Free Between Friends by D. L. Sparks

heart pounding in my ears. “What is wrong with you? What are you talking about?”
    He lunged toward me and snatched me up from the floor by my hair. He put his face close to mine; I could see the tiny brown flecks in his eyes. His nostrils flared with rage.
    â€œI’ma give you one more chance. Is there anything you wanna tell me, shawty?” he asked, through clenched teeth.
    I was terrified. I wished I knew what he wanted me to say because at that point I would’ve said whatever he wanted me to say just to get him to stop.
    â€œI swear, Linc, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œGuess you ain’t think I was gon’ find out ’bout you meeting Trip at the gym?”
    My chest grew tight and my eyes widened.
    My mouth gaped opened, but the only thing that came out was a soft cry of pain from the grasp he had on my hair.
    â€œOr about y’all hugged up at Waffle House.”
    That knocked the wind out of me. “Linc, it wasn’t like that and you know it! We’re just friends you know that!”
    He tightened his grip on my hair. “Then what was it like, Idalis?” he growled. “I asked your ass on the phone if you’d talked to him and you told me no.”
    â€œI hadn’t. I swear. He just happened to be there.”
    â€œOh so now you think I’m stupid?”
    Tears fell relentlessly from my eyes. “Linc, stop! Cameron is upstairs asleep.”
    He looked toward the hallway, then back to me. “Maybe I should go wake him up and school l’il man on how much of a liar his mother is.”
    â€œLinc, don’t do that,” I begged.
    â€œYou got me workin’ fuckin’ crime scenes with this dude knowin’ he had already been hugged up with you and got him laughin’ behind my back?” he yelled.
    He released the grip he had on my hair. Before I could recover from the excruciating pain, his hand slammed across my right cheek, knocking me back to the floor.
    Terrified, I scrambled to the couch and scooted into the corner.
    He stood there for a moment glaring at me before he turned and walked away.
    â€œYou ever make me look stupid like that again, Idalis, I’ll kill you,” he said, as he headed down the hall.
    A few moments later I heard his footsteps fade off in the distance as he made his way upstairs to the bedroom. Once I heard the bedroom door close, I got up off the couch and went into the bathroom in the hallway and checked my tear-streaked face. It was red, but nothing that I couldn’t cover with makeup.
    After all, I had become somewhat of a pro at covering up things.

Chapter Seven
    Idalis
    â€œIdalis, this is crazy! I can’t believe he hit you.”
    The next evening I was sitting at my kitchen table as India handed me a washcloth with some ice cubes tucked inside. I placed it on my throbbing jaw. She came by after her evening class and brought us some takeout. I could barely get off the couch and had managed to keep Cameron happy with PB&Js and cheese crackers all afternoon.
    â€œKeep your voice down. Cameron is in the other room.”
    â€œI know. And what if my nephew had woken up last night when he came up in here, acting like a dick?”
    I put the ice pack on the table. “But he didn’t. Can we just drop it?”
    â€œThat’s it.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I’m tellin’ Mommy.”
    I stood up. “Don’t do that, India. She already got too much to worry about with Grammie.”
    â€œThen I’m telling his captain! I’m telling someone. This is bullshit!” she yelled. Her voice was quavering, letting me know she was about to cry.
    That was one thing about us that we both hated. It didn’t take much for us to cry. Especially when we were mad.
    My twin stared at me with tears in her eyes. She was a mirror image of me: right down to the back-length honey blond–highlighted hair and the