On the way to class the next day, I see some of Skylar’s home girls. “Yo! What up, Mel?” They all say in unison.
It’s Mel-o… oh, never mind. “Morning, ladies.” Vanessa is walking with them, but I’ll catch up with her later. I must find a subtle way to thank her because I don’t need any of Skylar’s other “victims” knowing any of my business. As I skim the area, I wonder where Skylar is, anyway. She wasn’t in the room when I got up this morning, and I’ll be damn if I ask any of her friends. I’ll see her later, at one point or another.
Jarmaine is sitting in class when I enter. Damn, they fucked him up! He has two black eyes and one of them is swollen shut. I don’t feel bad for him. He tries not to look my way when I pass his row. The whispers among the other students seem to grow as I scan the room for an empty seat, “Damn, he looks bad,” one person said.
“I wonder what happened to him,” I hear someone behind me say.
“Somebody said he got jumped by some dudes.”
“I heard he was in a car accident.”
There’s an empty seat in the first row, next to a white girl that I’ve seen in a lot of my classes throughout the years. She must be a business management major too.
“Hi Melody. How was your summer?”
“It was good, thanks for asking.” I sit.
“I’m Casey. I’m not sure if you remember me from any of the other classes we’ve had together.” She extends her hand.
“I remember you. Just never knew your name.” We shake hands.
“Maybe we can hang out sometimes. I’ve been here all these years and still have no one to hang out with.”
“We’ll see.” I’m not sure if she’s someone I would enjoy hanging out with. This is my fourth and final year, and I’ve stayed to myself. I’d like to keep it like that.
“Okay cool. Here’s my number if you decide you’re up to it,” she says, writing her number down and then giving it to me with confidence that I will call her. I slide it in the pocket of my notebook. I direct my focus to the instructor and straighten myself in my seat as the professor begins her introduction. No soon as she shares her background, there’s a loud interruption from another student.
“Someone! Please! Call 9-1-1!” they yell.
The entire class turns their attention to Jarmaine, who has passed out cold on the floor. “Check to see if he’s still breathing,” someone says. Oh God, I hope he’s still breathing. I know I was glad they whooped his ass, but what the fuck did they do to him.
“He’s not breathing!” another student shouts.
A crowd gathers around him. So I don’t look suspicious, I join them. The teacher begins CPR. I go into complete panic mode. I swear I didn’t want them to kill him. Please let him come back to life.
He chokes after the third round of mouth to mouth. He spits up blood, and the professor demands something to wipe it with. A student gets a t-shirt out of his gym bag and hands it to her. Professor Whitehall wipes the blood from his mouth and sits his head up on her leg to help him catch his breath. “Stay with me,” she says. She rubs his head, trying to comfort him.
I need to get in touch with Skylar, but leaving class right now might make me look suspicious. I wait to see what happens so the information I share with Skylar and her crew is exact. When I just so happen to I look up, one girl that was talking to Skylar the other day is peering at me as if she knows something. I quickly divert my eyes in another direction. Just as I do so, the professor dismisses class, “We will resume on Thursday.” I rush to my seat and collect my things but wait a minute before leaving.
“Okay, people, clear the way.” The paramedics arrive and push their way through the now thickened crowd. They reach Jarmaine and immediately start asking questions as they work on him. “Sir, are you able to tell us what happened?” Jarmaine doesn’t respond. “Sir, can you hear me?” He nods his head yes. “Can you tell me what happened?” He nods his head no. The paramedic looks at Professor Whitehall and says, “Ma’am, can you tell me what happened here?”
“He passed out and stopped breathing. I performed CPR on him, and when he came to, he choked up blood.” Professor Whitehall remains calm.
“Okay, I need for everyone to back up and give us some room.” The even now thicker crowd backs up as they put the oxygen mask on Jarmaine and place him on a stretcher. Some students are leaving, so I follow the small crowd. “Are you hurting anywhere?” I hear the same paramedic ask as I’m exiting.
In the hallway and out of the crowd, I see Skylar. She looks at me as if she’s telling me not to say anything. Duh! Does this girl think I’m slow or something? I casually approach her, “Hello, Skylar. Shouldn’t you be in class?” I disguise my knowledge with a question.
“My class across the hall. When we heard all the commotion, we started being nosey, even the damn teacher.”
“Yes, there are a bunch of nosey asses everywhere I see.”
“Heard dude even stopped breathin’.” Her face turns serious.
“He did. The professor did CPR on him and brought him back to life. He was gagging up blood too,” I update her.
“You got another class?” she asks.
“Not for another couple of hours. Why, what’s up?”
“Head to the room.” She turns and walks away. I follow behind her as does the rest of the crowd because the paramedics are pushing Jarmaine out to the ambulance. We got a head start on the crowd, so by the time we get outside, Skylar’s pace speeds up. We pass some of her friends, and one of them asks what’s going on. Skylar nods her head, then turns to look at the other girls. After we pass them, I look back to see them trailing in the same direction as us. It’s cool that they know how to read each other without saying a word.
When we all get to the room, Skylar immediately questions me about Jarmaine, “Ya’ll two didn’t say nothin’ to each other in class, did you?”
“No. He didn’t even look my way.” I explain the events as they took place from beginning to end.
“Okay, good.” The door bangs open. It’s the three home girls that handled Jarmaine the other night along with the girl that stared me down in class. They come in and close the door as Skylar paces the floor. What did they do to him and why is she so nervous? She’s starting to make me nervous, but I do everything in my willpower to contain it.
One by one the girls find a seat and speak to me as if they’ve known me for years. “Hello again, ladies. I think it’s only fair that I know your names since all of you know mines.” I look with a raised brow.
Skylar stops pacing the floor, “Oh, my bad. This is Carmen, Meek, Brit, and Jay,” she introduces pointing them out individually.
Carmen is the girl from my class. She’s beautiful. She reminds me of myself, except her style of dress is… different. She looks feminine, but there’s some dominance in her. Her clothes don’t comprise the typical basketball shorts and a t-shirt like the other girl’s, and the chrome design on her nails match her toes. Carmen has a swag about her that’s intriguing and interesting. Her dark brown, chin length hair compliments her hazel eyes, and gives them a genuine shine. Both her skin-tone and eyes are the color and shape an almond. Of all the girls, she’s the tallest, with an athletic build that’s highlighted by a tight, plain purple V-neck and slim fitting jeans.
Meek is appealing with a laid-back demeanor. Her long and beautiful dreadlocks match her long, athletic frame. She’s wearing the typical Skylar crew gear—basketball shorts, t-shirt, and jersey—but her shorts aren’t hanging half-way off her ass, and her jersey and T-shirt fits tighter than the other girls. She’s wearing Nike flip-flops and carrying a basketball. When Skylar introduces her, she corrects her by telling me I can call her Meeka. She and Carmen both sit on Skylar’s bed.
Brit and Jay are the complete opposites. They enter the room acting like heathens, and I mean ugly, or shall I say unattractive. Either way, they both have braids and are dark-skinned. They look rough and dirty, like they’re from the West Side of Chicago. Dressed in their basketball gear and gym shoes, and they have a smell to them that’s breathtaking. Literally. They’re stink is hitting from every direction, so I politely ask them to have a seat on the floor.
I’m glad everyone finally sat down because the funk was becoming overwhelming. I didn’t want to be rude and start spraying air freshener in here, especially not my quality stuff. Bath and Body Works Room Fresheners always gets the job done, but they cost too much for such a small can. All it takes is one spray, and I don’t think that would’ve been enough for the stench that filled the room. They smell like they just came from playing basketball, having sex, and swimming in onion soup nonstop for the past week without considering a bath. They smell like they haven’t even drank water… let alone used it.
After everyone is calm and seated, Skylar speaks. “Aye, none of ya’ll have opened your enormous ass mouths, have you?” Once they all confirm they haven’t, she continues, “Cool! This shit stays between us six and us six only. I don’t want to have to fuck nobody up behind this shit. Don’t even say shit to the hoes ya’ll be fuckin’ wit. You know how chicks like to talk now days. And Melody, never mind. I ain’t worried about you sayin’ shit to nobody. Carmen, did you take care of him to make sure he forgets everything?”
“I did. That’s what you paid me to do, right?” Her voice is sweet and low, and it matches her looks. That explains why she was eyeballing me in class, because she knows who I am and is a part of this entire thing. I’m curious now so I speak up, “What does that mean?”
“Carmen is a med student who takes her general courses here and her main courses at U of I in the evening. She conjured up some shit to stick Jarmaine with that made him forget everything after they whooped his ass. I told you we knew about him being here after I saw Vanessa,” she stops. “OH SHIT! VANESSA!” She directs her attention to Carmen. “We may have to give her some of that shit too before she goes blabbing off at the mouth.” Now to Meeka. “Hey Meek, hit her line. She wants to fuck you, anyway.” She throws Meeka her cell phone and looks back at me and continues, “I wasn’t sure why he came over here after I’d already seen and heard him on the lawn talking shit, so I came prepared with my girls and I’m glad I did.”
“Thanks guys,” I say to everyone.
“Anything fa yo sexy ass. I was tryna get at chu, anyway.” Jay moves closer to me, giving me a whiff of her fiery ass breath. I laugh at her. I mean, I literally laugh out loud at her. Carmen and Skylar laugh too.
“Aye bitch! What da fuck is so funny?” She’s offended and embarrassed.
Out of reflex, I smack her in the mouth, “Watch who you’re talking to. Bitch, I am not! Not yours or anybody else’s, unless you do or say some dumb shit like you just did to make me act like one.” She gets up like she wants to do something to me, so I stand with her. Skylar and Brit both rush between us.
“Man, sit yo ass down. How you gone try to get at her when you just disrespected her. I wooda smacked the shit out yo ass too,” Brit says in her ghetto Westside voice and mispronouncing some words.
“Shit, I would have punched your ass,” I hear Skylar say. Jay snatches away from them both and goes back to sit on the floor, only this time, further away from me. She’s rubbing her face and rolling her eyes.
Skylar looks at Meeka and asks, “Did you get hold of her?”
“Yea, I did. She said she’ll be over here after she’s done eating.”
“Naw man, hit her back and tell her I said come NOW,” Skylar demands.
Meeka gets back on the phone with Vanessa. Skylar continues her ranting, and I can feel Carmen’s glare beaming on me. I glance quickly out of my peripheral, and sure enough she is. It seems a little creepy. Why is she mugging so hard?
“MELODY!” Skylar yells interrupting my thoughts
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Damn! You ain’t hear me calling your damn name? Where the fuck is your head at?”
“Who do you think you’re talking to, Skylar?” My response is soft and calm.
“Man,” she smacks her lips and wave me off. “Anyway, ain’t nobody got time for this extra bullshit. When you get to your next class, try to find out as much info as you can.” Skylar walks to the window and swiftly turns back to me, “Oh! And you might have to bite the bullet and go visit that Jarmaine in the hospital to get some accurate 4-1-1. Aright? Aright,” she answers herself. She’s lucky she saved my life, or I would curse her ass out. I don’t know who she thinks she’s talking to, but she must’ve forgotten that I’m not one of the chicken-head ass girls that she’s screwing, or “victims” as she calls them. “MELODY!” Skylar yells again.
“What!” I yell back.
“Imma need for you to get yo head out the clouds and pay attention.”
“Hell, I thought you had finished.” I try not to laugh in her face because she’s doing too much.
“Naw, I ain’t done yet. When do you have this class again?”
“Friday.”
“Okay, cool. I think you should check out the buzz around campus and go to the hospital tomorrow.” When she finishes her sentence, there’s a knock at the door. Skylar looks out the peephole, and then turns to Carmen, “You got some of that shit with you now?” That must be Vanessa.
“No. Why would I be carrying around some shit that’s not legal, nor required for any of my classes?” Carmen has a point.
“Shit!” Vanessa knocks again. “Go with the flow, guys.” Skylar swings the door open, and sure enough, it’s Vanessa’s chipper ass.
“Oh, hey, guys. I didn’t know it was a party. Y’all hear what happened on campus. Some dude passed out, then died and came back to life. That shit is crazy. I wonder who he is. They say it was some basketball pla—” She’s jabbers away before Skylar cuts her off.
“Aye, Carmen has that present I told you I got for you. It’s over at her apartment. Don’t you want to take a walk with her and go get it?” Skylar grabs Vanessa around the waist and pulls her close.
That shit was right up Vanessa’s alley because she melts as soon as Skylar touches her. “Okay, baby.” She’s such a fool. I want to laugh so badly, but I don’t feel like having to smack the hell out of two people in one day.
“Cool!” Skylar looks at Carmen and says, “I’ll meet up with you after my four-thirty class.”
“That works for me. Just make sure you have my package when we do. You want to meet here or at my apartment?” She gets up to leave, but not without brushing up against me and sending a shock wave of electricity through my body. It almost knocks me off my feet. She looks at me and smiles and continues on her way. She was so smooth with it, nobody noticed.
“Your apartment, since it’s bigger.” Skylar force Vanessa out the door behind Carmen. Vanessa was too giddy to notice she was being ridden.
After they both leave, Skylar locks the door, and then turns back to the rest of us, “That was a close call.”
I look at the time and realize I have an hour before my next class. It’s my Professional Writing class, and I need to go by the bookstore to get some materials and the book. “I have to get to class, guys.” I stand, grab my things, and walk to the door.
“Aright,” Brit says.
“Later,” Meeka says.
When I get to the door, Skylar grabs my hand, “Hit me up on my cell after class.”
“I don’t have your number.” I move my hand.
“It’s on the board.” She points to the whiteboard above my desk.
“Okay.”
There are police and detectives scattered throughout campus talking to students. A familiar face walks towards me with a female officer. I never forget a face. The closer he gets to me, the more I try to figure out where I know him from, but nervousness and sweat takes over. Oh shit! I hope they’re not coming to question me. What if they find out I was the last person to see Jarmaine? Oh shit! Should I turn around? I must go to class. I just act like I don’t see them and walk with my head down.
So caught in my thoughts I don’t realize how close they are, but I can feel the male officer eyeballing me. Thank goodness they walk past me without stopping me. I think I would’ve peed my pants if they had said something to me.
“Ma’am do you mind if we ask you a few questions?” Damn! I think I just wet my pants.