“Crime to speak, ma?” He placed his head on my shoulder, pressed his cheek against mine, and looked into the eyes of my reflection.
“No, speaking is not a crime but stalking is,” I snapped.
I shook my head. There had to be a law against a man being this fine. I swear this dude was knocking me off my square. I diverted my eyes from his reflection and he stood up straight.
I did my best not to be nervous as I tapped the ball of my stilettos on the tiled floor, closed my locker door, and turned around to face him. Malachi slid the tip of his index finger through my belt loop, pulled me toward him, and kissed me on my forehead. “Damn, look at you.” He joked. “You sweatin’ already.”
“Whatever.” I waved my hand while praying that he couldn’t hear my heart thundering in my chest. “I’m starting to get concerned, why are you following me?”
Malachi laughed. “I go to school here.”
Why the heck am I nervous? “Isn’t it a little late?” I rolled my eyes. “The first day was last week.”
“What’s with you and the attitude? And what’s up with eye action—chill with all that. That ain’t even for you.”
He’s right, I am being a li’l extra…but still.
He stroked my cheek. “Or are you mad because I made you wait so long. My apologies for holding up our life together, but I’m back now.”
Was it me or was this cat bold? Didn’t he have a girl? Or better yet, didn’t I have a man?
“Malachi!” A loud male voice called him from down the hall, and immediately I took a step back. Instead of letting my belt loop go, Malachi held on to it.
“Yo.” His friend nodded his head at me as if to say hello, then he said to Malachi, “You know li’l ma over there?” He pointed.
Instinctively I turned around and noticed that he was pointing to Asha. “That’s my homegirl.” I butted into their conversation.
“Yo, hook that up,” he said to me, and then he looked back at Malachi. “Dawg, you see li’l shortie-rock? She pretty as hell, and man, she thick like a mug.”
“And your name is?” I asked.
“This is my cousin, Samaad,” Malachi said. “And Samaad, this is Zsa-Zsa.”
Samaad smiled. “Oh, you’re Zsa-Zsa? Heard a lot about you. Now, be a good in-law and hook that up.”
In-law? That threw me for a loop. I stared at Malachi, and he fingered the ring dangling from the gold chain around my neck. “I see you missed me.”
I took a step back. This was too much. I held my index finger up and told Samaad, “Give me a minute.” I walked over to Asha, who was talking to Courtney. “My fault,” I said to them. “I know I was buggin’ earlier. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, you were buggin’,” Courtney said.
“Exactly.” Asha twisted her lips, and I could tell she was pissed.
“Awwl, Diva.” I hugged her. “Don’t be mad, you know I love you and you’re my best friend.”
“Whatever.” She laughed. “Did you do the hook-up?”
“I didn’t have to. He walked over there to Malachi already sweatin’ you.”
“Daaaang,” Courtney said, “that’s what I’m talkin’ about. What did he say?”
“He was like”—I smacked my lips—“‘who is shortie over there?’”
“And you’re sure he wasn’t talking about me?” Courtney asked.
“You get a li’l carried away sometimes.” I shook my head. “Asha, he’s waiting on you.”
“Waiting on me? He better come over here. I am not”—she twisted her lips—“walking over there looking all easy and greasy. He has to come to me.”
I gave her a high five. “And you know this.”
I walked back over to Malachi, who was still standing next to Samaad and now Staci, who had worked her way in front of Malachi’s locker. I couldn’t help but suck my teeth. “Look,” I said to Samaad, “my homegirl thinks you’re cute but you know we don’t run up on men.” I looked over at Staci. “We ain’t all thirsty.”
“Who you talking to?” she snapped.
I ignored her and continued talking to Samaad. “Anyway, my friend’s name is Asha, and she’s expecting you.”
“Good lookin’ out.” He smiled and left me standing there. Before I could walk away from Malachi and Staci, who had her face twisted, the bell rang again and everyone headed to class.
For the next three periods straight all I thought about was Malachi. Something was terribly wrong with this because I was supposed to be heartbroken over Ameen, not contemplating cheating. The problem was my heart kept forgetting what my mind wouldn’t let go of.
I needed desperately to get back on track so I could maintain my focus: getting Ameen back.
I was in English class, and for the first time since school started I completed my classwork without the interruption of my vibrating phone letting me know Ameen was calling or sending me a text message. Utter silence was coming from my Prada bag, and I swore my love life was M.I.A.
By the time I got to chemistry, I was thinking and rethinking what I could’ve done differently about my baby …and then suddenly, as if a light autumn breeze had come my way, Malachi and I were on his bike riding in New York—Central Park—kickin’ it and holding hands, eating cotton candy and laughing at each other’s jokes. We shared a soda, and just when he’d asked me to be his girl is when the bell rang and I realized I was daydreaming about the wrong man.
This was a hot mess!
It was lunchtime and I felt out of my mind. Ameen had yet to call me back and just for GP sake I walked to the side door and peeked outside, only to see nothing. Damn.
I walked into the cafeteria and thought I could cry my heart out to my best friends, but they were both preoccupied. Asha and Samaad were sharing a secluded corner and Courtney was arguing with this dude named Otis. “How you gon’ get mad,” I heard Courtney say to Otis.
“’Cause somebody think you sexy? Don’t that sound crazy to you? I have a right to my opinion.”
I definitely wasn’t about to become part of that conversation; besides, Courtney could hold his own. Instead I stood in the lunch line and grabbed a salad and a bottle of water. It’s not that I was on a health food kick, it’s that I didn’t have an appetite, so there was no need to waste much money. I walked toward an empty table and “You don’t see me sitting here?” floated my way. It was Malachi, and there was no way I could fight back the smile on my face, so I let it go. I walked over to the table where Malachi was and sat down.
“Why do you seem so mad at me?” he asked as I started sipping my water.
I blew air out the side of my mouth. “You really don’t know?” I tooted my lips.
“No, and don’t give me a riddle, I don’t want to guess, I just want to know so we can move on.”
For some reason tears danced on my tongue but I was able to fight them. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“We’re not twelve anymore.”
“You don’t have to tell me that.”
“Then why can’t you express yourself?”
“For the same reasons you didn’t tell me you were moving and when I went to look for you, you were gone.”
“It was different then, Zsa. I