Free Shortie Like Mine by Ni-Ni Simone Page A

tonight.”
    â€œGirl, you gettin’ high?” Shae said. “We gon’ kill them.”
    â€œFor real,” I agreed.
    â€œYeah, maybe,” she said as she played with her cell phone. “Especially since last year ya boy Josiah was stompin’ everybody on the court.”
    â€œMy boy ... where you get that from?” I hoped she couldn’t see me suppressing a blush.
    â€œCome on, Seven.” Ki-Ki twisted her lips while she put her phone away. “You can keep it funky with me. Would you remind her, Shae, that we girls?”
    â€œYou need to remind her of that”—Shae frowned—“I don’t remember that well.”
    â€œOh, my God, we were the Hottie posse way before Deeyah came along. We go back to nursery school. We straight-up girls, and though we don’t hang like we used to, I still consider y’all to be my best friends.”
    Shae didn’t seem to be buying it, but I was moved. Ki-Ki had no reason to lie. Deeyah wasn’t around and maybe Ki-Ki was scared not to be Deeyah’s friend, especially since Deeyah thought she could tell everybody, including Josiah, what to do. So what would make Ki-Ki any different?
    â€œBesides,” Ki-Ki went on, “as far as I’m concerned, she stole yo’ man. You were the one feeling him first and she knew that.”
    Now that part was true. When we were in elementary school everybody knew Josiah was my boo, but when we got in high school the game changed and Deeyah moved up the ranks. “Yeah, I did kinda feel like she took him from me,” I said.
    I looked at Shae who rolled her eyes, like already I was talking too much. But Shae never gives anybody a chance—her circle is mad tight anyway.
    â€œExactly,” Ki-Ki said. “I thought you felt that way . . . so why don’t you step to him?”
    â€œWell, don’t say nothing”—I looked in her eyes for confirmation she could keep a secret—“but I was kinda diggin’ him in the hallway the other week in school. Girl,” I was cheesin’, “I wanted to kiss him sooooo bad.”
    â€œOh, my God.” Ki-Ki laughed. “Why didn’t you?”
    â€œBecause Deeyah came actin’ all crazy.”
    â€œThat was her man, what you expect?”
    â€œI ain’t push up on him, he pushed up on me.”
    â€œOh, well ... how did you control yourself?”
    â€œI told you, the raving lunatic came on the scene. Otherwise, it woulda been on like popcorn.”
    â€œDang, girl, I know you be dreaming about him.”
    â€œAll day and night.”
    â€œIll, get away from here!” Ki-Ki said out of nowhere.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” I asked as I turned my head toward the street and saw Shae’s mother with the same clothes she had on the last time we saw her. She had crust around her mouth and was giving Shae a toothless grin. “You got two dollars?” she asked.
    â€œNo!” Ki-Ki went off. “Don’t nobody have no two dollars, you crusty, dirty-lookin’ bum, crackhead! Ain’t nobody giving you two dollars so you can run and smoke it all up. Find a ho stroll, ’cause I know that’s where you comin’ from.”
    â€œAi’ight, Ki-Ki, that’s enough,” I said, praying that Shae’s mother didn’t go off and could keep their relationship a secret.
    Shae sat on my porch stunned. I wanted to cry for her, because I know she was beyond ashamed. Why would her mother keep doing this to her? I may have been without my dad, but I was thankful I still had my mother and she wasn’t on drugs.
    Shae’s mother didn’t say anything, she simply diverted her eyes from Shae’s and walked away.
    After a few minutes, Shae rose from the step. “Yo, I gotta get going. I need to walk my little brothers to the Leaguers for karate.”
    â€œAi’ight, Shae.” I felt like walking behind her and