Way Too Much Drama

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“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”

I glanced at him. He looked pathetic, like some chubby nerd attempting to ask a cheerleader to the school dance.

“Take me home,” I said abruptly. He’d ticked me off to the point that the very sight of him was upsetting.

seven

MAYA

“You will not believe what Misalo has done,” I complained to Keysha as we entered the beauty salon. We had both made appointments. Keysha was getting her hair braided again, and I was getting a manicure and pedicure. We sat in the waiting area because the salon was packed and filled with the sounds of multiple conversations taking place all at once. I recognized a few girls from school and waved to them. I assumed they were there for the same reasons Keysha and I were. School. Classes would be starting soon, and any girl who had any kind of sense knew that she had better come to school on the first day looking like a magazine cover model.

“Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to Misalo,” Keysha admitted as she searched the table in front of us for a magazine.

“He slept with Viviana.” I leaned toward Keysha and whispered so no one else could hear what I had to say. The words left a bitter taste on my tongue.

“What!” Keysha blurted out as if some teacher had just handed her a test paper with a fat red F on it. Several people looked in our direction to see what the commotion was about. Some of them had a look in their eyes that suggested they were anticipating a cat fight between me and Keysha. Keysha realized that she had spoken louder than she intended so she leaned in closer and whispered.

“They went all the way?” she asked for clarification.

“Yes,” I answered with certainty.

“How do you know?” Keysha glanced at me suspiciously, wondering how I would find out such a thing.

“Viviana admitted it,” I answered with a disgusted sigh.

“Maya, you and I both know you can’t believe a thing Viviana says. She’s a liar,” Keysha reminded me.

“I know, but for some reason I believe she told the truth. When she came in the house yesterday, she had this strange look on her face. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but decided not to. I was too busy trying to figure out why Misalo wasn’t at the big party. I had searched all over Jerry’s house looking for Misalo, but did not find him. And his so-called friends were of no help. They claimed they had not seen him, but I knew they were lying. Anyway, the last thing I wanted her to think was that I cared. Then Viviana went downstairs to talk to Anna. I don’t know why, but something made me walk halfway down the steps and stand out of their eyesight to eavesdrop on their conversation. I clearly heard Viviana say that she and Misalo decided to go all the way.”

“Wow,” Keysha said as she came to realize how serious I was.

“What did you do then?” she asked.

“Nothing. I walked back up the stairs, disgusted and ticked off with Misalo and Viviana.”

“So what does that mean? Are you finally done with him?” Keysha asked.

“That’s like me asking you if you’re finally done with Wesley,” I said condescendingly.

Keysha raised her eyebrow at me.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I have no idea what my next move will be.”

“Perhaps it’s time to let it go,” Keysha suggested.

“That’s not the advice I want to hear,” I unashamedly admitted.

“You can’t make Misalo want you, Maya. If he is not making an effort to patch things up, then there is really nothing more you can do,” Keysha said.

“Yeah. I know,” I said, feeling rather depressed about it. Never in a million years would I have ever thought that Misalo would give himself so freely to another girl. What’s even more insulting and disrespectful is that he had sex with my cousin. Although I was very disappointed with Misalo, I still cared about him. I couldn’t turn my feelings for him off like a light switch on a wall.

* * *

I’d just taken a seat at the pedicure station which was situated near the front window. I briefly glanced at the black letters which spelled out the name of the salon. Just as I’d submerged my feet into a footbath filled with warm water, someone knocked hard on the glass. I turned in the direction of the sound and saw Carlo waving at me.

“Oh, great,” I mumbled. “He’s the last person I want to see.” I smiled at him out of politeness and hoped he would move on. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that lucky.

Carlo opened the door to the salon and a bell chimed.

“What’s up, girl?” He smiled at me. He had on a blue-and-white-striped polo shirt, blue jeans and a pair of black Air Force 1 gym shoes. He also had sunglasses resting on top of his head.

“Same old stuff,” I answered as I looked down at my feet and wiggled my toes. I had not seen Carlo since he had the fight with Misalo.

“Where have you been?” Carlo asked.

“Around.” I gave him a vague answer.

“Around where?” Carlo wanted me to share more than I was willing to offer.

“Why do you even care?” I said with an irritated tone that I had hoped would force him to turn around and leave. As far as I was concerned, I never wanted to see him again. It was over between us, and I didn’t want to go our separate ways on friendly terms.

“That’s a good question. I don’t know why I care about you, especially since you have a nasty attitude.”

“You helped to create my attitude toward you.” I hoped my words felt like a red-hot knife piercing his skin.

“You know, Maya, you’re a real...”

“Hey, don’t you dare say what I think you’re about to say,” said Kim, the shop owner, who was nearby.

“You’re a real pain, Maya,” Carlo said.

I ignored him. I couldn’t believe he had come into the salon just to insult me.

“I’m so glad it’s over between us, Carlo,” I said, waving for him to go away and bother someone else.

“One of these days, Maya, someone is going to put your prissy attitude in check. I tried to be a good guy for you. A guy who didn’t play games, a guy who tried to be real with you. Instead, you put me down for some jerk who cheated on you. You talk about how you’re glad it’s over. Hell, I’m the one who is glad it’s over.” Carlo gave me a nasty look before turning to walk out.

eight

VIVIANA

I had told Anna all about how Misalo ruined everything by calling out Maya’s name. Misalo had humiliated and hurt me in a way that I never thought possible. There had been days when I really felt bad, but that incident with him took the cake. Anna listened and was sympathetic, but beyond that there was nothing that could be done. It was over between Misalo and me, and that hurt me more than I ever thought it would. I truly liked him. I appreciated his honesty. Even though I had twisted the truth to get his attention, it was, in my opinion, well worth the lies I’d told. He gave me the type of attention I longed for, but now that was gone and the hole in my heart was as big as a crater on the surface of the moon.

The following morning I saw Maya in the upstairs hallway. She was heading downstairs, and I was on my way to the bathroom.

“Slut!” Maya said as she walked past me.

“What did you just say to me?” I asked.

“Our truce is over. I don’t like you. I don’t want you in my house, and I’m going to make sure that I do everything that I can to get you kicked out.” Maya’s eyes were ablaze with an evilness that I’d never seen before. I didn’t feel like getting into a battle of words with her so I just flipped up my middle finger and continued on.

When I came downstairs, I ran into my aunt Raven, who was carrying a basket of laundry.

“Come with me, Viviana,” she said.

“Why? What’s up?” I asked, wondering if I’d done something wrong.

“I want to talk to you,” said Aunt Raven. I exhaled and followed her to her bedroom where she began folding her laundry.

“I’ve contacted your school and had your records transferred over to Thornwood,” she began.

“Okay,” I said, dreading the fact that I’d have to repeat my junior year of high school.

“You’re going to have to be tested. Your entire junior year is filled with incomplete grades.”

“I told you why,” I said defensively.

“I know your mom kept moving you around,” Aunt Raven said.

“I hate tests. Why can’t they just let me come in as a senior?” I grumbled at the idea of having to deal with some stupid multiple-choice exam where I had to use a No. 2 black pencil to fill in a circle.

“Honey, schools use standardized tests to determine if you have a learning disability or some other handicap,” Aunt Raven said as she moved to a nearby closet and removed several hangers.

“I’m not stupid,” I said with an edge in my voice.

“I know that,” Aunt Raven said.

“Then why didn’t you tell them?” I was getting emotional, but couldn’t help it.

“Watch your tone with me,” Aunt Raven warned. “You’ll be tested on basic stuff. Reading Comprehension, English, Math and Science. It’s a way for the school to find out what courses they should place you in.”

“I still think tests are stupid,” I said, loathing the idea.

“You take the test first thing tomorrow morning,” she said.

“Are you serious? They won’t even give me time to study?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Aunt Raven.

“Augh, that sucks,” I complained as I plopped down on the bed.

“Don’t worry about it. Just go in there and do the best that you can,” she said. I cut my eyes at her as if I were about to stab her.

“I have a question for you,” she said.

“What?” I mumbled a little as I felt a small anxiety attack swelling up.

“When was the last time you had a physical?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Mom rarely took me to the doctor. She doesn’t have health insurance,” I said.

“Okay. Do you remember the name of the last doctor you saw?” she asked.

“I have no idea. The only thing I remember was that she was Korean, and she was still learning how to be a doctor.”

“What do you mean, she was still learning how to be a doctor?”

My answer seemed to have alarmed her. “She was in training. Down at Cook County Hospital,” I said.

“Oh, you mean she was doing a residency,” said Aunt Raven.

“Yeah, whatever that is,” I answered. Aunt Raven paused for a moment and then said, “I’m going to call your grandmother and see if she has any of your medical records.”

“What for? I’m not sick,” I said.

“School, dear. Anna, Paul, Maya and you need to get a physical for school, and I have to get as much of your medical history together as possible.”

“Oh,” I said, then turned my thoughts to Maya and how she had threatened me earlier.

“I’ve scheduled an appointment for later this week.”

“Fine,” I said. “Is that it?”

“That will do it,” she said, trying to sound upbeat and as if I wasn’t an additional burden on her. I don’t know why, but I felt lousy. I felt as if I didn’t belong here and that I was more trouble than I was worth.

I walked back to the kitchen to get myself something to snack on. Shortly thereafter Paul walked into the kitchen with his skateboard that had graffiti-styled lettering that read Fly Higher. Paul quickly made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sat down at the table to eat it.

“What’s up?” he asked as he bit into his sandwich then removed a handheld game from his pocket.