Читать книгу Way Too Much Drama - Earl Sewell - Страница 9

two

VIVIANA

My body ached horribly. My right shoulder was throbbing because one of my attackers had bitten me. I had a headache because another one had pulled my hair. I also felt a lump swelling on my forehead, probably caused when someone nailed me with a dizzying hammer fist. It had been difficult to fight four girls at the same time, which felt like fighting a pack of wild dogs with my bare knuckles. They were able to throw four times as many punches, but a majority of their swings lacked accuracy. I was happy that I knew how to keep moving to dodge a total beat down. Still, for all the effort I had put into avoiding a punch, I had ended up taking a number of hits, but I’m tough like my father and can take punishment as well as dish it out. I bloodied the noses of two girls, and I’m certain that one of them will have a nasty-looking black eye thanks to my lightning quick right-handed jab. I don’t know why they decided to beat me up. It could have been a random act, or, as I believe, a setup by my evil cousin, Maya. That’s probably the reason she arrived so late after I had phoned her out of desperation and had begged her for help. I’ll never do that again, ever.

When I arrived back at the house, I entered the kitchen through the patio door. My younger cousin, Anna, was in the kitchen making tamales. I’d walked in just as she placed some dried corn husks in a pot of boiling water. I knew that it would not be long before a delicious aroma would waft throughout the house. Anna did a double take as she casually glanced over her shoulder to say hello.

“Damn!” Anna blurted out.

“How bad do I look?” I asked, feeling the lump on my forehead getting tighter.

“Should I call nine-one-one? You look like you need a doctor,” Anna said, turning off the stove. She hustled toward the refrigerator and removed an ice pack for my forehead.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital. I’m fine,” I assured her as she placed the cold ice pack against my skin.

“Did you get into a fight with Keysha and Maya again? If they did this to you, I swear, I’m calling Mom and Dad right now.” Anna removed the ice pack and took a closer look at the swelling.

“I think Maya set me up, but I can’t prove it,” I uttered as I pulled back the fabric of my torn shirt from my right shoulder. “Is my shoulder bleeding?”

“OMG! Who bit you? These teeth marks look deep.” Anna touched my shoulder as she continued questioning me.

“I don’t know. Some chick,” I answered as I pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down.

“Was it Maya or Keysha who bit you?” Anna pulled up a chair and sat beside me.

“Anna, you must not have heard me. Neither Keysha nor Maya did this. Neither one of them were there. It was a group of girls who had been watching the fight between Misalo and Carlo. They started chasing me for no reason,” I explained as I pulled off my gym shoes and ankle socks. I glanced at my sausage-shaped pale toes. They looked horrible and badly in need of a pedicure.

“I’m calling Mom.” Anna reached for her cell phone.

“What good is that going to do, Anna? I don’t even know who the girls are or what they looked like,” I explained.

“Well, what if they jump you again? They could kill you, Viviana.” I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was nervous and anxious.

“I doubt it. Beating me up wasn’t as easy as they thought. I can handle myself,” I said confidently. Anna hesitated for a moment. I could tell that she was trying to convince herself to not call her mother.

“The next time something like this happens, don’t waste your time calling Maya. Call me. I’m not much of a fighter, but if the situation called for it, I’m pretty sure I can hold my own and help you out.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. How does my forehead look?” I asked.

“The swelling is going down,” Anna said after taking another peek at my lump.

“I need a hot bath,” I said as I rose out of my chair.

“Would you like for me to make you a tamale? You might feel better,” said Anna.

“No. I’m not hungry right now. I’m going to take a bath, wash my hair and just chill out for a while,” I said.

“Are you sure? My tamales are world famous,” Anna said.

“Positive,” I answered as I gingerly walked toward the staircase.

After taking a bath and washing the scent of sweat and grass out of my hair, I placed Neosporin on my skin scrapes and cuts and continued to place ice on my forehead. The knot had gone down considerably. I walked into the family room because I wanted to watch television. When I entered the room, Maya was already snuggled up on the sofa watching a romantic music video. She cut her eyes at me and then exhaled disgustedly.

“Do you have a problem?” I snapped, unmoved by her foul attitude about me.

“Yes, I have a big damn problem with you.” Maya clicked off the television and folded her arms across her bosom.

“And I’ve got an even bigger problem with you. But that’s not news to anyone,” I said with just as much revulsion.

“Huh? I haven’t done anything to you!” Maya growled at me. “But you! You’re a tacky slut!”

“And you’re a stuck-up, spoiled, delusional whore who doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut!” I barked back at her.

Maya rose to her feet and pointed an accusatory finger at me. “You purposely ruined my relationship with Misalo and I know it! I’ll never forgive you for that.”

“Ha! Your relationship wasn’t all that damn strong. Misalo told me all about you and how you never truly appreciated him. He couldn’t stand you and was going to break up with you anyway. I just took his blinders off so he could see how much of a sneaky tramp you are.”

Maya opened her mouth so wide an airplane could have flown into it. “You’re totally crazy. You actually believe all the crap that you tell yourself. You’re mental.”

“If telling the truth makes me mental, then so be it,” I hissed at her. I felt my hatred for her swelling like a rising tide.

“You wouldn’t know the truth if it came up and punched you on the nose. But that’s okay. I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of ruining my life. I’m going to get Misalo back now that the truth has come out. I suggest that you stay away from him, unless you want something bad to happen to you!” Maya threatened me.

“Is that why you sent that pack of girls to beat me up? Huh? Come on, Maya, don’t deny it,” I said, forcing her to own up to what she had done.

“I didn’t have a thing to do with that. Perhaps the girls just didn’t like you. You have built up a reputation of being a backstabber,” Maya said maliciously.

“And you have a reputation of being a snitch!” I reminded her of her soiled reputation with me.

“A snitch! Is that what this is all about? You still haven’t gotten over that mess with your father?” Maya asked.

“You ruined my life, Maya, and I’ll never forgive you for that. Had you kept your mouth shut, my father would be alive today, and I wouldn’t have to live under the same roof with you! I hate the fact that you’re alive, and I wish God would do the world a big-ass favor and strike you down!” Maya and I were now having a full-blown and very loud argument.

“Your father murdered someone!” Maya hollered at me.

“Were you there? Did you see him do it?” I pointed at her.

“No,” Maya answered.

“Then how can you be 100 percent sure that he did it?” I cornered her with my question.

“I overheard him say what he’d done. You know that.” Maya defended her justification for snitching on my father.

“You don’t know what you heard, Maya. You’ve always had an overactive imagination and can’t tell reality from fantasy. My father was the best man in the world. My life was perfect when he was alive. And you, with your lying-ass mouth, put an innocent man behind bars where he was killed. I hope you rot in hell, Maya.”

“And I hope you burn in hell with your homicidal father!” Maya hobbled closer to me.

“You want a piece of me?” I asked as I balled up my fists and prepared to kick her butt.

“All you need to do is stay away from Misalo.” Maya issued yet another warning as she limped toward the stairs.

“Why are you guys so loud? I can hear you all the way upstairs,” said Anna, who had come to see what all the shouting was about.

“Viviana needs mental help,” Maya hissed as she hopped up the steps.

“Wow! She’s really pissed off,” Anna said as she joined me in the family room.

“And I couldn’t care less,” I said as I settled into my seat. My head had begun to throb.

“I have a question I need to ask you.” Anna pulled out her cell phone. “I just got a text about a fight between Carlo and Misalo. Did you see it? Do you know who won?”

“Does it really matter, Anna?” I answered, irritated.

“Yes. I want to know if Misalo kicked Carlo’s butt. You were teaching him how to fight, right?” Anna asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Well, did your man win or what?” Anna was eager to hear all the gory details.

“The fight didn’t really last that long. Can we talk about it later? My head really hurts,” I said.

“Would you like some aspirin?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Anna said as she rushed off. I closed my eyes, exhaled and thought about what needed to be done in order to make Misalo care for me again. There was no way I would allow Maya to come between the true feelings that had developed between us.