A few months ago, I would have immediately jumped to conclusions about his strange behavior in New York; that was still one mystery that I hadn’t solved. He was on edge the whole time and I got the impression that he was watching his back. But that didn’t make sense, so I dismissed the thought quickly. All I knew of the situation was that his father was at the epicenter. Something that he’d done had knocked AJ off his square, so I knew that it had to be something big.
Class let out at a quarter to eleven, so I sat on the steps and tried to call AJ to tell him that I was going to breakfast with Terrell, but he didn’t answer. I went back and forth between knowing that it was completely innocent for me to go, and being concerned that AJ would be really pissed off. The second theory made me uneasy; nothing was worth messing things up with him. With that realization, I stood to my feet and started walking back to my dorm just as AJ was calling back.
“Hey,” I answered.
“Hey. Sorry I didn’t get to the phone right away. I was just getting in from my run. How was class?” He asked.
“Fine. A little boring.”
“What time’s your next one start?” He asked.
“I don’t have Calculus until 1:30.”
“That’s good. You have time to chill in between. What’re you gonna do while you wait?” He asked.
I choked on my statement as I wrestled with whether or not I should tell him that I was thinking about joining Terrell. “Well…..I think I’m just gonna hang out at the dorm. Maybe sit outside for a bit.” I couldn’t even say the words; it wasn’t worth it.
“Yeah, I think I might go to the gym and shoot around for a while before I have to shower and stuff for class.”
“Oh, well don’t let me stop you. I’ll call you later.”
“Alright,” he replied.
When we hung up, I saw Terrell coming my way with a pretty, brown-skinned girl about my height with braids in her hair, hanging on his arm. She smiled up at him adoringly as she laughed at something he said. He stopped where I stood and the girl stared at me suspiciously.
“Maisha, this is Sam.” The icy glare was fixed on her face as she continued to stare. “She’s like my lil’ sis. I appointed myself to watch out for her here.” Terrell smiled at me warmly and the girl seemed to ease up just a little once she heard him refer to me as his sister.
I waved and smiled reassuringly, wanting her to understand that I wasn’t a threat to her. “Nice to meet you,” I stated.
“You too,” she replied.
“So, what’s up with breakfast? You going or not?” Terrell asked as I realized I’d been invited as a third wheel. Maisha continued to stare at me and I tried to decipher what the look meant. Maybe she just didn’t want me to tag along. Lucky for her, I’d already decided not to go.
“You know, I think I’ll sit this one out,” I replied.
Terrell sighed. “Fine, but I’ll bring you something back.”
“No, I’m cool. I’ll find something.”
“Whatever. You like pancakes? Of course you do. Who doesn’t like pancakes? I’ll bring you some,” he insisted. As they walked away, Maisha looked back at me from over her shoulder a few times before they disappeared down the walkway. I went back to the dorm and sat by the fountain in the courtyard and rolled my eyes when I saw Jen and Bianca coming my way. A couple of their friends were following behind them. One looked familiar and I realized that I’d just seen her in class.
“Hey! How was your trip?” Jen asked.
“Fun,” I replied, hoping that she’d guess I wasn’t in the mood for conversation. But of course she didn’t.
“Cool. You went to New York right?”
“Yep.”
“I’ve never been, maybe one day, though,” she added.
I stood there silently staring at her.
“So…..how was class?” She asked.
“Fine. Boring.”
When I didn’t give her anymore conversation than that, she introduced me to her friends. “Um, well this is Nina and Andrea. They stay in our building too, just down a floor.”
“Hi, I’m Andrea. I just saw you over at Hanson, right?” The first girl said. She reminded me a lot of Leslie, but I tried not to hold that against her.
“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you,” I replied.