Trife Life To Lavish (A King Production Presents...) (24 page)

There is nothing wrong with having great
expectations. But expecting too much too fast can
also push someone to make a careless move that
leads to life altering repercussions.

Nichelle sat in the car silently, as Renny drove
her to school. She was still livid, or more so hurt,
that Renny never showed up that night to take her
to dinner. By the time he got home, she had fallen
asleep in her clothes, trying to wait up for him. The
next morning, he apologized, but made no effort
to reschedule dinner for another night.

'What time should I pick you up from school?"

"If I tell you, are you going to show up, or
leave me outside waiting?"

Renny turned and glanced at Nichelle, and
then put his eyes back on the road. "Is there something you want to get off your mind?" he
asked, unruffled by her sassy tone.

"Why didn't you show up to take me to
dinner that night?'

"I told you, I got caught up handling some
business."

"Why couldn't we have gone over the
weekend then?"

"We could've, but we didn't."

"Yeah, because you were barely home."

"Exactly. See, you answered your own
question."

Nichelle wanted to scream at the top of her
lungs. "You make me feel so stupid."

"I apologize. That isn't my intention. I don't
ever want you to feel stupid, because you're not."

"Then what is it? Are you no longer attracted
to me? I'm trying to understand why you don't want
me anymore."

"I was under the impression that you didn't
want me to want you."

"At first because, Carmelo had just died and I
lost my baby, there was so much going on."

"But now?"

"Now, I want to see what can happen between
us. I mean, you have me living at your house, but
you treat me like a roommate."

"Not so much. I don't do roommates, but if
I did and I treated you like one, you would be paying rent and half the utility bills."

"Point taken. So then, what is it? Why haven't
you tried to get close to me in an intimate way?"

"Because I respect your wishes. I told you
how I felt at the hospital, and you shut me down.
So, I decided we could be friends, and I'm actually
enjoying our friendship."

"So that's it? We're only gonna be friends?"

"For now, I think that's best. You need to
concentrate on school and graduating. If it's meant
to happen between us, it will. No need to rush.
Call me when you're ready for me to pick you up.
I'll already be in the neighborhood."

Nichelle looked out of the window, and
realized they were in front of her school. She didn't
want to get out the car. There was so much more
she wanted to express to Renny, like she wished
she had enough guts to say, "I want you to love
me", but she didn't.

"Okay," she said, getting out the car, crushed.
When she closed the door, she was thinking Renny
would call out for her, saying to come back so
they could talk, but he didn't. Instead, he drove off,
leaving her to go inside to class.

"Tierra, have you decided what classes you're going to take at the community college when school
starts back after the summer?"

"Yeah... none!" Tierra answered her mother,
as she went through her closet sorting out what
clothes she wanted to keep and what items she
had no use for.

"I told you that you couldn't stay up in this
house not working or going to school. You have to
do something productive. I rather you go to school
so you can have some better job options."

"No disrespect, but I'd rather do neither."

"So, what you plan on doing then?"

"For the next week or so, I'ma be getting my stuff
together so I can move into my new apartment."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me correctly. It's a great apartment
in a high rise in Jersey City, right on the water."

"How in the hell are you going to afford that?"

"I'm house-sitting for a friend."

"You mean some low-life you fuckin', Tierra!"

"I can't believe you being so vulgar! Ain't
nobody fuckin'! I did a favor for them, and now
they're returning it. It ain't nothin' more than that."

"You know what, Tierra? I'm done. I'm done
lecturing you. I'm done tryna make you do something
with your life ...I'm just done! But when this shit
explodes in your face, don't come back knocking on
my door, `cause you ain't gon' get no answer."

"I love you too, Ma," Tierra mumbled sarcastically, and went back to going through her clothes.

Throughout her whole day at school,
Nichelle stayed focused on her schoolwork. She
figured Mr. Chambers would be cooperative, but
she was surprised that each of her other teachers
were also being very supportive, and gave her all
the assignments that she missed so she could catch
up. They seemed impressed that Nichelle even
cared enough to try and improve her grades, and
they were willing to do all they could to help the
cause.

During lunch, instead of hanging out in the
cafeteria or going outside to talk on her phone, Nichelle
stayed in the library, doing her work. That was going to
be her new routine for the rest of the school year, or at
least until she had got completely caught up and was
making the sort of grades she wanted.

She had been concentrating so hard on her
class work, that it wasn't until the end of the day
that she realized she hadn't ran into Lerrick or her
crew even once. She still didn't think too much
of it, until she heard some girls talking when she
went to the bathroom.

"It wasn't just Lerrick, it was Kyla and Cinthia too."

"All three of them?"

"Yep, it happened last week. They made an
announcement about it at school. But didn't nobody
care. Couldn't nobody stand Lerrick and her crew."

"Do they know who did it?"

"Ain't no telling who killed them bitches. If I
knew, I would go shake their hands," the girl said,
as she and her friend finished primping in the mirror
and walked out of the bathroom.

Nichelle remained in the stall, stunned by what
she just heard. She hadn't even used the toilet yet,
unable to fully accept as true that Lerrick and the two
other girls who participated in holding her as she was
beat in the very bathroom she was in right now, were
dead. She was so out of it, she almost didn't hear her
phone ringing.

"Hello."

"Why haven't you called me? I know school
has to be getting out by now."

"Renny, I'm sorry. I was about to call and tell
you to come on."

"Cool, I'll see you in a few."

Nichelle hurried up and used the bathroom,
and while washing her hands, she caught a glimpse
of herself in the mirror. If you stared long enough,
you could see a slight trace of the bruising that hadn't
completely gone away from when Lerrick pounded
on her face. "Yeah, that bitch did deserve to die," she
mouthed, and walked out.

If only we could pick and choose who we fell in
love with, life would be so less complicated.
But then it could also be a lot less pleasurable. Isn't
the most intoxicating part about falling in love, is
that you don't know who might end up having
control over your heart. Especially when he's a
street thug with the word danger attached to him.

When Renny picked Nichelle up from school, she
wanted to tell him what she found out about Lerrick,
but he seemed preoccupied so she kept silent. Then,
when they pulled up to the project building where
she lived, she hesitated but went ahead and asked
what she wanted before getting out the car. "Can
you come up with me to my mom's apartment? She
wanted to meet you."

"Another time. I have to handle some business
across the street. Give your mother my best. Tell
her we'll meet soon."

"Are you gonna wait for me, because I wanted
to talk to you about something?"

"No. This is what I want you to do. Spend some
time with your mother, pack up your belongings, get
your car, and meet me at home. We can talk then. But
if you need me, you know how to reach me."

"I'll see you later on tonight then." Nichelle
got out of the car and briefly watched as Renny
drove off before going inside the building. She
decided to stop and see Tierra first, and then go to
her mother's place.

Nichelle knocked on Tierra's door, and part
of her didn't want her to be home because she
knew an interrogation would be in the works. She
could hear somebody walk up to the door and
not say anything, so she knew they were probably
looking through the peephole.

When the door opened, at first Tierra didn't
say a word. She just gave Nichelle a hug.

"Girl, I have missed you so much! I'm glad
you're home... come on in," Tierra said, letting
Nichelle go after hugging her for a good minute.

"I missed you too. I'm sorry-"

"You don't have to apologize to me," Tierra
put her hand up, cutting Nichelle off. "I heard about
what happened with Lerrick, and I completely
understand you wanting to stay on the low. But
you ain't gonna have to worry about the triflin'
bitch no more."