“Get the fuck away from me, hos!” Luther snarls.
“We will,” I say. “Just give us our money and we’ll go. You didn’t come up with the fake IDs, so give it back.”
“I told you, maan, you have to go to Darius to get it, maan.”
“There’s no Darius, Luther. I know that for a fact. You’re just stiffing us, you dirtbag!”
“Listen, Oreo, you best walk or I’m gonna unleash my bitches on ya’ll bitches.” He points to the group of girls behind him.
I size them up. Okay, they’re big and mean and we’re outnumbered for sure.
“I’ll be back, Luther,” I warn. “C’mon girls,” I say and storm off.
“You know where to find me, maan!” the arrogant douchebag yells.
I know that I will one day deal with Luther, but right now I have other pressing problems. Problems like Brody wanting to go all the way. He’s confused as to why I won’t.
“Everyone’s doing it,” he argues.
“I know, I know,” I say. “I just want to wait till I’m eighteen. I promised my mom I will and I want to keep my promise, that’s all.”
“But, that’s a year from now, Burn!” Brody nags. “We’re in a relationship! It’s the twenty-first century!”
“Brody, stop!” I snap.
“I’m gonna marry you, Burn. You do know that, right?”
“Yes, baby, but …” I sigh. “I need you to wait. It’ll be great, I promise.”
“Fine.” He sulks, but I’m determined to wait. It’s not like I’m a prude or something, but I just want it to be special and I promised my mom so if it’s not good enough for Brody, then that’s tough, I guess.
Strike that – I would absolutely hate to lose him over that. But if I can just get him to understand.
****
“How much you got?” Laura asks, holding out her hands.
“Count me out,” I say. “I’m meeting Bro …”
“Oh yeah, we forgot – you’re going to hang out with Brody today. How could we forget that? So dumb of us to forget that you’re ‘In a Relationship’ and hanging out with Kate and Brittany. Silly us!”
I peer at her. “Laura, what the fuck?”
She rolls her eyes and walks away.
I follow her to the rest of the girls who have their heads together. When they see me, they clam up.
I try to read their thoughts but I get nothing. “You guys mad at me or something?”
Nobody answers.
“So, what … you ignoring me now?”
“What does it matter?” Sultana says. “You’ve got Brody and his crew now. No need for us.”
“No, that’s not it,” I protest. “I hang out with you guys too.”
“Well, I guess we’re sick of you giving Brody first dibs at your time.”
“But … but he’s my boyfriend.”
“Yeah, well, not all of us are fortunate enough to date the school star athlete, so I guess we’ll just hang out together while you move onto bigger and better.”
They walk away, leaving me staring in disbelief after them. How could they say all those nasty things to me? I’m with them all day. Troubled, I go to class and sulk.
To my dismay and disappointment, they exclude me from the group by not inviting me to any of their hangouts.
I act like I don’t care, but I do, ‘cause it hurts. I mean, I’ve always had their backs. I saved Laura from being rolled by Luther’s Rottweilers. That was a big chance I took. Those girls could have kicked my ass, yet I put her first.
I’ve defended Tina with Bud a million times over.
I can’t remember how many times I’ve hurled abuse at people who hurled abuse at Sultana simply for being from the Middle East.
And after all that, this is how they treat me. It sucks.