“No,” I shout, struggling to get up. “You have to leave! Now.”
Everyone turns to look at me, like I’m a kid throwing a tantrum. Whatever. I’d rather them think that than know the truth, know how hard and erratically my heart is racing, or that I’m close to tears.
Lennox looks at me a long moment, then shrugs and stands from his chair. “You heard the girl,” he says. “Let’s bounce.Abrasé!”
Maddox picks up Keisha and throws her over his shoulder. “Later, little mama,” he says to me with a cool tip of his chin. Then he turns and walks away, leading the procession of a dozen people who stayed all night. I’m so relieved I want to sink down and cry when the last of them disappears through the hole in the fence. But I can’t afford to wallow in despair right now.
There are dozens of bottles and cans all around the pool, a few pieces of trash, and splatters of pink marshmallow on the tile. Cigarette butts float in the pool, and pieces of broken glass are scattered on the bottom. The blood has dissipated, and I’m not sure if we’ll have to drain the entire pool, but I can’t think about that right now, either. I race around, grabbing up bottles. When they’re gone, I jump into the pool and swim around gathering cigarette butts. I nearly gag as I toss the stinky, soggy handful into the overflowing trash can. Then I drag the can and one of the bags out to the curb.
The sky is light now, but there’s no sign of Lee’s car yet. I race into the backyard and grab the last two trash bags, hauling them to the curb too. Then it’s back to the scene of the crime. Someone left one of the tables, which is now laden with the melted pink dessert, a few mostly empty bags of chips and bottles of soda, and platter with nothing but cookie crumbs. I see a beer can against the leg of the table and bend to grab it, thankful I saw the evidence. Just then, I hear tires grinding on the front drive, and my heart stops.
I shove the can inside a chip bag, crumple it up, and look at the table with a sinking heart. There’s no way I can hide this before Lee sees it and knows there was a party. Unless… Maybe he won’t look out the back.
I grab everything up in my arms and scurry toward the corner of the house. Just as I reach it, the back door flies open. Lee’s eyes fix on me with deadly fury.
“What the hell is going on in my house when I’m not here?” he demands.
I stand frozen, the blood draining from my limbs, leaving them heavy and numb.
“Well?” Lee thunders. “Why are there enough trash bags on the curb to last a month?”
I swallow, dread sticking my tongue to the roof of my mouth. I can’t believe I did that. I’ve never had a party before, and I made the most rookie mistake imaginable. I almost deserve what’s coming.
“Answer me, girl,” Lee grinds out. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
He can see what happened. My arms are full of trash, there are chairs that don’t belong to us all around the pool, and the lawn’s seen enough feet tonight to leave a mark.
“We had a party,” I say, swallowing the concrete block of terror in my throat. “To meet the neighbors.”
I don’t know what happens the next moment. There’s a blank spot between saying the words, and when Lee reaches me.
His hand flashes through the air and sends me flying.
Before I can get my wits back, his fingers sink into the hair at the crown of my head. He drags me twisting and flailing up the back stairs. My head, shoulders, back, and hips hit each step with bruising force. I struggle in silence, biting down on my lip so I don’t scream.
The only thing worse than the beating that’s coming is for anyone to witness the shame of it. So I bite into the side of my cheek until I taste blood, so I won’t taste it when Lee backhands me again. He tosses me on the floor in the back hallway, and I curl into a ball and protect my head with my hands while he kicks me until his fury is gone.
I’m still lying there trying to catch my breath when I hear him start in on Mom upstairs. I cover my ears and try to block out the screaming. I can still hear it, and I wince at every shriek, wondering with a shame that burns into the very marrow of my bones if the neighbors can hear her. In that moment, I hate her as much as him. Why can’t she learn to shut her fucking mouth?
eight
#1 on the Billboard Chart:
“Mo Money Mo Problems”—The Notorious B.I.G.
Lennox North
“You can’t be here.”
“Well, well, well, look who’s decided to show her face again,” I say, pulling down my shades to look up at Rae, who’s standing over me as I lay on the chaise lounge beside her pool. “I was starting to think you were avoiding us.Qué onda?”
“Seriously,” she says, her voice harder than I’ve heard it before. “You can’t use our pool.”
Mariana giggles nervously and glances between Maddox and me, waiting for a cue on how we’re going to play this.
“You meanourpool,” I say. “We all pitched in to get it working. If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t have a pool.”
“True that,” Billy says, holding up a beer. “Why don’t you join us and take a load off, Rae Rae?”