The next day instead of going to school I went in the opposite direction when Jahrein dropped me off in front of the school‘s building. I headed straight for the bus stop and caught the Metro to Shell’s apartment. Damn what Jahrein was saying. I had to make some things happen. My girl had gotten an apartment in the Coke Apartments with her new boyfriend, Josh. Thosewere the projects of all projects, but that's where she stayed. She had a four month old baby with T-Boy, but his ass was in the county jail facing football numbers for attempted murder and grand larceny. That’s what that wet did for his ass.
As soon as I stepped off the bus I saw my friend Raquel. She was walking with Shay and Taerah.
“What’s up, Raven?” Quel spoke.
“Girl, nothing. I came to see my friend Shell. She just got a apartment over here.” I explained.
“Oh, okay. Do she got braids?” Tae asked.
“Yeah, she always wears them.”
“Well, girl, she just got jumped by some hoes over here. They was saying that she needed to take her ass back to the south side. I think that one of them is fucking her man.” Tae gossiped.
“Raven, if those hoes think that you are down with her they gon be trying to fight you too.” Raquel put it out there. I already knew what to expect. That's how the hood rats from Coke Street got down.
I was confident that she had my back. Raquel was a person that spoke her mind and was quite loud, but she was one of the realest people I knew. She and Tae were my dogs. I’d just lost touch with them when I moved to the south side with Ray-Ray.
“Naw Quel, it aint going down like that because she from Brewster Park. So, if she fight we fight.” Tae fussed.
“Bitch, you don’t have to tell me.” Raquel rolled her eyes.
“And you know I got y’all backs.” Shay added. She probably was down, but I really didn’t fuck with her likethat. She was known to smile in your face and fuck your man behind your back.
“Raven, how do you know ole girl?” Raquel wanted to know.
“I met her when I started living with daddy.”
“Ray-Ray still hoeing, huh?” she shook her head.
“You know how he do.” I sighed. Really, she knew like no one else. It was crazy how we dealt with one another. Yeah, we were cool, but there was also a strong possibility that she was my sister. Considering that we should've been closer, but it was complicated. Our mamas used to be besties, and the only reason they weren't anymore was because of Ray-Ray. Tisha and Quel's mama, Roz, were now enemies, and had both been ridiculously petty in the past. Tisha would freak out when she'd catch us hanging, claiming that she just didn't think that Quel was the right type of chick to associate with. I knew better, though, because my grandma had laced me up on the issue a while ago. Raquel was the painful reminder of her best friend's betrayal and Ray's cheating.
“Yeah, but um, I aint trying to be funny, but you might need to take a better look at your girl.” Raquel offered, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Who?” I asked.
“Ole girl with the braids.”
“Quel, aint nothing wrong with that girl.” Tae interjected. “She seem cool from what I can tell.”
Raquel rolled her eyes. “That’s because you don’t know no better. Something about her just aint right. Now, I don’t blame her for defending herself, but that bitch is just a foul individual.”
“How you know?” Tae asked.
“I just do, bitch. I’m telling y’all. It’s in her eyes. She’s a snake.” Raquel continued on.
“I don’t know, Quel. I mean so far she has been cool.” I told her.
“Okay. Don’t say I didn’t tell you so. But at the end of the day I got your back, so if some shit goes down I’m with you, regardless.”
“Oh Raquel, shut your psychic Ms. Cleo ass up. She thinks everybody is plotting.” Tae laughed.
Raquel was known to take one look at a person and decide that she didn’t like them, so I didn’t know what to make of her feelings about Shell. Although, Quel was my girl I’ve always prided myself on having a mind of my own. So, I wouldn’t look at me and Shell’s friendship any different, unless I was given a reason.
As we were all walking and talking we changed the subject. I asked Quel, “Where Keyasia at?”
“Oh, she around the corner with Kevin’s ass.” Raquel replied. She and Kevin had one crazy relationship. They were always getting into it, because Raquel was free spirited and an undercover flirt. I mean, she wasn’t a hoe or anything like that, but she gave that boy the blues. People in the hood often compared us to each other. Both in looks and in ways.
“Raven, I heard that you had another baby.” Tae said.
