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As the three of them walk along, with Raquel trailing a few feet behind, a red Mercedes with dark tinted windows slows down beside her. The driver rolls his window down halfway and suddenly the girls hear a loud whistle. Delila looks back at the car and then at Raquel who shrugs her shoulders. The man behind the steering wheel looks to be about twenty-five years old or so. Just as Raquel shifted her weight, the car sped off, burning rubber. Raquel hurries up to where the other two girls are standing.
Delila looks at Raquel who is grinning very big and asks, “Who was that?”
Raquel shrugs her shoulders again and says, “I don’t know, but did you guys see how he was looking at me? He is so so so fine! I want him in the worst way.”
“He does look good, Raquel,” Martine said. “I mean real good. I would definitely talk to him. When you say, you want him in the worst way, what exactly does that mean?”
“Yes, what exactly does, I want him in the worst way mean?” asked Delila.
“I mean he makes me feel so good inside,” said Raquel. “I have never felt this way about these boys out here. It is so hard to explain. I just cannot believe that older guy is interested in me. When he looked into my eyes, I felt something.”
“What makes you think he’s interested in you just because he slowed down and whistled, and how much older is he?” said Delila. “He looks too old for you, and besides, you act like you know him or something. He makes you feel good inside? What is that about?”
“He just does,” Raquel said and walked on ahead.
Delila and Martine did not know that their best friend Raquel had met Diante Woodard a couple months ago. It happened just around the time they had one of their falling outs with Raquel, and they had not really talked to her in about two and a half months. When they made up, she never told them she had met someone. However, they put two and two together, and they knew why she was always busy when they tried to call her.
Delila was always the suspicious one. Raquel knew if she did not tell her what was really going on, she would figure it out, so she decided to tell them who the mysterious guy was in the red Mercedes. Turning away from her two friends, Raquel looked off in the direction the Mercedes had sped.
Delila’s brain was spinning. She was anxious to hear what Raquel was about to say, but before she let her speak she started going off. “Spit it out,” she exclaimed shaking her finger at Raquel. “Who is he? You know him!”
“His name is Diante Woodard,” said Raquel.
“Diante Woodard. Where have I heard that name before?” Delila asked, looking from Raquel to Martine.
Diante Woodard is the distinguished gentleman of the neighborhood. He is tall, dark, bald, handsome, and sexy. He is always dressed in designer clothing such as Sean Jean, Coogi, Roca Wear, and Phat Farm. Occasionally you will see him dressed down in Timberland boots or Michael Jordan tennis shoes. Raquel thought about the times she got close enough to him to smell his cologne. He always wore Isimiaki or Dolce and Gabbana. Most people in the neighborhood knew what Diante did for a living. He drove the tightest 2009 Mercedes Benz CLS550, which had two televisions, a top of the line navigation system, and some of the tightest rims you ever saw.
Delila has a look of disbelief on her face as she says, “When did you meet this Diante character? Where did you meet him? Tell us everything.”
“See I was walking home from school one day and…,” said Raquel as she was quickly cut off by Martine.
“We always walk home together, don’t we?” said Martine, while looking from Delila to Raquel.
“Not when we had the fallout,” Delila responded.
“Anyways,” said Raquel, “He was driving on the side of me and was like, hey sweetie what is your name? At first, I was looking around. I couldn’t believe he was talking to me. I was like thinking to myself, is this money maker hollering at me? He was. I mean that big body Benz was too clean and shined up, kind of nice. He threw me a couple of lines that kept me grinning real hard and asked me for my phone number, and of course I gave it to him. We talked for about an hour and then he dropped me off at home.”
“You got in the car with him!” Martine yelled.
Raquel shrugged her shoulders, “He didn’t hurt me.”
“He could have,” both girls said in unison.
“Well, like I said he didn’t hurt me,” Raquel said. “You know my dad is not there too much during the day, so he came to see me a couple times. He even calls me. Can you believe that?”
“You should be careful Raquel.” Martine had a serious look on her face when she spoke.
Raquel rolled her eyes as Delila grabbed her arm pulling her around to face her.
“Well,” Delila said, “Let’s get to his age. This man is driving way too lovely and shining all too bright. Does he know how old you are?”
“I want you to hook me up with his friend,” said Martine. “Ching, ching! All I see is dollar signs and I definitely need some money! You know what I’m saying?”
Martine never thought before she spoke, she just said whatever came to her mind. She comes from a family that has good money. She loves money and is determined to get it by any means necessary.
“Well, I’m sure I can hook you up Martine, but I told him I am seventeen and in the twelfth grade Delila, since you must know,” Raquel said, as she pointed her finger and rolled her neck.
With a disgusted look on her face Delila rolls her eyes and smacks her lips. She could not believe this guy fell for that. Her real concern was that he knew Raquel was lying and really didn’t care. That would make him a pedophile. He was probably looking at her body and not paying attention to her conversation. Sometimes, Raquel acted so childish, thought Delila. “He believed that?” Delila asked shaking her head in disbelief.
Raquel stopped in her tracks, “Look at me Delila. I don’t look like your average ninth grader. Stop hatin’!”
“And how old is he Raquel?” Delila asked, ignoring her remarks.
They could see the hesitation as Raquel responded, “He’s twenty-two years old.”
Delila was the sensible one of the bunch, always rationalizing things. Martine could see the wheels spinning in Delila’s head, as she stared at Raquel.
“So you’ve known this twenty-two year old man for two months, been talking and everything, we see him and his boy, and he doesn’t even so much as acknowledge you,” Delila exclaimed, with her hands waving in the air.
Even though the words did not come out of her mouth, Delila had a, you are stupid, look on her face. All she could think of was how foolish and naïve Raquel could be sometimes. She pulled these kinds of stunts frequently. All a man needed was some bling, and Diante’s big body Benz was more than enough.
Delila had tried talking her out of situations like this before and was unsuccessful. She would often wonder how such a pretty girl as Raquel, with so much potential, could always fall for anything any man said or did.
Raquel was starting to get very irritated. Looking Delila in the eyes, with her head working from side to side, she responded with a slightly raised voice, “He knows I didn’t want you guys to know about him. At first I was kind of scared, but now I feel I know him well and we three have got our friendship back on track, so I guess its ok for you guys to know. What do you think Martine?”
Martine, did not want to hurt either of their feelings, so she just shrugged her shoulders and threw up her hands. She did not see anything wrong with Raquel talking to Diante. To her it was a meal ticket. However, she did not want to hear Delila’s mouth.
Without waiting for a response, and known for saying whatever comes up, Delila looked Raquel dead in the eyes and said, “I think you’re crazy. So, is he in college? Does he work? Where does he live?” She stood there just like she was Raquel’s mother with her finger pointing in her face, talking with much attitude, and looking very aggravated. Delila had a way of talking down to Martine and Raquel. She didn’t care about hurting anyone’s feelings, and she never gave thought to how it would feel, if she was in their shoes.
You could tell Raquel’s feelings were hurt as she said, “Delila, he graduated four years ago and went to a two year college for pharmacology. He works in a new pharmacy, like out by the rich people.” Raquel hated talking to Delila, because she was so judgmental. This was the reason they had not talked in almost three months. Raquel did not understand what the big deal was. Diante was a great catch, so what was wrong with being happy for her? Raquel fought back the tears. She wanted them to let it go, but not Delila. Sometimes, she was like a bulldog with a bone.
“Are you kidding me, Raquel? Come on now! Graduated, college, pharmacology? Dope, crack, cocaine, hello Raquel,” Delila said with a relentless tone.
