Boy Trouble (16 page)

I
'd known that Marisol hated me. I'd just had no idea how much. But now, everything was making perfect sense. Now I understood why someone would want me dead. She wanted me out of the picture. It didn't have anything to do with
Rumor Central
or Demond Cash. It was all Marisol. She wanted her life with Alvin so bad that she was willing to try and get it by any means necessary. And if that meant killing me, then that was exactly what she would do.

“Are you sure you want to be here?” Alvin said.

We were inside his house in his living room. This was one of the rare times that his mother was out of town. She'd gone on a gambling trip with one of her friends. Alvin had been super upset when he'd put all the pieces together and discovered it was Marisol behind my accident, but when we'd taken that information to the police, they'd given the typical “we'll investigate,” but he wasn't about to sit around and wait on that, especially when the sergeant had told Alvin a confession would make this an open-and-shut case. Alvin was determined after that.

“I'm okay with being here,” I said. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Now, I definitely wanted to catch Marisol, but Alvin was my boy and I didn't want him to do anything that would bother his conscience later. He was one of the good guys, and I knew he actually cared about Marisol, although he tried to downplay it now, so this couldn't be easy. Alvin used his hand to gently move a piece of hair that had fallen in my face.

“She messed with my Maya. Nobody messes with my Maya,” he said.

His Maya
. That made me smile.

We heard a car door slam outside and Alvin said, “She's here. So you got the camera set up?”

I nodded, looking around at the three hidden cameras that our photographer had placed strategically throughout the home.

“You need to keep it under wraps, okay? I got this.” He shot me a warning look.

“Why? What are you talking about?” I said, trying to feign confusion.

“You. You let me handle this. Stay in your hiding place,” he said, motioning toward the closet. He'd planned to sit on the sofa, where I could get a good view from the side of the closet. The only way Alvin would agree to my being here was if I hid. I'd wanted to sit front and center, but Alvin was right. There was no way we'd get a confession if she saw me.

“I'll behave,” I said. He gently kissed me on the cheek just as the doorbell rang. I squeezed his hand for reassurance and then darted to my hiding place in the closet.

“Hey, Marisol,” he said, opening the door. She was grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey, handsome.”

“Come on in.”

She smiled as she sashayed in, decked out in her Sunday best. She had on an outfit that said,
I'm going to catch my man
. Just enough makeup to turn Alvin on, but not so much it would turn him off.

“So, I'm so glad you called me,” she said, dropping her purse and sitting in the recliner, where neither I nor the camera could get a good look.
No, no,
I thought. She needed to move so that the camera could hit her face on.

Alvin walked over, reached his hand out to her, and pulled her up from the seat. He took her into a big bear hug, which seemed to catch her by surprise because she said, “Wow, I wasn't expecting that.”

“Just seeing you, I just wanted to hug you,” he casually said.

I couldn't help it. I knew we were on a mission, but that made me cringe.

“So, what's going on?” Marisol said. “You said you wanted to talk to me about our relationship.”

He took her hand and led her to the sofa, and I couldn't help but smile. Perfect. That shot would be perfect.

“I just—I just wanted to apologize for the way that everything went down,” Alvin began. “I know I hurt you.”

She lost her smile. “Yeah, you hurt me really bad, Alvin.”

“I wasn't trying to,” he said. “I've tried to be honest with you from the very beginning. I told you how I felt about Maya.”

“Yeah,” Marisol said. “But you also told me that she didn't return your feelings.”

He nodded. “I know that, but the heart wants what it wants.”

She stopped and stared at him. “So I guess your heart didn't want me.”

He squeezed her hand. “It's not that, Marisol. You are beautiful, smart—”

She jerked her hand away. “But I'm not some nosey, gossipy tramp.”

It took everything in my power not to bounce from that closet, but I continued waiting.

“She's not a tramp.”

“See, this is what I'm talking about!” Marisol snapped. “You're always defending her. You're supposed to be my man, but you're defending her.”

“But that's just it, Marisol.” Alvin sighed. “I never agreed to be your man. I simply told you that I wasn't seeing anyone else.”

“And neither was I, so that meant we were exclusive,” she said.

“I was trying to be fair to you.”

“Being fair to me is giving me a shot. But you could never give me a shot because of her. She doesn't deserve you. If only she . . .”

“Come on, come on, come on,” I muttered quietly.

“If only she what?” Alvin asked.

She bit down on her lip, took a deep breath, then defiantly said, “If only she wasn't in the picture.”

“But she is,” Alvin said.

“I don't know how,” she mumbled.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said as she stood up and began pacing.

“Sit down,” I mumbled from the closet. “Sit down so the camera can get you.”

“Can you come sit back down so we can talk?” Alvin asked.

She looked like she was debating it and then, finally, stomped over and sat back down next to him.

“All I'm saying is, she isn't that bad and I don't understand what you meant by ‘if she wasn't in the picture' because she is. As a matter of fact, she came home from the hospital today.”

“What?” she said. I had never seen anyone look so disappointed. “Are you freaking kidding me? She's fine?”

Alvin looked at her. “Yeah, why wouldn't she be?”

“Because I—” Marisol stopped talking.

“What did you do?” Alvin asked.

“Nothing.” She clamped her lips shut.

“Tell me the truth, Marisol.” He lowered his voice and gently said, “The whole reason that I called you over here is to tell you that I know there's no hope for Maya and I, and the thought of losing you makes me know more than ever that you're the one I want.”

“Really?” she said.

“Yes.”

I couldn't help but narrow my eyes. Alvin was laying it on thick. I hadn't known he was capable of lying like that. I shook it off. He was acting, not lying.

“But I need to know the truth,” he continued. “Because that means a lot to me that you would go to such lengths so we could be together.”

She smiled as she stroked his face. “Alvin, you just don't know. I would do anything so that we could be together.”

“Does that mean getting rid of Maya?”

“Anything,” she repeated.

“So, what did you do? Did you cut her brakes?” Alvin forced a smile when she didn't answer. “You
did.
You cut her brakes. Wow, you really would go to any length. You just don't know what that means.”

“Really?” she asked. “You're not mad?”

He shook his head like he was in shock.

“Say it, say it,” I said, muttering the words from in the closet. I needed the words to come out of her mouth. I hoped Alvin realized that she still hadn't officially confessed.

“How did you know how to cut brakes? Dang, girl, you're talented.” He actually looked proud.

“I didn't work in my brother's auto repair shop for nothing,” she proudly said. It was like she was relaying how she discovered a cure for cancer or something. “You have to do it just enough where it won't give until she reaches a certain speed, then when she tries to stop, the brakes go out. It's really not that hard.”

“Wow,” he said. “But she could've been killed.”

“And?” Marisol shrugged. “She wasn't,” she added, disappointed. “She's like a freaking cockroach. You try to stomp her and stomp her, and she still won't die.”

Oh, I'd had enough. Alvin was just going to have to be mad. I bounced out of that closet.

“I got your cockroach!” I screamed. “And I'm sure you're going to see plenty of them, when they put you under the jail!”

Marisol looked shocked as she jumped up, looked at me, then back at Alvin. “What's going on?” she asked him. I could see fear creep up in her eyes. She was cold busted and she knew it.

“Marisol, I can't believe you,” Alvin said. He looked at her, his eyes full of pain.

“Can't believe what?” So, she really was going to try and play dumb?

“So you thought, what?” Alvin said and I could tell he was getting angrier and angrier. “You thought you could just off Maya and everything between me and you would be fine? You thought you could kill her and we'd be together?”

Marisol looked like she was trying to come up with a good explanation. Finally, she said, “I can't stand her!” She turned to me and the hate in her eyes was unbelievable. “Why do you get everything? The dream job, the money, and the guy? Why couldn't you have died?”

Before I knew anything, Marisol was on me, screaming as she wrapped both hands around my neck.

“Die! Why couldn't you just die?”

I clawed at her hands, as I tried to get a scream out. Alvin was trying to pull her off me, but she was like a mad woman. He did manage to loosen her grip and I could breathe.

“Get off me,” I screamed, scrambling away. “Help!”

By that point, Alvin managed to pull her into a bear hug. I went straight for my phone and called 911. And I didn't breathe easy until ten minutes later, when police had her in handcuffs and were carting her off to jail.

I
hadn't had a slumber party since I was thirteen years old. But we were more than making up for it tonight. Just the three of us—me, Sheridan, and Kennedi. Their little fake, let's-make-Maya-mad closeness had actually morphed into a real closeness. They were no longer making snide comments at one another and doing eye rolls, and their friendship really seemed genuine. It actually made me very happy. I had been trying to get the two of them to click for years. I hated that it had taken our friendship dang near being destroyed, but they'd finally clicked.

So, I was one happy diva.

Marisol was behind bars, and probably would be for a good minute. She'd tried to wrestle the police officer's gun from him at the station, so she'd added an additional charge of assault on a police officer.

I was back at work. Although Nelly was hanging around a lot more than I would've liked, they hadn't given her my job.

Aunt Bev was doing better, and even though Travis was staying in Brooklyn, we FaceTimed each other on a regular basis.

And now I was chilling with my girls, doing what we did best, hanging out and talking about boys.

“OMG, that is hilarious. I can't believe Roscoe Bailey is looking for Javier,” I said, referring to this hip hop record producer that was known for his thuggish ways. Sheridan had just filled us in on the latest. Javier had made bail, but apparently, he'd hightailed it out of town once he'd heard who was after him.

“Yes,” Sheridan replied. “You remember Kayla?”

“I forgot that was Roscoe's niece,” I said.

“Yep. Well, she's one of the people Javier got out my phone and robbed. He actually stole a gold necklace Roscoe had gotten for her.”

“Wow. He'd better hope that the police get him before Roscoe does,” I said.

Sheridan threw her arms up. “I don't know and I don't care.”

I needed to keep our conversation light because the last thing I wanted was this night to go south. But I really was glad to see that Sheridan had come to her senses about him. A part of me was glad that he'd stolen from her, if that's what it had taken to open her eyes.

Kennedi, on the other hand, was not as strong. I could still see the pain in her eyes behind Kendrick. As part of the therapy that her mother made her attend once the whole story came out, she opened up about how empty she felt without him. Kennedi had come to terms with her obsessive behavior with Kendrick, or at least she'd told the therapist that she'd come to terms. Granted, it had only been three weeks, and I knew that Kennedi getting over Kendrick would be a long work in progress.

I've learned that Alvin was right about one thing—sometimes you have to let those you love make and learn from their own mistakes. Although my heart was in the right place, maybe I did push too hard.

“I heard Kendrick was dating Bambi,” Kennedi said out of the blue.

I didn't want her getting all sad again, so I said, “Well, if he could move on from all that fabulosity”—I motioned up and down her body—“to that ghetto reject chick, then you didn't need him.”

Kennedi gave a half smile. “I know you're right. But I still love him.”

“Ugh,” I groaned before I realized it.

Luckily, she laughed. “Nah, I'm good. I love him. But this wise young woman once told me that I need to love myself more.”

I smiled at that, but didn't say anything about it. “Get your drinks.” We held up our cans of Sprite.

“To us. And our renewed motto of ‘BFF before boys,' ” Sheridan said.

Then, we heard a voice say, “Does that include men, too?”

I turned to see Alvin standing in the door to my bedroom. “What are you doing here?” I said, jumping up off my bed and racing over to him. I hugged him tight. I still felt a little soreness, but it was nothing major.

“Your mom let me up. She told me you were up here holding a party.” Alvin looked great in a purple and gold Polo shirt and some baggy jeans. He still wore those nerd glasses, but he'd definitely upgraded his game.

“Wow,” Sheridan said, “your mom lets boys come up to your room?”

I turned to face her. “Girl, please. You got me twisted. I do what I want to do,” I replied.

“And what you must want to do is go live on the streets.” My mom appeared right on the side of Alvin, giving me the side eye. “I knew it was three of you. Besides, I like Alvin.” She pushed the door open. “But keep this door wide open.”

Sheridan and Kennedi burst out laughing as my mother walked on down the hall.

“Busted,” Sheridan said.

We laughed as Alvin held out a pizza box. “I figured you ladies would be hungry. So, I brought you a vegetarian pizza.”

“Ugh,” Kennedi said, staring in the box. “Why someone would eat a pizza with vegetables makes no sense.”

I reached in the box and took a slice, as did Sheridan. “That's because you can eat a triple meat pizza and not gain a pound.” I took a bite and savored the slice of pizza.

“Thanks, Alvin,” Sheridan said.

“Yeah, thanks, Alvin,” I added.

“You know it was my pleasure.” We stood there for a minute, staring at each other.

“Do you, um—do you want to stay?” I finally asked.

“What?” Kennedi and Sheridan said at the same time.

“I know it's girls' night,” Alvin replied, smiling. “Plus, I'm sure your mom gave me a time limit on how long I can be up here.”

“I did!” my mom yelled from down the hall. I wanted to die of embarrassment, but Alvin just laughed.

“Let me walk you down,” I told him.

He waved good-bye to Kennedi and Sheridan as we walked downstairs. I felt flutters in my stomach as we made our way to the front door. But this time, I didn't try and fool myself about what they were. I knew. I liked Alvin. A lot.

And I thought it was time that I took him up on his offer and gave him a chance.

He stood at my front door. For a minute, I thought he would try to kiss me, but then, just as he was about to lean in, his eyes made their way over my shoulder and he stood up straight. “Bye, Mrs. Morgan. Enjoy your evening.”

I turned to see my mom standing behind me, grinning like crazy.

“Mom!” I said.

She just giggled, waved, and then scurried into the kitchen.

“Call me later, okay?” Alvin said. “After everyone goes to bed. I want to hear your voice before you go to sleep.”

I paused. “I will because, um, ah, I have something important I want to talk to you about.”

He nodded. I wondered if he had any idea I was about to tell him I wanted to be his girl. “I can't wait,” he said.

I smiled as I shut the door. Once I got back upstairs, Kennedi and Sheridan were waiting for me.

“Ummmph, ‘BFF before boys,' huh?” Sheridan said.

“I'm back, aren't I?” I said, laughing.

“Yeah, but you were ready to sell us out in a minute,” Kennedi said.

“But Alvin is a good one. So, for him, we'll take a back seat,” Sheridan added. “Just not tonight.”

“That's right,” I said. “Tonight it's no boys.”

“And no boy trouble,” Kennedi added.

Sheridan chimed in, “Tonight is all about us.”

Then, we all said it together, “It's all about BFFs before boys!”

Then we turned up the music and danced the night away.