Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0)(21)

“Nope, you good,” Junie says. “Shawn and Dre got your back. Not like your ass ever get in trouble no way, Li’l Don.”

Him and Rico laugh.

“Man, forget you,” I say. Some people think I get special treatment ’cause of my pops. I hate that shit.

“We playing, we playing,” Rico says. “How daddy duty going?”

“Rough. This morning he pooped on me. I had to change my whole outfit.”

“Hold up. They can poop on you? Was that mentioned in the parenting manual?” Junie asks.

He act like my son is a car. “What manual? I’m learning as I go. It’s messed up.”

“What’s really messed up is these kicks!” Rico bend down to look at my Jordans.

“I know you ain’t come to school in these, Mav.”

“What’s wrong with them?” I ask.

“They fake.”

“Nah. I just got these.”

“From where?”

“Red.” He a hustler who sell stuff out the trunk of his car. I ran into him while I went to get Li’l Man some diapers last week. I agreed to swap some of my video games in exchange for these since I don’t got money for kicks. “He hooked me up with them.”

“He hooked you up with some fakes,” says Rico. “Your Jumpman got a booty crack.”

“What?” I yell, as Junie laugh. “You lying!”

I look at them closer, and he right. The Jumpman do got a booty crack.

“Yoooooo,” Junie says into his fist. “Mav got ass-crack Jordans!”

“He got them booty-crack Elevens!” Rico says.

They run around in a circle, howling laughing.

I’m gon’ whoop Red’s ass. “Shut up!”

“A’ight, a’ight, chill, Rico.” Junie drape his arm around my shoulder. I shrug him off. “Mav got enough problems. Cut him some slack.”

“Yeah, a’ight.” Rico hold his fist to me. “We cool?”

I push his hand away. “Hell nah!”

“Dawg, I ain’t sell you them shoes. Be mad at Red.”

“Trust, I’m gon’ take care of him.”

The bell ring, and everybody head for class. We take our time going to ours. It’s good to be back with my boys, for real. Got me feeling normal again.

“I hate my schedule this year,” Junie says. “I got Phillips for homeroom.”

“I got him too,” I say. Mr. Phillips the history teacher. He at least seventy-five. He yell all the time and get mad over the stupidest stuff.

“Ol’ ET-looking ass.” Junie throw back some sunflower seeds. “He oughta phone home.”

“You know damn well they’d send him back,” I say.

Rico brush his hair. Gotta keep his waves on point. “Goddamn! I wanna go home already.”

These girls pass us, looking fine as hell in their new ’fits and hairdos. Rico and Junie watch them walk away.

“Forget that, I’m staying,” Junie says, and Rico give him dap.

“I’m with you on that,” I lie easily. Fine as them girls are, they ain’t Lisa. I’m a sucker, for real.

Rico go on his way, and me and Junie go to history class. Mr. Phillips write on the chalkboard as everybody file into the room. It’s hot as hell today, and this man in a wool blazer. He real weird, yo.

Iesha’s best friend, Lala, run her mouth while sucking her thumb. She got an overbite from always doing that. Usually wherever Lala is, so is Iesha, but I haven’t seen Iesha since I got here.

I tap Lala’s shoulder. “Ay.”

She turn around and roll her eyes. Her blue contacts match her blue weave and her blue outfit. Girl overmatching. “What you want?”

“Is Iesha at school? I need to talk to her.”

“Do I look like I’m her babysitter?”

“Why you copping an attitude? I only asked—”

“Mr. Carter!” Phillips shouts. “This is not a social gathering. Take a seat!”

I ain’t even said much to that girl.

Whatever. It ain’t worth getting into it with him on the first day. I head to the back of the room and take a seat.

Halfway through the day, I’m dragging myself around.

I fell asleep in US history. It was boring anyway. I’m tired of hearing ’bout all these fucked-up white people who did fucked-up stuff, yet people wanna call them heroes. Phillips talked ’bout how Columbus discovered America, and all I could think was how the hell can you “discover” a place where people already lived?

Funny how that work.

World lit kept me awake. I like books, and we got a long list we’ll be reading this year. Mrs. Turner said we’ll cover Shakespeare first. His stories the bomb. Romeo and Juliet was basically on some gang shit. You could say she was a Queen Lord, and he was a GD. They went out on their own terms like some straight-up Gs.

That one dope class wasn’t enough to energize me. I could crash, for real. I go to the library during free period, grab a book, and sit in one of them beanbag chairs in the back. I hold the book in front of my face to hide the fact I’m taking a nap.

The class bell wake me up, and I head to my Spanish class. No sign of Iesha yet. Honestly, she one of them students who only make “guest appearances” at school. It’s not a big shocker that she not here.