“Told you they would,” Paris said, slipping into a low-cut black dress. “But those regular Victoria’s Secret bras are so expensive. That’s why I only buy Pink. Oh dag! Meg, can I borrow your lipstick? I left mine.”
“Yeah, you know where it’s at,” Megan said, changing into a tight burgundy striped tank dress. She hiked up her boobs so they sat right at the neckline.
“And bring down the flat iron,” Kit Kat said, grinning at me. “I wanna hook up her hair.”
“What’s . . . going on?” I asked.
Megan smiled. “We didn’t want to tell you ’cause . . . we just wanted to make sure you were cool.”
“Kit Kat brought you some clothes to borrow since y’all almost the same size,” Paris added.
Kit Kat dug into her book bag and passed me a skirt and a black top. “These should fit.”
“I got the iron,” Paris said, running back downstairs, her thick lips now rosy pink.
“Hurry up, we only got ten minutes before the cab gets here.”
“Where we going?”
Megan plopped in front of me, grinning wide, and pulled out her makeup kit.
“To a party.”
A breeze hit my bare stomach as I stepped out of the cab parked in front of a cream-and-brick two-story home in Hyattsville, Maryland, not far from the PG County Mall. I recognized the route as we drove. Daddy would kill me if he found me roaming out here without him.
Especially dressed like this.
The crop top Kit Kat let me borrow might as well have been a bra, and the skirt sat so short I’d only have to bend slightly before an ass cheek popped out. I begged to keep my jean jacket so I would have pockets to stash my money and lip gloss, but really so I wouldn’t feel naked.
Following the low thud of music, I trailed behind a grinning Megan, heading around to the back. Paris, Kit Kat, and Shannon strutted like supermodels—hair, outfits, faces flawless. I stumbled down the concrete path in Megan’s high-heeled boots like a clown on stilts.
The music grew louder as we approached a door under the back deck. A guy stood in front with his eyebrow raised. Megan whispered a few words in his ear as he gave us a once-over, eyes falling on me. He probably could see through my caked foundation, glued-on lashes, and ruby-red lipstick and just KNEW I didn’t belong. Panicking, I grabbed my compact and checked to make sure my edges were straight, flashing him a smile. He nodded at Megan before letting us in. We clunked down the steep steps to a smoky low-ceilinged basement, full of kids just like us. Well, not like me, but older kids—high school kids. They stood in thick clusters, drinking, laughing, grinding on each other. But the room came to a standstill when we entered, as if they had all zeroed in on the one outsider in the room: me.
A boy, tall, with brown skin and a splash of freckles on his cheeks, moved through the crowd in our direction, his expressionless eyes locked on us. He’s about to kick me out, I thought, taking an unsteady step toward the door.
“Hey, babe,” he said to Paris, roping his arms around her waist and pulling her into a tight hug. They kissed. And I don’t mean a regular kiss. I mean, they were kissing like they could drown in each other. I kept my eyes on the floor to keep from staring. Megan smirked, bumping me with her shoulder.
“Sorry I’m late,” Paris cooed.
“That’s okay. I missed you today.”
Paris gazed up at him. “I missed you too.”
Kit Kat faked a gag. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”
We made our way through the packed room, all eyes on us. I focused on keeping my balance as a million questions ran through my head: Who are all these kids? Whose house is this? Do their parents know they dress like this? And do any of them know my parents and will they tell on me?
On the table in the corner sat rows of half-empty bottles of brown liquor, a bag of melting ice, and a stack of red cups. Kit Kat and Megan went to work mixing drinks.
“What’s this?” I asked as Megan shoved a cup in my hand.
“It’s good. Just try it!”
Kit Kat sucked her teeth. “Don’t be a baby.”
“I ain’t no baby,” I snapped with a cold stare.
“Yeah? Then prove it,” she spat, flicking the cup.
Be in the moment, Claudia.
I licked my lips, closed my eyes, and took a big gulp. The lukewarm liquor ran down my throat like a thousand knives, and I held back a cough.
“See, told you she was cool,” Megan said, nudging Kit Kat. “She’s too pretty to be all uptight.”
Kit Kat laughed. “Whatever.”
They giggled, the way Monday and I used to, which made me only want to drink more to erase the memories.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
I flinched, spitting out my drink. His rough voice could have brought the whole party to a stop. Michael stood behind me, so close I had to step back to look up at him. His eyes went wide as he stared down at my bare stomach. What is he doing here? This wasn’t his crowd at all.
“Um . . . I—”
“We brought her,” Megan said, looping her arm through mine.
Michael clenched his cup. “Megan, you crazy to bring her up in here,” he seethed. “You know she ain’t ready for all this!”
“And she ain’t never gonna be ready if everybody keep on babying her,” Megan snapped back. “How long y’all gonna keep her in the dark?”
He rolled his eyes, turning to me. “Your mom know you’re here?”
Shannon raised an eyebrow, mouthing an “oh shit” to Megan and Kit Kat. Michael’s only a year older than me, yet I felt caught red-handed by Daddy. How dare he try to embarrass me in front of everybody!
“Does your mom know you’re here? Or your dad, wherever he is,” I snapped. “I mean, dang! Why you sweating me?”
Michael’s mouth dropped as if I punched him in the throat. He shook his head before storming off to some friends hanging by the DJ. Guilt crept in quick. Maybe I went too far.
Megan smirked as if reading my mind. “He’ll be fine. Come on, let’s chill over here.”
We sat on a smelly gray sofa under the basement steps next to Paris, Andre, and a couple of his friends. The party was cranking, folks laughing and dancing, when it hit me: I’m at a high school party! How would I tell Monday about this? About my hair, my makeup, the nasty brown drink in my cup making my body tingle.
Michael stayed in the corner, his eyes flicking in my direction every thirty seconds. I shouldn’t have been so mean to him. Talking about his dad was a low blow. But I didn’t need a babysitter.
“He’s all worried about you,” Megan whispered. “He’s feeling you.”
“Naw, we just friends from church,” I said with a laugh, trying to downplay it. The same way he always downplayed me. “He thinks he’s my big brother or something.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, he don’t act that way with other girls at school. And they all over him.”
I snuck a glance of him in the corner. Other girls?
“What . . . what you mean?”
“I mean, girls be trying to get with him. But he don’t pay them no mind. Not like you.” She took another greedy sip. “When you get to high school, all the boys are gonna want you.”
My heart fluttered like bee wings. “You think so?”
“Yeah, ’cause you’re real pretty. That’s probably why he’s trying to claim you early.”
The DJ turned up the music a little louder. An “Ooooo . . .” came from the crowd, everyone feeling the vibe. Those standing around piled in the center of the room.
“Y’all, come on,” Megan said, pulling us all off the couch.
At first everyone did their own thing, but then a boy jumped in the middle, doing dances that Monday and I had perfected months ago.
“I could do that,” I laughed, the liquor letting all kinds of words slip out my mouth.
“Girl, what you waiting for, then?” Kit Kat shouted, pushing me into the middle.
“No! I . . .”
With her hard shove I slammed right into the boy. He smirked, popping in my face, and I laughed. He thinks he’s really doing something, I thought. Let me show him how it’s done!
With the alcohol, I felt lighter somehow, a weight lifted off my back. And that’s when I started to move. I mean, really move, hitting every step. The boy and I battled, folks cheering us on.
“Get it, Claudia!” Megan screamed over the music. Just like that, I’m back in my living room, in my bubble with Monday, feeling alive. Next, the DJ put on a go-go track and everyone joined us in the chop shop. The song ended with cheers and high fives all around. Megan hugged me, laughing like crazy as we kept dancing. And as happy as I felt, I couldn’t help thinking that Monday had always wanted to be a part of this crowd. She wanted this life. And here I am, living it without her.
“Damn, you so sexy when you dance,” a deep voice said behind us.
Megan’s back straightened before she spun around. “Oh my God! You came!”
Kam grinned and she jumped into his arms.
“I thought you couldn’t make it,” Megan said, her face red and sweaty.
They started kissing and swaying slow. I felt silly standing there watching them, but I didn’t know where else to go. The girls were back on the sofa with the boys, kissing. I mean, REALLY kissing, tongues in each other’s mouths, hands up shirts, touching their mother’s bras. So I stayed on the floor, next to Megan and Kam. I kept dancing, lost in the music until some boy pushed up behind me, holding my hips. I froze, looking to Megan for help. She nodded and mouthed an “it’s okay.”
It’s cool; this is what girls do at parties, I told myself, and kept dancing—with a boy I couldn’t see, the alcohol making my waist wind faster. The boy pulled me tighter to him, heat pulsing off his chest. And it felt . . . well . . . good. Like I could dance all night with him. My heart raced, wondering if it was Michael moving on me like this, touching me like this. Bet I’m not just some church girl now!
I glanced over in the corner at Michael talking to some girl with long gold braids. Smiling all in her face. Didn’t he care some guy was rubbing on my booty, breathing all hard in my ear?
“Damn, I didn’t know you could do it like this,” the guy whispered over my shoulder, and my entire body hiccupped before I wiggled out of his grip.
Jacob.
“What’s up?” he said with a smirk, reaching for my waist again. I shoved him, disgusted. How could I have let him feel up on me like that? How could I have betrayed Monday? My stomach heaved, and I raced to the back, cupping my mouth. I needed a bathroom.
“Claudia, wait, hold up,” he called, chasing after me. “We gotta talk.”
“We ain’t got nothing to talk about. You did my friend dirty!”
He scanned the room, checking if anyone overheard me. But with the party popping, no one paid us any mind. He gently held my arm, pulling me toward an open room in the back.
“Come here for a sec, I gotta tell you the truth.”
I snatched my arm back, fumbling, the liquor making my body extra light.
“You think I’m stupid? I ain’t going anywhere with you, so you can turn around and say we did something! And I ain’t never gon’ do something with your bamma ass.”
Jacob huffed, steadying a hand on the wall in the hallway so I couldn’t pass him. “What you doing here anyways?”
“I’m chilling with my friends!”
“You mean Megan and them? Really?”
“Why you say it like that?” I snapped.
“No reason! My brother just all in love with her, so I guess she’s aight.”
I peeked over his shoulder at Megan, dancing with Kam, both lost in each other’s eyes.
“Your brother? Kam’s your brother?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. We got different dads, but we still brothers.”
No wonder I thought he looked so familiar. “But . . . Kam’s a good guy! And you’re . . .”
Jacob’s face tightened. “Man, whatever.”
I swallowed. “You said something about you were gonna tell me the truth. What’d you mean by that?”
Jacob rolled his eyes. “Aight, look. Me and Monday . . . we DID do something.” He took a deep breath. “She . . . sucked my dick. I didn’t really want it to happen, it just kinda . . . did.”
“Ew, that’s nasty! You lying!”
“I swear on my moms, she did! She just kept saying she really wanna be together, was trying to come in my house and stuff all the time . . . My moms said she was too fast.”
That word fast stuck out like a thorn threatening to pop my bubble. No way. Monday would never do something like that. Right?
“And then you turn around and told everybody we were lesbians!”
He sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “My brother said it was foul, what I said about y’all, so I went by her house to apologize. But her mom kirked out on me, chased me down the block! Guess I know why now.”
“Wait, you went to her house? When?”
“You know, right after school ended. I thought I’d see her on the courts for the league games or maybe at the rec center, since she took those swim lessons, but I didn’t see her all summer.” His eyes went blank for a moment, as if thinking back. “Then school started, and then . . . she was gone.”
My foggy brain tried to catch everything he threw at me with slippery fingers. Rec center? Swimming?
“She never hung out at the rec center,” I mumbled.
His faced screwed up. “You kidding? She was there almost every day.”
He’s lying, I thought. But it was hard to ignore the way his eyes went childlike talking about her.
“Man, I be thinking about what happened . . . all the time now.” He sighed, shaking his head. “You miss her, right?”
I swayed like breeze hitting a tree, my body weightless.
“Aye. Claudia, you aight?” Jacob asked, grabbing my arm to stop me from falling.
“What’s going on over here?” Michael stood behind me like a big-ass shadow, his voice booming. Jacob had to arch his neck just to look at him.
“Nothing,” Jacob muttered, letting go of me. “We were just talking.”
Michael gave him a once-over. He cracked his knuckles against his side, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you some water.”
I nodded, ready to run away from Jacob and the thoughts that had my head spinning. As we walked off, I yelled over my shoulder, “Don’t even think about telling people we danced together at this party!”
Jacob rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”
Michael raised an eyebrow, leading me out of the hallway back to the makeshift bar. I didn’t notice the cooler full of waters and sodas underneath the table before. He passed me a bottle of water and grabbed a Coke for himself. We leaned against the wall near the DJ, staying out of the way of folks.
“So. You chillin’ with these girls now?” he asked, his voice hard.
“Why everyone so surprised? I mean, damn! You so busy worrying about me, why you here?”
He squirmed. “Teammates came. I couldn’t just say no.”
“Well, my dance-mates came, and I couldn’t just say no!”
He smirked. “Dance-mates not a real word.”
I smiled back at him, leaning into his arm, my balance off.
“Claudia . . . about the other day when . . .” He looked around the room. “Well, you know. I was just trying to make you feel better. I didn’t want you feeling . . . different. You’re just like everybody else.”
I stared up into his chocolate eyes, melting in their sweetness but distracted by a strange hush that came over the room. Everyone gawked at the door as a thick group of guys entered, their eyes low and a cloud of smoke hanging above their heads. The energy in the room collapsed; even the music turned down, replaced by loud whispers. And walking right behind them was April. For the first time, we had similar wardrobes—crop top, skirt, boots, and huge gold hoops. Her hair in a hig
h, frizzy bun, lips dark pink and glossy. Even at a party, she still seemed out of place. Megan whispered in Kam’s ear and glanced at me.
The guys headed for the drinks, everyone shuffling out of their way. April followed, holding a defiant face, pretending the entire room wasn’t staring at her.
Jacob scooted next to me. “Lynch mob boys. What they doing here?”
“I don’t know,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes. Of all the places, why he got to stand by me?
The dudes lit up blunts, heckling the other kids. No one felt like dancing anymore.
“How the fuck we gonna get rid of these bammas?” someone whispered behind us.
“Cuz, we ain’t going nowhere!” one of the guys barked, and the room stiffened.
“We should go,” Michael whispered, hovering closer. “Before this gets ugly.”
April fidgeted, bouncing on the balls of her feet, a ticking time bomb.
“Is she fucking all of them?” a girl whispered, but loud enough for April to hear.
“Girl, I don’t know,” another girl whispered back. “You know how them bobblehead broads from Ed Borough be.”
April seemed calm, but her eyes looked wildly for an escape. Desperate, she pulled at one of the guys’ jacket, mumbling something to him. He shook his head, waving her off. She tapped him again, this time more determined.
“Bitch, I said not now!” he snapped, and the room froze.
April reeled back as if shot in the face, bumping into a girl behind her. And that’s when she spotted me standing against the wall—standing next to Jacob. Her eyes flicked between us. My stomach sank to the floor.
“Oh shit,” I breathed.
Her eyes narrowed and she bolted for the door.
She’s going to tell Monday I was at a party without her. With Jacob! She’ll never speak to me again! I had to stop her.
I skipped around Michael, rushing through the sweaty bodies, up the stairs, and busting out the door.
“April!” I screamed, the cold air smacking against my moist skin. I stumbled down the path. “April, wait!”
April froze midstride, her shoulders dropping before she turned to face me. “Yeah, what?”
Monday's Not Coming Page 19
