A MONTH LATER.
Soon school started. The school year was not what I was expecting, however, I was ready. It was a welcome distraction from the real world. I stood at the bus stop on the first day in a red plaid skirt and a white baby tee. On my feet, I had the fresh red and white shell toe Adidas. My hair was down, flat ironed, and it brushed my shoulders.
I wasn't worried about anything. I knew everyone where I was going. Even though my boyfriend, nor my boys went to the same school as me, my rep was solid. Junior year was nothing to me. I knew I was good. I didn't have many friends, as I liked to keep to myself. Not to mention high school was... well, high school.
It was full of boys trying to get laid and catty bitches. Especially at the school, I went to. It was Oakville High School. While prestige, I was considered a transfer student. That meant I lived in the hood but could be bussed to this school in the county. I had good grades, and I didn't start shit. I had been a transfer student since I was in fourth grade, so I grew up with the people who went here.
My brother had at one point gone here too because of me. Needless to say, he didn't make it. Charlie was always fighting and starting shit. Most of the time, I got involved in protecting my little brother. It's what I did. I didn't care if he started it or not. Nobody touched my brother. However, when he was kicked out, I stayed. According to the superintendent, I was a great asset to the school. He was convinced I only fought because of my brother, who he said was a menace to society. He removed my brother from the district.
So when I stepped on the bus, how come not one of my friends was there? Where were the hi's, and the hugs? Disappointed, I took the first seat I saw, which was the first seat on the bus. It was hot, it was overcrowded and now I was pissed and bored. The highlight of my day had always been the bus ride. It was a long ride, so my friends and I had always caught up there.
Throughout the forty-five-minute bus ride, I was uncomfortable. This girl and her boyfriend, I guess, had the seat behind me. They were having the most disgusting make-out session ever. It was seriously grinding my gears. How it was possible to hear every sloppy smack of their lips? Every moan. She was definitely a moaner. It was like school bus porn and it was making me sick. That they kept bumping my seat didn't help. I was on the verge of murder on the first day of school.
As much as I wanted to say something, this was no way I was going there. I didn't want to see what was going on in that seat. No matter how disturbing it was. I knew who she was. We went to middle school together. Her name was Keisha, and he was Devonté. I guess they got together over the summer because she used to be sucking face with another guy if my memory is correct. She was a hoe and a shit starter.
When we got to the school, my first thought was wow, it never got old how big it was. It was huge. It was a stone white building. Walking through the halls felt weird as I found my locker. Getting the things I'd need to be prepared for my first class. Everything looked foreign and new, with too many new faces.
Walking into my first class, I felt better when I saw a friend of mine, Ava. She was a small girl, who even made me feel tall. She was also sweet as pie. I hadn't known her long, but she has had my back from day one.
I smiled as I walked toward her. "Where is everybody?" I asked her.
"Almost everybody went to Mehlville High. A lot of the guys are here, though." Ava said while pulling out her supplies.
Lunch was uneventful, with everything being calm in the cafe. I saw my middle school crush and friend Justin. He waved me and Ava over to his table. It was full of jocks and hoes, not my crowd, but I knew all the jocks from preschool. They were cool.
"Everybody, this is the beautiful Anna and Ava. Yawl this is.... blah blah blah." Justin was giving introductions. I was only half interested. I knew most of the guys, so I figured the introduction was more for the girls.
I wasn't really interested in the chick's names. They went right over my head. As long as it looked like I was cool with them, so be it. I just needed to make sure I was an untouchable. That was important to me for survival. In this school, either you're in or you're out. It was a bad thing to be out.
In my last class, Justin wanted to talk. We were in gym class running track when he caught up to me. I hated running. I hated running and talking even more. I wasn't exactly athletic. My legs were short, and I was about thirty pounds overweight. However, he definitely wanted to talk.
He was talking about a few things that had happened in class. Things I had clearly not heard about. My ears perked up with his next question, though. "So Anna, you want to go to homecoming with me, or do you have a boyfriend? If you do, I understand. I'm just saying, I wouldn't want to go with nobody else."
I looked at Justin. I looked at him well. I had known him since third grade. He had my back when all those people I thought were my friends turned on me in seventh grade. Why not? Christian wasn't into dances and stuff and I couldn't picture him in a suit. It was just a dance.
I was hesitant because Justin was a nice-looking guy. A jock. I looked around and recognized the hater glares already at me. Then I looked at Justin again. Tall, chocolate, big brown eyes. Can you say, Taye Diggs? He was fine. Fuck the haters. Christian would never know.
"I will go with you." I heard myself saying. "But only as friends. I have a boyfriend and he's crazy as hell. But I fuck with you, so yes"
He smiled then, his charming smile. "A crazy boyfriend, huh? I never pegged you as that type to like the bad boys."
"He's not a bad boy," I said while picking up speed. "He's a mother fucking gangster."
* * * * *
I was slowly falling into a routine I enjoyed. Christian and I were still dating, although honestly, I was feeling some type of way about him. I felt like he was hanging around less and less. He had quit school, so where was he spending his time? I had too much going on to be tripping off him and his whereabouts. In my mind, all I saw was him and ole girl together, doing all the things we usually did.
Every day I went to school and had to endure the gross making out of the people behind me. Then while at school I was Justin's cute quiet.... friend, or whatever we were. We walked to every class together, we ate lunch together, and I always watched him practice. I made it clear we weren't dating, but we were close.
I had become the neighborhood babysitter. I was making like three hundred dollars a week keeping all the Kids in my neighborhood till their mamas got off work. It was a piece of cake and easy money.
On Monday afternoon, about two months into school, I had had a bad day on the bus just to get home to more bullshit. Before I could even walk in my door, my little brother came running up to me covered in blood and hysterical.
"What the hell happened to you?" I asked. To say I was scared was an understatement. I started feeling on him for a wound when a gun fell out of his waist.
I quickly grabbed him up. "What the fuck did you do, Charlie?"
He looked so scared that I almost felt sorry for him. But fuck all that. He had a gun, and it looked real. "Me and Mitch got into a fight." He blurted.
"And what?" I screamed. "You shot him."
He whiffed his head and struggled out of my hold. "It's not a real gun, Ann. It's a starter pistol. He was teasing me about Christian cheating on you, and I got so mad I pulled it out. He laughed at me then and said I couldn't hurt him with it. I was so mad, I hit him in the head with it. And he fell. There was so much blood Ann. I tried to move him, but he wouldn't wake up. I think I killed him." Charlie was looking scared as he spoke. He was shaking visibly, and his skin was pale.
Fear. That's what was running through my veins when he finished talking. Mama was at work, so I had to fix this. Right on cue, Christian walked in. I told him what happened, leaving out the part about him supposedly cheating on me. He took Charlie for a walk to look for Mitch, while I went to talk to Kay, Mitch's mom. I found them on their front porch. Mitch was looking mad as hell. At least he wasn't dead, but he was sitting there holding a bloody rag to his head.
After asking what happened, I learned Mitch had told his mama he fell and hurt himself by a sewer. I was so relieved I went home and started cooking dinner while waiting for Charlie and Christian to come back. I pondered my dilemma of the day.
What would I have done if the boy had died? With no hesitation, I knew I would have done whatever I had to, to protect my brother. Even if I had to hide a body and put him on a train. The thought was shocking, but not as shocking as it would have been a month ago. Not after Zale and after those guys.
When they arrived, I pulled Charlie into my room while Christian was playing the game with the boys.
"Why do you say Christian is cheating on me?" I asked.
"I saw him, Ann. He was in the alley kissing another girl." Charlie said.
"What girl?" I was pissed. Charlie didn't lie to me. To our mom, yes, but never to me. We always had each other's backs and even though he was three years younger than me, he was my best friend.
"The tall ugly chick, he said she was his ex. But they were kissing." he was so serious.
I nodded for him to get out of my room and sat on the bed. I sucked my teeth as I thought about how to handle the situation. If Charlie and Mitch knew, that meant everyone could know. That meant people would be laughing at me behind my back. Christian was making me look like a fool. I couldn't have that.
Two could play this game. But I was going to wait till the time was right and dump his ass. The barbecue next weekend seemed like a good time. He would pay. And I knew just who to make my accomplice.
* * * * *
By Wednesday, I was fed up with the girl who sat behind me. I promise she was going to end up pregnant just from fucking on the bus. When I got off the bus that day, I decided I was going to speak up tomorrow.
When I got in the house, I put on a pack of hotdogs for the kids that would be here any minute. My cousin Nell was there, dropping her kids off too. I quickly said hi and went into my room to change.
My feet we killing me. I had worn a pair of knee-high boots, with some boot-cut jeans, and a burgundy lace tank top shirt. Trying to be cute, my feet hurt like hell. When I got to my room, I was pushed against the door. Before I had time to scream, I saw Reese standing in front of me, smiling.
I swung at his head, and he just got closer, holding my hands against the door.
"What the fuck Reese? Why are you in my room?" I whisper yelled.
"I was waiting for you, baby. I been waiting all day." Reese said, stuffing his face in my neck.
"For what?" I asked. What the fuck was he on? I knew he wanted to get at me, but he had never gotten so close.
Then he kissed me. So different from kissing Christian. His lips were very mushy, and his tonged seemed short, which grossed me out. But then he switched to my neck and my ear and I wanted to puke. However, he was making it easier for me to put my plan into action. I just had to be strong. Hold it together, I told myself. He did not know how much I was about to use his dumb ass.
"Reese, I got to go. My kids will be here soon. But I have honestly been thinking of giving you a chance. Christian been tripping lately." I said, tilting my head to the side.
"Yeah, I heard about the dumb shit he's been on," Reese growled. "Whenever you are ready, baby. I'm your man." He blew me a kiss and was gone. Luckily all the way out of the house.
That had been the single most unsatisfying experience of my life. He was a means to an end. He had also confirmed my suspicion that others knew. His cheating had just been confirmed.
"Uh-huh, who was that?" Nell asked. "Just a friend," I answered as I watched Reese leave.