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“I got this, snitches,” was Ronnie’s response, so they dropped the subject

Walking through the diirls chit-chatted about school and their other number one topic of interest – boys When they walked outside of the building, the strokes of the hot suuard

Shayla’s soft set brown eyes and tender high-yellow face turned i

nto a frown as she quickly threw her hand up to protect her eyes froht Rhonda scrunched her nose up as if the heat was causing a stench too strong for her to bear Gladys simply walked ahead of the pack as if the heat had not bothered her in the least bit Despite the scorching heat, the friends walked onto the schoolyard in a confident strut They were the perfect trio – one smart, one fiery, and one salsa

A e that caught their attention next Daht

“Nice ride,” Gladys was the first to acknowledge the approaching vehicle aloud A freshly painted, speckled-gray Cutlass Suprehteen-inch McLean wheels Clean The car swooped around the corner in slow limpse of the ride Music thudded so loud froh the schools’ glass s

Shayla said, “I wonder if he can even hear himself think in that car”

Ronnie ignored Shayla’s state clean like that I bet his ood What I want to know is, who is up in there?”

When the car finally came to a stop and the driver’s ly slid down, Shayla locked eyes with the caramel brown-skinned driver, and a millisecond of eye contact see an LL Cool J hat to the back and could have been the rapper’s twin Skin smooth like butter, luscious lips, and thick eye lashes to boot His right brow had a slit down the middle like he had some kind of ound At that precise instant, he licked his lips, and they turned up into a nice, smooth LL Cool J-style smile All eyes were on him

When he looked in the direction of the three friends, the full effect of his handso All they could talk about was how fine he was Their raging teenage hormones completely took over theirthat he couldn’t hear anything due to the wicked bass line blasting froh willing skin It was Titus Wilson

Ronnie spoke up first, sounding like S froet the 411…” She started sprucing herself up, but slowed her roll when she saw Mr Jackson walking in the car’s direction

Gladys couldn’t help herself “Go on and get it, Ronnie Study long and study wrong, and papi will be my boyfriend Breakfast, lunch and dinner Caliente!”

“All I can say is what a sistah wouldn’t give! What a sistah wouldn’t give Uloss

Fighting back the dreamy look that threatened to take over her face, Shayla simply said under her breath, “A brother like that could take me anywhere, but I’m sure a man that fine is taken”

Ronnie tossed an irritated look in Shayla’s direction “There you go trying to couple up with a nigga, Shayla You have to get to know a dude first, and then have a little fun You don’t have to ‘boyfriend’ every guy that you think you irlfriend Let’s leave that e for the next chick”

“Whatever, Rhonda, I don’t do the casual dating scene and screwing around, and you know that It’s just not ”

“Well, he won’t be your thing, either,” she laughed and pushed Shayla teasingly

The bass from the Cutlass’ trunk continued to vibrate the school ith the deafening decibels daruff assistant principal, Mr Jackson, fumed as he walked briskly toward the car As evidenced by his finger pointing and constant yapping, it appeared as though he was scolding the object of the girl’s affection for having his music too loud on school property

Once the music was at a satisfactory volume, Mr Jackson walked away fro “Don’t let ain, Mr Wilson Understand?”

“Okay, Mr Jackson,” the young man said before he appeared to zero back in on Shayla

After Mr Jackson walked away, it was Michael Hightower, better known as ‘Street Justice’ because of his reputation of running the streets, who trotted up to the car next The three friends had continued to talk about Titus and how sexy he was, not realizing that Michael had been eavesdropping on the entire interaction Soot the na all wrongs when it came to matters of the street You couldn’t break a street rule and let Michael find out about it He even had a strong following He practically created the code of ethics for Tuskegee’s projects Mind you, he had done all of this while h school

Having gotten an earful by standing next to Gladys the entire ti to the driver and pointed in the direction of the three girls’ Shayla looked at Ronnie and then to Gladys, shocked She was even ed back over and addressed her directly

What are you up to Michael? She thought, but before she could say anything, Michael filled her in

He said, “My cousin wants you to come over and holler at him, Shay”

“Street, what does he ith me?” Shayla played it off like she was uninterested and irritated, but all the while on the inside, she was happier than a little bit Is u fro She questioned herself frantically A laundry list of nagging thoughts crossed her ers over her for she could think about was her appearance Shayla stood taut, visibly nervous, and wished she had a mirror to do a quick check