I watched him pull car keys from his pocket.
Is he leaving?
Get it together...
Get it together...
And go over there...
I swallowed.
Just do it...
My heels echoed like wind chimes as I sauntered through my anxiousness and catwalked over to where he and his friends stood.
This was the bravest I’d ever been. Ever.
Relax, relax, and play it cool.
My presence immediately brought their conversation to a halt. “Hey.” I gave the group of five a small wave. Then I looked directly at my interest and said, “Can I speak to you for a minute?”
Silence. Complete and utter silence for at least two seconds and then he gave each of his boys a pound and said to them. “A’ight, yo, I’ll get up with y’all later.”
As his friends walked away they each looked at me and smiled. One of them even said to him, “This you?”
He answered, “Maybe.”
That response caused me to blush like crazy. I tried to erase it quickly from my face but no matter how hard I tried the blush didn’t fade. And suddenly I felt my temperature rise to two hundred degrees.
Jesus ...
Dear God, please don’t let that be sweat I feel bubbling on my forehead. This is no time to be anti-sexy.
I placed my right hand on my forehead and slyly checked for sweat.
No sweat.
Whew.
I am way too nervous. I need to calm down. I mean, he’s cute and all, but it’s not that serious.
Yeah right...
Once his boys went their separate ways—some returned to the house party and others left in their cars—he looked at me and said, “Wassup?”
I hesitated and unintentionally ended up swallowing my gum. Dang! “Umm, nothing’s up.”
Why did I say that? I. Sound. So. Stupid. Let me try this again.
“What I meant was something was up. I mean is up.”
I was getting dumber by the moment.
Ugg!
I curled the corners of my lips, which made my dimples bling, and then I said in a soft and playful tone, “So umm, what had happened was I, umm, came over here because I thought you were this cutie that I’d just met at the party.”
Please let him play along . . . please.
“Oh, really.” He tilted his head to the side with a slight grin.
Ding!
“Umm hmm.” I snapped my fingers for emphasis and he chuckled a bit—not a lot, but enough to let me know I had his attention.
The butterflies in my stomach felt like they were doing the Running Man, but I continued on. “He was tall like you, had eyes like hazel sapphires—just like you, he had the same sleeve of hot tattoos—like you, and his bad boy swag with the good boy edge was like yours, too.”
“Oh really.” His eyes smiled. “He sounds familiar. I might know him.”
“You just might.”
He cracked up. Not too much—but just enough to let me know he had a sexy laugh.
He was such a boss.
“So, anywho, since you looked like the dude I thought I would chance it and run over here.”
“A’ight, you’re here and I’m him. Now what?”
Good question . . .
“Now you tell me your name.”
“Hmmm...”
“And not your street name, your government.”
He gave me a slanted smile and my heart fluttered.
“Why do you wanna know my government?” he teased. “What are you supposed to be, the police?”
For some reason, him saying that turned me on. “Are you gon’ tell me?”
He stepped into my personal space. My nose was a few inches from his collarbone and for a moment, all I wanted to do was take the tip of my index finger and slide it across it. He looked down into my eyes and said. “Ny’eem.”
I cheesed. Hard. “Hi, Ny’eem. I’m Gem.”
“Nice meeting you, Gem.”
“You, too,” I said nervously, wondering if my buckling knees would hold up in my stilettos.
“I’d like to see you again, kick it with you sometime.”
“Yeah, that would be cool.”
“Let me see your cell phone.”
I swallowed, nervously handed him my phone. He programmed his number and pressed CALL so that my number would pop up on his phone, then handed the phone back to me and said, “I’ll look for you to call me.”
“I will,” I said and took two steps back. I didn’t want to walk away, but I felt a nervous urge to. I blushed. “Later.” I waved bye and boldly blew him a kiss.
Just as I’d turned away, Ny’eem called my name, “Gem.”
I turned back toward him and he walked up close to me, moving even deeper into my personal space than he was before. “I wanna tell you something,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“I know we just met and everything, but I wanna kiss you.”
Pause. What did he just say? Did I just pass out and have an out of body experience? He wants to what? Kiss me?
“Really?” was all I could think to say and just when I knew I had to be dreaming he said, “Yeah, really.”
And he kissed me.
And I kissed him back.
Tongues dancing...
Smoothly...
Slowly...
Gently...
In the soft yellow stream of the flickering street light.
In the shadow of the platinum moon.
We kissed...
And we kissed until his hands embraced my waist, mine slid around his thick neck, and I felt like we were the only two people in the world who existed.
10
S
ix thirty
A.M.
“Rise and grind, super-freaks it’s schooltime! And triflin’ season has officially ended.”
Am I having a nightmare . . .?
Am I . . .?
“This is my favorite time of the year,” Cousin Shake announced proudly as he pounded his fist from my bedroom door, down the hallway, and over to Man-Man’s room. “’Cause I’m the Get-Y’all-Azzes-To-School police!”
He snorted and continued, “See, the warm weather runs y’all crazy, and school time is just what I need to rein your lazy behinds back in. All summer long you been running around here gettin’ ya derelict on. Man-Man grew a goatee and now he’s addicted to hoochies. Gem ran away and had to be carted back by the social-workin’-po-po. Now Baby-Tot-Tot may eat up everything in sight, but he’s the best one around here. At least he has some manners. Respectful. Matter-fact, he’s the reason y’all are still alive. He keeps me calm, ’cause I can’t stand teenagers. I wanna bust ’em in the chest every chance I get.”
O...M...G...
His voice has to be illegal.
I grabbed my pillow and placed it over my head.
“Now get up!” He pounded on my bedroom door again. “’Cause you got three minutes to shower, kill your stank morning breath, and get to school.”
Trippin’.
“I’m up, Cousin Shake, dang, man,” I heard Man-Man say. He must’ve been standing right outside my door, because he was close enough for me to hear the aggravation in his voice.
Cousin Shake worked everybody’s nerves.
“What you mean ‘dang’?” Cousin Shake barked. “Dang is real close to bang. What you a gangsta now? Is that a threat, homie? Huh? Huh?” I may have only been able to hear them, but I knew for sure that Cousin Shake was doing his cat daddy and bounce routine.
Man-Man released a deep and aggravated sigh. “Why you always dancing?”
Knew it.
Man-Man continued, “Don’t you have asthma? Didn’t you have to go to the emergency room the last time you broke out into a routine?”
“Well this time I’ma take you with me. Now buck,” Cousin Shake spat. “I dare you.”
“A’ight, a’ight, chill. Take your chest down, I’m going in the bathroom now.”
“I thought so.” Cousin Shake grimaced. “’Cause you don’t want none of this, G-Bread, ’cause that G will be standing for ‘Got molly-whopped!’ Now say something, ’cause I’m looking for a reason to turn this into beat-down season.”
Man-Man didn’t respond and when I heard the bathroom door close I knew he’d given up the argument.
Surprisingly everything became quiet. I guess after cussing Man-Man out Cousin Shake forgot about me. Thank God.
I looked at my alarm clock and figured I could steal a few minutes of sleep. I closed my eyes and snuggled into my pillow. And just when my mind filled with a beautiful dream of Drake, shouts of, “Gymnasium!” scared the heck out of me.
I sat straight up in bed and realized Cousin Shake was back to rattling my bedroom door again.
“Get up!” he said.
I tossed the covers off of me, stormed out of bed, and snatched the door open. “I don’t need a human alarm clock.”
“Well you got one.” Cousin Shake gave a sinister grin while his beer belly danced beneath the burgundy robe he had on. He took two steps back and we soaked up a full view of each other.
I had on a pair of gray sweats and a white T-shirt.
Cousin Shake looked like his name was Pookie and he was about to testify in a news interview. He had a floral shower cap on his head, a super-tight robe that fell to his ashy knees, black dress socks—one stretched up his left calf and the other slouched down to his ankle—and on his extra-wide feet were brown corduroy house shoes that he’d broken down in the back by walking on the heels—transforming his house shoes to slip-ons. He grunted, “Breaka-breaka-one time. You opened that door like you tryna do something.”
Suddenly I got a flashback of him dragging me by my neck, so I didn’t move and I didn’t say anything. Not that I was letting him punk me or anything, I just wasn’t in the mood.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you wanted it.” Cousin Shake looked me over. “’Cause you know I will make it rain.”
Whatever.
Man-Man walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and one tossed over his shoulder. He looked at me and started doing the Running Man. “Now go on—get in the bathroom,” he said, mocking Cousin Shake.
I cracked up and started doing the bounce. “I’s a goin’!” I said. “I’s a goin’.” I bounced and laughed my way into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
“Yeah,” Cousin Shake said. “Y’all can dance all day like you think it’s funny, but you already know how I get down. ’Cause Cousin M.C. Shake ain’t playin’. So that’s right, gon’ get in that bathroom! And out of the three minutes you had to shower, Gemini, your nasty mouth has already used up two.”
Kick Rocks
I looked at my reflection in the full-length mirror that hung on the back of my closet door.
My hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail.
Eyes were lined.
Lashes were full.
Lips were plump and shiny with cherry-flavored gloss.
My black jeans hugged my curves like a leather glove, my slouchy, yellow, and mid-drift sweatshirt hung off one shoulder, and my matching yellow camisole underneath was real cute. My brown leather stilettos—made like ankle boots with a peep toe—and my gold hoop earrings and bangles topped it all off.
My gear was sick. Extra fly . . . so why didn’t I feel fly? Instead, I felt pissed. Scared. And I had the urge to crawl back into bed and pretend that none of this existed.
This was the third high school I’d been in and I was only a sophomore. Every year I had to start all over again, secretly searching for somewhere to fit in, while acting like it didn’t bother me if kids kicked it with me or not—when sometimes . . . it did.
I hated being the new kid.
Hated it.
But I was always new. Everywhere I went, I was always the last to arrive and the last to fit in...
Always.
At least I had Man-Man, although he was in the eleventh grade, and I had Pop, and thankfully we had homeroom together.
I shook my head and continued to stare at my reflection.
What am I doing?
The one thing I hated more than being the new kid was feeling sorry for myself.
I walked into the kitchen where Toi, Noah, Man-Man, and Malik sat around the table, while Ms. Minnie and Cousin Shake fixed our plates. I sat down and Cousin Shake snapped. “Oh no you didn’t just walk in here and not say good morning.”
This dude.
Toi took her index finger, swirled it slyly next to her temple, and mouthed, “He’s crazy.”
I gave a tight smile. “Good morning.”
“Now that’s better,” Ms. Minnie said. “Good mornin’, baby.”
“Cousin Shake, what are you fussing about?” Ms. Grier said as she walked into the kitchen dressed for work. She smiled at everyone. “I heard you fussing at my children from all the way upstairs.” She gave Noah a kiss on the cheek, Malik a kiss on his forehead, and winked her eye at the rest of us.
Cousin Shake shook his head. “Grier, that’s why these kids act the way that they do.”
“They didn’t even do anything,” Ms. Grier said.
“They’re always doing something. And especially Man-Man.”
“Why is it always
especially
me?” Man-Man asked.
“’Cause it’s always you,” Cousin Shake said. “And to think when you were little I could tolerate you. And Grier, you need to talk to Man-Man about running around here eating up all the snacks and the chicken nuggets. I bought two bags of chicken nuggets and snacks yesterday and by last night they were gone.”
“That wasn’t me,” Man-Man said. “I don’t even like chicken nuggets.”
“Yes, you do,” Toi said.
“Why don’t you mind your business?” Man-Man snapped. “This a grown man conversation.”
“Then why are you in it?” Toi retorted.
“All right,” Ms. Grier said. “Enough. You two know better than to be arguing at the table.”
“No, they don’t,” Cousin Shake said. “Now, my Minnie has finished this food and I want er’body to stand up so we can get our grace on.”
We all stood up, held hands, and Cousin Shake began to pray. “Wassup, J to the e to the s to the u to the s?”
What the...
Cousin Shake continued, “What’s good wit You and er’-body up there in the Heavens? We wanna thank you for blessing us with another day to get it right. Another day for broke down Lil-Kim a.k.a. Toi to be less hoochie-fied, ’cause I love lil Noah but we don’t need another baby up in here. Another day to stop Man-Man from thinking he’s a playboy ’cause he grew some hair on his chin and got two hairs on his chest. Another day for Seven to be in the Big Easy but not be the Big Easy. Another day to stop Gymnasium’s stank attitude. Another day—”
“All right, Cousin Shake,” Ms. Grier said sternly.
“And another day to show their mama that I’m not scared of her. That I raised her, she didn’t raise me. And another day to show my Minnie that I love her for more than just her body. I love her for her mind and that body is just extra.”
“It sure is,” Man-Man said, and then tried to play off what he’d just said by coughing like crazy. I patted him on the back.
“Is it something wrong with you, Man-Man?” Cousin Shake asked.
“Nah, nah, I’m good. Just that visual of Ms. Minnie’s body tore me up from the floor up. I’m straight now, though.”
“Amir,” Ms. Grier said sternly, “Be quiet.”
“Yeah,” Cousin Shake said, “you better shut ’im down. ’Cause I bet’ not catch him side-eyeing Minnie. Now bow your heads and let me finish my prayer.”
We complied and Cousin Shake went on. “As I was saying, we just wanna thank You Brother John, I mean Jesus, for putting us on our way and getting these busters ready for school. Let ’em know, Lawd, that the rules have changed. Along with all of my many duties around here I also double as the homework police. Let ’em know none of their lil lazy and crazy friends better not call here after nine. ’Cause if they do, they will be subjected to a Cousin Shake cuss out. So, yeah, I’m ’bout to close this prayer out. And thank Ya for er’thang. The air we breathe and the blood running warm in our veins. And this we pray in my play-cousin Jerry, I mean Jesus’ name. Amen.”
What kind of . . .
I looked at Man-Man and he said, “Just let it go. Trust me, eat, and leave it alone.”
I took Man-Man’s advice and began to eat my breakfast of cheese grits, fried eggs, bacon, and orange juice. “So, Gem are you excited to start school today?” Toi asked.
“No.” I stuffed a piece of bacon into my mouth. “I’m cool. It’s just school.”
“Just school!” Man-Man screeched. “Man, it’s more than school, it’s a lover boy’s playground—and my specialty is turning out all the freshmen.”
“I thought you and Pop made up?” I said confused.
“Nah, we always break up on the first day of school. Give me a chance to scout things out and give her something to complain about.”
“She needs to dump you and never look back,” Toi said.
“She loves me.”
“That ’cause she doesn’t know you don’t have any money. And nobody likes a broke pimp,” Toi snapped.
“Amir, you better not be pimpin’ anything but those grades,” Ms. Grier said.
“Ma,” Man-Man said. “I got this.” He turned to Toi. “Back up off of G-Bread now. Fall back.”
Cousin Shake cut in, “You just better get yourself together, M.C. Alphabet. Now don’t make me volunteer as the teacher’s aide just to watch you, Man-Man ’cause I’ll do it.”
“Can you be the teacher’s aide at my school, Cousin Shake?” Malik said excited. “Then I don’t have to be alone.”
“Malik,” Miss Grier said. “You won’t be alone. You’ll make plenty of friends.”
“Baby-Tot-Tot,” Cousin Shake said. “All the kids gon’ like you otherwise they’ll have to deal with me!”
Malik laughed. “I really hope the kids are nice.”
“Why are you sweatin’ that?” I snapped.
“Because I’m scared the kids won’t like me,” Malik admitted.
“They will like you,” I said, hoping Malik would cut the feeling-sorry-for-himself shenanigans. “And you know they will.”
“But I hate being the new kid.”
“Get. Over. It,” I said tight-lipped.
“Don’t be so hard on him, Gem,” Ms. Grier said. “How about this, Malik. How would you like it if I took you to school this morning? I have a friend whose son is going to be in the same grade as you, and I would love to introduce you two. I have a feeling that you will turn out to be great friends.”