BOOK EXCERPT
ISBN: 978-0-9777573-1-2
ISBN: 0-9777573-1-5
Shaniqua headed to homeroom wondering if Jordan Kelley would be in there again this year or if he had failed the tenth grade for a second time. She really hoped the latter; that way she wouldn’t have to see him every morning. Shaniqua skimmed past Mrs. Roberson’s desk.
“Uh, Ms. Williams, come back here,” Mrs. Roberson said.
Shaniqua stood to the side of Mrs. Roberson’s desk, waiting for her to finish filing papers away in a desk drawer. Shaniqua watched Hailey Heinecke bouncing around the classroom as if she were campaigning for an election of some sort, giggling and smiling. Everything in life wasn’t that frickin’ amusing. Maybe for girls like Hailey it was—she had both parents and money. Shaniqua had neither parents nor money.
Jordan’s voice could be heard as he approached the classroom, laughing with his buddies, Rick and James. All three boys entered the room, their pants sagging down to their knees. None of them seemed to have grown over the summer. No wonder Jordan pretended to be tougher than he was; he suffered from the “little man” complex. Though Shaniqua couldn’t really talk—she hadn’t grown much over the summer either, she was still 5’2”.
Shaniqua kept her attention toward the front of the class, just as she had the second semester of their sophomore year. Ignoring Jordan would be easy. After all the crap he had put her through, she really didn’t care if his lungs ever took in air again. Little worthless weasel.
Mrs. Roberson stood up, wobbled over to the other side of her desk, her thunder thighs jiggling. “Ms. Williams, put your things down and do the fingertip test.”
Shaniqua rolled her eyes. Mrs. Roberson was forever hassling her about her gear. She was sure Mrs. Roberson was just jealous because she couldn’t fit her oversized turkey legs in a skirt. “Mrs. Roberson, my skirt ain’t too short.”
“Place your hands at your side, Ms. Williams. You know the routine. If your fingertips reach past your skirt, you need to change clothes.”
Shaniqua slapped her arms against both sides to perform the test.
Mrs. Roberson nodded. “Sorry, Ms. Williams, you know the rule.”
“My skirt ain’t too short, I have long arms.”
The class burst into laughter. Someone whistled. Shaniqua swore she heard Jordan’s voice, “Damn, she’s finer than last year.”
“Hell yeah!” Rick added.
“Shaniqua, keep pleading your case, and I’ll be happy to discuss this with you after school in detention, your choice,” Mrs. Roberson said, then took her seat in the too small chair, letting the extra flesh trail off the sides. She stared out at the class. “Well, it’s certainly nice to see you all again, welcome back. I trust you all had a wonderful summer break.”
A few cheers and moans resonated around the room.
Shaniqua slumped in her chair. There was no way that Granny was going to come to school just to bring her a change of clothes. First off, Granny didn’t own a car. Secondly, Shaniqua had secretly borrowed the outfit from her cousin, Renee. She had to get Mrs. Roberson not to send her home.
“I need a volunteer, please,” Mrs. Roberson said.
Hailey’s hand shot up in the air like a rocket. “I’ll help,” her high-pitched voice chimed, making Shaniqua want to cram her ears with cotton.
Mrs. Roberson handed Hailey a stack of papers to pass out. Not much had changed over the summer. Mrs. Roberson’s inverted ski slope of a chin was still smooth as ever, and jiggled when she talked. Hailey was still the teacher’s pet, thin as a toothpick, and still masquerading as a blonde, evident by her dark eyebrows and aqua-blue contacts.
The morning announcements came on, lighting up the wall-mounted television screen. Principal Anderson carried on about nothing, until Shaniqua heard cheerleading tryouts. Her ears perked up like a pet poodle’s, but it was too late; she missed the information. She could always ask Hailey, the professional cheerleader, since she’d been on the varsity squad since freshman year.
Without turning her head to confirm her suspicion, Shaniqua knew that Jordan, Rick, and James were talking about her. They kept looking two rows over as if they were trying to get her attention. Shaniqua knew she looked cute that morning. She had stayed away from chocolate and soda all summer, just to make sure her face would be clear by the time school started.
The bell sounded, ending homeroom and sending students into the noisy, chaotic hallways. Shaniqua stalled in her seat until Jordan and his crew left. She didn’t want to hear anything they had to say. Just because it was a new school year didn’t mean that they could start out fresh, as if nothing ever happened.
“Ah, Ms. Williams,” Mrs. Roberson said, motioning for Shaniqua to come up to her desk.
Shaniqua gathered her belongings and made her way up front. She hoped it wouldn’t take long; she needed to talk with Hailey. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Because it’s the first day of school, I’m going to excuse you for being inappropriately dressed today. However, if you decide to take it upon yourself to come to school dressed inappropriately tomorrow, you will be sent home. Do we have an understanding?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Shaniqua said, watching Hailey leave the classroom. “Thank you.” Quickly, she caught up to her. “Hey, Hailey, when are cheerleading tryouts being held?”
Hailey looked Shaniqua over and then offered a fake smile that coincided perfectly with her fake bleach blonde hair. “Next week.”
“What do I need to do?”
Hailey’s smile vanished. “There’s an information sheet posted on the activity board in the front lobby,” she said, then pushed past Shaniqua.
“Thanks, little witch,” Shaniqua muttered to herself on the way to her first period class, when suddenly out of nowhere, she heard, “Yo Shorty Red?” It sounded like Jordan Kelley’s voice. There was no way he would be speaking to her after all that had happened between them. She turned around slowly. Jordan was walking towards her. Her heart raced. He didn’t sound as if he was going to try to fight her again but she wasn’t sure. She scanned the area for help. Maybe Natasha’s brother, Nate would jump in again and knock Jordan out like he did last year.
“Shorty Red?” He said again.
Shaniqua stood frozen. She couldn’t believe that Jordan had the audacity to speak to her. Had he lost his freakin’ mind? What could he possibly have to say to her? All the disgust that she felt toward him poured out of her facial expression.
“Dang girl, why you mean muggin’ me?”
“We ain’t got nothing to talk about.”
Jordan’s voice softened as he inched closer to her, “I got something I’ve been meaning to say to you since last year.”
Shaniqua shifted her weight to one leg and stared at him blankly.
Jordan shoved his hands in his two front pockets and ogled the floor. “I know this is going to come as a surprise, but uh, I’m sorry.”
“For?”
He looked around to see if anyone was watching. The hallway had thinned out. Most kids were already in class. “About last year.”
Shaniqua refrained from speaking and continued staring at him, searching his eyes for truth. Though, they had deceived her once before. Granny always said eyes were the windows to a person’s soul.
“I want to make it up to you.”
“Make it up to me? How?”
Jordan whipped out a thick wad of twenties from his front pants pocket and counted out two hundred dollars. “Here.”
Shaniqua’s eyes bucked. “Where you get that money from?”
He popped his collar. “I’m a h-u-s-t-l-e-r, hustla.”
She giggled.
Jordan grabbed Shaniqua’s hand and placed the money in her palm. “I got plenty mo’ where that came from,” he said, then offered a mischievous grin.
The money felt good in her hand. Her mind raced to all the things she could do with it. She could buy some new school clothes of her own. That way she wouldn’t have to wear her cousin Nee Nee’s clothes. Maybe even a little trac phone. But something about the way Jordan was smiling made her uncomfortable. Shaniqua shoved the money back at Jordan. “That’s alright.”
“Get at me if you change yo’ mind.”
Shaniqua nodded.
“So what’s up, can I call you?”
“I don’t know about all that.”
“Well, when you do know, holla at me,” he said smiling.
Shaniqua hated to admit it, but Jordan looked cute. The diamond studs in his earlobes were twice the size as the ones he rocked last year and sparkled along with his shiny platinum grill. His hair was neatly braided in a zigzag pattern. He looked as though he had spent a lot of time in the sun over the summer because his complexion was about three shades darker than normal, resembling dark chocolate. Just maybe she and Jordan could change things between them, she thought making her way to class late.
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