Then I heard a phone beep.
Wiping my eyes, I pulled my cell out and checked the display. No notifications. Puzzled, I looked over my shoulder and on the couch was a cell phone one of them dropped. I picked it up and unlocked the screen with a quick swipe. It was Rodrick’s phone.
I didn’t hesitate to log into The Site through his account and check his private messages. I clicked on the exchange between him and Angela that took place exactly 47 minutes ago.
Angela youngandfly Serrano: fuck and run? I see how u do.
Rodrick Al-Bashir: I gotta head over my BMs house and relieve Gideon of his duties.
Angela youngandfly Serrano: I’m getting fed up with u still fucking w/ her
Rodrick Al-Bashir: That’s the mother of my child. I’ma always have to fuck with her.
Angela youngandfly Serrano: bull shit just go ur separate ways and pay ur child support. If u want me to pay it for u I will.
Rodrick Al-Bashir: I’m not on child support. And you know I ain’t that type of nigga anyway. God rewarded me with my daughter. I can’t turn my back on a blessing.
Angela youngandfly Serrano: i won’t let u keep using God as an excuse to play me! either u gonna change ur relationship status w/ her or I’m done. U told me if I came to pick u up from the jail last night you would change it.
Angela youngandfly Serrano: hello???!!!
Rodrick Al-Bashir: Sorry. I had to stop texting and driving. I just pulled up to my BMs house.
Angela youngandfly Serrano: answer my question. R u gonna change your status?
Rodrick Al-Bashir: Let’s talk about it tonight. You coming to the club, right?
Angela youngandfly Serrano: I’ll be there. and ur gonna give me an answer, nigga! count on that!
Angela youngandfly Serrano: did u see my status update? I tagged u in it I told u I’m not playing.
Angela youngandfly Serrano: R u still at ur BM house?
If they thought they were going to meet up and laugh at me and have fun and dance the night away, they had another thing coming. I shot to my feet and stormed up the steps. As I searched through my closet for an outfit that would hold up good in a fight, I dialed a number on my phone and put it up to my ear. I had my mother on the line in no time.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Momma, I need two big favors from you tonight,” I said.
-
Tyesha816: I might catch a case tonight.
August 16th, 10:10 p.m.
CHAPTER 9
Strobe lights flickered down on me and the dancers and drinkers, giving just enough light to tease my eye with a glimpse of someone’s face, but not enough to see that many facial features. Thus, I was having a hard time finding Angela youngandfly Serrano amongst all these people. I had the girl’s face etched in my memory from constant webpage visits, but just when I thought I saw an Angela look-a-like, the overhead lights would stream in another direction.
And Travis Porter’s “Pussy Real Good” pounding relentlessly out the club speakers kept everybody moving and turning around and away from my line of sight.
Bumping into people on the dance floor, I made my way to the bar and ordered myself a drink. My nerves were bothering me bad. Would I actually swing on this bitch when I saw her? Was Rodrick really worth it? Last time I got into a fight over him, I ended up with a year probation.
Before I let doubt creep all the way in, I threw back a shot of Ciroc and ordered another. Then I felt someone beside me tap the top of my hand.
I turned.
“Whatchu doin’ here?” the brotha asked, staring at me from behind black D&G shades.
“Do I know you?”
He lifted up his shades and showed me his deep set brown eyes. They were all I needed to see. “Marley!” I beamed, leaning in and hugging him.
Since grade school, me and Marley Dubois—aka Fedbound Marley—had been friends. Same middle school, same high school too. I could remember times when he’d get kicked out of class for cracking jokes on teachers. I kept up with his status updates whenever I needed a good laugh. According to the pictures and statuses he posted, he was having a hard time selling drugs. He would post things like, “Somebody stole my scale,” and “This weed is bunk but I’ma still try to get it off though.” He was the most unsuccessful thug I knew.
I hadn’t seen him in I don’t know how long, but we sort of stayed in touch through The Site.
“How you doin’?” he asked. “I ain’t seen you in years.”
“I’m doing okay. How about you?”
“Just tryna stay on my feet. I’m here tryna get these sacks off so I can get my Netflix cut back on.”
I laughed a little. I couldn’t believe that much came out of me, considering how mad I was. Probably the liquor opening me up.
“You’re still a nut. You haven’t changed.”
“Nope. No reason to. But neither have you, apparently. Lookin’ mighty fly tonight,” he noted. “I can’t tell you how many old females I done ran into that’s lookin’ like zombies now. High-five.”
I sucked my teeth at him, but gave him a high-five. I had on a pair of tight denim jeans and flats. The only thing that could be considered sexy was my top—it was a cascading knit tee with tribal embroidery around the neckline—and my earrings, which were set in crystal fans that pierced my lobes in such a way that couldn’t be pulled out.
“Thank you,” I said, as I eyed the live crowd around me, searching.
“You sure ain’t dressed for jail.”
“Huh?”
“The last status update you made. I was like, What the hell? It made me laugh. Talkin’ ‘bout you gon’ catch a case. Not you.”
My throat burned when I downed the rest of my second drink. I was thinking about ordering another. Since Marley had seen my recent status, I wondered if he saw the post Angela youngandfly Serrano made on Rodrick’s page; if he was friends with either one of them on The Site, then he had. I started to feel warm with embarrassment.
“You got warrants?” Marley asked jokingly.
“No. That status I made didn’t mean anything.”
“
