"Come on, God damn it!" Keisha yelled when she got stopped at a stoplight near the entrance to the south side, slamming on her horn.
A black woman stopped in the lane across from her, rolled her eyes at Keisha's fury.
"The fuck you looking at?" Keisha snapped, ready to jump out and fight.
The woman quickly averted her eyes.
She almost got into several accidents on her way to Linda's house.
When she pulled onto her aunt's street, her heart nearly stopped when she saw what was just outside her house. She then let out a surprised gasp, her heart racing like a jackhammer. "Lord, help me, Jesus."
There were police cars everywhere, emergency personnel and a whole lot of yellow tape. There were several sheets on the ground, covering still forms. This could only mean one thing.
A homicide had been committed.
Chapter 9
"Auntie Linda!" Keisha yelled, pounding on her aunt's door, her heart racing in her ears.
Oh my God, what am I going to tell momma?
Keisha had parked to the side of all the commotion. When personnel had refused to immediately talk to her, she ran onto her Aunt's porch, screaming her name.
After waiting several minutes, wringing her hands with panic, she began to pull her cell out her purse, dreading what she had to do. That's when she heard the lock on the inside being undone, and she watched as the door was snatched open, revealing a gaunt face.
"My niece!"
"Thank you God!" Keisha wept with joy, relief filling her body.
If there was a real life version of the crypt keeper from Tales from the Crypt, then her aunt was the prime example. Heavy in her early years of life, Linda had eventually gotten so big, nearly four-hundred pounds, that she had gone on to have weight-loss surgery.
Now she was less than a shadow of her former self.
Shortly after surgery, for some reason or another, all of Linda's hair had fallen out, leaving her with patches of hair here and there. She was now forced to wear wigs, and on any given day, they might have looked like something you would scare children with.
Today she had on one such wig, hanging halfway lopsided off her head.
"Girl, what you crying for?" Linda asked curiously, mashing her gums. Keisha's nostrils were immediately assaulted by the smell of liquor and cigarette smoke.
Some things never change.
"Momma said that you hadn't been answering the phone," Keisha cried, her body shaking like a leaf. "When I saw the police and the yellow tape I thought something awful had happened to you.
Linda waved a dismissive hand, making a sour face. "Girl, them niggas know not to fuck with me." She glanced over Keisha's shoulder to the police in the street. "You remember Porscha Waters? The burnt, crispy, nappy-headed hoe that lived on Fifth Street?" Her aunt was forever calling someone dark-skinned when she was the shade of dark tar herself.
Keisha thought for a moment, before her memory was jogged. "Yeah."
"Well that's her boyfriend, dead out there in the street with some of his friends." Linda shook her head with disgust. "That boy should have known better than to get involved with that damn girl. Her ass ain't been nothing but trouble since coming out her momma's stankin ass coochie."
"What happened?" Keisha asked, glancing at the street that was covered with cops.
"Don't know for sure," Linda muttered. "But I think it was a drug deal gone bad and poor Walter was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, not knowing that little chickenhead had set him up." She shook her head. "It's a shame too, because that boy had just gotten a scholarship to go to a prestigious college."
Keisha felt a moment of sorrow for a lost life. A mind was always a terrible thing to waste...or in this case, loose unnecessarily. It was a shame how her people could not get it together and stop the senseless violence.
"Girl, get yo ass on up in here," Linda said, breaking her out of reverie, motioning for her to come inside.
Keisha immediately wanted to protest, preferring to get back to her children since she now knew that her Aunt was okay, but she knew how rude it would look if she suddenly left when she hadn't seen her aunt in months.
Her aunt's chronic smoking made her old house smell like a hundred cigarettes. The floorboards creaked as Keisha walked into the dingy living room. The house was neat and orderly, but still had a moldy smell that mixed in with the smoky scent, causing Keisha to become slightly nauseous.
Several of her aunt's puppies came running out the back, jumping on Keisha's legs, barking and carrying on.
"Y'all get y'all motha fucking asses on up out of here!" Linda yelled, kicking at the poor things with her toothpick-like legs.
"Auntie please," Keisha complained, trying unsuccessfully to pet the dogs.
"Nah, girl, un uh," Linda snapped irritably, slapping the dogs upside the head. "These motha fuckas make me sick." The dogs eventually ran off back where they came from, unable to take anymore abuse from the human skeleton.
Shaking her head with disbelief, Keisha quickly walked over and sat on the edge of the worn-out looking couch that looked like it was from the eighteen-hundreds, trying to not make a face.
"You want some juice?" Linda asked, coming to sit down beside her. Keisha wondered why the woman did not have a cigarette in her hands as usual. A chronic alcoholic, that's all her aunt did, drink and smoke from sun up, sun down.
In fact, Linda was usually stark-raving drunk around this time of day.
Knowing her house was roach infested, Keisha quickly lied, "No, I just had one before I rushed up here."
"Well, well, if it ain't yo most beautiful niece," said a gravelly voice.
In walked Linda's current consort Big Willy with his shirt off, looking for all the world as if he was due any minute. The portly man was dark-skinned with a face that looked like it had been cooking out in the hot sun all day.
"Keisha girl," the man drawled, his breathing labored from being so fat and old, "how you doin?"
Before she could answer, Linda said, "She was doing fine before you come walking yo hungry, gorilla-lookin ass up in here."
"Auntie!" Keisha exclaimed. Her aunt was forever treating Willy like shit, even though he was probably the nicest man she had ever been with. Almost every man Keisha could remember Linda being with, had beat her, cussed her out, and treated her worse than a stray dog.
Her ass should be happy someone want her, looking how she look.
"Girl, please," Linda snorted, "you don't know what I go through with this ugly bastard."
Keisha shook her head. This was one of the reasons why she avoided her auntie's house like the plague. Her aunt was always acting a damn fool for attention. Sometimes the stuff she said could be funny, but it got old quick.
"This don't make no damn sense," said Keisha, eyeing her annoyed aunt reproachfully.
I'm so glad she ain't never had no kids. They would have never had a chance.
But Willy was paying his irritable wife no mind. "Hey Keisha girl, can I have a few dollars? I owe ol' Mr. Kane on up the road for a bet I lost."
An avid gambler, Willy was forever begging someone. It did not matter who.
"Sure," Keisha mumbled, digging in her purse.
Linda looked like she was about to have a stroke. "Girl, I know you ain't bout to be giving this burnt ass wildebeest no God damn money."
Keisha ignored her aunt, taking out several five-dollar bills, but was paused when her aunt grabbed onto her wrist firmly. Keisha was surprised at how strong her frail-looking aunt's grip was. She seemed to have the strength of a crack-head.
Maybe because she is a crack-head, Keisha thought.
"Auntie stop it!" Keisha snapped, jerking her wrist out of her grasp.
Jumping up from the couch she went over and handed the fat-bellied man his money. "Here Uncle Willy."
"Bless yo heart, child," Willy said nodding at her and eyeing the money greedily.
"How dare you ask my niece for some money, in my motha fuckin house!" Linda s
houted at her husband with fury. "Nigga, that's my god damn niece! Go ask one of yo nappy-headed ass nieces for some money! Oh that's right! Ain't none of them ugly bitches got shit!"
"Aw shut up," Willy said walking off to the back, probably to get a shirt on to escape to the nearest liquor store.
"Who the fuck you think you telling to shut up you pregnant-looking ass nigga?" Linda yelled, jumping to her feet, hollering at the walls. "I'll have yo big smelly ass out on the sidewalk fuckin with me!"
Keisha was starting to get a headache.
Willy emerged from the back a moment later with a raggedy shirt on, walking over to the front door, doing his best to ignore his shrieking wife.
"And don't come yo Humpty Dumpty, hippopotamus ass back up in here!" Linda yelled after he had slammed the door. Turning to Keisha, she growled, "It's a sin and a shame to be that damn ugly."
Keisha shook her head, chuckling. "Lord Auntie, you are just too much."
Linda looked around as if looking for something, then stopped, seeming to realize that whatever it was, wasn't there. Sitting back down on the couch, she asked calmly, "So what's happening?"
Keisha almost burst out laughing. Linda was acting like she hadn't just acted like a damn fool
"Well," Keisha said after a moment. "Like I said, momma said you hadn't been answering your phone and wanted me to come check on you. I'm just relieved you are alright."
Linda made a face. "Well you would have known if you actually visited me from time to time. How come you ain't come see your auntie lately, stranger? It's been a while."
Because you too damn ignorant...and you live in a warzone.
Glancing down at Linda's old coffee table, Keisha said, "I've been busy and have gone through a lot of mess."
Linda quickly sat up with a scowl on her face that said she was ready to fight. "What kind of mess?"
Keisha quickly outlined what happened at Hawthorne, the vicious gossip by the teachers, the disrespect by the children and the stunt Demarion pulled.
”No that nigga did not try that on my niece!" Linda half-yelled.
Keisha nodded. "Yes he did."
Linda shook her head. "I know that pinhead nigga's momma. Ol Maybeline went wrong on raising that fucka." She snorted, fixing a direct, anger-filled gaze on her niece. "He got some damn nerve. Have you filed papers on his ass yet?"
Keisha shook her head. "It's complicated."
"Girl, you betta get yo ass down there and do something," Linda snapped. "Or I will. Ain't no nigga bout to be fuckin with my niece, I don't give a damn who his ass is."
"Please don't go causing no trouble," Keisha begged. "Things are going good for me right now."
Linda paused. "They are?"
Keisha told her about her new math gig and all the respect she was getting.
"Well," Linda said with a surprised look on her face, "I'm happy for you baby. But I would not be there if I were you. You know I don't fuck around with no white folks."
Trust me, they wouldn't want to fuck with you either.
Keisha thought it good to wrap things up so she could get back home to her kids. "Well why wasn't you answering your phone, auntie? You had momma scared out of her mind."
Linda gave her a sheepish look. "I've been behind on my bills for several months. My phone got cut off."
Probably because you drank and smoked up all your money at the beginning of each month.
On a fixed income, this was a frequent problem that Linda had because of her bad habits. She would often fall behind in her house payments or utilities and would need someone to help her out, because of spending money on liquor, cigarettes, gambling...and maybe crack for all Keisha knew.
Sighing, Keisha asked, "How much is it going to cost to get it turned back on?" She knew her mother would reimburse her most of whatever she gave her aunt because she cared that much about talking with her older sister.
Linda gave her an even more sheepish grin. "They bout to turn off my lights too."
Oh Lord.
"How much?" Keisha repeated.
"You know them motha fuckin utility people be raising the bill on purpose and shit."
"How much?"
"And I only got behind cause of Willy's fat ass owing people."
"Auntie how much!"
"Four-hundred dollars."
Keisha groaned.
This don't make no damn sense.
Reaching inside her purse, Keisha grabbed her checkbook and quickly scribbled out a check to her aunt. There was no point in being stingy when she and Davonte were doing well.
"Girl, you a lifesaver," Linda told her happily. "I'll pay you back."
Yea right.
"Don't worry about it," Keisha said, ripping the check out of the book and handing it over.
Linda snatched the check out of her hands with a toothless smile. "That's my niece."
They chatted for a while more with Linda telling her all about the daily killings that seemed to go on in the area. After Keisha could no longer take hearing about this ghetto nigga and that nappy-head hoe, she jumped to her feet.
"Well Auntie," she yawned, stretching her arms. "I need to get back to my babies."
"Okay baby," Linda said, rising and snatching her favorite niece into an embrace. "But I have one favor to ask of you."
Jesus!
Giving Keisha one of her infamous, sheepish grins, Linda said, "My car ain't got no gas, so I need a quick ride to the gas station down the street."
Now noticing what was missing from her aunt's hands, Keisha thought, You a damn lie. That's not all you want.
"Okay Auntie, be real," Keisha said, eyeing her suspiciously after a moment.
"And several pack of cigarettes and a fifth of Hennessey."
Knowing that she would also be buying her broke aunt all these things, Keisha sighed with defeat and said, "Go get what you need so we can hurry up and be back quick."
Letting out a whoop of joy, Linda scurried on her boney legs to the back, exclaiming, "That's my niece!"
Chapter 10
"You guys would never guess who asked me to Sadie Hawkins," Anthony said while they were standing in front of their lockers before first period.
"Who?" Randal, Joseph and Zack asked in unison.
Anthony laughed derisively. "Sara Perkins."
Randal made a face. "That makes sense. She is retarded, just like your dumb ass."
"Okay you fat fuck," Anthony growled threateningly.
"What did you respond with?" Joseph asked curiously, quick to stop the two from going at it.
Anthony laughed. "I was like, sorry, I don't do the downs."
"Dude, you did not," Joseph choked, cracking up.
Chuckling like a moron, Anthony nodded proudly. "Yup."
"You're a real shithead, Tony," Zack said with a shake of his head. He saw no reason to tell his friends that Mandy had asked him to the dance and he'd accepted. They would think they were getting back together and word would spread like wildfire around the school. He could only hope Mandy would keep it to herself, like he'd asked her too. Let the gossipers question their relationship on the day of the dance and not before.
"Never said I wasn't," Anthony replied, still laughing.
"Well, you guys won't believe who asked me to the dance," Randal boasted, puffing out chest like Pop-Eye.
"Who?" they all asked curiously.
"Taylor Swift."
"Ahhh man." They all waved their hands dismissively.
"Taylor Swift would not even touch you in your dreams, fatty," Anthony quipped.
Randal snorted. "After one ride on my face, Taylor Swift would be begging to be in my dreams."
"After one ride on your face there would be nothing left of her," Anthony laughed, "because you would have swallowed her whole, Stay Puff."
Randal peered behind Anthony as if looking at something. "Yo, I see Aikman." Cupping his hands over his mouth, Randal yelled, "Yo Aikman, come get these nuts on that nerdy dome of yours."
&
nbsp; Anthony grew red in the face. "Yo, you fat fuck. Stop talking about that shit—"
The bell chose to ring right then, cutting off Anthony's words.
Then the boys began walking to their math class.
"I wonder what Keisha will be wearing today?" Joseph asked as they moved through the flowing hallway.
That was the same thing Zack wondered. The woman always seemed to wear tight dresses with belts that showed off her slim waist and womanly figure. Zack would never admit it to his friends, but sometimes he would start catching wood if he stared at her body for too long.
She was that sexy.
"Don't know, but I'd wish she'd come give me math lessons at home," Anthony said with a shake of his head. "And I'd give her a lesson from The Great One that she would never forget."
Randal snorted with contempt. "Like she would give your pale face and your pencil dick the time of day."
"Hey, at least I can see my dick," Anthony shot back.
"But you can't see the drool on your chin—"
Zack zoned his friends out. He suddenly had an idea that burned in his brain like wildfire.
Inside the class, the mystery of what Keisha was wearing was revealed; a sea-blue dress with a white belt at the center complete with pearly, white heels. It went without saying that she looked fantastic.
It only made Zack that much more determined.
"Good morning class," Keisha greeted them gracefully. "You all look so good today."
"Good morning Keisha," most of the students responded, causing her to beam happily.
For a moment, Zack was sure her eyes were resting on his face, but they quickly moved on to the rest of the room.
"As you all know I have a quiz planned for today, so I hope you are all prepared." Her heels clicking the floor, she walked over to the chalkboard to scribble out a few equations. As she was doing so, Zack could only bite his lip at how good her ass looked in that dress.
Shit.
Zack felt his pants tightening uncomfortably.
Fuck.
This had happened to him before, but today seemed to be worse. He was extra horny.
After she was done, Keisha set down the piece of chalk, clapping her hands to remove the dust.
"Now," she announced. "After I take roll, we will begin the test." She looked around the room. "Any questions?"
Scandal: Crossing Boundaries (Scandal Series #1 INTERRACIAL ROMANCE) Page 6
