Let Me Just Say This (5 page)

“May I speak with Shaun?”

“Who is this?” said the woman who picked up the phone.

“Cheryl.”

“Oh, hi baby. Shaun ain't here. He left about an hour ago. Guess he told you about all of the foolishness last night. Good thing he left, cause the police showed up here and carted his foolish father off to the jailhouse. Lucky thing too, cause if I had gotten in there, I would have bust his head wide open with my skillet. But you know, baby, I don't move as fast as I used to, but I still got a good arm. Guess playing those slot machines helps.”

Cheryl couldn't help but laugh at the old woman. She was almost 70 years old but was a handful, according to Shaun.

“Anyway, I'll tell him to call you when he gets his skinny ass in here.”

“Ok. Thank you,” Cheryl said as she hung up, disappointed. He promised to call her and he obviously went home and had time to take a shower, but not enough time to call before he bounced back out of the house. She
needed to calm down and not let her imagination get the best of her. He would call when he got a chance. He would call.

She fell asleep but woke up when she heard Angel and Dewayne arguing as always. If they weren't screwing, they were arguing. She decided to call Shaun one more time. After the fourth ring, his mom answered.

“Hi Mrs. Sherry, this is Cheryl, Is Shaun home?” she asked her.

“No, he isn't home. You want him to call you?”

“Yes please.” Ok, now he was pissing her the hell off. To get her mind off of him, she cleaned her room, listened to the Angel and Dewayne saga, then went outside and sat on the porch until it got dark. She decided to do something to cheer herself up. Cooking always seemed to do that. Well, that and talking to Shaun but since he was nowhere to be found, cooking would have to do for now.

She sat out all the ingredients for chicken and mashed potatoes and went about cutting up the vegetables for a salad. She felt as though she was a chef, in her own little world, where nothing could go wrong. She baked the chicken to perfection, the salad was done and the potatoes were fluffy, but after all of that, she didn't want to eat so she gathered all of the food and started putting it in plastic containers and stuffing it into the refrigerator. She cleaned up the mess she made and she went into her room.

They always spoke to each other at least three or four times a day on the weekend, and here it was almost eight o'clock and she hasn't spoken to him since he left her house earlier that morning. Where in the world was he?

She finally fell asleep and woke up early Sunday and saw Dewayne leaving. So now the song and dance would begin with Angel, to ensure that Cheryl would keep her mouth closed about the weekend. That was the usual ritual.

Cheryl decided to let her out of her misery before she got knee deep in it, “Look, you don't have to be nice to me. I ain't gonna tell on you.”

“Dang, I was just trying to be nice; you don't have to bite my head off,” Angel said.

“Well, you aren't normally nice to me, so don't do it now.”

“Dang, you need to stop acting all stuck up!” Angel screamed.

“I do not!” Cheryl screamed back at her.

“Yes you do. You didn't even say two words the entire time D was here.”

“So… he ain't my boyfriend!” Cheryl said as she got up and went to her dresser and yanked open the bottom drawer.

“You could at least speak,” Angel said.

“Didn't want too.”

“You are such a bitch!” Angel screamed at her and pushed her against the dresser.

“I am not!” Cheryl said and regained her balance.

“Yes you are! That's why you don't have any friends, because you act like a stuck up bitch all the time!” Angel screamed in her face.

“I do not!”

“Only Dee can put up with your snobbish ass!” Angel screamed as Cheryl tried to move past her.

Angel pushed her again and again as Cheryl kept trying to move away from her.

“Get out of my room!” Cheryl finally screamed while tears streamed down her face.

“Make me,” Angle said to her.

“Get out!” Cheryl screamed again and tried to get by her.

Cheryl pushed Angel and this time Angel slapped her across the face and pushed her even harder.

Cheryl was breathing harder and was ready to strike back but she didn't. Instead the tears fell. Angel backed off.

“See what I mean, you won't even stick up for yourself. That's why that dumb nigga treats you the way he does,” Angel said as she walked out of Cheryl's room.

She threw herself across her bed. The tears became sobs and she began to think, why was it that she only really had one good friend? Dee was her friend from elementary school and besides, she didn't like the way the other girls carried themselves. Of course Angel didn't care if she was called a slut but Cheryl did. Still what Angel had said, caused Cheryl to cry even more. It felt as if her sister was always being mean to her for no reason and she didn't fight back because that is not what she was taught by her parents. You never fight your family, ever. She turned over and cried until she felt exhausted. She didn't have the energy to get up so she just lay there until she felt her eyelids getting heavy.

She woke up to her dad's voice and although she didn't want to be bothered, she got up and went into the kitchen.

“How was the trip?” she asked while plopping down at the kitchen table.

“It was wonderful.” Her mother started, “The wedding was so nice but it was a little cheap. I mean, who really has those stupid fish on the tables at the reception. You could tell it was an after-thought. Who doesn't have flowers for the table? The way they had the buffet line, I started to tell your father to go to the chicken place and get me a chicken dinner. The line was so long that the food was cold by the time we got to the front.”

“It was a nice wedding and reception, considering they did it themselves.” Her father stopped her mother from speaking.

“Well, you like anything.” Her mother scoffed at her dad, “besides as long as you were laughing it up with those drunks, you were as happy as Santa Claus on Christmas.

Her father didn't say anything more. He opted to pour himself a glass of orange juice and pull the refrigerator open. “I see someone has been cooking? Is something wrong?”

“No, just felt like cooking.” She said as stared at the phone hanging from the wall, hoping to make it ring. She walked out of the kitchen and headed back to her room
after waiting ten minutes but Shaun still had not called.

Monday came and Shaun came bouncing up to her.

“Hey, Babe.”

“Hey,” she said as he slid his arm around her. It felt good but she couldn't get over the hurt feelings she had.

“What, no kiss?” he said.

“What, no phone call?” she replied.

“Sorry bout that. I didn't go straight home. I went to my uncle's house.”

If she hadn't had called and spoken to his mom and grandmother she would have believed that.

“I'm going to be late for class,” she said while walking away him.

“Gimme a kiss,” he said, trying to pull her back to him but she kept walking.

After class Shaun didn't meet her like he normally did. So much for missing her. Things with this relationship were quickly changing. After about a month of this nonsense; barely seeing Shaun, barely talking to him on the phone, and arguing more and more, she started hearing rumors about Shaun and “some” girl. Normally she wouldn't listen to the rumors but after what she heard she knew she had to talk to him on Monday.

The day started normal enough, that was, until Brenda walked up on her.

“Tell Shaun to call me,” Brenda said.

“Call you… what should he call you? A ho?” she said smartly.

“Just tell him what I said,” Brenda said as she bumped into her on her way to the cafeteria.

“I ain't telling him nuttin.” Cheryl said but she doubted she had heard her since the bell had rang at least ten seconds ago.

“You better,” Brenda shouted back as she walked away.

Something about that sent a charge through Cheryl ad
she raced behind Brenda.

“I better do what?” She said.

“You heard me. I didn't stutter did I?” she said snottily. Before she knew what she was doing, Cheryl had her arm ready to throw a punch. Mr. Reeves walked up.

“Is there a problem here ladies? If not, then may I suggest you walk on to your next classes and not forget that you are young ladies?”

Cheryl was angrier than a bear caught in a beehive with no honey. For the rest of the day, she heard that Brenda was talking about her. She didn't really care about that. All she cared about was why Shaun had to call that witch. She would definitely deal with this. Dee was supposed to come to her house today to finish helping her work on their project. Picking her as a partner was probably the wrong move. She was always waiting until the last minute to do her work. Completely lost in thought, she was shocked when Shaun bounced up and asked if he could roll home with her that day, what better ending to a shitty day, than going home with your best friend and your boyfriend.

Shaun and Dee met her at her locker at the end of the day.

“Slow down girl, the bus ain't going to leave you,” Dee said while pushing her books into Cheryl's locker.

“Girl, my bus is so crowded that if you don't get on early, you will have to stand the whole ride home.”

“I don't mind standing,” Shaun said. “As long as I get to stand by my baby.” He grabbed Cheryl's hand and kissed her cheek.

As they came upon Cheryl's bus, Cheryl saw Brenda standing by the steps to the bus.

“What the hell she standing there for?” she said, to no one in particular.

As Cheryl passed by her, she purposely bumped into her and kept moving. After finding an empty seat, she let Dee slide in first then Cheryl sat down, then Shaun. It was a tight fit, but as long as she was pushed up on Shaun, it didn't matter. After riding for about ten minutes, she heard
Brenda's voice above all the noise.

“Look at them, acting like they can't be without each other.”

Brenda kept taunting them the entire ride. Cheryl was beginning to get very irritated.

Shaun could see Cheryl was getting upset, so he leaned into her shoulder and whispered in her ear.

“Don't even listen to them. Just ignore them.”

Then someone started throwing paper.

Dee stood up and turned around.

“Whoever is throwing paper, better stop!”

The back of the bus started laughing and as soon as she sat down, they started throwing paper again. This time Cheryl stood up.

“I guess someone can't hear! Stop throwing the damn paper!” she yelled over the roar of the bus. She looked at Brenda with squinted eyes.

“Don't be looking over here!” Brenda yelled.

“I wouldn't want to go blind” Cheryl shouted back. The bus was laughing hysterically at this point.

“Bitch, sit your bald-headed ass down!” Brenda screamed.

“At least it's my own hair, and not some horse's tail all twisted, tangled, and dry!” Cheryl shouted back.

The bus let out a collective, Ooohh.

“Girl, obviously you don't know who you are messing with,” Brenda said, while walking up towards the row of seats that Cheryl occupied.

“Sure I do. A little girl who doesn't know her place and is always in grown folk's bizness,” she replied while trying to squeeze past Shaun, but he wasn't going to move.

“Sit down!” the bus driver said while looking in his long bus mirror.

“You lucky!” Brenda said, as she waddled back to her seat. Her short round shape made it easier for her to maneuver around a moving bus.

“Naw bitch! You the lucky one!” Cheryl screamed back.
“You were about to get embarrassed!”

“Babe, sit down,” Shaun said, while pulling her arm. “Don't worry about her.”

“Yeah Shaun, it ain't me she should be worried about, is it?” Brenda shouted.

“Shut the fuck up Brenda!” Shaun shouted, and miraculously she didn't say another word.

As the bus pulled into Cheryl's development, the bus got louder and louder.

“Take my books,” Cheryl told Dee as she pushed them into her friends hands.

“Girl, don't trip. Just ignore her. If she wanted to fight, y'all would have already been fighting.”

“Listen to Dee,” Shaun said. “Just let it go.”

“Let it go?” Cheryl asked, “After she done already embarrassed me? If she comes up to me, I ain't backing down and she better be prepared to get her ass thoroughly kicked.”

The bus came to a stop and everyone started getting off. Brenda got up and made her way toward the front of the bus. Shaun wouldn't let Cheryl through, so she just stood there waiting.

Brenda had the advantage and took full use of it. She walked up to her and slapped Cheryl as hard as she could. She then grabbed Cheryl by the hair and pulled her hard enough so that she fell in the aisle and jumped on top of her and started swinging. Cheryl struggled to get to her feet but it was no use. Brenda kept swinging and Cheryl was on the losing end of this girl fight. She tried blocking Brenda's fast moving fists but being on the bottom of the fight was not the best place to be.

Suddenly Brenda was being pulled off of Cheryl by someone and being dragged off of the bus. Cheryl got to her feet and was in a daze. Her eye hurt but her pride was hurt more. Her anger overtook her and she came off the bus and went straight for Brenda. They came together like two angry dogs on the sidewalk. When someone finally pulled them apart, Cheryl had a torn shirt, a bloody lip and
scratches on her face.

“Come on here, girl!” Dee said, as she pulled Cheryl towards her house.

“How could you get in a fight, after I told you to let it go?” Shaun said as he pulled her to a stop and was in her face like he was going to fight her next.