Free A Girl From Flint by Treasure Hernandez

Joe, but she didn’t want it to seem like she was jockeying him. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
    â€œTonight.”

    Joe stepped out of the car in jeans and a white T-shirt with some crispy Force One’s. He approached Tasha and hugged her when he got close. He gently grabbed her chin and kissed her, and she kissed him back, knowing he wanted to kiss her the other night. Tasha felt Joe’s gun in his waistline, and that made her stop.
    They went to eat. When the waiter came, she ordered a salad. Joe frowned at her.
    â€œWhat you looking at?”
    Joe shook his head. “I know you ain’t get all that ass from eating salad. You don’t got to be cute, ma. You already got me interested. I want you to have dinner with me.”
    Tasha laughed when Joe told the waiter to bring them out two steaks. She liked him. He was real and didn’t try to beat around the bush. He said what he thought and didn’t hold his tongue. Joe made her laugh, and she found his thuggish way attractive.
    Tasha’s phone rang. It was Damon, so she let it ring. I don’t feel like dealing with his ass right now.

    When she got home, Damon called her again. “Hello?” she answered in a frustrated tone.
    â€œWhy you ain’t get at me when I called you?”
    Tasha didn’t feel that she had to explain herself to anybody. “I was busy. I told you I was gon’ be with Amra this whole weekend.”
    â€œWell, what you doing now?”
    Tasha sighed. “I’m about to go to bed. I have school tomorrow.” Tasha hung up with Damon and made a mental note, I’m going to cut this nigga off as soon as possible. He’s getting a little bit too crazy for me.

    Tasha went through school each week, ignoring Damon’s phone calls and accepting more of Joe’s. Joe was different than all the other chumps she was used to hustling. He didn’t fall for her game. It wasn’t about the money with him. He hadn’t bought her a single thing since she’d met him. She just enjoyed being around him and was really feeling him.

    As the school year continued to fly by, Amra grew tired of school by the day. She became more and more restless. She had quickly stopped fucking with Tariq and was officially ready to experience the Midwest. It’s time to see what a new city has to offer. She wasn’t just ready to party in Flint, though. She missed Honey too, and was ready for the clique to be back together again. I’m tired of this shit, she thought to herself, thinking about the tedious schedule of school. She didn’t want to tell her momma and Tasha, but it was clear she wasn’t going to graduate. I might as well have dropped out a long time ago. School ain’t for everybody anyway. Shit! It definitely ain’t for me. Everybody can’t be an A student like Tasha.
    Amra walked out of the school and saw Joe waiting there to pick her and Tasha up. Tasha was already in the car, so she walked over and got in.
    â€œWhat up, Amra?” Joe said.
    â€œWhat’s good, Joe?”
    Amra thought about her future as she sat in the back seat of Joe’s Cutlass. There was only a month left before graduation, and she had to tell her mother the bad news soon.
    When they pulled up in front of Ms. Pat’s house, Amra saw Damon’s Escalade parked on the corner. She knew Tasha was too busy with Joe to notice the car, so she sent her a text message on her phone reading: Damon is sitting at the corner. Look!
    Tasha’s eyes got bucked as she thought about what she would say to him. She had been avoiding him for months, but he still hadn’t gotten the picture. She said, “Um, Joe, I got to go. I’ll call you later, okay?” She fidgeted with his car door and got out, trying to rush into the house before Damon could confront her. Just as she looked up, she saw Damon approach Joe’s car. “Shit!”
    Amra jumped out, and so did