by Laine Watson
Like the Old West, the air was thick. A duel was about to go down, and someone was about to slip up, and give someone else the upper hand. The white dude left his post.
“Luke!” Jiggs shouted, noticing my reflexes. It was too late. Luke was out in the open as he tried to move to another post, and I could leave my spot. I had about a second and a half shot-time on him. He was readying his water gun to shoot, while mine was already aimed.
The water spat out of my gun with a jolt, and seemed to travel straight to him as if he had a magnetized front for blue-colored water.
White shirt, a black logo on the top left side, all of it, colored blue. The water was forceful enough to startle him, causing his gun to drop right out of his hands. He seemed to need to gain some composure. Heartless as we were, I took off running to my car, not even toward Jack and Trey. Alex was even more heartless.
“Stupid bitch!” Luke shouted, noticing his now blue-splattered shirt. Alex snatched up his gun.
“You a bitch!” she laughed, and took off behind me in the direction of my car. We hopped in and locked the doors. We could see Luke, charging toward the car as we laughed in our triumph. He made his way to the driver side. When his hands pushed the car so hard it rocked, Alex and I stopped laughing and straightened up.
“Look what you did? You fucked up my shirt,” he snarled.
“Sorry?” I said sarcastically with a smirk, something I probably should have kept to myself.
“This shit better come out!” he yelled. I looked at Alex, confused as to how this would play out.
“We were just playing.” I shrugged and rolled my eyes.
“Gimme my fucking gun,” he ordered.
“What gun?” Alex asked innocently. I looked at her. It didn’t seem like this guy was in the mood to play games.
“Alex.” I whispered.
“What?” she whispered back, “Fuck him.”
I looked behind me to see where Jack and Trey were. They were taking their time walking over to us. Luke sniffed angrily, looking to either side of him. He leaned on the car, his face right at the crack of the window.
“I see it,” he said coldly as Alex looked down at her feet and tried to conceal the water gun with her calves. “Give me my fucking gun!” he said sternly through his teeth.
“Oh my gawd, okay,” I said, reaching down to pull the gun up. “We were just playing.” He was still angry. I rolled the window down a smidge more to slide the gun to him. He snatched it from me and leaned forward. He pursed his lips and hacked a large spit ball right at the window, so forcefully that it splattered across the window and onto my forehead. Some even managed to make it to the windshield.
“Stupid Bitch!” he said angrily.
“That’s so fucking gross,” I snapped, wiping my forehead with my shirt.
“Fuck you!” he shouted as he started walking toward the neighborhood.
“What’s his fucking problem?” Alex asked.
“I know. What an asshole,” I said. We hadn’t even noticed Jiggs catching up to Trey and Jack. They were all headed toward the car, unsuspecting in any way as to what had happened.
The door to the back seat opened a few minutes later, and Trey got in the car.
“Y’all ain’t playing no more? Y’all scary,” he said. Jiggs got in the car on the passenger side back door.
“That guy like, spit on me!” I exclaimed. Jack then noticed the spit on my window and across my windshield.
“Why?” Trey asked.
“Well, cuz we took his gun, but he was really mad, and called us some bitches and stuff cuz I got his ass. His whole shirt was blue,” I explained.
Trey said nothing. Jack dropped his gun without saying anything and went in the same direction that Luke had gone minutes earlier. I stepped out the car.
“Jack?” I called.
“Nah, Katie. Let him go,” Trey said, stepping out of the car also, “That mu’fucka spit on you? Racist ass. I’on like him no way.” Trey stepped back into the car and slammed the door.
“Jack?!” I called again, but he was further away. He didn’t turn back.
“Get in the fuckin car, Katie. I told you to let him go!” Trey yelled. I lowered my head and sighed, stepping back into the car.
I started the car. Trey pulled my seat back and said:
“Take me to gra’momma house.”
Chapter Fifteen: The Beat Down
The entire time I was driving to my aunt’s house, my mind was filled with thoughts of Jack. If I would have known then what he was doing, I may have not been so worried.
When Jack caught up with Luke, he didn’t say anything. He didn’t announce his presence or try to give him a home boy handshake. He didn’t even wait for Luke to turn around. Jack grabbed his neck, spun him around and punched him in the face with all of his might. Jack released Luke’s neck and Luke fell to the ground. And Jack continued to walk as if nothing had happened, even though he was still as angry as he had been before he had punched Luke.
I had every urge to call Jack as we pulled up to my aunt’s house. Especially when he didn’t adhere to when I was calling him. I stopped the car. I didn’t want to go in the house. I couldn’t wait until Jiggs and Trey got out of the car so that I could call Jack. But I should have gone in.
“Who you calling?” Alex asked me.
“Jack,” I said. She looked at me as if she thought it was a stupid idea, but she didn’t say so.
The door was unlocked. Jiggs stood on the long, flat porch as Trey opened the door and passed through the living room and dining room on the other side by the staircase going left into the back room where my grandmother and aunt were sitting on the bed.
“Where Boo?” Trey asked in a purposely deep voice.
“You take yo black ass outta my house, you little thief. Don’t set foot on my property,” my aunt said threateningly.
“Man, whatever,” Trey snapped, turning around to the entrance of the room. From the back room, they heard trampling down the stairs. Trey looked out into the hall as he left the room.
“Hey, what up man?” Trey said.
“What up, cuz?” Boo replied. They traded handshakes and headed out the opened door.
“And close my got-damn door!” my aunt yelled angrily. “Get on my damn nerves. Coming in here with they pants hanging all down. Don’t nobody wanna see yo ass.”
Trey slammed the door shut.
I’m sure my Aunt Rose said,
“Don’t slam my damn door!”
“Man, Aunt Rose be trippin’,” Boo said, standing on the porch. He noticed Jiggs. “Oh. What up, Jiggs?”
“What up, Boo?” Jiggs nodded.
“Nothing, chillin.’ Bout to knock these old-ass broads out.” Boo smiled. His dred locks were long, past his shoulders and he was taller than Trey. “Nigga you ain’t gone say hi to yo momma?” Boo asked Trey.
“I seen’t her ass. But shit, she ain’t speakin’ to me, I ain’t speakin’ to her,” Trey replied. And he left it at that, walking from the porch to my car.
Jiggs beat Trey and Boo to the car and hopped in the back seat while I called Jack again. He wasn’t answering the phone. I was starting to feel a bit insecure.
Trey stopped Boo in the middle of the grass.
“Aye man, some white dude spit on Katie,” Trey explained.
“She let him.” Boo laughed.
“Nah, nigga,” Trey said.
“Who? Money?” Boo inquired.
“Man, nah. You know dude who live by the RP’s?” Trey asked.
“A white dude?”
“Yeah, he be kicking it with us sometimes,” Trey explained.
“Drew?” Boo asked.
“Nigga, Drew ain’t white,” Trey said, annoyed.
“He ain’t black,” Boo pointed out
“Nah, Luke, Duke, some shit. He live in Money neighborhood,” Trey said.
“Why he spit on her?” Boo asked.
“Do it matter, nigga?”
“Nah,
I’m just saying what was y’all doing?” Boo shrugged.
“Some water gun shit,” Trey told him.
“Y’all do some of the dumbest shit,” Boo said.
“Nah, man. That’s fun. But I think Katie n’em took his gun or some shit. That nigga calling her bitches and stuff.” Trey paused, “Let’s go beat his ass.”
Boo took a long look at Trey.
“…Bet,” Boo said. And he and Trey headed to the car.
Meanwhile, in the car, I was trying to figure out why Jack wasn’t answering his phone.
“So. What’s up with me and you?” Jiggs whispered to me as I put my phone down.
“What?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
“Nigga, move over,” Trey said, scooting Jiggs in the middle of the back seat. Thank God! I thought in relief.
“Can you take us somewhere?” Trey asked as he shut the back door.
“Um, yeah,” I said looking at my phone. I wanted to check. It hadn’t rung or beeped, but the urge was still there as I drove off.
“Who dis?” Boo asked.
“Alex,” I told him.
“Do you only hang out with white people?” Boo wanted to know. He meant the question for me, but Alex answered.
“Uhm, I’m not white. I’m Panamanian,” she said, looking back at him.
“…Fuck is that?” Boo asked.
“Not white,” Alex said, turning forward again.
“Where y’all wanna go?” I asked.
“Over there by the RP’s,” Trey told me.
“The RP’s?” I asked.
“Yeah, not in’em. Just by’em,” Trey noticed I had turned into the entrance to Old Cooper Creek and drove down a few blocks.
“Turn here,” Trey instructed.
I stopped at the stop light, waited for the turning signal to turn green and turned down the street by the apartments that everyone had been warning me about. Luckily, after a few apartment buildings, I saw houses. We drove down a little further.
“Alright, you can drop us off here. We’a be right back,” Trey said, stepping out of the car, Boo and Jiggs following him.
Trey said some angry words as they were walking up to a brick one-story house. I didn’t hear him, though. My phone was ringing.
“Jack?” I answered the phone, not even realizing that I was in the middle of the street.
“Where you at?” Jack asked.
“By the RP’s,” I told him. I heard as he sucked his teeth.
“They forever on one.”
“Nah, I’m just dropping…” I stopped mid-sentence.
“Oh, my gawd,” Alex exclaimed.
I looked over, unable to finish my sentence. At the house where Trey, Boo and Jiggs were headed, the front door opened. Luke stood in the doorway, glaring at them. Trey opened the screen door and yanked Luke out of the house.
Boom! One hit in the face. Boom, another hit in the face. All from Trey. There came another Boom, a left hook from Boo, then a right. A slide across the grass from Jiggs’s legs toppled Luke to the grass.
“Oh my gawd!” I shouted, putting the car in gear and trying to speed off. However, my car wasn’t the greatest in zero to sixty takeoffs.
Trey, Boo and Jiggs continued to beat Luke in the grass until Trey noticed I was trying to drive away.
“Aye, man! She leavin’ us!” Trey shouted, stumbling to his feet, and pulling his pants up so he could run. Jiggs and Boo followed him in the same manner. They ran after the car, waving and flailing their hands as they tried to flag me down. I was still trying to hold the phone up to my ear, even though I wasn’t talking. The phone dropped from my hand, and I stopped the car abruptly.
Jiggs, Trey, and Boo got in the car, laughing and panting.
“Why you drive off?” Trey asked me.
“Why you have me dropping you off to beat somebody up?” I snapped, swinging my head around to look at them in the back seat.
“Yeah, you was the getaway car.” Trey laughed.
“You tried to dip on us,” Boo said accusingly.
“You don’t say nothing, cuz you ain’t even say hi!” I yelled.
“Hi mufucka!” Boo said.
“You on your way out my car,” I threatened.
“See, that’s why I can’t stand you now. You can’t never take a joke,” Boo said.
“Whatever. Where y’all wanna go? Cuz y’all got to get the hell out of my car,” I said, turning around and picking up the phone from the floor on the driver side.
“Hello?” I said, holding the phone up to my face. There was no one there. I put the phone down in the cup holder in between the two front seats.
“Man, just take us to Jiggs’s house,” Trey said.
I rolled my eyes and released my foot from the brake and turned around. I went back to the main street because I didn’t know how to get back to Jiggs’s house from where we were.
On the way, Trey got a call. I couldn’t hear the other part of the conversation, but I was sure it was Bianca.
“Nah, man. I’m not out doing nothing,” Trey insisted. The car was quiet. We all were listening without seeming like we were listening.
“Man, I do love my kids. You ain’t even got the kids right now. They with’cho gra’mamma,” he pointed out.
There was a pause.
“It do matter,” Trey said. He paused again to listen. “I ain’t even do shit!”
After his last pause, it was clear that the call had ended.
I know that’s Bianca. I’ve been a bad friend Jack is taking over my life, I hate that I like it like that. She probably needs me. I signed to myself, I sighed. Trey bit his fingernails and looked out the window.
The car continued to be silent and awkward until I pulled up in front of Jiggs’s house. Trey, Jiggs and Boo got out and started heading toward the front door.
“You’re welcome,” I called, turning to them and hanging my head out the car a little. They all continued to walk, ignoring me. I sat back and shook my head.
My phone rang. I thought it was Jack.
“Hello?” I said.
“Where the fuck you been?” Bianca replied, laughing.
“Oh,” I laughed too, “…caking.” I smiled.
“I shoulda known. With some white dude, right?” She laughed.
“Shut up.” We both sighed.
“Man, yo brother getting on my nerves,” Bianca complained.
“He’s getting on mine, too,” I told her.
“He said he was coming over here to see the kids. But I didn’t even go get’em. I knew he was lying,” she said, disappointed.
“Dang. You want me to come over?” I asked her.
“Yeah, that’s cool. You could come over,” Bianca agreed.
“Alright, bye,” I replied.
“Bye,” she said, ending the call.
I turned to Jack’s house. I wanted to go inside, but I decided I would just call him. I hadn’t been a very good friend to Bianca. He would understand.
“Uhm, so I’m gonna take you home now, Alex,” I said, putting the car in gear.
“Okay.” She smiled as I pulled off. “I still had fun today. Even though yo brother always fighting.”
She had said a lot. My thoughts had shifted from Jack to Trey. I worried about him. In my mind, I thought about a lot of the reasons both of us were the way we were. I couldn’t defend Trey or say anything bad about him. All I could say was:
“Yeah.”
Chapter Sixteen: The Truth about Love
After dropping Alex off, all I wanted was to at least get a text from Jack. If he’s not gonna call back, he could at least not act like it was my fault. I didn’t ask some random dude to spit in my face. Maybe he doesn’t think that. I don’t know, I thought.
I texted him: “Hey.”
I was going to leave it at that until he texted me. I pulled up to Bianca’s house. I texted her that I was outside, and she opened the door for me.
“Hey, girl,” she said.
“Hey.
” I smiled.
Her house was basically built exactly like our house, “our house” meaning the house I was supposed to live in with Becs. The landing was at the door, and you could either go upstairs or downstairs. Bianca’s room was downstairs. We made our way down to it.
I sat down on the recliner next to the wall, and she sat on her bed.
“So, Trey lied to you?” I asked, checking my phone for no reason other than I hoped that it would make Jack text me.
“Girl, he ain’t lie to me. I know him. He lied to them. They was asking me all day if they daddy was coming. And what I’m gone say? Tae can barely talk…” Bianca said, heartbroken.
“He probably just forgot.” I shrugged, clicking my screen on again to see if maybe I just didn’t hear Jack’s text. Still no text.
“How you gone forget your kids?” Bianca replied, agitated.
“I’m not saying it’s cool to just bail on your kids. But he was tryna help me,” I said.
“Help you do what?” Bianca asked, pursing her lips as if she didn’t believe me.
“Some dude spit in my face,” I told her.
“What?!” she said in disbelief.
“Yeah, and of course Trey was pissed, so he had to go get Boo. And then, oh my gosh, they had me driving them over to the dude’s house so they could beat his ass,” I scoffed.
“They beat his ass at his house?” Bianca asked me.
“In his front yard, girl. They so petty,” I said, shaking my head.
“You left, right?” Bianca asked.
“I tried to, but they caught up to me,” I admitted.
“See, this what I be talking about,” Bianca paused. “He running around, acting a fool with his stupid ass friends, and he can’t even buy his babies no diapers.”
My phone buzzed. I checked it immediately. It was Jack.
“Hey back,” it said. I grinned. Bianca was still talking, but I had lost all focus.
“Why did you leave me?” I texted him.
“You know what I’m saying?” Bianca said, her voice cutting into my thoughts. But I didn’t know what she was saying, so I lied.
“Yeah,” I said as I turned my lip up.
“See he think…” she started, but that was all I heard. My phone buzzed.