Free PRETTY BRIGHT by Mimi Renee

had planned on doing. “Give me about twenty minutes, and meet me by the elementary school, I'm leaving the eastside of Long Beach right now.”
“Cool,” Bright said, then hung up the pay phone.
    After grabbing sodas from the donut shop, Bright walked across the street with Treasure to Starr King Elementary School to wait on Terrence.
    “I can remember my elementary school days at Starr King like it was just yesterday,” Treasure said, reminiscing.
    “Fuck Starr King, it was all about Clara Barton Elementary!” Bright said, laughing. “Now them use to be the days when we lived in the Carmelitos!” Bright said, “I remember it used to be a gang of fine ass little boys up in there back in the day.” The Carmelitos was a known housing project in North Long Beach that Bright and her family used to live in during her elementary school years.
    “Whatever , but it was my Starr King ass that saved yours when ya yellow ass got transferred to Hamilton Junior High School!” Treasure hissed.
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Bright teased. “That’s crazy how you came to my rescue that day in the locker room. Maria and them were gonna jump me. You was like ‘ain't none of y'all gone jump her, let the new girl catch a fair one,” Bright remembered.
    “Yelp, cause they only wanted to jump you 'cause you were new, pretty, and the talk of the school - straight hating!” Treasure said.
    “Man, I was so happy to see you step up for me too,” Bright said, remembering the day clearly. “But you see it wasn't no punk in me either, cause I was about to fight every last one of them females by myself. Even though they were gone probably beat my ass!” Bright laughed.
    “I wasn't gone let 'em though,” Treasure said, “cause they tried to pull that same bullshit on me in sixth grade. And trust when my mother called my auntie from Compton, her and all her bad ass kids came and turned that school upside down! And I ain't never had no more problems out of them haters since,” Treasure laughed.
    “Ain't no cute scary females over here!” Bright said. “Real talk!” Treasure added.
“Heyyyy Sexy Bright and company!” Terrence
    yelled out of the window of his Escalade as he hit the corner.
Bright smiled and begin posing like a supermodel.
Treasure laughed. “Will y'all knock that shit off,” she said, shaking her head at Bright as she proceeded to act like America's Next Top Model.
“That’s my baby right there,” Terrence said as he sat back in his truck, smiling, watching Bright work her fancy.
“Hey, daddy,” Bright said upon climbing in the passenger seat to kiss Terrence's lips. “You gone take me to get a phone today, Ice?” Bright said, holding up to her end of the bargain by calling him by his street name in the presence of others.
“You know I'll do anything for my baby-boo,” Terrence said as he started his truck back up. After Bright told Treasure to get inside, they made their way to a local Cingular wireless store to get Bright a phone. Grabbing one of the hottest phones on the market, Bright walked out of the store with a brand new Razor cell phone. Once they got to Treasure's house, Treasure climbed out and Bright headed to the motel with Terrence to break him off before he dropped her back off.
“Why don't we ever go to your house, Terrence?” Bright asked, wondering why they always ended up at sleazy motels to fuck. She had never stepped foot in his house.
“Cause I'm always out in the city grinding, and ain't no use in taking you to my house way in the valley just to turn back around to take you home.”
“I guess,” Bright replied, then Terrence climbed out of his truck to go pay for a room.
Inside the room, Bright worked Terrence a few times before she hopped in the shower. When she got out of the shower, she heard a loud commotion going on outside. “Terrence, what’s goin’ on out there, daddy?” she asked as she threw her clothes back on. When she didn't get a reply, she stepped out the