Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0)(17)

“We only broke up for two weeks! What the hell, Maverick?”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, a’ight? I haven’t messed with her or anybody else since.”

Lisa hug herself real tight. When she do that, it’s like she tryna keep the world away. “Why are you telling me this now?”

Her voice so soft it hurt.

I gotta do this. “Iesha had a baby three months ago.”

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“We . . . we got a DNA test done—”

“Oh my God.” She holds her forehead. “Oh my freaking God—”

“He mine.”

“Oh my God.” Lisa sink to the floor. She look up at me. “You have a baby?”

Man up, I tell myself. “Yeah. I got a son.”

“You lied to me,” she says.

“I didn’t lie—”

“Yes, you did! For weeks, I’ve asked you what’s wrong! You said nothing. You went and got a freaking DNA test done on a baby, and that’s nothing?”

“I didn’t wanna stress you out! I thought he was King’s baby.”

“Oh my God. This explains sooooo much. Whenever I run into Iesha and her friends, they laugh at me. Tammy told me I was imagining it. I was right, wasn’t I? They were laughing ’cause you played me!”

“I didn’t play you!”

“Everybody knew that you slept with another girl except for me!”

“Everybody didn’t know,” I say.

“Iesha knew! Her friends knew! King knew! I bet Dre knew, didn’t he?”

I can’t respond, ’cause they did.

“You know what?” Lisa murmurs. “Maybe my mom and my brother are right about you.”

“What?”

Lisa look me dead in the eye. Hers are filled with tears. “Get out.”

“Lisa—”

“Get out!” she yells.

The door fly open, and Carlos rush in. “She said leave!”

“Man, mind your goddamn business!”

“She is my business!”

“Carlos, stop,” Lisa says softly. “He’s not worth it.”

It hit like a gunshot. That’s the worst thing she ever said ’bout me.

Carlos eye me, and he smirk. He finally got what he wanted.

“You heard her,” he says. “Go.”

Lisa wipe tears from her cheeks. I wish I could wipe them away myself. More than that, I wish I could kick my own ass for making her cry.

Instead, I do what she asked. I leave.





Seven


Two days go by, and Lisa won’t talk to me.

Three days.

A week.

Two whole weeks, and I don’t exist to her.

This time different. Usually when Lisa mad, she hang up when I call. Nah, she done blocked my number. I went over one day, hoping she had cooled off. Her momma’s car was gone and so was Carlos’s. I heard the TV inside, and I know I caught a glimpse of Lisa in the window. No matter how many times I rang the doorbell she never answered.

This shit hurt, man. I’m talking listen-to-sad-R&B-songs-all-day kinda hurt. I done had my Boyz II Men CD on steady rotation. Lisa was my best friend. The one person who could always make me smile and who I wanted to make smile. Call me soft, I don’t care. The thought of not having her in my life almost too much to handle.

Ma claim I walk around looking like a sad puppy. I can tell she feel bad for me. All she say is, “You made your bed, now you gotta lie in it.”

If this a bed, it’s made outta rocks—everything hard. Iesha ain’t come and got our son yet. I talked to her twice, and both times she asked me to keep him a little longer. Never said how “long” that is.

In the meantime, Li’l Man got me beyond tired. He ain’t cheap neither. I have to buy diapers, wipes, and formula all the time, and my money looking real funny now that I’m out the game. Ma asked the light company for an extension so we could afford a changing table. She talking ’bout working on weekends at the hotel to keep things from being so tight. Dre also a big help. Some days he’ll come watch my son for like an hour so I can nap, and he buy clothes for him that I can’t afford.

I really hope this job with Mr. Wyatt help. Today gon’ be my first day of school and my first day of work. While I ain’t really looking forward to work, I ain’t been this excited for school since my elementary days. I’m finally getting out this house. On top of that, I get to be with my boys. I ain’t seen none of them these past two weeks. They probably busy, I’m not tripping. Not like I got time to hang out. I’ll only be with Rico and Junie today though. King got expelled from Garden High last year.

I should be resting up for my long day, but around 2:00 a.m. Li’l Man wake up, screaming his head off.

It scare the shit outta me. I check his diaper first, and it’s clean. He can’t be hungry, I fed him a little while ago. I run outta ideas real quick, so I take him to Ma’s room.

I’m surprised he didn’t wake her up. Then again, I think Ma could sleep through a bomb. Her bonnet stick out from under all of her blankets. She keep the air on high in the summer only to sleep under a bunch of covers.

I shake her shoulder. “Ma, wake up.”