Way Too Much Drama

“For real?” Wesley glanced over at Keysha as she got situated in the passenger seat. I was in the backseat admiring the interior of the car. The convertible top was down and the sun felt really good on my skin.

“I would look so cute in this car,” I spoke aloud. I was hoping to distract Keysha and make her forget about assisting Viviana.

“Yeah, really,” Keysha said as Wesley sped toward the park. He got us there in less than two minutes. When we pulled up, we didn’t see Viviana or any other girls.

“The police probably came and broke it up already,” I said with a sense of gratification. In my heart, I hoped Viviana was someplace unconscious with her nose smashed in dog crap. I was angry and that emotion gave my heart the permission it needed to blacken my thoughts, even if only for a moment. If I ever did see Viviana in a situation where she was injured and helpless, I knew I would be the first person to offer help.

“Pull over, Wesley,” Keysha ordered. Once Wesley parked, the three of us got out of the car. We looked around, but saw no sign of Viviana or the pack of girls she claimed were attacking her.

“Is that her over there?” Wesley asked, pointing to a girl who was coming our way. She was cutting through the grass from the opposite side of the softball field.

“Yeah, that’s her,” I confirmed. She was walking lethargically. Keysha and Wesley began moving in her direction. I stayed put and rested my behind against the car.

“Are you coming?” Keysha looked over her shoulder at me.

“No. I told you my knee hurts.” I offered up what I’m sure Keysha considered a lame excuse. I shifted my weight so that all the pressure was placed on my good leg.

“Maya, don’t be like that. From what I can tell, it looks as if she could really use a hug.”

“Fine,” I agreed, walking with them.

As we approached, Keysha tried to hug Viviana to comfort her, but Viviana rejected her sympathy embrace.

“Get off me before I kick your butt,” Viviana snarled at Keysha.

“You could at least say thanks to us for coming to help out,” I scolded Viviana for being so ungrateful.

“I had it under control,” Viviana answered stubbornly.

“From the look of things, I’d say you got your ass whooped,” Keysha said.

“It’s nothing. Just a ripped shirt, a few scrapes and messy hair.” Viviana downplayed the degree of damage that had been inflicted upon her. Her long hair looked disheveled, and it was obvious that it had been yanked on several times during her scuffle.

“Your hand is bleeding.” Keysha, still being kindhearted, reached for Viviana’s hand.

“Hey! I said leave me the hell alone!” Viviana jerked away.

“Viviana, what the hell! She’s only trying to make sure you’re okay,” I shouted at her.

“I don’t need any help from either of you, okay! Just leave me alone!” Viviana yelled at the top of her voice as she moved on.

“Who were the girls that were chasing you?” asked Wesley.

“Why do you even care?” Viviana harshly glared at Wesley.

“You sound just as crazy as my ex-girlfriend, Lori,” said Wesley unapologetically.

“Oh! Why do you want to bring that tramp up?” Keysha turned her attention to Wesley and awaited his response.

Lori was the reason she and Wesley had broken up.

“Uhm.” Wesley paused, uncertain of what he’d done to turn Keysha’s aggression toward him. Boys can be clueless sometimes. The last name Keysha wanted to hear pass through Wesley’s lips was Lori’s, especially after Keysha had agreed to let him get close to her again.

“Her name shouldn’t even be in your head, especially after the mess she put you through.” Keysha didn’t filter her words.

“Jeez, this is the second time I’ve tried to help a girl in need, thinking that I was doing the right thing. I’m never going to help out again because I only end up getting my head chewed off. Girls are way too complicated and love drama way too much. I swear, I feel like a cat chasing a red laser pointer whenever I try to figure girls out,” Wesley said, washing his hands of the conversation. He turned and began heading back toward his car.

“Now do you see and understand how crazy Viviana is?” I looked at Keysha and waited for the acknowledgment that I was right all along and that we should’ve let Viviana deal with her own mess.

“Yeah, I see what you mean,” Keysha admitted.

“She’ll live,” I said nonchalantly as I watched Viviana walking toward my house.

“Are you still going to talk to her about causing the breakup between you and Misalo?” Keysha asked.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to deal with her in my own way,” I said as I rested the palm of my left hand on Keysha’s shoulder and hobbled back to the car where Wesley was waiting on us.

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.