“You don’t like tomatoes?”
“No. I used to think I was allergic, but now that I’m older, I think that’s something I said as a kid so I didn’t have to eat ‘em.”
“We all did that shit, didn’t we?”
“Oh, for sure. I was automatically allergic to anything I didn’t want to eat as a kid.”
“Same.” We both laughed. “Ready to go back? I need to make sure I’m not being cheated.”
“I don’t think he needs help winning.”
“Oh, so you on his side too?”
“I mean, he’s the one who invited me here.”
Instead of answering, I just smirked before turning around and going back into the living room. Shanet followed me but sat on the couch next to Sakani, further letting me know they were plotting against me.
“Gone head and eat up. You can get some of this action next.”
“Oh, you do not want to see me in Monopoly.”
“You think you can beat me?”
“I don’t think; I know. From the looks of it, you’re not doing too well.”
“Well, looks can be deceiving.”
Just as I made my next move, I heard a knock on the door. I wasn’t expecting any company, so I had no idea who it could be. I also wasn’t expecting Shanet, so maybe this knock was for Sakani too.
“Who is that? You got more company coming over here?”
“Oh yeah. That’s probably Jay from school. Lemme see what he want.”
Sakani and I had only been part of each other’s lives for a short time, but I could already tell when he was lying. He knew damn well that boy was coming over here. That was probably his plan from the start. Get Shanet to come, then leave us alone.
He got up from where he was sitting and walked over to the door to see who it was. When he opened the door, he spoke to his homeboy in a low tone before he walked back over to me. Here came the excuse that I was already prepared for.
“Hey, Stone, you mind if I go out with Jay for a little while? I’ll be back before ten. I know you don’t want me out too late on a school night.”
“I mean, I was in the middle of whupping you, but if you scared, I understand. I can take it out on Shanet if I have to. Just be back by ten.”
“I’ll be back. I promise.”
“All right. I’ll see you later.”
“I thought you said you needed to talk to me about something?” Shanet asked Sakani before he could get out the door.
“Oh, we can talk about it later. It’s no rush. I’ll come find you at school.”
“All right then.” Sakani didn’t even hear her, because he was already out the door.
“So, I guess it’s just us,” I said, putting my stuff down and looking up at Shanet.
“Yeah, it’s just us.”
“I wasn’t mad because Devonte called you his girl. I knew that was a fucking lie. I was mad because it felt like y’all did have some kind of relationship, and when you first saw him, you didn’t mention it. That felt like a betrayal to me, and the last thing I ever was with you was shady. I felt like I’ve been as truthful as I can with you, and with you keeping stuff from me, I didn’t feel like we were on the same page. I mean, I still don’t know if we are.”
“We are. I didn’t tell you about Devonte, because it was a part of my life that I wanted to forget. Me and Devonte were together for six years, on and off. He was extremely abusive, and the last night he beat me, I ended up in the hospital.
