BrookLyn's Journey (18 page)

“Don’t cry, Sweets
.
” Gabby lift
ed
her cap off her head
and stroked
the tear that streaked down
BrookLyn’s cheek.

“
I’m not sad. I’m just so happy.
No one has ever done anything like this for me before.”

“No one but me
,
and that’s because I love you with every fiber of my being. Now wipe those tears away
.
”

BrookLyn
pulled
her
self together.
She may have been
broken
,
but
she
was not going to let
her
parents ruin this.
She
couldn’t.

“I’ll take the tags up front so
I
can pay for this stuff.”

“What’s this?”
BrookLyn
point
ed
to the silver
-
gray piece of plastic attached to all of the clothes.

“Oops, I forgot about those. Those are security tags. Take off the clothes real quick, she can
remove them
,
and then we
’
re good to go
.
”
Gabby
stood and
turn
ed
her back
so BrookLyn could change.

That simple little gesture made BrookLyn feel so at home with Gabby. Respect. Privacy. She was so not used to getting those things. It almost made her tear up again. Instead she thanked
Gabby
and took
the clothes off
, handing them to her.

“I’ll bring them right back.” She
took
all of the clothes
,
leaving
BrookLyn
in the dressing room wearing
her
bra and panties.

She looked at her old clothes again. She
wanted to throw
them all away, burn them even, but she
couldn’t
, she
had to wear them home.
She
felt
so
great in
the
new
ones
since
t
hey were in style.
The
new
clothes felt different.
They made BrookLyn feel different too. She
never thought
she would
ever wear a pair of brand name jeans until
she had
left
home and was
able to buy
her
own.
She couldn’t wait for
Gabby
to bring them back to her
.

Gabby knocked on the door
then
came in with her eyes closed.
She
had lots of bags in her hands.
She handed
BrookLyn the
new clothes to put back on
and
she
got dressed
then
tapped
Gabby
on the shoulder.
S
he
put the jacket on
.

Gabby
turned around
.
“
Here, t
his hat matches better than that one and the sneakers do too.”
W
ith Gabby it all had to be as impeccable as she was.
Gabby
grinned.
“Don’t let anyone tell you any different
. L
ife truly is a fashion show.” She pulled
BrookLyn
close
,
kissing
her with passion.

“I only saw one of the tags but I know it cost a lot, and I’m sorry Gabby
.
”

“Nothing is ever too much for
you. R
emember that
.”

BrookLyn nodded.
This ha
s
to be a dream.
I don’t want to ever wake up if it
is.
I don’t care what
Gabby
said. My life ain’t ever been grand
,
until today
.

They
walked to the car and put
BrookLyn’s
new clothes in the trunk.
As they
leaned on the passenger side door facing each other
, she
looked
Gabby
dead in the eyes
and
realiz
ed
something.
I
might really
love her. She love
s
me. My parents w
ill
be horrified.

Maybe
her
brother and sisters might be upset too
,
but
she
loved
Gabby
.
Every second
they
spent together breathed new life into
her soul.
“Thank you for being my friend
, and so nice to me
.
”
BrookLyn
kissed
Gabby
impulsively then
hugged her tight.
No one had ever been this nice to her before or even acted like she existed. Christmas or birthday presents never showed up with her name on them.
She welcomed it.

“I hope you’ll be my first
and
last love.”

BrookLyn
looked at
Gabby
. She didn’t believe her about
be
ing
her first love
.

“So,
do
you hope I am
your
last love too?” She pulled
BrookLyn
close
r
and
they stayed like that for a few moments before getting
into the car.

Gabby was the first person to love
BrookLyn,
but
she felt that
Gabby
was
far
too beautiful for
her to really
be
her
first. To
BrookLyn, that
couldn’t possibly be true
.

BrookLyn was so lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed the drive over
to the party
. The car came to a stop and she looked out the window. “We’re here?”

“
We’re here,” Gabby confirmed. “
Hey, y
ou’re shaking. Don’t be nervous, Sweets. You’re with me
.
”
Gabby
gave
BrookLyn’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

She inhaled deeply
and slowly got out of the car
.

Gabby
came around
the vehicle,
took BrookLyn’s
face in her hands and kissed
her.
“I got you girl. I love you.”

“Love you back
.
”
BrookLyn
whispered
. She wondered if it was
possible to have a forever love
after just a few days.
She
was new to the love game
,
s
he
wasn’t sure
—a
ll
she
knew was that some
fresh life
was
coursing
through
her
veins.

They
walked
toward
the steps
,
hand in hand.
A
few people
were
on the porch hanging out and laughing loud
ly
.
With cups in hands, they looked like they were having a good time,
dancing and swaying to the familiar
reggae beat.
The music was
so
loud BrookLyn could feel the beat in her chest.

Gabby’s friends
all waved
,
look
ing toward them, most of them smiling. But o
ne girl in particular
,
did
not
look happy. She
gl
ared at
BrookLyn
with
a
look of
deep-rooted hate
.
And
BrookLyn recognized hate when she saw it.

She
almost tripped as
the girl
mov
ed
to block
the door
.
Gabby
had told her not
to be nervous
,
but the sweat bead
ed
on her
fore
head
and
BrookLyn was
shaking
.

“You’re okay
.
” Gabby
moved,
putting
herself between BrookLyn and the other girl.

BrookLyn
trusted
Gabby
,
but wasn’t sure if
she
believed her
at that moment.
She
didn’t feel okay
at all, she
felt out of place and
conspicuous.

The angry girl stepped in closer to
Gabby
.
“So, is this the girl we’ve had to hear about for a year? Is this the girl you left me for? Is this the girl you said you loved before you even met her?”
The girl was gesturing wildly with her arms.

How did this all of a sudden become about me?
BrookLyn
didn’t know
the girl
but she
immediately
felt
frightened of her.
She
had a crazed look in her eyes—kind of like Gabby’s mesmerizing ones, only bad.
I knew I wasn’t
her
first love.
This girl was and she is clearly not happy about me.

BrookLyn
gazed
at
the girl
and
she
caught
her
looking.
She stood with her arms folded
, glaring at BrookLyn
.
The
smell
of
Gabby’s sweetness mixed with the smell of
this girl’s
hate
and BrookLyn wanted to run away
.

Gabby
stood her ground.
“Shante, I left you because you cheated on me.
We’re not together
because of
you
,
not because of her.”

“So you say
.
”
Shante
push
ed
Gabby
, but s
he didn’t budge
.
Shante’s eyes looked like they were going to
pop
out of her head.

“I want to go home
.
”
BrookLyn
said
the words so
softly
she wasn’t even sure if it was out loud.
Gabby
didn’t react or
move
—
her focus was on Shante.
BrookLyn tugged at
her arm
.
“Gabby.”
She still didn’t answer.
N
ow when
she
needed her
the
most
, it seemed that
she couldn’t hear
BrookLyn’s
thoughts
.

“Your little girlfriend wants to go home. Isn’t that cute?” Shante said mocking
ly.
Next thing
,
Shante was surrounded by three large men
—o
ne of them was Gabby’s cousin Max
—just when BrookLyn
was ready to run off the porch to the safety of the car.

“Everybody good out here?” said Max. “You know if we mess things up we can’t party here no more.” He
glared
at Gabby and Shante
,
who were staring at each other
, neither one
moving.
Then
Max picked Shante up
and shifted
her out of the way as if tossing a napkin into the garbage.