“For real, that is so tight. So you just moved here to D.C.?”
“I’m staying with my grandmother. I used to live in Virginia and go to school there.”
“What school? My cousin lives in northern Virginia.”
“I went to Hazelhurst.”
She shook her head that she’d never heard of it. “This is my house,” she said. We stopped walking. “I usually walk to school. The school buses take too long. So, I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, I think I’m in your English and French class. If you need any help catching up, let me know.”
“Thanks. See you tomorrow,” I said and kept walking. My grandmother lived on the next block. As soon as I saw the house I felt relieved. Then I heard my name called. I knew that voice, I turned around. Li’l T came running up behind me.
“Hey, you heard me calling you girl. You ain’t stop.”
“Hello, I stopped, duh. I’m standing here aren’t I.”
“I saw you at school today, girl. You go to the penitentiary? Since when?”
“Since today,” I said, walking.
Li’l T followed. “Girl, you look good. Why don’t you hook a brotha up with those digits.” I started laughing. “I’m serious. You and me can do this thing now that Lurch is out of the way.”
“Lurch? Who’s that?” I asked, then it hit me. He was talking about LaVon. I laughed harder. LaVon was tall and thin. He was six-foot-three, and I guess maybe he did do the Lurch thing, particularly since Li’l T was so short.
“Ah, but what about Terrence?” I asked.
“You ain’t seeing Terrence I know.”
“Why not, what’s wrong with Terrence?”
“Nah, nah, chill. He aright, I guess. He’s too old for you. You need some young blood. Check, I know how to treat a girl.”
“Li’l T, Terrence is seventeen. I’m sixteen. We’re a year apart age-wise. Besides, you need to find somebody your age.”
“Nah, bump that. Them young girls too silly. I want a mature babe on my arm.”
“I don’t think my grandmother’s seeing anybody,” I joked.
“See, you wrong, messing with a brother like that. You wrong.”
“I’m sorry,” I said and wrapped my arm around his shoulder, “I was just playing. You know you my homeboy.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got your homeboy. So, like, you in eleventh?” I nodded. “That’s tight. So why don’t you hook a brotha up with your girl’s number.”
“Li’l T, Chili is not my girl. We don’t even talk.”
“Nah, man. I ain’t talking about that hoochie. She played out like the eighties.”
“What do you know about the eighties. You weren’t even born then.”
“I hear things. I’m up on my old school.”
“You don’t even know what old school is,” I said.
“I know old school, and I know Chili is past it.”
“I bet,” I said as we approached my grandmother’s house. I stared up the path. “So wait, who were you talking about? Jalisa or Diamond?”
“Diamond.”
“Diamond? Oh, please. Stop dreaming,” I said. “She would make you cry and you know it.” I started laughing. Li’l T was a trip. He was always into something. I walked up the path just as my cell rang. It was a text message from Terrence. -Sup, how was sk00l?-
“Yo, yo, hook me up. Think about it.”
“Bye,” I said, and waved without looking back. I got to the front door and reached for my key. My dad opened the door. Crap, I didn’t even notice his car parked out front. “Hey, Dad.”
“Get in here. We need to talk.”
I walked into the living room and dropped my heavy book bag. My little brothers were there talking to my grandmother. As soon as I walked in, they looked up and ran to me. “Kenisha,” Jr. yelled. Jason mimicked him.
“Hey Peanut, hey Butter,” I said, palming their heads like I always did when they got fresh haircuts. “How you guys doing?”
“Fine,” Jason said, holding on to my hand while Jr. started taking my books out the book bag.
“Mrs. King, would you please take the boys to the…”
“Hey guys, guess what? My grandmother made gingerbread men cookies the other day. I think we still have some in the kitchen.”
“Yeah.” They started screaming and jumping up and down. My grandmother stood up and cleared her throat. They immediately silenced, calmed down and looked at her. I shook my head and chuckled. Courtney would never be able to do that. My grandmother led the boys to the kitchen, and I stayed with my dad in the living room.
“I started at Penn Hall High School today,” I said, figuring I’d get the conversation started and over with. I knew he was mad. His face was red-hot.
“Yes, I heard. And I can’t believe you would do something so stupid…” he began.
Yep, I was right, he was mad.
“…what’s wrong with you? First you’re arguing with teachers, not doing your assignments, fighting. Now you just walk out and not listen. You’re thoughtless and…”
I could not believe he was actually saying that. He called me thoughtless. Talk about being a hypocrite. Please. It was his stupid drama with Courtney that started all this mess from the very beginning. I don’t know why he had to go there.
“…your behavior is totally unacceptable and I’m not putting up with it anymore. Courtney is right. You do act like a pampered brat…”
And she would know. She’s a hypocrite, too.
“…I told you that I was getting a tutor and then you just walked out without saying a word to me. I told you to stay in the house, I called all day Saturday looking for you. Did it ever occur to you that I might have been concerned?”
“Yes, but I was supposed to come here Saturday, so I did.”
“That’s not the point, Kenisha. I specifically told you to be at the house when I got back.”
“Dad, the only reason I decided to go to Penn Hall is because that’s where you wanted me to go before, so I just figured I might as well go there now.”
“But you knew I was talking about getting a tutor.”
“Courtney was right. There’s no need to spend all that money for a private tutor. I can go to Penn Hall for the rest of the semester then transfer back to Hazelhurst next semester. I’ll keep up with my grades at Penn Hall, plus do extra work to prepare for the Hazelhurst placement exam. I can do this. I know I messed up, but it’s not fair for everybody to suffer because of me.”
“Kenisha, it’s not about saving money. I told you to stay at the house. I meant it. I’m the parent, I make the decisions about your future, not the other way around. I’d rather you have a tutor. You don’t know Penn Hall.”
“But I went there today and nothing happened. I got my books and my classes, and I even met someone in my class who lives down the street. Her name’s Cassie and she’s nice.”
He didn’t say anything. He just stood there. “You’re just like your mother, stubborn and obstinate. When did that happen?”
I half smiled. “Funny, she always said the same thing about me being like you.”
He shook his head and sat. “I really miss her,” he said.
“But Dad…” I started.
“I know, I know,” he said interrupting, “if I loved her this much, then why Courtney?” He looked away, shook his head and sighed heavily. “The truth is I don’t have an answer for that. Your mother and I began our relationship like an explosion. I fell in love with her the instant I saw her. She was with someone else…”
“Jaden, Jade’s father. I know. I heard about the car accident.”
“She never got over it. I’d hoped that I could take away some of her pain. Then after you were born, she was so happy. She had both of you with her. In the end, I don’t know if anything I could have said or done would have changed things. Rehab didn’t work so…”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “Mom was in rehab? When?”
“She went to visit a sick friend, at least that’s what
we told everybody, even you. You were probably too young to remember. She was away for about six weeks. That’s when you stayed here with your grandmother a while.”
“I don’t remember. So what happened after rehab?”
“She came back, she was her old self again—happy, fun and beautiful. Then I guess the demons returned,” he said then stared away. I waited for him to continue, but he seemed lost in his memories.
“I guess it is what it is,” I said.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said, then focused on me, seeming to snap out of his memory haze. “Okay, so fine. You go to Penn Hall and keep up with your grades because you are finishing your education at Hazelhurst. Barbara would have wanted it, and I do, too.”
“I’m going back,” I affirmed without a doubt.
Dad stood and looked down at me. He nodded and smiled. “I better get back to Courtney. She’s probably worried about us.”
“This pregnancy is hard on her, huh?” I asked. “I mean she’s always pissed off about something. Is it hormones or what?”
“Yeah, but she’s actually a very sweet woman. I do care about her.”
“Do you love her?” I asked cautiously.
“I don’t know. It’s not like it was with your mother.”
“Are you going to marry her?” I asked.
“No,” he said without pause or consideration.
“So why live with her? I know she thinks she’s going to marry you one day. It’s not fair, not that I’m so tight with her or anything like that. It’s just that it’s the same thing you did with Mom.”
“Your mother was the only woman for me, still is. I should have married her, but I didn’t. Marrying someone else wouldn’t seem right.”
“She’s got two of your kids and one on the way,” I said. He just shook his head no, so I figured the conversation was over. We don’t usually do the in-your-face, in-your-business personal thing. I mean, he stays out of my life and I stay out of his, so us talking like this was totally new. I kinda liked it.
He called the boys, and they walked calmly to the front of the house. I knew my grandmother had something to do with that. They had a napkin-wrapped cookie in each hand. The smile on their faces was outrageous. “Kenmesh, look what your grandmom gave me and Jr. We got cookies. See?” Jason said.
“Yeah, I see it, Jelly.”
“Look, see, mine is almost all gone,” Jr. said.
“Not bad, Bean.”
“We got more, one for me and Jason after dinner and one for dad and one for mom.”
“That’s tight,” I said.
“Thank you, Mrs. King, for everything. I appreciate this. If there is anything you need or anything I can do, please call me.” My grandmother nodded, but didn’t answer. “All right, Penn Hall it is, but with serious restrictions.”
“What restrictions?” I asked. He looked at my grandmother and she nodded again. I figured they had cooked something up before I got home. But I figured I’d deal with it later. I walked my dad and the boys to the car. “Dad, you forgot to wish me happy sweet sixteenth birthday.”
He stopped as if cemented still. He forgot. I hoped he hadn’t, but he obviously had. He turned to me, half smiled and kissed my cheek. “Happy birthday, baby.”
“Thanks.”
I stood waving as they drove off. So, first day of school—again—Monday wasn’t all that bad. I just needed to find out what these restrictions were. I went back in the house. It was time to get started with my new life.
eight
Knock, Knock, Who’s There…
“I hate stupid jokes. They’re never funny.”
—MySpace.com
I was kicking ass with my studies. I had my Penn Hall classes locked down tight. Actually, the classes were harder than I thought. Since it was public school, I guess I thought they were gonna be easy, but they weren’t.
I was also online every day checking out my Hazelhurst classes. My student assignment-link account was still open, so I used it to stay up on what my Hazelhurst classes were doing. I had two sets of books, and every night I did two sets of assignments. It was hard, but I was handling it.
I’d been at Penn Hall for three weeks, and everything was tight. I met a few new friends and was hanging with Cassie mostly. I still hung out with Jalisa and Diamond—that wasn’t going to change.
So it was last period and I was headed to my French class. I was walking down the hall and saw this crowd standing by the lockers. This girl had a PSP and all these other people were gathered around her looking at it. They were talking and laughing. I didn’t stop. I just kept going. I had no intention of getting involved with new drama.
“That’s her. There she is.”
I kept walking.
“See, I told y’all she think she all cute.”
“I heard she tried to kill somebody with a knife over this guy.”
“I can see that. Look at her. You can tell she’s a skank.”
I had no idea who they were talking about. I know about a handful of people in this school, so whoever it was didn’t concern me.
“She think she cute ’cause she had Tyrece at her party.”
Okay, hard to ignore. They were obviously talking about me. But I wasn’t about to deal with this. I ignored them and just walked inside the class. I sat in my seat and opened my book. Everybody else started coming in. Crap. I hadn’t noticed that three of the girls who were outside talking were in my French class. I focused on my book as Cassie came in laughing and sat next to me.
“Hey girl, you ain’t tell me you was famous,” she said.
“I’m what?” I asked.
“Don’t be fronting. You’re famous. You’re Jade’s sister, right. You know Tyrece Grant. I saw you and him all hugged up on this website. He did a concert for your sixteenth birthday,” she said. “When was that?”
“What? No. He didn’t do a concert for my birthday.”
The late bell rang, and our teacher closed the classroom door. “It’s all over school,” Cassie whispered continuing. “And I didn’t know you were seeing LaVon Oliver,” she added as the teacher started walking around handing out graded reports.
“Yeah, so? That was months ago. We broke up,” I said. Actually it was only about a month ago, but for some reason it seemed like a lot longer. I guess ’cause so much had happened.
“Well, you need to be careful ’cause I heard that some of the guys were talking about getting with you ’cause you like to open your legs.”
“I like to what?” I asked, completely shocked.
She held her hands up like she was surrendering. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just giving you a heads-up. You got a rep now. The guys think you’re an easy lay and the girls think you’re a skank.”
“Shit,” I said too loudly, just as the teacher walked by.
“Excusez-moi, Mademoiselle Lewis, qu’avez-vous dit?”
The classroom suddenly got quiet. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I don’t know why I thought I could just go about my business and not sit in somebody’s spotlight. “Merde,” I said correcting myself in French. The teacher pursed her lips, and the rest of the class laughed. In advanced French class we were only allowed to speak French, so I did.
Class dragged on for the next ninety minutes. When the bell rang, I damn near broke a record trying to get out of there. Usually I hang around and walk Cassie to her locker. Then she walks me to my locker, and we walk home together. Today, I just needed to be out of there.
So I was at my locker getting the books I needed for the weekend, and this guy comes up to me. I looked at him and remembered Cassie’s warning. Obviously this was the beginning.
“Hey, I’m Troy.”
I kept stuffing books in my backpack. “Hey.”
“You’re Kenishiwa, right. So what are you doing this weekend?”
“Excuse me?”
“What are you doing this weekend? Maybe I can come over to your house. We can hang out.”
I lo
oked him up and down. He was cute and all, obviously on some kind of sports team ’cause he had a jersey and letter jacket on. Then I noticed these guys standing across the hall watching us. It was LaVon and his boys all over again.
“Thanks, but I’m busy this weekend,” I said, closing my locker and slinging my book bag over my shoulder. I walked away.
“Hey, hey, wait. Come on. Tell you what, why don’t you come over to my house then? My folks will be there, and I’ll be a perfect gentleman, I swear.”
“No thanks. I gotta go.” I walked away barely seeing Cassie waiting for me down the hall. She was sitting on the bench at the exit, then stood when I approached.
“Damn, girl. Troy? You hanging with Troy now? Sierra is gonna freak.”
“What? No. He just came up talking some crap. I have a boyfriend, and it’s not LaVon.”
“What school does he go to?”
“College.”
“You’re seeing some guy in college? How old is he?”
I glanced at her. For some reason her being all up in my business seemed odd. “His name is Terrence Butler. He used to go here.”
“I remember him. He lives around the way. You’re seeing him? Nice. I don’t blame you for blowing Troy off and dumping LaVon.”
“LaVon wasn’t all that. And no we weren’t together like that no matter what you heard about me.”
“See, I knew all that was just talk,” she said. “So what are you doing this weekend?”
“I don’t know. Probably go to Howard and see Terrence,” I said, knowing that I was lying. I’d never been to his dorm room, but for some reason it was important for Cassie to know that Terrence and I were tight like that.
“So tell me about Tyrece. What’s he like really?”
“He’s a nice guy. He’s funny, but he tells the worst jokes in the world. Sometimes he comes over to the house with Gayle and his friends. We all just sit around watching TV and hanging out.”
“Gayle? You mean Gayle Harmon?” she asked.
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