Lady J Read Online Free Page A

stay.” The Mexican lunch lady stops serving us and just stares at Nellie, ready to go off. If we were in Compton, I’m sure she would have given Nellie a mouthful of Spanish and then some. But we’re in Redondo Beach, where the students have more power than the cafeteria staff. Instead, the lady cusses Nellie out with her eyes and I feel her one hundred percent.
    â€œNellie, sometimes you can be so rude,” I say, snatching my soda and bag of chips from her and walking away toward the lunch benches. I swear I’m embarrassed to be with Nellie and Mickey sometimes. It gets tiring being around ignorance, even if these are my girls.
    â€œWhy are you tripping now?” Nellie says, with Mickey and Nigel following right behind her. “I was just joking,” she says, taking a seat on the bench next to me and unwrapping our foot-long sub. “Besides, it’s not like Spanish is your native tongue.”
    â€œWell, neither is English,” I say, thinking back to my lessons about my great ancestor, Queen Califia. I’m not sure which West African tongue she spoke when she arrived in California, but I know it didn’t sound a damn thing like what was already being spoken here. “Nellie, that argument isn’t valid because none of us are originally from here. Besides, as much as you claim to be well-read, you should know that.” I miss having intellectual debates with Jeremy. Arguing isn’t as frustrating when I feel like I’m learning something while getting my point across.
    â€œWhat’s got your panties all up in a bunch?” Nigel asks, sitting down on the bench across from us, right beside Mickey. They both have a cheeseburger meal, making my and Nellie’s lunch look like rabbit’s food. I look around me. It’s kind of nice to see everyone outside hanging out. Some students are playing hacky sack or ballin’, and others are just chilling and enjoying not being in class.
    â€œYeah, it sounds like you’ve got a chip on your shoulder, girl. I thought Rah was supposed to work that out for you,” Mickey says, kissing Nigel’s neck before taking a sip of her drink. Nellie looks at them in disgust, but manages a smirk to signal her agreement with their sentiment.
    â€œYou’re so nasty,” I say, reaching across and smacking her in the arm. “Everyone isn’t appeased by physical stimulation.” Some couples forget about their issues when they touch, which is what Rah’s hoping will happen with us. But he knows I’m not that easy.
    â€œWell, maybe you should join our camp. It works,” Mickey says, giving her and Nigel a good chuckle. This is why I wanted to chill alone today. I’m just not in the mood. And I have to get to work on rewriting my English paper. As I plan my escape route in my head, Jeremy walks up with Chance, making me feel even more like getting away. What the hell is he doing in South Central anyway?
    â€œWhat’s up,” Chance says, greeting Nigel and the rest of us.
    â€œWhat’s up,” Jeremy says, following suit and greeting the group—but his eyes are focused on me. “How’d you do on our quiz?” he says, trying to make small talk. Before I can respond, Tania and her crew leave the cafeteria with a farewell committee of mass proportions behind them. I guess the Homecoming queen leaving the school is a pretty big deal in their world. It means that the runner-up actually gets to become queen for the rest of the year, so they perform some sort of ritual recrowning from the queen to the senior princess. But who cares? Besides the dance, there’s nothing else for the queen to really do until next year.
    â€œI’m glad the heffa’s leaving,” Mickey says, loud enough for Tania and her crew to hear. But, because Mickey’s of no consequence to them, they choose to ignore her.
    â€œThat makes three of us,” Jeremy says, still eyeing