“Hey, what’s up, D-Will,” Slater Lee said. “I was just filling Tasha in on our geography homework. Didn’t mean to make her late.”
“C’mere girl!” D-Will said as he grabbed Tasha’s arm hard and pulled her toward him. She let out a tiny shriek of pain before D-Will pointed a figure in her face and frowned. Tasha shut her mouth. Then, passing the girl over to his friends, D-Will turned his attention to Slater Lee.
“What have I told you about talking to my girl?” The big senior asked.
“C’mon, D,” Slater said pleading, his hands up as an uncomfortable smile crawled over his face. “I was just giving her some homework tips, man. I could give you some, too. Didn’t see you in class today.”
“This is the second time I caught you with her, Slater,” D-Will said. And I told you what would happen if you did it again.”
“Yeah, I know, I know,” Slater relented. D-Will’s beatdowns were near legendary at East Central. “I’m ready for it. I’ll take it like a man.”
Ever the charmer, Slater took one last glance at Tasha Brooks.
“It was so worth it.”
At that, D-Will rushed Slater Lee, took him by the shoulders and slammed him into the lockers. D-Will raised his tightly clinched fist high.
“Or we can…well, never mind.”
“Or what? We can what?!” D-Will said.
“No, no, it’s pretty stupid,” Slater replied, closing his eyes again. “Go ahead. Finish me quickly.”
“Spit it out, Slater! Now!”
“Well I have a little extra money on me today. I won in a game of spades at lunch. I could pay off my debt to you that way.”
“Fine, pay up!”
“Certainly. If you could just back your handsome self a couple steps away from me, I’ll gladly reach in my pocket and get it for you.”
D-Will did indeed back away from Slater, then held out his hand. Slater pulled out a wad of cash from his back pocket, a stack of dirty ones, fives, and tens that totaled close to one hundred dollars. Slater began counting it.
“So how much do I owe you?”
“Just hand it all over, Slater. And you’ll live another day.”
Slater slapped the money in the palm of D-Will’s hand and, at the same time, gave the big senior a handshake.
“Nice doing business with you. Sorry about the misunderstanding. Won’t happened again, I promise.”
“It better not, Slater, or you’ll need double next time,” D-Will said. Slater still hadn’t let go of his hand. D-Will looked over his shoulder at the others.
“Let’s go.”
Tasha and the other four seniors began to walk away. D-Will started to follow them, but Slater still had not let go of his hand.
“By the way, Darius,” Slater Lee said. His voice hardened, his eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared. “There’s something you should know.”
Before the big senior could respond, Slater Lee placed his other hand over D-Will’s wrist and yanked him close. In the same motion, Slater shot his foot forward, kicking D-Will square in the abdomen as hard as he could.
When D-Will, grunting in agony, bent over to nurse his stomach, Slater tightly secured D-Will’s neck under his right arm, placed his left arm on top of D-Will’s back to steady himself, then fell backwards, driving the big senior’s head into the linoleum floor of the school hallway. The money flew out of his hands, scattering the air in a small cloud of cash.
Darius Williams was lying face down, completely knocked out.
Click Here for Episode 9.
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