Free If Only You Knew by Denene Millner Page A

your iPhone? That is why it’s ‘out of service,’ right?”
    Lauren caught Dara’s image in the mirror, connected the voice with its owner, got a firm grasp of the words that had just come out of her mouth, and then saw red. No way she was standing in the middle of Lauren’s sacred domain, yelling out all her business for the world to hear and post on YRT.
    â€œActually, sweetie, no one was talking to you, so why don’t you pick up your lip and get the hell on,” Lauren sneered as she turned to face Dara. She let her eyes lumber slowly up Dara’s body, from her shoes up to the top of her weave, then shook her head, gave a little chuckle, and faced the mirror again, like she was finished. But Dara wasn’t about to go down that easily.
    â€œYou may not have been talking to me, but you damn sure were talking about me,” Dara snipped. “But let me tell you something, Ms. Duke. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
    â€œEw,” Lauren said, adding a mocking shiver. “You’re so…so…deep.” Cassie and Inga snickered, giving Lauren even more inspiration to bury Dara. “Did you pick that up at one of your sessions at the Total Learning Concepts tutoring program you’re in? Glad to see your mother’s getting her money’s worth.”
    â€œLook, you can try to bad-mouth me all you want, but the fact still remains that Marcus is mine now, your sister is old news, and, well, your little Boyz N the Hood fantasy is crashing and burning right before your pretty little eyes,” Dara said. “How is your boo Jermaine, anyway?”
    â€œPlease,” Lauren laughed, turning around. Dara flinched when Lauren took a step closer; Cassie and Inga leaned in. “You ain’t nothing but Marcus’s plus one—a groupie who’ll be dismissed with a quickness after he finishes wearing you out. I give it, oh,” Lauren looked at her TAG, “to the end of the weekend. Tops. Hope you got someone lined up. Oh, wait—there’s always someone lined up for you, right, Dara?”
    â€œI learned from the best,” Dara said, albeit weakly.
    â€œYeah, well, um, obviously, your note taking was about as effective as it is in most of your classes. Unfortunate for you, I’m not giving remedial lessons. Now, why don’t you run along, dear, get changed, and maybe pull that Hawaiian silky into a bun so you don’t call so much attention to yourself while we’re out on the field. My field. ”
    â€œActually, I won’t be cheering tonight, or any other night on this squad,” Dara said. “Screw this, I quit. I don’t need to be on this stupid team anyway.”
    â€œWell yeah for us!” Lauren said, punctuating the “yeah” with a rah-rah toss of her hands and a kick for good measure.
    â€œLook for me up in the stands—I’ll be sitting in Marcus’s lap,” she said, turning abruptly on her heels and heading for the exit.
    â€œTell Marcus he should use two condoms,” Lauren yelled.
    This time, Dara didn’t bother answering back.
    Lauren turned back to the mirror and checked her gloss one more time. She could hear the band lining up in the hallway, tuning up its instruments as it prepared to make its entrance. “Come on, y’all,” Lauren said, switching her hips on her way toward the locker room door, Cassie and Inga hot on her trail. “It’s showtime.”
    Lauren swore she saw her life flash before her eyes. The burly offensive lineman from College Park High was intent on not letting tight end Jason Danden make first down again, and so he did everything within his power to keep him from the 42-yard line, putting every ounce of his strength, speed, and brutishness into pancaking Jason into Brookhaven’ssideline, right at the feet of the dance squad. Lauren was just finishing up a chant, bouncing around on her