man-beast catches up with her.
“I want you and da fucking car,” roars the beast. It has a face she barely recognizes.
“Back off, vultures!” yells the man-beast.
Then the beast grabs her. She screams, but fright muffles the sound. The hand begins to maul her, she tries fighting back, but she is much too small, and her limbs won’t respond. She is trying to scream, but there’s no sound. The beast clutches her and pins her to the hood of the Mercedes. Then the thing growls and enters her. Deedee fights back with long vicious scratching, her nails strong as talons. The flesh of the beast begins to fall apart. She grows stronger, and the beast retreats. But out comes the man. It is Deja, from the club. She screams violently.
“Get away! Stay away!” She yells. Her uncle and Sophia burst through the door. “Please don’t hurt me anymore,” she cries.
“Deedee it’s me. I’m here baby. It will be alright, it’ll be alright,” Eric shouted as he hugged the girl. “You were having a bad dream.”
“I’ll get her something to drink,” Sophia said. She ran downstairs, to the kitchen.
“Uncle E., Uncle E.,” Deedee cried. “He was trying to rape me again.”
“Who was gonna do that to you, baby?”
“This thing was chasing me and Deja was gonna rape me again.”
“Deja?” Her uncle asked with bewilderment. “Who’s Deja?”
Sophia carefully handed Deedee a glass of milk. Deedee gulped twice, then excused herself and went into the bathroom. She felt the scrutiny as two pairs of concerned eyes followed her there. Once inside, she washed her face and checked her body. The bruises and marks were quite visible. Deedee looked at her face close-up, and noticed all the welts and gashes under her nose and above her eyes. Scabs were already forming over the smaller wounds. She decided not to look anymore—each time she did so, more bruises seemed to appear. But Deedee knew that these smaller bruises didn’t really matter. The biggest wound would not heal. It would last forever.
“Hey what’s up?” Da Crew shouted when they met in the school hallway. They were happy to see each other. The weekend was finally over. All the girls had stayed with their families and spoken with each other on the phone. Danielle and Josephine used their parents’ phones. Coco called from the phone on the corner.
“I’ve got a test, yo. Got to go. Catch up wit y’all later.”
“Coco,” it was Mrs. Martinez.
“Yes, Mrs. Martinez.”
“Girls, I heard a report of a carjacking and rape. It happened to a student I know in this school.”
The girls stared at each other, revealing no surprise, but a lot of interest.
“It happened over the weekend,” Mrs. Martinez continued. Then the questions came. “Do you girls know anything about what happened?”
“No-o-o,” the chorus followed as the three girls walked away.
“Well the police think you do.” Mrs. Martinez had to shout to be heard.
“We told them everything,” Coco shouted back.
“We’ve got to get to class,” Danielle said. She was most famous for her variety of late excuses.
“I’ll see y’all,” repeated Coco. Her oversize denim jacket and blue jeans sagged, and the black knapsack on her back moved with a slight bop as Coco made her way to the classroom.
Damn, hope I can ace this test, she thought, taking her seat. She slipped off the knapsack and jacket with a single move. She was ready to begin the High School Regents Examination.
Coco finished the test in three hours flat. She had always been a good student, always read and did her homework, and her grades reflected that hard work. Schoolwork afforded her the perfect escape from her volatile mother.
“Good luck,” the examiner said with a smile. Coco handed her the pile of test papers. She retrieved her jacket and knapsack and nodded as she headed for the door. She made tracks down the hallway with that familiar bop.
“Peace,” someone called after her.
“Peace,” acknowledged Coco. She immediately reached for her cigarettes but put them away as she remembered the signs posted in the school’s hallways.
NO SMOKING ALLOWED
Coco spotted Josephine and Danielle and motioned for them to join her.
“Think they got the report, yo?” Coco already knew the answer.
“Yep, most def,” Josephine replied.
“How else would they know?” Danielle added.
“You know what, yo?” Coco continued. “We should stay da fuck out of this. You feel me?”
“You mean mind our biz, shut our mouths? Cool by me,” Josephine said with a wink.
“Can’t even remember what girlfriend looked like,” Coco chuckled.
“But weren’t you the one who was pledging to do something for da sisterhood?” Danielle asked.
“Okay, alright. Y’all didn’t have to go there, but you did. Ahight, I can vaguely remember some of it. I was caught up in the situation. I got emotional, so I flipped. I’m allowed to flip and talk shit, right? Okay, then that’s it, yo. Listen, I’ve got these dope lyrics.”
“Yeah right, let’s hear them, then.” Josephine and Danielle both responded with avid anticipation.
“Ahight, let’s get busy,” Coco said. “But let’s get da fuck outta here.”
The girls put their silver-rimmed dark shades on and made their way out of the school building as if paparazzi awaited them. Danielle waved and blew a kiss to someone. Coco put a cigarette to her lips and turned her back to the wind to light it. She took a drag and passed it to Danielle.
“Hold this, yo.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a carefully folded white sheet.
“Here’s some of the dopest lyrics you’re gonna hear anywhere,” she announced.
The girls paused to listen.
“It’s called ‘You Played Yourself.’” Coco began to half-hum, half-sing a slow-tempo number.
“Go ahead, go ahead girl,” Da Crew chanted. Coco continued more loudly now:
One day, one day You’re gonna fade away And I won’t need you Anyway, cause you’d have been played like the sucker punk You showed me you are. That day when you Played, played yourself You have played yourself You’ve
