Myself and I (13 page)

“I hope they have some nice-smelling perfume on sale,” Maya said as she glanced down the street to see if she could spot a bus coming.

“Girl, I can't wait until next year when I get my driver's license,” I said, wishing I had the type of freedom and independence that a car offered.

“That makes two of us,” Maya added.

“I don't have any set list of items I'm going to be shopping for. I'm just going to play it by ear. If I see something I like I'm going to get it,” I said, deciding to sit down on the bench. Maya sat beside me and pulled out her cell phone and fiddled with it. I glanced down the street in search of the bus, but instead I saw trouble approaching.

“Look who's coming this way,” I said, nudging Maya.

“Well, if it isn't Miss Loud Mouth herself,” Maya said. “Maybe she'll just keep walking without saying a word.”

“We can only hope,” I said jokingly. A few seconds later Lori was standing in front of us chewing her gum like a horse chews hay.

“I've got a bone to pick with you,” she said brazenly as she folded her arms across her chest.

“I don't have anything to say, Lori,” I responded, hoping she'd just keep moving.

“But I've got something to say to you. In fact, I'm glad I've run into you out here because I was on my way to your job.”

“Lori, why don't you just get a—” Before I could finish my sentence, Lori lunged toward me and slapped my face and began tugging on my hair. I stood and yanked my
head away from her claws before she got a chance to get a good grip.

“I've told you a hundred times to leave Wesley alone, but you keep on messing with his head and confusing him,” Lori shouted.

“Oh, it's on now! I'm going to give you everything you got coming. Maya, hold my purse,” I said as I knuckled up my fists and swung at Lori. My first swing missed the mark. She swung back and scratched the side of my face. I lunged toward her and was able to get her in a headlock. I squeezed as hard as I could with my arm and punched her in the face several times with my left fist.

“Kick her ass, Keysha!” Maya screamed, encouraging me to continue. Lori wasn't much of a challenge at all. After the first punch her knees buckled and she fell to the ground.

“Okay, Keysha, that's enough! She's done,” Maya said, pulling me off of her. I got in one last good punch before I let her go. Maya pushed me away from her and kept repeating that it was over and I'd won. Lori staggered to her feet and sucked on her bottom lip, which was split open.

“You want some more?” I taunted her.

“This ain't over, Keysha!” Lori threatened, but I wasn't afraid of her at all, especially now that I knew she couldn't fight.

“Just let it go, Keysha,” Maya said.

“I can't believe she came at me like that. What in the world is wrong with her? That chick is straight-up crazy,” I said. Lori ran across the street and down a residential block.

“Let me see your face,” Maya said. “Ooh, she scratched
you pretty good,” she said, opening up her purse to get a tissue.

“Did she break the skin?” I asked, feeling the stinging start to settle in.

“Yeah, she did, but it's not too bad,” Maya said.

“What about my hair? She didn't pull out any braids, did she?”

“No.” Maya applied pressure to the slightly bleeding area on my face. “Well, maybe now she'll think twice before deciding to scrap with you,” Maya said, trying to find a bright spot.

“All the swimming I've been doing paid off, because I was nowhere near tired and felt strong enough to pick her up like a wrestler and body-slam her. Why would she come and pick a fight when she's outnumbered?” I asked, searching for some logical explanation for Lori's perplexing behavior.

“Who knows what's going on in that crazy head of hers? I personally think she's emotionally unbalanced or something.” Maya took a closer look at my face. “It's not as deep as I thought it was, but we don't have to go downtown now if you don't want to.”

“Are you kidding me? I'm not about to allow that tramp to ruin my day. Do you have a compact mirror?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Maya opened her purse and handed it to me. I looked at my face and saw where she'd clawed me along the side of my eye and down my cheek.

“That's nothing, Maya,” I said. “It's just a superficial scratch.”

“I said it wasn't as bad as I thought it was,” Maya said. “I
think I see the bus coming now. Are you sure you still want to go?” she asked.

I quickly nodded. “I'm positive. Thanks for having my back,” I said.

“Not a problem. I know you'd do the same for me,” she said.

I gathered myself and straightened out my clothes. Within a few seconds the bus arrived, and we boarded it.

On
Thursday I had to work the evening shift, which meant that I didn't arrive home until nine. When I entered the house, I kicked my shoes off at the door and walked up the steps into the family room. Jordan was slouched down and asleep on the sofa with the television remote in his hand. The early edition of the evening news was about to begin, so I decided to sit down and watch it so I could hear the weather forecast.

The newscaster babbled on about a number of topics. An earthquake on the other side of the world. Nuclear weapons in North Korea. The costly wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. The nation's struggling economy and the numbers of layoffs still happening around the country. I walked over to Jordan and took the remote. I sat back down and channel surfed for the weather channel. I stopped at VH1 briefly and watched a music video by Coldplay. I finally hit the weather channel. On Friday it was going to be sunny and in the high eighties.

“Perfect,” I said aloud. “That's the best news I've heard.”

Erin and Jerry had decided to move the day of the party from Saturday night to Friday during the day. Jerry explained that it would be a better time to have it because neighbors and parents would be at work, and if the music got too loud there would be no one around to complain about it. For me this meant that I wouldn't get a ton of questions from Jordan and Barbara about attending an unsupervised party.

“Hey, I didn't hear you come in,” Jordan said, awaking from his deep slumber.

“I just got here,” I said.

“Why didn't you call me? I would've come and picked you up,” he said.

“I just jumped on the bus because it was pulling up as I locked the door,” I explained.

“Still, you could've called me to let me know you were on the bus so I'd be watching out for you. There are a lot of crazy people in this world, and just because you live out here in the suburbs I don't want you to get a false sense of security.” Jordan continued to press the issue.

“Well, when I get a car you won't have to worry so much,” I said, trying to make him feel more comfortable.

“Are you kidding me? Once you and Mike start driving I'll be even more concerned because the potential for something bad to happen increases.”

“Daddy.” I moved over and snuggled up next to him. “I think I've demonstrated pretty well that I can handle serious situations. Besides, if anyone walks up on me they'd better
be ready for a fight, because the hood Keysha will come out in a minute,” I said, laughing.

“That's nice, but sometimes being
hood
may not be enough.” Jordan curled his fingers like quotation marks to emphasize his point.

“Okay, I'll call to check in more often,” I said, not wanting to drag out the conversation longer than necessary.

“Where's Barbara?” I asked.

“At a village board meeting. She should be home in a little while,” Jordan said.

“Oh, I heard that you're getting your car back.”

“Yeah, I am. Lord only knows what condition it's going to be in,” he said with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

“Maybe it won't be all that bad,” I said in an effort to give him a little more hope.

“Perhaps.” Jordan held out his hand for the television remote. He flipped back to the news channel just in time to catch a sports story about the Chicago Cubs.

“Well, I'm going to bed,” I said as I gave him a good-night kiss on the cheek.

“Love you,” he said as I walked away.

“Love you, too, Dad,” I answered as I walked upstairs to my room.

 

I must've been more exhausted than I'd thought, because I slept most of the morning away. When I opened my eyes and glanced over at my alarm clock it was eleven-thirty. I sat up and allowed my eyes to adjust to the brightness before
I stretched and yawned simultaneously. I picked up my cell phone. I had a text message from Jerry. I flipped my phone open and read it.

“Can't wait 2 C U,” it said.

I walked into the bathroom to freshen up. When I came out I walked down the corridor to Mike's bedroom. I found him admiring himself in the mirror while splashing on too much cologne. He had his entire room smelling like Axe body spray.

“What's going on, sleepyhead?” Mike asked me as he wet his fingertips and brushed a thin line of upper lip hair.

“You know if you keep rubbing it like that it's going to fall out,” I teased.

“No, it's not. My mustache is going to come in nice and full,” he said as he lifted his chin to see if he'd sprouted any new growth. “Don't hate the player, Keysha, hate the game.”

“Whatever,” I said, not taking his comment very seriously. “Are Barbara and Jordan gone?”

“Yup.” Mike spun around as if he were Ne-Yo, or some other hot performer.

“Where are you going anyway?” I asked.

“To a party,” Mike boasted.

“Which party?” I asked, wondering if he too was going to be at Jerry and Erin's party.

“The one that the two new guys are throwing,” Mike said.

“They invited you?” I recalled Jerry saying that the party wasn't going to be really big, just a few friends from his old neighborhood.

“Not exactly,” Mike said.

“What do you mean, ‘not exactly'?” I asked.

“Sabrina's girlfriend Katina lives directly across the street from the new guys. They invited her and asked if she'd bring a few friends with her. So she called Sabrina and invited her and she in turn invited me.” Mike stopped glamorizing himself long enough to focus on me and say, “Why do you ask?”

“Because Jerry, the younger brother, invited me to come as well,” I admitted.

“Cool, then I really shouldn't have an issue getting in,” Mike said.

“No, I suppose not.” I exhaled.

“I'm going to have so much fun,” Mike said excitedly.

“You'd better not get into any trouble,” I warned, because I knew Jordan would kill us both cemetery dead if he had to deal with any more drama from either one of us.

“What could possibly go wrong? It's just a little kick-back party. I'm going to dance, hang out with my girl and just chill,” Mike said.

“That's all you'd better do,” I replied, giving him a little big-sisterly advice.

“So, are you going to get dressed or give a lecture like Jordan?” Mike asked mockingly.

“It won't take me long.” I walked back to my room.

 

I lied to Mike, because it took me like forever to figure out what I wanted to wear. Now that I had my own money
and had been shopping like crazy I had so many different outfits to select from, but I was having such a hard time making a final decision. Eventually I settled on a pair of white front-patch-pocket shorts that were really cute because of the flap pockets and wooden buttons. They also clung to my now curvaceous legs. All the swimming had paid off big-time. For my top I chose my multicolored cinch-waist striped sweater with hand-pointed stitching, a V neckline and short sleeves. For shoes I chose my brown crisscrossed wedge heels. I made sure my skin was well oiled, because pool water is notorious for drying out skin. I added my accessories, made sure my hair was perfect and added some sweet-smelling perfume and sexy lip gloss. I did one last body check in the mirror to make sure I looked totally irresistible and finally stepped out of my bedroom well over an hour later.

When Mike and I arrived at the party, his girlfriend, Sabrina, and her friend Katina were already there. They were in a corner near the television sitting on two fold-up chairs. As soon as we walked over to them, a song called “How Low” by Ludacris began playing.

“That's my jam there!” Katina immediately stood up and began dancing seductively.

“Damn, Katina! When did you learn how to do that?” Mike's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and I could tell Sabrina didn't appreciate his interest in Katina's dance moves.

“Why are you looking at her like that?” Sabrina asked, ready to slap Mike if he didn't have a good answer.

“You guys work that out,” I said and stepped away. I
wanted to see what the house looked like. I walked out of the family room and into the dining room. That's where the DJ had set up his equipment near a row of windows. I stood there and listened to music as several high school and college-age girls rushed into the room and began showing just how low to the floor they could go with their dance moves. Before I could blink an eye there were dudes standing close to them, waiting to get their grind on once the girls got done squatting and wiggling their behinds.

“Come on, girl. How low can you go?” Some dude with an Oakland Raiders baseball cap cocked to the side and a bottle of beer in his hand stood in back of me and began swaying to the music.

“I don't know you,” I remarked snidely and stepped away. He didn't have a difficult time finding a girl who was willing to put on a show for him. I wandered out of the dining room and down a corridor past a bathroom to an enclosed patio, which led out to a wooden deck. There were more college guys back there playing cards, drinking and grooving to the music.

“Hey, shorty.” Some guy with hazel eyes, curly hair and a sly grin reached out from the card table and grabbed my hand. “Do you eat lots of Lucky Charms? Because you look magically delicious.”

“OMG! That was so funny I forgot to laugh.” I tried to make him feel stupid.

“Then you must be the sexy tiger with the stripes because you look
great!
” he continued on with his lame pickup lines.

“I'm sorry, I should've told you that I'm allergic to B.S.!”

“Ooh, shawty got you with that one!” said one of his buddies, who was sitting next to him and laughing hard.

I walked out onto the wooden deck that overlooked a sizable man-made pond. There was a flock of Canadian geese swimming around and squawking.

“You're the lifeguard, right?” Erin, Jerry's brother, came up beside me.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“So what do you think?” he asked.

“About what?”

“The party?”

“It's cool. I like being here,” I admitted as I turned and saw what appeared to be a wave of teenagers heading toward the house.

“You a want a beer or something? There is plenty to drink. We've got wine coolers, a keg of beer, gin, vodka, some weed. What's your pleasure?” he asked, looping his arm around my waist on the sly.

“Nothing right now,” I said, pulling away from him. It just felt kind of sleazy that he'd try to make a move on me, knowing his brother and I had been talking.

“Do you know where Jerry is?” I asked.

“He's around. Check in the basement,” he suggested.

“Okay, I'm going to go do that,” I said and turned to walk back in the house.

“Hey, lifeguard,” he called out to me. I looked over my shoulder at him.

“What's your name?”

“Keysha,” I answered.

“You have a sexy ass, Keysha,” he said glaring at me lustfully as he blew me a kiss. I didn't know whether to feel self-conscious or flip him my middle finger. I just shook my head disapprovingly and continued on.

The deejay was now playing a song called “Cupid Shuffle,” and everyone began to groove and dance to the music. In a matter of moments the size of the crowd swelled to the point where there was barely enough walking space to move from one room to another. When I finally squeezed my way back into the family room I saw Maya.

“Is this party off the chain or what?” Maya yelled above the music.

“Yeah.” I leaned close to her and spoke directly in her ear. “Have you seen Jerry?”

Maya now leaned in and spoke in my ear. “No. But Wesley and Lori are here, and he asked about you.”

I rolled my eyes. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned and saw Antonio.

“You look hot.” Antonio smiled at me lustfully as he swayed his hips like he thought he was going to get a chance to grind my behind.

“Where is Priscilla?” I asked.

“She couldn't make it. She's sick.” Antonio spoke loudly enough for me to hear him. I was about to say something else, but he spotted Lori and quickly excused himself.

“What was that about?” Maya asked.

“I don't know, girl. Do you see the way he's hunting Lori down?”

“Yeah, that is strange. Something is going on with that,” Maya said suspiciously.

“Where is Misalo?” I asked.

“He went to the bathroom,” Maya said.

“Oh, okay. I'm going to try and find Jerry,” I said.

“Okay, I'll see you around.” Maya gave me a quick hug and I moved past her. I finally located the steps that descended into the basement. There were even more people down there dancing. I searched the crowd for Jerry and finally spotted him standing behind the bar with a drink in his hand talking to a group of guys. I made my way over to him and the instant he saw me he shouted my name.

“Keysha!” He came over and gave me a hug. He smelled like a mixture of cologne, tobacco and sweat. “Guys, this is the awesome girl I was telling y'all about.” He draped his arm over my shoulder and kissed the crown of my head. I looped my arm around his waist.

“Keysha, these are my buddies from Buffalo Grove. That's Tim, Mel and Carlos.”

“Hello,” I said, and smiled. Tim had blond hair and green eyes. Mel had brown hair and brown eyes and Carlos had black hair and brown eyes. They all had athletic builds and seemed decent enough.

“What are you drinking?” I asked Jerry.

“It's just a soda. You want one?” he asked.

“Yes.” I felt hot from all the people and their body heat.
Jerry opened up a cooler chest that was at his feet and retrieved the drink.

“I thought you said this was going to be a small party,” I asked.

“Hell, I did,” Jerry said, laughing. “I don't know where all of these other people are coming from, but it's cool as long as everyone is having a good time.”