Around the Way Girls 8

by Tina Brooks McKinney

  The first thing I’m gonna buy is a car and some decent clothes, I thought as I removed the shirt and jeans that covered the bathing suit I’d swiped from my cousin. As I rolled my clothing up, I knew there was a good chance I would be thrown out of the club on my ass. So I had one chance to make a good impression, a bold one, one that could not be denied. I wore the stilettos my mom had worn the night before she died. I’d smuggled them from the house before the feds forced me out. Leaving my clothing in the stall, I stepped close to the mirror to admire my appearance.

  “Not bad.” But it wasn’t edgy enough. I could not afford to be turned away. I needed money bad and I was sure this was where I needed to be to make it. I untied the string from my neck, freeing the twins. If my double D’s didn’t grab the attention I needed, I was barking up the wrong tree. I tossed the top into my bag and used my hair to conceal my boobs.

  “Perfect.” I turned from the mirror and sashayed my sexy ass out the bathroom. Inside I was shaking, but on the outside where it counted, I was one bad bitch. My alter ego, Queen Deep, took over and sauntered to the center of the stage.

  Queen Deep looked down on the men seated at her feet who stopped moving as if frozen, drinks held midair. She smiled. Four white males gaped at her, tongues practically hanging out their mouths, and she hadn’t moved a muscle. She scanned the room, looking for the manager of the club. Impressing the men gathered at the bar was important, but without the approval of management it would all be a waste of time.

  Queen Deep bent over, eye level with the patrons, and licked her lips. Her hair brushed the stage, the twins saluted. The man directly in front of her dropped his beer. The glass bounced off the bar and landed on the floor.

  “What the fuck—” A red-faced man stumbled into the room, adjusting his pants.

  “Shut up,” the gentleman whose glass hit the floor commanded.

  The sound of her butt cheeks clapping overshadowed the country music playing in the background. She knew she had their undivided attention.

  She stood up, whipped her hair over her shoulders and turned slightly, allowing the gentlemen a side view. She snapped her fingers and the DJ started playing a sultry beat she didn’t recognize.

  A fifty-dollar bill floated to the floor. Queen Deep bent over backward, her toned legs held high in the air, her boobs dangerously close—she puckered her ruby red lips—lowering her legs one at a time, she flipped over. Licking her lips, she turned, facing the room and executed a perfect split. She posed with her legs wide open, a tiny strip of material covering her clit as the bills continued to litter the floor. In less than five minutes, Queen Deep became the first black dancer for Club Cheetah.

  I counted my money during the cab ride home. Reshunda and I were going to the mall so I needed to get home to change.

  “She’d better not bring that bitch Valencia with her.”

  “Excuse me?” The cabdriver asked. He’d been eyeing me ever since he picked me up from the club. Dream on, motherfucker. I chuckled.

  “Just talking to myself.” I stuffed my money deep in my purse. I didn’t like Valencia, and she made it clear the feeling was mutual. Unfortunately, due to circumstances that had nothing to do with us, we were forced to tolerate each other. The cabdriver stopped a block away from the apartment building just as I instructed him to do.

  “Can you come back, say around ten o’clock, and pick me up?” I could’ve asked Reshunda for a ride but I didn’t want her to know about the club just yet or about what Queen Deep did there.

  “Uh . . .”

  I slipped a fifty-dollar bill into the tiny slot that separated us. “Well?” I opened the door, my impatience written all over my face. I could not stand indecisive people. Either you do or you don’t, you will or you won’t, plain and simple.

  “Yeah, I’ll be here.” I slammed the door, walking away from the cab without looking back. He almost sounded like he was doing me a favor even though I tipped his ass fifty dollars. This confirmed my decision to make purchasing a car my first order of business.

  “Asshole,” I mumbled. I was already counting the money Queen Deep and I would make.

  “You ballin’ out of control, ain’t you? Where’d you get money?” Reshunda inquired. She’d been acting funny ever since we got to the mall.

  “This cheap shit? You should have seen me shop when I had some real money. This is some change I got from one of the corner dudes trying to get up in my stuff.”

  “You fucked him?” She spit the soda she was drinking out of her mouth. Droplets clung to her chin as she tried to wipe away the mess.

  “Hell no. Girl, there are more ways to get money from men than fucking them. Didn’t your mother ever teach you that?” I was surprised at how backwoods and naive my cousin appeared.

  “No, I guess she never got around to it.” From the hurt look on her face, I could tell I’d bruised her little ego. I realized that at times I sounded a lot more harsh than I meant to be, but what could I say, it was the New Yorker in me. I was going to have to work on that, especially when I was dealing with Reshunda. Up north, we don’t waste words; we said what we meant and keep it moving.

  “Reshunda, I’m sorry. That didn’t come out the way I intended.”

  “Oh, it’s okay. You didn’t offend me.” She turned away as if something had suddenly caught her attention, but I saw the wetness in her eyes. She wasn’t a bad kid, just a little slow when it came to ways of the world.

  “Hey, do you like this?” I held up a cute yellow halter I’d been eyeing, but I was willing to get it for her as a peace offering.

  “It’s cute,” she sniffed. I grabbed two pair of shorts and another top and pushed her off into the dressing room.

  “Here, go try these on.” Her face lit up like a neon sign and her frown completely went away. As she disappeared from view, I realized that I didn’t need to teach her shit about how to get money ’cause she worked the hell out of me to the tune of sixty bucks without even trying. I laughed. “Humph, my cuz may have some potential after all.”

  Chapter Four

  VALENCIA ROBERTS

  “Reshunda, wait up.” She was practically running down the hallway. If she heard me calling her, she didn’t acknowledge it. We hadn’t spoken in a while and this was the first time I’d seen her in over two weeks. I had called her several times and left messages, but she never returned my calls.

  “What the hell is this heifer’s problem?” I walked to class trying to figure out what, if anything, I’d done to warrant the silent treatment from Reshunda. We’d been friends for over seven years but we never stopped speaking to each other even when we were arguing. My mind kept recalling the last time we’d seen each other and it just wasn’t making sense to me. The last time I talked to her, she asked me to go shopping with her and her cousin. I said no but that shouldn’t have surprised her, since she knew how her cousin felt about me. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to hang out with her. Why would she wait one week before graduation to pull some shit like this? I knew the answer; it was right in front of my face. Ebony. There was no other explanation.

  Reshunda and I had an appointment in the counselor’s office to confirm our choices for college. Our plan was to attend the same school and possibly share a dorm room. We should have done this during the first couple months of the school year, but with all that had been going on, neither of us had gotten around to it and now we were running out of time. I waited for Reshunda for a few more minutes before I decided to meet with the counselor alone. Reshunda wasn’t as passionate about school as I was. She did okay in school but had to constantly be reminded to do her homework.

  For me, going to school was the only means I could think of to escape the life I was living. However, in order to go, I would need financial assistance because Gerry, my stepfather, had made it clear on many drunken occasions that his only obligation to me was to provide a roof over my head until I graduated from high school. After that, I was on my own.

  I rapped on th
e glass pane of the counselor’s door.

  She was seated at her desk and looked up when I knocked before she waved me in. “Valencia, come on in. It’s good to see you.”

  Bad memories assaulted me as I closed the door. The last time I’d been in Mrs. Wells’s office it was to find out that my mother had been arrested. It was all over the news and she wanted to make sure I was going to be okay. I hated that my life was put on front street, and I was looking forward to starting over at a new school in another city, where people didn’t know my name or my family history.

  “Hi, Mrs. Wells.” I took a seat, pulling out the paperwork I had been given in the beginning of the school year.

  “Where is your partner in crime? I thought she was coming with you,” Mrs. Wells said, laughing, as she came around her desk.

  “I don’t know, she was supposed to be here.” I didn’t know what else to say. Even though I didn’t understand what was going on with my friend, I wasn’t about to say it to Mrs. Wells. That would be like talking behind Reshunda’s back, and it was something we swore we would never do to each other.

  “Wait right here, I need to get your file.” She stepped out, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Reshunda weighed heavily on my mind, but I realized she was going to have to decide for herself if she was going to continue going to school. I could browbeat her into signing up, but if her mind wasn’t in it, it would be a big waste of time and money. Leaving her would be hard, but it was time I started putting myself first.

  “Well, I’m glad you made it. Let me see what you’ve brought me.” She held out her hands and I passed my paperwork to her. Using my file and the papers I supplied, she started typing on the computer. It made me nervous thinking about what she could possibly be typing as her fingers flew over the keyboard. Her head was bowed so I couldn’t read her facial expression, or her computer monitor.

  It didn’t take long before I had her attention again. I didn’t realize I’d started to sweat until a droplet dripped into my eye, startling me. Mrs. Wells handed me a tissue, her face severe, which didn’t make me feel any better. I felt like I was in the principal’s office instead of my counselor’s.

  “It is warm in here.” She picked up my folder and used it to fan herself while she waited for her printer to stop.

  I nodded my head in agreement.

  She grabbed the papers from the printer and reviewed them. Apparently satisfied, she pushed them toward me. “Valencia, your grade-point average is great and under normal circumstances, you would’ve been eligible for several scholarships and grants.”

  The only words I heard were normal circumstances—everything else was grayed out.

  “Normal circumstances? What does that mean?”

  She cleared her throat and started talking to me as if I rode the short, yellow school bus on the regular.

  “Each year, every college is allotted a certain amount of money for scholarships. My job as your counselor is to help you apply for those scholarships and to find any grant money that may be used to supplement those funds. However, those funds are limited. This is why we asked each of you students to fill out your paperwork early. We should have started planning for your future last year. If a plan was in place, it would have been simple to narrow down which paperwork needed to be filed. Now, since it’s the end of your senior year, there aren’t any scholarships left. There may be a few grants, but most of them are for colleges here in Atlanta and you indicated that you want to attend college out of state .”

  She didn’t need to say anything else. My hopes and dreams were evaporating right in front of my eyes. I used the tissue she’d given me to wipe my eyes so I could see the paperwork. The words were blurred and I couldn’t read it.

  “I tried to get here sooner, Mrs. Wells—”

  “Honey, don’t cry, it’s not the end of the world. There may be other options.”

  “Options? What options?” I clung to her words like a life vest thrown from a sinking ship.

  “Well, your parents can cosign with you for a student loan.”

  I used to think Mrs. Wells was very bright, but obviously the bitch spent her spare time smoking crack. Rage the likes of which I hadn’t felt in months surged through my body. I wanted to reach across the desk and smack the shit out of her. I took a few seconds to compose myself. I shouldn’t have had to remind her of the circumstances that prevented me from coming to see her earlier. I was certain every stinking detail was listed in my file and the bitch hadn’t bothered to read it.

  I tried to hide my anger when I spoke. “Are you fucking kidding? Don’t you remember calling me to your office to inform me my mother had been arrested?”

  She started shaking her head with an uncomfortable look on her face.

  “No? Seriously, is that what you’re trying to say to me?” I stood up placing my hands on her desk, eye level with her. I wanted her to really see the words coming out of my mouth. Her face had turned a brilliant shade of red but I didn’t give a fuck.

  “Well, I’m sure you remember calling security to remove my stepfather from your office when he showed up to get me, pissy drunk with his dick hanging out his pants? How ’bout when he peed in your trash can. Does that jog your memory?” I was screaming at that point.

  “Valencia, please sit down. There’s no need to raise your voice!” Her lips were tight, her pupils dilated. I was ready to snatch the bitch and catch a case just like my mother.

  “Then do your damn job and help me. I’m sorry I didn’t meet your deadline but I had some other shit on my mind.” I sat back down, but a visual of the worst day of my life kept replaying in my head. I assumed Mrs. Wells would’ve called security, but to my surprise she kept shuffling papers around on her desk as if my outburst hadn’t happened at all.

  “Let me see what I can do. Can you come back tomorrow at the same time? I should have some answers for you then.” Closing my file, she stood up.

  I continued to stare her down as I walked backward out of her office. She wouldn’t forget me again.

  “Long time no hear, bitch,” I said as Reshunda came out of her English class. She jumped at the sound of my voice. I stepped in front of her and boxed her in. I was still hyped up from my encounter with Mrs. Wells, so it wasn’t a good time to mess with me.

  “You scared me.” She looked around anxiously.

  “Are you looking for someone?” I didn’t like the vibe she was giving me, and I wasn’t in the mood for any more bullshit.

  “Yeah, you know Caleb, don’t you? Well, he said he would walk me to my next class.”

  I wanted to believe her but something was not right. She was off somehow and I could not put my finger on it.

  “Oh, really . . .” I turned my head and scanned the almost empty hallway. I decided to ditch the rest of my classes and I was hoping to get Reshunda to go with me, but she appeared uncomfortable as hell just standing near me.

  “Yeah. Don’t you remember I told you he was cute?” I followed her eyes, hoping to see Caleb headed in our direction. I didn’t want to catch Reshunda in a lie, especially about some unnecessary dumb shit.

  “What happened to you at the counselor’s office?” I was angry.

  “Huh?” She wouldn’t look at me. She glanced at her watch.

  “We were supposed to meet Mrs. Wells at eleven.”

  “Damn, I forgot. Uh . . . I need to get to class.” She started walking around me, suddenly very interested in school.

  “Fuck class. Let’s get out of here. I really need to speak to you.”

  “What?”

  I’d seen the look in her eyes before. She looked trapped. “All right then, I’m out.” I wasn’t about to beg the bitch to go with me. I didn’t know what the fuck her problem was, but I was not sticking around to find out. I really wanted to talk to her about what happened in Mrs. Wells’s office, but she hurt my feelings.

  “Valencia, wait.”

  I wanted to keep walking but I didn’t know how to turn my back on my friend.r />
  “What?” I demanded, with my hands on my hips.

  “Fool, stop trippin’. Let’s get out of here.” She smiled and grabbed my arm. Her sudden change in attitude made me suspicious and it did not mix well with my precariously emotional state.

  Chapter Five

  RESHUNDA WYLDE

  Valencia and I went to the McDonald’s closest to our apartment. I didn’t want to talk to her at school just in case our conversation got loud. I’d been meaning to call her over the past few weeks, but something always seemed to get in the way. We weren’t talking on the way and that in itself was unusual, but I didn’t know what to say and Valencia had this sullen look on her face. I kept trying to think of something to say but my mind remained blank.

  “So what’s up?” I asked when we got our food and sat down. I tried to front like everything was one hundred between us, but failed miserably.

  “You tell me. You’re the one acting all shady.” She picked at her fries. Valencia was starting to get on my nerves. She acted like we were lovers instead of friends.

  “Shady? How am I acting shady?”

  “For one, you don’t call anymore.”

  “Damn! I’ve been busy and shit.”

  “Busy, doing what?” She stuck another fry into her mouth, her eyes piercing mine with their intensity.

  “School shit, what else. Wasn’t it you who told me I needed to knuckle down? That’s what I’ve been doing.” I stretched the truth but I prayed she wouldn’t see through my bullshit.

  “Is that so? Then why didn’t you meet me at Mrs. Wells’s office for our eleven o’clock appointment?”