The Scammer(26)

“Hey girl. What cha doing?”

I jump at the sound of her voice and snap my notebook closed.

“Oh! Hey. Uh, just writing a story.”

Kammy walks in wearing her p.j.s, hair scooped up in a bonnet for the night.

“Story? I thought you wanted to be a lawyer.”

“I do! I do. It’s . . . just a hobby. That’s all.”

She plops on my bed. “What’s this story about?”

“Well . . . it’s about a girl and she’s like . . . a con artist, trying to play a prank on her classmates until one day she meets her match.”

“Ha! That’s cool.” She glances around. “Your room is so . . . empty. You don’t have no pictures or nothing from back home?”

I shrug. “Maybe I’ll print some of us. My new family.”

In fact, that’s a great idea. I don’t have a slew of pictures from high school with a bevy of friends. I only appeared once in my senior yearbook for my graduation portrait. Now, I have tons of photos, ranging from silly to cute to hilarious, and find myself so eternally grateful for the way these girls have changed my life.

Kammy grins and clasps her hands together. “Soooo . . . about what you saw . . . with Devonte.”

“Saw? Oh, I saw nothing.”

Kammy rolls her eyes. “Girl, quit playing. I know you. And what you saw was totally natural. In fact, destined.”

Funny how a statement can sound so right yet surrounded by something so ridiculous.

“But . . . what about . . .”

“Micah? I broke up with him,” she says proudly. “We’re just going in two different paths. He wants to be a pastor and I’m . . . not sure what I believe in right now. You wanna know the truth? I think he’s been brainwashing me, gaslighting me. Him and his family. That’s why I’m so sexually suppressed, you know? I should be exploring more.”

A cold chill creeps up my arms.

“Are you . . . sure about that? Like, that’s what you really think?”

“Well, yeah. But my memories are all mixed up. I bet I’m not remembering everything exactly.”

I nod, feeling sick. “But . . . isn’t Devonte a little . . . old for you?”

“Not you trying to be my momma!” She laughs. “Age is just a number. It’s what you feel inside that makes you twin flames. This was fate. I was meant to meet him. To learn about myself.”

Words fall dead in my mouth.

“But we’re not together like that, like that. He’s just helping me . . . process some things. And until I’m ready, I don’t think I should be open to exploring with other boys. Especially ones that I don’t trust, don’t you think?”

I swallow. “Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.”

Kammy smiles and jumps up, giving me the tightest hug. “Thanks, girl!”

I cough out a laugh. “For?”

“For not judging me. Duh!”





Eight




“No, I don’t think you get it. They were . . . kissing kissing! His hands were all over her!”

Vanessa laughs as we jump out of her car. “You were probably seeing things. You know Kammy, she’s all touchy-feely. She gives crazy long hugs to everybody!”

Loren throws me a nervous glance, closing her back door.

It took some major convincing from Kerry, but after chilling in the Rec, we decided to stop by a party off campus, just us three. Kammy has been MIA all day. I fear she’s stuck in her room with Devonte. I don’t want to imagine what they’re doing.

But with just the three of us, it gives me the perfect opportunity to raise a giant red flag. The girls HAVE to see how . . . wrong this is.

Vanessa reapplies her lip gloss. “Girl, it’s no big deal, don’t be a hater.”

Loren shrugs. “She’s grown. She knows what she’s doing.”

I expected that response from Vanessa. But not from Loren. I swallow the rest of my thoughts as we head inside to a ground-level apartment in Hyattsville, Maryland. They’re calling it an “old-school rent party.” They’re either trying to raise rent or using any excuse to have people over.

Loren shrugs out of her coat as we enter. “It’s hot as hell in here.”

A girl appears by the door, with a red cup. “Hey ladies! Gimme your coats, I’ll put them in the back.”

We’re herded in the living room, a DJ’s set up in the kitchen by a makeshift self-serve bar. I spot a few people I know from FUSA—Nneka, Brianna, Neveah, and, of course, Nick. He wouldn’t miss a party.

Loren scans the crowd, fidgeting with her top. “We shouldn’t stay long.”

“What’s wrong?” Vanessa asks, looking around for a threat.

She shrugs. “Nothing. Just . . . not in the mood to party like that anymore. And . . . we don’t want Devonte wondering where we’re at. He’ll be worried.”

“Oh. I told him we were here,” Vanessa says matter-of-factly.

Our necks snap in her direction.

“Seriously?”

She laughs. “What! I didn’t want to lie to him. That’d be hella wack.”

Vanessa turns, already mingling with a few girls I haven’t seen in our suite since Devonte’s arrival.