Teenie (15 page)

“Damn, girl. You had me walking all over the first floor looking for you. I thought you dissed me.”

“No way. I had to go to the bathroom.” We’re walking past
the sixth floor and I feel a lot better. I love the way he smells. I wish Cherise could see me now. She couldn’t pull Greg Millons on her best day. Who’s deadweight now? I’m still not sure where he’s taking me and I can’t really think of a cool way to ask, so I say, “Where are we going?”

“We’re almost there. Just a little further. I want us to have some privacy.”

Further or farther, I’ll go wherever he wants me to go. My mother would probably slap me if she knew what I was doing, even harder if she saw how big my smile was.

As soon as we start walking up the last set of stairs, I feel his mouth and tongue on the back of my neck. There’s a heat exploding all over my body and I start breathing really heavily. My back is to him, and he can’t see me trembling and see how wide my eyes are open. I’m not sure what to do with my hands, so I keep them pressed against my side.

He takes off my book bag first, then my jacket, and rests them on the banister. His hands are all over me, grabbing, scratching. It feels so good. I feel the nails of his thumbs sliding along my waistline. He holds my waist in his hands and moves his fingers under my shirt. I can feel his tongue on my back and I moan a little.

He laughs and says, “You like that, huh?” His hands are huge but soft, every spot he touches tingles. He sits down on the stairs, and when he turns me around, he licks my stomach, sending shivers up and down my body. I don’t even see when he unbuckles his pants. He moves up a few steps so that my face is lined up with his lap. I can see his, his … thing. He’s reaching into his boxers.

My eyes get really big, and he smiles, a smile of confidence, as if to say, “Yeah, I know.” He mistakes my look of fear as a compliment and seems confused when I say, “What’re you doing?”

“What you mean?” He half smirks. “You said you was gonna hit me off.”

“What’re you talking about? I never told you that I would—” OH MY GOD!!! A blessing, he’s talking about me giving him … ! I reach for my jacket and put it on. As I turn to walk away, he grabs me and nearly yanks me off my feet. The same hands whose softness I noticed earlier have an uncomfortable grip on my arm. I try to pull away but I can’t. He’s too strong.

“Where you think you goin’?” He’s scaring me with the way he’s smiling at me. He pulls me close to him, hard, until my face is inches from his. “Now you said you was gonna do this and you gonna do it.” He said that as if I have no choice.

“No, Greg. I don’t want to.”

“But you said you was gonna do it. I said what’s up with a blessing, and you said you would do it.”

“But I didn’t know what it was.”

“Whatever. Don’t gimme that. That’s what I can’t stand about y’all girls. Y’all be wearing all these tight clothes, getting brothers all charged up, and then be frontin’. You ain’t doing that to me.”

He pulls my arm so that I’m forced to lean forward. He’s going to make me do it, whether I want to or not. I look up at him, hoping that the fear in my eyes will convince him to change his mind. I can see that if I don’t do it, he might hurt
me. It seems like my fear makes him more excited, because his smile gets bigger the more scared I look.

I don’t know what else to do, so I grab it and start moving my hand up and down, just like in those movies that Cherise made me watch at her mother’s house. He starts groaning and closes his eyes. I guess I’m doing it right. I turn my head because I know I’ll cry if I look at what I’m doing.

“Yeah, that feels good. Now kiss it.”

His head is tilted back and his eyes are closed. I leap at the chance to get away. When I reach for my things to run, Greg grabs the tip of my hood and rips it. As he pulls me in, I spin toward him and kick him in his balls as hard as I can. He lets out a whimper and crumples up at the bottom of the stairwell.

I don’t stop running until I get to the downtown 4 train platform. It’s only when I sit down that I feel my lungs and legs burning. I’m crying hysterically, the hood of my top is ripped. I can’t believe he was going to force me to do that. What kind of girl does he think I am? I have to take some responsibility for putting myself in that situation. I should’ve known better. Him being a senior and me a freshman, what else was I expecting?

Attention, passengers. Due to a police investigation at Franklin Avenue, there will be delays on all Brooklyn-bound 4 and 5 train service. We apologize for the inconvenience
.

A puddle of tears forms at my feet after five straight minutes of crying. I’m hunched over and what’s left of my hood is wrapped around my face. I just want to go home. I wish there was a way I could just close my eyes and teleport myself into
bed. I feel like such an idiot for putting myself in that situation. What was I expecting, for us to jump rope and play patty-cake? What a moron I am. How could I be so naive? I agreed to do something that I had never heard of before, so I have to accept blame for that. But I said no. My mother told me no means no, no matter what. He shouldn’t have made me do that.

I feel someone nudge my shoe. I don’t look up right away, thinking it was accidental. When I get bumped a little harder, I look up and see Passion standing in front of me. Crystal is standing behind her, two other girls are standing at her side.

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Passion sits down next to me and leans close. “It’s okay. Tell me what happened.”

I don’t know this girl from Eve. I take a deep breath and say, “I’ll be okay,” hoping that will be enough.

“Just tell me what happened. Trust me. It will be better for you in the end. Just be honest with me.”

“What?” Her friends have me surrounded.

“Now tell me the truth. What were you doing with Greg in the staircase?” She’s very calm, which makes her even scarier, considering what she asked me.

“What?”

“I said what were you doing with my man in the staircase today?”

“Your man?”

“Yes. My man. When I heard he kissed you, it bothered me but I let it go. I see how you little sluts throw yourselves at him, so he’s going to slip up every now and again. But then I
heard what you had planned for today.” She’s shaking her head. “You’re a shysty little hooker, aren’t you?” She waits a few seconds before saying, “Well, don’t you have anything to say?”

Oh no. Greg had a girlfriend and lied about it. Can it get any worse? I don’t even know what to say. What can I say? I look over at Crystal, and she won’t even look me in the eye.

“Hold up. What you looking at her for? I’m the one talking to you, not her. Tell me. Why were you in the staircase with my man?”

“I’m sorry. I … I didn’t know he was your—”

“Okay, stop right there. You’re a damn liar. I can’t stand liars. I know for a fact that Crystal told you he had a girl, so don’t make me slice your pretty little face open.” She shows me the box cutter that’s in her purse. “I already told you. Be honest and it will be better for you in the end. Don’t make me say that again.” She closes her purse and resumes questioning me. “Now. Tell me exactly what happened.”

The tears are really pouring down my face. How did I end up here? How the hell am I going to get out of this?

“Leave her alone!”

We all turn at the same time and see Garth. He’s trying to look tough.

“You better get outta here before you get hurt.”

Judging from the look of Passion, I think she is the type to back that statement up.

“I said leave her alone.” Garth’s voice cracks. He’s shaking like a leaf.

Garth is bigger than Passion, but that doesn’t stop her
from walking over to him and punching him in his eye. Garth hunches over, holding his eye, but he gathers himself and stands his ground. Passion seems confused by his bravery.

“Oh, so you wanna be Captain Save-a-Ho now, huh? I got something for you.” She reaches into her purse and pulls out the box cutter.

She pushes the blade out and gets ready to slash him but stops when a train comes barreling into the station. The Long Island Rail Road crowd bursts out of the door and forces its way between us. She puts the blade back in her purse, and I stand up and grab Garth’s arm, pulling him into the train. The doors close before she has a chance to react. She stands on the other side of the door, glaring at me as the train pulls away, mouthing, “You’re dead.”

“W
hy is God doing this to me? Why?” Garth sits with me at the train station near my house while I try to compose myself. I’ve been sobbing for about forty-five minutes, boogers and all. He keeps passing me scrunched-up napkins from his book bag.

“Shouldn’t you be getting home?” My nose honks after I blow into the tissue. “It’s getting kind of late.” Garth lives in the Bronx, about a two-hour train ride from my house.

“It’s alright. I usually go to the library on Fridays, so no worries.”

“Oh, okay,” I say, trying my best to smile. “I’m sorry about your eye.”

“Ahh, no problem. I’ve been hit harder.” His eye is a little swollen and red. He’s been rubbing it since we got on the train. “I sure am glad that I was able to find you.”

“What were you doing at school so late anyway?” I’d been wondering how he just happened to be there to save me.

“I was hanging out. You know, just chilling.”

The look on my face shows him that I find that hard to believe.

“Okay. I was tutoring a couple of the football players and … I asked them if they knew what a, what a blessing was, so …”

“So you stayed at school because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”

“I looked all over for you, but I couldn’t find you. So I gave up looking and decided to go home. That’s when I saw those girls bothering you from across the platform.”

The way he’s looking at me, I can tell he wants to ask me if I went through with it, but he would never make me feel uncomfortable. I don’t have the strength to tell him the whole story, so I give him the short version. He never lets go of my hand.

“I saw him when I left school. I was wondering why he was limping down the street like that. That must’ve been some kick, Teenie. That’ll teach him.”

I laugh, and then we both sit quiet for a minute. I never realized how easy it was to talk to him. “I feel like such a loser right now.”

“You know, Teenie, my mother says that God will never give you more than you can handle, and that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.”

I nod my head, because my mother says the same exact
thing—well, at least the first part anyway. That mustard seed thing is something new, and pretty cool. “I’ll make sure to pray the next time that crazy girl comes looking for me.”

“I promise I’ll be there if she does.” His weak smile shows that he’s just as afraid as I am. We sit in silence for a little bit before he says, “So what’re you going to do now?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Are you going to tell?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t really know what I should do. I’m such an idiot.” A few tears start to leak out of my eyes. Garth looks at me with a long face.

“I’m out of napkins.”

I laugh and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. “Why are you so nice to me, Garth?”

“Teenie, you’re my only real friend. My brothers, all they do is give me wedgies and call me Nerdimus Prime. The guys on the football team only talk to me because I can help them stay eligible to play. I mean, I hang out with some of the guys from the Robotics Club sometimes but they’re kind of boring. You’ve always been nice to me, no matter what.”

“You’re like my guardian angel.”

“Lucky for you I’m not the kind that sits on your shoulder.”

We both laugh, and I glance at my watch. “I think you should be getting home.”

“Okay. But at least let me walk you home.”

“I’ll be okay. It’s only a few blocks from here.” I hug him and kiss him on the cheek. His face lights up like a Christmas tree.

“I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Bye. Get home safe.”

Wow, he really likes me. I can tell by the way he’s skipping across the street to the other side of the subway station.

I walk around the corner to my house. My mother has Fridays off, so I’m standing at the door with my ear pressed against it trying to time when I should go in. With a ripped hood, I want to keep contact with people to a minimum. I can hear laughter coming from inside. It sounds like my mother has guests. More eyes mean that someone will probably notice my ripped jacket. I tuck the hood into the neckline. I push through the door and see two pairs of size 13 Timberlands dumped near the doormat. Great. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the twins are home.

“N
iblet!” they shout in unison. Bakari and Solwazi jump off the couch and rush over to give me a hug. Niblet was a name they made up referring to my lack of development in the chest area. They used to tease me and say that I would never have to spend money on bras, telling me that I’m so flat and skinny that I could slide into one of the rubber bands that Daddy brings home from his office.

My brothers are taller than Beresford but I’m a little shrimp like my mother, so I am being crushed between their hugs like a teddy bear. Most people can’t tell them apart because they look and act exactly the same, finishing each other’s sentences and posing as each other when they date different girls. I told one girl who was seeing Solwazi that Bakari had a small scar on his lip (courtesy of Beresford’s spife). After
Bakari tried to kiss her posing as Solwazi, she slapped the mess out of both of them.

“Oh man. Don’t look like we can call her Niblet no more,” Kari jokes.

“For real. Did you go and save up your allowance for implants?” Solwazi leans in close to ask me that one, makes me feel like such a little kid.

These snaps are new material but not above any level that they’ve always thrown at me. With everything that’s happened to me today, I just can’t handle the onslaught. I turn to get away from them and I trip while I’m running up the stairs. They’re laughing at me, calling me spastic. I wish they would just go back to where they came from. I can’t stand them. Even after I close my bedroom door, I can still hear them laughing at the bottom of the stairs. What I wouldn’t give for a grenade right now.