The next night, I went to Shipwreck with Kenney. I decided not to say anything to him about meeting up with Collin later on that night, since I figured we'd be finished in plenty of time for me to get back without causing any more unnecessary beef between the two. Plus, for some reason, Kenney was in a better mood than usual and I didn't want to ruin it for him.

On the way to the club he turned the radio all the way up and sang to me at the top of his lungs. He killed me knowing every word to any song on the radio, no matter what station. I looked over at him and couldn't help but grin back as he dimpled up and changed to an oldies station and started singing the Marvin classic, "What's Goin' On." With the windows rolled down and the salty ocean air whipping through my hair as we sped down the street, his good mood was contagious.

"What are you so happy about anyway?" I asked when he finally turned the radio down and pulled into the parking lot.

Kenney didn't answer, but grinned at me again and turned the car off. "You ready?" he asked, almost bouncing out of his seat. "I can't wait to see you read." When we got up to the building and he pulled the heavy wooden door open for me, Kenney sucked in his breath and said "umph," as I walked past and into the dark, underwater illusion that was Shipwreck. "Lookin' good there, darlin'."

I knew he was looking at the way my butt sat up in my brand new Baby Phat jeans - which, by the way, was exactly why I bought them - but I was too embarrassed to turn around and answer him. When Drama saw us walk in, he grinned at me and waved from the stage. Kenney must have told him ahead of time that I'd be "blessing the mic" that night. It seemed like we didn't even have time to get fully settled in our seats before Drama bopped back onto the stage with the same goofy grin that Kenney was rocking and introduced me. He made a real big deal of my being a "virgin to the mic" and said that they were in for a real treat because I was one of his "personal favorites."

No pressure.

As I made my way to the front, I took a deep breath and noticed that the door wasn't so far away from the stage. I could make a quick run for it before anyone even had a chance to realize that I'd cut out. But then Drama held out his hand to help me up the steps and the pride that actually beamed across his face was enough to make me woman up and tread confidently toward the mic. After the welcoming applause died down, I began.

"Can I be your first kiss..." I said weakly, making the poem sound a lot sweeter than it was meant to be. The shy girl act must have worked with the rhythm of the piece though, because before long I had people "awing" at me like I was just the cutest little thing they'd ever seen.

I couldn't really picture myself being the adorable type, but hey, whatever worked. It must have done a number on Kenney too because by the time I made it back to the table, he had long since stopped smiling and now gazed at me with an openness that I had never seen in him before.

When I finally looked away, embarrassed, Kenney regained his composure.

"Dang girl!" he exclaimed. "You just inspired me!"

We both laughed, but suddenly I remembered the time and looked down at my watch. "Aw man, Kenney," I said reluctantly. "I have to go."

He looked at me for a long, long time - I'm sure trying to decide if he should let me know that he knew I was ditching him for Collin or if he should just let it ride. Finally he shrugged and said, "Ok. But can you hold on for a sec? I told my boy I'd do this new thing right quick that I laid on him yesterday." He smiled at me. "I think you'll like it."

I smiled back. "Ok. I love when you go up."

For some reason he blushed and directed his attention back towards Drama. When Kenney tapped his watch, signaling that we had to run, Drama discreetly cut the band short and brought "Mo' Betta" up to the front.

"Waddup Black people?" Kenney shouted to the audience. He got an immediate response and his silly grin returned. "Yeah, I'm 'bout ta drop somethin' new on y'all. It's called," he grinned wider, "it's called I'm In Love With My Best Friend."

The audience got kind of quiet for minute, and we all looked at each other in confusion. I guess, since it was a known fact all over Hampton that Kenney and Drama hung tight like brothers, maybe they thought he was about to be on some gayness all of a sudden. Kenney just chuckled deviously and let the question rumble slowly through the crowd for a second before he began.

"Yo...I'm in love wit' my best friend," he chanted after he showed the drummer what type of beat he wanted, "But the girl don't love me back..."

I heard a few "Oh's," and suddenly clarity fell across the sea of faces. Now, Hampton's not so big that everyone wouldn't know who the only other person that he could have been talking about was, so several people then looked over at me after he said this, knowing that he and I hung pretty tight, too.

Kenney continued. "...Keep tryna tell her that I'm tha one/ But honey just won't get off that otha' nigga's sack..."

There was an explosion of "ooohs!" and now even more people turned to look in my direction. I wanted to crawl under the table and find a secret tunnel out of there. Instead, I shot Kenney a dirty look to let him know that I was not happy. He looked right back at me and grinned, but then went on like the telepathic hate wasn't even strong enough to reach him all the way up there.

"...I'm in love wit' my best friend/ I keep callin' her every night and day/ Tryna shake the way I feel about her/ But that shit just won't go away..." He bobbed back and forth across the stage, slapping various band members five and working the crowd like he knew that he was born to be right up there where he was, and like everyone else knew it too.

That's when I truly began to realize just how much potential Kenney had. I knew that he'd make it big one day, in whatever he did, and suddenly I was so proud of him that I couldn't help but jump out of my seat, too, and start bobbing with the rest of the crowd.

"...I'm in love wit' my best friend/ But she keeps choosing that punk beeech," of course he dragged the word out like Too Short, "...over me..." The crowd went wild and even I had to laugh a little. Kenney was always so ridiculous and so over the top, but it was like half the time he was dead serious with it. "...All I know, if he roughs her up again/ That nigga's gonna get a ball bat to the knees."

All the men threw their fists up at this, like they had Kenney's back no matter what he decided to do about it, and all the women looked as if they were falling more in love with him by the second. All the women that is, but me. I was at the highest level of pisstivity that he would even get up on stage and say something like that, knowing good and damn well that everyone up in that place would think he was telling the truth...and that he was talking about me. The last thing I needed was somebody going back to Collin with this bull, saying that I told Kenney anything remotely close to that.

"...I'm in love wit' my best friend," Kenney went on, feeding more and more off the crowd's energy. "I'm a dumb ma' sucka, I know," he nodded his head and smile recklessly, like every rapper that was out back then. "Wish I could get her off of my mind/ But I just can't shake my heart...no!" Then he kept bouncing from one side of the stage to the other repeating "But I just can't shake my heart, no!" and of course, the crowd was right there with him dancing and chanting like Kenney "Mo' Betta'" Duvalle was the next cosmic star.

Who knew? Maybe he was.

By the time that fool was finished, I was so embarrassed. Not only that, but I was praying that it didn't get back to Collin. Kenney acted like he was indestructible, but just the idea of his skinny ass thinking he could step to Collin put my nerves on edge. Maybe, I thought as I looked around at the crowd and tried to play it off by applauding with the rest of them, they won't think he's talking about me.

Kenney couldn't stop grinning as he made his way back to the table, giving this or that person dap on the way past, and his grin got even wider when Drama got back on the mic and teased, "I wonder who that was about."

I tried to play it off the best I could and laughed along with everyone else, but I think Kenney could tell my smile was forced. I didn't really know what I was so afraid of, but a panicked feeling was rising up into my chest, and no matter how hard I tried to push it back down, the feeling just wouldn't go away.

When Kenney noticed that my smile had faded altogether, he brushed my hand lightly with his fingers and said, "Let's go." On the way home, he kept trying to make small talk by asking me if I liked his performance, how my first time on stage felt...that type of thing. "You're gonna be big," he kept telling me, trying to gas my head up. I tried to put on a smile for him because I knew he was being sincere, but I was still hella pissed about the stunt he'd just pulled. Finally he looked over at me, all traces of his last smile gone and asked, "You ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You mad?" He nudged me.

I grinned. "Hell yes."

"Good." Kenney grinned even wider as he peered back out into the night. "Hey," he looked back over at me. "You know me and Drama were just clownin' right? Nobody knew I was talkin' 'bout...what I was really talkin' 'bout." He looked away.

"You better hope not," I warned seriously and looked over at him. "Collin would kill your ass if he found out you were up on stage talking smack about him. Mine, too."

I was so serious.

And so worried.

Kenney didn't even bother to look over at me. Instead he glared out at the traffic and his jaw tightened like it always did when he was trying to bite his tongue.

"See what happens if he tries," was his quiet, and dead honest response.

We didn't have a whole lot to say to each other after that until he pulled up in front of the dorm and I saw Collin pacing back and forth across the steps looking upset. When he saw the car pull up, he glared at us and looked at his watch again.

"Shit," I mumbled under my breath.

Kenney looked over at me. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just supposed to go out with Collin tonight. He bought tickets to this play..."

"Why would he do that?" Kenney looked genuinely confused. "Didn't you tell him you were going up tonight? Why would he do that instead of coming out to see you?"

"Yeah he knew, but he doesn't care about stuff like that. Look...I really have to go. Thanks for tonight Kenney. I had a really good time." I gave him my best smile.

He wasn't buying it. "Do you want me to walk with you?"

"Naw..." I looked back over at Collin, who was looking angrier by the second.

Kenney caught my hand as I reached for the door handle. "Call me later ok?"

"Ok. I will."

I smiled again at Kenney and gave him a hug, to let him know that everything was cool, then waved goodbye to him as I closed the car door and waited until he finally drove away before turning to walk apprehensively toward Collin.

"I am so sorry!" I called as I picked up the pace, trying to apologize before he even had the chance to come slick with it. "It took them so long to call me up..." Collin's eyes shut me up and I stopped dead in my tracks as my voice trailed off.

He looked pissed. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Collin snapped. As soon as I was close enough he grabbed my arm and yanked me towards him.

"We can still make it," I tried to reason.

"That's not the point," he growled. "I told you I don't like that fool. I don't trust him. So what the hell were you doing all hugged up on him when you're supposed to be my girl? Don't let me catch you doing that shit again."

"What?" I yanked my arm away. "First of all, I wasn't hugged up on anybody. Second of all, if you want to be my man, you need to quit trippin'. I am not checkin' for Kenney Duvalle. He's not my type anyway, and you know it. Besides," I said gently, trying to make it better, "the poem I read was about you...us...see?" I took the folded up piece of paper out of my pocket and held it out to him.

Collin's reaction wasn't quite what I expected. "You read a poem about us," he said almost in a whisper. Quiet, deadly. "What? You tellin' our business? Tellin' niggas I used to beat on you or some bullshit? Y'all females always tryna make things bigger than they are. I should drag your ass all over this parking lot. Then maybe you wouldn't be acting like you lost yo' ma' fuckin' mind." I was so blown by the sudden flip that I didn't even know what to say. He wrapped his fingers tighter around my arm. "So...what was that bullshit about?"

"I...it was...about..." I got so tongue-tied, I couldn't even spit it out. I just kept trying to hand him the paper like if he read it, then maybe he'd see what an idiot he was and apologize.

"Just like I thought. Ain't this about a bitch!" he grabbed my other arm and shook me. "That the kind of shit you get up on stage poppin' off at the mouth about? Huh? Is that what the hell you and Kenney always talkin' about? Why he thinks he's up on me? Better than me? Huh? Huh?" He shook me harder. "Answer me!"

"No...no..." I was so scared.

"Don't you open your mouth to say jack shit about me to anyone. What happens between us stays between us. You understand me?"

"Yes." Tears rushed to my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. He was so furious that his eyes had turned bloodshot red, and I just knew that he was about to hit me. But he didn't. A couple walked past us right then, really too into each other to pay us any attention, but Collin instinctively let go of my arms. I used this distraction to break all the way loose and dodge around him, then I ran up the stairs.

I looked back just in time to see him bend down and snatch up the poem that I had dropped carelessly to the ground. It was wrinkled and tattered, just like one lonely fallen rose petal.