Losing Romeo by A.J. Byrd Page A

“I never have been. I mean, I’ve got my own set of problems, you know?”
    I bob my head, but I’m put off a bit by the notion that an adult really thinks she has the option of walking away from her responsibilities. My waitress shows up and plops my lunch down on the table in front of me. “Thank you,” I mumble to the waitress.
    â€œCan I get you anything else?” she asks, chewing the hell out of a wad of bubble gum.
    â€œNo, thanks. That will be all.” When I glance back over at Deborah, I notice that her shoulders are slumping lower by the second.
    â€œCan I tell you something?” she whispers, swiping the corners of her eyes.
    â€œSure.”
    She pauses for a moment, but then starts talking in a lowwhisper. “When I first got the call about my mother’s arrest, I was actually thrilled. She’d finally done it. She had finally taken a stand against that bully.”
    Now I’m just stunned speechless, but I sit and listen.
    â€œThat son of a bitch made my life miserable. I never thought she’d find the backbone to stand up to him. And when she did…well, let’s just say that he never saw it coming. But the repercussions, I don’t think either of us really thought about what those might be. Now it just all seems like too much.” She sniffs again and wipes at her eyes. “At first I thought I could do it. They would be a lot better off with me than growing up in that house with that man. His temper and the things he did when he thought that no one was looking.” She shakes her head. “I thought that—” She swallows and then falls silent for so long that I don’t think that she’s going to finish the sentence.
    Even though I want to comfort her, I’m not sure how to go about doing that. She’s talking about turning her sisters over to foster care to break up her family just because life is hard. Sure, I feel inadequate when it comes to dealing with Tyler but leave? Never.
    â€œYou know what? I gotta go.”
    She grabs her purse, and I see my window of opportunity to help her closing.
    â€œMcKenya is going to be home soon, and I think Kierra is still at cheerleading practice.”
    She fumbles with her purse so badly that she tilts it the wrong way and half the contents spill out of it. “Goddamn it!”
    â€œHere, let me help you,” I say.
    She’s a nervous flutter of movement while she shoves things back into her purse. I reach over as well and then stop cold when I see a small vial of white powder. “Hey, that’s mine.” She snatches it out of my hands and shoves it into her purse.
    â€œI—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
    â€œI’ll catch up with you later,” she says, flying from the booth and racing out of the diner so fast that she looks like a blur.
    I’m left sitting there wondering what the hell just happened.

BFF Rule #9
    Remain loyal through good times and bad.

twelve
    Phoenix—The Bitch is Back
    Things are changing. I know this because Bianca and Raven, my two supposed best friends, aren’t waiting for me by my locker before the homeroom bell. The reason this is significant is that we’ve always met up at my locker since we were in junior high. But I’m not going to completely freak out, because lately I have been missing a lot of days. Don’t get me wrong. I know these girls think that because I’m pregnant or was pregnant they are clear to try to take my shine. Silly rabbits, tricks are for kids. I’m always going to be the number-one diva.
    I quickly jerk open my locker and pull out what I need before checking my reflection in the mirror glued to my locker door. Behind me I see a few girls snickering and whispering, so I turn around and flash them all the bird. They gasp at having been caught and then quickly get out of my face with all that nonsense. These chicks got the wrong idea if they think