Odion took only a few bites of the loaded mashed potatoes Marcella cooked for dinner before pushing the plate away from his face. You’re my bitch! That’s why. The image of Donovan grabbing Serenity’s face and pinning it to the wall erased his appetite. Clenched jaw muscles bulged from his mouth the more he thought about the bruises she suffered at Donovan’s hands. God only knows how long he’s been abusing her, and more importantly, how long Serenity’s had to endure such misery. Odion lost count of the number of times he’d created a text message to send her, only to delete it afterward.

“Odion,” Marcella called, turning off the pipe in the kitchen and drying the last plate in the sink, “is everything all right?” She made her way toward the dining table. “You’ve hardly touched your dinner.”

“Yeah, I’m just not hungry at the moment.” Odion grabbed his plate and stood up.

“Hang on a minute.” Marcella rested her hand against his shoulder. “Sit back down,” she ordered. Odion obliged. “What’s been bothering you?” She pulled the chair across from him and sat down. Odion didn’t bother to answer because nothing he said would’ve changed the situation. “What’d I tell you about clinging on to negative emotions?”

Odion looked down at his food. “That it’s bad for my health and could lead to disease.”

“That’s right.” Marcella nodded. “Our bodies weren’t created to withstand prolonged periods of stress. It weakens the immune system. Makes us susceptible to all sorts of things like cancer, hypertension, heart disease, and other forms of ailments that are difficult to cure.” She looked at him for a long moment before speaking again. “So tell me, what’s on your mind?” Odion looked around the dining room. Knowing how much Marcella hated lying, he had to think of something fast. “If this has anything to do with Apollo, don’t you worry,” she said. “When he finds his ass back home, I’m going to give him shit. Just you wait.” She nodded as if she’d already formulated a severe punishment in her mind. “That boy has gotten on my last nerve.”

“No, it’s not him.” Though he is a small part of it. “It’s about … this girl at school.”

Marcella’s face lit up like fireworks at the turn of a new year. “Aww, my baby’s found someone special at school!” she giggled. Not exactly. “What’s her name?”

“Serenity.” He forced a smile, thinking of a believable story to tell.

“So what’s going on between you and Serenity?” Marcella crossed her arms, holding a smile.

Her ex-boyfriend is abusing her, and I’m gonna kill him when I see him. “Well ….” Odion rubbed the back of his neck. Think of something, man. “Well, you see, I really like her, but I don’t think she knows, and I’ve been trying to think of so many ways to tell her without sounding corny.” A nervous chuckle escaped from his lips.

“Do you share any classes with her?”

“No.” Odion shook his head.

“What about your lunch period?”

“That we do.” Odion nodded.

“Then start there.” Marcella sat up on her chair and folded her arms across the table. “To be honest, it’s not what you say to her that matters, but how you make her feel.” Her eyes darted toward the window.

Confusion twisted his face. “What do you mean it’s not what I say but how I make her feel?”

“Words only mean something when they’re congruent with your actions. You can tell someone you love them any number of times, but if you treat them like garbage, then is it really love?” She kept her eyes focused outside for a moment, almost as if she wanted Odion to digest what she’d just said. “Girls want to be around someone who makes them feel comfortable, secure. Someone who makes them feel appreciated. If you don’t provide any of those things, it doesn’t matter what you say to her. She’ll never want to be associated with you.”

That was the problem in Serenity’s relationship. Donovan didn’t provide any of those things. It was the exact opposite. He wasn’t actually in love with her; he was in love with the idea of controlling her. That was evident by the number of scratches and bruises on her body.

“If she’s smart, she’ll pay more attention to what you do rather than what you say.” She brought her eyes back toward him. “My suggestion would be instead of telling her you like her, show her that you like her instead. Just don’t be surprised if she already knows and is waiting for you to make the first move.”

Odion’s mouth dropped a little bit. “You think so?”

“If she’s astute, then absolutely,” Marcella said, nodding with certainty. “Never underestimate a woman’s intuition.” She smiled, winking at him afterward. “Find out what her interests are, her hobbies. Does she like to sing, to dance, to draw? Does she read books in her spare time, and if so, which ones? Ask if she has any favorites. Get her talking about herself, but don’t make it sound like an interview by asking her too many questions. That’s a turnoff.” She waved her finger in the air.

Odion thought back to the small conversation they had in the cafeteria just before those two cunts interrupted him. “She’s an exceptional artist.” He caught himself smiling, thinking about some of the artwork she posted on her Instagram. “When I spoke to her in the cafeteria the other day, she told me she was working on her portfolio.”

Marcella seemed as if she were mildly impressed. “Well, that’s nice,” she said. “Does she paint or draw?”

“She does these photorealistic drawings of people that at first glance, they wanna look like photographs, but they’re actually drawings by hand. They’re incredible to look at.”

“So she’s a genius.” Marcella smiled.

“Yeah,” Odion said. The weight of Marcella’s eyes created a bit of anxiety within him as he twiddled his thumbs underneath the table.

“What else has been bothering you?” Marcella moved her head deeper to take a closer look at him.

“Nothing.” Odion shook his head, only looking at her briefly before pulling his eyes away.

“I find it hard to believe anyone losing their appetite over a female crush.”

Odion slowly lifted his eyes to match Marcella’s as she awaited an answer. Damn it. If I tell her the real issue, she’s just gonna ask me to stay out of it and let God work it out. “What if I’m not good enough?” Odion’s heart began to accelerate. It was the only thing that came to mind to quell the silence between them. “What if … what if I show her how much I like her and she still ends up rejecting me? Then what? Do I sit around and wait for things to get better?”

“Absolutely not!” she said. “Life goes on, my dear.” She narrowed her eyes. “First of all, you’re more than good enough for any girl. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” she said casually. “Second, if your intentions are pure and she still ends up rejecting you, that’s her problem, not yours. What you don’t want to do is put your life on hold, hoping someone will like you. Ever since I divorced my husband, life has gotten so much better for me. It brought me closer toward my faith, and it taught me that if two spirits are meant to be together, then God will do everything in his power to make it happen. If not, then it means He has someone even better in store for you. Someone intelligent enough to see how much of a beautiful soul you are.” Marcella leaned over the table and planted a kiss on his forehead.

“But what if she is worth putting my life on hold for?” Odion’s eyes grew serious as he looked at her. He wasn’t talking about any regular female here.

Marcella’s lips slowly curved into a grin. “Teenage love. I remember those days.” She chuckled. “I remember when I was fifteen, there was this boy in my class whom I genuinely believed at the time was going to be my husband. He was about your height, dark, athletic, funny, and had an impeccable fashion sense. Talk about a guy who dressed to impress.” Marcella rested her chin against her hand, looking away into the distance, her eyes dreamy. “I did everything I could to get him to notice me. Whenever I was chatting with my friends, and I knew he was nearby, I’d speak extra loud just so that he could hear me. I’d make solid eye contact with him whenever we were in class and when we crossed paths in the hallway, hoping he’d be bold enough to make the first move, which to his credit, he did. But then, after a while, I started to notice a few things about him that turned me off.”

“Like what sort of things?” Odion asked.

“Well, for one, he was a notorious liar. He’d sweet-talk a number of my friends and use his charm and good looks to get dates. And, because he came from a relatively wealthy family, he’d buy them all sorts of gifts in exchange for sexual favors. He’d come back to school the next day and brag to his friends about which girl he slept with over the weekend, and of course, when information like that gets around, it starts to spread throughout the entire school.”

Odion laughed. “So he tried doing that to you?”

Marcella looked at him as if he were insane. “He found out very quickly I wasn’t like the rest of the other females at our school,” she said with an enormous sense of pride. “I’ll just leave it at that.”

“Ah c’mon, you can’t leave me hanging like that. What’d you do?”

“You never mind,” she said, doing her best not to smirk. “The point is you mustn’t worry yourself over one individual. Now, I’m not saying this girl isn’t the one for you, but keep in mind you’re still only sixteen and have your whole life ahead of you.” She ran her hand gently across his head before getting up. “One last thing,” she turned to face him, “if the time ever comes where you ask her to be your girlfriend, make sure you ask her in person. Doing it through text shows you lack confidence.” She twisted her face into disgust before exiting the kitchen.

Odion processed everything Marcella told him and sighed. “Yeah … thanks for the advice.”

#

Variety of conversations buzzed around the cafeteria. Toki and Malachi were too busy stuffing their faces, discussing which girl inside was the hottest and the number of bodies they’d collected in their closet. From the bits and pieces of conversation Odion paid attention to, Malachi seemed disappointed he wasn’t one of the bodies these girls had accumulated over their high school years. If he didn’t watch himself, he was bound to catch an STI or something worse.

“Yo Odion,” Malachi nudged him on the shoulder, “out of all the baddies in here right now, which one would you toss in the bag?” Odion shrugged, chin resting inside of his palm. He was utterly disinterested in talking about any of the girls inside the cafeteria.

“Aye, you okay, man?” Toki looked at him with furrowed brows. “You’ve barely said anything all day.” He took a sip of his bean juice.

“Yeah, for real.” Malachi nodded. “What you got on your mind, fam?”

Odion sighed. “Nothing really.”

“Nah, bruh, you ain’t never this quiet unless something’s bothering you.”

“That’s right,” Toki said. “What’s going on, bro?”

Odion looked sharply at Toki before bringing his focus toward the table. “It’s Serenity,” he said. “She needs my help, and badly.”

Toki’s face changed to one of concern. “Why, what’s going on?”

“Yo, I bet it’s got something to do with Donovan,” Malachi turned to Toki and said.

“Is it?” Toki asked, looking at Odion.

“He’s been abusing her.” Odion tried not to bang the table as he said it. Toki and Malachi looked at each other. “Yesterday after you guys left, I caught ’em in an argument, and he was yelling and pushing her face up against the wall.” Odion demonstrated to them with his hands. “Buddy, I was this close to beating the fuck outta him.” He showed a tiny space in-between his forefinger and thumb. “If it wasn’t for Mr. Walters stepping in and breaking ’em up at the last minute, one of us was going to the hospital, for sure.”

“Say word?” Malachi rested a hand over his mouth. “For real, though, I knew he was crazy but I didn’t know he was I-hit-bitches crazy.”

“When Mr. Walters finally left, I caught up to her and asked her what was going on. Obviously, she didn’t tell me, but there was a bruise at the corner of her lip. Buddy, I nearly lost my shit when I seen that,” Odion said. “Remember the other day I came back and told you guys I saw rashes on her neck?”

Toki nodded. “Yeah, you said they could’ve been scratches or something like that.”

“Now we know how they got there.” Odion nodded his head.

“And if that’s the case, I would bet he’s wrapped his hands around her neck more than once,” Toki said, twisting his face into discomfort. “What a shame.” He shook his head and took another huge gulp of his bean juice.

“So, what’s your next move?” Malachi asked.

“I’m gonna kill that nigga when I see him.” Odion gritted his teeth together. “That’s my next move.”

“Bro, you sure you want to take it that far?” Toki looked at him like a disapproving mother would. “I know you have feelings for Serenity, but …” He rubbed the back of his head, pulling his eyes away from Odion.

“Say what you were gonna say,” Odion said, tapping his fingers against the table.

Toki slowly returned his focus to Odion. “It’s just that … it’d be sad if you threw your life away over …”

Disgust grew within Odion as he watched Toki try and pick his words. “A girl? Is that what you wanna say?”

Toki sucked his lips in, tilting his head as if he weren’t sure to nod or shake it. “All I’m saying is be careful, and try not to do anything irrational.”

“So what’s he supposed to do?” Malachi asked him. “Sit back on the sidelines and watch?”

“Exactly,” Odion said.

“Look, all I’m saying is—”

“What if you caught him or someone else doing that to your sister?” Odion cut him off. “You gonna just stand back and do nothing?”

“Of course not!” Toki turned his face into a scowl. “If things were to get that serious, I’d tell Eureka … to go to the police,” he said sheepishly. Malachi burst into laughter.

“The police,” Odion repeated with disgust. “And what’d you think they’re gonna do?”

“Look, I don’t know about you two, but I value my life,” Toki said with emphasis. “I got a bright future ahead of me, and I’m not going to throw it away over some dumb shit I know I can’t handle. The police got way more resources than I do, and it’s what they’re there for. I’m not a thug or a gangbanger, and I don’t pretend to be either.”

“You and I are totally different people, and I’m gonna handle this situation how I see fit,” Odion said.

“If you need weapons like knives or anything, I got you.” Malachi threw his fist out, and Odion bumped it.

“You two are crazy.” Toki shook his head. “I’d never thought I’d see the day you trying to kill someone over a girl.” He narrowed his eyes at him.

Odion stared back, his face dark. For someone who was supposed to be one of his closest friends, the way Toki devalued Serenity’s life was sickening. “Man, fuck you.” Odion pointed at Toki, eyes hard. “Just ’cause you’re bitch-made doesn’t mean I have to be.” He shot straight to his feet, and Malachi quickly held onto him, pushing him back against the glass wall.

“Aight, chill, bruh,” Malachi said in his ear. “Relax.”

“The fuck off me.” Odion pushed him away and exited the cafeteria, shoving one side of the double-doors open, nearly hitting another student who wanted to enter.

If Toki was going to disregard Serenity’s well-being like that, then fuck him. He wasn’t the kind of friend he needed or wanted to associate himself with. They always say if you want shit done, you gotta do it yourself.

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