Free The Other Side Of the Game by Anita Doreen Diggs Page A

buttons and exposed stitching. Saundra just watched.
    Hermes. A sepia patch-pocket skirt. Sandra nearly fainted at the five hundred dollar price tag.
    Burberry. A silver trench coat. Saundra closed her eyes when I tried to show her the tag.
    Saundra wouldn’t get anything and that was getting to be a drag so I told her to go home. Refusing to let me mope around the apartment, she agreed to buy some things but only if I used my own credit card and only if it was a regular department store.
    She ended up with a new backpack for her school books, a burgundy striped tie for Yero and a royal blue sweatshirt for Phil.
    Whatever.
    Back at the apartment, she fell asleep. I drank a pint of rum and joined her.

Chapter 19
    SAUNDRA
    Y ero and I were going to look at tuxedos. I had decided on lilac and silver as my wedding colors and he was unhappy at the thought of wearing a lilac cummerbund around his waist. So, we would have to meet somewhere in the middle—find some sort of compromise. I’ve always heard that wedding preparations can tear a couple apart and I refuse to lose my life partner over something as silly as a piece of fabric.
    I had met Yero Brown at a sweet sixteen party for Pastor Hoffman’s granddaughter, Sharon. Pastor Hoffman had raised Sharon since she was eight years old when both her parents died in a plane crash. They lived across the street and Sharon was the first neighborhood girl to offer me some help in adjusting to my new school.
    Yero was the cutest guy at the party and I wondered why I hadn’t seen him in the halls at school.
    Evelyn hadn’t come into my life yet so I was still pretty wild. At parties, I used to get a guy’s attention by walking straight up to him, grabbing his arm and dragging him onto the dance floor. There, he’d be blown away by my impressive dance moves. Yero was not impressed.
    He allowed me to lead him onto the floor, moved to the beat while I shimmied and twirled, then took me back to Sharon without asking for my phone number.
    I was leaning against a wall fuming about this to Sharon when Yero sauntered up to us.
    â€œHow you doin’, Sharon?”
    â€œFine, Yero. Are you here to babysit Khari?”
    Yero?
    He laughed. “Something like that.”
    I turned to walk away.
    â€œWait a minute, Soul Train. Where you goin’?”
    That was funny so I turned around and smiled. “To get some punch.”
    Sharon pulled my hand. “Yero Brown, this is Saundra Patterson,” she said. “Saundra just moved in across the street from me.”
    â€œWhat happened to the cop?”
    â€œI’m his daughter.”
    â€œOh,” said Yero. “I guess I’d better hide my stash.”
    I knew he was only teasing but the remark also let me know why the other teens seemed to be avoiding me at school and around the block.
    â€œWhere are you moving from?” he asked.
    â€œManhattan.”
    â€œWell,” he said, “welcome to Queens.” He grinned at both of us and strolled back into the crowd.
    Sharon told me that Yero was two years out of high school and waiting for the post office to call him. He was at the party with his brother Khari who was an eleventh-grader like me because Khari had a bad temper and would fight at the slightest provocation and Yero would keep things calm. The good news: Yero had been an excellent student, was quiet, well-mannered and had always kept at least a part-time job since he was fourteen years old, the age when New Yorkers are eligible for working papers. He was a gentleman and, although he had been seen with girls, they were always from outside the neighborhood. There was no gossip or scandal connected with Yero and his reputation was spotless.
    He didn’t approach me again and when the party ended, I went back across the street feeling very let down. It would have been nice to have a new boyfriend to go along with my new home and my new status as the only female in my