Free An Inconvenient Friend by Rhonda McKnight Page A

week.”
    â€œDon’t pass. Come on out and give us another chance.” Her voice was friendly.
    I wondered if this was what all churches did to try to get new members. I waited a beat and offered an ambivalent, “Okay. I guess I’ll give you all another chance.”
    Angelina gave me some details about the scripture she’d been teaching from, which I swore I was writing down, and then we ended the call. Operation Steal Greg was in start mode. Now I just had to tie up this business with my mother.
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    I had been calling my mama and knocking on the door for almost five minutes. No answer, so I used my key to open the door. I hoped I wasn’t going to be walking in on anything I didn’t want to see. I knew no matter how much weight my mother gained, she had a boyfriend coming through from time to time.
    From where I stood, I could see the living room area was empty, just like the streets outside. My showing up at 11:00 A.M . was a guarantee I wasn’t going to have to deal with seeing any of the losers I grew up with. Except for the few crackheads bobbing around the place looking for their next hit, most folks didn’t get moving until close to noon.
    I entered the house and closed the door behind me. I heard a rumble that sounded like the garbage truck was parked in the bedroom and knew my mama was in there snoring. I turned the doorknob to her bedroom, and as I suspected, she was knocked out. Thank goodness she was alone. I walked closer to her bed and noted the empty bottle of dark rum. No wonder she didn’t hear the phone ringing. If she had finished a bottle of this junk, she would be drooling on her pillow for another couple of hours. I shook my head. I had no idea how many times I had told her that drinking was going to mess with her diabetes, but she clearly didn’t heed my warnings.
    I reached into my purse and pulled out the envelope with the drugs for June Bug. I also removed a pen and wrote a quick note telling her I had stopped by. I removed a few twenties from my wallet and put them under the envelope. She’d probably buy more liquor with it, but the truth was, I couldn’t look at my mother and not hand her something. Everything about her screamed, “I’m broke—give me money.” I shook off the bad feelings from that thought and left her bedroom.
    I stepped out of the apartment and turned to relock the dead bolt behind me. The lock was stuck as always and I had to take the time to jiggle the key to get it back out. “Need a locksmith,” I muttered under my breath.
    â€œI’ll call one and have her hooked up.” The deep, baritone voice came from behind me. My heart began to pound, and my body nearly melted at the sound of it. I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath before I turned. Apparently, I hadn’t come to White Gardens early enough. I was looking into the face of Mekhi Johnson. A face I hadn’t wanted to see this morning or any other.
    Mekhi was dressed in a slick, Tommy Hilfiger running suit. A Rolex watch gleamed from his wrist, and a light sheen of perspiration dotted his bald head and face. Old habits die hard. This joker was still running. Ran cross country track all through high school. Won a lot of medals and trophies too.
    Butterflies filled my stomach. “What’s up, Khi?” I asked, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice. I pulled my purse tighter across my shoulder, like it was the lifeline that was going to keep my emotions together.
    â€œYou know how I do. Keeping in shape,” he replied, staring through me like he had X-ray vision and could see all the way to my underwear. “I see you doing the same.” He swirled his head in an exaggerated movement to the left and right as he checked me out.
    I blushed. I hated that he made me do that, and I had to admit, he was looking good. As sweet as a Milk Dud at the movie theatre. Nothing new in that department. The