“I bet she won’t be showing up unannounced at his house two in the morning anymore!” Michelle cried as she chewed on her bottom lip.
“We should have jumped in before we did, Rayna, but we got a little scared and I’m sorry for that,” April pleaded while Britni, still in the state of shock, remained quiet.
“It’s all right, girls. You played your part. We won this one so there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Truthfully, I thought you two were going to take off running.” I gave a snarl grin. These girls were as flimsy as they came, I had no faith in them.
“If we would have run, it would have been together. All of us!” added Michelle.
“You guys did a good job,” I repeated as I walked into the bathroom before I hopped into the shower.
During my shower, I was blanketed with relief that Michelle wasn’t too angry. That made my third fight since I’d been in North Carolina. I’d promised her no more fighting, but I was tired of hearing about this Tiny girl who kept harassing Michelle. I was ready to put that thing to rest. Michelle didn’t deserve that no matter how good Tommy was in bed. With any luck, the drama was over and Michelle could enjoy the last few weeks of her senior year. Thinking of that reminded me that my best friend would be leaving me soon.
I honestly didn’t know what I’d do the following year. If it weren’t for Michelle, I didn’t know where I’d be. Michelle offered to stay another year and get an apartment near campus. She knew I could afford my portion of the rent and utilities with the money I’d brought down with me from Jersey, but never touched. It was just sitting in the bank collecting interest. I refused her offer to stay in North Carolina not wanting to impose. I made Michelle swear she’d keep in touch.
When I got out of the shower, Michelle yelled from the kitchen that some guy named Tyquan called. I made a puzzled gesture while walking into the kitchen.
“He said that you two just met and you didn’t have his number, so here it is,” Michelle smiled at April thinking how cute it was for a guy to be calling me. I hadn’t seriously dated since I got to school.
I got the number and went into my bedroom and put on a pair of shorts and a tank top. All I could do was stare at the piece of paper and wonder how this guy had gotten my number. I hesitated in thought for a moment and then decided to dial the number. When someone picked up I heard this intriguing baritone voice speak, “Hello.”
I couldn’t think for a moment and had to collect my thoughts and finally, “Hi, is Tyquan available?”
“Holyfield, how are you?” said the voice on the other line heavily laden with a southern drawl.
“Pardon me?”
“Holyfield…the heavyweight champion of the world,” he said, trying to explain.
“Oh! I got you. What’s up and how’d you get my number?”
“I have very reliable sources. I was wondering if we could finish our conversation.”
“Well, right now is not the best time. I have some studying to catch up on for my exam tomorrow morning at eight. So why don’t we continue over dinner Friday?”
It was clear Tyquan was not expecting that, he stumbled over his words. He later told me he’d had his fair share of women during his lifetime and no one “required” a date. He didn’t even take his children’s mothers out for dinner on Mother’s Day.
“A’ight that’s cool,” he responded.
“Good. Call me Thursday night to set the time and place.”
“Alright,” was all I gave him the opportunity to say before we disconnected.