The Kick Back

Secrets and Lies

My heart was pounding as I watched Mike help Stephanie into the house. She looked like she had been into a fight and the worst about the situation was that I had to hide the way I felt. If I acted too concerned, my boys would immediately know that there was something going on between us. Then again, I immediately began to question the relationship between her and Mike. How did he know her and why was he helping her? What was going on that I didn't know about? Suddenly my concern turned into doubt and anger. I didn't know whether to start asking questions or just keep my composure. He helped her down onto the couch and sat with her, consoling her. It was so weird to see Mike actually comforting one of 'them.'

Every now and then he would glance over at me as I sat in the chair wondering when the hell I got into the twilight zone. As much as he bad mouthed black folks, here he was sitting with one and comforting her like he actually had love for her. My attitude worsened because I didn't know what to think. Did she have a thing for hispanics? Was she runnin around on me? I wasn't sure but I was pissed and as soon as I could get a moment alone with her, I was gonna let her know what I thought.

"Ant, could you do me favor?" he asked. The look in his eyes let me know that he hoped that I wouldn't confront him about his guest. I smiled to myself. Here's a guy that always talked about keepin it real and bein loyal to the ese's. And here he was, contradicting every single thing that he ever said and did.

"What's that?" I asked, smiling on the inside. I didn't know what was going on but I was ready to pounce on the both of them. Then I looked at Stephanie again, she was hurting and crying. Something about it made me concerned all over again. Mike rubbed her back while she continued to cry. "Can you take her in the kitchen and get her some ice? I gotta make a phone call." he asked. "Yeah. Come on." I said, trying to play it off like I didn't know her and wasn't interested. She stood up and followed me into the kitchen.

She sat down at the kitchen table and I pulled the ice tray out of the freezer. Neither one of us said a word until we knew for sure that Mike couldn't hear us. Once I heard him on the phone, I dumped some ice into a towel and handed it to her. I sat down at the table across from her and she started wiping her tears away.

"What happened?" I asked, wondering why she was bruised and bleeding a little bit. She was silent for a moment and then she responded with, "Me and my homegirls got into it. Let's just say they're not my homegirls anymore. I guess I'm not down enough for them." she said, laughing a little bit. Stephanie was the only person I knew that could laugh through a bad situation. "I don't wanna beat about the bush, I'm curious to know how you know my boy. Are you just into 'us' and like to have variety? I'm not the one to be played, Stephanie." I snapped. She gave me a look that let me know that she thought that I was being ridiculous.

"It's not what you think. Me and Mike have known each other for a long time. We're just friends and it's never been nothin more than that." she explained. A part of me didn't believe her. I dealt with my share of shady girls in my past and I didn't know that she was any different. I had just met her and gotten all involved before I could feel her out. Another part of me did believe her and wanted to give her the benefit of a doubt. Plus, I really cared for her. I wasn't about to let my ego stand in the way of what we could possibly have so I chose to believe her and listen.

"Mike hates black people." I told her. She shook her head. "Mike hates a lot of people, not one single group. Maybe he doesn't like some black people, but I'm one that he cares about." she told me. I sighed. I didn't like the fact that she was close to one of my friends but then again, it kind of made me feel a little relieved.

"So what do we do?" I asked her. She sighed and then looked towards the living room to make sure Mike wasn't listening. "I think for now we should just keep things to ourselves. I'm not really ready for the reaction. I don't know what to expect." she said. I nodded. I agreed with her. Just because they were cool didn't mean that he would be cool with the fact that I was actually with her and having sex with her. That was a whole different ball game.

"Are you okay though?" I asked her, moving closer to her. "Yeah...I've been hurt worse than this." she told me. I reached up and touched her face in an effort to comfort her. I hated that her beautiful face had been bruised up by some raggedy ass hood bitches who didn't even come close to her in the looks department. She stared at me and smiled. "You're still so beautiful." I complimented her. Mike walked into the kitchen and I quickly snatched my hand away. "It's about to be taken care of. Pay back's a bitch." he said, joining us at the table. Both Stephanie and I were nervous and didn't wanna say much. Mike looked at us both, wondering what was going on. "I guess we got a lot to talk about." he said.

After a few hours, Mike and Stephanie left together. He was going to make sure that she got home safe. I made my way back to my house, slowly but surely. I lit a cigarette and rapped a few lyrics in my head to get me through my journey. Suddenly, I got a funny feeling. The hairs on the back of my neck were starting to stand up and I felt a little nervous. I kept looking around but I didn't see anybody but the usual people who hung out in the neighborhood throughout the days. I tried to shake that feeling but it wouldn't go away.

I got a little closer to my house, just about a block. There's an alley right near the corner of Ridgeway and Williams. I walked a few feet past it and suddenly I heard somebody call out to me. "Yo!" I turned around to see Vince standing there with a few of his homeboys. One was carrying a bat and the others were cracking their knuckles like they were preparing for battle. I was frozen with fear, I knew what was coming to me. "I told you I'd see you again, boy..."