Friends 'til the End by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

Author:ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2009-08-22T04:00:00+00:00

14

Jasmine

I prayed as I dialed C.J.’s cell phone number. My hand was shaking so bad, it took me three tries to get the number right. Dear God, please let this be a mistake.

C.J. answered his cell phone on the second ring. His voice sounded heavy, like he was really tired.

“Hello,” he said.

“C.J., tell me it’s not true!” I said, skipping the greetings.

“Jasmine? Wh-what are you talkin’ about?”

“Your brother,” I shouted, my chest starting to heave up and down. “Please tell me your brother isn’t the one who shot Jaquan.”

His silence spoke volumes. Camille, Angel, and Alexis moved in and sat next to me on the bed.

“C.J., did Al do it?” I repeated, my words coming out slower.

“Jasmine, I’m so sorry,” C.J. said. He sounded hoarse.

I could not believe this. “Why didn’t you say something?” I screamed. “How long have you known?”

He hesitated before saying, “Yesterday.”

“Yesterday!” I yelled. “Why didn’t you call me right away?”

“Jasmine, I didn’t know what to say. This all has come as a shock to me, too. All I know is one minute I’m at home having dinner with my family, the next the cops are kicking in my door. My mom is about to lose her mind.”

“Your mom?” I cried. “What about my mom? What about my entire family? We lost my brother and now you’re telling me your brother is the one responsible?”

“Jasmine, calm down,” C.J. said.

I was just about to reply when I turned to see my sister standing in the doorway. Her eyes were wide in horror.

“I gotta go,” I said, slamming the phone down before he could say another word.

“Tell me I did not just hear what I thought I heard,” Nikki said, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Why are you eavesdropping on me?”

She didn’t take her eyes off me. “It’s my room, too. Answer me.”

Camille, Alexis, and Angel stood up. “Jaz, we’re gonna go. Call us if you need us.”

Angel hugged me. “No matter what time, we’re here for you.”

They all looked at me sadly before leaving without even speaking to Nikki.

After they’d gone, Nikki demanded, “Answer me, Jasmine. Did your little bootleg boyfriend have something to do with Jaquan’s death?”

I ignored her dig at C.J. and replied, “He didn’t. But apparently his brother did.”

“How do you know this?” she said, narrowing her eyes.

“Angel and Camille overheard someone talking about it today and told me. So I called C.J.”

“And he confirmed it?” she asked, her voice shaky.

I nodded, suddenly getting an uneasy feeling. “Yeah, C.J. said the cops just burst into—”

Nikki didn’t give me time to finish. She turned and bolted from the room. I knew exactly where she was headed when I heard her screaming, “Mama! Maaaama!”

I followed Nikki down the hall, trying desperately to convince her to let me be the one to tell Mama.

“Nikki, stop!”

Both my grandmother and my mother came racing out of their room. “Good Lord, girl. What are you runnin’ around here yellin’ for? Is something on fire?” my grandmother asked.

“Granny,” Nikki said, getting hysterical. I didn’t know if she was being her usual drama queen self or if she really was that upset.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.