Sam pats the seat next to him. “Chill, Sunday. You seem completely stressed out. Everything’s gonna be all right.”
As I sit down, he takes the remote from me and changes the channel to Meet the Browns. Even though I never watch sitcoms, I totally could use the distraction.
“Looks like there’s a marathon on. Six back-to-back episodes. You down?” Sam asks.
“Sure, whatever.”
I try not to laugh, but the combination of Mr. Brown and Sam imitating Mr. Brown gives me a serious case of the giggles. It’s definitely helping me to not think about Carlos getting shot.
I stretch my arms toward the ceiling and yawn. I’m tired, but I don’t want to go to bed and leave Sam sitting up here by himself watching TV, so I force my eyes to stay open for as long as I can.
I guess Sam and I watched the show until I fell asleep. The only reason I know I fell asleep is because Aunt Charlie taps my leg to wake me.
“Wake up, Sunday. Walk your friend out.”
“Wh-what happened with Carlos?”
“They don’t know if he’s gonna make it. His mama and sister are up at the hospital, too.”
I shake my head. “How’s my mother doing?”
“She was cool until LaKeisha showed up at the hospital starting mess.”
“Why would she even come up there?”
Aunt Charlie shrugs. “I guess seeing if Carlos died or not, because her brother is about to get charged with either murder or attempted murder.”
“So y’all know it was him?”
“Who else would it be? The cops said they were getting a warrant for his arrest, so it’s only a matter of time.”
“This is too messed up,” I say.
“Mmm-hmm. That’s why we keep telling y’all to go to college, so you don’t have to fool with this mess right here.”
“I know that’s right, Auntie.”
“Your boyfriend is waiting at the door, girl.”
I laugh out loud. “He’s not my boyfriend, Aunt Charlie. I just met him this evening.”
“Well, I think he’s a good boy, staying over here like that. You might wanna holla at him.”
“Auntie!”
“I’m just sayin’.”
I stretch again and walk over to Sam, who’s leaning against the door with his eyes closed. He looks like he’s asleep standing up.
“Sam, are you gonna be cool driving home?”
He opens his eyes. “I’m good. I was just resting my eyes.”
“I think you should just stay here. It’ll be okay if you sleep on one of the couches.”
He smiles. “I’ll be fine. But thanks for thinking ’bout me.”
“You just make sure you call me when you get home.”
Sam’s smile widens. “Is that your sneaky way of trying to give me your phone number?”
“Boy, stop playing! I just want to make sure you get home okay.”
“It’s all right, Sunday. I like an aggressive woman. But all you had to do was give me your number. I would’ve taken it.”
I roll my eyes and snatch Sam’s phone to punch my number in. “Call me.”
“What if I forget? Don’t you want to have my number so you can check on me?”
I narrow my eyes and try to keep from smiling, but it’s not working. I hand my phone to Sam. He glances at me with a mischievous smile as he punches the numbers in.
I’m totally enjoying this until I think about the fact that my mother is at the hospital with Carlos and he might not even make it through the night. How could I be out here laughing and joking when all this drama is taking place?
Sam hands my phone back to me and surprises me by giving me a hug. “It’s gonna be all right. You know that, right?”
Okay, dang he smells good. And wow, I’m completely attracted to him right now, even though he ain’t the cutest dude. I mean, Romell’s got him whipped in the looks department, but I know he’d never hug me and tell me everything’s gonna be okay.
“I won’t forget to call,” Sam says, and then kisses me on my forehead before leaving.
I stand in the doorway and watch as he walks away. He stops to say something to Aunt Charlie and then gets into his car. I can’t stop looking, even after he’s driven up the hill and I can’t even see his car anymore.
Okay…Romell who?
5
When I wake up in the morning, the first person I think about is Sam. He called me when he got in and told me to have sweet dreams. Is it selfish of me to be thinking of a potential crush when my mother’s man is in the hospital? Maybe so, but I can’t help it.
My mother is home now. She’s sitting at the table holding on to a cup of coffee for dear life. She looks exhausted, but she still has on her clothes from yesterday.
“Mommy, what’s the latest on Carlos?”
“No change. They say he could wake up at any time, or he might not. His family is up there with him.”
“Why don’t you get some rest? You look really tired.”
“I am, but I’m more angry than tired.”
“You’re angry because Carlos got shot?”
She nods. “Definitely because of that, but even more because they robbed Carlos before the fight got started. It was all a setup to begin with.”
“What? How do you know?”
My mother frowns. “That’s why LaKeisha was up at the hospital apologizing. She told her brother that she was mad about Carlos being over here with me, and that she wanted to get him back for leaving her. They were never gonna let him be a part owner of the club.”
I’m tripping that my mother is even telling me all this. She usually doesn’t share “grown-folk business” with me and Dreya, but she’s giving up all the dirt today.
“How much did they get him for?” I ask.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“What? Where did Carlos get that kind of money?”
My mother’s shoulders slump. “I loaned it to him. The club is already making lots of money, so it seemed like a sure thing. He was gonna give me double the money back.”
“Mom, I didn’t know you had money saved like that. I thought you only had my college fund and your retirement.”
My mother is silent now as she sips on her coffee. Then it all comes to me. The reason why she’s telling me all this, and where the twenty-five grand came from.
“You loaned him my college fund?” I ask.
She nods. “I promise, honey, I’m gonna find a way to get it back.”
I think about the Spelman application that’s on the desk in my bedroom. I plan to have it in by November 1st, so that I can get early admission. But how can I do that if I don’t have money? I was already planning to apply for scholarships, too, but what if that doesn’t pan out? What if I need more money?
The only thing that gets me through this hood