Chapter 9
“Is your period on or something? Because you seem to be in quite the mood today,” Aniya noticed.
“What? No, my period is not on.”
“Then why are you being such a bitch?”
“I’m not being a bitch.”
“Yes, you are. You’re a bitch to the kids, and you are a bitch to me. So spill it. What’s going on? Can you just tell me so we can get this over with?” she pleaded.
“I don’t know. Something strange happened while I was at school the other day.”
“Something strange is always happening at that school. You know better than to be over there being a counselor in the middle of the hood.”
“Aniya, please.”
“I’m just saying.”
“You know what? Never mind. Don’t even worry about it.”
“I’m just kidding. Go ahead and tell me what’s wrong.”
“Well, Sakani just got enrolled at my school, and he already got suspended.”
“I told you that boy wasn’t going to do right. He must didn’t know you worked at the school. If he did, then maybe he’d act right.”
“I hadn’t had a chance to see him yet, because I didn’t even know he’d been enrolled.”
“Well, I guess you’ve seen him now, getting dragged right out of the principal’s office.”
“Aniya,” I warned.
I rolled my eyes at her ass because this girl refused to take anything seriously. I was trying my best to vent, and she could barely pay attention long enough to listen. Her first thought was always to make a joke first, then help me figure things out later.
“Okay, keep going.”
“Well, Stone came to pick him up, and I offered to help. I was even going to talk to the principal for them, but he snapped at me, talking about he didn’t need my help.”
“Shanet, this is all new to him. Maybe he’s just trying to figure it out on his own.”
“Yeah, that’s fine and all, but you don’t have to refuse help from people that want to lend a helping hand.”
“Sometimes people want to figure things out on their own, Shanet. It ain’t nothing wrong with that.”
“I get it, but I didn’t tell you we went out on a date.”
“You went out on a what?”
Aniya pulled up a chair next to where I was sitting and sat down. It was funny that the mention of a date was what piqued her interest in this whole conversation, not that Sakani had been suspended after his first week of school, or the fact that Stone was rude to me.
“We had a date. It was a small coffee date, but there was a spark.”
“A spark?”
“Yes. I felt like it was something between us, but after seeing him at the school and the way he treated me, that made me think that it was all for a show.”
“Oh, please, Shanet. You are so dramatic. What kind of show would he be trying to put on?”
“Honestly, with men, you never know. They will try to get in your pants at any chance they get. If the coffee date wasn’t for show, then why would he talk to me the way he did?”
“Have you asked him?” she asked.
“No. He’s been blowing up my phone, but I don’t have time for mood swings.”
“Girl, you’ll find any reason to cut a nigga off. That’s why your ass is single now, and you’re going to be single for the rest of your life.”
“I didn’t find a reason to cut him off. He gave me the scissors. Not to mention, it was people around in the hallway when he snapped on me.”
“So he only supposed to snap on you in private?”
“He shouldn’t have snapped on me at all. I was just trying to help.”
“That’s your problem. Always offering help to people who didn’t ask for it. You offered, and he rejected. He has every right to do that, Shanet. That is not being rude to you.”
“You know what, Aniya? I got work to do.”
“Well, you already being a bitch anyway, so I might as well let you get back to your moody ways. I’ll buy you chocolate or something if your period on. Just say the word, girl.”
“Get out of my office, Aniya,” I demanded.
“This ain’t your office. You don’t have no office here, girl. We let you borrow this room,” she teased.
“Aniya, please.”
“Aniya, please. That’s all you know.”
I let my head fall to my chest as my shoulders dropped in defeat. Stone had already mistreated me at the school; I didn’t need my only friend mistreating me too. This was just not my week.
“I have a delivery for Ms. Shanet Ellis,” a man said.
“I’m Shanet.”
There was a guy standing in my doorway with a bouquet of roses and some chocolate. My period wasn’t on, but I definitely needed some chocolate. I didn’t need an excuse to eat me a good Hershey’s kiss, and he was carrying a whole bag.
“Sign right here for me.”
He walked over to my desk and handed me the flowers and the candy like he was on his third delivery for the day and already over it. I signed the form and let him go on his way. I knew just how he felt in that moment.
“Ooh, somebody got some flowers. Let me guess who that is from. You know what? Who am I kidding? I don’t have to guess. Ain’t nobody else sending your mean ass flowers. Open the card and read it, girl. Tell me what it say.”
I rolled my eyes at Aniya before I opened the card. All it said was two words: I’m sorry. Stone was full of audacity, and I wasn’t falling for it.
If he thought that he could win me over with some flowers, candy, and a lousy card with two words on it, he had another thing coming.
I was only accepting a proper apology for the disrespect he’d shown me.
If he wanted to apologize to me, he would have to do it the right way—to my face, and with real words.
“See, I told you that man didn’t mean no harm.”
“Yes, he did, and he’s sending flowers because he feels guilty.”
“Guilty or not, he want to eat your pussy, so let him eat your pussy.”
“You know what, Aniya? You stay in the office. I’ll leave.”