Page 43 of Without Bound
I pocket my phone then lay my head on the car, spreading my arms wide. My eyes are closed and my smile is wide. I’m in love with my little A5. The blue exterior is eye-catching. Let’s just hope it doesn’t catch the eye of police officers should I be going a tad bit too fast.
I hear a clomping behind me and lift my head to see Keyara running over to where we stand, rubber boots on her feet.
“Why are you wearing those?” I ask her, staring at her bright red covered feet.
“I didn’t know what to expect, so I just grabbed these,” she says with a shrug.
“Did you think I was taking you fishing?” She smacks my arm. “Look what Uncle Nix bought me!”
She circles the car, inspecting with a close eye, and whistles. “Fancy wheels there, Nixy.”
Phoenix’s lip curls and he gives her a faux evil eye. Ever since Keyara found out that Vivian calls him Nixy, she refuses to call him anything else.
“Isn’t it beautiful? We’ll go for a ride after your last class. And after you change those ugly ass shoes. You can’t ride in my car with them.” She flips me the middle finger and continues to look at every detail of the car.
“I better get back to the stadium. I have to meet with my masseuse. I’ll text you before I leave tomorrow. Love you, Ana.” He reaches over and pulls me into a hug. “Proud of you.”
I close my eyes, squeezing him back and a smile on my face. “Thanks, Uncle Nix. Love you, too.”
He kisses my head and releases me, turning around and marching straight for his truck.
“Love you, too, Nixy,” Keyara shouts, her hands cupped around her mouth.
Phoenix just shakes his head and proceeds to hop in his truck and drive away.
“This is fucking nice. Is it your birthday, or something?”
“No. He just said he wanted me to have it. He thought it would be better that I have a vehicle instead of taking Ubers or the shuttle. Guess he finally got my mom to agree.”
I unlock the doors so she can peek inside when I hear voices behind me.
“Who’d she sleep with to get that?” the first voice says.
“Probably the baseball team. She’s always at their parties and hanging out with them at lunch. She must be the season's catchers mitt.”
My back stiffens but I don’t immediately respond because there’s nothing to say that they’re talking about me.
“That guy that just left, he’s an MLB Pitcher. She’s in the big leagues. I doubt she has to fuck around with college guys.”
“What even is she? Is she black? Hispanic? Her name is like Mexican or something, but she doesn’t look like any Mexican I know.”
Now I know it’s me and I’m trying to keep myself calm, because I really don’t feel like getting in a fight. I’ll bring out the Slidell if I need to, but I’m having a really good hair day and I’d hate to ruin it.
“Those little bitches,” Keyara hisses, and stands up.
“I got this,” I tell her and make my approach. “Hi. It’s obvious you wanted me to hear your little discussion, so let me address things.” My tone is sugary sweet and the smile on my face says I’m harmless.
“First off, that MLB pitcher is my uncle, Phoenix West. You can look it up. You can call him. I’ll give you his number or his fiancées number. They’ll both verify. Two, the baseball team that I’m always ‘hanging out with’ is coached by said uncle’s best friend. Coach Michaels has been incredibly nice and as a favor to my uncle, asked his guys to simply look out for me. Make sure no one fucks with me. Like you two.”
My finger wags between the two of them, and they stand with their arms crossed over the their chests with snooty looks on their faces.
“And finally, I’m Afro-Latina. That means I’m mixed race of African American and Latina. My dad is from Puerto Rico, and my mom is mixed. But all you need to remember is that I’m a person. And everything you just said is extremely rude and closed minded. I will also tell you that you know nothing about me and should watch your mouth before ever saying another word about me. I’m not above kicking a bitch’s ass. And trust me, I know how.
“So…there you go. The answers to all of your questions since you’re dying to know about me.” I click the button on my keyfob and the lights on my car blink, letting me know the lock is engaged. “Oh. I almost forgot. Eres un pinche cabrona, y tu madre es una putá. Adios.”
I grab Keyara’s hand and pull her away. We strut our way past them, me waving and Keyara flipping them off as we go.
Once we’re out of earshot, Keyara asks, “What did you say to them?”
