“Yeah, go ahead,” Shaunna said with surprise in her voice. None of the girls had ever seemed to want to connect with the little life inside of her.
Laci placed her hand on the center of Shaunna’s belly and pressed softly. It was an amazing feeling to Laci. Shaunna’s belly was as hard as a rock and she could actually feel the baby. It was surreal.
“Who’s the father?” Laci asked innocently.
It was like a record had started to skip and the deejay snatched off the needle. There was dead silence. Shaunna disregarded Laci’s question and asked one of her own.
“What about you, Laci?” she said, removing Laci’s hand from her stomach and walking over to the snack table to retrieve her drink. The other girls followed her lead.
“Yeah, Laci, what are you getting into this summer?” Monique asked. They all looked at her.
Laci’s inquisitiveness had set her up for the fall. She didn’t know how to answer the question without starting an argument. For some reason, she could never get shit right. She always managed to say the wrong thing. If she told the truth, the girls were going to start trippin’ on her. If she didn’t tell the truth, they’d know. They were like Superman when it came to Laci; they could see right through her. Her lying to them would only piss them off even more.
“Uh, nothing much. Just going to Puerto Rico before I leave for college,” Laci tried to say nonchalantly as if it was no big deal.
Crystal wasn’t about to let Laci get off so easy. “Oh, so Little Miss Thing’s parents are paying to broaden her education?” she said, batting her eyes and puckering her lips. “Figured as much. Too bad the rest of us don’t have caked-up parents.”
“First of all, it’s just me and my mother—you know that. And, I got a scholarship,” Laci said, shutting Crystal up.
“Scholarship?” Monique asked, confused. “You ain’t no athlete. I ain’t never known you to play ball, run track, or nothing.”
Laci shook her head. “I received an academic scholarship,” she said as if she were talking to a child.
“Academic?” Monique asked, still a little baffled.
Crystal helped Monique comprehend. “Duh, yeah, stupid,” she teased. “When you get good grades, colleges give you a free ride to their school. It ain’t like she, of all people, needs it though.”
Trying to cover up her jealousy, Tonette joined in on the conversation. “What school are you going to, Laci?”
“Boston University,” Laci said proudly.
“That’s supposed to be a pretty good school,” Shaunna said.
“How the hell would you know?” Monique said, taking a sip of her drink.
“Fuck you, slut,” Shaunna shot back. “I had an uncle who went there, so now.”
“So now,” Monique mocked Shaunna, sticking her tongue out at her.
“You keep playing and I’m gonna put that pretty tongue of yours to use,” Shaunna winked.
“Oooh, can I watch?” Crystal joked as she finished up her drink and sat the cup down on the snack table.
“Anyway,” Tonette cut in, “forget about that school shit. What’s this about Puerto Rico?”
Laci swallowed down her Kool-Aid, hard. The girls looked at each other with a mixture of jealousy and hatred. All of them wished that they could travel anywhere other than the five boroughs, but they weren’t as blessed as Laci. The only thing that saved Laci from a round of Bash the Rich Girl was Crystal’s boyfriend, Dink, who was standing in the doorway.
CHAPTER 7
DINK COULDN’T TAKE his eyes off of Laci. There was something about her that wouldn’t allow him to look away. She was pretty, but not enough to trip over. He had seen pretty girls come and go. This one, though, just had a certain air about her that he couldn’t shake. She had his nose open without even trying.
Crystal was his boo-boo, but he wasn’t in love with her anymore. If anything, he liked her a lot and had love for her, but as far as being in that unconditional love bullshit, it wasn’t happening. When it all came down to it, Dink saw Crystal as not being much different from the rest of her crew. She was okay to look at when she was dressed up, but not wifey material. Laci, on the other hand, had something about her that Dink needed to know more about.
Crystal read Dink’s eyes like a kindergarten spelling test. She wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she was hardly stupid. She knew the look that Dink was giving Laci, because that’s exactly how he’d caught her two years ago. The muthafucka could bat his eyes and lick his lips all he wanted, but Crystal was determined to show the both of them who the queen bitch was.
Hugging Dink, she kissed him on the neck. “I think you left something in my room,” she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. For emphasis, she grabbed his package.
“Damn, Crystal,” Dink said. He held her at arm’s length. There are people here.” He fronted like he was embarrassed, but Dink really loved that kind of shit. Crystal was a freak and a half, which was part of the reason he kept her around. He thought about the last time she had sucked him off and let him blow in her mouth. Just thinking about it made Dink want to wet himself.
Crystal and Dink’s fooling around made Tonette jealous. It had been a minute since her main nigga, Dame, had given her a taste. She figured if she couldn’t get any, she’d block Crystal’s action.
“Crystal,” Tonette coughed.
“Okay, okay,” Crystal giggled. “Y’all know how I get when I see my man.” Crystal shot a look at Laci, hoping that she understood where she was coming from just in case she had any ideas.
Dink zipped down his Sergio Tacchini sweatsuit jacket and flipped it behind him like Michael Jackson, exposing his Polo shirt and two gold rope chains with a Batman medallion. He was in stunt mode now. “So what you ladies getting into tonight?”
“Nothing really,” Shaunna said, rubbing her stomach. “We’ll probably keep it local. Besides, I can’t go too far with this belly.”
“You probably don’t need to be going nowhere,” Monique said. “Why you always gotta be the pregnant girl at the club?”
The girls snickered. Shaunna stuck her middle finger up at Monique.
“Do you know what it is yet?” Dink asked, walking over to Shaunna and placing his ear against her stomach.
“What the fuck you think you gon’ hear?” Crystal said, jealous that Dink was touching Shaunna. “You think it’s gonna bust out freestyling or something?”
“I don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy,” Shaunna said, running right over Crystal’s comment. “I want to be surprised.”
Even though Dink had no intentions for Shaunna, the attention he was giving her made her feel warm. Her own children’s fathers didn’t pay that kind of attention to her. She wasn’t used to it, and this only made her crave it more. As Dink began to rub her stomach, she imagined that he was her man instead of Crystal’s.
“That’s cool,” Dink said, smiling. “Did you eat yet? You know you gotta keep your strength up.”
“Damn, baby,” Crystal cut in, “since when you love the kids? She’s fine, she just ate two fried bologna sandwiches.” Crystal walked over to where Shaunna was sitting and pulled at Dink’s arm. “C’mon now, I ain’t seen you in a minute. I missed you. Shit, nigga, come rub on me.”
“I missed you, too,” Dink said, patting Crystal on the ass. “You think I don’t think about you when I’m out handling my business? C’mon now, you know you’re always on my mind. Stop actin’ like that.”
Dink hugged Crystal and lifted her off her feet, but with her back turned, it meant that he could study his prey—Laci. When Laci realized that Dink was burning a hole through her with his eyes, she blushed and turned her head. She used her tongue to scoop a piece of ice from her cup. Her smile let Dink know that she was finally onto him. And although he was involved with her homey, time and opportunity was a muthafucka. All he needed was an opportunity, and hell, he’d make the time.
Dink released Crystal. “I’ll
see you girls later,” he said, quickly eyeing Laci. “Y’all be safe. Crystal, you go on and have a good time with your girls, ma.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad of rolled-up hundred-dollar bills. Each of the girls had her eyes on his cash except for Laci, who knew better than to stare, and Crystal, who was checkin’ to see who was sweatin’ her man. “I’ll be back later to check you out.” Dink pulled off eight bills, handed them to Crystal, licked his lips, and shot a quick last glance at Laci. There was no mistaking what his intentions were. This time she didn’t turn away or look down. She stared at him right back. Dink nodded and left.
The girls were silent until they were sure he was out the door.
“Dink is a classy-ass nigga,” Monique said, picking at her nails. “He fine, too. You better watch him, Crystal. One day one of these loose-ass sluts is gonna try you. You can trust his ass all you want. It’s these hoes you can’t trust.”
Crystal nodded in agreement. Typically it would have struck a nerve for some other female to call her nigga fine. But Monique and Crystal were the tightest, like sisters, so Monique was the only one out of the crew who could make the comments she did without Crystal hitting the roof. The other girls just kept silent and stewed in their own juices, romanticizing the forbidden idea.
Laci looked down at her watch. “Well, ladies, it’s been real, but I’m about to bounce,” she said, stretching. “I’m gonna go home and lay it down.”
Crystal looked over at Tonette; her eyes bulged. Tonette shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “handle yours.” Then Crystal quickly said, “But Laci, you’re always on some leaving shit. You be acting like you’re too good to be with us after a certain hour.”
Laci was surprised, because Crystal was usually the first one to shout “peace out” when Laci talked about going home. But perhaps this was a sign that Crystal was really starting to appreciate her company. Most of the time Laci split if the girls were getting ready to go party, but this time she really was tired and was ready to call it a night.
“C’mon, you know that’s not true,” Laci assured her. “If I didn’t want to be around y’all, I wouldn’t be. But a chick got to go home and get her beauty rest.”
Crystal rolled her eyes and twisted up her lips.
“That’s fucked up, Laci,” Shaunna said.
“How do you figure that?” Laci asked defensively.
“Forget it.” Shaunna waved her off. “Leave, then.”
“Yeah, leave if you’re going,” Monique added.
All of sudden, Crystal surprised Laci yet again. “I don’t know about them, but I’m not letting you off so easy this time. I want you to stay, Laci. See, unlike these scared bitches, I ain’t afraid to speak my mind. How I see it is that you sit up around us while we drink, smoke, and all that shit, and you even listen to us talk about our real sexual experiences. But you don’t do none of that. Sometimes it seems like you using us as lab rats. You sit around taking notes on what you don’t want to do. It’s like you’re sitting back and judging us.”
Laci’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe that this was how she had been making the girls feel. Finally, this explained why they were so sometimey with her. “You think I’ve been judging you guys?” Laci asked in disbelief. “Is that how you all feel?” she looked around the room waiting for someone else to speak up.
“Yeah, I guess that sounds about right,” Tonette continued. “I mean, how would you feel? While we’re passing blunts and bottles, you’re on some chill shit. Like you’re propped up on a pedestal. You even act like being around weed smoke is gonna kill you.”
“But you know I don’t do drugs,” Laci explained.
“That’s some sad shit,” Shaunna said. “Weed ain’t even a drug. It’s a natural herb from the ground, baby—like fuckin’ goldenseal or some shit.”
“If anything, I would say alcohol is more of a drug than weed,” Crystal added. “Who you know smokes a joint, jumps in a car, and takes out a family of five on the expressway?”
“You know?” Shaunna said, giving Crystal some dap.
“I know you don’t drink, Laci,” Tonette said. “And I can totally dig that. But why you frontin’ on the weed? A lil’ smoke ain’t gon’ hurt you.”
Laci just stood there silently.
“Tonette, I don’t know why you wasting your time,” Monique added. “Laci ain’t gon’ smoke with us. Privileged kids ain’t got no time for us around-the-way girls. She’s too good. I say let her go get her beauty sleep. The bitch can be pretty and we can be high.”
“Y’all gots to chill,” said Crystal. “Laci is part of our crew and y’all treating her like an outsider.”
Monique and Shaunna looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces. “Since when did you become Laci’s best friend?” Monique asked with an attitude.
Crystal gave Monique a “shut the fuck up” look. Knowing Crystal so well, Monique knew that look better than anybody. Right then and there she realized she was up to something. The reason for Crystal insisting that Monique call Laci back to make sure that she joined them tonight was starting to come together.
“I ain’t saying we’re best friends or nothing like that,” Crystal responded. “I just don’t know why my bitches is tripping over some fucking smoke. I don’t believe that Laci thinks she’s too good to smoke with us. As a matter of fact, I’ll bet that she’ll hit the weed just to shut you hatin’-ass bitches up. Ain’t that right, Laci?”
“You must be crazy,” Shaunna said. “Either that, or you smokin’ on some different shit. If she won’t hit a little drink, she sure as hell ain’t gonna smoke.”
The fact that Crystal seemed like she was on her side made Laci feel obligated to at least take one puff. She didn’t want to let Crystal down. This was the first time any one of the girls had stood up for Laci.
One pull couldn’t hurt. It’s just marijuana, Laci thought. Maybe this will stop the girls from always riding me. If one puff of the magic dragon is all it’s going to take to show the girls that I can get down for mines, it’s worth it.
“You got some?” Laci asked Crystal.
“Some what?” Crystal asked.
“Some weed, a joint,” Laci said. “I was thinking that I might need a little something to make my rest just that much better.”
Laci smiled a mischievous smile and the girls each returned one.
“As a matter of fact, I just happen to have some,” Tonette said. “It’s in my purse in the living room. Hold on. I’ll go get it.”
Tonette winked at Crystal and headed into the living room to retrieve the goods.
Shaunna looked at Monique in amazement. They had to admit that Crystal was good. Never in a million years would they have thought that Laci would ever jeopardize her pureness. Sure enough, Crystal was able to sway the naïve girl. Now it was time to sit back and watch the show.
Tonette rejoined the girls in the kitchen with the joint now in her hand. “Tah-dah,” she said with a smile. She handed it to Laci, who looked at it as if it were a foreign object. Laci had never actually held a joint, not even to pass it on to one of the other girls when she was sitting in on their puff-puff-pass.
Laci examined the blunt with curiosity.
“What are you waiting for?” Crystal asked, moving the frying pan and turning on the stove burner. “Spark up.”
“Why don’t one of you guys light it and then pass it to me?” Laci said nervously. The last thing she wanted to do was burn off her bangs trying to light a joint on the stove. “Shaunna, you’re good at this—here.” Laci stuck the joint in Shaunna’s face.
“Now you know I got a Wave Nouveau—if my hair catches on fire we all blowin’ up.” The girls started cracking up, but Shaunna’s face was serious. “You saw what happened to Michael Jackson with that Pepsi commercial.”
“Come on, Laci, quit playing with the weed,” Monique said, egging her on. “Either light the shit or pass it off. See, Crystal, I told you.”
Seeing th
e smug look on Monique’s face made Laci angry. Laci was sick of all of them doubting her and was now more determined than ever to show them that she could hang. Cautiously, she leaned over the flames and lit the blunt.
“That’s a girl,” Crystal said with a smile. “Now come on in the living room.”
The girls followed Crystal into the living room as if they were going to watch a pay-per-view movie. Laci sat down on the couch, and all the girls huddled around to watch her as if she were in a glass box and they had all inserted quarters in a slot to witness her fuck for the first time. Laci looked at the girls looking at her, and then without hesitation, she took two baby pulls.
“Give me a fucking break,” Crystal laughed. The other girls stood watching in amazement. They were impressed. They didn’t think Laci had the balls. “Did you see those sucker-ass pulls? Look, Laci. That is some good shit and I don’t want to see it go to waste. If you gon’ do it, do it. Don’t be wastin’ the shit.”
This was the Crystal that Laci was used to, but it was also the Crystal she no longer wanted to doubt her. Laci took two more pulls, only these were deeper. Her throat immediately constricted, causing her to cough. Laci began to feel light-headed.
The girls started laughing. To shut them up, Laci took two more deep pulls, only this time she didn’t cough out the smoke; she blew it out. The smell of the weed began to fill her nose. Something was different; it didn’t smell like what the girls had smoked before.
Laci looked at Tonette with glassy eyes. Tonette nodded, and like a good little soldier, Laci continued to hit the blunt. Laci could feel her face getting numb and her jaw trying to lock. Her ears began to ring, and she could have sworn she heard “On Cloud Nine” playing in her head. Laci looked at the blunt and smiled. All this time, she had been avoiding something that felt so good. A little toke on the Mary Jane wasn’t that bad at all.
“My nigga,” Tonette said in amazement. “She did the damn thing. And that’s some ol’ chronic shit that we ain’t never had our hands on before.” Tonette winked at Crystal.
Laci smiled as she took another long pull. She had inhaled second-hand smoke from being around the girls when they blazed. She had even caught a buzz from the smoke before, causing her to act a little silly. But she didn’t remember ever feeling like this.