A Gangster's Secret

“So, when am I going to meet this “secret” boyfriend of yours?”

“Isn’t the whole point of it being a secret, is not telling anyone?” I look up from the notebook I am scribbling in, no longer able to write notes. The dark eyes that greet me are smiling with mischief.

“But you already told me all the juicy stuff,” Makayla whines , earning a few shushes from the people around us.

“Only because you’re my best friend, Kay,” I watch her plump lip turn into a pout as she tries to give me her best puppy-dog eyes. I only huff at her actions, “You know why I can’t tell you who it is,”

“Yeah, Yeah... because you don’t want your brother to find out,” she grumbles, scrunching her face like a disgusted child, “I’m not going to tell your brother, I don’t talk to your brother,” her deep brown eyes begged me to cave.

“Can’t you just enjoy the fact that you know the secret, and let me keep it?” I couldn’t help the whine in my voice as I nearly begged her to stop.

“Han, you already told me about his d!ck...”

“Kay!” I cut her off, glancing around at the people surrounding us, many of which had turned to look at us at her comment.

“Please just drop it,” I hung my head in defeat, knowing that she wouldn’t, she was like a dog with a bone.

“If you don’t tell me, I am going to have to sit outside your apartment...” my mind instantly went to the men that already sat outside the house, my “Watchers” as I refereed to them. They would not be happy with someone stalking me, even my own friend.

“Please don’t,” I cut her off, drawing a frown from her.

“Ladies,” a stern voice drew our attention to the woman now standing next to our table, “I am getting complaints of you being too loud,” the frown on the older woman’s face only made her look older then she probably was.

“Sorry,” I glanced around the library, though still crowded, not one person was looking towards us, “We will leave,” I mumbled to the woman, collecting my things as she stalked back to where ever she had come from. Makayla giggled as she too collected her things.

I only shook my head, staying silent as we exited the building and entered the cooling air of downtown.

“I can’t believe someone complained,” she responded, swinging her baby pink backpack over one shoulder.

“It was probably your d!ck comment,” I answered, rolling my eyes, she laughed.

We walked down the crowded street, being extra cautious at the intersections, knowing that even though the walk signal was flashing, people turning right might hit us.

Once we reached the coffee shop, we picked the only open table. The smell of fresh coffee and cocoa swam around me as she went to order, I wasn’t big on coffee.

When she returned, I waited for the dreaded moment she would bring up the conversation once more. When she set her paper cup down in front of her, her lips parted as she went to speak, only for me to put my hand up to stop her.

“When I am ready to tell people, you will be the first person to know,” her plump lips pulled into a smile.

The door chimed behind me, drawing her attention, only for her face to fall, her eyes dark eyes widening and meeting mine. I knew the look, it only met one thing, she was going to get hit on, very shamelessly.

“Hey there baby, what’s your name,” came a voice from behind me trying to draw her attention, but her eyes didn’t leave mine. I glanced at the three men that approached the table. Each one wearing a baseball cap on top of their heads like a tiara, showing off their straight tightly cut hair. They each wore a large t-shirt, way to big for their structure, and their jeans were sagging, even with the belt that attempted to hold the waistband just below their asses, giving everyone a clear view of their varying colored, checkered boxers.

“Don’t act shy, baby,” one of the other men said, drawing my attention back to my friend. Her eyes were cast down, her dark skin showing a tinge of red as she blushed. She hated being hit on, but was too shy to stop it.

“Get lost,” I told them, and three sets of eyes shot to me.

“We weren’t talking to you,” the first man said, looking down at me, trying to use his height to intimidate me.

“Well my friend is not interested, so get lost,” I looked him in the eye, not looking away, I wasn’t going to let this “man” intimidate me.

“B!tch, who you think you talking to?” the second one asked, causing me to internally cringe at his bad grammar. I huffed, rolling my eyes as he leaned around his buddy to meet my eyes. Standing, I let the back of my knees push the chair away.

“Clearly someone who doesn’t know when they are unwanted,” I said, looking at the man. All three of them were taller than me, not that that was a surprise. Their angry faces glared at me as I pushed passed them, I grabbed Makayla’s hand, pulling her in front of me and away from the men.

We both let out a sigh of relief as we stepped out of the coffee shop, the men not following us.

“I hate when they act like that,” she mumbled, still trying to get her bearings, “as if I would be attracted to some ghetto asshole like that,” I smirked at her words, “why do they do that?” she grumbled, the question more to herself than to me.

“It’s because you’re black,” the words slipped out, and I looked at her a bit shocked before we both busted out laughing. It may be sad, but it was true, she got hit on like that more often than me because she was black, and black guys think that girls like that. Well they don’t, no matter their color.

We walked in silence, both no longer in the mood to talk. My mind was wrapped in thoughts of Tony. He had been her cousin, that’s how I had met him, how he had weaseled into my life. He had never acted like that with me.

Then again he had been raised by a mother who refused to let him act like “a thug” as she had once said. She had been older when she had him, having watched all of her siblings have kids young, she said she wanted to be stable and in love before she had kids. It is sad to think how her son truly was, I guess sometime the neighborhood does affect the occupants.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” she asked, pulling me from my thoughts. I smiled, and nodded, leaning in for a hug. We pulled apart and headed our separate ways.Start writing here…