Lying to Live (4 page)
Authors: Darrien Lee
Domingo walked over to his friend and patted him on the shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.
“Bro, I like how you handled yourself with those bigheaded cops. They love sweating brothas.”
Julius turned to his friend and said, “I know.”
Domingo pulled a Gatorade out of the refrigerator and asked, “Why didn't you tell me you put in an application to work here?”
Thankful that one of the detectives was able to divert suspicion from him, he continued the lie and said, “Since my dad has been out of work, I thought it was a good place to work after school to try to help out. Too bad Remy never got a chance to hire me.”
Walking toward the register, Domingo asked, “Yeah, that's too bad. So are you still going to try to work here?”
Julius sat his purchases on the countertop and said, “No way. Besides, my mom freaked when I told her I had put an application in here.”
Domingo pulled his money out of his pocket and said, “Good thing you weren't working here that night, huh? You could've got shot too.”
Domingo had no idea how close his statement was to the truth. The two friends paid for the Gatorade and bottled water and headed back toward the exit. When they walked outside to join their other friends, they found them occupied with a couple of girls.
Julius opened a bottle of Gatorade and said, “Looks like it's going to be a minute before we're ready to play ball.”
“Those girls ain't about nothing,” Domingo said before sitting down on a bench.
“My dad said as soon as he finds work, we're going to move,” Julius announced.
“Move? Where?” Domingo asked.
“We don't know yet, but it'll be out of here. I'm tired of dodging bullets.”
“How are we going to play ball if you move out of the neighborhood?” Domingo asked before taking a sip of Gatorade.
“We'll work it out,” Julius assured him. “Come on. We have time for one more game before dark.”
“Count me in!” Domingo answered as he climbed off the bench and yelled for their other friends to join them. Unfortunately, it took a few minutes, because they were working hard to get cell numbers from the girls they were talking to. After some clever begging from the guys, the girls happily scribbled out their numbers on their store receipts.
Just then Julius noticed a dark Dodge Charger coming down the street. It came to a stop right at the corner, at the stop sign. Behind the wheel of the car sat none other than Viper, and one of his boys was in the passenger seat. Just the mere sight of him made Julius extremely nervous. Viper looked over and noticed the young men hanging out outside the store, but it was Julius that he made eye contact with. Before driving off, Viper nodded at Julius, who seemed to be the only one in his group who noticed the two pull up.
“Did you see that?” Julius asked Domingo.
“What?” Domingo asked as he finished texting.
“Viper just rolled by in his car with one of his boys. Do you think somebody told him about those cops talking to us?”
“Nah. He would've come over here if he suspected anything.”
Unconvinced on the inside, Julius had no choice but to hope that Domingo was right. The young men made the short walk to the basketball court and put their drinks and bags down on the bleachers. Domingo immediately threw an alley-oop pass to six foot tall sophomore Jeremy Green, who dunked it, drawing a lot of screams and high fives from spectators.
Julius glanced at the time on his cell phone and yelled, “Let's do this!”
The teens started playing the last game of the evening.
Chapter Four
Dear Diary,
School was all good today. I'm tutoring a new student named Julius. He's cute, but he's too young for me. I would introduce him to my neighbor, Kane, but she's in love. LOL! Maybe my matchmaking days are over (sigh). Anyway, he seems nice and he's very smart, but there are times when he totally shuts down on me, which leads me to believe there's something else going on with him. I don't know if he's being bullied or if there's trouble at home. Whatever's going on, I want him to see me as a friend and mentor. Who knows . . . He just might open up to me in due time. You know I'm all about helping my friends. Then again, that's what usually gets me into trouble. LOL! Well, got to go. I see my student coming.
Smooches!
D
Julius walked over to the table and slid into his seat without making eye contact with Denim. He'd been stressing ever since the shooting, and it was beginning to take a toll on him.
“Well, hello to you too,” Denim said to him with an agitated tone of voice.
“Hey, Denim. Sorry,” he mumbled.
She studied his expression and asked, “Are you okay?”
He sighed and said, “Yeah, I'm cool.”
“Look at me,” she demanded.
Julius slowly looked up at her and could see that she was not amused by his behavior, and he realized that his parents wouldn't be, either, if they saw how he was treating her. Then, just as he was about to speak, she put her hand in front of him and stood.
“Hold that thought. Our conversation needs to take place in private,” she announced. “Let's go.”
Stunned, Julius continued to sit.
Denim tugged on the hood of his hoodie and repeated, “I said, let's go.”
Julius closed his books like a chastised child and slowly followed Denim toward the library exit. Once outside she pointed over to a picnic table underneath a row of trees near the soccer field and said, “Let's do this outside today. You seem like you need some fresh air, because your mind seems clouded.”
They made their way over to the picnic table in silence and sat down across from each other. A cool breeze rustled through the leaves, and they could hear a few birds chirping in the trees nearby. It was a peaceful scene, even though Julius's emotional state was extremely tense.
“Are you ready to do some work now?” Denim asked.
“Not really, but I'll try,” he answered as he looked into her concerned eyes.
She shook her head and shoved her books into her book bag. “Your mind's not in it today. Is there something you want talk about?”
“No . . . maybe,” he answered in confusion.
“You're paying for the time, so it's your time whether we're doing math or whatever. Whether we're successful and meet the goal you want to meet is up to you.”
Julius tapped his pencil on the table for several seconds. He looked into Denim's eyes and said, “I'm not really feeling it today, Denim. I have other stuff on my mind right now.”
She sat down and asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
He lowered his eyes and said, “Not today. I just want to chill. Is that okay with you?”
“Like I said, it's your dime, not mine. So what do you want to do?”
He smiled and said, “Can you shoot hoops?”
She stood and said, “I do okay. Is that what you want to do?”
“Yeah,” he answered as he threw his book bag over his shoulders.
“Let's go over to the court. I think I have one of Dré's basketballs in my trunk.”
Julius and Denim slowly make their way out to her car to get the basketball. Seconds later they began a game of horse on one end of the court, while a group of guys played three on three on the other side. After the first game, Julius started to loosen up.
“You're better than I expected you to be,” Julius stated. “I guess dating a star basketball player has it perks.”
Denim bounced the ball and took a shot, missing the goal.
“To tell you the truth, I could play ball before I started dating Dré. I have an older brother, and we used to play together all the time.”
Julius bounced the ball and took a shot, hitting it. He turned to her and said, “I know you picked up something from being around Dré.”
Denim knocked the basketball out of his hand, and while dribbling it, she said, “You underestimate my skills. I see I'm going to have to stop playing with you.”
“Oh, is that what you've been doing?” he asked with a chuckle.
She took the shot from the spot where Julius had previously made his basket and got nothing but the net.
“Damn!” Julius yelled, because he had taken the shot from almost center court.
Denim put her hands on her hips before moving to another area on the court and said, “I tried to tell you. Now we're going to do this by my rules.” She made a baseline shot and said, “Instead of playing horse, we're going to do algebra.”
“Are you serious?” Julius asked, pouting somewhat as he dribbled the ball.
“Don't whine, Julius. Algebra is the reason we're spending time together, right?”
“Whatever,” he answered as he missed his shot.
“Okay, I'm going to mix things up a little bit,” she explained. “I'm going to ask you algebra questions, and if you get it right, you get to ask me questions. Get it wrong, I get to ask you other questions not pertaining to algebra. Is that fair?”
Julius was a little reluctant to agree to her terms, but he eventually decided to go along with her. Denim wasted no time asking Julius to solve algebra equations they had been studying. Some he got right, and some he got wrong. When he got a particular question wrong, Denim decided to ask him a very personal question.
“Since you missed that shot, here's your first question not related to algebra.”
Julius looked at her in anticipation of the question and clenched his teeth.
“Why were so tense in the library earlier? And I want the truth, Julius Graham.”
He blushed and dribbled the basketball without making eye contact with her.
“Stop stalling,” Denim demanded. “You have to answer the question without hesitation.”
He shot the ball and hit the shot. “I wasn't tense. It's just that I have stuff on my mind.”
“What kind of stuff?” she asked, pushing him for a more direct answer. “You're not being bullied, are you?”
“No, I'm not being bullied. It's personal, and it's making it hard for me to concentrate.”
Denim looked at her watch and noticed that their time together had ended and it was time to go. “We don't have a lot time to waste, Julius, so whatever you have that's messing with your head, take care of it, because report cards will be coming out soon.”
He stared off across the basketball court at the other students without replying. Denim could tell he was definitely distracted, and she needed to snap him out of it. What she didn't know was how serious his distraction was.
“I'll make sure I'm on top of my game before report cards come out,” he finally told her.
The last thing he wanted was to put Denim in danger, and he knew he had to be as elusive as possible.
“I hope so, because I hate that you're letting something keep you from handling your business with me,” she said as she retrieved the basketball. “I'm here if you ever want to talk.”
“I'll remember that, Professor.”
Denim laughed.
“We'd better get going. Your dad will be looking for you at the library.”
He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and said, “It's okay. I'll text him and let him know where we are. I really had a good time today, even though it didn't start out so well.”
She bumped her shoulder against his and said, “We got some work done. That's what is important, but Wednesday I'm going to come down hard on you, so you'd better be ready.”
“I will,” he replied as they walked toward her car.
As they walked past the guys on the other end of the court, one of them stepped out of the group and yelled out to Denim.
“Yo, Denim. Does Dré know you're kicking with that freshman?”
She put her hand out in his direction and said, “Mind your business, Tybo. This has nothing to do with you.”
He ignored Denim and walked closer to get Julius's attention and started circling him like a lion sizing up his prey. “Yo, freshman! You can't be hanging out with an upperclassman's lady like this. Who do you think you are?”
Denim got between them and said, “Leave him alone, Tybo!”
Julius moved Denim to the side and said, “It's okay, Denim. I can take care of myself.” “Hey, guys, check it out. The freshman has some balls!” Tybo yelled.
Denim grabbed Julius's arm and tried to pull him toward the parking lot. “Let's go, Julius. He's not worth it.”
He pulled away from her and said, “No! If I back down now, these guys will make my life here hell.”
“What the hell is going on?” Dré asked. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He nodded at Julius, then kissed Denim on the lips.
“Dré, I'm glad you're here, to see it for yourself. This freshman is trying to push up on your girl,” Tybo proudly announced.
“That's a lie!” Denim yelled in Julius's defense.
“Hold on, babe,” Dré said, interrupting her. “I want to hear what Tybo has to say. Go ahead, Tybo. Tell me how Julius pushed up on my girl?”
“Dré!” Denim yelled in disbelief. “I know you're not about to listen to this idiot.” “Chill, babe,” he answered as he folded his arms. “I got this.”
Tybo went on to tell Dré how Denim and Julius had been playing around on the court.
He said they were flirting and touching each other. Once he was finished, Dré turned to Julius and discreetly winked at him. Then he turned back to Tybo and gave him the verdict.
“Tybo, it's cool that you call yourself looking out for me, but you don't have to. I trust my girl, and what she's doing with my man, Julius, was strictly business. He's a cool guy, and I don't want you or anyone messing with him. Are we clear?”
Tybo laughed and said, “You didn't see what I saw.”
Dré glared at Tybo and said, “Well, you're wrong, because I've been over there, under the trees, watching for the last fifteen minutes and I didn't see him do anything disrespectful.”
“Whatever, Dré,” Tybo replied as he waved Dré off. “Don't say I didn't try to warn you.”
The trio watched as Tybo rejoined his friends on the court. Dré turned to Julius and said, “I'm glad you stood up to him. Tybo's a big guy and twice your size. You didn't back down, and I admire you for it. You might not believe it now, but he'll respect you standing up to him.”
“I don't care about gaining his respect. I hate liars,” Julius stated.
“Me too,” Dré replied as he hugged Denim's waist and kissed her neck. “So did you guys get any work done today?”
“Julius was a little distracted today, but we were able to get a little work done.”
Julius smiled and said, “I promise I'll have my head in the game at the next session.”
“You'd better,” she answered as they watched his dad pull up and blow the car horn.
“Well, that's my ride. I'll see you guys later.”
“Have a good evening, Julius,” Denim said.
He waved and ran down to his father's car and climbed in. Once he was gone, Dré picked Denim up in his arms and said, “I finally have you all to myself.”
She giggled and buried her face against his warm neck and whispered, “I've missed you today.”
He kissed her tenderly on the lips and said, “I've missed you too.” He sat her down and asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Starving!”
“My dad's grilling. Call your parents and ask if you can come over for dinner.”
She pulled out her cell phone and said, “I'm sure it'll be fine.”
Dré walked Denim to her car as she got permission from her parents to have dinner with him. Once they were set, they climbed into their vehicles and trailed each other over to Dré's house.
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