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“C’mon, guys. Get it together.” David was annoyed, more than annoyed. It was stupid to leave the lab experiment to the last minute. It was even dumber to piss off the lab assistant.
“Kenneth isn’t going to give us another chance at this. He hung around all afternoon waiting for us, and he doesn’t appreciate being blown off.” They’d signed up for a late afternoon session at the lab, but Jason’s football practice had run late. Unfortunately, football didn’t rate high on Kenneth’s list of excuses.
I hate group experiments, David decided, watching Jason, Josh, and Mark stroll into the lab as if they had all the time in the world and not just an hour to finish the experiment. Why are they acting like this isn’t important? At least the girls are here.
Slamming his science notebook down on the lab station, he went over to Kenneth, who mixed up some chemicals in beakers and handed them over. “Nice of you to show up.”
“Uh yeah, right,” David mumbled and hustled over to the supply cabinet to get a Bunsen burner. “Okay, let’s get started.”
Malajia ignored him. She was too busy trying to open a jar of salsa that she had brought to go with a bag of tortilla chips. “Did they superglue this jar shut? I can’t get this damn thing open.”
“Hey, ugly, need any help?” Mark offered.
“No, fool. I need a real man to open this,” she replied, then looked at Alex. “Alex, could you open it for me?”
Alex glared at her. “Funny, wench,” she shot back, casting a quick glance over at Kenneth. “And you know that you’re not supposed to eat or drink in the lab.”
“So what? You’re also not allowed to have animals in here, but you see Mark walking around and shittin’ all over the place.”
Mark glared at her. “Keep talking your shit, you triflin’ sack of rat piss.”
“Eww!” Emily complained.
“Will you two stop with the shit and the piss talk, it’s really nauseating,” Sidra put in, shooting Malajia a disgusted look.
Malajia frowned. “What the hell is your problem?” she questioned. Sidra’s tone was a lot sharper than normal.
Sidra pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers. “I’ve been suffering through these damn cramps all damn day, and now I’m supposed to sit here and listen to you idiots argue over nothing?”
“It’s not our fault that you’re on your damn period,” Malajia fired back.
“You’re skating on thin ice, heifer.”
“Please, nobody else talk to her,” Mark pleaded. “Last time somebody made her mad during this time of the month, she blacked their eye.”
“Yeah, it took a long time to open your eye again, didn’t it Mark?” Josh recalled with a laugh, prompting Mark to give him the finger.
Malajia, bored with their antics, gave the salsa jar a good twist and popped it open. Setting the jar on the lab counter, she picked up the chips and tugged at the top, sending chips flying.
“Nice going, stupid,” Chasity commented, jotting down something in her notebook.
Malajia glared at her and started to sweep the chips into a pile.
Exasperated, David pulled the Bunsen burner forward and began to fiddle with it. “All right, enough,” he interjected. “We have half an hour to get this experiment finished.”
“Could you hurry up and set the stupid juice on fire. My insides feel like they’re gonna fall out,” Sidra complained, clutching her stomach.
“Okay. First of all, it’s not juice. If you drink it, it’ll probably kill you. Second of all, I’m not setting it on fire. I’m going to heat it up and find out what happens,” David replied, setting the beaker full of liquid on the burner.
“Well, whatever you’re doing, just do it,” Sidra responded impatiently. David shook his head and fiddled some more with the burner, but it wouldn’t light.
“What’s the problem?” Alex asked, looking over his shoulder.
“It doesn’t seem to be working,” he replied. “Maybe I should get another.”
“Oh, god,” Sidra moaned, sitting down and cradling her head in her hands. “Are we ever going to get out of here?”
“Now listen,” Alex put in, “I know that it’s late, and we’re all tired. But we have to get this done.”
“David, just light it,” Mark demanded. He didn’t care about the stupid experiment; he just wanted to get it over with so he could go play basketball with some of his buddies from his dorm.
“Man, I told you that I can’t,” David said as he fixed his glasses on his nose.
“COME ON, MAN!” Mark snapped.
“Could you stop being so damn loud?” Alex asked angrily as she covered her ears.
“I’ll take care of this,” Mark said and took a lighter out of his pocket.
“What do you think you’re doing?” David asked, grabbing Mark’s arm.
Mark jerked his arm out of David’s grasp. “I’m turning the gas on, and then I’m gonna light it. Duh.”
“Mark, don’t do that,” David warned. “It’s not going to be pretty.”
“Hey!” Kenneth shouted from across the room and jumped up, knocking his chair over.
“Man, I know what I’m doing,” Mark replied, flicking his lighter.
“Mark, NO!” Alex shouted.
Mark jerked back at the sudden burst of flame. The beaker cracked, spilling fluid all over the lab counter. Within seconds, the surface was ablaze and set off the overhead sprinklers.
“See what you did!” Malajia shouted, dodging out of the way of the water streaming down on the lab.
“Don’t start with me!” Mark shouted back.
Kenneth rushed over and began barking orders. “You,” he pointed at Emily, “get the fire extinguisher.”
“I found it!” Emily ran up with the fire extinguisher. Kenneth took it from her. He turned the nozzle and a thick white spray gushed out, sending bits of black ash flying until the fire sputtered out.
“This is bullshit,” Malajia fumed and stomped her wet high heeled boot on the floor.
“Mark, you never listen,” Josh barked. “What’s wrong with you?”
Mark looked around with a stunned expression “Why is everyone coming down on me?”
“You’re not serious, are you?” Chasity asked with a deceptive calm. She could have choked him right then and there.
“You set the damn project on fire, you dumbass!” Jason shouted at him.
“Man, that was David’s fault. If he had lit the burner in the first place, then I wouldn’t have had to use my lighter.”
“And if you had bothered to read the experiment protocol,” Kenneth interrupted, his voice dangerously quiet, “you would have known you were dealing with combustible substances. They can take slow heating, but no direct fire.” His arctic gaze swept over the group. “Now, I suggest you clean up this mess. The utility closet is over there.”
Chasity drew him aside. After a short exchange, he nodded, and walked back to his desk to supervise the cleanup. Sidra made no move to get up; she gripped the sides of the chair hard, her cramps were so bad she thought she would break down and cry.
“Your friend is an idiot,” Chasity commented and crouched down next to her. “You look like you’re dying over here. You want a ride back to the dorm?”
“Oh god, yes,” she groaned, struggling to stand. “Thank you.” Chasity grabbed her arm to help her up, then turned toward the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Malajia hissed at them.
“Die please,” Chasity shot over her shoulder as she and Sidra continued to walk out of the lab.
Alex ran her hands through her hair and let out a loud sigh. “Okay, we just failed this project, we almost set the building on fire...All in all today has been a really crappy day.”
“I guess we better start cleaning this mess up,” Jason said, bending to pick up some of the scorched papers off the floor.
Malajia was sitting on one of the tables surveying the damage to her boots. “I’m not cleaning up a damn thing.”
“Oh yes, you are,” Jason contradicted, “Last time I checked these were your chips all over the floor.”
“Oh, what are you gonna do if I don’t. You gonna hit me?” Malajia taunted.
Jason looked at her with his eyes narrowed. “First of all, I would never hit a female.”
“But I would,” Alex interrupted, thrusting a mop at Malajia. “Get to cleaning.” They stared at each other for a long minute, then Malajia grabbed the mop.
Mark looked over and grinned. He had been picking up bits of shattered glass from the lab table. “You wanna switch? You can pick up this glass...or eat it, I don’t really care.”
For once refusing to be drawn into an argument, Malajia swore under her breath and gripped the unwieldy mop. “Punk,” she muttered.
––––––––
Malajia was still steaming the next afternoon. On her way back from Math, she saw Chasity coming out of another classroom and erupted.
“You stupid heifer,” she bit out. “Leaving us to do all the damn dirty work.”
“What the fuck is your problem?” Chasity asked, with a dismissive flick of the hand. “The damn lab guy didn’t care, why should you? Sidra wasn’t feeling good.”
“I’m dead tired,” Malajia groaned, tossing her head back. “We had to clean up the whole lab. There was black shit and water everywhere.”
“You mean ash?” Chasity mocked.
“What-the-hell-ever. I didn’t get to bed until three this morning. So right now, I am seriously hating you.”
“You really have to stop thinking that I care about what’s going on with you.” Chasity shrugged. “My roommate was in pain; I thought she was going to pass out.”
“Right,” Malajia hissed. “I see right through your evil self. You used Sidra’s cramps to get out of helping us clean up.”
Chasity let a sneaky smile creep across her face, giving Malajia the answer that she already knew. “What? No, not at all,” Chasity insisted, voice full of feigned innocence.
Malajia shook her head. “You make me sick,” she declared.
Chasity let out a quick sigh. “Don’t get mad at me. It’s not my fault that your friend set fire to the project. It’s not my fault that you spilled chips all over the floor. So back the fuck off.”
Malajia’s eyes turned to slits. “One of these days I’m gonna tear every damn strand of hair off your head, one by one.”
“Real cute.” Nodding, Chasity turned and walked away.
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The student lounge was across campus. By the time Malajia walked in the building, her temper had cooled. She was too tired to waste any more energy. She glanced around the crowded room to see if she could find any of her friends. A laugh rang out, and Malajia jerked around. There was Sidra, chipper as ever, chatting away on a couch. Malajia narrowed her eyes as she made her way over.
“Looks like you’re feeling better Sidra.”
Sidra ignored the sarcasm dripping from Malajia’s voice. “Well, I took some pain pills and had a good night’s sleep.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe how tired I am,” Mark yawned. “I hate cleaning.”
“Hardly a news flash,” David commented dryly. “Josh and I shared a cabin with you at camp, remember?” Mark gritted his teeth and stretched out on the couch.
Sidra stood up and grabbed her purse.
“Leaving, crampy?” Malajia inquired. “About to go wiggle your damn way out of something else?”
Sidra glared at her. She’s on my last nerve, she thought. “That’s great Malajia,” Sidra said. “Make fun of another woman for having bad cramps. Such a prime example of a lady.”
Noticing the disdain in Sidra’s tone, Malajia made a face at her. “Boo hoo,” she jeered. “I have bags under my eyes because we had to do extra damn cleaning last night.”
“Look, Chasity and I didn’t flake out on your guys. I could hardly stand up.” Sidra drew in a long breath. “You guys had more than enough people to clean up last night. So stop complaining, and get out of my face.”
“Look, the cleanup is done. No sense in playing the blame game,” Alex put in as Malajia continued to stare daggers at Sidra’s departing back. “But what are we going to do about the experiment? Do you think Kenneth will let us do a makeup?”
David’s chuckle turned into a laugh.
“What’s so damn funny?” Alex asked. “I bet you’ve never gotten a zero on a test or project in your life.”
“Not going to happen,” David said with a grin. “Talked to Kenneth this morning. Except for Mark, we are all going to write up the effects of direct heat.”
“And Mark?”
“Oh, he’s going to discuss the many dangers of not following experiment protocols—an essay, not a workbook write-up.”
“That’s great news! David, you’re a life saver,” Alex cried, clasping her hands together. “I can do without a zero at this point, believe me.”
“We’ll have to give Mark the news later,” Josh advised, pointing to the couch where Mark was slouched, mouth open and sound asleep.
“Yeah, Malajia too,” David added, pointing to a sleeping Malajia. “I didn’t know she snored. It took us almost destroying the chem lab to get both of them to shut up.”
