Lying to Live by Darrien Lee Page A

any apprehension he was having. So, after careful thought, he disrobed, exposing himself, as bare as a newborn baby, and over the next twenty minutes they intimately confessed their love for one another. It was overwhelming for Dré, who thought he had lost her forever, so he made a point to kiss each and every one of her bruises. Denim relished the waves of passion flowing over her.
    Dré kissed her soft lips and whispered, “I can’t wait to marry you.”
    She looked him in the eyes and said, “As soon as we both graduate college, I’m all yours.”
    Tears formed in Dré’s eyes because he knew Denim was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. If he could marry her right now, he would, but he had promised his parents that he would wait. The problem was that he had no idea which college he was going to end up at, making it unlikely that he and Denim would be together during that time. He kissed her once more and then stared at the ceiling.
    â€œWe’d better go, before your mom does a drive-by.”
    She noticed the look of sadness in his eyes, so she cupped his face and said, “Whatever you’re worrying about, let it go. I love you, and you love me. Everything’s going to be okay.”
    He smiled and said, “You’re right, babe. Let’s get out of here.”
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    Julius lay across his bed, still in shock over coming face-to-face with Viper. He had nearly peed on himself when their eyes met. He felt like Viper was reading his thoughts and would figure out that he had seen him shoot the store clerk. Julius feared that Denim could get hurt because of her association with Viper. He’d found out that a lot of people had witnessed her helping Viper out of the burning car and they were pissed. They didn’t care that she was a Good Samaritan. All they cared about was that Viper was still going to be roaming the neighborhood, doing the callous things he was already suspected of doing. He just prayed that nobody would take their anguish out on Denim, whom he had come to care for very much. Then there was the man who was gunning for Viper at the restaurant. He was still out on the streets, and Julius knew that this man wouldn’t think twice about taking another shot at Viper, no matter where he was. Now, staring down at his math book, he found it hard to concentrate, but he couldn’t let his tutor down by failing the algebra test coming up. He would have to push through all the drama on his mind so he could get an A on that test.

Chapter Eight
    A few days later Julius and Domingo sat outside talking to friends as they waited on their bus. Julius proudly glanced down at the B-plus he had received on his algebra test and then waved it in Domingo’s face. Denim was feeling much better and had returned to school. She saw Julius and Domingo when she exited the school, so she walked over to them and sat down beside them.
    â€œSo I hear you got your test back. Did you pass?” she asked Julius.
    With a huge smile on his face, he held the test up to her and said, “B-plus!”
    Denim took the test out of his hand and said, “I knew you could do it! I’m so proud of you.”
    Just then, a couple of guys walked past them. One stopped for a moment and then reached into his book bag.
    He turned to Denim and said, “Since you like rescuing vipers so much, here’s another one.”
    The boy tossed the item into Denim’s lap and took off running. Startled, all three of them jumped up and realized that he had thrown a snake at her.
    Denim screamed as she watched the critter slither toward some nearby bushes.
    â€œSon of a bitch!” Domingo yelled as he backed away from the snake.
    â€œDid it bite you?” Julius asked as he checked Denim for bite marks.
    She shook her head and said, “No, I don’t think so.”
    Domingo yelled for someone to get a school resource officer. When the officer