Way Too Much Drama

“That’s what he said, but I don’t want him to buy me some noisy jalopy. I’ve been able to save two thousand dollars. If he matches what I’ve saved, then I could get a decent vehicle for four thousand, don’t you think?”

“Hell, yeah. You should be able to ride in style for that kind of money,” I chimed.

“Do you want to head over to the library with me?” Keysha asked.

“Not right now. I need to stay off my knee for a little while longer. What are you doing later?” I asked, thinking we could do something then.

“I’ll be at work,” said Keysha.

“Then I’ll come by the pool and keep you company later this afternoon,” I said.

“Okay, I’ll see you then,” Keysha said before hanging up the phone.

* * *

Later that afternoon I put on my bathing suit, grabbed a pool bag, which I always kept packed and ready, and headed out the door. When I arrived at the swimming pool, Keysha was snapping off on some junior high school boys for playing too roughly. There was a mother with her toddler splashing around at the shallow end of the pool and a few other folks who were wading from one side of the pool to the other. I placed my things on an empty seat next to where Keysha’s belongings were. I got myself situated, put on my dark sunglasses and relaxed. A few minutes later I felt someone shaking my shoulder.

“What?” I asked, annoyed by the interruption of my quiet time.

“Misalo just arrived,” Keysha said, taking her seat beside me. I sat upright, and sure enough, Misalo had taken a seat at the other end of the pool.

“What are you going to do?” Keysha asked.

“I think I’m going to get in the water,” I said. I rose to my feet and carefully walked to the edge of the pool. My knee was still bothering me a little, but not to the point that I had to hobble. I sat down on my butt, draped my legs over the edge and into the warm water. I splashed some water on my thighs and arms so my skin would adjust more easily to the temperature of the water. I then submerged myself. By the time I came from beneath the water, I noticed that Misalo wasn’t in his seat. I glanced around, wondering where he’d gone. I looked below the surface of the water and saw that he was swimming toward me. I did a few strokes until my back rested against the edge of the pool. When Misalo surfaced, he cleared away the cascading water from around his eyes and approached me.

“Are you looking for me?” he asked, smiling innocently.

“I don’t know. Should I be?” I asked, not willing to allow the charm of his smile to soften my disappointment in him, for not talking to me, not believing in me and instead listening to that liar Viviana.

“Where is your boyfriend?” he asked derisively.

“Where is your girlfriend?” I fired right back with an equal amount of sarcasm for his former boo thang, Viviana.

“Maya, I don’t want to fight,” Misalo said earnestly as his tone shifted.

“Ha! You should have thought about that before you started dating my cousin,” I said.

“Oh, it’s like that. I thought we could have a real conversation, but I see that I was wrong,” he said and was about to swim away.

“I’ve been trying to have a real conversation with you for the longest time, but you’ve had your head up your butt.” I didn’t bother filtering my words.

“Okay, I’ll give you that. I’ll admit that I wasn’t the easiest guy to talk to, but I’m certain you can see why I reacted the way that I did.” Misalo gave me an innocent look.

“Misalo, you wouldn’t even give me a chance to tell my side of the story,” I said to him.

“I was angry, Maya,” he admitted. “Sometimes when a person is angry, they can’t see or think straight.”

“And an angry person can be pretty stupid,” I said, unwilling to soften my words or feelings.

“Whatever,” Misalo said with lack of concern. It irritated me that he wasn’t more apologetic.

“So do you want to hear the truth now? Or do you want to keep jumping to conclusions?”

“I don’t think I jumped to conclusions. I believe the evidence I saw spoke for itself, at least in the beginning. Now I’m not really sure what to think. I’m confused,” he admitted.

“You should’ve come to me for the truth instead of letting other people tell you their interpretation of what went down,” I said.

“Okay, Maya. I get it. I should not have been so stubborn. Do you have time to tell me the truth now? What’s really going on with you and Carlo?” he asked as he folded his arms across his chest and waited for me to explain my version of events. I paused momentarily and took notice of his muscles, which were much more defined. I exhaled before I began.

“Viviana and I snuck out of the house one night,” I said.

“You snuck out of the house?” Misalo blurted out the words.

“I know, it’s hard to believe, but, yes, I did. I was trying to prove to Viviana that I wasn’t a Goody Two-shoes. Anyway, she knew about this party that was taking place in the city, so we hopped into my grandmother’s car and went.”

“You don’t have a driver’s license and neither does Viviana.” Misalo immediately began questioning the credibility of my story.

“I know.”

“That doesn’t even sound like something you’d do, Maya. Besides, why would your grandmother give either one of you the keys to her car?” he asked.

“She didn’t,” I said, not wanting to admit that Viviana and I had pretty much taken the car for a joyride.

“You stole your grandmother’s car?” Misalo’s eyes widened as if he’d just been poked.

“Yes and no. Yes we took it, but we didn’t steal it. Viviana said that she’d taken our grandmother’s car lots of times.”

“I don’t believe a thing you’re telling me, but go on,” he insisted.

“It’s the truth, Misalo.”

“Maya, I’ve known you for a long time, and you’ve never done anything remotely close to what you’re describing to me,” he said as he repositioned himself next to me.

“It’s the truth. You can even ask Keysha if you want,” I suggested.

“Like she’d tell me everything. Keysha is your best friend and isn’t going to admit to anything that would make you look bad.”

“Keysha has no reason to lie, Misalo,” I said as I scanned the pool deck. Keysha had climbed in the lifeguard chair. She’d put on her sunglasses and was keeping a close eye on everyone.

“Whatever,” he said, dismissing my comment.

“So we get to this party and I don’t know anyone there. I thought Viviana and I would use the time to bond, but she left me as soon as we arrived. I was nervous and afraid. As the night dragged on, I began searching for Viviana, but couldn’t find her. It was then that I realized she’d set me up and left me. Her plan was for me to get busted for sneaking out of the house. Luckily, Carlo was there and offered to give me a ride home, but he wouldn’t do it unless I slow danced with him first.”

“Maya, your story sounds so lame.” Misalo was skeptical. “If that’s the case, how did Viviana tape you if she’d already left?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I just didn’t see her and she decided to record me,” I said.

“Or, Carlo picked you guys up in his car and drove you there himself because you were creeping around with him behind my back all of the time.” Misalo gave his own spin to the story.