19
JASMINE
I was out of the hospital and resting comfortably in my own bed. Not my bed at Barry’s house, or the one over in the Bluff, but my own bed in my own condominium. Technically it belonged to Sophia, since I was still a minor, but I was paying the bills. We had a four-bedroom, fully furnished pad with flat-screen televisions in almost every room. I had the master suite—even though I tried to give it to Sophia, she knew how to shut me up.
“Girl,” she said when we moved in, “if I sleep in this room every night, I’ma need a few glasses of wine just to stop myself from having a heart attack.”
Needless to say, she got the smallest room in the condo.
I wasn’t really digging living all the way out in Gwinnett County, but since this was the only place my brother could go to school, we decided that this was the only place for us. It was almost like old times with the four of us together.
My tutor had just left and I was free for the rest of the day. No photo shoots or anything. I wasn’t completely healed up, but I was getting there. It had been five weeks since my attack and I had just gotten my cast off. My doctors suggested that I get out and walk for a mile or so every day, and DeMarco wanted me to have some company so he bought me a teacup Yorkie, Mr. Snuggles.
“I’ma tell your lil black butt one more time and then I’ma flush you down the toilet,” Sophia said.
I laughed. Mr. Snuggles must’ve made a boo-boo on the floor again. He was only six weeks old—what did she expect?
“Devin,” I said to my little brother, “you wanna go out for a walk?”
“No,” he said from his favorite spot on the floor in front of the television. He was watching some kids’ show with a bunch of cartoon characters.
“I’m going out for a walk. I’ll be right back,” I said and put Mr. Snuggles on his leash.
We walked out the door and around the complex. I loved coming outside. The yards were always so neat and clean. The neighbors were all nice people and everything was perfect. Strangers couldn’t just pop up, because there was a big guard out front and the condos were surrounded by a six-foot-tall gate. So why was I staring at somebody who I knew I didn’t let in.
“Hey, Jaz,” Kecia said.
“Kecia,” I said. “How did you get in here?”
“Girl,” she said, “just because you living high on the hog don’t act like you ain’t from the Bluff. You know we make a way when we want something.”
“So what do you want?” I asked.
“I want us to be friends again,” she said.
“We’re straight, and I’m sorry for snapping on you like I did. I thought since Tiny and Shemika were your rolling partners that you were in on it.”
“I would never do anything to hurt you. You were my friend when nobody else was. You stood by me when people used to throw bottles at me and call me ugly. When I wanted to kill myself, you were the one who talked me out of it and made me feel like I was worth something. So let me tell you something: I’m not walking away from a friend like you. You’re gonna have to do a lot more than ignore my calls and cuss me out.”
“I said we’re straight,” I said, feeling a little bit of nostalgia.
“That’s an ugly dog, Jaz,” she said.
“You’re crazy,” I said, leaning down and scooping up Mr. Snuggles. I rubbed noses with my little pet. “Tell her you’re sexy.”
“I’m just playing,” she said. “He’s cute.”
“I know,” I said.
“You know Tiny and Shemika took a plea, don’t you?”
“No, I didn’t,” I said. “What did they get?”
“Ten years. They tried to testify against each other and everything. There is truly no honor among thieves. I testified against both of them—now I hear they are in jail plotting against each other.”
“Well, I wish them well in their self-destruction,” I said.
“Jolly got shot last night,” she said. “They say he gonna live though.”
“You know what, Kecia,” I said. “I can’t do this. We are cool and we can hang, but I can’t do the ghetto gossip. I didn’t do it when I lived over there, and I’m not going to do it now. I wanna leave that Bluff life right in the Bluff.”
Kecia nodded her head.
“How did you know where I was living?”
“Your mom,” Kecia said.
“I’m about to put her out. If she tells one more person where I live ...”
“I’m proud of Miss Sophia,” Kecia said. “She’s gaining weight and looking good.”
“She eats twenty-four-seven.”
My cell phone rang and the screen said Lola.
“Hello,” I said.
“I have great news,” she said. Every time she called me she said the same thing.
“I’m all ears,” I said.
“You’re going to Paris. Katina Elon wants to shoot you for an exclusive line of women’s dresses.”
“When?”
“Tonight. You’ll be gone for four weeks.”
“Okay,” I said. “Wait. I can only do three. My mom’s court date is coming up. I need to be there.”
“Okay,” Lola said. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
“Good,” I said.
“Don’t sound so excited. This is huge.”
“I hope there is a huge paycheck attached to it,” I said.
“Bigger than anything I’ve ever gotten, and, girl, I’m prettier than you,” Lola said.
I laughed and said my good-byes.
“I gotta go to Paris tonight,” I said.
Kecia’s eyes lit up. “Are you serious? Oh my God. You’re like a model for real for real? Like you’re about to be on magazine covers and stuff?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh.
I wasn’t really feeling this modeling life, but it was better than living in the Bluff.
“I wish I could go to Paris,” she said.
I turned my phone around and dialed Lola back.
“Good evening, darling,” she said in her faux French accent.
“I need a ticket for my friend. She wants to go with me.”
“Is your friend of age?”
“She’s seventeen.”
“Text message me her info and I’ll get her name on the manifest. We don’t do tickets, darling. We only fly private.”
“What is that?”
“You’ll see,” she said, then hung up the phone.
“Okay,” I said to Kecia. “Be ready at six o’clock. We’ll have a car come pick you up. And don’t tell anyone about this. I don’t need anybody tryna kidnap me.”
Kecia stood there with a blank look on her face. Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran over to me. She hugged my neck so hard I started to punch her.
“I love you, girl,” she said.
“I love you too, Kecia. Now go get ready.”