“You sound just as crazy as my ex-girlfriend, Lori,” said Wesley unapologetically.
“Oh! Why do you want to bring that tramp up?” Keysha turned her attention to Wesley and awaited his response.
Lori was the reason she and Wesley had broken up.
“Uhm.” Wesley paused, uncertain of what he’d done to turn Keysha’s aggression toward him. Boys can be clueless sometimes. The last name Keysha wanted to hear pass through Wesley’s lips was Lori’s, especially after Keysha had agreed to let him get close to her again.
“Her name shouldn’t even be in your head, especially after the mess she put you through.” Keysha didn’t filter her words.
“Jeez, this is the second time I’ve tried to help a girl in need, thinking that I was doing the right thing. I’m never going to help out again because I only end up getting my head chewed off. Girls are way too complicated and love drama way too much. I swear, I feel like a cat chasing a red laser pointer whenever I try to figure girls out,” Wesley said, washing his hands of the conversation. He turned and began heading back toward his car.
“Now do you see and understand how crazy Viviana is?” I looked at Keysha and waited for the acknowledgment that I was right all along and that we should’ve let Viviana deal with her own mess.
“Yeah, I see what you mean,” Keysha admitted.
“She’ll live,” I said nonchalantly as I watched Viviana walking toward my house.
“Are you still going to talk to her about causing the breakup between you and Misalo?” Keysha asked.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to deal with her in my own way,” I said as I rested the palm of my left hand on Keysha’s shoulder and hobbled back to the car where Wesley was waiting on us.
two
VIVIANA
My body ached horribly. My right shoulder was throbbing because one of my attackers had bitten me. I had a headache because another one had pulled my hair. I also felt a lump swelling on my forehead, probably caused when someone nailed me with a dizzying hammer fist. It had been difficult to fight four girls at the same time, which felt like fighting a pack of wild dogs with my bare knuckles. They were able to throw four times as many punches, but a majority of their swings lacked accuracy. I was happy that I knew how to keep moving to dodge a total beat down. Still, for all the effort I had put into avoiding a punch, I had ended up taking a number of hits, but I’m tough like my father and can take punishment as well as dish it out. I bloodied the noses of two girls, and I’m certain that one of them will have a nasty-looking black eye thanks to my lightning quick right-handed jab. I don’t know why they decided to beat me up. It could have been a random act, or, as I believe, a setup by my evil cousin, Maya. That’s probably the reason she arrived so late after I had phoned her out of desperation and had begged her for help. I’ll never do that again, ever.
When I arrived back at the house, I entered the kitchen through the patio door. My younger cousin, Anna, was in the kitchen making tamales. I’d walked in just as she placed some dried corn husks in a pot of boiling water. I knew that it would not be long before a delicious aroma would waft throughout the house. Anna did a double take as she casually glanced over her shoulder to say hello.
“Damn!” Anna blurted out.
“How bad do I look?” I asked, feeling the lump on my forehead getting tighter.
“Should I call nine-one-one? You look like you need a doctor,” Anna said, turning off the stove. She hustled toward the refrigerator and removed an ice pack for my forehead.
“I don’t need to go to the hospital. I’m fine,” I assured her as she placed the cold ice pack against my skin.
“Did you get into a fight with Keysha and Maya again? If they did this to you, I swear, I’m calling Mom and Dad right now.” Anna removed the ice pack and took a closer look at the swelling.
“I think Maya set me up, but I can’t prove it,” I uttered as I pulled back the fabric of my torn shirt from my right shoulder. “Is my shoulder bleeding?”
“OMG! Who bit you? These teeth marks look deep.” Anna touched my shoulder as she continued questioning me.
“I don’t know. Some chick,” I answered as I pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down.
“Was it Maya or Keysha who bit you?” Anna pulled up a chair and sat beside me.
“Anna, you must not have heard me. Neither Keysha nor Maya did this. Neither one of them were there. It was a group of girls who had been watching the fight between Misalo and Carlo. They started chasing me for no reason,” I explained as I pulled off my gym shoes and ankle socks. I glanced at my sausage-shaped pale toes. They looked horrible and badly in need of a pedicure.
“I’m calling Mom.” Anna reached for her cell phone.
“What good is that going to do, Anna? I don’t even know who the girls are or what they looked like,” I explained.
“Well, what if they jump you again? They could kill you, Viviana.” I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was nervous and anxious.
“I doubt it. Beating me up wasn’t as easy as they thought. I can handle myself,” I said confidently. Anna hesitated for a moment. I could tell that she was trying to convince herself to not call her mother.
“The next time something like this happens, don’t waste your time calling Maya. Call me. I’m not much of a fighter, but if the situation called for it, I’m pretty sure I can hold my own and help you out.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. How does my forehead look?” I asked.
“The swelling is going down,” Anna said after taking another peek at my lump.
“I need a hot bath,” I said as I rose out of my chair.
“Would you like for me to make you a tamale? You might feel better,” said Anna.
“No. I’m not hungry right now. I’m going to take a bath, wash my hair and just chill out for a while,” I said.
“Are you sure? My tamales are world famous,” Anna said.
“Positive,” I answered as I gingerly walked toward the staircase.
After taking a bath and washing the scent of sweat and grass out of my hair, I placed Neosporin on my skin scrapes and cuts and continued to place ice on my forehead. The knot had gone down considerably. I walked into the family room because I wanted to watch television. When I entered the room, Maya was already snuggled up on the sofa watching a romantic music video. She cut her eyes at me and then exhaled disgustedly.
“Do you have a problem?” I snapped, unmoved by her foul attitude about me.
“Yes, I have a big damn problem with you.” Maya clicked off the television and folded her arms across her bosom.
“And I’ve got an even bigger problem with you. But that’s not news to anyone,” I said with just as much revulsion.
“Huh? I haven’t done anything to you!” Maya growled at me. “But you! You’re a tacky slut!”
“And you’re a stuck-up, spoiled, delusional whore who doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut!” I barked back at her.
Maya rose to her feet and pointed an accusatory finger at me. “You purposely ruined my relationship with Misalo and I know it! I’ll never forgive you for that.”
“Ha! Your relationship wasn’t all that damn strong. Misalo told me all about you and how you never truly appreciated him. He couldn’t stand you and was going to break up with you anyway. I just took his blinders off so he could see how much of a sneaky