When To Put Trust On The Line

Part 8

As soon as the bell for lunch rang, I rushed to my locker to put my things away. I only had my phone and earphones in my hand as I left the school. I found the boys standing outside on the stairs. They were all there except for Seal and Greg. Jackson noticed me. He nudged the other guys and they greeted me. We headed to Greg's car, which he trusted Zavier with. Zavier was responsible. He drove with Chris sitting next to him. I sat in the back, behind Chris, with Armon and Jackson - Jackson in the middle. He kept everyone talking. Though talking was the last thing on my mind. I just really wanted to see Kenny's face.

The drive wasn't long, and as I looked outside, the images of nice, clean houses disappeared as we entered a more ghetto scenery with unhealthy-looking buildings that included smashed or taped up windows, graffiti, rust, etc. After passing by a few buildings and driving by a park, we pulled up by the curb in front of the building where Kenny lived. We got out of the car and started towards the front steps of the apartment. A toddler toy bike was randomly sitting at the top of the stairs by the main entrance door. There was a pad near the door with buttons for all apartment numbers. I tried to remember what Kenny's was. It wasn't like I had been to his place a lot before, so the number wasn't engraved in my head. Chris reached over and opened the door. I stared at him, surprised. "They leave the door unlocked now?" I asked.

Chris. "Nah. The door's lock ain't been workin' for a few weeks. Landlord still ain't fixed it."

I nodded. "Ah." We entered the building. It was filthier than I remembered. Obviously, since I hadn't been there for months. As we went up a flight of stairs, I heard a baby crying in one of the apartments. Kenny's apartment was on the second floor. In the one across from his, we could hear yelling and arguing in English and what sounded like Spanish. Probably a couple having a disagreement. It would sound serious in my neighbourhood, but here it was normal and nobody paid attention. I tensed a little even though I knew this.

Armon knocked on Kenny's door. After a few long seconds, the door opened slightly and Kenny's head appeared. He smiled and closed the door. We heard him removing the chain before the door opened again and he let us in. He slapped hands with his buddies and pulled me into a tight hug. He buried his nose in my hair and kissed my forehead. The warmest feeling went through me. Too bad it didn't last long because the hug ended quickly. We all went into the tiny living room, which consisted of a long black couch in front of the windows, a flat screen TV on the wall, a dirty white bean bag chair right in front of it, a bunch of clothes in a corner covering a small table, and an ironing table opened up by the entrance, facing the television. The living room floor was covered with dark grey carpet that was peeling in some places, showing patches of the also peeling wood floor.

"Y'all want anything?" Kenny asked. "I know I'm thirsty."

"Sure," the guys called. Chris went into the kitchen to help, where we could see them because there was no sort of separation from the living room, other than a little clearing for those to walk through the front door, and a bar counter with high stools at the kitchen that served as a border. Armon, Jackson, and Zavier took a seat on the long couch. I didn't. There was one more space left on the couch. I thought I'd leave it for Chris. He and Kenny came and handed us each a big glass with a pretty small amount of Coke or water.

He had Chris hand me the water. "I know you're not a big fan of soda." He was right. Chris, Jackson and I had glass cups while everyone else had paper cups. It wasn't on purpose. It was what Kenny had to offer us. I sat on the stable arm of the couch. Chris sat in the remaining spot, which was next to my position on the arm. I took a small sip from my water. It was warm. Tap water. I personally preferred it cold, but that wasn't important. Kenny pulled a hidden chair away from a heap of clothes, setting it in front of the couch so he could face us. He turned off the TV - which had been playing a commercial about detergent - and sat down, placing his cup on the carpet by his chair. He stared at me with cool, amused eyes. I tried not to squirm, but ended up shifting my position on the arm a little. "So you skip now?" Kenny asked. I sipped my water, trying to play cool.