#5 Icing on the Cake (5 page)

One girl with short hair that made her seem like a boy, pushed me hard. “You got something to say?”

“If I had something to say, I would say it,” I
said back, knowing that I did have something to say because they shouldn't have been punching on Logan, but I wasn't going to say that.

“Oooh, she's getting all smart.”

When I saw Slade, I rushed over to her. “Oh, so you wanna walk with me in the halls now?”

“There're those people I was telling you about,” I mumbled under my breath, alluding to the Oynx members.

Slade put her arm around me. “They're the leaders of the gang. Let's walk fast.”

My sister made sure I was calm and secure in my class, before she took off. Mr. Newton, my chemistry teacher was helping a few others. So I sat and studied on my own.

Sitting in chemistry class twelve minute later, I could've choked. The two girls, the one who pushed me and the other one, were in my class. It was time for our test, and the two chumps were sitting right behind me. I had studied, but the essay questions were giving me pause. I had answered to the best of my ability and looked back over my test. I turned mine in first, and the two girls from Onyx turned
theirs in right behind me. I don't know, I guess I thought all gang people were stupid, but for them to finish so fast and appear so confident, maybe I had underestimated them. I wished that I could talk to them and tell them that there had to be a better way.

But before everyone was finished taking the test, Mr. Newton called us out into the hallway. “You all have the same answers.”

My eyes bucked wide. I hadn't copied off of anybody's paper. But there was no way I could accuse the two of them for cheating off of mine. If their gang was as dangerous as everyone was telling me they were, that was the last move I wanted to make.

“So nobody is going to tell me anything?” he said. “Alright. Let Dr. Garner handle it.”

About twenty minutes later, I was pacing back and forth in Dr. Garner's office. When he opened the door, I rushed to him and said, “Sir, I did not cheat off anybody's paper. It's those girls. They cheated off of mine, but I can't—”

“I know, I know, I know. I believe you,” he said.

“So you know they're dangerous?”

“I'm looking into all of that. I don't want you to go and say anything you can't take back. But let's just say, I want you to stay far, far away from them. There's some stuff going on here that's really disturbing, and that crew is a crew with whom you do not need to be yoked.

CHAPTER THREE

“Dr. Garner, I understand I'm not supposed to be around these gang kids, but what am I supposed to do if I see them beating up on somebody innocent? My parents didn't raise me to turn away when somebody is in trouble,” I said to the principal.

“Well, then you need to scream out for help. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't want you to leave somebody who's in need of assistance stranded. But this Onyx group is around here wearing their pants ultra-low, with these black bandanas draped across every piece of
their bodies … they're ruthless. I've already had two of my tires slashed this year.”

“Are the police involved?” I asked.

“Absolutely, and some might be involved the wrong way.”

“I don't know what you mean.”

“I don't want to explain anymore. I can't be so scared of this group that I don't do my job. I'm the principal here. That's what I get paid for. You're the student. You need to stay out of it and for sure away from this group. You understand?” I nodded while he wrote me a pass. “Here. Get on to class.”

As soon as I stepped out of Dr. Garner's office and into the office waiting room area to cross through to exit, the two Onyx gang members stepped up to me and locked the door. One girl had a tattoo I'd never seen before on her cheek that said
Lady G
, so I assumed that was her name. She was real feminine looking, but still looked sort of tough. The other girl almost looked like a boy, with cornrows going straight back, with a build like a linebacker and a look on her face like she wanted to devour me.

“Tell me what you think, Tiny,” Lady G said, revealing the bigger girl's name. “She rat us out or what?”

“I don't know,” Tiny said, whose name certainly didn't fit her body type. “But if she snitched, that pretty little face she got is going to be real messed up.”

“Hey! What y'all doing?” Dr. Garner yelled out and the two of them stepped aside. I was able to unlock the office door and rush out of the office.

The period was about to be over, so I went to Sloan's class to catch her as soon as the bell rang. When she came out, I grabbed her. I was shaking.

“What's wrong with you?”

“It's that Onyx gang. I'm in trouble! Tell me you'll help me! Tell me you'll stay with me and fight with me if they mess with me! Please, Sloan! Say you'll help me.”

My sister put her arms around me and said, “Of course I will. Why you think they gon' jump you?”

As soon as she asked the question, a couple
of other suspect members of Onyx walked by and gave me the evil eye. Scaring me further, one guy was pumping his fist into his palm over and over and over again. That confirmed that I was in trouble.

Sloan pushed me to a corner. “What is going on? What happened? I thought you got the message to leave them alone?”

I wanted to say it was a long story, that I wished I could go back and figure out what I did wrong, but I worked on instinct. I was there for Logan. I simply went to class and some people cheated off my paper. Why was
I
now in trouble? I truly didn't understand. So I probably looked real shell shocked.

“Well, we are going to need back up. You just lay low the rest of the day. Don't egg them on, and don't leave out of the school building by yourself. You don't have to worry,” Sloan said, making me relax.

“I won't. Thank you, Sloan.”

“Hey, Yuri, wait up!” I heard a familiar voice call out to me.

I turned and saw that it was Paris. I turned
back and kept walking. I had too much stressing me out as it was.

“Wait up!” he said, jogging to catch up with me. “You gon' do a brother like that?”

“You're not a brother,” I said to him. “And trust me you don't want to be around me right now.”

“Why?” he asked.

Showing little interest, I said, “Well, it's not because you're not looking good and smelling good. That's for sure.”

“So then what?” he questioned.

“Seriously. I've got a mark on my head. You don't want to be around me.”

With all seriousness, he tugged on my arm, stopped us from walking, stared at me, and asked, “What are you talking about? So the Onyx people are messing with you too? I'm sick of them, man!”

“You know about them?” I asked, relieved, yet more scared at the same time.

“Yeah, they jumped one of my friends last month.”

Paris didn't offer more information, and
I didn't want to know how bad it was. It was understood that it wasn't a good thing. For sure, I was gonna stay clear of the defiant group.

Gently stroking my arm, Paris made my heart skip a beat when he uttered, “Don't worry, I'm not going to let them hurt you.”

“Paris, please stay out of it,” I said as I dashed to class. I didn't want to see him possibly getting hurt by being roped into my madness.

The school day was ending way too quickly. I didn't want it to end, but 3:05 p.m. was upon me. Stepping out of my last class, I smiled seeing all four of my sisters standing outside my classroom door.

Sloan came to me and touched my cheek. “Word's out you're in trouble after school.”

“But we got you,” Slade said.

“Yeah, they'd have to take on all of us,” Shelby replied.

“Hopefully there won't be any trouble, so our help won't be needed,” Ansli said, thinking what I was feeling.

I knew our parents didn't like it when Slade got to fighting with some random girls that
were jealous of her back in October. If all four of them fought for me, this would be bigger than that. Also, my dad was just a candidate for mayor then. Now, if a gang was going to jump the mayor-elect's daughters, it would be big time news. I couldn't let them risk that much for me. Besides, I didn't want to fight anyone either. As we walked out of the school, two of them were on one side of me, and the other two were on the other side. So many people were giving me looks like I was a pariah. Sloan was on my left.

I leaned to her and said, “Now I know how you felt.”

“What, with all the stares?”

“Yes,” I explained nervous as all get out.

Sensing I was having a hard time, Sloan encouraged me. “Do like I did, just hold your head up and keep it moving.”

“Just need to call Dad,” I said, wanting his help. This was blowing up way bigger than it needed to.

Shelby was on my right and said, “Now, what's that going to do? He can't come every day. We've got to face this. Deal with these
punks. We need to show them we're not going to be intimidated.”

When we walked out into the parking lot, we were overwhelmed, spotting twenty kids with black bandanas around some part of their body. The five of us didn't stand a chance. My teeth started gritting on their own because I was so tense.

Along beside us was a whole bunch of white kids I didn't even know. I looked up and was so surprised to see Paris, Charlotte, and a bunch of their friends. Dr. Garner and other administrators were also nearby.

As the Onyx crew walked away, Lady G yelled out, “This ain't over, Urinade.”

It was clear who she was talking to. All I could do was hurry up and get in the car and be relieved because, for the moment, it was over.

I couldn't believe I had to go to Ms. Pinky's shop. My dad was serious about this whole internship thing. She was rather smart-mouthed when I met the first time, and I knew she was still brash.

“If you want to learn from the best,” Dad said. “You've got to spend time with the best. So get in there, smile, and take in everything she has to say. Learn from Ms. Pinky, and be grateful for the opportunity. Do not go in there thinking you know it all.”

“Yes sir, Dad,” I said as he dropped me off in front of her place. As soon as I wanted to turn and say, “Aren't you coming in to break the ice?” he pulled off.

“Well, here you are! And there goes your dad,” Ms. Pinky said in an unhappy tone as she met me at the doorway.

Ms. Pinky, who was dressed in a business suit, looking more ready to go to a corporate job than head to the kitchen to bake, walked outside. She was talking to the air, fussing to the wind, and complaining aloud about how dare my father not come in and speak to her. Yes, she wanted to get cozy with the mayor-elect. I knew it. My dad probably knew it, which is probably why he didn't stay, but she didn't like it. When she came back inside, she had no problem voicing it.

I wasn't concentrating on what she was saying, not because I didn't care what she had to say, but because I was in awe of the lovely sight in front of me. Seeing her beautiful shop, I just couldn't believe it. Not only did it smell fresher than ice cream, but the pinks, purples, and turquoises throughout the place made the store so inviting. The chairs were dainty. The white countertops appeared almost eatable themselves. Topping off my excitement for the decor were the glass displays showcasing scrumptious-looking treats. But even with all that, it wasn't a large place.

Frustrated, Ms. Pinky yelled out to me. “Well, don't just stand there looking all crazy. Let's get to work! Go wash up. There's an apron in the back. We must get ready for the health inspector. Chop, chop, Missy.” Ms. Pinky rolled her eyes and trotted off toward the back. There was a red-headed, female employee in her mid-twenties checking me out. I smiled her way to break the ice.

Guess that made her think I was cool because she opened up and joked, “So, you're
here to learn from Cruella de Vil? You sure you wanna work for her?”