Free Slick by Brenda Hampton Page B

friend you are,” she said, and then hung up. Feeling bad about not meeting Dana, I called her back and told her I could meet her in a few hours. When she declined to wait, I hung up on her.
    Britney wanted to stay the night, but I insisted that she call Beverly to tell her she was on her way home. When Britney refused to call, I made the call to tell Beverly. Britney pouted and fell back in the chair.
    â€œLet’s go, Britney. I have to get up early for work tomorrow.”
    â€œWhy can’t I stay here? You can take me home in the morning.”
    â€œBecause I’m sure your mother is worried sick about you. Besides, why sleep on my uncomfortable couch when you have a lovely room at home waiting for you?”
    She jumped up and folded her arms. “Whatever. Now, I have to go home and listen to my mother’s mouth about my face. If I tell her what happened, she’s going to be mad at me for skipping school.”
    â€œOkay, this time and this time only will I lie for you. I will tell her that the school called because you hurt yourself in gym, and since Jonathan was out of the office, I came to pick you up. I will, however, tell Jonathan the truth and you’ll have to deal with him instead of her.”
    â€œFine,” she said with an attitude.
    We headed to the car, and on the drive to Britney’s house, she wouldn’t stop questioning me about Jonathan. I didn’t think my feelings for him were that obvious.
    â€œOkay, Sylvia, if you don’t want to be honest with me about your feelings for my dad, then tell me when you lost your virginity.”
    â€œI am honest with you about my feelings and I lost my virginity when I was fifteen. After that, I turned into a promiscuous little something. I was screwing any- and everybody who wanted some.”
    â€œWhy? And then you have the nerve to tell me what you think I shouldn’t do.”
    â€œI only told you what I thought was best. And that little promiscuous little something who was screwing around with any-and everybody was the reputation I got for giving it up to a loudmouth Negro who wasn’t worth my time. After my first time, it took me a long while before I had sex again because the rumors were damaging.”
    Britney smiled, and when we got to her house, I went inside and lied my ass off to Beverly. I didn’t feel good about doing so, but Britney was at a stage in her life where she needed someone to trust. Not only that, but she needed someone to depend on. And if Jonathan or Beverly wasn’t there to make her feel at ease, I didn’t mind her relying on me.

6
    JONATHAN
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    I was on a mission to find out what was going on with Dana. More so to find out who in the hell she was screwing. There was no way for me to continue on with our marriage and things weren’t right. I worked too hard to be unhappy and it was high time that my life started to make sense.
    The other day when Lewis was in my office, something hit me. If it wasn’t the same cheap-ass cologne on him that I smelled on Dana, it was Sylvia’s hateful ways toward him that sparked my curiosity. I really wasn’t sure if I was on to something, but it was a start. I figured if I worked on Sylvia a little while longer, she would tell me everything I needed to know. I hated more than anything to put her in the middle, but there was no other way to find out the truth. I was desperate. And even though I had some feelings for Sylvia, finding out what Dana was up to was more important to me.
    After I left the office, I went back home and watched for Dana to leave. When she did, I followed her. She drove to her parents’ house, stayed there for a while, and then she drove to West County Plaza. Spending very minimal time there, then she drove to the movie theater and watched a movie alone. By eight o’clock, she checked herself into the Holiday Inn, and just when I thought my man was about to show, she checked back out two