Teenage Love Affair (22 page)

M
e, Courtney, and Asha all sat in my room chillin' on a Sunday afternoon.

“Next year we should get matching tattoos for graduation,” Courtney said, as we sat in my room listening to music and watching the falling snow through the window.

“Oole, Zsa-Zsa,” Hadiah said anxiously, “can I get one too?”

“No,” I said, “and don't ask again.”

Asha tossed popcorn in her mouth and said, “What kind of tattoo are you talking about, Courtney?”

“Like maybe a strawberry.” Courtney popped his gums.

“Oh, that would be so hot,” Hadiah said in admiration. “When I get to be y'all age I'ma get mine right here.” Hadiah pointed to the small of her back. “A tramp stamp.”

“I'ma make you go in the other room,” I snapped. “Say one more thing that's inappropriate.”

I turned to Courtney. “I'm not getting a strawberry anywhere on my body.” I frowned. “No.”

“Well, what about,” Courtney said, “a graduation cap with ‘We in the house' written inside of it.” He snapped his fingers.

“How about this?” Asha said sarcastically. “We should get a pair of pink panties tattooed in the middle of our chest. “Bam!” She snapped her neck. “That would be so hot!”

Me and Asha fell out laughing while Courtney stood up and said, “I don't appreciate y'all making fun of my tattoo.” He unbuttoned his shirt and moved his boa to the side, showing off his boney chest. “This was a Superman symbol gone bad.” He pointed to the tattoo in the middle. “My cousin did it for me as a favor. It didn't turn out right so I had him make it look like lace panties. Heck, I thought it was sexy.”

I slapped my hand over Hadiah's eyes. “Oh, you wrong for even looking like that, Courtney,” I said. “Oh, hell, no.”

It's a good thing my cell phone started ringing because had I looked at Courtney any longer I may have passed out. I folded my hand in a prayer position and said, “Thank God. Saved by the ringing cell phone.” I looked at the caller ID and it was an out-of-state number that I didn't recognize. I started not to answer it but then I changed my mind.

“Hello?” I said in my serious voice.

“Why you sound so serious?” A familiar male voice said. “You miss me?”

“Who is this?”

“Damn, I've only been gone for two days and you forgot me already? I'm hurt.”

“Oh, my baby,” I whined, realizing that it was Malachi.

“Oh, God,” Asha said, “you gon' be on the phone forever.”

“Whatever.” I playfully rolled my eyes at her. “I miss you, Malachi.”

“Yeah, we miss you,” Courtney said.

“I'm not even going to respond to that,” Malachi said to me.

“Where are you calling me from?” I asked him.

“Upstate New York.”

“No, I mean whose phone?”

“Oh, my cousin's cell phone. I can't get a signal out here on mine. Tell me how much you love me,” he said sweetly.

“I love you
soooo
much.”

“Okay, I need to leave.” Hadiah pointed to the door. “I've had enough of this love mess.”

“That's our queue too,” Asha said. “Come on, Courtney.”

“Where are we going?” Courtney said. “I'm on the phone talking to Malachi.” He cracked up laughing. “I'm just playing.”

“Bye.” I waved at Asha and Courtney as they walked out of my room. “Lock the door behind you.” I returned my attention back to Malachi. “When are you coming home?”

“In two days,” he said.

“That's a long time,” I complained.

“I know, baby. But I'll be there. Listen, I have to get ready to go. I'll call you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you more.” I held the phone to my ear as Malachi hung up. All I could do was daydream about him being here with me. A few minutes later my cell phone started ringing again. When the number came up out of state I started grinning from ear to ear. “What?” I said, answering the phone. “You missed me too much to hang up?”

“Well, yeah, actually I do miss you.”

This wasn't Malachi. “Who is this?”

“I've been gone that long that you don't even know my voice now?”

I snapped. “No, I don't, and if you don't tell me who you are, I'm hanging up.”

“It's Ameen, Zsa. What are you doing?”

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. “Why are you calling me?”

“Oh, I can't call you now?”

“Not really.”

“Well, I missed you, Zsa. You know I don't really have anyone but you, especially since my moms died.”

Suddenly I felt guilty. I hated this feeling. “Yeah, I know. How are you dealing with that?” I asked him.

“Day to day,” he said. “Some days better than others. I miss her though, but I'm trying to get my life together, so I can hold it down for me and my sister, and my nephew, you know what I'm saying.”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

“And you know I got this job interview,” he said, sounding proud of himself.

“You do?!” I said, a bit too excited. “That's real fly, Ameen. Good for you. Where's the interview at?”

“GameStop,” he said with confidence. “The one in the mall. So I was wondering if you could take me or if I could use your car, you know what I'm saying?”

“No, I really don't know what you're saying. I know what you asked me and the answer to that is no and no.”

“Then what I'ma do, Zsa? I'm trying to get on the right path.”

“Where your friends at? Where are those chicks?”

“Man, to hell with them friends and them get-money chicks. They only want me if I'm in the streets and since I told them I wasn't hustling no more, that I was gon' try and make it on my own, they've been acting real funny.”

“Well”—I paused—“I can't help you. And wait a minute, where is your car?”

“I had to sell it, to pay for my mother's funeral. She didn't have any insurance and everything was on me. So I had to do what I had to do. My moms was my world and now I'm just here by myself with nothing. So please, I'm begging you, for real, let me use your car. I swear I'll be back in like ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes, Ameen, be for real.”

“Not literally ten minutes, I mean like an hour. You can take me if you want to.”

“I'm not getting in a car with you.”

“Okay, well, let me use your car and I promise I'll be right back. I wouldn't disrespect you like that, Zsa. I mean, when you could've had me locked up for that argument we had in the park, you didn't, and I got mad love for you behind that. So I would never do anything that was disrespectful to you, and especially use your car and not bring it back on time.”

“Alright, Ameen.” I paused and sighed. “And you better be back here in an hour.”

“Straight. Open the door, I'm outside.”

“What?!” I snapped. “Oh, so you just assumed that I was going to lend you my car? You got a lot of nerve.”

“Nah, it wasn't even like that. See, I was on the bus, and when you said yeah, I got off.”

“You're lying, Ameen.”

“Zsa, I'm not lying. Just please, come on, because if you don't hurry up I'ma be late.”

I hung up on him and walked to the front door, where he was standing on my porch grinning from ear to ear. “Here,” I said, handing him the keys, “and be back in one hour.”

“I got you, ma,” he said, opening the car door. “I got you.”

I turned to go back inside and practically tripped over Hadiah, who was standing behind me. “Mommy gon' kick yo' behind.”

“What I tell you about cussing?”

“Cussing is the least of your worries. You know ever since Mommy been going to carnivals in the evenings she be basing off.”

“First of all it's counseling, not carnivals,” I snapped. “So mind yours. Also. It's
my
car.”

“So what, do you know what we went through behind you and that boy? Oh, no, I'm telling.”

“You better not say a word.” I looked at her and squinted my eyes. “Because if you do I'm not buying you anything else and I won't be taking you anywhere.”

“Why would you do that to me?”

“Open your mouth and you shall see.”

Hadiah rolled her eyes at me and stormed away. She was right, though. Why the heck did I do that? I know I should've said no. I walked back into my room and started watching the clock as if it were a television show. I needed to stay away from this dude and straight diss him, but I always felt guilty and he had a way of making me feel like I owed him.

“Zsa.” My mother knocked on my bedroom door.

I jumped. She wasn't supposed to be home, at least not for another few hours.

“Come help me put away these groceries,” she said.

I walked out of my room and into the kitchen where the table and the floor were littered with Pathmark bags. “How was your day, Ma?”

My mother looked at me as if I were crazy. “You never ask me about my day. What do you want and how much does it cost?”

“Nothing, Mother,” I said playfully. “I was just wondering how your day was.”

“It's been okay. Oh,” she said, putting chicken into the freezer, “where is your car?”

“Umm.” I stalled for a second too long. “Courtney. He had a job interview at the mall so I let him use it.”

“An interview on a Sunday?”

“It's at the mall.”

“I guess. And when did Courtney get a driver's license?”

“Umm, last year. Last month, I mean,” I said nervously.

“Okay.” She looked at me suspiciously. “Well after today don't let anyone else drive your car besides you.”

“It's my car.”

“But I paid for it and I pay the insurance on it. Now, don't start with me, because I'm not tolerating your smart mouth anymore.”

“I didn't even do anything and you going off.”

“I'm not going off, I'm just stating facts. Now I have a headache,” she said as the doorbell rang. “Who is that? Are you expecting company?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“Well, get the door.” She poured herself a glass of juice and popped a Tylenol in her mouth. “I hope it's Courtney.”

“Me too,” I mumbled. I twisted the knob, opened the door, and it was Malachi. Malachi? What the heck was he doing here? Oh, God, this was the last thing I needed. “Hi, sweetie.” I gave him a hug while standing in the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to surprise you. We were on our way back down here the whole time you and I were on the phone.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, still standing in the doorway. “Well, call me tomorrow. I'm sure you need your rest.”

“Actually, I'm okay, but I'm sayin', you want me to leave or something?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Not at all.”

“Then why are you blocking the doorway?”

“I am?” I swallowed. “I didn't mean to do that. Come in.”

Reluctantly I moved out of the way and I swear my stomach was doing back flips.

“Hey, Ms. Jazmyn,” Malachi said, walking into the living room, “where is your car, Zsa?”

“Why is everybody concerned about my car? Dang. Courtney has it.”

“Courtney?” he said, taken aback. “You let Courtney use your car? Why would you do that?”

“Same thing I said,” my mother said, butting into our conversation. “Zsa, I'm going to lay down, my head is spinning.”

“Okay,” I said as Malachi and I headed into my room.

I was sweating bullets. I needed Ameen to bring my car back and quick. I looked at the clock and Ameen's so-called hour was quickly turning into two hours, and by the third hour I was scared he was never coming back.

“Zsa.” My mother knocked on my door and opened it at the same time. “What time is Courtney coming back with your car? It's going on eight o'clock. Nobody's interviewing for a job this late.”

“It's the night shift, Ma.”

“No,” she said, “it's starting to look like the lying shift, Ma.” She mocked me. “Don't make me call his mother. He got another hour and then I'm on the phone with Brenda.”

“I'll call him.” I sucked my teeth. Ever since my mother had been going to therapy she'd been beating her chest with me a lot more. Saying whatever she felt like saying, and if I say something that she feels is sarcastic she shuts it down. Hot mess. I picked up my cell phone and dialed Ameen's number. A recorded operator picked up the line. “The number you have reached is no longer in service.”

How could Ameen's phone be cut off? I looked at my mother. “He didn't answer, let me try again.” Instead I tried to slyly search through my caller ID for the number Ameen called me from and oh…my…God…the number had been erased.
Somebody shoot me.

“Are you going to call him back?” my mother asked.

“Oh, yeah.” I pretended to dial a number and then I pretended to be speaking into the phone. “Courtney, where are you?” I paused. “Well, you better come on, because it's getting late, and we have school tomorrow.” I paused again. “Courtney, what did I say?”

“Let me speak to that boy,” my mother said, and before I could protest she'd snatched the phone from my ear. “Hello?” She spoke into the phone. “Nobody's up here.” She looked at me strangely.

“Wow.” I hunched my shoulders. “He must've hung up.” I looked at Malachi and gave him a stupid smile, one he didn't return.

My mother smirked. “I'm going back to lay down, but if I come out here again and the car isn't here,” my mother said, “I'm calling Brenda and that's that.”

“Zsa.” Malachi called my name as my mother slammed her room door.

“What?” I jumped.

“What are you so jumpy and nervous about?” Malachi asked. “You act like you're lying.”