Around the Way Girls 11 Read online

  “Yanna, why you keep having all these people knocking on my damn door all times of the day and night?”

  “Dang, Momma, chill out. They’re my friends.”

  “Your friends? Girl, them smart-mouth females ain’t nothing but some troublemakers, and you turning out to be just like them. They out here selling drugs, setting niggas up, and just about begging to be killed or thrown in jail. You gonna mess around and get us all killed. Yanna, you need to straighten all the way up.”

  “Why you always tripping? Do I ask you for any money? Am I on your head about clothes or sneakers or even buying this comb in my hand? Naw. I gets that shit how I live.”

  “Okay, smart ass. You wanna be so grown? One day that mouth is gonna get you in deep trouble and, when it does, don’t come to me!”

  Yanna ignored her mother’s comments as she continued standing in the mirror fixing her hair. The wild-child teen teased her blond-streaked bangs. Then she sprayed spritz on heavy, making sure it stayed in place. After applying a huge amount of cherry-flavored lip gloss, Yanna was ready to hit the streets.

  She and her so-called crew, the Cat Walk Posse, were headed to a party across town. They knew while there were going to be dudes posted in the basement who were getting money, there was rumored to be another all-female clique in the house. Simply Sleek were their rivals and were known for carrying blades. Yanna and her girls weren’t scared. Matter of fact, they had sent word to the guy having the party that they were and would be ready for any female who wanted to pop off.

  Arriving just before ten, it was all good. Piling out of the dark blue late-model Probe Yanna owned, they were already buzzed. Smoking a few joints and sipping on a case of coolers, the girls were in their zone. Time dragged by and the night seemed to be calm. There was no sign of Simply Sleek, which by all accounts was good. They were enjoying the party, the music was on point, and just about every one of the Cat Walk Posse had been chosen by the local drug dealers. Suddenly, as the clock struck midnight, all of that changed.

  Seemingly out of nowhere, one, then two, then three, then four Simply Sleek girls appeared. Before Yanna and her homegirls knew what was happening, they were getting jumped. The same drug dealers who were just fawning all over them were leaning back on their expensive cars watching the show. Weave ponytails were being snatched out, acrylic nails were dug deep into faces, T-shirts were being ripped off, and breasts were exposed. Nothing was off-limits in this brawl.

  Definitely holding their own, Yanna and her crew gave as good as they got. With each female almost out of steam, one of the Simply Sleek girls reached into her bra. When her hand came out, almost in one swift motion she opened a switchblade. Quickly searching around for something to use as a weapon, Yanna found a rake on the side of a house. The girl had blood running from her nose, and tears in her eyes. She held on to the blade and was swinging her arm wildly in an attempt to cut whoever got in her path. Watching the wounded bear like a hawk, Yanna and she locked eyes. In a mere matter of seconds, the girl charged at Yanna. It was back on as Yanna swung the rake, knocking the sharp blade to the ground. Before she knew what was happening next, her friend had picked up the knife and stuck it in the chest of a girl from the other crew. Blood was gushing from the wound, and everyone started to panic.

  In the midst of the pandemonium, one of the neighbors announced that they had called the police. Everyone who’d come on foot ran. Each person who drove quickly pulled off the block. Even the dude having the party went into his house and shut the door. No one wanted to see the cops and answer questions. With the girl lying in the middle of the street bleeding out, she was surrounded by her crew.

  Not wanting to risk going to jail over a fight they didn’t start, Yanna yelled for the Cat Walk Posse to get in the car so they could bounce as well. Once in the car, Yanna tried over and over to start the ignition. However, as luck would have it, the vehicle wouldn’t start. They were all yelling for Yanna to start the car, but it wouldn’t turn over.

  While they kept praying for the Probe to start, no one noticed that one of the Simply Sleek crew eased to the side of a house and went into a backyard. Seconds later, she returned with a small gas can in hand. Running up to the side of Yanna’s car, she doused the doors and trunk. Just as she pulled a lighter from her pocket, God showed mercy on the Cat Walk Posse and allowed the car to start; but not before half the vehicle was engulfed. With screams of fear coming from the now-moving car, Yanna drove as fast as she could to a nearby alley where they all jumped out. They left it to burn as they ran as fast as they could. After they crossed a few vacant lots and were far enough from the burning wreck of a car, the girls caught two cabs back to the projects.

  Back at home it was, of course, asked where Yanna’s car was, but she lied and told her mother it had gotten stolen. Days later when the police knocked at the door, Yanna’s mother kept the lie up, even stating that the car was no more than a piece of junk, and that was why they never reported it stolen. When asked about her daughter’s reported involvement where another girl was stabbed and was fighting for her life, the mother lied once again.

  After Yanna’s mother covered up for her wayward child, Yanna was shipped out to the suburbs to live with her Auntie Grace. Luckily the injured female from Simply Sleek recovered and decided not to press charges on anyone, knowing her own homegirls would be in trouble as well.

  Yanna knew she had dodged the bullet of bullshit and she was thankful. She decided to turn over a new leaf and leave the street life alone. Just like that, the bad girl from the projects had turned good. Right before her senior year, she met Joseph Banks, also a transfer student, and a football star. The two soon became inseparable. Yanna dedicated herself to making him happy. He was the love of her young life.

  Yanna was startled by the loud sounds of the telephone. She sat straight up and wiped the cold out of the corners of her eyes. Oh, now I guess he wants to call with some sort of an excuse before he pulls up. I wonder what lie he’s gonna tell this time! I swear to God he can choke on a chicken bone and die before I listen to some bullshit excuse for dogging me and his kids out for some gutter trash.

  The angry wife recognized her husband’s number on the caller ID, and she answered dryly, “Yes, Joseph. What is it? What do you want?”

  “Hello, is this Yanna?” a strange voice replied.

  A puzzled look instantly came across Yanna’s face. Although she was certain it was her husband’s phone number that appeared on the caller ID, the voice speaking on the other end of the line was clearly not Joseph Sr.’s.

  “Yes, this is Yanna.” She paused, momentarily shocked at not hearing his voice. “And just who is this?”

  “This is Dawn.” The woman’s voice sounded meek.

  “Dawn? Dawn Jackson? You have some fucking nerve,” Yanna screamed into the receiver before she was abruptly cut off.

  “Yanna, wait, please. It’s an emergency! Please wait, it’s important,” Dawn begged.

  “Oh, I bet it is. Well, you can take your emergency to nine-one-one, sweetheart, but don’t call my house any damn more. It’s bad enough—”

  Once again, Dawn cut her off. “Yanna, wait. Just listen and don’t hang up! Please!”

  “How dare you! You’ve got some sort of nerve calling my house. Haven’t you disrespected me and my children enough over this past year?”

  “Please, Yanna, just listen to me.” This time, Dawn shouted with authority.

  Yanna temporarily paused her crazed rant. She could tell at that point something strange was going on. “Look, what is it?”

  “There’s been an accident.”

  “What? Why are you calling me on my husband’s phone? Where is he? Put him on the line.” As she became nervous by the seriousness of the female caller’s voice, Yanna fired question after question out to her husband’s mistress.

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” Dawn started crying uncontrollably. “Joseph’s been badly hurt. The paramedics are putting him in the amb
ulance as we speak. He’s on his way to the hospital. He’s asking for you. You’d better hurry. It doesn’t look good.”

  “What?” Yanna loudly yelled, waking JoJo up out of a deep sleep. “Oh my God, what kind of accident was my husband in? Where are they taking him? To what hospital?”

  “I don’t know! I don’t know! But it looks really bad.” Dawn’s tears increased. “There’s so much blood everywhere!” She made the last statement sound as if she was looking at the blood as she spoke.

  The fact that Yanna hadn’t appreciated Dawn calling her one little bit now had to be put on the back burner as she dropped the phone to the floor and ran to get her purse. “Baby, I’ll be back! Watch your sister and lock the door. Your father is hurt and at the hospital!”

  JoJo was now out of bed. Standing in the doorway, he wiped the sleep out of his eyes watching his mother leave, rushing off to the hospital. Fighting the tears back, somehow he knew he’d never see his father alive again, and his young life would be forever changed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The funeral was long and grueling for the many grieving relatives. Person after person got up to praise the deceased Joseph Banks Sr. for his past various deeds and work throughout the community. The way he was being honored definitely didn’t fit the shameful way he had left this earth. Finding no comfort in becoming a widow with two young children to bring up in the wicked streets of Detroit, Yanna was emotionally drained over the entire thing. Thanks to one of Dawn Jackson’s many boyfriends—who had shot her husband four times in cold blood, murdering him in a jealous rage—the distraught wife buried her face in her hands. As the service concluded and they rolled her man’s silver and gray-trimmed casket out of the same church they exchanged vows in years earlier, Yanna sobbed.

  Right before climbing into the back of the family car, JoJo, dressed in a dark blue suit, stopped dead in his tracks. He, like many others, couldn’t help but notice the infamous Dawn Jackson and her son, Tyrus, aka his play stepbrother, standing amid the multitude of tearful mourners. It was rumored throughout the neighborhood and school that Tyrus, the same age as JoJo, unfortunately, had witnessed the entire murder take place, and he was the one to place the initial call to 911. JoJo wanted to ask his classmate right out what exactly took place the night his father was killed, but he knew he wasn’t truly ready to hear the truth.

  When Yanna became aware of the duo’s uninvited presence, she removed her dark sunglasses and wiped her red, puffy eyes. After taking several deep breaths, she got in her zone. Confidently, the scorned wife-in-mourning marched over to Dawn while holding her Bible pressed close to her breast. With the stunned crowd of family members and friends looking on, the young widow was ready to give them a show. Yanna looked down at Tyrus, giving the little boy a faint grin, and then directed her full attention to his mother. Raising her hand, Yanna didn’t hold back her rage and contempt for who she felt was the source of her pain. With all the force she could muster, she landed a well-placed smack across Dawn’s face. Yanna, beyond furious, shook with every word she began to speak to the woman through her clenched teeth.

  “How fucking dare you show up here of all places? Not even on this one day can you respect the union of our marriage. Haven’t you done enough, said enough, and caused enough grief in my household? You got some nerve showing up, standing here like you give a fuck about anyone but yourself! It’s because of you that my husband is lying up in that casket!”

  Dawn was embarrassed. She was humiliated. The truth was a hard pill to swallow as it would be for anyone. The single mother of one just stood there silently, holding her stinging face with one hand and Tyrus’s hand with the other. She wanted to speak out and defend herself. Dawn wanted to let the world know that what was being said was not who she really was, but she couldn’t. At this point, it would be a battle she had no chance of winning, so she remained mute and took it all in.

  Yanna continued her rant. Night after night, she had sat there and never spoken up about what was going on. For months she had been suffering the anguish from being looked upon as a second-class citizen since her husband first start running around behind her back. Yanna’s husband was no longer around to hear what she had to say, but right now, in the land of the living, Dawn would endure the double wrath of Yanna’s fury.

  “You don’t belong here, not at all. I don’t care how you felt about my husband. How dare you even show up? You need to know that he never loved you! Never! I was his wife, not you.” With malice, Yanna held up her hand, showing her wedding band. “Turn around, you no-good bitch, and take a good damn look at what in the hell you did!” Yanna pointed to JoJo and a crying Jania, who were off to the side holding hands, together mourning the loss of their father. “Do you see my kids standing over there?” She angrily waved her finger. “Thanks to you, they don’t have a father anymore. Thanks to you, my husband is gone! Thanks to you, our family will never, ever be the same! You did that. You! Are you fucking happy? You’re nothing but a home-wrecking slut! I hope all the wives standing around here watch their husbands whenever you around! You don’t care who you open your legs to, you filthy whore! You lucky I don’t do more than just slap you!”

  Yanna shot her husband’s side chick one last long glare before casting one last declaration. “You’s a snake and ain’t gonna bring shit but misery to whoever and whatever you come in contact with. I halfway feel sorry for your little boy even being cursed with having a mother like you. Trust, one day you gonna catch it! God don’t like ugly, and He don’t like tramps even more!”

  When she was finished with Dawn, she walked over to her husband’s casket. Since Yanna couldn’t verbally give him a real piece of her mind, she had stayed up the night before and written him a letter. In the handwritten note, she made sure to inform her husband of how much she hated what he’d done to her and who he’d made her become. Yanna made sure to tuck it in Joseph’s suit pocket. She wanted to have the final word with her spouse before he went to heaven or hell.

  When the casket was closed for good, Yanna’s family members ushered her to the long, dark-colored sedan. It was time to start the lengthy procession to the cemetery, which was located across town. Each of the married women in attendance whispered among themselves. Thinking that they could have easily been in Yanna’s shoes, they thanked God they weren’t. Tightly, they held on to their husbands’ arms as they snarled, walking by Dawn Jackson, who was still subconsciously holding the side of her face and her young son’s hand.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  After Joseph Sr. was buried and all was said and done, the reality of living as a single mom with two children set in. Yanna came to find out exactly where she and her children basically stood as far as finances were concerned. Her cheating husband had left his wife with several high credit card balances, one huge water bill and, of course, the mortgage. Even though she cashed in a $9,500 insurance policy, it mostly went to cover burial expenses, and she was almost flat broke. Having no other choice to provide for JoJo and Jania, Yanna took a job at a small factory. She knew that if they all didn’t pull together, they’d be out in the streets or living with one of her relatives, which for her was definitely not an option.

  “JoJo, fix the eggs while I get your sister dressed to go to Auntie Grace’s. I’m running kinda late,” Yanna ordered her son, who was now looked upon as the man of the house. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  “Not a problem, Ma. I got you!”

  “Oh, yeah, I left that seven dollars you needed for a new gas container over there on the table.” Yanna rushed through the house, getting ready for her shift.

  “Okay, I’ll get it as soon as I get finished with this,” JoJo said as he began to prepare a skillet of scrambled eggs with cheese. After putting plenty of eggs on two plates for his sister and mother, JoJo scraped the last bit out of the black cast-iron skillet onto his own plate. “I’ve got three yards to do today,” he shouted to his mom as he walked over to the kitchen table and sat down.

  “T
hat’s good, baby,” Yanna yelled back into the kitchen to her hardworking son. For the past four years since her husband’s untimely death, JoJo had assumed the role of man of the house. He took on odd jobs in order to contribute to the household bills.

  Those years had been harder than Yanna could have ever imagined. At some points, she grew so weary that she would lose hope. Each day in the single mother’s life caused her to change for the worse as the bill collectors kept calling, demanding payments, and the shutoff notices piled up.

  As the days dragged by, Yanna Banks, who’d easily gained thirty pounds over the course of the last four years, began sipping on more than just a small glass of wine with dinner. She had become spiteful and judgmental, still blaming Dawn Jackson and her son for taking away her husband. For Yanna, time stood still and the pain she felt after losing her spouse under those circumstances was weighing on her. Year after year, her anger increased and so did her bitter attitude. Yanna needed a crutch to lean on, and it was second nature for her to depend on the only man in her life, JoJo, whether or not he was ready for that responsibility.

  JoJo was a good kid and just wanted to help his mother in any way he could. He hated having to see his mother work so hard. He also hated that she spent her downtime drinking. He missed the days when his mom would dedicate her time to him and his sister. Since his father’s passing, his mother had become a different person. Being the only man in the house, JoJo stepped up and did everything he could for his mom and sister.

  In between JoJo cutting grass, shoveling snow in the winter months, and staying on the honor roll in high school, he took care of Jania. The always-busy teen was faced with obstacle after obstacle. He was forced to grow up faster than the rest of his peers. When the new Air Jordans came out, of course he couldn’t get a pair. Spending money on a fitted cap every week like some of his classmates did was also out of the question. Designer track suits, expensive jeans, or new games for a used Xbox that he and his sister shared, JoJo knew better than to even dream of. They weren’t in the family’s strict budget.