Bad Apple - the Baddest Chick(5)

“You promise?” Nichols asked with a smile.

“I promise. C’mon, girl, you my baby sister. I got you.”

“Kola said she was goin’ to get me into the clubs this summer,” Nichols informed her.

“Nichols, you don’t need to be in the club.”

“You and Kola go all the time, and y’all only a year older than me. I’m grown too.”

“You need to stop tryin’ to grow up so fast.”

Nichols rolled her neck and snapped her fingers. “Look who’s talking.”

“We still older and wiser.”

“Apple, all I do is go to school, study, and read. I wanna have some fun like y’all. I’m tired of being cooped up in this crib with Mommy always yelling at somebody.”

“That’s because you’re smart, Nichols, and you got potential to be better. Forget Mommy. She just hating ’cause we better than her, and we got something going for ourselves. We divas, and she ain’t.”

Nichols laughed. “Don’t let Mommy hear you say that.”

Apple stared at Nichols’ young figure in her jean skirt, which displayed her meaty thighs and smooth brown skin, and knew that, if she didn’t already, she was going to have problems in the future. Grown men looked at Nichols like she was prey—a sweet, young piece of meat. She wasn’t street savvy like her twin sisters, so Apple and Kola always felt they needed to keep a keen eye on her because the men in the projects were thirsty for a taste of her.

Nichols was growing fast and becoming more influenced by her sisters and their ways. She wanted to get out of the nest and learn how to fly on her own.

Apple noticed Nichols’ clothing was becoming tighter and more revealing. She noticed the look in Nichols’ eyes when Kola’s young hustler friends would come by the crib. Apple knew that look all too well—lust. She began to wonder if Nichols was still a virgin.

“So what you gonna wear to Summer Jam?” Nichols asked.

“I don’t even know. I ain’t got shit to wear,” Apple returned with a discouraged sigh.

“You know there’s gonna be many cuties up in there. Damn, I hate you, Apple!” Nichols joked.

“Next year, we go together. I promise, because I’m gonna be paid,” Apple said, trying to assure her little sister.

Nichols smiled, leaping from the bed and rushing to the closet. She swung open the door and went leafing through all of Apple’s clothing. Apple’s wardrobe wasn’t extensive like Kola’s. She did have some nice things, but they were all outdated, and Apple had grown tired of the style.

“You need to go shopping,” Nichols told her.

“With what money?”

“Then borrow some clothes from Kola. You know she got a bunch of gear she ain’t wearing in her closet.”

“You know how she is wit’ her shit,” Apple reminded her sister.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I don’t ask and just sneak her outfits back into her closet when she ain’t looking,” Nichols informed Apple with a devilish smile.

“Oooh, you a sneak.”

“Hey, her clothes be lookin’ too good on me.”

Apple and Nichols both laughed.

Apple’s mood turned serious, as she thought about what to wear to the Summer Jam concert. She knew it would be a bad look for her to go in something outdated. Every bitch at that concert was going to try and outdo each other, and Apple felt she needed to step up her game or probably not go at all—especially after finding out that Cross was going to be there.

She sat next to Nichols and began pondering her options. She needed some cash, and she needed it fast. She remembered a nice, sexy outfit she saw on 125th Street the other day when she was hanging out with Ayesha. The price tag was $200, which was way out of her budget for clothes. However, Apple knew once she was seen in it, heads would turn, and dudes would drool over the way her body fit into the skintight shorts and trendy shirt.

Apple even thought about getting Kola and her crew to shoplift the outfit for her. Kola’s girls had the means, the nerves, and the attitude to boost from any store and get away with it. But she hated to owe Kola any favors. It was very frustrating for Apple to know what she wanted to wear to the concert but not be able to afford it.

“What’s on your mind, Apple?” Nichols inquired with concern.

“Nothin’,” she replied. Apple then looked at her sister and smiled. “I’ll be back.”

“Where you going?”

“Out for a minute.”

“Can I come?” Nichols asked.

“No,” Apple shouted.

Nichols sucked her teeth and caught an attitude; she hated being the little sister.

Apple snatched a cigarette from off the dresser and walked out the apartment. She needed a smoke and a walk. She marched down the pissy-smelling stairway and stepped into the lobby, only to see Supreme and Guy Tony conducting business with a young male stranger. Apple was aware of Supreme’s loan-sharking reputation. He was a bully, a pervert, and, most importantly, feared in the neighborhood.

Supreme turned to see Apple standing close by, trying to exit. He took a pull from the burning Black & Mild, eyed Apple’s luscious body from head to toe, and said, “You tryin’ to pass, Apple?”

“Yeah,” she uttered.