Free Down by Law by Ni-Ni Simone Page B

the TV wasn’t on.
    I walked back into the hallway and peeped into each room. No Schooly. Which pissed me off all over again, because he knew Queenie didn’t let him go nowhere without telling somebody where he was going.
    â€œNow I got to hear Queenie’s mouth,” I grumbled, walking out the apartment door, “if his butt is not home when she gets there. Ugg!”
    â€œWhere you goin’?” Cali yelled out, as I stepped out of the building and into the courtyard. She hopped off the back of the park bench and walked alongside me to the store.
    â€œFirst, I’m going to run up in here to get Yvette a ginger ale for her stomach and then I’m going to find Schooly. His butt was not in his room and he knows Queenie don’t let him roam like that. And after the day I’ve had, I do not need Queenie in my face blaming me for Schooly doing some dumbness.”
    â€œI just saw Schooly.” Cali handed me a C&C ginger ale out of the cooler.
    I set the soda and two quarters on the counter. Then I looked at her and frowned. “You just saw Schooly? Whatchu mean? Where at?” The cashier placed the soda and a straw in a brown paper bag and handed it to me.
    As we walked out of the store and crossed the street, Cali continued, “Matter fact, I saw him in the store about thirty minutes ago, buying some Squirrel Nuts and two Chick-O-Sticks.”
    â€œDid you see where he went after that?”
    She nodded. “Yeah. He saw somebody he knew and got in the car with ’em.”
    I stopped in my tracks. “He did what? Schooly?” I looked at Cali, confused. “Are you sure?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œHe don’t know nobody wit’ no car. Yo, why you ain’t stop him or come and get me?” I snapped, feeling the urge to backhand her.
    â€œâ€™Cause it ain’t look like there was a problem. Everything looked copacetic to me. Chill. He just probably went for a ride with one of his friends.”
    â€œYou sound real dumb right now! He’s slow. He don’t have no friends who drive or have cars! And anyway what kind of car was it?”
    â€œI don’t appreciate you calling me dumb! And it didn’t look like a problem to me.”
    â€œWhat kind of car was it?!” I said anxiously, stamping my feet. “Tell me!”
    â€œI didn’t really notice the kind of car it was. I know it was silver though.”

13
    White lines
    S ix p.m.
    It had been three hours, forty-five minutes, and too many seconds to count that I didn’t know where Schooly was. And either I needed Schooly home or I needed somewhere to go until he got here.
    I crept outta bed, leaving Yvette lying there, and grabbed my boom box. Then I eased through the living room window, sat on the fire escape, and did all I could to focus on Red Alert’s show , desperately wantin’ to rock to the underground artists spittin’ freestyles.
    But I couldn’t.
    So I looked down at the old man skin poppin’ his johnson in the alleyway.
    But I couldn’t focus on that either.
    â€œWhat is you doin’ up there?” a chickenhead yelled at me, as she kicked bits of glass and trash with her feet.
    â€œMinding my business.”
    â€œI can’t tell. ’Cause you look like you all in mines!” She grabbed a red-haired white man by the hand, gently pushed him against the building, and then slid to her knees.
    I shut my eyes and squeezed them extra tight.
    God please . . .
    â€œIsis.” Queenie walked in the front door and looked directly at me. She walked over to the open window and stuck her head through. “Whatchu doing out there?”
    I swallowed. A million things ran through my mind to tell her.
    â€œI asked you a question,” she said, like she’d been waiting on an answer a moment too long.
    I shook my head. “Nothing. Just chillin’.”
    â€œYou chillin’ on a fire escape in the middle of Da