off of another girl. Deja grabbed the water hose and begin whipping it at the crowd to get them off of her sister and friends. When Cordell and Ramon ran up and saw Deja whipping the crowd with the water hose and Ryonna fighting two girls, they instantly jumped into the fight to help.
“What the hell is going on?” Rosette said, climbing quickly out of her beat up 1995 Honda Accord. The sound of the police sirens began to break up the fight and made the adults who had children snap back into reality and grab their kids.
Rosette grabbed hold of Deja, who was now swinging the water hose on a group of little girls who were jumping on Ryonna. One of the little girls was beaten pretty badly and had blood all over her face from the lashings that Deja had given her.
“Oh Lord, what have you done, Deja!” Rosette said, going to the aid of the wounded little girl on the ground.
“They was tryna jump on Ryonna, Mama, and like you told us, if one fight, we all fight!” Deja said, not feeling any remorse for the little girl.
The girl’s cousin, catching a glimpse of her little battered cousin, ran over to check up on her. “Is my cousin okay?” she asked, falling to her knees with Rosette.
“Call the paramedics, somebody, this little girl is hurt!” Rosette yelled, holding the little girl in her arms. “Cordell, Ramon, Deja, and Ryonna get yawls tails in the house right now!!!” Rosette ordered with so much authority that the whole scene had quieted down. Once the police got there, they begin arresting everyone on the scene that was involved in the fight. Children and adults were thrown into the back of squad cars and taken to jail, all beside Rosette and Larry, who had both been trying to break the fight up.
Inside the house, Rosette called her job to explain the urgency of her leaving, and was fired for insubordination. She had left one of the elder residents in bed at the convalescent home that she worked at without the railing pulled up, resulting in him falling out of bed and later being sent to the emergency room for treatment. Disappointed, Rosette hung up the phone, held her tears back, then left her apartment to check on her children.
Later that night, all of the juveniles were released from juvenile detention except for Deja. The adults that were involved in the fight were all awaiting their court dates. Deja had beaten the little girl so badly that assault and battery charges were pressed against her. Deja had broken the little girl’s nose, cracked three teeth, and had opened flesh wounds all over her head that had to be stitched up. The girl was in poor shape.
Bright, Treasure, and Suge were released the same night, and sadly, the minute Suge made it home, her mom beat her so badly that she would need weeks to heal. Treasure's mother Jackie was very upset at first, but she felt it was necessary for her daughter to help her friend and family in such a situation. She warned them both to turn the other cheek in the future. Rosette, on the other hand, was very upset with Bright for leaving her children unattended, causing her to lose her job, and more so because Deja was still in juvenile detention. She restricted Bright's phone usage and limited the time she spent with Larry. But Rosette knew once she found herself another job that Bright's punishment would go right down the drain.
Part Five
R
osette had been off from work for over two weeks and because of it, both the landline and cable had been turned off. Not able to tolerate it any longer,
Bright called Terrence to break her off. “Hey boo, come through and drop me off some money, my cable and home phone is off, that’s why I haven't been able to call you,” she said, standing on the corner of Long Beach Blvd. and Artesia, using the pay phone.
“No ‘hi, hello, how you doing’ or nothing, just give you some money, huh?” Terrence said back into the phone.
“I'm sorry baby, I just been stressed out,” Bright sighed. “My little sister is still in juvenile, my mom lost her job behind it, and I don't have a phone to call you or any cable to watch.”
“Yeah I see you been goin’ through it, baby,” Terrence said, happy to hear her voice. It had been almost a week since they last spoke, and over three weeks since he last hit it. But since she had a good reason for not calling him, he decided to go easy on her and not curse her out like he had planned on doing. “Give me about twenty minutes, and meet me by the elementary school, I'm leaving the eastside of Long Beach right now.”
“Cool,” Bright said, then hung up the pay phone. After grabbing sodas from the donut shop, Bright walked across the street with Treasure to Starr King Elementary School to wait on Terrence.
“I can remember my elementary school days at Starr King like it was just yesterday,” Treasure said, reminiscing.
“Fuck Starr King, it was all about Clara Barton Elementary!” Bright said, laughing. “Now them use to be the days when we lived in the Carmelitos!” Bright said, “I remember it used to be a gang of fine ass little boys up in there back in the day.” The Carmelitos was a known housing project in North Long Beach that Bright and her family used to live in during her elementary school years.
“Whatever , but it was my Starr King ass that saved yours when ya yellow ass got transferred to Hamilton Junior High School!” Treasure hissed.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Bright teased. “That’s crazy how you came to my rescue that day in the locker room. Maria and them were gonna jump me. You was like ‘ain't none of y'all gone jump her, let the new girl catch a fair one,” Bright remembered.
“Yelp, cause they only wanted to jump you 'cause you were new, pretty, and the talk of the school - straight hating!” Treasure said.
“Man, I was so happy to see you step up for me too,” Bright said, remembering the day clearly. “But you see it wasn't no punk in me either, cause I was about to fight every last one of them females by myself. Even though they were gone probably beat my ass!” Bright laughed.
“I wasn't gone let 'em though,” Treasure said, “cause they tried to pull that same bullshit on me in sixth grade. And trust when my mother called my auntie from Compton, her and all her bad ass kids came and turned that school upside down! And I ain't never had no more problems out of them haters since,” Treasure laughed.
“Ain't no cute scary females over here!” Bright said. “Real talk!” Treasure added.
“Heyyyy Sexy Bright and company!” Terrence
yelled out of the window of his Escalade as he hit the corner.
Bright smiled and begin posing like a supermodel.
Treasure laughed. “Will y'all knock that shit off,” she said, shaking her head at Bright as she proceeded to act like America's Next Top Model.
“That’s my baby right there,” Terrence said as he sat back in his truck, smiling, watching Bright work her fancy.
“Hey, daddy,” Bright said upon climbing in the passenger seat to kiss Terrence's lips. “You gone take me to get a phone today, Ice?” Bright said, holding up to her end of the bargain by calling him by his street name in the presence of others.
“You know I'll do anything for my baby-boo,” Terrence said as he started his truck back up. After Bright told Treasure to get inside, they made their way to a local Cingular wireless store to get Bright a phone. Grabbing one of the hottest phones on the market, Bright walked out of the store with a brand new Razor cell phone. Once they got to Treasure's house, Treasure climbed out
and Bright headed to the motel with Terrence to break him off before he dropped her back off.
“Why don't we ever go to your house, Terrence?” Bright asked, wondering why they always ended up at sleazy motels to fuck. She had never stepped foot in his house.
“Cause I'm always out in the city grinding, and ain't no use in taking you to my house way in the valley just to turn back around to take you home.”
“I guess,” Bright replied, then Terrence climbed out of his truck to go pay for a room.
Inside the room, Bright worked Terrence a few times before she hopped in the shower. When she got out of the shower, she heard a loud commotion going on outside. “Terrence, what’s goin’ on out there, daddy?” she asked as she threw her clothes back on. When she didn't get a reply, she stepped out the bathroom and called Terrence’s name again. He was good for falling asleep after some good sex.
“What the fuck,” Bright said out loud to herself. “Where the hell is Terrence at?” Once Bright was fully dressed, she grabbed her cell phone and called Terrence, then she looked out the motel window to see what was going on. Catching a part of the action, Bright’s mouth flew wide open as she watched a madwoman swing a bat repeatedly at Terrence truck, while she yelled and screamed at the top of her lungs at him. She was a sickly looking woman that stood about five feet seven inches tall; she was dark-complexioned, with what appeared to be a long, jet black wig, and had a skinny frame. Bright thought, Damn, is Terrence out here turning bitches out on dope or something? First Netta, now this bitch outside...what the fuck? I popped an E pill with him a few times, but I'ma need to start watching what this nigga be putting in the weed before I be next.
“Tell me what room you got this little bitch hiding in right now, Terrence, or I'm taking all these windows out!” She demanded in a loud squeaky voice. “Does the bitch know you’re a fucking married man!” she yelled in his face.