Casting Down Imaginations by LaShanda Michelle Page B

wasn’t
good.”
    “It’s
all good Karen. Don’t even sweat it. If I were you I wouldn’t want to have
nothing to do with me either. And I’m sorry about…. Everything I put you
through. You didn’t deserve any of it. You were a good girl to me, and I can
tell you have grown up to become a very strong woman.”
    I began
to blush all over again. “Thank you.”
    “Well, I
guess we’ll say goodbye for now.”
    “Yeah,”
I said. “For now.”
    “Can I
call you sometime?”
    I
hesitated. “Yeah, I guess you can,” I told him, flirting a little bit.
    “Cool.
Well I’ll talk to you later then.”
    “Alright.”
    “Bye,
Karen.”
    “Bye.”
    I hung
up the phone and stared at it, hugging myself. After all this time, all those
feelings about Terrance were still there. I just hadn’t realized that it could
actually turn out to be a good thing.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    nine
    ANAYA
    I walked
out of class feeling pretty good about myself. Even though I was dressed in the
same grungy oversized T-shirt and pajama pants I slept in the night before, no
one could pull me away from the cloud I was on. The only way I was coming down
was if I wanted to, and that wasn’t going to be any time soon.
    I
studied hard for all of my classes this semester and was averaging two As and
two Bs. I had to drop one of my classes because I couldn’t keep up with the
material, but I was doing just fine. Deacon was proud of me, which was enough
to keep spare change in my bank account, which was enough to keep me happy.
    My mind
drifted back to Deacon as I made my way back to my room. It had been a while
since I talked to my father. Every time I did he always asked if I was going to
church. I was in no rush to sit in front of anybody’s pulpit, so I made it a
point only to call when I needed something. But since I’d been cracking down
on the books, I really didn’t need anything else. Even still, I decided to give
the old man a call. He was really disappointed that I didn’t come home for
Thanksgiving, but oh well. I would be there for Christmas soon enough.
    I
stopped walking, realizing that in all of my contemplating I’d missed the
shortcut to my dorm. I didn’t mind though. I was feeling good, and the extra
exercise wouldn’t hurt. That was my whole point for walking to class anyway
instead of driving my car. The only problem was that I would have to cross in
front of Reese’s dorm and run the risk of seeing him.
    Or
worse… Adam. The thought of the two of them sent chills down my spine.
    It’d
been weeks since the night of the concert. I hadn’t spoken to either one of
them and hadn’t tried to. Reese called me a week after it all happened, but
when I didn’t return his phone call he didn’t bother calling again. The sad
thing was that through all of it, I found myself missing him like crazy. The way
he used to make me laugh and the way he used do little sweet things, like meet
me outside of my classes so that we could spend a little time together. I
missed all of the “semi-sexual” times we had, too. He sure did know how to make
my body feel good. But most of all I missed having a man by my side. There was
something about being alone that just wasn’t appealing to me.
    I never
thought he would put his hands on me, though. Not my Reese. But then again, he
probably never thought that I would jump on him the way I did. What was wrong
with me that night? I was so angry, but I didn’t remember why. Adam pissed me
off, that was for damn sure, but what did Reese do? I mean, yeah, he was all up
on some girl at the concert, but that was probably just a part of his act. I
shouldn’t have acted that way. And when he found out about Adam he did go
handle him. That was love, wasn’t it? He probably saw me as a little girl now,
though, acting childish like that. Who knew? I probably would be wearing his
chain around my neck right now if I hadn’t acted so stupid. I could kick
myself.
    But even
though I hit him first, he still