Around the Way Girls 9

by Moore, Ms. Michel

  She didn’t budge. She stood there, her mind racing, trying to decide what she should do. She thought about trying to run but then thought about what might happen if she didn’t make it out the door. Even if she did make it out the door, where would she go? She knew that she could go to King’s house but she couldn’t stay there forever.

  Without warning she received a hard blow to the back of the head. Falling forward on the sofa, she reached back rubbing the spot where she’d been hit.

  “I asked you to unbutton them pants! What in the fuck are you just standing there for? I don’t have all gotdamn night! Now get the fuck up and do what I asked.”

  She did as he said. After pulling her pants along with her panties down to her knees, she leaned over the arm of the sofa. From behind her, she could hear him fumbling with his clothes. Then he grabbed her and pushed her over some more before she felt his penis trying to find her opening. When he found it, he shoved himself inside of her roughly and without mercy. She let out a loud yelp.

  He hit her in the back of the head again. “Didn’t I tell you to shut the fuck up?” he asked as he pumped in and out of her. She squeezed her eyes together and bit down on her lip as she prayed silently for him to hurry up so that the pain would go away. Thank God for small favors because it didn’t last that long. After about four minutes he let out an animalistic growl and emptied himself inside of her. His flaccid penis slid out of her and he stood up stuffing it back inside of his pants. “Fix your clothes and get the fuck out of here.”

  She fixed her clothes and then felt her way down the hall to her room. She couldn’t see anything so there was no way that she could go into the bathroom and clean herself up. Inside her room, she lay down on the bed and cried herself to sleep.

  When she woke up the next morning the sun was barely up but it was light enough so that she could see. She got up and found some clothes to put on. She hardly had anything to choose from. Her private area was a little sore as she walked down the hall but the pain was bearable. It was the emotional pain that was killing her. She felt so nasty. She went into the bathroom and took off her clothes. When she took off her underwear, Terry’s semen was dried on the insides of her thighs and underwear. What was even more messed up was the fact that there was no hot water being that the lights were off. After washing up in cold water she still felt dirty. She put on her clothes and then brushed her nappy hair back in the classic ponytail that she wore every day and put some Vaseline on her lips. She looked in the mirror and was ashamed of her reflection.

  Grabbing her book bag she walked down to the bus stop. She was mad early but it didn’t matter because she needed some time alone. She sat down on the sidewalk placing her stuff next to her. She took out her notebook and began to write a poem:

  Untitled

  As I lay here in the dark my face drenched in tears

  I’ve been living in this world of intolerable pain for years.

  A burden to everyone I feel so alone.

  I pray for the day when my Father finally calls me home.

  I’m ready to give up no need to go on.

  This is a battle that can’t be won.

  You’ve stripped away all that I had.

  Beaten me until my blood flowed like an endless river of red.

  Raped me and taken away my dignity.

  Scarring me both emotionally and psychologically.

  Leaving me to drown in this misery.

  For you it was over when you were done.

  But for me the pain is never gone.

  Neither is the sadness and fear.

  Which is why I lie here in the dark with my face drenched in these tears.

  Breezy closed her notebook, looking up and down the street. She saw a few people headed in the direction of the bus stop, one of them being King with two of the guys he hung out with, Jalen and Sean. Sean was cool but Jalen always looked at her like she had a disease or something; but he knew better than to say something slick because King would be in his shit with the quickness.

  When they reached her, they all spoke and so did she.

  “Did you study for our test last night?” King asked as he took a bite of a bacon and egg sandwich that he had wrapped in a paper towel.

  “Nah, I didn’t get any studying done last night. I went to bed as soon as I got home but I pretty much already know everything that’s going to be on the test.”

  “Good.” He smiled showing off a mouthful of food.

  Breezy frowned up her face. She hated when he talked with his mouth full.

  “We gon’ get an A today, buddy.”

  She just shook her head.

  “King, Davita was asking about you yesterday,” Jalen announced grinning and cutting his eyes at Breezy. He was more than sure that she had a thing for King so he assumed that his announcement would hurt her feelings because she was nowhere near on Davita’s level. She couldn’t dress, her hair was always nappy, and sometimes she even smelled. He couldn’t understand why King hung around her dirty-looking ass but he wouldn’t dare voice his opinion of her because he knew King would flip the script! “I think she want to holla.”

  “Who, Davita Newsome with the big ass?” King asked looking more than interested.

  “Yeah, man, she bad as hell. If I was you I would be all over dat. All the niggas be sweating that ass but she want to holla at yo’ ass. You ain’t got no job and no car! I can’t figure that shit out!” Jalen tried to clown.

  “Shit, me either,” Sean chimed in, laughing.

  “Fuck both of y’all! I’m a fly-ass nigga; that’s why she trying to give a nigga some play!”

  You ain’t never lied, Breezy thought, looking at her best friend as he laughed along with Sean and Jalen. He had the prettiest smile. She looked down at herself and cringed at how unattractive she appeared. She was skinny with no shape, small boobs, caramel-colored skin, and her chin-length hair had broken off all over. She knew that a guy like King wasn’t trying to be seen with a chick like her on his arm. In her opinion all that she had going for herself was book sense.

  “Whatever, nigga!” Jalen laughed. Again he cut his eye at Breezy picking up on how uncomfortable she looked. “You ain’t all of that. I think she’s just trying to give you some pity pussy.”

  “Y’all are just some haters.” King stuck up his middle finger, flipping both Sean and Jalen off.

  Breezy looked up the street and saw the bus approaching and walked a little closer to the edge of the sidewalk because she was tired of listening to the fellas’ conversation. When the bus stopped, she stepped on and took the third seat from the front. She always stayed close to the front but this morning she had a lot on her mind with the incident that had taken place the night before between her and Terry. Most of the time she could pretty much block out all of the horrible things that happened to her; but not knowing if this would be something that he tried again had her worried, because she wasn’t sure of what she should do. The worst part was she couldn’t talk to King about this because she knew that he would confront Terry. She didn’t need any extra problems and didn’t want to cause him any either. She slid down in her seat and looked out the window as the bus pulled off.

  “Kita, did you comb your hair this morning?” Breezy heard Angie Baker ask her cousin.

  Kita burst into laughter. “Nah, girl, you know I don’t be combing it. I just pull it back in that same ol’ dusty ponytail every day. Most of the time I don’t even wash my ass.” She continued to laugh. Breezy knew they were talking about her but decided to do as she always did: ignore them.

  “Yeah, I can smell the scent of fish coming through the seat.” Angie continued to play along.

  “Probably because I’ve been wearing these same drawers since last week,” Kita replied and both girls giggled. The two of them continued to go back, unaware of the fact that Breezy was growing closer and closer to her breaking point.

  Without warning Breezy jumped up on her knees in the seat, turning around she grabbed Kita by th
e front of her hair and started swinging. All of the pent-up anger and frustration that she’d been keeping bottled up inside she was now releasing on her.

  Angie grabbed Breezy’s hair trying to get her off of Kita but it wasn’t working. She pulled harder on Breezy’s hair. “Let go of her, you nasty bitch! Take your hands off of my cousin,” Angie yelled but Breezy didn’t let go nor did she stop swinging. Seeing that pulling her hair wasn’t working, Angie started punching Breezy in her head and face. The blows were coming hard and fast, causing Breezy to finally let go and try to cover her face. No sooner than she let go of Kita’s hair, both girls jumped on her.

  King heard commotion coming from the front of the bus and then everyone started to yell, “Fight! Fight!” Everyone who was in the back including him started trying to get to the front. He could make out that one of the girls was Kita and then he saw Angie and realized that they were both fighting the same person, but couldn’t see who because, whoever it was, they had her down in the seat.

  The bus driver stopped the bus and got out of her seat. “That’s enough! Break it up!” she yelled as she tried to make her way down the aisle but the students were blocking her path trying to see the fight. There was nothing like a good fight first thing in the morning and nobody was trying to have her ruin the excitement by breaking it up.

  “Yo, who they fighting?” King asked Dre’, a boy who lived down the street from him.

  “I think its Breezy,” he responded shrugging his shoulders and looking unsure. “I mean, I can’t say it’s her but it sure looked like her. Ain’t she wearing a blue shirt?”

  King didn’t answer; he just started pushing motherfuckers out of the way trying to get to Breezy. Angie’s cousin Marko stood in the middle of the aisle blocking the way so that he couldn’t get through.

  “Fall back li’l nigga; this ain’t none of yo’ business,” Marko barked, sizing King up like he wanted to do something.

  King had never been a talker so he simply stole him right in the jaw and the two of them began fighting. The next thing they all heard were sirens and police were coming onto the bus. The bus driver had called the police.

  The police broke up the fights, cuffed everyone, and put them in separate police cars. King wasn’t worried about himself at all; his only concern was Breezy and whether she was okay. When they got down to the juvenile center they called everyone’s parents.

  Within twenty minutes after getting the call, Annette showed up mad and raising hell. “Get them damn cuffs off of my son! Y’all act like he done killed somebody or something! He was in a little scuffle. That’s what kids do! Why don’t y’all get off of your lazy asses and go catch some real criminals? You know like some of them boys who’s out there robbing people, raping people, and shooting people? Y’all gone bring some little schoolboys down here just because of a scuffle they had on the school bus!”

  “Ma’am, we understand that but we had to put the cuffs on him. I am going to have to ask you to calm down,” a young black officer told her.

  “Don’t tell me what I am going to have to do when I come down here and you have my son handcuffed like he’s some damn criminal!” Annette continued with her hand on her hip. She was mad as hell seeing her son like that. Not only was she mad at the officers for cuffing him but also mad at him for being in that position. All the way down to the juvenile center she’d been thinking that he’d better have a damn good reason for why he was fighting in the first place. She didn’t play when it came to him going to school and staying out of trouble. She was determined to see to it that he finished school, left Boykins, and became a successful man.

  The officer walked over to where King sat on the bench, next to the other young men cuffed, and undid his cuffs. “We are going to allow you to go with just a warning this time but the next time you are involved in a fight or anything there will be consequences,” the officer explained to King. “Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” King replied nodding his head.

  “Ma’am, I need you to sign a few papers and then you can take him home.”

  Annette looked at King and rolled her eyes. “What about Brionna?” she asked, calling Breezy by her government name. “Is there any way that I can take her home too? I mean, her mother has no transportation so it is going to be hard for her to get a way to come down here and pick her up.”

  “I understand that, ma’am, I really do but her legal guardian has to pick her up,” he explained.

  “I understand,” Annette replied, hating to leave Breezy there but there was nothing she could do about it. She filled out the necessary paperwork required for King to be released and then the two of them left.

  After leaving the detention center the two of them went up to the school so that King could be seen by the principal. The principal wanted to know what had happened on the bus so King told him.

  “You do understand that I am going to have to suspend your son, don’t you, Ms. Collins?” Principal Fenner asked peeking over the rim of his glasses.

  “Yes, sir, I understand.” Annette responded calmly but King knew on the inside she was pissed. He knew that she didn’t play when it came to school and he also knew that she was going to let his ass have it when they got home.

  “Okay then, King, I am giving you five days at home. I will not allow there to be any fighting on the buses or in this school. Do you understand me, son?”

  “Yes, sir,” King answered. He hated being suspended but he felt justified in his actions. It wasn’t like he’d just been fighting for no reason. He’d been fighting for his friend. There was no way he could’ve sat back and allowed two girls to jump Breezy and not at least try to break it up, which was what he’d planned on doing before Marko got in his way.

  After they were done in the principal’s office, Annette got his schoolwork for the next five days from his teachers and they headed home.

  They were sitting at the stoplight waiting for the light to change. Annette looked over at King, who was staring out the window looking as if he was in a trace. Without warning she drew back and backhanded him with every ounce of strength that she could muster. The sound of her hand connecting with his face echoed throughout the car.

  “Oooooouuuch! What did you do that for?” King yelled holding his face and eyeing Annette like she’d lost her mind.

  She slapped him again. The light changed to green before she could hit him again but that didn’t stop her from giving him a piece of her mind. As they drove home she went in on him. “This don’t make no damn sense! I gotta get off from work because your ass is on the bus fighting over Breezy! I am sick of this shit, King! Do you hear me? I’m sick!”

  “But, ma—”

  “But, ma, my ass! Shut up until I am done talking!” she demanded without taking her eyes off the road. “You can’t save Breezy from everything. You cannot fight all of her battles! Breezy has to start fighting for Breezy! I understand that they were jumping her but what were you going to do, fight some girls? Become a woman beater?”

  “Nah, I was going to break it up. I wasn’t going to fight them. I wasn’t going to fight anybody until dude popped off at me!” he told her.

  Annette let out a frustrated breath and shook her head. “Listen, I understand what you were trying to do but as your mother I have to do what is best for you and give you the best advice that I can. Right now my advice to you is step back some and allow Breezy to fight some of her own battles. I hate to see the way that she is being treated and I wish that there was something that I could do to help, but as you saw she doesn’t want anyone to get involved. She keeps on protecting her mama and making excuses for the things that are being done to her in that house.”

  “Ma, I understand what you are saying but that has nothing to do with what happened on the bus. I am not completely sure why Breezy and those girls were fighting but I am going find out. Breezy couldn’t have started it because she doesn’t say a word on the bus and I am sure that she ain’t hit nobody. I know they had t
o have hit her first. Those girls are always picking on somebody and bullying people.”

  “Look all I know is you better not get suspended no damn more,” Annette told him as they pulled up in front of their apartment building. She parked, turned off the ignition, and the two of them got out of the car and went inside.

  “Get started on that schoolwork and then I want you to clean your room, the bathroom, and the living room,” Annette instructed. “I am going to go over to Teresa’s house. Hopefully she’s there and I can let her know what is going on with Breezy.

  Damn, all this because I was trying to do the right thing, King thought as he walked to his room and put his book bag down. Fuck it. As long as Breezy is good it was all worth it. She’d always been a good friend to him and he swore to always be a good friend to her for as long as they both lived.

  He heard the front door slam, telling him that Annette had left to go to Breezy’s house. He got started on his chores and cleaned for most of the afternoon. When he was done he took a shower and lay down. A few hours later, he was awakened by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He looked around the room, realizing that it was now dark. He could smell the aroma of food, which told him that Annette was cooking dinner. He reached over and picked up his cell, which was lying next to him on the bed, and looked at the screen. The number flashing on the screen wasn’t a familiar one. He pressed the send button to answer the call. “Yo, who is this?”

  “Is that how you answer your phone?” a sexy voice asked on the other end.

  “Yeah, I guess,” he replied, confused because he couldn’t place her voice. “Who is this?” he repeated.

  “It’s Davita,” the female voice informed him, giggling. “I hope that you don’t mind, Sean gave me your number.”

  “Nah, it’s cool.” He sat up some in bed, propping a few pillows behind him and getting little bit more comfortable. “So what’s good with you, Ms. Davita?”