Chapter Seven
****** I don't mean to be rude or anything, but we're skipping a day. Nothing really happened yesterday, Sunday, so we're moving up to today. That's right, it's Maia. I'm taking over for a change, at least for now while Crissy is in class anyway. So.it's Monday morning, and I'm sitting here in bed doing nothing. Great.
Now, ya'll was there when the doctor told me that in 2 days I would be cool and my surgery scars and stuff would be healed, right? Tell me why Crystal AND Dwayne are gonna make me stay home today! And they was all serious about it too! I don't even BELIEVE this! You can tell that them 2 was made for each other or somethin', cause they be acting alike and everything all the time! It's real disgusting sometimes, but I learn to deal with it.
(Ring-Ring!)
I really need to get one of them phones with the Caller ID cause this cheap ass phone that UM supplied me with is terrible! Excuse me while I get this phone...
"Hello?"
(Click!)
"What the fuck? Oh well."
Whoever just called must have had a wrong number or something, cause they didn't say nothing. So anyway, like I was saying.Crissy is in class right now, and Lover Boy went back to teaching his classes today. He called earlier talking about how the staff was all worried about him and stuff because they REALLY thought he was sick Friday! LMAO! Wouldn't you know it? But for real, he said that all the teachers have been talking about me being shot.word's going around fast. Then again, Crystal DID say that's how it is round here.
(Ring-Ring!)
Ugh! I'm telling you, when I actually get some damn peace to myself, that's when people wanna start calling and shit! Excuse me, ya'll!
"Hello?"
(Click!)
Okay, I'm starting to get pissed now. This shit ain't cool, and I am NOT the one, okay?
(Ring-Ring!)
"Listen, whoever the fuck you are-"
"Maia! It's me, Ty! Who the hell is you cussing at? I didn't do nothing to you, girl!"
"You didn't just call here 2 other times before?"
"Maia, no girl! I'm skipping my 4th period class, because I don't feel like dealing with that teacher bitch. So anyway, I decided to call you, but here you go and gotta be all Miss High and Mighty Mouth! I was just calling to see how my girl was!"
"I'm sorry.the last 2 calls here were from somebody, I don't know who they was though. And both times when I answered the phone they hung up. I don't know what's going on."
"Don't worry about it, chica. Some stupid peoples is on this campus, and you can only wonder how the hell they got in here in the first place. But hey, what you say I come by and chill with you?"
"Yeah, it's cool. I can't go nowhere though."
"Why? You should've been done healed up by now! What's the problem? You not feeling good?"
"Crystal got me on house arrest, can you believe that shit? (laughs)"
"Well, come to think of it, I don't blame her. You and your bad ass NEED to stay in that bed! When I see Crystal, I gotta give J.Lo number 1 her props!"
"Oh lord.don't get me started on that J.Lo shit! (laughs)"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"The J.Lo's wanna see a challenge." I said, smiling.
"Yeah!" The other 4 J.Lo's chimed in.
The class started to get loud, and they were only trying to egg on what was about to take place. In the middle of a lesson Dwayne as teaching us, Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee stopped in to drop off something for Dwayne. So you know Dwayne's gotta be a fool and start something between them and Hiram, because Hiram (in addition to Willis and Kenny) is also one of the star players on the Hurricanes football team. Apparently, Willis and Kenny are gonna arm wrestle, and then whoever wins that is going to face Hiram. Dwayne's got money that Hiram, his own nephew, is going to get beat. The class all thinks he's going to win. And because of that, Dwayne's promised that if we win, he gives us all A's for the semester, no questions asked. If HE wins, we have to take these long ass notes every day this week, working all the way up until the bell. Writing for the whole hour from now until Friday? Shit.Hiram better win! We gotta prove Uncle Dwayne's ass wrong!
"Alright, alright class. Settle down." Dwayne said, hushing us.
"You ready to do this man?" Willis asked, turning to face Ken.
"You know it." Ken said, going to shake Willis' hand before starting.
"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Dwayne teased, making us all laugh.
"Yo, Uncle D.you really need to shut up." Hiram said.
"Oooh!" That's us, the class!
"Don't you tell me to shut up, boy! What'd I tell you bout that?" Dwayne asked, walking towards Hiram, only to be blocked by Kenny and Willis.
"Can we do this or not?" Kenny and Willis asked, shutting D up.
"Oooh! Mr. J got PUNKED!" Said this guy in my back row named Wallace Scott a.k.a Scotty (as we all called him), making us all laugh.
"You want a detention?" Dwayne asked, pointing to Scotty.
"I didn't think so." Dwayne said, after noticing Scotty wouldn't say anything afterward.
"Okay, get in your positions." Dwayne said, going behind his desk and sitting down in his chair.
Kenny and Willis stood opposite each other in front of us, leaning on Dwayne's desk. Apparently he was going to be the judge of this.
"Before ya'll start, J.Lo number 3, I need you to do something for me! Come here!" Dwayne said, looking at Nikki.
Nikki looked at me and then Cerisa in a weird way and then shrugged her shoulders, getting out of her seat. She made her way down the steps, until she finally reached the bottom. Before walking over to Dwayne, she stops and goes over to Hiram. Oh no! He's grabbing her and kissing her!
"Get 'em, boy!" Scotty yells, prompting all the guys (even Kenny and Willis) to start cheering.
Nikki pulls away, realizing that she's wasting Dwayne's time. When she finally does go over to him, he's shaking his head at her.
"I need you to be on look out in case anybody comes." Dwayne instructs, looking steadily at Nikki.
"Got it." Nikki says, walking over to the corner and plopping down on Dwayne's stool that's located near the door.
"Okay, now that we're all settled, class.I'm going to need you to help me count it down." Dwayne said, looking up and smiling.
"Ready.Set.Go!" We say excitedly, watching as Kenny and Willis battle in an arm wrestle.
Kenny and Willis are really doing good! You know how in usual arm wrestling matches you can tell who's going to win? You can't here because there 2 are really putting in effort! They're hardly moving!
Dwayne silently gets up out of his seat and makes his way in front of them. He signals for half the class to start cheering for Kenny and the other half to cheer for Willis, as a way to bring things up to speed. I'm on the side that cheers for Willis, so.
"Willis! Willis! Willis!" My side of the room starts chanting.
"Kenny! Kenny! Kenny!" Yolanda's side of the room starts cheering.
Willis and Kenny are trying so hard not to laugh at just how enthusiastic some of us are getting, but they're bound to crack any minute. Oh! They're laughing! I told you!
"Come on, boys! You're in it to win it! Who's gonna win this and then go on to beat my corny-ass nephew?" Dwayne said, egging Willis and Kenny on even more.
"Man, whatever DEWEY! You don't know what you're talking about! I'll beat both of them! We all know who the star player is anyway!" Hiram said, grinning.
"Oh see.he done did it now. He done called me Dewey! Willis, Kenny, I don't care WHICH one of ya'll wins..somebody better win this thing right here and right now!" Dwayne said, annoyingly.
(Bam!)
The whole class witnesses as Willis McGahee slams Kenny Dorsey's arm to the other end of Dwayne's desk. This is like.the shock of the year right here! Everyone's always comparing Kenny and Willis to each other, like who's the better player.and Willis just beat Kenny!
"Now! H, you wanna come up here and play with the big boys? Come on then!" Willis said, looking at Hiram.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Do you think it would be safe if we told Crystal about Dany and her shooting you?" Ty asked, looking at me.
"You heard what Dany said, and even though I was slipping in and out of consciousness, I did too. Don't act like you don't remember." I said, rolling my eyes and looking down at my pillow.
"See, I ain't even said all that!" Ty said, rolling her eyes back at me.
"I could care less about what happens to me, but the fact that Dany said she would get Crissy and Dwayne involved makes me kinda unsure that we should even go there right now." I said, looking Ty directly in her eyes.
What happened when ya'll left me earlier was, after I got off the phone with Ty, she came over shortly after with Solace. After them two talking to me alone separately, I've found out that they BOTH like each other unknowingly. I think it's cute, but I'm not about to tell Ty yet. And so just some minutes ago, she started talking bout the whole shooting thing. Crissy's my dog, and I don't particularly like lying to her, but I have to. If I go and run my mouth (like I often do so well), it'll be all over. She'll be dead, and so will D. And I can't have that. It'll be too big of a burden to have on my conscience, ya'll feel me?
"Okay Maia, I see what you're saying. If you don't wanna tell Crissy, then we don't have to. But did you ever think that she may be trying to find out for herself anyway?" Ty asked, making me think.
"Girl, what are you talking about?" I asked, confused.
"Ya girl is gonna be a lawyer, right?" Ty asked.
"Yeah, so what?" I said, still confused.
"I don't know her too well or anything like that, but she seems like cool peoples. She acts like she really cares about her friends, and because of her wanting to be a lawyer, I'm getting this weird vibe like no matter how long you keep this from her, she's gonna try and figure things out on her own. So in the end it won't really matter whether you tell her or not." Ty said.
"She don't have time to play fucking detective, Ty. She's been cooped up with my ass all weekend, she's in class right now, and she's got her Salsa classes every day this week with D now. Like I said before, Crissy ain't got no time. She's too busy with her own shit to investigate into some shit like that.." I said, ignoring Ty.
"She's a smart girl, Maia. Just when you think she's not doing one thing, she'll go and do another. I don't even KNOW this girl and I can sense that from her!" Ty said, trying to get my attention.
"I don't care what you say or think about her, we're NOT telling her about Dany. That's the end, and I don't wanna hear another thing about it. Change the subject." I said, not wanting to talk about this anymore because it was frustrating me.
"Fine.what did Solace say to you when ya'll 2 were talking?" Ty asked, smiling wide.
"I know something you don't know!" I sang, purposely teasing her.
"Come on! Please tell me! I'm your best friend, so you're not allowed to keep stuff like this from me.it's against the rules." Ty said, smiling still.
"What rules are YOU talking about?" I asked, laughing.
"The rules! The friendship rules!" Ty said, laughing with me.
"Okay, I don't know what you're saying, but you're not gonna get me to talk. I don't care WHAT you do. You ain't gonna BREAK me." I said, smiling.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So you know these Salsa classes are tonight at 7, like they were on Friday right?" Dwayne asked me.
"Of course I know! I figured that since the classes started on a Friday night that we were going to have class every Friday or something. I never thought it was going to be each day a week." I said, sitting down in one of the desks in front of the room.
"I heard LaKaye saying something about some Dance Competition coming up soon or something. It's in Orlando. Oh, and she also said that in preparation for the UM Pep-Rally coming up that she was going to pick 5 of the best couples to dance in front of the school." Dwayne said, erasing the board.
"Oh yeah, she did say that about the Pep Rally! But I don't remember her saying anything about the dance competition. That oughta be interesting. I don't know why she would mention something like that so early, because I know that they usually don't hold the competition until like.November. But the Pep-Rally is usually held sometime in October. Last year it was held 2 days before my birthday. Maybe I'll get lucky this year." I said.
"You know that she's going to approach us sooner or later." Dwayne said, setting the eraser down and then going to sit down in his chair.
"Well, we may be the best dancers in the class for now, but it was only the 1st day. There are 9 other couples in there, and I'm sure that after a while they'll catch on. And besides, we both said that we knew a little something.we're no experts, but I have to admit.we tore the roof off that place Friday night!" I said, smiling and getting up to walk around Dwayne's room.
"We did more than tear the roof off.A LOT more! All I know is, you try and tease me again in front of all them people like that again and I'mma have my counter-attack ready!" Dwayne said, chuckling.
"You're so dumb.I don't know about you sometimes, seriously. Dwayne, I just thought of something. Suppose LaKaye DOES want us to go to the championship? You and I are partners, and if we should go to Orlando, don't you think people would get just a little bit suspicious? It's one thing for you to be my teacher and I your student and us just going to dance class one day and having a good time.but on a live televised Latin Ballroom Dancing Competition? Come on, now." I said, starting to worry about the bad flack we could get as a result of going to the championship.
"You're right, I didn't think of it like that. But hey.you wanna know what the prize is? It's a paid week stay in California PLUS a bonus of $50,000." Dwayne said, grinning.
"50 thousand? No.you're not serious! That's 25 each for us! Imagine what I can do with that money!" I said, getting excited.
"I got an idea.you could actually buy yourself a car instead of being cheap and taking the HurryCane every weekend!" Dwayne said, starting to laugh hysterically.
"Why don't you shut up?! I thought about that, okay? What I need to do is pay for my Insurance and pay off my Cane card and a whole bunch of other stuff." I said, my thoughts drifting off.
"If we won, I'd let you have the whole 50 thousand." Dwayne said.
"You're not serious." I said, looking at him in disbelief.
"Honey, I got money stashed away for a rainy day. Let me just put it to you like that, okay? With being a former lawyer, oh yeah. I've got a nice bundle buried away. But I would let you have the 50 thousand, I'm serious. Hell, you deserve it." Dwayne said, smiling.
"But I." I said, not being able to believe my ears.
"What'd I just say?" Dwayne asked, signaling to me that what he said goes, and there are to be no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
"We've only been a couple for a few days, Dwayne." I said, sitting down in front of him.
"So?" Dwayne answered, just looking at me.
I wanted to say something but then stopped myself just as I saw that he was going to talk. I wanted to hear what he had to say.
"It's only been maybe a few days with us being involved with each other, but that doesn't mean anything to me. The time that I share with you DOES, and I'm not going to let anything get in the way of that. With previous relationships, I've never actually gotten myself involved as emotionally and physically and mentally as early as I have with you. You're different, and I can't put my finger on what makes you so different from the rest, but you do stand out. Nothing else matters to me, don't you see that? For 22, you're definitely mature for your age.as a matter of fact, you're more mature than most women I've dated who have been some years older than you!" Dwayne said, getting up out of his chair and sitting on his desk in front of me.
"Well.I don't know what to say to that, other than thank you. It's not all me, though. You're putting me up on some sort of a pedestal like YOU do nothing. My first meeting you started out as a crush, and I will admit to that. What I didn't expect was that it would grow into so much more, and it has. This relationship has been great, even for being as new as it is now. And I'm more comfortable with you than I am with my own parents! How crazy is that? With the way we talk and whatnot, I feel like I've known you forever, and that we're just now reuniting after a long time of not seeing each other. It may sound weird, but that's how I feel." I said, smiling.
"It doesn't sound weird.you took the words right out of my mouth! I feel the exact same way, and the funny thing about it is, we've never seen each other before! Yet, we feel extremely comfortable with one another." Dwayne said, rubbing my leg.
"I don't want-"
"Shh.stop worrying. Everything's gonna be alright. Trust me. You can trust me, can't you?" Dwayne asked, smiling.
"I don't want this to end, and I don't want nothing to come between our relationship. I just can't help worrying that something's going to go wrong, even though I don't want to." I said, looking down at the floor.
"Listen, if anything does come towards us, we'll tackle it head on together. It'll be me and your against the world." Dwayne said, smiling and touching the side of my face.
"Me and you against the world?" I asked.
"Yes. And you know what we're going to do first?" Dwayne asked.
"No, what?" I asked.
"We're going to that competition in Orlando, and I don't give a damn what people say. We're dance partners and that's all they need to know. It's none of their business what goes on between you and me. And do you know why we're going despite everything?" Dwayne said.
"No, why?" I asked.
"To make them ask WHY." Dwayne said, laughing with me.
"You know what? Yeah! As soon as LaKaye comes up to us and even mentions the competition, I'm gonna tell her to go ahead and sign me up. And while we're at it, we might as well tell her that if she wants to, we can be one of the 5 couples she picks for the Pep-Rally. Cause you know she's going to ask anyway." I said, getting excited.
"That's my baby!" Dwayne said, taking me in his arms and kissing me on the lips.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, what's up?" Maia asked, grinning.
"Not much girl, I'm jus chillin. What about that game you promised me?" Jay said, dribbling his basketball.
"Yea, aight! Let's do this!" Maia said, chuckling.
"You sure, I mean with your back and all??" Jay asked, looking a little bit concerned.
"What'd I just say? I'm playin, so let's go!" Maia said, stealing the ball from Jay.
"Aight, aight well I'll go easy on you, just in case." Jay said, smiling at Maia.
"In case what? I don't need u 2 b doin' me no favors when it comes to the court, aight? I said I got this, so lets play!!!" Maia said, looking at Jay like he was crazy.
"Well that's it now. You asked for it!! Its on now!" Jay said, snatching the ball back from Maia.
"Well hold up, let's play for somethin, u know make the game a lil' bit more interesting." Maia said, grinning devilishly.
"What you got in mind?" Jay asked, smiling back at Maia.
"Hmmm. If I win, then you gotta get me front row B2K concert tickets! Deal??" Maia says smiling, going to shake Jay's hand.
"Yeah okay.(still holds on to Maia's hand) BUT if I win (pulls Maia in closer), you gotta go out with me." Jay says, still smiling.
"Hmmm.okay. Deal." Maia agrees, moving in closer to Jay and smiling at him.
~TO BE CONTINUED!~
****** I don't mean to be rude or anything, but we're skipping a day. Nothing really happened yesterday, Sunday, so we're moving up to today. That's right, it's Maia. I'm taking over for a change, at least for now while Crissy is in class anyway. So.it's Monday morning, and I'm sitting here in bed doing nothing. Great.
Now, ya'll was there when the doctor told me that in 2 days I would be cool and my surgery scars and stuff would be healed, right? Tell me why Crystal AND Dwayne are gonna make me stay home today! And they was all serious about it too! I don't even BELIEVE this! You can tell that them 2 was made for each other or somethin', cause they be acting alike and everything all the time! It's real disgusting sometimes, but I learn to deal with it.
(Ring-Ring!)
I really need to get one of them phones with the Caller ID cause this cheap ass phone that UM supplied me with is terrible! Excuse me while I get this phone...
"Hello?"
(Click!)
"What the fuck? Oh well."
Whoever just called must have had a wrong number or something, cause they didn't say nothing. So anyway, like I was saying.Crissy is in class right now, and Lover Boy went back to teaching his classes today. He called earlier talking about how the staff was all worried about him and stuff because they REALLY thought he was sick Friday! LMAO! Wouldn't you know it? But for real, he said that all the teachers have been talking about me being shot.word's going around fast. Then again, Crystal DID say that's how it is round here.
(Ring-Ring!)
Ugh! I'm telling you, when I actually get some damn peace to myself, that's when people wanna start calling and shit! Excuse me, ya'll!
"Hello?"
(Click!)
Okay, I'm starting to get pissed now. This shit ain't cool, and I am NOT the one, okay?
(Ring-Ring!)
"Listen, whoever the fuck you are-"
"Maia! It's me, Ty! Who the hell is you cussing at? I didn't do nothing to you, girl!"
"You didn't just call here 2 other times before?"
"Maia, no girl! I'm skipping my 4th period class, because I don't feel like dealing with that teacher bitch. So anyway, I decided to call you, but here you go and gotta be all Miss High and Mighty Mouth! I was just calling to see how my girl was!"
"I'm sorry.the last 2 calls here were from somebody, I don't know who they was though. And both times when I answered the phone they hung up. I don't know what's going on."
"Don't worry about it, chica. Some stupid peoples is on this campus, and you can only wonder how the hell they got in here in the first place. But hey, what you say I come by and chill with you?"
"Yeah, it's cool. I can't go nowhere though."
"Why? You should've been done healed up by now! What's the problem? You not feeling good?"
"Crystal got me on house arrest, can you believe that shit? (laughs)"
"Well, come to think of it, I don't blame her. You and your bad ass NEED to stay in that bed! When I see Crystal, I gotta give J.Lo number 1 her props!"
"Oh lord.don't get me started on that J.Lo shit! (laughs)"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"The J.Lo's wanna see a challenge." I said, smiling.
"Yeah!" The other 4 J.Lo's chimed in.
The class started to get loud, and they were only trying to egg on what was about to take place. In the middle of a lesson Dwayne as teaching us, Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee stopped in to drop off something for Dwayne. So you know Dwayne's gotta be a fool and start something between them and Hiram, because Hiram (in addition to Willis and Kenny) is also one of the star players on the Hurricanes football team. Apparently, Willis and Kenny are gonna arm wrestle, and then whoever wins that is going to face Hiram. Dwayne's got money that Hiram, his own nephew, is going to get beat. The class all thinks he's going to win. And because of that, Dwayne's promised that if we win, he gives us all A's for the semester, no questions asked. If HE wins, we have to take these long ass notes every day this week, working all the way up until the bell. Writing for the whole hour from now until Friday? Shit.Hiram better win! We gotta prove Uncle Dwayne's ass wrong!
"Alright, alright class. Settle down." Dwayne said, hushing us.
"You ready to do this man?" Willis asked, turning to face Ken.
"You know it." Ken said, going to shake Willis' hand before starting.
"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Dwayne teased, making us all laugh.
"Yo, Uncle D.you really need to shut up." Hiram said.
"Oooh!" That's us, the class!
"Don't you tell me to shut up, boy! What'd I tell you bout that?" Dwayne asked, walking towards Hiram, only to be blocked by Kenny and Willis.
"Can we do this or not?" Kenny and Willis asked, shutting D up.
"Oooh! Mr. J got PUNKED!" Said this guy in my back row named Wallace Scott a.k.a Scotty (as we all called him), making us all laugh.
"You want a detention?" Dwayne asked, pointing to Scotty.
"I didn't think so." Dwayne said, after noticing Scotty wouldn't say anything afterward.
"Okay, get in your positions." Dwayne said, going behind his desk and sitting down in his chair.
Kenny and Willis stood opposite each other in front of us, leaning on Dwayne's desk. Apparently he was going to be the judge of this.
"Before ya'll start, J.Lo number 3, I need you to do something for me! Come here!" Dwayne said, looking at Nikki.
Nikki looked at me and then Cerisa in a weird way and then shrugged her shoulders, getting out of her seat. She made her way down the steps, until she finally reached the bottom. Before walking over to Dwayne, she stops and goes over to Hiram. Oh no! He's grabbing her and kissing her!
"Get 'em, boy!" Scotty yells, prompting all the guys (even Kenny and Willis) to start cheering.
Nikki pulls away, realizing that she's wasting Dwayne's time. When she finally does go over to him, he's shaking his head at her.
"I need you to be on look out in case anybody comes." Dwayne instructs, looking steadily at Nikki.
"Got it." Nikki says, walking over to the corner and plopping down on Dwayne's stool that's located near the door.
"Okay, now that we're all settled, class.I'm going to need you to help me count it down." Dwayne said, looking up and smiling.
"Ready.Set.Go!" We say excitedly, watching as Kenny and Willis battle in an arm wrestle.
Kenny and Willis are really doing good! You know how in usual arm wrestling matches you can tell who's going to win? You can't here because there 2 are really putting in effort! They're hardly moving!
Dwayne silently gets up out of his seat and makes his way in front of them. He signals for half the class to start cheering for Kenny and the other half to cheer for Willis, as a way to bring things up to speed. I'm on the side that cheers for Willis, so.
"Willis! Willis! Willis!" My side of the room starts chanting.
"Kenny! Kenny! Kenny!" Yolanda's side of the room starts cheering.
Willis and Kenny are trying so hard not to laugh at just how enthusiastic some of us are getting, but they're bound to crack any minute. Oh! They're laughing! I told you!
"Come on, boys! You're in it to win it! Who's gonna win this and then go on to beat my corny-ass nephew?" Dwayne said, egging Willis and Kenny on even more.
"Man, whatever DEWEY! You don't know what you're talking about! I'll beat both of them! We all know who the star player is anyway!" Hiram said, grinning.
"Oh see.he done did it now. He done called me Dewey! Willis, Kenny, I don't care WHICH one of ya'll wins..somebody better win this thing right here and right now!" Dwayne said, annoyingly.
(Bam!)
The whole class witnesses as Willis McGahee slams Kenny Dorsey's arm to the other end of Dwayne's desk. This is like.the shock of the year right here! Everyone's always comparing Kenny and Willis to each other, like who's the better player.and Willis just beat Kenny!
"Now! H, you wanna come up here and play with the big boys? Come on then!" Willis said, looking at Hiram.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Do you think it would be safe if we told Crystal about Dany and her shooting you?" Ty asked, looking at me.
"You heard what Dany said, and even though I was slipping in and out of consciousness, I did too. Don't act like you don't remember." I said, rolling my eyes and looking down at my pillow.
"See, I ain't even said all that!" Ty said, rolling her eyes back at me.
"I could care less about what happens to me, but the fact that Dany said she would get Crissy and Dwayne involved makes me kinda unsure that we should even go there right now." I said, looking Ty directly in her eyes.
What happened when ya'll left me earlier was, after I got off the phone with Ty, she came over shortly after with Solace. After them two talking to me alone separately, I've found out that they BOTH like each other unknowingly. I think it's cute, but I'm not about to tell Ty yet. And so just some minutes ago, she started talking bout the whole shooting thing. Crissy's my dog, and I don't particularly like lying to her, but I have to. If I go and run my mouth (like I often do so well), it'll be all over. She'll be dead, and so will D. And I can't have that. It'll be too big of a burden to have on my conscience, ya'll feel me?
"Okay Maia, I see what you're saying. If you don't wanna tell Crissy, then we don't have to. But did you ever think that she may be trying to find out for herself anyway?" Ty asked, making me think.
"Girl, what are you talking about?" I asked, confused.
"Ya girl is gonna be a lawyer, right?" Ty asked.
"Yeah, so what?" I said, still confused.
"I don't know her too well or anything like that, but she seems like cool peoples. She acts like she really cares about her friends, and because of her wanting to be a lawyer, I'm getting this weird vibe like no matter how long you keep this from her, she's gonna try and figure things out on her own. So in the end it won't really matter whether you tell her or not." Ty said.
"She don't have time to play fucking detective, Ty. She's been cooped up with my ass all weekend, she's in class right now, and she's got her Salsa classes every day this week with D now. Like I said before, Crissy ain't got no time. She's too busy with her own shit to investigate into some shit like that.." I said, ignoring Ty.
"She's a smart girl, Maia. Just when you think she's not doing one thing, she'll go and do another. I don't even KNOW this girl and I can sense that from her!" Ty said, trying to get my attention.
"I don't care what you say or think about her, we're NOT telling her about Dany. That's the end, and I don't wanna hear another thing about it. Change the subject." I said, not wanting to talk about this anymore because it was frustrating me.
"Fine.what did Solace say to you when ya'll 2 were talking?" Ty asked, smiling wide.
"I know something you don't know!" I sang, purposely teasing her.
"Come on! Please tell me! I'm your best friend, so you're not allowed to keep stuff like this from me.it's against the rules." Ty said, smiling still.
"What rules are YOU talking about?" I asked, laughing.
"The rules! The friendship rules!" Ty said, laughing with me.
"Okay, I don't know what you're saying, but you're not gonna get me to talk. I don't care WHAT you do. You ain't gonna BREAK me." I said, smiling.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So you know these Salsa classes are tonight at 7, like they were on Friday right?" Dwayne asked me.
"Of course I know! I figured that since the classes started on a Friday night that we were going to have class every Friday or something. I never thought it was going to be each day a week." I said, sitting down in one of the desks in front of the room.
"I heard LaKaye saying something about some Dance Competition coming up soon or something. It's in Orlando. Oh, and she also said that in preparation for the UM Pep-Rally coming up that she was going to pick 5 of the best couples to dance in front of the school." Dwayne said, erasing the board.
"Oh yeah, she did say that about the Pep Rally! But I don't remember her saying anything about the dance competition. That oughta be interesting. I don't know why she would mention something like that so early, because I know that they usually don't hold the competition until like.November. But the Pep-Rally is usually held sometime in October. Last year it was held 2 days before my birthday. Maybe I'll get lucky this year." I said.
"You know that she's going to approach us sooner or later." Dwayne said, setting the eraser down and then going to sit down in his chair.
"Well, we may be the best dancers in the class for now, but it was only the 1st day. There are 9 other couples in there, and I'm sure that after a while they'll catch on. And besides, we both said that we knew a little something.we're no experts, but I have to admit.we tore the roof off that place Friday night!" I said, smiling and getting up to walk around Dwayne's room.
"We did more than tear the roof off.A LOT more! All I know is, you try and tease me again in front of all them people like that again and I'mma have my counter-attack ready!" Dwayne said, chuckling.
"You're so dumb.I don't know about you sometimes, seriously. Dwayne, I just thought of something. Suppose LaKaye DOES want us to go to the championship? You and I are partners, and if we should go to Orlando, don't you think people would get just a little bit suspicious? It's one thing for you to be my teacher and I your student and us just going to dance class one day and having a good time.but on a live televised Latin Ballroom Dancing Competition? Come on, now." I said, starting to worry about the bad flack we could get as a result of going to the championship.
"You're right, I didn't think of it like that. But hey.you wanna know what the prize is? It's a paid week stay in California PLUS a bonus of $50,000." Dwayne said, grinning.
"50 thousand? No.you're not serious! That's 25 each for us! Imagine what I can do with that money!" I said, getting excited.
"I got an idea.you could actually buy yourself a car instead of being cheap and taking the HurryCane every weekend!" Dwayne said, starting to laugh hysterically.
"Why don't you shut up?! I thought about that, okay? What I need to do is pay for my Insurance and pay off my Cane card and a whole bunch of other stuff." I said, my thoughts drifting off.
"If we won, I'd let you have the whole 50 thousand." Dwayne said.
"You're not serious." I said, looking at him in disbelief.
"Honey, I got money stashed away for a rainy day. Let me just put it to you like that, okay? With being a former lawyer, oh yeah. I've got a nice bundle buried away. But I would let you have the 50 thousand, I'm serious. Hell, you deserve it." Dwayne said, smiling.
"But I." I said, not being able to believe my ears.
"What'd I just say?" Dwayne asked, signaling to me that what he said goes, and there are to be no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
"We've only been a couple for a few days, Dwayne." I said, sitting down in front of him.
"So?" Dwayne answered, just looking at me.
I wanted to say something but then stopped myself just as I saw that he was going to talk. I wanted to hear what he had to say.
"It's only been maybe a few days with us being involved with each other, but that doesn't mean anything to me. The time that I share with you DOES, and I'm not going to let anything get in the way of that. With previous relationships, I've never actually gotten myself involved as emotionally and physically and mentally as early as I have with you. You're different, and I can't put my finger on what makes you so different from the rest, but you do stand out. Nothing else matters to me, don't you see that? For 22, you're definitely mature for your age.as a matter of fact, you're more mature than most women I've dated who have been some years older than you!" Dwayne said, getting up out of his chair and sitting on his desk in front of me.
"Well.I don't know what to say to that, other than thank you. It's not all me, though. You're putting me up on some sort of a pedestal like YOU do nothing. My first meeting you started out as a crush, and I will admit to that. What I didn't expect was that it would grow into so much more, and it has. This relationship has been great, even for being as new as it is now. And I'm more comfortable with you than I am with my own parents! How crazy is that? With the way we talk and whatnot, I feel like I've known you forever, and that we're just now reuniting after a long time of not seeing each other. It may sound weird, but that's how I feel." I said, smiling.
"It doesn't sound weird.you took the words right out of my mouth! I feel the exact same way, and the funny thing about it is, we've never seen each other before! Yet, we feel extremely comfortable with one another." Dwayne said, rubbing my leg.
"I don't want-"
"Shh.stop worrying. Everything's gonna be alright. Trust me. You can trust me, can't you?" Dwayne asked, smiling.
"I don't want this to end, and I don't want nothing to come between our relationship. I just can't help worrying that something's going to go wrong, even though I don't want to." I said, looking down at the floor.
"Listen, if anything does come towards us, we'll tackle it head on together. It'll be me and your against the world." Dwayne said, smiling and touching the side of my face.
"Me and you against the world?" I asked.
"Yes. And you know what we're going to do first?" Dwayne asked.
"No, what?" I asked.
"We're going to that competition in Orlando, and I don't give a damn what people say. We're dance partners and that's all they need to know. It's none of their business what goes on between you and me. And do you know why we're going despite everything?" Dwayne said.
"No, why?" I asked.
"To make them ask WHY." Dwayne said, laughing with me.
"You know what? Yeah! As soon as LaKaye comes up to us and even mentions the competition, I'm gonna tell her to go ahead and sign me up. And while we're at it, we might as well tell her that if she wants to, we can be one of the 5 couples she picks for the Pep-Rally. Cause you know she's going to ask anyway." I said, getting excited.
"That's my baby!" Dwayne said, taking me in his arms and kissing me on the lips.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, what's up?" Maia asked, grinning.
"Not much girl, I'm jus chillin. What about that game you promised me?" Jay said, dribbling his basketball.
"Yea, aight! Let's do this!" Maia said, chuckling.
"You sure, I mean with your back and all??" Jay asked, looking a little bit concerned.
"What'd I just say? I'm playin, so let's go!" Maia said, stealing the ball from Jay.
"Aight, aight well I'll go easy on you, just in case." Jay said, smiling at Maia.
"In case what? I don't need u 2 b doin' me no favors when it comes to the court, aight? I said I got this, so lets play!!!" Maia said, looking at Jay like he was crazy.
"Well that's it now. You asked for it!! Its on now!" Jay said, snatching the ball back from Maia.
"Well hold up, let's play for somethin, u know make the game a lil' bit more interesting." Maia said, grinning devilishly.
"What you got in mind?" Jay asked, smiling back at Maia.
"Hmmm. If I win, then you gotta get me front row B2K concert tickets! Deal??" Maia says smiling, going to shake Jay's hand.
"Yeah okay.(still holds on to Maia's hand) BUT if I win (pulls Maia in closer), you gotta go out with me." Jay says, still smiling.
"Hmmm.okay. Deal." Maia agrees, moving in closer to Jay and smiling at him.
~TO BE CONTINUED!~