LITMIR.BIZ

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football game at Compton last year, I went inside their girl’s bathroom and it wasn’t nearly as clean or modern as this one.

      “I know I’m fine enough to be a black Bond girl like Halle Berry, but don’t get it twisted,” Nellie says while brushing her long, jet black hair into a ponytail draped over her shoulder. “Hell no, I didn’t check the stalls and I’ve been in here an entire five minutes. No one’s come in or out that I’ve seen.”

      “What’s with all the secrecy?” I ask before entering one of the empty stalls. I might as well take advantage of the situation I’m in, even if I would rather be buying some CornNuts. Nellie, having the same idea, follows suit, leaving Mickey the floor.

      “How late can I be before I should take a pregnancy test?” Mickey asks as I squat behind the closed door. I’m glad she can’t see my face because if she could, I know I’d get a mouthful about my obvious disgust.

      “Mickey, did I just hear you right?” Nellie steps into the stall next to mine and closes the door. “Jayd, do you have a tampon?” she says, reaching her hand under the wall and into my space. Reaching behind me to the small pocket on my backpack, I pull out a maxi pad and hand it to my girl.

      “I only wear pads.” Mama refuses to let me wear tampons because of the health risks associated with them. She says that’s another thing that was wrong with my mama in high school. I sneak them in every now and then when I don’t want to risk the embarrassment of spotting. But I don’t like to wear tampons on a regular basis.

      “Oh my God, Jayd. You really need to get with the times, girl,” Nellie says, reluctantly taking it from me. But a girl can’t be too picky in these types of situations. “This will last me until I can get to the nurse’s office. I know she has a tampon in there.”

      “Uhm, hello. I just asked y’all a serious question,” Mickey says from her station at the mirror. “How long should I wait before taking a pregnancy test?”

      “Mickey, I thought you were smart enough to use protection. I know you’ve been with your man for a long time but I wouldn’t trust him as far as I can throw him, and he’s a big dude,” Nellie says, beating me out of her stall. My Baby Phat gold belt is more intricate than it appears at first glance. Every time I wear this thing I feel like I’m trapped. But it seems like Mickey’s the one caught up right about now. I’m with Nellie on this one. How could Mickey be so stupid?

      “Look Nellie. Maybe that’s how it works in your world. But we don’t always know when we’re going to do it, so my man may not have condoms on him at the exact moment. It’s called spontaneity. Besides, a baby isn’t the end of the world.” Now I’m positive Mickey’s not thinking straight. A baby right now would be the end of her world as she knows it. Not only would she miss out on our senior year of high school next year to change diapers, but if her man finds out she’s been messing with Nigel at the same time, she’ll really be dead.

      “Are you sure he’s the daddy?” I say, opening the cream-colored metal door and joining them at the sink to wash my hands. Her and Nellie stare at me in silence through the reflection in the large mirror. Nellie looks from me to Mickey, who’s searching for the right answer in her head. But the look on her face tells me she doesn’t know whose baby it is. “Damn it Mickey. You can’t be serious.”

      “What, Jayd?” Mickey says, staring back at me through my reflection. Me and my girls make a pretty picture, but this isn’t a Kodak moment. “You think I don’t know how stupid I sound right now? I don’t need either of you rubbing it in,” she says turning off the faucet and shaking the excess water from her hands before walking over to the paper towel dispenser. “I just need some help.”

      Mickey’s right. We shouldn’t judge her, even if I did know something like this was going to happen. How could she sleep with both Nigel and her man without a condom, at the same time? And how could they sleep with her when I know they’re all creeping too?

      “Well,” Nellie says, touching up her hair as the warning bell rings, announcing third period. Soon the bathroom will be filled with girls rushing to class. Our meetings usually take place before the madness begins. “They do have those test that can let you know as soon as three days after your missed period. How late are you?”

      “Three weeks,” Mickey says like it’s no big deal. I know her mama got started early but damn, she needs to get it through her head that this ain’t going to be no walk in the park. At least her mama knew who the daddy of her baby was.

      “Three weeks? What are you waiting for Mickey, the baby to graduate from college? You need to go to the doctor as soon as possible,” Nellie says. I’m glad she’s here to handle damage control because I really don’t want to be involved in this one, especially not after what Mickey’s man said to me yesterday.

      “Jayd, why are you so quiet?” I want to tell Mickey what happened but I don’t know how to say it without incriminating myself in her eyes. The last thing I want to do is get into an argument with Mickey about her man but she needs to know exactly how foul he is for herself. “Can you please tell Nellie it’s not that serious?”

      “Mickey, it is that serious,” I say, drying my hands and tossing the paper towels into the garbage before exiting the bathroom with my girls right behind me. “And you need to get all the tests they can run on you at the free clinic. You might be pregnant and no matter who the daddy is, the situation isn’t good.”

      “What are you talking about? My man would take care of our baby. He takes care of me, doesn’t he?” I hate to bring up her man’s wandering eyes, but now is as good a time as any to call her out on her trifling man.

      “Mickey, taking care of you is more than making sure your whip is clean,” I say as Nellie grabs one more look in the mirror before following us out the door. The hall is beginning to fill with busybodies rushing to get to their lockers and I’m in no mood to be pushed around today.

      “Yes, it’s about taking responsibility and your man can’t do that from his front porch,” Nellie says, making a very good point. “How’s he going to help you and your child if he can’t keep his ass out of jail?” Unfortunately, like a lot of brothas I know, her man’s addicted to the hustle of street life and jail is always in his future.

      “Nellie, why do you always have to throw salt in my game?” Mickey says, stopping at her locker and turning the combination. “Besides, my man gets off house arrest in six months. After that he’ll be able to get a real job and stop hustling.” Mickey switches her books and checks her appearance in the small mirror hanging from her locker door.

      “Six months? You act like that’s around the corner,” Nellie says, leaning up against the lockers and eyeing the crowd with me. I notice KJ and his crew walk in through the main entrance, still gleaming from their defeat over my boys the other day. I hope Jeremy’s in a good mood in government class. Talking to him always makes the hour go by faster.

      “The likelihood that he’ll stop hustling just because you’re knocked up isn’t too good,” I chime in. “He’ll probably start hustling even harder if he knows he’s got another baby on the way.” I automatically glance down the hall to make sure my locker door is shut, which it is. Even nice schools have kleptomaniacs. Not that I have much to steal, but it would still creep me out if someone invaded my locker.

      “Yeah, doesn’t he have like two or three kids from his other baby mamas?” Nellie says, sending Mickey’s already testy attitude into overdrive. If she is pregnant, it’s going to be a long nine months.

      “Look, I know y’all may not think he’s a good man for me but he is,” Mickey says, slamming shut her locker door and marching off toward her class. Nellie and I look at each other as if to say, “See what you did?” I know Mickey’s pissed at us for telling her the truth, but that’s what friends are for, even if she doesn’t want to hear it.

      “Mickey, wait,” I say, grabbing her arm and stepping in front of her. I look into her hazel contacts and feel her pain and fear. I know she knows he’s not good enough for her or her

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