by Silhouettes
I reached for the mop, keeping my pants down to my ankles. By all means, I wasn’t ashamed of what I had, and I was glad that Ms. Macklin had caught us in action. She was on me like white on rice, and I’d have bet any amount of money that she’d seen Monesha and me go into the closet. I handed her the mop and assured her that once we got our clothes together, we would meet her by the front doors.
“Hurry,” she snapped, then closed the door.
I locked it and turned back to Monesha. “Bend that ass back over, ma. I ain’t finished with you yet.”
“But we gon’ get in trouble,” she whispered. “She told us to hurry up.”
“We already in trouble. And I am going to hurry, once you turn around.”
Monesha laughed and returned to her position. Ten minutes later, we left the closet. Ms. Macklin was standing by the front doors, gazing outside with no smile on her face. We walked up to her, hand in hand.
“I want the two of you out of here, right now. Jamal, I will be speaking to your mother on Monday, and Mr. King will, indeed, know about this. How dare you disrespect our school like this? And you, young lady, should be ashamed of yourself. What school do you attend?”
I could tell Monesha was scared, so I spoke up. “She don’t go to school. She dropped out.”
“That figures. But you are not welcome back into this school. Have a good night, and, Jamal, we will speak again on Monday.”
She opened the door for us to leave, and that basically wrapped up my night. I drove Monesha home, left the stolen car on the highway, and walked back to Mama’s car. I couldn’t wait to see what Monday was going to bring. If Mama was going to be brought into the picture, another embarrassing moment was about to come.
Chapter 5
When Monday rolled around, my head was spinning from all of the drama in Mr. King’s office. I couldn’t believe Mama had even shown up, and she had the nerve to bring Raylo with her. She snapped at everything Mr. King said, and Raylo sat there, trying to portray a good father figure. I sat in my chair and didn’t say nothing. Mr. King was waiting for Ms. Macklin to enter, and when she came into his office, she closed the door behind her. Mr. King told her to take a seat, and asked her to explain to Mama what she had witnessed.
“Ms. Perkins, I found Jamal in a very inappropriate situation at the homecoming dance. I asked him and his date to leave. Some of the things that he’s been doing in and out of school are dangerous. Are you aware—”
Mama quickly cut her off. “Look, I know my child better than anyone. Mr. King told me that you caught him in a closet havin’ sex with a girl. I don’t understand what the big fuss is about. Y’all sittin up here like y’all ain’t never done nothin’ of the sort in high school. I know Jamal be havin’ sex, and as long as it ain’t with no boys, I really couldn’t care less.”
Ms. Macklin looked shocked at my mama’s comment. She crossed her legs, and Raylo squinted to take a peek.
Mama cocked her head back and turned to Raylo. “I know you ain’t up in here checkin’ out another woman while in my presence. You have some damn nerve.”
Raylo didn’t like her tone, and I knew this was about to get ugly. “Watch your mouth, woman. Look like I know her from somewhere and I was just lookin’.” He turned back to Ms. Macklin. “And what was it that you were sayin’?”
She swallowed and continued. “All I’m saying is that I think Jamal needs to see a counselor. There are some things—”
Mama cut her off again. “Woman, please. I guess next you’re going to be telling me that he needs some Ritalin, too. Jamal doesn’t need a counselor. All he may have ever needed was a strong foot in his ass, but I chose not to put my hands on my child. He ain’t seeing no counselor, lady, and if you think that something is wrong with him because he likes to have sex in odd places, then I pity you. You must have one boring-ass life. Not you or no one else at this school is going to change a damn thing about my family. Understood?”
Ms. Macklin stood up. She looked at Mr. King and him only. “Do as you wish. I’m done with this. This explains many of my unanswered questions.”
She left Mr. King’s office, and Mama threw her hand back at her. Raylo checked out her backside, still insisting that he knew her from somewhere.
“If there will be nothin’ else,” Mama said to Mr. King, “we’re leavin’. Tell me what happens to my son, and if you don’t want him at this school just for having an overactive dick, then so be it.”
Mr. King cleared the mucus from his throat. “There’s so much more to it than just that, Ms. Perkins. You don’t understand how serious this matter is. Jamal will be suspended for ten days, and during that time I do not want him on school premises. He is not allowed to play in any football games. He can check his homework online. If he doesn’t have a computer at home, then I suggest he go to the library.”
Mama tucked her purse underneath her arm and pursed her lips. “And this school is supposed to be helpin’ kids. Tuh, right. I saw two girls pregnant when I came up in here, and these hoes around here be ringing my phone twenty-four seven. You need to be in here talkin’ to their parents because these fast-tail girls are the ones around here givin’ it up. My son is just takin’ what’s bein’ offered to him, and if you think he is the only problem up in here, then you’re dumber than I thought. The problems with this school are much bigger than him, and I hope like hell that you at least see that.”
Mr. King sat silently, and we all left together. The next ten days of my life would be pure, deep hell. I would choose going to school any day over being at home with Raylo and Mama. I surely had to keep myself busy, or, if not, find something I could get into on the streets.
Actually, the next several days at home weren’t too bad. I couldn’t go to practice, but the coach hadn’t kicked me off the team. I guess he needed me more than he’d thought. Either way, I stayed out of Raylo’s way, and he stayed out of mine. Romeo didn’t go to school either, and we were in my room sitting on the floor while playing video games almost all day. I was tearing him up in a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Of course, I was Ali.
“You be cheatin’,” Romeo said, dropping the controller on the floor. “Why I can’t ever win?”
“’Cause you weak, nigga, that’s why.”
“Nah. I can’t win ’cause you proficient at this shit. That’s all you do at night is play these games, stay up on that phone, and talk yo’ shit on Facebook. When’s the last time you talked to Nadine?”
“She called me a few times, but I keep playin’ her off. I don’t like how she did me that day, and then to go to school and tell Ms. Macklin that I beat her ass.”
“You did, didn’t you?” he laughed.
I pushed Romeo’s arm and stood up. “Hell, yeah. She shouldn’t have come at me with no damn bat. If I didn’t do that shit, these fools around here would think I’m soft. I can’t let nobody think no shit like that, ’cause that fa’sho ain’t how it is.”
“I ain’t mad at ya. You know I would have done the same thing. I asked if you spoke to her because she been runnin’ around tellin’ people she knocked up by you.”
I threw my hand back. “I’ve heard it all before. Monesha asked me the same thing, and, like I told her, Nadine’s baby belongs to one of them white boys. Nadine was fuckin’ around with him too. Ain’t no way in hell she gon’ put no baby off on me.”
“You know that’s how they do it. You should have expected her to try some shit like that. She, of all people, was anxious to go around claimin’ a baby by the almighty Prince.”
We laughed again. I sat on my bed, lit a joint, and turned up the music. I took two hits from the joint, then passed it to Romeo.
“When’s the last time you talked to that fly-ass Monesha? Man, she looked good enough to eat at the homecomin’ dance. I would have tackled that ass in a closet too. My date, however, wasn’t ’bout nothin’. We did our business in the car and I haven’t spoken to her since.”
“I haven’t spoke
n to Monesha either, but I know one thing—my dick been feelin’ kind of strange. It’s leakin’ and shit. And I got a burnin’ sensation when I pee. You know I had chlamydia before, but this a different feelin’.”
“What you mean by leakin’? Leakin’ what?”
“Shit, I don’t know,” I said, standing and pulling down my navy blue sweatpants. I examined my dick, and showed Romeo the leaking I was referring to. “That shit right there.”
Romeo squinted at it. He frowned. “Man, you’d better go see about that shit.” He pulled his pants down and pulled out his dick. “You see this right there,” he said, pointing to a scab on his shaft. “That’s what healing herpes look like. You remember when I told you I got that shit last year, right? Well, that shit be comin’ and goin’. It hurt like hell, too, but what you got don’t look like this.”
My door flew open. “Prince, turn that goddamn music . . .” Mama looked at both of us with our pants down, and dropped to her knees. “Lawd, please! Help this child of mine. He confused, and I will kill him dead in my house for havin’ sex with another boy!”
Romeo and I quickly pulled up our pants, shaking our heads. “Mama, get up. It ain’t like you ever told me nothin’ about sex, but I was just showin’ Romeo a li’l leakage problem I got. He showed me some shit he got too.”
She quickly rose, wrinkling her nose. “What kind of leakage problem you got?”
I didn’t want to say anything to her, but I knew she’d push me. “I think I got chlamydia, gonorrhea . . . somethin’.”
Mama looked at Romeo. “You too?”
“Ms. Perkins, I got herpes, but it’s under control.”
Mama skeptically closed the door behind her. She turned to us, pointing her finger back and forth at the both of us. “Y’all some nasty-dick Negroes, and that’s why all these women and girls around here fucked up now. Don’t be usin’ the bathroom in my house, Prince, and you neither, Romeo. If y’all have to go, you’d better take your asses outside.” Mama looked at the lit blunt in the ashtray and walked up to it. The smoke coming from it was cooking up an addictive smell in my room, and she obviously couldn’t resist. She got ready to take a hit, but laid it back on the ashtray.
“Y’all hands been on that thing. What in the hell was I thinkin’? Stop standin’ there lookin’ stupid and go find yourself a shirt to put on. You goin’ to the health clinic right now, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”
I looked at Romeo. What the hell, I didn’t have nothing to lose.
An hour later, Romeo, Mama, and I sat in chairs at the health clinic, waiting for someone to call my name. The shit was embarrassing, but funny as hell. Romeo and I couldn’t stop laughing at the numerous people we saw. They looked just as embarrassed, and nobody was making eye contact. There were some fine chicks in there, too, and when my eyes finally connected with one of them, Mama smacked me on the back of my head.
“Do you got a problem?” she said loudly. “Maybe I do need to be enrollin’ your butt into a sex addiction program. You need to ignore these tramps and calm your hyped tail down.”
Two girls in the corner giggled and covered their mouths. Romeo laughed, but I didn’t see shit funny. I moved away from Mama, and took a seat close by the exit door.
When all was said and done, I found out that this time I had gonorrhea. I got a shot, and was given some pills and a box of condoms. I was asked to contact any and all sexual partners I’d had within the last six months, and was encouraged to strap it up. Mama was yelling the same thing, and on the drive home she kept going on and on about my sexual appetite, making babies, and trifling girls.
“If you let them, they are goin’ to be your downfall. I’m not takin’ care of nobody’s babies. If I wanted more I would have had more. You’d better use those condoms, boy. You can’t ever say that I didn’t warn you.”
Mama was warning me, but she was five years late. I’d been fuckin’ since I was twelve, and if I did use a condom, it would be a first.
Mama dropped Romeo off at home. He lived with his grandmother. His mother was in prison and his father was dead. His grandmother was the sweetest woman ever, but she had no control whatsoever over Romeo. Like me, he was just out there with little guidance, trying to make a living and doing it big as a street soldier in the Lou.
Later that day, I sat naked on my bed. It was somewhat chilly outside, but my room was hot and stuffy as hell. I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me, but I got up to crack the window a little higher. Black iron bars covered the windows, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone trying to come in on me. I sat back on the bed, and covered myself with a sheet. I then picked up the phone and dialed Monesha. It had been about three weeks since I’d last spoken to her. She immediately answered.
“Hi, Prince,” she excitedly said.
“Say, bitch. You fucked me up and need to take your triflin’ ass to the clinic. Don’t call my house no more, and, per Prince, you can take that contagious pussy of yours elsewhere.”
I hung up.
Minutes later, as I was still in bed getting high, Raylo entered my room. He stood in front of my TV, blocking it so I couldn’t see.
“Say, uh, you got a minute to talk, young blood?”
“Sure,” I said, relieving myself of the joint.
“I’ve been meanin’ to get at you about that teacher of yours, Ms. Macklin. I want you to see about hookin’ a nigga up with her. She cold, man, and I ain’t been able to keep my mind off that bitch since I seen her. That’s, of course, with no offense to your mama.”
No, this muthasucker didn’t! Yeah, Mama had caught him cheating on her several times before, but I couldn’t believe he had come into my room with this bull, expecting me to hook him up with somebody behind my mama’s back. And Ms. Macklin, too?
I shook my head. “Nah, bro, that ain’t gon’ happen. Besides, Ms. Macklin is married,” I lied. “And the last time I checked you were still with my mama, right?”
Raylo pulled out a wad of money, gripping it with his fat, ashy hand that had gold rings tightened on every finger. He licked his thumb and flipped through his dollars. “I understand your concerns, young blood, and I knew my suggestion would be a problem.” He reached out to give me a hundred dollar bill and I took it. “With that being said, ain’t no way in hell Ms. Macklin married. She work down there at that strip joint on the other side of town, and that’s where I seen her at befo’. Married or not, though, she need to get at me.”
I touched my mustache, thinking about what Raylo implied. “Nah, you got the wrong chick. Ms. Macklin ain’t doin’ it like that, and I know that fa’sho.”
“I’m good at recognizin’ people, young blood. If you wanna put some money on it, we can. In the meantime, hook a nigga up, all right?”
He flipped through a few more bills, adding $300 more to what he had already given me. I wasn’t about to turn down no money, so I told Raylo that I would make sure Ms. Macklin got his number. He left my room feeling real good, and offered to take me to the strip club so I could see for myself the woman he claimed to be Ms. Macklin.
It was back to school for me, and I couldn’t believe all of the drama that had happened in ten days. Last night, Romeo and I got into a knockdown, drag-and-kick-them-niggas-while-they-on-the-ground fight in our neighborhood. It was all over some chick who had been trying to get at Romeo, but her baby daddy was in a gang. My body was aching all over. I still had one fool’s blood on my shoes, and before going to school I had to rinse off my Jordans.
Then, somebody had broken into Romeo’s house. His grandmother was crying her heart out, only to find out that it was her thirty-one-year-old son who had stolen her shit. At first, she blamed it on Romeo, but he had never stolen a thing from his grandmother. He had her back, and she had his. We had to go confront his uncle, and, during that time, we had to shake, rattle, and roll again. His uncle was a crackhead, but that didn’t stop him from talking shit. As he spoke, Romeo just busted the fool clean in his mouth. We cleaned his
pockets, and found some of the jewelry he’d taken from his own mother. The flat-screen television he’d taken was broken, so we couldn’t salvage that. And to top off everything, the cops had been coming around, trying to crack down on carjackers. Just the other day, I’d gotten me a Mercedes. That sucker had a tracking device in it, and after I wiped it down real good, I ditched it. I didn’t have no priors, so I wasn’t too worried about getting caught. It sure was nice to ride in, though, and I made a mental note to someway or somehow get me one of those suckers for myself.
In my first-hour class, Mr. Betts was working my nerves. His breath was stankin’ as he hovered over me, trying to show me all of the assignments I’d missed. I expected the same routine to go down with my other classes, and I wasn’t up to catching up on so much missed homework. I had planned to do what I knew best. That was, get somebody else’s paper to copy and be done with it. Hell, I had already failed before, but that wasn’t because I was a dummy. I just wasn’t going to school and had missed sixty-one days out of the year. Missing that many days would put me another year behind. I was supposed to graduate this year, but unfortunately for me, I was already one year behind.
When I got to Ms. Macklin’s class, she hadn’t made it in yet. I laid a piece of paper on her desk with Raylo’s phone number on it. Also, I had written a note asking if she worked at a strip club. My apologies were expressed if I was wrong, but I told her it was something Raylo wanted to know.
Before Ms. Macklin came into the room, Nadine entered. Every time she saw me, her lips were poked out and she treated me as if I didn’t exist. That was so funny to me, simply because she’d been calling me. I guess she had to put a front on for the other girls, but, again, that’s just how they were. As she walked by me, I whispered her name.
“What?” she snapped, then turned her head to the side to look at me.