"Awww shoot now!" Kenney called as I walked down the stairs to meet him. "Freet Frew!" I guess this was his way of whistling.

"Hi Kenney." I chuckled when he gave me a big hug and dipped me backwards. "You're crazy."

"And lucky. I'ma have the finest...platonic friend...out on a 'just friends' date in the whole joint." I laughed again. He held out his arm to me. "Shall we?"

"Sure." I slipped my fingers through the crick of his arm. He was scrawny, but surprisingly muscular. I gave him a once over and imagined how ripped his chest must be under that white button down. "You look nice."

He nodded in agreement. Arrogant.

"As do you."

"Thanks." I know I didn't have a crush on this boy. I looked at him more closely. "Where's your glasses?"

"Oh," his cheeks dimpled up. "I don't wear them all the time. Only when I'm tryna look smart."

"Look smart?" I let out a loud "Ha!" then asked, "Who were you trying to look smart for?"

"The professors."

"What?"

"I always wear my glasses to class, for sure."

"Why?"

"It's a proven fact that people treat you the way they perceive you."

"Uh-huh..."

"So," he held the car door open for me, "if they think that I'm smart then they'll give me 'A's." Before I had the chance to argue, he closed the car door and walked around to the driver's side.

"And how's this little theory been working for you?" I asked as he climbed behind the wheel.

"So far so good." He looked over at me and grinned. "How you think I got into Hampton?"

I smiled and shook my head. Leaning back into the cracked leather bucket seat, I saw my roommate and a couple of her friends grinning at us from across the street. I waved at them. They grinned wider and waved back.

"Friends of yours?"

"My roommate."

"Why she grinnin' like that? You must have a crush on me."

"What!" I bolted upright.

"A crush" he repeated matter-of-factly and flashed his dimples my way. "You know you like me."

"You don't know what you're talking about." I flushed with embarrassment.

But that was exactly why they were grinning at me.

Apparently, I brought Kenney's name up enough, and he called me so often throughout the day that Shayna had long since come to the conclusion that we were crushing on each other. It didn't help that Kenney was always hanging out on the VC steps and jumped up every time he spotted me across the yard, either.

"I do know what I'm talking about," he grinned wider. "I got four sisters. I know exactly what it means when some dude comes to the door or walks past and they all start grinnin' at each other."

"What does it mean then, Bud?"

He cut me a sly grin. "It means sooner or later I'ma have to get in ol' boy's ass for tryna push up on my sister."

That wasn't what I expected to hear. I burst into laughter. For some reason I was always laughing around Kenney. Maybe I did like him.

"You think I'm playin'. I will whomp somebody without hesitation for one of my sisters."

I stopped laughing. "Aw! That is toe tweet."

He blushed. "I'm serious."

"Me too. That's really sweet. They're so lucky to have you." I looked out of the window. "Wish I had a brother."

He reached over and patted my hand. "Don't worry. I gotchyou."

Now it was my turn to blush. Our eyes locked for a minute too long and I turned my attention back to the windshield just in time to see a little purple Neon with Georgia plates zip out in front of us."

"Kenney! Look out!" I screamed.

He slammed on the breaks and swerved out of the way, missing the car by inches.

"Damn! That woman can't drive for shit!" I yelled.

Kenney looked over at me in surprise. The Neon pulled up next to us. I recognized Ms. Shambry, the graduate assistant at Kennedy Hall.

"Here she go," I mumbled under my breath.

"Whoo! That was close! You kids alright?"

"Yep," Kenney said easily and started to ease away as the light turned green.

"Alright then," and the Neon zipped off.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded.

"What was what?"

"She almost killed us and all she can say is 'you kids alright?'"

"Dang! Calm down. It was cool of her to even be worried about us. I'm the one that almost ran the light." I looked at him curiously. "Good peripherals. I kind of saw it turn, but was too busy looking at you to react quick enough."

"Well keep your eyes on the road then," I snapped.

He smiled, amused, and looked back out the window. "Yes ma'am."

"Why're you so chill all the time, Bud?"

"Why wouldn't I be? It's a beautiful day, birds are singing, God blessed me to have a beautiful lady by my side...what more could I want?"

I gave him the side-eye. This kid was a trip. Birds? It was nighttime, first of all.

"I mean...you don't get mad about anything?"

He shrugged. "No, not really."

I found his whole too cool for school persona hard to swallow. "You can't possibly be this even all the time, Kenney. You didn't even think about it first. For real, there isn't anything that would piss you off?"

He shook his head thoughtfully. "Not really. I mean...unless of course somebody was messin' wit' my family. That would piss me off."

"So, say...somebody hit one of your sisters. What would you do?"

His jaw tightened. "I'd take care of it."

"Ok Sonny Corleone..." Again, not what I expected to hear. "What if it was a girl?"

"A girl? That hit my sister?"

"Yeah."

"Nothin'. My sisters can hold their own."

"What about if she hit your mom?" Ok, so I was pushing him. But I found it hard to believe that this guy was really as laid back as he seemed.

Oddly enough, he chuckled. "My mama would beat the mess outta her. I wasn't raised by no punks. I told you, we're Texans. That's what we do. We fight." He looked over at me. "Don't act like you don't know what it do, gul! You know Granny down in Houston could handle her biz if she needed to."

Well...my Granny could beat a sista down if need be. According to family legend, she was kind of slick with the hands when it came to dudes, too, back in the day. Before she met my grandfather, that is. After that, she didn't have to fight anymore. He took care of it. Granny had still always kept a shotgun under their bed, though, for as long as I'd been alive. I never was sure why.

But we weren't talking about my family. We were talking about him. So I tried to ruffle his feathers some more.

"So what exactly would a girl have to do to make you hit her?"

"Nuthin'. I don't hit girls."

"Not even if she hit you first?"

"No." He looked annoyed. I kept going.

"So what if I hauled off and popped you right in the side of your head right now?"

Looking back, I think maybe I was just trying to see how far he would let me push him before he told me to shut up. Then again, maybe I was just testing the waters to make sure I wouldn't end up thrown up against another locker.

Who knows what I was thinking back then?

I was thrown by Kenney's dead serious response. "I wouldn't hit you, but I would put your silly butt out and make you find your own crazy way back to campus."

"That's messed up."

"How is that messed up when you hit me?"

"I'm just sayin'...so what if I did it in front of your boys?"

"What are we talking about, Tashi?"

"Every boy has hit a girl at some point in his life, Kenney. Don't BS me."

He stared at me incredulously. "Are you kiddin' me right now?" Again with the not looking at the road.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm serious. You mean to tell me that you never once hit your sisters for...I don't know. Not leaving your room when you told them to get out?"

"No."

"Never popped your mom in the arm when you got too big for her to boss you around anymore?"

"What tha hell...?" He said every word like it was its own sentence. "Hit my moms? Are you kiddin' me? First of all, she still bosses me around. I never got too big. We have a silent understanding. She tells me what to do and then, after taking her argument into deep consideration and acting like I'm really about to do what she says, I do whatever the hell I want to do anyway. We both know that's what it is, and there's never been any kind of power struggle about it. Second of all, please tell me you're just playin' wit' this. What the hell kind of a man you know hits his own mama? Come on Tashi. That's not even funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny." I sat forwards again and looked at him. "I was just trying to see what would make you hit a girl."

He shook his head, looking beyond disturbed. "Nothing. I would never hit a girl. Hell," he looked over at me oddly, "I've never even seen a girl get hit before."

"Really?" Maybe I sounded too surprised because his look became suspicious.

"That's a lie, actually. I have seen a girl get hit before. It was pretty fucked up and I hate everything about that type shit. I hope I never see it again. Why are you asking me so many questions, Tashi? Have you ever been hit before?"

"By a girl?" I looked away quickly.

"You know what I mean."

"Not really, no. Well..." I looked over at him. "My boyfriend threw me up against a locker one time and pushed me. But he never hit me. I mean, unless you count the time when we were little and he head-butted me to get to the swings first." I chuckled, but Kenney didn't even crack a smile. "What?"

"What do you mean what? That's not funny Natasha. Boys aren't supposed to be rough with girls like that."

"We were just kids, Kenney."

"I don't care what you were. How old were you when he pushed you?"

"Oh...high school..." I looked away again.

"Are you still with this guy?"

"No."

"Because of that?"

"No."

"Oh...so..."

"Don't ask. How far away is this place anyway?"

"We're almost there." He shook his head silently and stared hard at the road. I didn't know what he was getting all uptight about. He didn't even know the whole story.

"So...tonight...are you doing a poem or something?" I grasped at a weak attempt to change the subject.

"Well," he ran a hand over his jaw thoughtfully. "I was gonna freestyle, but I might read a little somethin' somethin.' Just for you." He looked over at me and winked.

When we got to the place, it looked all crazy inside. The walls were blue and decorated like the ocean. Fake marine life and weird sea stuff was covering every inch of the interior. They even had some kind of light that made you feel like you were under water. The stage looked like a wrecked ship and the tables had little portholes all around them. I always thought that Hamptonians took that whole "Home By the Sea" thing way too far.

Kenney took my hand on the way in, but a bouncer stopped us at the entrance.

"Ma'am, you need to be eighteen to get in here."

Kenney looked over at me in surprise. I flushed with embarrassment. "Oh...sorry. I meant to give you this." I quickly took my driver's license back and handed him my student ID. Then I gave the bouncer my sweetest smile and batted my lashes.

He looked down at the Hampton University ID that I handed him, then looked around quickly. "Alright. Go on."

I grinned sheepishly at Kenney as he held out a chair for me at one of the little barrel tables.

"Yeah...we'll have to talk about that one later." I couldn't tell if he was serious or teasing.

Either way, I stepped right over it. "Wow! This little thing really will get you in anywhere," I waved my ID in front of me and then stuck it in my purse.

A poet named "Danielle" walked out onto the stage as Kenney pushed my chair in and sat down.

"Today's my birthday..." she began.

The emcee interrupted her. "Let's hear it for all the Sages!" he exclaimed and then encouraged anyone else who was a Sagittarius to come up on stage.

Kenney looked over at me. "Aren't you a Sage? You should get up there."

"No way! I would be so pissed if I was her," I whispered to Kenney, slightly above the noise.

"Why?"

"Because. It's her day. Why would he call other people up on stage after she already has the spotlight on her day? Man! I would be pissed!"

Kenney smiled thoughtfully and kept his eyes on the stage. "I'll try to remember that."

After the poet on stage finally got her moment to shine, the emcee took back the mic. After looking over the list of performers for a moment, a slow smile spread across his face.

"Alright y'all. Next on the mic we have a Shipwreck favorite. Please give it up for...Mo' Betta!"

I choked on my Cherry Coke as Kenney stood to his feet. After giving me a quick wink, he sauntered to the front of the club and onto the stage. Apparently, he was a regular there because the guys started whooping and the girls immediately gave him their undivided attention.

After standing under the spotlight for more than a few, shamelessly basking in the love, Kenney looked over at me and began.

"I'd like to dedicate this one to a very special lady tonight..." When I rolled my eyes and looked back down at the table, Kenney started laughing. "I'm trippin' y'all. But I am gonna do somethin' a little different this time, just to change it up a bit." He took a small piece of paper out of his pocket and cleared his throat.

I couldn't believe how comfortable he was on stage. It was like he had been performing in front of people his whole life. Maybe he had. What did I really know about this guy anyway?

Clearing his throat again, Kenney carefully unfolded the yellowing paper and looked slowly around the room. Something wasn't right. The ever-present glint in his eye seemed to disappear and in its place came a sort of defeated look. The crowd was so in tune with "Mo' Betta'" that when his mood changed, so did everyone else's. I even leaned in a little closer to hear what he was about to say more clearly.

"Yeah, uh...like I said..." again he paused and struggled with his words. "I'm gonna change it up tonight and read something that my sister wrote..." he crossed his chest and said "may she rest in peace. Today...today would have been her twenty-second birthday."

What? I was floored. Unable to hold in a gasp, I sat back and stared at Kenney. He never said anything about that in the car. As a matter of fact, he had talked about all four of his sisters like they lived right down the street.

"So my sister wrote this and never got a chance to title it, but I think I'll call it...Sammy's song." Quickly turning back on the charm, he grinned out at the audience, then back over at me. He was pretty cute.

The ghastly silence that had once taken over the audience now turned into loud applause and a chorus of "Yeeeah..!s."

"Aight. Here it go." He suddenly snapped his fingers as if remembering something. "And I just wanna tell y'all bruthas out there that we need to take better care of our women. If you love one, whether it's your mama, girlfriend, cousin, sister...whatever. Keep her close and don't let nobody hurt her. Not even you. Because...because you never know how long you'll be blessed to have her in your life."

The fellas in the audience clapped in agreement and the ladies let out a chorus of "that's right!s" The emcee just looked confused. This must have been totally out of character for Kenney.

"And that's all I have to say about that," Kenney concluded quietly. He paused again and cleared his throat one more time. He must not have ever read this poem out loud before. "In this day and age, true love Lies diminishing in the hands of fools Like the withered petals Of a dying rose that was once A beautiful creature, I gaze sadly Down at the ground and know That if given the chance, I could nurse The fragile flower back to health Or if it had been mine all along The beauty of life would never Have fallen from its stem." He let the breath that he had apparently been holding the whole time out slowly and forced a sad smile. "That was my sister. All beautiful words and stuff."

And that was Kenney. Always lightening the delivery of a heavy message. I vaguely wondered when and how he had perfected that art as a hint of embarrassment flushed his cheeks. I stood up and clapped with everyone else when he walked quickly off the stage.

"Kenney Duvalle ladies and gentlemen," the emcee said, motioning to Kenney and then readjusting his giant Rastafarian hat.

As soon as he got to the table, Kenney leaned down and whispered to me "Let's get out of here."

I didn't ask any questions. He'd had that effect on me from day one. I just went with the flow whenever I was with him.

Clicking seatbelts broke our silence. "So how did you like the place?" he asked quietly.

"It was...interesting. What's up with this place and all the ocean stuff? Does every place in Hampton have to be about the sea?"

He smiled faintly. "Apparently so."

After trying to bite my tongue for as long as I could, I turned to Kenney. "I'm sorry about your sister."

"Yeah."

"Was it...did somebody do something to her?"

"What?" His eyes widened. "Hell no! I'm not in jail am I? Besides," he grinned, "Samantha Duvalle wan't no punk. She woulda handled that before it even popped off. Where do you think the rest of us learned how to fight?"

"She was the oldest?"

"Yeah..." he looked like he missed her a lot. "Two older, two younger." Silently, he ran a hand over his face and let out a sigh. "So what's up with you and all these domestic violence questions anyway?"

"What?"

"I mean, why would you just assume that somebody hurt my sister?"

"No...it's just...the way you reacted to what I was talking about before..."

"And why were you talking about that again?"

I shrugged indifferently. "Just asking..." Now, I was thankfully smart enough to peep, was not the time to get into it with him. "So..." I went back to asking about his family. "Are your parents still together?"

"No." He looked over at me. "Yours?"

"Yep."

"Hmm," he was thoughtful. "Ever see your father hit your mother?"

"What?" I exclaimed. "No! Of course not!"

"Then why do you think that every man hits?"

"I don't know what people do when I'm not around." I looked down and picked at my nails. "But I said boys, anyway. You know, like high school stuff. I do know a lot of parents who did fight, though. And a lot of boys who took it out on their girlfriends."

"Like yours?"

"Damn Kenney!" I should never have told him about that. "Can we talk about something else? Shit!"

This seemed to be an issue that he wouldn't let go of once you brought it to his attention. I made a mental note never to bring it up around him again.

He chuckled. "You're funny. Got a bad temper like Sammy. She would have liked you." He shook his head. "The more I talk to you, the more you remind me of her."

"Um...I remind you of your sister?" Awkward, considering the way he kept looking at me.

Kenney glanced over at me like he was trying to figure me out. He did that to me a lot in the beginning. I couldn't blame him, though. I'm sure I sent Kenney all kinds of mixed signals at first, and a long time after.