Sweet Trouble

Who would have thought a simple girl's day would end with my friends dancing in the Waffle House parking lot, and me trying to get them in the car? I did. I was the mother of the group. The good girl. I tried to keep everyone out of trouble and, most importantly, jail.

"Y'all, please come on," I begged my friends Naia, Toy, and Marcelle as they danced along to the music beating from the older model Cadillac that drove by.

"That's my song!" Toy yelled out as she dropped to the ground and popped her ass.

"They're turning around!" Marcelle said excitedly.

"Get in the car," I said, popping the locks to my Honda Accord. "You don't know them niggas. They may be coming to rob or rape us."

I got in the car and started it. I just wanted to get back to my apartment and relax. As I started to back out, I noticed a set of headlights blinding me. Once I was able to focus, I realized it was the Cadillac. My heart started to pound as I made sure the doors were locked and the windows were rolled up tight.

"Girl, he's getting out of the car," Naia said excitedly.

I watched nervously as the passenger door opened and a tall, light-skinned guy got out of the car. He looked tall; he had to be about six feet in height. He had almond-colored skin and wore his hair in braids with a trimmed goatee. He looked like he was either Hispanic or mixed with something. He was cute, but the way he staggered to my car was not.

"He's so fine." I looked at Naia checking herself in the mirror. "I'm gonna holla at him, girl."

"Yeah, you do that," I said, making sure that the doors were still locked.

I watched as homeboy staggered his way to my window. I rolled my eyes as he knocked on the window for me to let it down.

"Let the window down!" all of my friends urged. I rolled my eyes again because that was the exact reason I was always trying to keep them out of trouble.

I rolled my window down slightly as homeboy gave me a slight smile. I smiled back to be polite.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm doing good."

"Why don't you roll your window down some more?"

"It's good where it is," I said as Naia poked me in the ribs.

"I'm Angel," he said, flashing another smile my way.

"I'm Loren," I smiled back.

"Damn, you got a beautiful smile," Angel said, smiling back. "Aye, Anthony! Come check her out!" Angel yelled to whoever was in the driver seat.

I could hear my girls take a collective breath in the backseat when Anthony stepped out of the car. He looked a lot like Angel, except he wore his hair in a low cut and was slightly shorter. I did the math. There was only two of them, but four of us. I figured that Naia and Toy would be the ones to end up with their numbers.

I watched as Anthony sauntered to the car and stood beside Angel. He checked out the other passengers in the car before focusing his attention on me. I stared at both of them with my hand on the window button. I was not feeling the situation, but my girls were all for it.

"Unlock the window," I heard Marcelle hiss from behind me. I did as I was told and prayed that they did not try to get into the car.

"How are y'all doing?" Anthony said, looking at all the passengers in the car, then focusing his attention on me.

"We're good," I smiled. "Trying to go home."

"Damn, you got a beautiful smile," he said, looking back at his brother. "Why don't you ladies come chill with us?"

"No, we're good. We-"

"Where would we go? We stay on campus and can't have company past one," Naia said, cutting me off.

"We can go back to my place. My roommate is at work for the night," Angel said.

"I don't know you, or where you live," I shot back.

"Well get to know me, beautiful."

"Come on, Lo," Naia begged.

"Yeah, Lo. Let's go chill," Marcelle said, grabbing my seat.

All eyes were on me. I was not feeling going anywhere with these niggas. I did not know them or anything about them. If I said no, I knew my girls would get in the car with them anyway. I hated to be put in situations where I would look like the bad guy.

"We'll go for a little bit," I said, finally giving in. "We're not staying long."

"Cool," Angel said.

"Follow us," Anthony said, walking back to the car. I watched as they both got into the car and backed it up.

"I don't know what y'all done got me into, but someone needs to write down their license plate number," I said out loud.

"Relax, Lo," Toy spoke up from the backseat.

Out of the four of us, she was the youngest and one of Naia's newest inductees into the group. I still did not know much about her, but if she was cool with Naia, she was cool with me.

"Just write it down," I sighed.

We followed these dudes through the city and down some back roads. I was happy that I went to school in my hometown because I had an idea of how to get us home when it was time to go. We finally pulled up to an apartment complex that I had never been to before. I followed the Cadillac through the complex, taking note of the turns that I was making. My girls were chatting excitedly about how cute they were, and I was just worried about not getting killed. I needed to chill.

We finally pulled up in front of a building and Angel darted out of the car ahead of us. Everything in me wanted to turn around because that shit looked suspect as hell. Anthony got out and followed directly behind him. Those jackasses did not even help us out of the car!

"Let's go," Naia said, opening her door.

"So, we're really about to go in some strange apartment, Ny?" I asked, not believing what we were about to do.

"Relax, Lo. If the vibe feels wrong, we'll leave."

I nodded my head in agreement and got out of the car. I did not want to go, but I could not leave my girls hanging. I checked my phone to make sure the battery was fully charged in case I needed to call the police, and followed them up the stairs.

As soon as I walked in the door, I knew why they had rushed ahead of us. The apartment was messy. They had done a decent job trying to straighten it up, but I definitely would not be accepting any food or drink from them. My friends took a seat on the sofa while I stood off to the side and examined the apartment. I noticed that it was a two-bedroom apartment. I was leaning against the wall that separated the two bedrooms, facing the front door. There was a small kitchen to my right, and everything opened out into the living room.

"You can sit here," Angel said, patting a chair that was at a small computer desk.

"Thank you," I smiled and took a seat while he pulled up a chair beside me.

I could see Naia eyeing him. I knew that she was feeling him, and I started to feel uncomfortable that he was focusing on me. Anthony cut on some music and I watched as my friends started to put on a show. I watched as Anthony kept a close eye on Toy. He was really feeling her. She was very petite. She was about five feet tall with smooth pecan skin and large doe eyes. She looked like a real life Bratz doll with her shoulder length hair.

"Why aren't you dancing?" Angel asked me, taking my attention away from my friends.

"I can't. I dance like a white girl."

"You are really beautiful."

I smiled shyly. I was not ugly but with how thick he was laying it on, I did not believe him. I was about five feet two inches with creamy mocha skin. I wore my hair in long box braids. I was what people would call thick. I was a D-cup with a small waist, thick thighs, and just enough ass. A true southern belle at heart, I did not leave the house without lipstick, eyeliner, or earrings. My mama taught me that.

"Thank you," I finally said once I stopped smiling.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from here...from Spartanburg."

"That's what's up. I'm from Miami," Angel said.

I knew that I had never seen him around. I would have remembered seeing someone as good looking as he was around town. Spartanburg was like the third largest county in South Carolina, but it was still considered a small town. It was nestled between the Tennessee and North Carolina border. We were about an hour and a half outside of Charlotte, North Carolina and two hours away from Atlanta, Georgia.

"How did you end up here?" I asked. I was always in awe of people who moved from big cities to my little hick town.

"I followed our sister up here. She said there were a lot of job opportunities here."

"Oh," I said. I could see Naia eyeing us. "My girl over there is feeling you."

"I'm feeling you, though."

"She's the one that likes you."

"So you're saying that you don't like me?"

I glanced over at Naia. She was not an ugly chick. In fact, I thought that she was pretty. Naia looked just like Tika Sumpter. She had milk chocolate-colored skin with a thin frame that boasted a few curves. Her natural, jet-black hair fell to the middle of her back, stopping short of her tiny waist that accented her heart-shaped behind. Naia was putting on a real show for Angel, and he was dead set on focusing on me. I was so embarrassed.

"I'm not saying that, but my girl was feeling you first."

"Your girl doesn't know me, and I'm not property. So tell me about yourself, Lo," Angel said, emphasizing my nickname.

"I'm 19 and I have a younger brother named Alijah. We call him Jah. He's a junior in high school. My parents have been married for about 15 years. I'm a sophomore at Upstate," I spat out in one breath. I did not like being put on the spot.

"Cool...cool. What are you studying?"

"Criminal justice. I was majoring in communications and journalism. I wanted to be a writer."

"What do you write?"

"Poetry mostly. I do write for the school's paper. What about you?"

I started to look around the apartment more. I started to notice little things that told me that his roommate was not a guy. He was talking away and I was taking notes. He told me that he had not found a job yet, but he had only been in town a couple of months. I noticed some stray hair weave. He went on about speaking six different languages. I saw a kid's school picture. Angel could talk all night and try to impress me, but I knew that once I checked out his bathroom, it would tell me all I needed to know.

"Can I use your restroom?" I asked, cutting him off mid-sentence. I could see the uncomfortable look on his face.

"Yeah, just give me a sec to straighten it up," he said.

I watched as he went over to Anthony and whispered in his ear. Anthony glanced in my direction before nodding his head. They both disappeared into the bedroom located closest to the kitchen. My friends continued to dance, oblivious to the guys being gone. That was the exact reason I always tried to keep them out of trouble.

"Come on," Angel said, holding his hand out for me. I had not even noticed him return.

I took his hand and followed him into the bedroom. He tried to rush me through the messy room with clothes everywhere, but he was not quick enough. I noticed a bra thrown across an armchair that sat in the corner. The room also had very feminine touches. It did not mean much to me. Show and tell would be in the bathroom.

He turned the light on for me as I smiled and shut the door. The bathroom was nestled between both of the bedrooms, Jack and Jill style. I looked around the bathroom and spotted makeup items on the counter. An average guy would not have known that. I even checked the medicine cabinet to confirm my suspicions. Tampons, birth control, and female hair products overflowed from the cabinet. I opened the door to the second bedroom just to make sure that I was not jumping to conclusions, but I was greeted with a child's room. This nigga had a girlfriend. He probably had a kid too.