RedBone (25 page)

“Are you okay?” Her voice was heavy with concern. “Sometimes I wish I could lay eyes on you every now and again, to make sure life is treating you fine. It would really be nice.” She laughed a little. “I see your sisters all the time. Sometimes I can’t keep them out of here.”

Farah loved Elise, but because she did everything in her power to prevent the illness from controlling her life, she still didn’t use soap or deodorants and her skin permeated a mean body odor. “I’ll try to come over this week.”

“Okay.” She sighed. “Well, I meant that if you don’t work on being a good person, good can’t come to you. Just confusion all the time, baby. Friends will turn on you and if you ever find love, it will be quickly lost. I told your mamma that when she was young but she never listened to me. Now her husband is locked up and her children are trying to find their way around in the dark. The thing is, it’s not over for her yet. I wonder if she believes me now.”

Farah and Lesa were finishing up their workout at Gold’s Gym. They were both on treadmills, jogging and dripping with sweat. Even though they were wearing their gym clothes men could not help but stare at them and Farah loved every minute of it. Since she’d been taking her medicine, she was feeling better each day. “You really gonna have that surgery?” Farah asked as she stole stares at her breasts. “I’m afraid to go under the knife.”

“Yep, I’m still going. February twenty-fifth and it’s all I can think about, too.”

“If I had money, I’d probably do the same thing.” Farah looked at her again. “I don’t think you need a tummy tuck or lipo though. Your body is perfect.”

“That’s because I get maintenance.” She laughed. “Anyway, I can’t believe all that shit happened the other night at your party.” Lesa was running so fast, her small breasts moved up and down. “I wanted to have a good time. I ain’t expect all that.”

“I know. That dude was actually gonna rape me. With all those people in the house and shit. He wasn’t even supposed to be there.”

Lesa tried to catch her breath. “But you and your sister beat the brakes off of his ass. On the way out, he said you bit him.”

“Yeah, to get him off of me. I really didn’t need to because my sister loves to fight,” Farah said, remembering how Kirk hemmed her in, in the closet. “I’m just glad she was there.”

“Right ... You sure you don’t know who that was trying to kill me? Because they kept saying your name. My mother, who I haven’t spoken to in a long time, said I should move when I told her about all the things that happened at your apartment already.”

Farah hit the button to slow down. “Why you tell your mother all that stuff?” She smiled awkwardly. “It wasn’t even that bad.”

“I’m not paying that woman any attention.” She laughed. “And it was that bad, but normally I carry my gun with me. I’m mad I didn’t have it that time. Guess I thought I didn’t need it.”

“You got a gun?”

“Don’t all girls?”Lesa laughed. “I just hope that shit don’t happen again because the next time somebody try to touch me there’s gonna be trouble.”

“It shouldn’t happen again.” Farah didn’t tell her about Tank and that she had so many enemies; it could’ve been anybody’s guess. The conversation she just had with Elise was fresh in her mind so she was trying not to lie.

“Well, they really thought I was you.” Lesa ran faster during her last minute. “I mean, you cute, girlie, but I ain’t trying to die in your honor.”

“Trust me, I just think it was a robbery gone wrong. Farah patted her face with a towel. “People think because I deal with Randy I got money. I’m sure that’s what it was. Don’t worry ... you’re safe at my house.”

“You talk to Coconut?” she asked, looking over at her. “Because she didn’t seem too happy when she left the party the other night.” Farah shook her head. “You should call her. She seems nice. I was going to invite them over some day this week for dinner.”

“I did call and she never answers the phone. You gotta watch my friends, though. They real sometimey. You saw everybody together and thought shit was cool. But they talk behind each other’s backs all the time. We not tight like that anymore. Stay away from them, trust me.”

“You said they were your best friends.” Farah remained silent. Lesa looked at her and laughed. “Farah, I hope you not one of them girls that get jealous when they friends meet each other,”she said as her cool-down period kicked in, allowing her to walk instead of run. She leaned on the bar for support. “That kind of cruddy shit is for kids. We grown-ass women now and gotta act like it.”

“It’s not even like that. It’s just that Coconut can be real fake. Plus she be so far up her friend Shannon’s ass that she could kiss the inside of her mouth. She know I don’t like that bitch. What kind of shit is that? Friends supposed to have each other’s backs.” Lesa felt she was being immature. “I’m serious. Rhonda is my friend and I bought her all this shit for her baby shower, and Coconut said she bought it.” She was lying so much, she had no idea what she was talking about anymore. “She tried to turn her against me. I went ahead and told Rhonda last night, when I finally got her on the phone, that Coconut don’t fuck with her like that. You don’t know them; they troublemakers. Now I know why her own mother pushed shit in her face when she was a kid.”

Lesa frowned. “What? Why would she do that?”

“Maybe she was an outsider. And a liar.” Farah dropped her head. Her web of lies brought up bad memories. “Coconut’s family is a bunch of murderers. Her father killed this boy and his family just because he bumped into his car and scratched the paint. And they even killed my friend Theo’s mother.”

“Do the police know about all of this?”

“No. I’m too afraid to tell.” She swallowed. “And the only reason I’m letting you know is because you’re my roommate and Coconut can be sneaky.” Farah lied so much in forty seconds that her head hurt. She would have to drink orange juice and chocolate syrup later. She mixed the truth and twisted it around all to hide who she was. She was digging holes deep enough to get lost in forever. Everything Elise said on the phone went out the window.

“Wow ... First off, if Coconut’s mother did that shit to her, she needs to be destroyed. That’s some heartless shit that should never be done to anybody.” Lesa words scratched up feelings in Farah, since it was actually her reality. “And if they murdered anybody, they’ll get what’s coming to them sooner or later. People like that always do. It just seems like they were all very nice girls but I guess you never really know anybody.”

They both got off of the treadmills and moved toward the locker room. “You’re right about that. You never really know anybody,” Farah repeated. Even though she should’ve stopped a long time ago, she couldn’t stop making up stories as she went along. It was as if she were in a marathon of lies. “Rhonda did say she better never see her because she gonna step to her, pregnant or not.”

They walked into the locker room. “Based on you, your friends seem a little feistier than they look. For real they remind me of me and my crew.” Lesa moved to her locker and began spinning the dial on her combination lock.

“Trust me, it’s serious. Plus, Rhonda holding a secret over Coconut’s head.”

“What? Heavier than her family being murderers?” Lesa stopped what she was doing and moved toward Farah.

She giggled. “Kinda. Coconut killed this man during a hit and run some time back. We were in the car at the time and saw it. We don’t talk about it but we all remember. She can be real dangerous.”

“You going overboard to convince me how Coconut is. Point taken; I’m leaving her alone.

Farah opened her locker and grabbed her bag, leaving Lesa to her own thoughts. The moment she opened the door, she heard her phone ringing. When she removed it and saw an unknown number appear across the screen, she knew immediately it was her father. “Hold on, Lesa. I gotta take this.”

“I’m jumping in the shower.” Farah looked at her feet. “With no shower shoes?” Lesa kept walking and Farah shook her head. “Nasty bitch,”she said to herself before answering the call. “Hi, Daddy. How you holding up?”

“I’m better now that I hear your voice.”He chuckled. “I’d be doing even better if you came and saw me, Redbone. I miss you.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy. So much has been happening around here that I haven’t had the time. But I’ll try to come see you next week. You need money or books? Magazines? I can order them today so they’ll send them tomorrow.”

“You know I’ve always taken care of myself in here. I would never ask my family to fund my crime ... I told you that before. The question is, do you need anything?”

“Daddy, I’m fine. And I don’t look at it that way. You can’t do stuff like order books and things like that. It’s the least I can do, Daddy, and I don’t mind.”

“I’m fine for now. Really. Now, what’s this I’m hearing from Dr. Martin that you aren’t seeing him anymore? You can’t play with your illness, Farah. One wrong move and you could push yourself into the acute stage.”

“Daddy, I’m fine.” She sighed. “What I’m doing now is working real good. I haven’t had a real issue in a minute. Don’t worry. While she was on the phone, a white girl got out of the shower completely naked. She used the towel that should have been covering her body to dry her hair instead. Farah hated when people walked around nude in the locker room. When the girl saw Farah staring she rolled her eyes and Farah rolled hers back. The girl grabbed a can of hairspray from her locker, went to the mirror, and wrapped the damp towel around her body.

“Happy now?” the girl asked. “Since you staring so hard.”

“You still there?” Ashur asked.

“Yeah, I’m just tired of dumbass bitches doing dumbass shit.” She rolled her eyes at the woman.

“I see you’ve gotten spicier. You use to be the nice one. Don’t change on me, baby.”

“You sound like Grandma now.” She pulled her gym bag out the locker.

“How’s the old lady doing?”

“Good ... Talked to her earlier today.”

“Great. How are you and your mother?”

“We fine.”

“So you lying to me now?”

“Daddy, we’ll be okay. But if you’re asking do I see her, the answer is no.”

“We gotta work on getting this family healthy.” The girl in the locker room started spraying her hair. “And I wanted to talk to you about a few things that I can’t say over the phone. That’s why I want you to come visit me. I heard some disturbing news about Theo’s mother that I didn’t know about until now. The night I was locked up.”

“Daddy ...”The smell of the hairspray drifted into Farah’s nose and she started itching and coughing. She was doing so well that she forgot she had to continue to be careful. “Daddy ... I gotta ... I gotta ...”Farah felt dizzy and suddenly was unable to stand.

“Farah! Are you okay? Talk to me, baby!” Ashur screamed into the phone.

When Farah woke up from the nightmare, she realized she was in her bed and not in the locker room. The last thing she remembered was talking to her father in the gym, and now Lesa, Mia, Coconut, and Rhonda surrounded her bed. “How you feeling?” Mia asked. She stood up and walked to the head of the bed, while Coconut and Rhonda stood at the end. “You in pain? Because you fell really hard on the floor. ”

Farah rubbed her temples. “What happened? I don’t remember nothing after the gym. How did I get here?”

“You had an outbreak,” Mia said. “Where is the medicine you said you had? I thought you were taking it.”

“I think I missed a day.” Farah looked at her friends, who seemed like they had an attitude. She never talked to them about her illness, and wanted to keep it that way. “Can I talk to Mia alone?” Coconut and Rhonda looked at each other and marched out without speaking.

“I’m glad you’re up, Farah. You scared the hell out of me in the gym,” Lesa said. “I’ll be in my room if you need me. Bye, Mia. It was nice seeing you again.”

When she walked out Farah said, “What’s wrong with Coconut and Rhonda? They didn’t even say bye.”

“The three of them was talking about something. When I walked in they stopped so who knows what they said. Mia shrugged. “I went to the bathroom to hit a jay and they started talking again.” She picked up a yellow cup filled with juice. “Why ... what you do now?”

“Nothing,” she lied. “Mia, I don’t want anybody knowing about my disease. So I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t talk about it in front of them. You know how people try to use your weakness against you. Like Boo in the hallway that day.”

“Don’t try that shit. You still lying about who you are? Mia shook her head. “It ain’t like they can catch that shit and it’s not your fault you were born with it.”

“Well, people act like it is sometimes. They treat you different when you sick.” She looked as if she wanted to cry. “I spent most of my childhood in bed ... All I wanna do is have fun with my friends. And I appreciate if you don’t let them in on my business. My roommate either.”

Mia raised her hands in the air and said, “Not a problem. They’re your friends, not mine.”

“Good. Do they know anything now?”

“As far as they know you were allergic to something and had a reaction.”

Farah felt dumb for not leaving the locker room when she saw the spray can. “Is my face fucked up?” She touched her cheeks. “Do I have sores on me and stuff?”