South High seemed okay. Miss Dixie made sure Annabelle and I had all our freshman classes together. I wasn’t sure why she did that. I didn’t need a baby-sitter. I soon realized it wasn’t for my sake.
We were in the hall putting our books in the lockers. My locker was across the hall from hers. I threw my books in it and slammed the metal door shut. I turned to face Annabelle to see if she was ready to head off to math, but she was taking her time. So I decided to lean against my locker.
“Hi, Annabelle.” The hottest girl I’d ever seen walked up behind Annabelle. The girl’s long, black hair was perfectly straight. It fell softly over curves that made my insides hurt. It looked like she’d spent the summer tanning, so her skin was almost as dark as mine. I was excited that Annabelle had a hot friend.
Annabelle turned and smiled, “Hi, Rani.” I could see Annabelle was a little nervous. Rani flipped her hair back and spoke to some girls that came up behind her. They giggled. The group all looked like they’d bought clothes at the same place. I knew then Rani was not her friend. Annabelle turned to finish closing her locker.
“I wasn’t done talking to you.” Rani’s voice changed. “I can’t believe you actually made it to high school.” She didn’t look so hot anymore. The other girls were laughing, and a small crowd started to form.
“Rani, I need to go …” Annabelle whispered.
“Go is right.” Rani laughed. “Like go in your pants.” Annabelle’s eye’s dropped to the floor. Rani started to grab Anna-belle’s shorts and pull on them, “Or are you wearing diapers?”
“Back off!” A strong voice shut Rani up. I wished it had been mine. But it wasn’t. It was Prince. He was up in Rani’s face, “I don’t ever want to hear you mess with Annabelle again! You may have gotten away with it in middle school but not here!”
Rani lifted her chin. “Who are you?” She tried to smile at him. A sick flirt. “Look here, beautiful black man, I’ve got way more to offer you than this girl.” She tried to touch his arm, but he backed up. Annabelle was hiding behind him. She was holding onto his shirt. He was the wall between Annabelle and the ugly world.
“Shut up!” Prince said. He looked Rani in the eye and spoke without missing a beat. “Annabelle is my sister. If you mess with her, you mess with me.” Rani shut her mouth and swallowed.
Prince turned and wrapped his arm around Annabelle’s shoulder. I heard him whisper, “I’ll walk you to class. Don’t worry about it. They’ll leave you alone.”
Annabelle tried to smile. She looked back at the girls standing in the hall in shock. She looked at Prince and answered, “Okay, Prince, I believe you.”
Rani saw me staring and hissed, “What you looking at?”
I gave her my best mean look, cussed, and spat, “Not much!” I turned and ignored the words she was throwing at me down the hall. “Better me,” I thought, “than Annabelle.”
When I reached the classroom, Prince was coming out of the door. I stopped as he grabbed my shoulder. He pushed me up against the wall and spoke his first words to me, “Who are you?”
“What?” I was trying to push him away, but he was stronger.
“Who are you?” Prince repeated. He was so close I could smell the morning coffee on his breath.
“Come on, Prince. Put me down. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I was trying to be calm but anger was starting to rise. I could see other kids starting to stand around, waiting for a fight.
“What’s going on out there?” A teacher’s voice came from somewhere.
Prince loosened his grip. But he was still up against me. “Were you just going to watch that girl make Annabelle piss in her pants? Do you really not care?” His eyes were full of disgust. He pointed into the classroom. “You watch out for her. If you don’t, I will never let you forget it.”
I knew then that I was the baby-sitter. Whether I liked it or not.